An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace

by Tamar Adler

The best soups are a day old. Soup mustn’t be fresh, but mature. They needn’t taste of their ingredients, but only give their ingredients somewhere to be left off and picked up again. I learned to make soup from my mother, whose potages contained whatever was around, much of it already cooked: roasted root vegetables, boiled potatoes or turnips, an odd handful of herbs. She served them throughout my childhood, doused with good olive oil and topped with crisp croutons. They were a day old or older. Their ingredients were older yet, and they were delicious. To make a good, honest, authentic potage, like my mother’s, slice half an onion and a clove of garlic. Cook them, salting as soon as you add them to the pan, with a half teaspoon of fresh thyme in a little butter and olive oil, until tender. If they start to brown, add a few drops of water. Add any combination of roasted squash, root vegetables, and sweet potato and an equal quantity of stock or water. Let it all simmer for half an hour. Purée in a blender in batches, blending more solids than liquid. If it begins to seem too liquidy at any point, leave some of the broth behind. If it needs more liquid, judiciously add some of what you have left; you can always add more. You can make this days in advance. Warm the soup up slowly in a pot before eating. If you want a soup of cauliflower or broccoli, begin it the same way, omit the thyme and add a quarter cup of olive oil before blending it and a dab of cold butter once you...