Deep in Broth

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A passion for good food is like home. And the many things that make it unique.

I grew up in a nature reserve. Vast meadows, beautiful wildlife, endless cloud-rimmed skies. At the end of the summer, my sister and I would pick blackberries. Buckets of them. Our garden had carrots, pumpkins, strawberries, and a variety of herbs. Beautiful to watch grow and bloom. Delicious to taste in the food our parents cooked for us.

If you asked me what my favorite food was, I think the most likely answer would be soup. I love soup, I’m really into broth. Deep in broth. For me, that taste is home.

But soup is not just a liquid with some solids in it, it is so much more. It represents the philosophy of using what you have to make good food. Of not wasting leftovers.

And every child knows that magic potions need a big pot. So soup is the perfect place to try new combinations of ingredients, or maybe rediscover old ones.

I found out about this simple truth when I started using rose leaves to flavor my soups last fall. I also added blackberry and strawberry leaves. They were on the ingredient list of some of my favorite herbal teas. So they could not be bad, could they? With the berry and rose leaves, I combined green ginger and whole nettles – both leaf to root. And I used the mint and thyme twigs I had just harvested from our balcony. Not to mention some turnip and beet skins. I hardly had to season the broth I got. It was all there.

Every truly delicious dish has secret ingredients: A love of good food, a passion for smells and tastes, a desire to satisfy the healthy appetites of those you cook for. And the love that is stored in our favorite memories associated with tastes and smells.

I love soup, I’m really into broth. Deep in broth. For me, that taste is home.

Side Notes:

  • As I recently discovered, using roses to flavor food is not a new idea. The fragrant petals and leaves have been used to flavor food for more than three thousand years. If you use them, make sure they come from a trusted source and have not been tampered with. And I would use the flowers that have a rich, oily scent (like English roses), not the perfumed, sweet flavor. But that is just my personal preference.