Food + Dining

Soulful Bowls

By Pat Tanner

“There is nothing like a bowl of hot soup, its wisp of aromatic steam teasing the nostrils into quivering anticipation. It breathes reassurance, it offers consolation; after a weary day it promotes sociability.”

So wrote Louis DeGouy, onetime chef at the old Waldorf-Astoria and apprentice to Auguste Escoffier. I couldn’t agree more.

My reasons for loving soup are many and varied. Few foods are as versatile. It can serve as an entry into a meal, as the main event, or even as dessert. Soup can be highbrow or lowbrow, clear or cream, hot or cold, whimsical or serious. Further, soups can be nutritional powerhouses and forgiving of the inexperienced or distracted home cook. Some of the most delicious ones also happen to be inexpensive as well as vegetarian. The following shops, markets, and restaurants are some of my best-loved soupcentric resources.

Take-out or Take-Away Soups

Most supermarkets, delis, and gourmet groceries offer so-called homemade soups. Many are tasty. But they often fall short on other counts: too much salt, a reliance on commercial soup bases with artificial ingredients, acrid dried herb blends. These purveyors, however, avoid those pitfalls:
Cafasso’s Fairway Market, Fort Lee. How serious is this family-owned store (no relation to the famed New York chain) about soup? One indication is the website (cafassosfairwaymkt?.com), which features a 20-page listing of soups they have made over the years, followed by recipes, suggested wine pairings, and nutritional breakdowns. Two perennial customer favorites are the white mushroom and 10-vegetable soups.

Whole Earth Center, Princeton. All the soups here are vegetarian and many are vegan. They are so delicious I never noticed the absence of meat, fish, and, in many cases, butter, milk, and cream. Plus they’re made with organic veggies, often locally grown. Among the most popular offerings: leek, potato, and fennel; butternut squash with fresh sage; and lentil and Swiss chard. wholeearthcenter.com

That Hot Dog Place, Red Bank. Gary Sable, the humble proprietor and lone employee, ladles out top-flight forms of such soups as Italian wedding, Portuguese sausage and kale, and white bean and chicken — all at rock-bottom prices. soupmeister.com.

Other places to visit include Isabella’s Deli in Closter (isabellasdeli.com) and Sickles Market in Little Silver (sicklesmarket.com).

Restaurant Soups

Some restaurant chefs seem to have a special affinity for soups. A few even make them available for takeout. Either way, here are some that call me back time and again:

Saigon R., Englewood, and Mo’ Pho, Fort Lee. Every culture has its signature soup, but Vietnam’s pho ranks at the top with me. At these humble sister restaurants I go nuts for the version with five toppings, but even the regular variety has me nearly inhaling the silky noodles and soulful beef-bone broth fragrant with star anise. saigonmopho.com

Blue Point Grill and Witherspoon Grill, both in Princeton. Two words: lobster bisque. I am super-fussy about cream soups and find most too rich, but at these sibling restaurants the lobster bisque is unequaled. A similar version is available as takeout next door at Nassau Street Seafood, also related. bluepointgrill.com, witherspoongrill.com, nassau.jmgroupprinceton.com

Zafra, Hoboken. Maricel Presilla’s chicken and coriander soup with avocado is nothing less than the Latin version of Jewish penicillin. (Which reminds me: I’m still searching for the quintessential matzo ball soup. In the meantime, credible versions can be found at The Ritz (973.533.1213) and Irving’s (irvings-deli?.com), both in Livingston.) zafrakitchens.com

Zena’s Patisserie & Café, Riverton. This casual spot in the charming a riverfront town sent me over the moon with its creamy baked potato soup (a poor man’s vichyssoise and an even poorer man’s potage Parmentier) — and that was on a hot summer day! 856.303.8700

Other restaurants to check out: During the harvest, tomato soup in any form is a special delight at Serenade in Chatham (restaurantserenade.com), as is the multitude of corn chowders at The Brothers Moon in Hopewell (brothersmoon.com).

For Your Shelf

Zuppa: Soups From the Italian Countryside by Anne Bianchi (Ecco Press, 1996) is my all-time favorite soup cookbook. Although it is currently out of print, used copies are available at amazon.com.

Channeling Your Inner Soupmaker

Kitchen Kapers features after-school soup-making classes in Moorestown for kids ages 6 and up. kitchenkapers.com. Natural Kitchen Cooking School in Princeton (and Manhattan) specializes in all things vegan, including surprisingly flavorful soups. The school offers in-home group lessons. naturalkitchenschool.com. Williams-Sonoma stores offer themed cooking demos that vary from store to store. For this winter’s lineup, which may include soups, check your nearest store’s listing online. williams-sonoma.com

Editors' Pick

Ruffoni Hammered Stainless Steel Stockpot
$475
williams-sonoma.com

Pat Tanner is a founding member of the Central New Jersey chapter of Slow Food.