Driving through the 104°F (40°C) Central Valley today was a stinging reminder that summer is in full swing. Here in Orange County, the worst of the heat is yet to come, but when it does hit in August and September, appetites will be blunted and we naranjeros will be looking for ways to beat the heat. Here are five cold soups that go perfectly with the cruel Santa Ana winds:
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1. Gazpacho
No list of cold soups could possibly
start without this salad in liquid form, which is never cooked: it has
tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, garlic, vinegar or lemon juice and
herbs, blended together into a thick soup which is chilled thoroughly.
It's garnished with minced vegetables, croutons and olive oil. If you're
looking to cool your body's core temperature, this is the way to do it.
2. Mul naengmyon
The
least-known of the five soups here to Americans, this Korean soup is
literally ice-cold. Boiled, chewy buckwheat noodles (somewhat like soba)
are placed into a stainless steel bowl, garnished with a few slices of
cooked beef brisket, a hard-boiled egg, and thin slices of cucumber,
radish, and Korean pear, and then submerged in a garlicky beef broth
that is kept cold with ice chips. If the outside of the bowl isn't
sweating, it isn't cold enough; garnish with searing-hot Korean mustard
and tangy vinegar and beat the heat the Korean way.
3. Melon soup
Nearly
every European culture that has melons has a melon soup recipe that
involves puréeing melons with seasonings; it doesn't matter whether it's
watermelons (drop crumbled feta cheese on the soup), cantaloupes
(crispy fried bits of prosciutto) or honeydew (crumbled flash-fried mint
leaves), the soups are more refreshing than normal due to their
sweetness. This is what you should do with the half a melon left in the
fridge.
4. Vichyssoise
The
original cold soup (and, if you're wondering, it's pronounced
“vee-shee-SWAHZ”, more or less), this classic French soup is potatoes
and leeks cooked in stock, then puréed into a thick soup and thinned
with some fresh cream. This is the cold soup that eats like a meal; add a
salad (salade niçoise, anyone?) and a small dessert and you've got a
French summer meal fit for Julia Child.
5. Pappa al pomodoro
It is NOT Italian
gazpacho. It's not, it's not, it's not! Okay, it sort of is. Pappa al
pomodoro, which means “mush with tomatoes”, is served room temperature rather than cold. It's simpler and chunkier than gazpacho and
starts off life as a cooked soup: you make a simple tomato sauce with
the freshest, best, ripest tomatoes you can find, and then you cook
bread in it until it falls apart, adding water as necessary. Once it's
done, let it cool and then garnish with fresh herbs and the best
extra-virgin olive oil you can afford. Serve with a glass of wine, and
call it a light lunch on a hot day.
