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Armenian Apricot Soup Recipe
August 25, 2005 | by Heidi | Filed under Quick Recipes, Soup Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
The Soup Peddler's Slow & Difficult Soups, Page 35
David Ansel has the best job in the world. He is the soup peddler of Austin, Texas. After pulling the rip-cord on his corporate computer job in his late twenties, David embraced his beat-up yellow bike and lucky soup ladle to embark on a mission delivering soup to the eclectic community of Bouldin Creek.
It started with an email to friends and neighbors stating,"I'll bring you some soup next Sunday for ten bucks. Plus, I'll bring it to you on my bike." Seventeen takers the first week, twenty-one the second, twenty-four the third - and so the legend of the Soup Peddler and his legions of soupie customers began to grow.
The book is titled The Soup Peddler's Slow & Difficult Soups - but don't let the name to scare you off. Slow and difficult isn't referring to the recipes themselves, it is more about the way the soup is created and delivered - one quart at a time, from a trailer being towed behind a people-powered bike. The recipes are straightforward, many only require a handful of ingredients, a leisurely afternoon, and a healthy dash of TLC.
I read the book cover to cover - it is a fantastic, inspiring, grassroots story about what can happen when you pursue something you love - in this case soup. If you or someone you know needs that little extra nudge to get out there and try something on their own this is the perfect story.
Which soup to try first? I was torn between all sorts baiana, borscht, bouktouf, and bisque - it was a hard call but the recipe for Armenian Apricot Soup intrigued me. Dried apricots, red lentils, and cumin shape the flavor and personality of this hearty number. In retrospect, I really should have cooked the Smoked Tomato Bisque this time of year - (seasonal, but also a little smoky - pairing nicely with a thick bank of San Francisco fog). The Armenian Apricot Soup is a fantastic subtly sweet soup for fall (which is exactly where it is filed in the book, smack in the middle of the October chapter). It will also work on a really foggy summer day here in SF, but I suspect the rest of the country will have to wait to make this selection (or try one of David's other soups and sound off about it)...
The recipe makes a grande pot - enough to feed friends, family, and even a neighbor or two. If you live solo, you can eat soup for lunch for the next week, easy. You may need to add more water, or water to your left-overs to get the soup to your desired consistency. I ended up using a few teaspoons of salt for the whole pot - don't under salt or the soup will be blah.
If only we were all lucky enough to have a Soup Peddler on our home turf.
Armenian Apricot Soup Recipe
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, diced
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3 cups red lentils, rinsed
10 cups water
12 ounces dried apricots, chopped
salt
Heat the oil in your soup pot over medium heat, then stir in the onions and carrots. Saute for about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and stir well. Decrease the heat, cover, and let the vegetables sweat for ten minutes.
Add the lentils and pour in enough of the water to cover. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low and cook for twenty minutes, or until the lentils and carrots are tender. Add more of the water as needed as the lentils soften and expand.
Remove from the heat, stir in the apricots and any remaining water, and season with salt. Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth; alternatively working in batches, puree in a regular blender until smooth. Take care not to over salt this soup. The right amount will bring out the flavor of the apricots but leave the onions in the background. Serve hot.
Serves 8 to 10.
The Soup Peddler's Slow & Difficult Soups by David Ansel (Ten Speed Press, 2005)
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Your Comments
Anna said:I live in Austin, and the Soup Peddler is one part of what makes this city so unique. His soups are so yummy too! Not sure if it's in there, but there's a cold apple soup that he did one time that was lovely.
Enjoy it!
Hopefully, by the time I move to Austin in 2 years, I'll get to partake in the soup-gooness. In the meantime, I'm gonna go buy the book! Fabulous post, Heidi -- and as usual, I'm very curious as to where you got the serving piece in the photo...
I'm Armenian and I honestly have never heard of this soup. I have to ask my mom. Sounds interesting!
Sounds wonderful. I remember reading a post in which you raved about your Le Creuset dutch oven. I am finally prepared to purchase one of my own that will be used primarily for making soups and chili and things of that nature. Would you suggest the 5 1/2 or the 7 1/4 qt. size?
hi heidi,
such a timely post. i've heard raves about the soup peddler before, but it's nice to see it here. i'll be moving to austin from the bay area in about 1 month, and believe it or not, the soup peddler is literally in my backyard, one block away. i can't wait. your soup looks lovely, btw.
What an intriguing combination of ingredients.
I am going to have to try this soup!
ha3rvey said:Oh, my...
I included this soup as part of the Russian meal in my International Cuisine class last semester. It's wonderful! I think its name was "Vospapur," but that may be a generic name for lentil soups.
My classmates who looked at the recipe thought it sounded weird, but I was the last one laughing after they tasted it. This soup rocked their socks.
I used a similar recipe from the book "Please To The Table," which is a great book of Russian/Ukranian/Turkish/etc. recipes, many of which are vegetarian or are easy to adapt.
I think it started with sauteeing onion, garlic, and the apricots together. Add lentils and chicken (or veg) stock. Bring to a boil, simmer 20-30 minutes.
Add chopped tomatoes and cumin. (I think there was thyme, too.) Simmer 10 minutes. Puree half the soup and season to taste with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
It's the best. I'm planning on making a vegetarian version at church as soon as the weather allows. (It's 102 in Dallas today.)
I just bought the Soup Peddler book and am so thrilled to read it both for the recipes and the inspiring story. As someone in their early twenties who is struggling between pursuing life passions versus a financially secure future, this is timely for me =) I'm def. trying this soup, and his gazpacho recipe as well. And pumpkin pear soup for this coming fall? Doesn't get any better than that.
I too bought this book a couple of weeks ago - love it - a very worthy post!!
I just made a pot of this after seeing it on this website today and I love it. My husband and I are very happy with it and it was so easy to make. Thank you.
Katy,
I would say that bigger is better for the dutch oven - particularly if you like to have leftovers or cook for a crowd (soups, chilis, etc).
The soup peddler calls for an 8-quart stockpot for most of his soups. I managed to squeeze all the ingredients for this one into my 5-1/2 (?) quart dutch oven, but next time will break out the big stockpot - I got very close to the rim with this recipe.
Happy soupmaking to you all! -h
What an inspiring read. I love soup and will most certainly try this recipe. I don't think that you can go very wrong with lentils.And the little twist of the apricot makes it even more attracting.
I love how you deliver all these wonderful recipes. You feed body and soul.
Valentina
Heidi,
This sounds like a very interesting soup. Thank you for posting it, I'm sure my parents would love it. I'm going to show them as soon as I can. Maybe then they'll pay attention to me and realize that Ramen Noodle is not the only soup out there.
I've just made this soup for dinner. It's delicious!
I made this soup this weekend for a dinner party. I used green lentils because i could not find red so the color was completely different but not unpleasant. I added some croutons that I made sprinkling the bread with tumeric which was a nice color and flavor contrast. One note, this makes a ton of soup, though the leftovers are excellent. Also, it took longer than 20 minutes to get the three cups of lentils to the right consistency. I don't know anything about different kinds of lentils so I don't know if this makes sense. I really liked the strong cumin heat followed by the gentle sweetness of the apricots.
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