An Exaltation of Soups (30 page)

In fact, soup goes to the heart of alcohol impacts. Because it’s liquid, it helps rehydrate poor dehydrated you, flushing out poisons and plumping the brain back up. Because it’s nutritious, it raises your blood-sugar levels, calms your stomach, and helps you stay energized while the alcohol metabolizes in its own sweet time. As for specific ingredients, well, who knows? There are lots of claims, but not much science. The bottom line is, if you want to chase that headache, no matter where you are in the world, think soup, eat soup. Thus I’ve stipulated big potfuls of the stuff in the recipes that follow. The more the better.

D
ENMARK
BEER SOUP
O
LLEBROD

Serves 6 to 8

T
HIS SOUP IS
effective because it’s belly calming—and also because it’s a bit of the hair of the dog. One thing only: you’ve got to be planning your debauch the night before to take advantage of this recipe, as the bread needs an overnight soaking. But once the soaking is done, this takes only a minute to cook and eat. And did I mention it is sweet-tart, soft on the palate, and, yes, belly-calming comfort food?

1. The night before (or a minimum of 3 hours ahead), place the bread pieces in a deep saucepan and pour in the ale mixed with the water.

2. Prep the lemon.

Put the saucepan with the bread mixture over low heat and simmer until it thickens. Puree in a blender, adding the grated lemon zest and juice and sweetening to taste.

Return the soup to the saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve immediately, topped with plain or whipped cream and a pinch of cinnamon.

F
RANCE
LES HALLES ONION SOUP
S
OUPE
à
L’OIGNON GRATINéE

Serves 6 to 8

HERE IS PARIS’S
answer to
la guele de bois—
that “wooden mouth” you get when you pour too much alcohol through it. It’s a marvelous soup, rich and fragrant, packed with restoratives, and very simple to make, in the spirit of rushing a bowl to one in pain. Speaking of which, some bars are savvy enough to have onion soup on the menu. A former U.S. diplomat told me about one bar in Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire, that had a barman-in-training who would traverse the length of the bar with scissors, snipping the molten cheese strings from the customers’ lips so the cheese would fall back into the bowl.

1. Prep the ingredients as directed in the recipe list.

2. Prepare the garnish: cut 6 to 8 slices of French bread ½ inch thick and toast them in a 350°F. oven for about 15 minutes, until they are dry toast. Drizzle each with a little olive oil and set aside. Grate the cheeses and set aside.

1. Melt the butter in a large soup pot over very low heat and add the onions, stirring constantly. Sweat for 5 to 10 minutes, covered, until they are soft and golden, then sprinkle them with flour, stirring, and add 2 cups of the stock. Turn up the heat to medium high and stir until the mixture is thickened.

2. Add the remaining stock and the brandy. Return to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into individual, oven-resistant bowls and top each portion with a handful of Gruyère cheese. Place a piece of toast on each portion, sprinkle with the Parmesan, then run the bowls under a broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is melted. Carry to the table immediately on a tray—those bowls are hot.

G
UATEMALA
SPICED TOMATO-EGG SOUP
C
ALDO DE HUEVO PARA LA GOMA

Serves 6 to 8

W
OW
! P
IQUANT AND
astringent until you bite into that rich and creamy egg. This is a beautiful and unusual soup, quite nice with corn bread as breakfast on a cold day (make the broth the night before) or as a warming lunch, using two eggs per person instead of one.