Historical Soup
I’m not a huge fan of soup. I generally only drink soup if it’s cold or served in a bowl in the form of delicious, crusty bread. I do think soup gets a bad rap sometimes though. Some people (especially young, stubborn children) see soup as “boring” or “bland”. Sure. Broth is pretty basic, but it completely depends on the circumstances in which you have it in and the experience that comes with it because food is definitely an experience.
For me, basic broth was the most sensational dinner I had had after my first day of walking in a reenactment of the Mormon Pioneer Trek. That day we walked close to 20 miles pulling a hand cart filled with our sleeping gear and a water jug. All we had for food was an orange that we were given at the start of this venture, and we were sent on our way.
At first, the walk was enjoyable. Individuals are placed into “families” before the trek starts that includes members of the same congregation. Each family was composed of a ma, pa, 2–3 sisters, 2–3 brothers and a flour-sack baby that was to passed around from person to person.
For the first couple hours, we spent time enjoying getting to know the new members of our “family” and taking turns pulling the hand cart and holding our perishable baby sibling. The road was smooth at first with only a few up hills that are energized bodies could handle, but soon those little hills and few miles started to grow longer and steeper as our energy began to diminish and the sun sank lower behind the mountains.
“This is the place.” Brigham Young, a prophet and president of the Mormon church during the pioneer trek said this of Salt Lake City, Utah.
At dusk, there was more silence than had been. We had gone about 10 miles with nothing in our stomach but a few orange slices. Some ate all their orange slices because the wait was too much for them. We began to sing songs to try to liven up the mood (and no-they weren’t pioneery, churchy songs; Katy Perry was our most popular artist that evening). Pretty soon, everyone’s voices got tired just like every other part of their body and the sun was completely out of sight. The only light leading our way was the dim moon and the stars.
We started our journey at noon that day and entered camp by one in the morning. You could see the tired, dirt-streaked faces of trekkers from 14 to 40 years old. Fatigue and hunger overcame some and had to be escorted back to a rescue camp to be relieved from the trekking experience.
The road became tougher. Flat, slick stones lined the steep hills and many of our family members slipped and fell trying to find traction in the hard gravely soil. Our hands were starting to blister and our stomachs growled.
As we pulled into our camp, lights appeared and the smell of something cooking filled our nostrils. We promptly unpacked our things and raced to the line for food, of course after saying a prayer that seemed to last a lifetime. The warm broth felt heavenly going down my throat and into my belly, now bruised from being racked against the rails of the handcart along the rough terrain. It was the tastiest thing I had ever experienced up to that point in my life.
Everyone’s countenance seemed to become a little brighter as they slurped their liquid dinner. After we settled our stomachs, it became very apparent that we were exhausted beyond comprehension. I remember a rock digging into my side the entire night as I lied on my thin sleeping bag, but I didn’t even care. My body was in rest mode and my stomach was full of the most amazing broth I have ever had in my short existence.
So..soup. It’s different for everyone. It can be a brunch meal with your aunt, or something to keep you warm and cozy on a December night watching the Hallmark channel. It just depends on where you have it, who is there, what you’re feeling. It is what you make it out to be. It seems silly to talk about soup in such a dramatic light, but food is key to survival so I guess that’s pretty important. Whatever the circumstance is, find your soup. Your experience with a perishable token of remembrance of something important to you. Soup is an experience. Weird huh?
