Food To Support Our Rights

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Inspired by Eva and Linda I decided to support the Colour Orange Campaign by discussing it here on my blog.  

The Colour Orange Campaign was initiated by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot and aims to highlight the violations of the human rights in China on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Beijing August 2008. They are aiming to show disatisfaction about the current violations of rights in China by the use of orange – be it food, clothing, a camera case, anything really.  Athletes competing at the Olympic Games are apparently having to sign a waiver to prevent them discussing Chinas political situation, basically the removal of their right to free speech.

Amnesty International are also backing this campaign, more details can be found here. 

It does seem rather insignificant for me to sit here in the comfort of my own home, take photos of cooking, but, having had my attention drawn to this campaign through other blogs and having spoken with a number of people about it; that is the way these things work I guess and if it generates interest and informed discussion, then it is worthwhile. 

I decided to cook a bright orange soup, from another of my new books - Soup Kitchen (Annabel Buckingham, Thomasina Miers, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall), Roast Pumpkin Soup with Crispy Garlic.

The book is fabulous, full of soup recipes for every situation imaginable and for all seasons. The royalties from this book are given to charities for the homeless too which is a bonus. 

The soup was stunning. Velvety in texture with a rich creaminess.  I used butternut squash instead of pumpkin and it worked perfectly well  It’s a very sweet soup but the roasted garlic really cut through that well, giving a slightly spicy bitterness, a wonderful addition.  

Even my mum enjoyed the soup and she only eats in under duress, lol I have a real thing about how nutritious and comforting a bowl of soup can be and do ensure that we eat it around once a month at least.   

I’ll certainly be making this soup again and soon. 

The Recipe:

• 1 medium pumpkin or 2 small squashes
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for garnish
• 6 garlic cloves, lightly crushed, plus a few extra for garnish
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock (I used vegetable)

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6.
2. There’s no need to peel the pumpkin or squashes. Just cut them into rough chunks or thick slices and scrape away the seeds and surrounding soft fibres. Lay the slices in a large roasting tin and drizzle generously with olive oil.  Scatter the garlic cloves over and season with salt and pepper.
3. Put in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, turning once or twice if you like, so the pumpkin pieces are well roasted and nicely browned. Use a spoon to scrape the soft flesh of the roasted pumpkin pieces away from the skin. (I didn’t bother with this part).  Heat the stock in a pan.  Put some of the scraped flesh into a liquidiser, along with the flesh squeezed out of the roasted garlic cloves, and pour in enough hot stock to cover.  Liquidise in batches, until completely smooth, returning the soup to a clean pan. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning.  Add enough stock to get a thick and creamy consistency.
4. Heat the soup through without re-boiling it, and as you are doing so, fry a few thin slivers of garlic in a little oil.  Scatter these thin shards of crisp fried garlic over each bowl of hot soup as you serve it.  Finish, if you like, with a trickle of olive oil.
5. Serve alongside some Mediterranean crusty bread or Middle Eastern flatbreads.

 

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Filed under Soup, Vegetarian