Our soups: to warm the winter and the heart

 

So said, describing himself, the little mouse Rémy from the movie Ratatouille, a small talent in the kitchen and a refined dreamer. In the film, which winks at Proust and the famous madeleine from “In Search of Lost Time”, the most challenging task for the undercover chef is to present a dish to the fearsome culinary critic Ego.

 

And the chef chooses for this tough test, to the dismay of everyone present, a humble dish from peasant tradition. A dish capable of melting the hard heart of the critic, bringing back to his mind, from the very first taste, memories of a carefree childhood spent in the countryside. 

 

That’s how it feels in front of a ready-made soup from Agriturismo Il Poggio. In the hurry of daily life, filled to the brim with many (sometimes too many) commitments, those who work all day and return home in the evening, tired, desire just one thing: to eat well. If we add that it’s now autumn and we are walking towards winter, after a rainy and cold day, the desire for a hot soup becomes a necessity. 

 

I spent part of my life in Tuscany, a place where I appreciated culinary varieties that are both indulgent and healthy. The aroma of soups, whether black cabbage or legume-based, is a vivid memory: something that speaks to me of dinners at agriturismos with friends, of the genuine and amusing cadence of my Sienese companions. In homemade soups, I still seek that: the pleasure. Evoked by a soup like the acqua cotta maremmana, to which nothing has been added, neither preservatives, nor colorants or artificial flavors, and to which nothing should be added, except a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil, which I cannot resist, and a slice of crunchy whole-grain bread. 

 

The selection is varied: from the more rustic and homemade soups, one moves to extremely refined ones, such as the mushroom soup or the great classic of French cuisine, imported here: the onion soup!

 

A generous pleasure, to share or to enjoy jealously, in relaxation.