“Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give you a hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in the winter and cools you in the summer? Yet who is also capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests? . . . Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. You don’t catch steak hanging around when you’re poor and sick, do you?” ~ Judith Martin
Ah, dear soup, you alone have stuck with me through thick and thin!
Apparently, lots of other folks feel the same way. Approximately 10 billion bowls of soup are consumed in the U.S. each year, with 57 million gallons slurped up in the month of January alone!
Chances are very good that you’ve already had some soup today, or are planning to. But I’m wondering just what kind. It seems your soup of choice may say a lot about your personality.
Back in 1999, University of Illinois Professor Brian Wansink, who heads the Food and Brand Lab, polled 1000 random Americans about their soup preferences, and then cross-tabulated these results with personality and lifestyle traits. Before I share the delicious details about soup and personality, pick your favorite from these choices:
CHICKEN NOODLE
TOMATO
VEGETABLE
NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER
MINESTRONE
CHICKEN NOODLE: Churchgoer, loyal, relaxed, homebody, likes hobbies like quilting or photography, loves daytime talk shows, fond of pets, likely to be stubborn, less likely to be outdoorsy.
TOMATO: Affectionate, fond of pets, sociable, adventurous, book lover, creative (in and out of the kitchen).
VEGETABLE: Homebody, gardener, reader of family and home magazines, less likely to be spontaneous, love dessert, but nutrition conscious, likes to cook.
NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER: Sophisticated, intellectual, cynical, introspective, thoughtful, self-indulgent when it comes to food, sarcastic, rarely cooks from scratch.
MINESTRONE: Physically fit, nutritionally conscious, family spirited, unlikely to own a pet, love outdoor life, often dieting.
TOP RANKING SOUPS! Tomato Minnestrone Chicken Noodle
Soup habits also reflect childhood memories, as we tend to seek the same type of comfort today that gave us solace when we were young. More than half of Wansink’s interviewees said that chicken noodle soup made them feel better when they were sick, and two thirds said soup was relaxing.
How did I fare in this seemingly-scientific-but-could-be-anybody’s-guess survey?
MY SOUP PROFILE
Vegetable Tomato Clam Chowder
Well, vegetable soup (with alphabets, naturally), is my favorite. Everything rings true, but I don’t like to garden. Since I also love books and have my moments of introspection, the occasional tomato or clam chowder should be added to my menu.
Now, I really want to know about you. Is any of it true? Do you think there’s one specific soup most preferred by writerly types?
(Resources: Pat Solley, e-Soupsong 42: October 1, 2003; Mark Reutter, UIUC News Bureau, 12/00.)
“Ginsberg is both tragic and dynamic, a lyrical genius, con man extraordinaire
and probably the single greatest influence on American poetical voice since Whitman.” ~ Bob Dylan
“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.” ~ Allen Ginsberg
So. When was the last time you howled at the moon?
Or ran “starving, hysterical naked,” around Whole Foods, shopping for peaches, penumbras and images?
When was the last time you killed a porkchop? Or spied Spanish poet, Garcia Lorca, down by the watermelons?
I mean, don’t you usually see Walt Whitman “poking among the meats in the refrigerator?”
And you call yourself a poet?
This whole bohemian/beatnik/hippie/non-conformist thing has always perplexed me. Growing up to Allen Ginsberg, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, e.e. cummings, Ken Kesey, and Tom Wolfe, made me yearn to become “one of the best minds of my generation.” Supposedly, that would call for eschewing the bath, speaking in metered obscenity, taking to the road, and, of course, inhaling.
Freeing oneself, unleashing creativity, is something all writers and artists aspire to. And the bohemian life, where one is unfettered by petty concerns, such as earning a living or abiding by the law, has long been romanticized in literature and the media. At least that’s the impression I always got. Any room in the car, Neal Cassady? Pass the Jack Daniels, Bob. There was a time I’d jump at the chance.
Allen Ginsberg toured with Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975-76
But now, being cool sounds like too much work. Oh, I still love jazz. And black turtlenecks. And I still dream about living in Greenwich Village, or Soho, or wherever else the cutting edge artists hang out these days. But there are conditions. No cold water flats or cigarette smoke. No dirty mattresses, drunken neighbors, or neon signs. No all night parties, leeches, or hypodermic needles.
