Digby Law's Soup Cookbook

by Digby Law

Digby Law's recipes are loved and used in kitchens everywhere. This collection of over 300 soups, stocks, garnishes and accompaniments has all your favourites and more. From a classic borsch or bouillabaisse to the more exotic Turkish wedding soup, this is your one-stop reference for delicious and wholesome meals.

Digby Law was a chef, food writer and broadcaster whose cookery books helped change the way New Zealanders approached food and eating. With a passion for fresh ingredients and simple recipes his cookbooks deserve a place in every kitchen.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Born c1936, died 1987, Digby Law wrote several best selling cookbooks in the 1970s & 80s.

Reviews

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an absolutely massive fan of the late Digby Law's cook books, but I haven't used this one in a very long time. But we have had a glut of tomatoes & I wanted a chilled soup that wasn't gazpacho. Law's Summer Tomato and Yoghurt Soup absolutely hit the spot. Simple ingredients that had a real depth of flavour. When I looked at his other cold tomato soups I was reminded that this is a book from dairy food loving New Zealand, first published in 1982. One cold tomato soup was garnished with whipped cream. I don't think my waistline needs that. The "Turkish" Tomato Soup calls for curry powder & tobasco (sic) sauce. A lot of ingredients were still hard to come by in early 80s New Zealand, so people did improvise. I decided to make the tomato and peanut soup. Digby said this one was African inspired. I'm just hoping it freezes ok, as I had a couple of tastes and it was really delicious. The man really did know his flavours.

I was given some cucumbers at work and I fancied a Cucumber and Yoghurt Soup, but Digby's recipe calls for cream, milk, yoghurt and whipped cream as a topping!(not to mention that 80s stand by chicken stock powder) I could feel my arteries harden while I read. I'm not certain the delicate flavour of cucumber could stand out against all this. (I'm going to use a recipe instead, although I will try his Chinese Cucumber soup some other time.)

I will come back to this book in the winter. I hope my review doesn't sound snide, as Digby was a pioneering cook. He has a recipe for okra soup and okra still isn't that common over here. And in the 80s dairy products were still very cheap and it was almost unpatriotic not to eat them and support our farmers.

And just so you can all enjoy some retro charm, here is a picture of the back cover.

Love it!