Les Halles
Soup au Pistou, page 42
“Most soups get better the next day.” Bourdain notes. “This is not one of them.”
If you didn’t already guess, Soup Pistou is the French Minestrone with Pesto, of sorts. And Bourdain suggests, no demands, only the purest, finest, ingredients. “The day before you make the soup, soak the beans in plenty of cold water for 24 hours. Since you have the time, you might consider making your own chicken stock at this point.” Ha. Note how the word “before” is italicized. His editorial choice, not mine. It was hard enough for me to even soak the beans. “Crap,” I’d yell out, at 10pm after cleaning the dishes, realizing I’d forgotten to soak the beans. And so we’d put the recipe off, again, for the next day, hoping that I’d remember to put the beans in a large casserole, and cover with water, before 10pm. (I did eventually get the beans in the pot, but forgot to take them out after 24 hours, an extra 12 never hurt any bean.)
I can’t blame Mary for the gaffe; I hadn’t even glanced at the book prior to making this dish. I’ve realized and commented aplenty to the fact that our dishes seem to shine all the brighter in direct relation to the amount of time (or lack thereof) involved from start to finish. For some reason, our attempts at raw bean cooking have always turned out less than stellar. I would blame the water quality, the old bay leaf or shody ingredients in general. I think now, we’ve realized it might be the time management issue (or lack thereof, again). Bourdain mocks, as if directing his instruction squarely at our little kitchen operation, “Do not cook the beans to mush, please.” Well, they weren’t mush, but they were a little soft.
For the soup we threw onions, garlic, tomatoes (concassee, of course), zucchini, fennel, chicken broth, boquet garni and macaroni. Is this not the makings of a tasty garden bounty soup? One in which the fine taste of the ingredient (mostly sourced from the farmer’s market, naturally) would shine through? Sounds like it, doesn’t it. Well it wasn’t. Snooze a rooze. Even the pistou couldn’t stir the soup’s soul.
The freshest of ingredients were most definitely used. Unfortunately for this dish (or perhaps my under developed taste buds), the end product seemed boring. Yes, it was hearty, filling, fresh and you could taste all of the ingredients. There just didn’t seem to be anything to hold your attention. No kick or special flavors. It was, literally: white beans, tomatoes, zucchini, a little garlic, salt and pepper and some pesto. All fine, all some of my favorite ingredients. There was no wow factor. While I definitely wouldn’t state this recipe was bad, nor this dish inedible, I would suggest that perhaps the tradition behind dishes like this are propagated less by contemporary interest and more by years and years of tradition. Like a story passed down from generations, however interesting (or not), there is an engrained duty to keep the burners on.
Hmm, Bourdain. Looks like your good looks and wit couldn’t save you this time.
Recipe Ease 8. Freekin’ beans.
Time 2. Beans, beans, beans
Make again, 1. There have to be better soups.
