This soup is a local speciality, from the town of Cullen in Moray, on the north-east coast of Scotland. The soup is often served as a starter at formal Scottish dinners.

The name is not derived from Gaelic. The first element refers to the town of Cullen in Moray, skink is a Scots word for a shin, knuckle or hough of beef which has developed the secondary meaning of a soup, especially one made from these. The word skink is ultimately derived from Middle Dutch schenke “shin, hough”.

Cullen Skink appears in many traditional Scottish cookery books and appears on a large number of menus across Scotland. The soup is extremely easy and quick to make.

It was developed in the late 1800s by Italian fishermen who settled in the North Beach section of San Francisco. Originally it was made on the boats while out at sea and later became a staple as Italian restaurants proliferated in San Francisco. The name comes from ciuppin, a word in the Ligurian dialect of the port city of Genoa,meaning “to chop” or “chopped” which described the process of making the stew by chopping up various leftovers of the days catch. At least one restaurant in San Francisco, the eponymous Cioppino’s, describes an apocryphal story in which the name derived from the heavily Italian-accented cry of the wharf cooks for the fishermen to “chip in” some of their catch to the collective soup pot.

Generally the seafood is cooked in broth and served in the shell, including the crab (if any) that is often served halved or quartered. It therefore requires special utensils, typically a crab fork and cracker. Depending on the restaurant, it may be accompanied by a bib, second possibly damp napkin, or a second bowl for the shells. As a variation, the “lazy man’s” cioppino is served with seafood shelled and crab legs cracked.

Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille. The French and English form bouillabaisse comes from the Provençal Occitan word bolhabaissa, a compound that consists of the two verbs bolhir (to boil) and abaissar (to lower (heat)).

Bouillabaisse is a fish stock containing different kinds of cooked fish and shellfish and vegetables, flavored with a variety of herbs and spices such as garlic, orange peel, basil, bay leaf, fennel and saffron. There are at least three kinds of fish in a traditional bouillabaisse, typically scorpionfish; sea robin; and European conger; and it can also include gilt-head bream; turbot; monkfish; mullet; or silver hake. It also usually includes shellfish and other seafood such as sea urchins, mussels; small crabs; spider crab or octopus. More expensive versions may add langoustine. Vegetables such as leeks, onions, tomatoes, celery and potatoes are boiled together with the broth and served with the fish. The broth is traditionally served with a rouille, a mayonnaise made of olive oil, garlic, saffron and cayenne pepper on grilled slices of bread. In Marseille, the broth is served first in a bowl containing the bread and rouille, with the seafood and vegetables served separately in another bowl or on a platter.

There are as many recipes for bouillabaisse as there are families in Marseille, and local restaurants dispute which versions are the most authentic.  In Marseille, bouillabaisse is rarely made for less than ten persons- the more who share the meal, the more different fish that are included, and the better the bouillabaisse.

A real Marseille bouillabaisse must include scorpionfish, a bony rockfish which lives in the calanque and reefs close to shore. It usually also has conge and sea robin.  According to the Michelin Guide Vert, the four essential elements of a true bouillabaisse are the presence of rascasse, the freshness of the fish; a real olive oil, and an excellent saffron.

The American chef and food writer Julia Child, who lived in Marseille for a year, wrote: “to me the telling flavor of bouillabaisse comes from two things: the Provençal soup base - garlic, onions, tomatoes, olive oil, fennel, saffron, thyme, bay, and usually a bit of dried orange peel - and, of course, the fish - lean (non-oily), firm-fleshed, soft-fleshed, gelatinous, and shellfish.”

This is the recipe of one of the most traditional Marseille restaurants, Grand Bar des Goudes on Rue Désirée-Pelleprat.

4 kilograms of fish and shellfish:

* grondin (eng. sea robin)
* Rascasse blanche (eng. scorpionfish);
* rouget grondin (red Gurnard);
* congre (eng. conger);
* baudroie (lotte, or monkfish);
* saint-pierre (eng. John Dory);
* live octopus[5]
* 10 sea urchins
* 1 kilogram of potatoes
* 7 cloves of garlic
* 3 onions
* 5 ripe tomatoes
* 1 cup of olive oil
* 1 bouquet garni
* 1 branch of fennel
* 8 pistils of saffron
* 10 slices of pain de campagne (country bread)
* salt and Cayenne pepper

The Rouille

* 1 egg yolk
* 2 cloves of garlic
* 1 cup of olive oil
* 10 pistils of saffron
* salt and Cayenne pepper

1. Clean and scale the fish and wash them, if possible in sea water. Cut them into large slices, leaving the bones. Wash the octopus and cut into pieces.