According to Ann Charters (The PortableBeat Reader, Viking 1992), “The New York Beat writers were a wild group with firsthand experience of life on the fringes of society. Pushing themselves with various drugs to the emotional edge and beyond, Burroughs, Ginsberg, and Kerouac created visionary works of autobiographical fiction and poetry unprecedented in American literature.”
Wow. Conscious raising, no doubt. Lasting influence, definitely. So how does an average suburbanite like me, living in mainstream society, pick up the gauntlet? Why does notable innovation always seem to come from the fringe?
When I consider the Beat lifestyle — the protests, arrests, murders, drugging, promiscuity, and total disregard for authority, I know I could never be like them. Yet the ideals they stood for — free expression, beatitude and transcendence, anti-commercialism, no big business or industrialization, friendship and brotherhood, are all ideals I believe in. I just wish that instead of railing against everything they didn’t want, they had a clearer idea of what they did want. Idealism, without purpose or direction, is a heavy cross to bear. That could drive anyone to drink.
So in honor of the “starving artist” who may live inside of you, I share today some soup that really beats. You didn’t think I’d forget to bring the soup, did you? Picture Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg sitting in their run-down, dingy apartments, or in numerous cafeterias around Times Square sipping from cracked coffee mugs, puffing endlessly on cigarettes.
What do you think they ate most of the time?
Hello. When Jack Kerouac banged out On the Road in a 20-day marathon, he lived on coffee and Lipton’s pea soup!
And Ginsberg had several references to soup in his poetry:
“I sup my soup from old tin cans
And take my sweets from little hands
In Tiger Alley near the jail
I steal away from the garbage pail.”
(from The Shrouded Stranger)
InHowl, he describes some of the so-called “best minds”:
“. . . who lounged hungry and lonesome through Houston seeking jazz or sex or soup,
. . . who ate the lamb stew of the imagination or digested the crab at the muddy bottom of the rivers of the Bowery,
. . . who cooked rotten animals lung heart feet borsht & tortillas dreaming of the pure vegetable kingdom,
. . . who jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge this actually happened and walked away unknown and forgotten into the ghostly daze of Chinatown soup alleyways and firetrucks,
. . . ah, Carl, while you are not safe I am not safe, and now you’re really in the total animal soup of time . . .”
Alas, on the morning of March 19, 1997, Allen Ginsberg made a big pot of fish chowder. He shared it with a few friends, then put the rest in the freezer. Two weeks later, he died of liver cancer. He loved soup so much that he installed a special ledge outside his kitchen window so he could cool his 12-gallon stockpot. The remaining two jars of this poetic fish chowder can be found at the Jurassic Museum in Los Angeles.
What have you written lately that would merit freezing your soup someday for posterity?
FOR ALLEN GINSBERG
by XJ Kennedy
Ginsberg, Ginsberg, burning bright,
Taunter of the ultra right,
What blink of the Buddha’s eye
Chose the day for you to die?
Queer pied piper, howling wild,
Mantra-minded flower child,
Queen of Maytime, misrule’s lord
Bawling, Drop out! All Aboard!
3 slices bacon, minced
1 organic onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 T flour
1 pound red boiling potatoes, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
2 cups chicken broth
2 (8-oz) bottles clam juice
sea salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
1 pound cod, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 cup half and half, heated
Heat a heavy pot over medium heat and add the minced bacon. Cook until the bacon is golden brown and crispy, about 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the crispy bits and reserve, leaving the fat in the pot.
Add the onion, celery, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes.
Add the potatoes, chicken broth and clam juice and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the potatoes are tender yet still firm, 5 to 7 minutes.
Season generously with salt and pepper. Add the cod and corn. Do not stir. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, cover and allow the chowder to sit for 10 minutes (the fish will finish cooking during this time).
Return the chowder to heat and stir in the cream, gently to avoid breaking the fish into small pieces. Season to taste. Bring chowder to serving temperature over gentle heat, uncovered. Sprinkle reserved crisped bacon on top.
NOTE: Soy milk may be substituted for those with milk allergies/lactose intolerance. This makes the chowder less “rich,” but still tasty.
WARNING: Though howling is recommended during preparation, this may result in an uncontrollable desire to play the bongos in the nude.
