Readers of the First Civilization's Legacy Series probably recognize the infamous tavern, the One-Eyed Pelican. Readers might also recall the single meal that Flank Hawk (Krish) is willing to eat and Road Toad's (Major Jadd's) favorite place to dine. The red, greasy, fish soup.
Well, I decided to actually cook what I imagined it to be, with an eye toward making it more palatable, by using better quality ingredients, clean cooking pots and utensils, and not re-heating day after day, adding water to stretch it.
Reviewing my notes on the novels, I determined what would be available to the One-Eyed Pelican's cook, and what such an establishment might use (of what's available).
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| Fish Soup Ingredients |
3 Tomatoes (large)
1 beet
1 onion
1 stick of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of sea salt
1/4 cup of flour
2 cod fillets
6 cups of water
Process:
Peel beat and dice.
Dice tomatoes.
Peel and dice onion
Dice cod fillets
Place in pot.
Add butter, olive oil and salt.
Add 5 cups of water.
Stir flour into warm cup of water, and add to pot.
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| Prior to Cooking |
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| Cooked Soup |
Cook under low to medium heat, with a lid on the pot, for two hours and fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve in bowl (Flank Hawk ate the soup with stale bread and bitter ale--I'd suggest choosing your own accompanying food and drink).
Commentary:
I actually enjoyed it. A little on the salty side. My daughter said it was okay, but not something she'd order. My wife thought it had too fishy of a taste, maybe more mild of fish would make it better.
Post Cooking Observations:
I would've preferred using a turnip in place of a beet, but really, the Pelican's cooks would use whatever is on hand. I also would suggest using 2 turnips (or beets). I'd hoped it would've been a little more red in color, but neither the beet nor the tomatoes carried the day. In truth, the Pelican's cook would use some sort of grease from other food cooked, instead of butter or olive oil but, again, I wanted to make it palatable.
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| Soup in Bowl |
I'll be honest...it doesn't sound all that great. But considering the parameters you needed to work in I think you came up with a decent bowl of soup. Making your soup more of a tomato base would have helped some with the color. It would have taken stewing the tomatoes and pulverizing them into a sauce and thinning out with water or broth.
ReplyDeleteNot a problem, Hannah. It's far cry from find dining fare.
DeleteYou're right about the coloring...I am not really a chef in any sense of the word, but like you said, with the parameters, the cook at the One-Eyed Pelican wouldn't have done any of that.
Thanks for reading and for the input/insight. :)
I'd probably cook down the veg for awhile, as you did, then add in the diced cod in the last 15 minutes, at the most. That'd improve the texture and kept down the fishy taste. And cut the salt by 75%, at least.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, this reminded me of a tomato-seafood bisque recipe I made up several years ago. I found the recipe, and the main difference (besides the beet and the olive oil) is that I use chicken stock instead of water one to one with heavy cream. And as Hannah suggested, I pureed the cooked tomatoes.
Maybe a little hoity-toity for your dive and its denizens?
That suggestion, adding the fish near the end, might work for my wife but, like you indicated, the process would be too 'hoity-toity' for the cook to be concerned. :)
DeleteThanks for taking a moment to consider and comment.