The Souper Bowl

Last weekend, viv and I attended Souper Bowl I, put on by the kind folks at Boston Localvores. For a $10 donation, we filled our bellies with 6 soups, bread from Iggy's in Cambridge, chocolate from Taza, as well as beer from Cambridge Brewing Company, and various pickled items from Real Pickles. The eats were delicious, the people were nice, and the money went to a good cause. What's not to like?

The description of the soups (made from all local ingredients) is below; I didn't feel like writing them out myself so I just cut and pasted from the localvore blog. We thought all of them were fantastic; Viv's favorite was the Saigon Soup, while I was partial to the chili (though eating two bowls of chili in the middle of the day is perhaps not the best idea, gastroenterologically speaking).

Saigon Soup by Jessie Benhazl
a traditional Vietnamese breakfast soup featuring winter storage veggies from Verrill Farm in Concord, shrimp and crab from Maine, pork from Ferrisburg, Vt. and noodles from Chau Chow noodle factory in Boston.

Jota (“yo ta”) by Erik Zornik
a Slovenian soup featuring tomatoes (preserved this summer) from Kimball Farm in Pepperell, pork from Stillman’s in Hardwick, beans from Maine, local cabbage and herbs from Chef Zornik’s winter garden. The soup’s chicken broth was made with local storage veggies and chicken from Stillman’s.

Potatoes + Greens by Sarah Garlington (Vegan)
a hearty New England soup featuring potatoes and onions from Heaven’s Harvest in New Braintree, Mass. The kale, which was frozen over the summer, is also from Heaven’s Harvest.

Apple Rutabaga by Heather Wernimont
a cream-based soup featuring butternut squash from Verrill Farm in Concord, apples from Clarkdale Orchard in Deerfield, and onions, sweet potatoes and rutabaga from small, organic farms along the East Coast, courtesy of Enterprise Farm in Deerfield and its Winter CSA.

Lentil Mushroom by JJ Gonson (vegan)
a rich vegan soup made with lots of local mushrooms and seasonal roots, including parsnips from Deep Root in Quebec, courtesy of Enterprise Farm’s Winter CSA.

Grass-fed Chili by Kristi and Darry
a regular ole chili featuring Hardwick Beef (Mass. and Vt. farms), Scotch Bonnet peppers from Farmer Al in Lunenburg, Thai chilis from Hmong Farm in Lunenburg, onions from the Belmont Winter CSA, garlic from Wild Shepard Farm in Athens, Vt., peppers + corn from Enterprise Farm’s Winter CSA and maple syrup from Coombs Farm in Whitingham, Vermont.

Some pictures are here. My head and viv's back are visible in the first one.