Orange Soup
By appointment only. Six servings. One flavor. No variations have been authorized.
This soup was first made on the evening of Thanksgiving 2023, which neither editor observed, in the same hour Hershel made an entire Shabbat meal next door and Elia, at her own apartment, made only this. Two days later it was eaten on a balcony in the dorms with the addition of cream, an upgrade that has, since, become the canonical Sunday-night variant.
On the morning of Friday, December 1, it was transported back from one apartment to another in the form of a single frozen cube. That cube is now load-bearing canon.
The recipe has not been changed since. Attempts to introduce sweet potato have been considered and rejected.
✦Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squashapprox. 1.5 kg, peeled, cubed roughly
- 2 large carrotspeeled, sliced; do not overthink
- 1 onionmedium, diced before crying
- 4 cloves garliccrushed; five if no one is watching
- 1 tbsp fresh gingergrated; powdered is acknowledged but discouraged
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp turmericfor the color, and for one's general well-being
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 L vegetable stockwater is permitted; not preferred
- 100 ml creamoptional. for the Nov. 27 variant.
- to taste salt & pepperconsiderably more than seems reasonable
✦Method
- Peel and roughly cube the squash and carrots. Dice the onion. Crush the garlic. Do not attempt precision; this is a soup.
- Heat the olive oil in your largest pot. Sauté the onion over medium heat for five minutes, until translucent. Add garlic and ginger; stir for one (1) minute. Add the cumin, paprika, and turmeric; stir until fragrant. This is the only step where vigilance is required.
- Add the squash and carrots. Stir to coat in the spice paste. Pour in the stock until everything is just barely submerged. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer.
- Cook for approximately 25 minutes, until the squash collapses when poked with a wooden spoon. Do not poke with a finger.
- Blend until smooth, using an immersion blender if available. If using a regular blender: do this in batches, and do not burn yourself. The editor is no longer covering medical bills.
- Taste. Adjust salt. Add the cream if attempting the Nov. 27 variant. Stir to incorporate.
- Serve hot, ideally on a balcony, ideally with someone you have known for fewer than five days. Freeze any leftovers in a single cube and transport to the dorms on Friday.
On the cube. The Dec. 1 cube was frozen in a 1-litre Tupperware. The container was returned. The cube was not.
On confusion. Tova has, on at least one occasion, identified this soup as tomato. Tova has been spoken to.
On variations. Sweet potato is not, despite multiple submissions to this department, an acceptable substitute for butternut. The matter is closed.
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