Masticating with Nancy Pierce
Super Autumnal Soups!
by Nancy Pierce, Our Town Food
The one thing the Albany Sex Expo brochure doesn't tell you is just how cold Albany can get, even in late summer! The entire week up in Albany was just wonderful, from the sex swing demo to my first Chinese meal. The people of Albany, while a little disturbed about the Sex Expo's presence, could not have been more wonderful.
Case in point: It is eleven in the morning last Wednesday and I've got a few hours to kill before the Sex Expo opens up for business for the day. So I'm wandering around downtown Albany, enjoying the sites when I smell something fantastic wafting through the brisk morning air. I follow my nose to the source, five miles down the road, to a little store with a little sign and an absolutely huge line wrapped around the corner. The sign said "Maria's Soup Shop" and, me being the soup fanatic that I am, I hop right in line behind a portly gentleman (later that day at the Sex Expo, or Sexpo, I would see the same portly man from the line trying out a new line of edible underwear).
Well the wait was long, but well worth it. When I finally made it inside, I was greeted with the warm aromas that can only come from a small kitchen. There was pea soup, lentil soup, a black bean chilli, and a butternut squash soup that, while slightly out of season, was absolutely divine.
After flashing my press credentials (who knew a Sexpo pass would work in a soup shop?), I was admitted into the kitchen and given a tour by Maria herself! Maria is a small woman whose apparent success has definitely not gone to her head. She talks with an upstate accent in a rapid fashion and seems to be the kind of person who does not need sleep to function. "I get here every morning at 5:30 and start making the soups with a few of my workers. You gotta let the soup cook long enough or it's no good. Then we open at 10:30 and get our bread delivery and all that, then we're open all afternoon until 5."
I asked Maria for some of her recipes, but she sure wouldn't budge, citing them as "family secrets." I tried everything to get her to crack, even going as far as to offer her one of my day passes for the Sexpo ("Diamond Lace and Turbo are going to be there tomorrow signing copies of their DVD" I offered. She responded: "Who?" She's as cool as her soups are piping hot!).
When I returned home, sore and aching from my week of exhausting sexual enlightenment, I decided that a nice bowl of soup would really hit the spot. Craving some of Maria's butternut squash soup, I settled on trying my hand at Maria's version.
After a quick trip to the supermarket and video store ("Katrina's Dungeon" was late...bummer!), I got to work. I started out roasting one large butternut squash until it was soft and had caramelized on the outside. Then I sauteed onion and garlic in olive oil before adding chicken stock. After a few moments, I added to roasted squash to the pot and pureed the whole shebang. I let it simmer on the stove for an hour or so until it had thickened slightly, seasoned it with salt, pepper and nutmeg (incidentally, the name of my favorite ethnic adult performer), and then eagerly spooned it up.
So, you're wondering, how was it?
Well Maria's soup contained no dairy as far as I could tell, but it had the buttery quality that you get from whole milk. It also had a barely discernable essence of vanilla and even rosemary. Now mine was certainly tasty, rich from the well-roasted squash, but I'll tell ya, it just wasn't the same. If only I had that recipe!
Maybe next time I should offer Maria some bondage gear!
Next week, Nancy reviews items from your grocer's freezer!
by Nancy Pierce, Our Town Food
The one thing the Albany Sex Expo brochure doesn't tell you is just how cold Albany can get, even in late summer! The entire week up in Albany was just wonderful, from the sex swing demo to my first Chinese meal. The people of Albany, while a little disturbed about the Sex Expo's presence, could not have been more wonderful.
Case in point: It is eleven in the morning last Wednesday and I've got a few hours to kill before the Sex Expo opens up for business for the day. So I'm wandering around downtown Albany, enjoying the sites when I smell something fantastic wafting through the brisk morning air. I follow my nose to the source, five miles down the road, to a little store with a little sign and an absolutely huge line wrapped around the corner. The sign said "Maria's Soup Shop" and, me being the soup fanatic that I am, I hop right in line behind a portly gentleman (later that day at the Sex Expo, or Sexpo, I would see the same portly man from the line trying out a new line of edible underwear).
Well the wait was long, but well worth it. When I finally made it inside, I was greeted with the warm aromas that can only come from a small kitchen. There was pea soup, lentil soup, a black bean chilli, and a butternut squash soup that, while slightly out of season, was absolutely divine.
After flashing my press credentials (who knew a Sexpo pass would work in a soup shop?), I was admitted into the kitchen and given a tour by Maria herself! Maria is a small woman whose apparent success has definitely not gone to her head. She talks with an upstate accent in a rapid fashion and seems to be the kind of person who does not need sleep to function. "I get here every morning at 5:30 and start making the soups with a few of my workers. You gotta let the soup cook long enough or it's no good. Then we open at 10:30 and get our bread delivery and all that, then we're open all afternoon until 5."
I asked Maria for some of her recipes, but she sure wouldn't budge, citing them as "family secrets." I tried everything to get her to crack, even going as far as to offer her one of my day passes for the Sexpo ("Diamond Lace and Turbo are going to be there tomorrow signing copies of their DVD" I offered. She responded: "Who?" She's as cool as her soups are piping hot!).
When I returned home, sore and aching from my week of exhausting sexual enlightenment, I decided that a nice bowl of soup would really hit the spot. Craving some of Maria's butternut squash soup, I settled on trying my hand at Maria's version.
After a quick trip to the supermarket and video store ("Katrina's Dungeon" was late...bummer!), I got to work. I started out roasting one large butternut squash until it was soft and had caramelized on the outside. Then I sauteed onion and garlic in olive oil before adding chicken stock. After a few moments, I added to roasted squash to the pot and pureed the whole shebang. I let it simmer on the stove for an hour or so until it had thickened slightly, seasoned it with salt, pepper and nutmeg (incidentally, the name of my favorite ethnic adult performer), and then eagerly spooned it up.
So, you're wondering, how was it?
Well Maria's soup contained no dairy as far as I could tell, but it had the buttery quality that you get from whole milk. It also had a barely discernable essence of vanilla and even rosemary. Now mine was certainly tasty, rich from the well-roasted squash, but I'll tell ya, it just wasn't the same. If only I had that recipe!
Maybe next time I should offer Maria some bondage gear!
Next week, Nancy reviews items from your grocer's freezer!
