Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Foods The Best of Broth Worlds
Posted by Carrington Fox on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 6:31 AM
If you've ever seen me during cold-and-flu season, chances are I've whined between nose-blowings about how there's precious little brothy soup around town. For some reason, everyone seems to think "the thicker the better" and crams so much pasta and cream into a chicken soup as to make it more of a casserole in a bowl.
When I'm sick, what I'm looking for is thin salty broth, and as the spectre of winter looms across our fair city, I'm pleased to say I've discovered a couple of contenders for Best Neutrophil Chemotaxis Inhibitor--though, as you'll see in this week's Scene, that was not actually a category in this year's Best of Nashville poll.
One of the chicken soup laudables comes from Whole Foods in Green Hills, where new prepared food team leader Cherae McMann has introduced a golden elixir bobbing with rotisserie chicken chunks, rotini, celery and carrots. Made with an olive oil base, the rich broth has a sultry salty finish and is still liquidy enough to give a satisfying slurp.
The other contender is surely the best matzoh ball soup a shiksa ever made. Over at Provence, Julia Helton has swooped in to fill the soup-void left by the closing of Goldie's Deli. The beautiful byproduct of so much homemade chicken salad (Helton uses the broth from all the chickens boiled in the course of the week), a bowl of Provence's soup with two fluffy globes of matzoh is the next best thing to penicillin.
When the back of my throat tickles and my nose starts to run, my mind wanders to another chicken soup, which did make it into the Best of Nashville list, although in the category of Best Takeout. Of course, you'll have to wait to read about that in the paper.
Comments (6)
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My favorite soup when I have a cold is the chicken soup at El Palenque in Green Hills. Garlicky and thin, with only as much rice as you want to add to it. It has magical healing powers.
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I think the lentil soup from Anatolia cures colds. It has potatoes in it so it's not brothy, but it's also not heavy nor rich.
Tom yum soups at Thai restaurants are brothy and seem to do the trick.
I'm a tom yum girl too. Shrimp soup at Hacienda is great. I miss the posole there.
