Chunky vegetable soup built on a sherry roux base

Now and then I think of something in the world of cooking and reckon I’ve been really clever, only to discover that I haven’t been at all.

For a blissful moment, I think I’ve come up with something all on my own that will revolutionise the way… okay, let’s not get carried away. But I do sometimes think, hmmmm, I’ve never heard of that technique – maybe it’s all my own.

Like Sunday’s idea of a sherry roux. Had I ever heard of it before? Not that I could recall. When I have this kind of thought, which happens often, the first thing I do is Google it, just in case I’m not being clever at all but merely coming up with something that’s been done for generations.

So I asked Google. To which AI replied (because we can’t google any more without AI stepping in, as if it has subsumed the remnants of Uncle Google’s brain): “Combining sherry and a roux is a classic culinary technique that adds luxurious creaminess, depth, and a rich nutty or slightly sweet flavour to soups. It is a highly favoured method for elevating mushroom, lobster, and turtle soups.”

So. Not clever. Nevertheless, if it had never been thunk of before, I would have thunk of it on Sunday and felt really good about myself. Instead, I set about making a sherry roux on which to build up a simple but deeply satisfying chunky vegetable soup.

The only other thing that became clear during that brief Google/AI session was that there are several people in South Africa who answer to the name Sherry Roux.

Tony’s chunky vegetable soup

(Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients

For the roux/stock:

3 heaped Tbsp butter

2 heaped Tbsp flour

Dry or semi-sweet sherry (look, I didn’t measure – rather measure it by taste)

2 litres vegetable (or chicken) stock

For the soup:

3 heaped Tbsp butter

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 fat garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

2 celery stalks, diced

3 large leeks, rinsed and chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and diced small

2 large turnips, peeled and diced small

2 ears of corn, the kernels sliced off

2 litres vegetable stock (as described above)

Black garlic salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

6 pak choy or other green leaf vegetable (such as cabbage or kale), chopped

2 Tbsp fennel fronds, finely chopped

4 Tbsp parsley, chopped, two-thirds to stir in and one-third to garnish

Method

Choose a large, heavy pot for the soup. Make the roux in a separate, smaller pot and build it into a stock:

Melt butter in the pot on a low heat, and stir in the flour off the heat to make a simple roux. Cook it on a low heat, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add a little sherry at a time, stirring constantly until it is thoroughly blended, then a little more, tasting as you go, until you’re happy with the flavour. Bear in mind that it’s a large pot of soup, and you want the flavour to be identifiable throughout. I would say the amount of sherry I added, in all, was about half a cup.

Now add the stock a little at a time, stirring all the while, until you have around about 2 litres of sherry-infused vegetable stock. Keep it to one side while you start to cook the vegetables for the soup.

Prepare all the vegetables and have them ready. The celery, carrots and turnips should be diced into small cubes. The leeks should be sliced in half lengthwise, then in half lengthwise again, and then chopped into small pieces. Slice the kernels off the corn cob and discard the cob.

Melt 3 heaped Tbsp butter in the large pot and add the onions. Cook gently, stirring for about 5 minutes, then add the chopped garlic, stir and continue cooking gently for 3 minutes.

Add the celery, leeks, carrots, turnips, and corn kernels, stir well and cook, stirring every couple of minutes, for about 10 minutes, on a low heat. This is for the vegetable flavours to develop.

Add the stock, season to taste with black garlic salt (or other salt), stir well, and bring the pot to the boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook, with the lid on or slightly ajar, for about half an hour.

Stir the chopped green leaf vegetables in (I used pak choy), followed by the fennel and two-thirds of the parsley. Retain the remainder of the parsley for garnishing the soup. Don’t cook the soup for more than 2 minutes more once the green vegetables have been added.

Enjoy a bowl of soup with a glass or two of dry or semi-sweet sherry. DM

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.