Escalade Soup of Geneva
Happy Sunday, Soupers!
My family and I have been living in Swiss Romandie for 14 years! While we’ve lived in the the city of Lausanne, I have worked in Geneva (located roughly 40 miles away) for half of our stay. So it comes as no surprise that we’d finally get around to creating a Soupe de l’Escalade Genève (soupe de la Mère Royaume).
What is Escalade
According the Alimentarium in Vevey, every year, on 12 December, the city of Geneva hosts the Escalade festival to commemorate the attack on the city by Savoyard troops in the 1602.
According to legend, the troops were planning a surprise attack on the city by climbing the city walls. A citizen of Geneva saw the troops approaching through her window. To prevent them from climbing the walls of her home, she dumped a pot of soup on their heads and the rest is history. So this soup contains the ingredients that were found in this first soup some 419 years ago.
This festival brings Geneva’s inhabitants together around a celebration, a meal that includes soup and a chocolate cauldron.
Simple Soups Win
What makes this soup so special? It’s simplicity. There are no fancy ingredients or techniques. It’s a simplicity that only a grandma really knows. So don’t just enjoy this soup during a rainy or snowy winter season around Christmas. Enjoy it anytime of the year, whenever your feel like it. Both your kids and your own tummy will thank you!
Ingredients
1 pat of butter (vegan butter)
1 large carrots diced
1 medium shallot diced
1 clove garlic
4 medium potatoes cubed
200 grams of lard
1/4 cabbage chopped
1 turnip cubed
3 liters vegetable broth
1 small leek chopped
1 cup rice
Handful of cilantro chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Garnish with onion microgreens
Carolyn Moncel
Carolyn Davenport-Moncel is a digital media and communication consultant, author, mother, contrarian, book, music and reformed veggie lover and Founder and Souper-in-Chief at Simply Souperlicious, a platform devoted to helping fans "fall back in love with veggies" -- one local, seasonal, soup recipe at a time. Follow her veggie and soup journey on social media @simplysouperlicious.
- Prep 20min
- Cook20min
- Meal Time Lunch
- Serves 4
Instructions
- Bring veggie stock to a boil and then reduce to low heat.
- In butter, sautée chopped potato, shallots, cabbage, carrots, leeks, garlic and turnip.
- Heat the lard in a pan and add the lard and drippings into the stock.
- Add vegetables mixture to stock.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and cook for about 25 minutes. Near the end of cook time (ten minutes), remove the bay leaves. Then add in the cilantro.
- Add more salt and pepper to taste.
- Finish with onion microgreens and serve in a bowl.
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