I hold the same reservations here that I voice in my beetroot with red wine recipe, concerning the use of perfectly good booze for cooking, although this recipe does require only one bottle of beer and it's easy and inexpensive to buy an extra bottle when you're out shopping. Here, however, we (and by we, I mean I) encounter a slightly more complex problem. Ever since I remember, I've been drinking in odd numbers. For example, I might have one beer on a hot summer's day and that will be enough to serve as a refreshment. If, however, I fancy extending my drinking session I will have another two beers, never just one. Two is a bad number for drinks. I don't know how or when it started.
I noticed the same habit when I began drinking vodka with Russians. One glass was rare but okay. Three glasses were normal for an afternoon drink and five, seven or nine glasses for a drink accompanying a celebration dinner. I can't say for sure what happens after nine but I would imagine the pattern would continue to eleven where, if you could remember how much you had drunk by that time, you would have to think very carefully about continuing since, thirteen being unlucky, your next safe stop would be at fifteen, which I believe is an especially auspicious number.
Now you might think that the easy solution (for someone in my position that is, since you might not care one way or the other) is to buy an even number of beers, use one for the soup and drink an odd number. But it's not that simple. You see, I'm not sure where the bad/good thing about even/odd numbers of drinks starts and finishes. Is it just in the drinking, or also in the purchase and conveyance to one's place of residence or other chosen site of recreation? If the latter, then you're faced with the prospect of wandering around between the shop and the party with a potentially hazardous even number of beers on your hands. Buying an odd number and using one for the soup is an unthinkable alternative. The solution is not so simple but, nevertheless, there is one and here it is. Buy an odd number of beers and drink any odd number except all of them. This means you can use one for the soup and put at least one in the fridge for the next day.
Doing the beer soup recipe then, becomes a harmless and inexpensive proposition. The only thing left to determine, is whether it is a worthwhile proposition. When I made it, I must admit, it wasn't bad but it wasn't excitingly good either. The beer I chose made a soup that was a little too bitter, but it was different and I like variety. I don't claim all my recipes are fantastic and even the ones I think are great might not be your cup of tea (or bowl of soup). Try the recipe for yourself and see what you think. Different beers will give different flavours and you might strike lucky. If , like me, your soup turns out okay but you're left with the niggling suspicion that it would have been better just to drink the beer, you can at least say you tried the recipe.
Ingredients
1 500cl bottle of beer
About a quarter of a medium cabbage
1 onion
1 potato
2 cloves of garlic
A few black peppercorns
Half a teaspoon of coriander seeds
A pinch of aniseeds
1 or 2 bay leaves
2 vegetable stock cubes or equivalent
Vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of sugar
Salt
1 litre of water
A little grated smoked cheese or chopped smoked almonds for garnish
Chop the onion and fry it gently while you shred the cabbage and chop the potato. Add the cabbage and potato to the frying pan, stir and cover. Stir occasionally and throw in the crushed garlic cloves, crushed seeds and bay leaves. After ten minutes or so, when the cabbage has reduced and browned a little, transfer the mixture to a soup pot and add the beer, water, stock cubes and sugar. Bring to the boil and let the stock cubes dissolve before deciding whether you need to add salt. Simmer for about twenty five minutes and add more water from the kettle if the soup seems too thick.
Put the soup in serving bowls and garnish each with a sprinkle of smoked cheese or almonds.
Since writing this it has been pointed out to me that one is
an odd number and, as only one bottle of beer is required for this recipe, the
simplest thing to do would be to buy one bottle specifically for the recipe.
I'm still thinking it over.