2. Put the olive oil in a large casserole. Add the onions, cleaned and sliced; 6 cloves of garlic, crushed; the pieces of octopus, and the tomatoes peeled and quartered, without seeds. Brown at low heat, turning gently for five minutes, for the oil to take in the flavors.

3. Add the sliced fish, beginning with the thickest to the smallest. Cover with boiling water, and add the salt and the pepper, the fennel, the bouquet garni and the saffron. Boil at a low heat, stirring from time to time so the fish doesn’t stick to the casserole. Correct the seasoning. The bouillabaise is cooked when the juice of the cooking is well blended with the oil and the water. (about twenty minutes).

4. Prepare the rouille: Remove the stem of the garlic, crush the cloves into a fine paste in a mortar. Add the egg yolk and the saffron, then blend in the olive oil little by little to make a mayonnaise, stirring it with the pounder of the mortar.

5. Cook the potatoes, peeled and boiled and cut into large slices, in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes. Open the sea urchins with a pair of scissors and remove the Corail with a small spoon.

6. Arrange the fish on a platter. Add the corail of the sea urchins into the broth and stir.

Serve the bouillon very hot with the rouille in bowls over thick slices of bread rubbed with garlic. Then serve the fish and the potatoes on a separate platter.

Another version of the classic Marseille bouillabaisse, presented in the Petit LaRousse de la Cuisine, uses congre, dorade, grondin, lotte, merlan, rascasse, saint-pierre, and small crabs (etrilles), and includes leeks. In this version, the heads and trimmings of the fish are put together with onions, celery and garlic browned in olive oil, and covered with boiling water for twenty minutes. Then the vegetables and bouquet garni are added, and then the pieces of fish in a specific order; first the rascasse, then the grondin, the lotte, congre, dorade, etrilles, and saffran. The dish is cooked for eight minutes over high heat. Then the most delicate fish, the saint pierre and merlan, are added, and the dish is cooked another 5-8 minutes. The broth is then served over bread with the rouille on top, and the fish and crabs are served on a large platter.

Other variations add different seasonings, such as orange peel, and sometimes a cup of white wine or cognac is added.

A Bouillabaisse from Brazil

According to tradition, the origins of the dish date back to the time of the Phoceans, an Ancient Greek people who founded Marseille in 600 BC. Then, the population ate a simple fish stew known in Greek as ‘kakavia.’ Something similar to Bouillabaisse also appears in Roman mythology: it is the soup that Venus fed to Vulcan[citation needed].

The dish known today as bouillabaisse was created by Marseille fishermen who wanted to make a meal when they returned to port. They could not use the more expensive fish that they intended for the market, so they boiled the common rockfish and shellfish that they pulled up with their nets and lines, usually fish that were too bony to serve in restaurants, cooking them in a cauldron of sea water on a wood fire and seasoning them with garlic and fennel. Tomatoes were added to the recipe in the 17th century, after their introduction from America.

In the 19th century, as Marseille became more prosperous, restaurants and hotels began to serve bouillabaisse to upper-class patrons. The recipe of bouillabaisse became more refined, with the substitution of fish stock for boiling water, and the addition of saffron, brought by ship from the French colonies and ports of the Middle East and Asia. Bouillabaisse spread from Marseille to Paris, and then gradually around the world, adapted to local ingredients and tastes.

Three of the best-known restaurants in Marseille for traditional bouillabaisse are Le Miramar, on the Vieux Port; Chez Fonfon, at 140, Vallon des Auffes, and the Grand Bar des Goudes, Rue Desire-Péléprat.

The name bouillabaisse comes from the method of the preparation - the ingredients are not added all at once. The broth is first boiled (bouillir) then the different kinds of fish are added one by one, and each time the broth comes to a boil, the heat is lowered (abaisser).

