Emile and Thérèse Maes Roelandts.
Marraine’s pumpkin soup.
Thérèse Roelandts is my grandmother on my mother’s side. Thérèse and my grandfather Emile had five children. One girl, “our little Lea”, sadly lived only a few years, to the deep grief of my marraine and bompa. Six people around the table is a lot of work when they eat three times a day. Moreover, my grandmother was one of the first women to teach: “gimmenas” (gymnastics, PE). That was very revolutionary in those years.
Important words from my Marraine: A soup should not boil longer than 7 minutes, otherwise all the nutrients & vitamins are gone. As her son, my uncle Marc Maes, wrote in his religion exam, completing the quote: “Man does not live by bread alone, but also by meat and vegetables.” Uncle Marc failed Religion that year… .
Ingredients:
- 1 small pumpkin
- 2 bay leaves
- Peanut oil to grease the bottom of the pan.
- Homemade vegetable stock or 2 to 3 stock cubes, or for those who prefer it, chicken stock
- Optionally a carrot or a piece of parsnip for a sweeter taste.
- Lovage, but not too much in pumpkin soup
In a modern version of this soup you can add a sweet potato. Those orange potatoes with brown skin that were not known here in our grandmothers’ day.
When serving, lay the table with a good pepper mill.
A salt mill or fleur de sel is fine too.
The secret of a good soup is quite simple: you have to let 1 vegetable speak. 1 vegetable is the boss and determines the flavour, the other vegetables complement the flavour of the main vegetable. Today we take the example of pumpkin soup. A very healthy vegetable packed with vitamins.
I prefer not to write down weights; you may use your own feel and creativity to get a full flavour. Depending on the pumpkin you choose, you add vegetables that make the flavour more intense. This pumpkin recipe contains no onion.
Peeling a pumpkin is quite a job. Put on some nice music and take your time. The easiest way is to divide the pumpkin and peel it piece by piece. You may cut fairly large pieces.
The cut flesh should be lightly fried, sweated. For about five minutes. This is good for releasing the flavours.
Marraine often used lard, but I prefer a vegetable oil.
You are best off always keeping peanut oil in the kitchen. It gives off no flavour and can be heated to high temperatures.
Marraine often tied together a bouquet garni to throw into the soup while she cooked. A bouquet garni can be made up of dried bay, thyme, rosemary and parsley. If you tie it to the handle of the saucepan, it is easy to find again. Bay from the garden is best. Never add fresh bay. Grandmothers know that fresh bay is slightly poisonous and dried bay leaves are 100% healthy. The poison disappears during drying.
You may add 1 stalk of fresh lovage ( maggi/lavas) but for pumpkin not too much.
After cooling and fishing out the bouquet garni, blend and it is ready.
Add pepper and salt to taste (I simply put them on the table, a good pepper mill and salt mill or fleur de sel) and in a contemporary version you may sprinkle a little fresh paprika powder over it when serving.
A simple, nourishing, healthy dish for every wallet! – Kiki Didden, granddaughter
