Mel's current Show & Tell entry led me to think of SOUP.
I adore soup. It's delicious, easy to make, healthy, and cheap.
I usually eat homemade soup for lunch: broc and cheddar, lentil and veggie, chicken and rice, corn chowder, etc. Also my ethnic Mennonite soups, such as cabbage borscht, green bean soup, and butter soup.
My all-time favourite is a Mennonite soup called, in English, 'summer soup.' It is a ham/sausage-based broth with potato chunks, ham, loads of chopped onion greens (and sometimes dill), buttermilk, and a herb called Zeerump (I'm spelling it phonetically - I don't know if there is an English word).
There's nothing like it. It looks gross (it's green) but tastes sooooooooooo good. I make my non-Mennonite friends try at least a spoonful, and they always ask for a bowl!
Alas, I can't have any of this soup unless I fly 2000 kilometres to my parents' farm, because the Zeerump herb is not commercially available, so I have to get it from their garden. Now I'm sad! lol!
(This is Zeerump - found a pic online. I see this particular plant is ready to be chopped down - wish I could do it!)
Saturday, March 28, 2009
show & tell
Posted by one-hit_wonder at 7:34 p.m.
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21 comments:
That plant looks too lush to cut!!! LOL
Looks very healthful. What is the flavor like?
Y'all have me jonzing for soup now!
It's really mild and pleasant, not bitter at all, considering how many greens are in it. There's nothing to compare the flavour to, really!
That is so amazingly cool--I've never heard of the herb. Where is it mostly grown?
Now I'm wishing it would snow here so I could make me a big pot o' soup. Yum!
I love cold, winter days when you snuggle up with a warm blanket, a hot bowl/cup o' soup and then snuggle in for some cuddle time or a good book to read.
Awwww - I want some soup!
Lolli: We grow it in rural Manitoba. It's a Mennonite thing, as far as I know. I eat it raw, too, and then it is bitter, but good.
YUMMM. Seriously. I need soup now. Green or not, this sounds good too!
That sounds like a wonderful soup.
Yum
OK, you need a garden (or at least a big tub of soil on your balcony) to grow some of your own. That sounds like the best soup ever - I'm salivating here at midnight...
Awww man, it's like 11 at night and I am seriously contemplating hitting the kitchen and whipping out my stock pot . . . .
What sort of flavor does zeerump have?
It's sour when eaten raw, but mellows out completely in the soup. The taste is indescribable.
After some research, I found the High German name for it: 'Sauerampfer.' Apparently it's a certain kind of sorrel.
Good luck finding it anywhere! lol Back when I was a homeowner with a garden, I had a hard enough time begging my dad for a transplant. :)
It always gets me when food looks gross, but is actually terribly yummy :)
I forgot to add: you could substitute beet leaves for the Zeerump. I think this is a perversion, but other Mennonites (e.g., my mother-in-law) think it is acceptable. lol
If anyone wants to make it, let me know, and I'll try to write out a formal recipe!
Oh yes, give us the recipe! I may have to get DH to try to import some Sauerampfer seeds if he can find them in May when he's back home in Germany. Still drooling this morning!
Sounds interesting! I wonder why you can't grow some of your own zeerump so you can make your soup more often. Just a thought. Although I'm sure it tastes better just knowing that it came from your parents' garden.
I am a huge soup fan. Sounds good
Sounds so good, wish I had some.
I've never heard of it totally sounds yummy I'd love to try some !
I love soup too! It is very filling, and allows the inclusion of as many vegetables as one must have! Good for any meal!
soup has always been comforting to me. my mama still thinks it can heal absolutely anything. got a skinned knee, here's some soup...headache, you need some soup...world peace, soup! and most of the time, it at least helps!
Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. I never heard of Zeerump but since we both seem to be from the same general stomping grounds ; ) I have definitely heard of summer soup. I'm half Ukrainian, & my dad makes his own borscht in the summer with vegetables straight from the garden. Yum yum!!
There is a tearoom called Gingerwood Lane in Winkler (which has a huge Mennonite population), near where my parents live, that makes homemade soup & bread for lunch, as well as desserts, & the summer soup is often on their menu. The food there is absolutely fabulous.
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