This dish is used in an important plot point in the movie Our Man Flint. It is also mentioned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Vichyssoise, Bon Vivant, and botulism

On July 2, 1971 the FDA released a public warning after learning that a New York man had died and his wife had become seriously ill due to botulism after eating a can of Bon Vivant vichyssoise soup. The company began a recall of the 6,444 cans of vichyssoise soup made in the same batch as the can known to be contaminated. The FDA discovered that the company’s processing practices raised questions not only about these lots of the vichyssoise, but also about all other products packed by the company. The effectiveness check of the recall had revealed a number of swollen or otherwise suspect cans among Bon Vivant’s other products, so FDA extended the recall to include all Bon Vivant products. The FDA shut down the company’s Newark, New Jersey plant on July 7, 1971. Although only five cans of Bon Vivant soup were found to be contaminated with the botulin toxin, all in the initial batch of vichyssoise recalled and part of the first 324 cans tested, the ordeal destroyed public confidence in the company’s products and the Bon Vivant name. Bon Vivant filed for bankruptcy within a month of the announcement of the recall.

Tarator is consumed in Albania similarly to other countries. However, water, nuts, fruits and dill aren’t used. Olive oil is often used in place of vegetable oil. In a different variation, this dish is enriched with a plain omelet, cut into little pieces and added to the mixture. Due to the richness the eggs add, this variation of tarator may be consumed as a main course.

Tarator is a popular dish in Bulgaria; a salad version of tarator is known as “Snow White salad”. It is made of thick yogurt and no water. It can be served as an appetizer or as a side to the main meal.

In Greece, a similar meal is known as tzatziki. Tzatziki usually contains olive oil, parsley and mint in addition to the ingredients listed above. The word used for the Cypriot variant, ttalattouri, derives from the word tarator via Turkish.

An similar dish in Iran called Maast-O-Khiar contains chopped onions instead of garlic and may also contain black pepper and raisins.

In the former Yougoslavian Republic of Macedonia, tarator is a popular appetizer (meze) but also served as a side dish along with Shopska salad with most meals. Sunflower and olive oil are more commonly used and walnuts are sometimes omitted.

The Turkish variant, cacık, is similar to the salad version. It has a rich consistency and is served as a meze. On the south coast of Turkey, it is served with fried squid and includes yoghurt, lemon, walnut, olive oil, bread and garlic.

Recipe

To prepare tarator you need 1 fresh cucumber or 4-5 pickles, 1/2 kilogram of yoghurt, 1-2 cloves of garlic, some walnuts, some dill, salt, 2 teaspoons vegetable oil of your choice (sunflower oil is typically used), and water (depending on the thickness desired).

Preparation: Grate or finely chop the cucumbers and place in a large bowl. Mash the garlic with salt and add to the cucumber. Add ground walnuts and finely chopped fresh dill. Pour in the yoghurt. Then gradually add water — the thickness is down to taste. Finally, add the vegetable oil.

To prepare the salad version of tarator, follow the same instructions but do not add water. For thick consistency, the yoghurt can be strained in a cloth or paper bag or filter, traditionally made of muslin, to remove the whey. As a quick alternative, one can add several tablespoons of sour cream to regular yoghurt.

Gazpacho is a cold Spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup, originating in the southern region of Andalusia. Gazpacho is widely consumed throughout Spain, neighboring Portugal (where it is known as gaspacho) and parts of Latin America. Gazpacho is mostly consumed during the summer months, due to its refreshing qualities.
History

It descends from an ancient Andalusian liquid concoction based on a combination of stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt, and vinegar.[1] Tomato was added to the recipe after it was brought to Europe after the Columbian Exchange which began in 1492.

Ingredients and preparation

In Andalusia, most gazpacho recipes typically include tomato, cucumber, red and green pepper, onion, garlic, soaked stale bread, fresh parsley, olive oil, Sherry Vinegar, chilled water and salt. Some may also include lemon juice and sugar.

The following is a typical method of preparing gazpacho:

1. The vegetables are washed and the tomatoes, garlic and onions are peeled.
2. All the vegetables and herbs are chopped and put into a large container.
3. The soaked bread is then added.
4. The contents of the container is then blended until liquid.
5. The chilled water, olive oil, vinegar and salt is then added to taste.

Traditionally gazpacho is made by pounding the vegetables using a mortar and pestle. This method is still sometimes favoured as it helps keep the gazpacho cool.

