I make soup every week since autumn began, and there is one ingredient I never leave out. Making soup is a lot easier than people think. By simply roasting or frying some vegetables and adding stock, you have everything you need to blend and make a soup that will be both tasty and filling. I have come to love making soup regularly. It has become somewhat of a weekly ritual for me as I gear up for the cold winter we are about to have.
I have made soups with various combinations of vegetables. A lovely sweet potato and carrot soup was one of my most recent creations. Meanwhile, I have also made a heart-warming potato and leek soup, as well as a spicy tomato and butternut squash soup. In every recipe, I added an ingredient that I will never skip. For every soup I make, I add around a tablespoon of cumin. Cumin is an indispensable spice for me, and it’s something I always have to have in my kitchen cupboard.
Cumin adds a richness to pretty much any dish. I even include cumin in things like tinned baked beans and pasta dishes. It gives a depth that few other spices can.
Even better, I find that when cumin is mixed with black pepper and paprika, it adds a complexity to a soup that is not achieved through simply blending vegetables. In autumn, I enjoy more earthy flavours as opposed to the sweetness I crave in winter.
Adding cumin to things is a great way to achieve this. I find this to be especially true when it comes to soups made of mostly root vegetables.
For example, my recent sweet potato and carrot soup got a lovely earthy yet spiced edge when I added cumin. Having added cumin to my soups for a while, I’m a lot more generous with my measurements.
Meanwhile, when I made a potato and leek soup, it had the same effect, and almost brought out the comforting, familiar flavour of the white potatoes.
When I made a tomato and chilli-based soup, cumin had a different effect. It took out some of the tanginess that comes with tomato soup, and blended well with the spiciness of the chillies.