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An Exercise in Minimalism

Pasta e Ceci

Soups are an exercise in minimalism. It is what you leave

out that is important. I have long argued that a good thing

to omit is stock – unless, of course, it is the key component:

vegetable soups and purées have a purer, cleaner flavour

when there is no stock involved. Old-fashioned cream

soups made from simple vegetables – celery, carrot,

cauliflower, for example – have a delicacy and definition

that many modern combinations lack. Many of the best

soups are so simple not just by virtue of a sense of

aesthetic purity, but also as a result of poverty.

Proper peasant soups are meals, not the first act of

a banquet. Sometimes a meat or chicken broth will be

fortified with bread, pasta, vegetables or dumplings.

Sometimes there is no broth but simply water: with an

egg and garlic in the Languedoc; beans and not much else

in Tuscany; or carrots, water and rice in Northern France.

However, these simple soups do not lack variety or

interest – just look what they do with chickpeas in Italy.

In Calabria, a chickpea soup will be chickpeas and

tomato. A little pork fat or bacon might be introduced in

some areas, while in others pasta is cooked in the soup.

Further north, in Rome, anchovies form part of the

aromatic base alongside garlic and rosemary before the

chickpeas, tomato purée and a little macaroni are added.

In Tuscany, the soup is rarely cooked without a substantial

dose of diced pancetta and a soffritto of carrot, celery and

onion. By the time you reach Milan, chickpea soup has

become positively sybaritic, with a good quantity of

pancetta and vegetables, a shredded pig’s head, a quantity

of butter and fresh herbs all enriching the mix. Each of

these soups is a deep, tomato homage to the chickpea.

When Alastair Little started running a cooking school

in Orvieto, he immersed himself in the gastronomic

culture and was not seen for months. When he resurfaced,

his greatest enthusiasm was for this chickpea soup, a

richly flavoured Tuscan version. At the time I confess I was

a little puzzled: although a good dish, it was, in the end,

just a simple soup. I was wrong. It is a remarkably subtle

and satisfying dish, and getting the balance of flavours and

the cooking of the pasta just right does require a small

degree of concentration. This is a simple version with no

meat at all, perfect for these Lenten days.

47

February