The first dusting of Jack Frost lies on the early morning ground, and our minds instinctively turn away from the sweet foods of summer, to the staples of autumn - to starchy, soulful dishes, and especially to soups.
Early autumn is the time for soups, the time for the comfort they bring to the table. Fifty years ago, a French chef, Louis P. De Gouy wrote in The Soup Book: "Soup is cuisine's kindest course. It breathes reassurance; it steams consolation; after a weary day it promotes sociability . . . there is nothing like a bowl of hot soup, its wisp of aromatic steam making the nostrils quiver with anticipation".
There is something of a note of benediction in De Gouy's words, a note of blessing which suits the eating of soup. Soups may be the simplest things, but their capacity for perfection singles them out amongst the culinary arts. When made with respect, nothing can match them, as you will find with the seasonal soup recipes from our three chefs, Denis Cotter, of Cork's Cafe Paradiso, Stefan Matz, of Erriseask House Hotel in Connemara, and Paul Brady, head chef of The Wine Vault, in Waterford city.
Denis Cotter's pair of soups - aubergine and roasted tomato - offer perfect flavours for ringing the change from summer to autumn, and they may help solve the difficulty of any final glut you have of either tomatoes or aubergines.
Stefan Matz's soup is somewhat more involved, but the end result is purest nectar of spinach, even with the presence of the cream. Paul Brady's pair of soups are the work of an instinctively imaginative chef who loves lively, pointed flavours. This is the way to welcome autumn, and send summer out with a flourish.
Denis Cotter's Aubergine Soup with Red Pepper and Chilli Oil
4 medium aubergines
11.2 kgt olive oil 2 onions
chopped 8 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, ground
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled
half glass red wine
4 fresh bay leaves
1.2 L water or light stock
salt and black pepper
fresh coriander or mint, chopped
Slice the aubergines in half lengthways and place them, cut side down, on an oven tray brushed with olive oil. Roast the aubergines in a hot oven until soft and browned, twenty to thirty minutes. Use a spoon to scoop all the aubergine flesh from the charred skins.
Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a soup pot and start the onions cooking in it. After a few minutes, add the garlic cloves, cumin and coriander. When the onion is soft, add the tomatoes and the red wine and stew this until the tomatoes break down. Now put in the water, the bay leaves and the aubergine flesh, bring it to a boil and simmer gently for fifteen minutes.
Season generously with salt and pepper, then blend the soup. Stir in some chopped fresh coriander or mint.
Serve the soup with a blob or swirl of the red pepper and chilli oil on top.
Red Pepper and Chilli Oil
1 red pepper, roasted and peeled
3 Thai "birds eye" chillies or
1 hot fresh chilli seeds included
1 clove garlic quarter
Teaspoon salt
100 mls water
100 mls olive oil
Chop the roasted pepper and the fresh chilli and put them in a pot with the garlic, salt and water. Cook it at a lively simmer until the liquid has reduced to about a quarter its volume. Put this in a food processor and blend it to a smooth pure. With the motor running, pour in the olive oil and keep blending until you have a slightly thick sauce.
Denis Cotter's Roasted Tomato Soup
2 kg ripe tomatoes
8 cloves garlic
1 sprig of rosemary
1 sprig of thyme
2 onions
100 mls tomato passata
800 mls light stock or water seasoning
1 cupful of fresh herbs, coarsely chopped or torn: basil, parsley, oregano, marjoram, maybe a little of fennel, dill or chives
Serves six to eight
Chop the tomatoes in halves, toss them in a little olive oil and roast in a hot oven, turning occasionally, until browning. Peel the garlic cloves and add them to the tomatoes, with the rosemary and thyme, about 5 minutes into the cooking.
Chop the onion and cook it in a little olive oil, until soft. Transfer both the onion and the tomatoes to a large pot, discarding the herb stalks, and add the passata and stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Blend to get a smooth pure, then sieve it to get the skins out. If the soup is thicker than you like, you can, at this stage, dilute it with a little water and bring it back up to a boil. Season well and stir in the fresh herbs; or stir the herbs into each individual portion.
Stefan Matz's Cream of Ginger and Spinach Soup
6 shallots, peeled and chopped
1 small clove garlic
1 finger-length of ginger, peeled and chopped
25 g butter
100 ml white wine
800 ml chicken consomme or alter- natively bouillon
300 ml fresh cream
100 g whipped cream
400 g leaf spinach, washed and shredded salt, pepper, nutmeg lemon juice
Serves four
Sweat the shallots, garlic and ginger in butter until soft. Add the fresh cream, wine and chicken consomme. Boil until the liquid is reduced by one third.
Liquidise and strain.
Process the soup with the washed spinach until smooth. Adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice to taste. Fold in the whipped cream shortly before serving the soup.
Paul Brady's Smoked Chicken Soup with Avocado and Cumin Cream
For the Soup: 2 stalks celery diced
1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic diced 1 leek (white only), diced
2 breasts smoked chicken, diced
half-pint cream,
1-2 pints chicken stock
Sweat all the vegetables in a little olive oil, without colouring. Add one and a half chicken breasts, one pint of the stock and the cream. Simmer for about 25 minutes. Pure the soup, adding more stock if required. Season to taste and then add the remaining diced chicken.
For the Avocado Cream:
1 avocado diced
Half teaspoon cumin
The juice and rind of 1 lime
2 shallots diced
quarter pint whipped cream
seasoning
Using a fork, mix all the ingredients together, except for the cream. Combine until a semismooth paste is achieved, then fold in the whipped cream and season to taste. Chill for three hours before use.
Veloute of Wild Salmon flavoured with Green Peppercorns and Dill
For the Fish Stock:
1 lb fish bones
1 carrot
1 celery stick, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
fresh herbs, chopped
half an onion, chopped
2 pints water
Place all the ingredients together in a pot and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
For the Veloute:
8 oz wild salmon, diced (no bones or skin)
1 small jar green peppercorns in brine
2 cloves chopped garlic
Bunch of fresh dill leaves, chopped finely (no stalks)
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 stalks celery
1 glass dry white wine
2 pints fish stock (as above)
Beurre Maine (equal quantity of butter and flour mixed together)
Seasoning
Sweat the diced vegetables without colouring. Add the white wine and about 10 crushed peppercorns. Reduce a little and add the stock. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Puree the soup and reboil. Add the cream and thicken with Beurre Maine to required consistency.
Add the salmon, dill and the remaining peppercorns, crushed. Cook for two to three minutes.
Season to taste and serve.
Cafe Paradiso, Western Road, Cork tel: (021) 277939 Erriseask House Hotel, Ballyconneely, Con- nemara tel: (095) 23553 The Wine Vault, High Street, Waterford tel: (051) 853444