Forgotten Soup
When I was younger I hated soup. I never finished dinner when it was soup. For some reason I never enjoyed broth and to this day when I eat soup it has to be something I really like for me to completely finish the bowl. The journey to my favorite soup is a long one: from my Nannie’s “buttons”, what we call the simple dish of tortellini and chicken broth, to stew where I only ate the meat and carrots, to my favorite soup: Italian wedding soup.
It is rare that I choose to eat soup. The weather has to be just right or I have to be fighting a small cold, in that circumstance though I typically branch out to the universally accepted choice of chicken noodle soup. Among my family and friends I am the most picky eater, choosing what to eat always has to come down to me, because my friends always say they can eat anywhere it is me that always has to see the menu first. The same is said for something as simple as soup. Just last night I had soup for the first time since January, when I was in that perfect storm of cold weather and being sick. When I turned to my mom to ask what soup we will be eating it was up to me to choose.
Funny a topic such as soup has been so relevant in my life recently. For a food I can go months without eating and not even notice, I am currently in search of one particular soup. As I said, the last time I ate soup was in January and at a time everyone was sick, the grocery store shelves were empty and soup was hard to find. It just so happens during this time of grocery shortage my mom came home with a can of soup. Now I wish I could say what soup.
At the start I said Italian wedding soup is my favorite soup, perhaps because it is most similar to a stew and has meat in it, but that may not be the case. Because one night in January I had a soup I loved and I was so surprised I immediately asked to add more of this one soup to our grocery list. This may seem small but it is coming from a girl that has never looked at the soup aisle in her life. When I tell you every time I was at Target or the various grocery stores around my house I looked in that soup aisle every time in search of this one soup, well that is a big deal. Unfortunately I am known for my squirrel brain, my rambling thoughts and nonstop internal dialogue. So just as fast as ideas and projects come into my mind and leave moments later, the name of that soup has followed suit. So for now, my favorite soup remains: Italian wedding soup.
From writing a memory was found. The soup I spent months trying to remember was a can of Campbell’s Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. Sitting in my pantry now are two cans, waiting for those perfect soup eating conditions.