In addition to the blended vegetable ingredients, it is also usually accompanied by different garnishes. These include the same vegetables the soup already contains, chopped up, as well as croutons and chopped hard boiled egg.[2] The garnishes are served in separately so the consumer can add them to the soup themselves. Sometimes, ham (e.g. jamón serrano, jamón ibérico, etc.) can also be found amongst the garnishes. In Extremadura, gazpacho with local ham is called gazpacho extremeño. This time, the ham tends to be added to the soup in the kitchen prior to serving (unlike the other garnishes which are added at the table).

Gazpacho may also by served with ice cubes if it has not had enough time to chill before serving.

On a side note, it is the name of a Character from “Chowder” a popular children’s show where all the characters are named after some sort of food.

Variations

Gazpacho recipes can vary greatly in terms of ingredient composition, texture and viscosity. This usually depends on the geographical location as well as family traditions.

Similar cold raw soups such as salmorejo and ajoblanco, are also popular in Andalusia, although not as widespread as gazpacho.

A completely different dish to traditional gazpacho is gazpacho manchego. As the name implies, it seems to have originated from the Spanish region of La Mancha, but it is also popular in other areas in the center and southwest of the country. Rather than a cold soup, it is a meat stew. The main ingredients are rabbit and flat bread, and may also include mushrooms.

Chilean cazuelas

The most common types of Cazuelas in Chile are the chicken or beef, but there’s also another types made from pork and turkey.

The typical Cazuela in one dish contains: a piece of meat (it can be a piece of rib or several pieces of bones, in the case of beef, or a leg of chicken), a potato, a piece of pumpkin, and the stock obtained from boiling this. Complementary to these components can be: cooked rice (in the stock), small-sized noodles, green beans, celery, sliced carrots, baby onions, garlic, baby cabbage, among others. In summer the cazuela is accompanied by a big yellow piece of sweetcorn, cooked apart or in the same stock. The cazuela is typically eaten by consuming the liquid stock first, then eating the meat and larger vegetables (e.g. potatoes, large piece of squash or carrot) last. However, the meat and larger vegetables can also be sliced up within the liquid stock and can be eaten simultaneously with the liquid stock.

]]> http://www.souprecipes.org.uk/chilean-cazuelas/feed/ http://www.souprecipes.org.uk/ajiaco-soup/ http://www.souprecipes.org.uk/ajiaco-soup/#comments Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:49:57 +0000 admin http://www.souprecipes.org.uk/?p=11 This is a potato soup from Colombia. Although several regions of Colombia have their distinct recipe, the most famous is ajiaco santafereño, named after Santa Fé de Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, where it is a cultural mainstay. It typically contains pieces of chicken on the bone, large chunks of corn on the cob, two or three kinds of native potatoes (tiny papas criollas that fall apart and thicken the soup, the waxy sabanera and/or the soft pastusa), and guasca (Galinsoga parviflora), a weedy, aromatic herb common in all America that lends the dish part of its distinctive flavour.

The soup is typically served with heavy cream, capers and avocado, all mixed in just before eating in the proportions each individual prefers. Ajiaco is so heavy that, served with a side of white rice, it is usually considered a full meal. In the highly regional Colombian cuisine, this is the dish most representative of Bogotá.

In recent years, guascas have become easier to find in Latin American groceries in the US. Though purists may insist on using genuine guascas, others might substitute oregano in a pinch.

Soups called ajiaco can be found in other regions of Latin America, though some share almost nothing with the traditional bogotano recipe apart from the name. The name is likely derivative of the word ají, a Taíno word for “hot pepper” which has become generalized in South American Spanish (equivalent to chile in Mexican Spanish). Though the modern Colombian ajiaco contains no ají, it is probably derived from spicier indigenous dishes.

Ajiaco is also a Cuban recipe, a kind of stew. Cuban ethnologist Fernando Ortiz once defined the country as an ajiaco, alluding to the role that Spanish, African and Chinese cultures had in the definition of the national identity. For Cubans, ajiaco also means something that contains many ingredients.

Lentil soup is mentioned in the Bible: In Genesis 25:34, Esau is prepared to give up his birthright for a pot of fragrant red lentil soup being cooked by his brother, Jacob.

The ancient Greek dramatist, Aristophanes, mentions lentil soup in his plays and describes it as the “sweetest of delicacies.”

Lentil soup was once a food for the poor. Today, it is recognized as highly nutritious and provides a good source of protein, fiber, iron and potassium.