Scenes from a Soup Swap! Here's PDX!
Saturday kicked off the 2008 Soup Swap season with swaps in Portland, Seattle, Vancouver and Phoenix. Vic and I had the good fortune to be invited to the Portland, Oregon Soup Swap.
With 15 soups to choose from, and a lively very competitive Telling of the Soup, Vic had to scribble notes to keep track which soups we'd be angling for.
Primarily a group of dancers, they were exuberant in the descriptions and obviously not afraid of a bit of fat in their soups or in the amazing spread of snacks and dessert. We brought down a very nice and spicy Cactus Posole only to find that hominy and Sante Fe style soups and stews seemed to be the order of the night! I would say, "Fie!", as I hoped ours would be original enough to get picked first, except that I like eating southwestern stews and I hate to admit being that competitive.
The soups of the night included some real Oregon favorites like Beer Cheese (two types!) and Salmon Chowder to some experiments like Caribbean Chicken and a Moroccan Stew. One thing that I found compelling in the Telling of the Soup was how many of the recipes came from local cafes and restaurants.
We remind folks: when you are swapping this much soup, don't move it around half way through the swap! Folks are playing a game of Concentration as they try to recall what soup they want and if you move the soup, there might just be a riot. There nearly was in Portland!
We hope that our soup receives some favorable reviews and that we'll get invited back next year as we really loved getting to meet the hilarious and friendly folks at Portland's Second Soup Swap!
Soup Swapping in Portland, Oregon (click on pictures for larger versions)
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posted by Knox Gardner at
8:47 AM
2 Comments:
How does a "Beer Cheese" soup freeze & thaw? Is the carbonation usually part of its appeal? (i.e. Does it matter that the beer will be flat by the time it is served?)
Well, we are going to thaw it after skiing this weekend, so we will let you know.
I have the recipe in the pile that got handed out in Portland, so I will look at it and post it.
I would think that the beer would be somewhat flat by the time the cooking was done. I have never had it, so I can only speak to the appeal of having my two favorite food groups in the same bowl. I have no idea what it is supposed to taste like!
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