This tempting blend of water, navy beans, onions, ham hocks, celery, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper, has nourished our congressional leaders for over a hundred years. Big bipartisan pots of this soup simmer in all 11 Capitol dining room kitchens even as we speak!
Who started it? Well, you know how it is. Whenever there’s something good, politicians fight to take credit. But Joseph G. Cannon, U.S. Speaker of the House (1903-1911) seems the most likely culprit. He apparently entered the dining room one day, looked at the menu, and sputtered: “Thunderation, I had my mouth set for bean soup! From now on, hot or cold, rain, snow or shine, I want it on the menu every day.” And so it has been, ever since, with its virtues extolled by the likes of President Gerald Ford, Representative Sonny Bono, and Senator Bob Dole.
I’m so glad Speaker Cannon had his little tirade. Years ago, I ate this soup in the Senate Dining Room with Senator Sparky Matsunaga (1916-1990) of Hawaii. “Sparky,” as he was fondly known, always invited visitors from Hawaii to lunch, sometimes reserving two or three tables at a time. We (my mom, dad, and about four other guests), sat at a round table with the senator, who cautioned us about the dangers of tannins in tea.
A veteran of WWII (Bronze Star and Purple Heart), Sparky sought redress for interned Japanese Americans, and was instrumental in passing legislation for civil rights, space exploration, renewable energy resources, and most notably, for the establishment of the U.S. Institute for Peace. Himself a poet, who wrote haiku while hunkered down in Italian foxholes, Sparky also authored legislation to create the position of Poet Laureate of the United States. He told us he only slept about 3 hours a night. Then he promptly removed the teabag from his cup to avoid any bitter aftertaste.
Could he have accomplished all this without bean soup?
Consider what Senator Everett Dirksen (R-IL), once said in his Homage toBeans:
There is much to be said for the succulent little bean — any kind of bean, be it kidney, navy, green, wax, Kentucky, chili, baked, pinto, Mexican, or any other kind. Not only is it high in nourishment, but is particularly rich in that nutritious value referred to as protein — the stuff that imparts energy and drive to the bean eater and particularly the senators who need this sustaining force when they prepare for a long speech on the Senate floor.
Now, the man pictured above has served in the U.S. Senate since 2004. Chances are good that he’s already eaten his fair share of bean soup. He has also helped out in soup kitchens. But the campaign trail is rigorous and demanding, so leguminous reinforcements are probably in order. Then he’ll definitely be ready for the big job. Soup is served at all official dinners at the White House, be it turtle, clam, corn, potato, or squash. When it’s his turn, he’ll be able to serve visiting dignitaries, and the entire nation, a hearty soup for change.
He’ll follow in the footsteps of FDR, who loved crab soup with a splash of sherry; Dwight Eisenhower, who made his own vegetable soup with nasturtium stems; JFK and Jimmy Carter, who always ordered soup for lunch; Ronald Reagan, who loved hamburger soup with hominy; George H.W. Bush, who liked New England clam chowder; and Bill Clinton, who favored vegetable beef.
Think about it. Soup might just be the only thing Republicans and Democrats can ever agree on. And with the way things are going now, we need a President who is way full of beans.
What can you do? Make this soup as often as possible. Invite friends over to discuss the issues, and then vote for the candidate of your choice. Hopefully one day Capitol Hill will amount to more than a hill of beans, without all the gas.
U.S. CAPITOL BEAN SOUP (serves 6-8 people)
1 pound dry white beans, soaked overnight
1 meaty ham bone, or 2 smoked ham hocks
3 quarts water
3 onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, with leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Garnish: minced parsley or chives
Strain the water from the soaked beans and put in a big pot with 3 quarts of water and the ham bone or hocks. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.
Stir the chopped vegetables and herbs into the pot, and cook over low heat for another hour until the beans are nicely tender.
Remove the bones from the pot, cut off the meat into small bits, and return the meat to the pot, discarding the bones.
When ready to serve, ladle into bowls and garnish with pinches of herbs.
TIP: Flavor enhanced if soup is eaten while watching Oprah.
(Thanks to Pat Solley at soupsong.com for the recipe and delicious political tidbits!)
Jama's Alphabet Soup 