A hearty cabbage soup.

This is the classic French version of the cabbage soup (soupe aux choux) and always makes a welcome return when the air become cooler to signal winter. Fresh cabbage is blanched, sliced and cooked with smoked pork belly and chicken stock. The chunky pieces of cabbage combined with the smoked pork belly give this soup its character. Just a side note, "La Soupe au Choux" is a famous French comedy with Louis de Funes that imprinted this dish in the French psyche.

Ingredients

• 1 medium size cabbage (savoy or white cabbage)

• 2 liters (8 cups) of homemade chicken stock or water

• 300 g (10.6 oz) of smoked pork belly

• 1 medium size carrot

• 1 onion

• 3 cloves

• 1 tbsp of butter

• Salt and pepper for seasoning

• 4 slices of bread (oven toasted and cut in chunks)

• Optional: 200 g (7 oz) of grated cheese (I use Gruyere cheese)

NOTES

• You can use water instead of stock to make the cabbage soup, however the intensity of the taste will suffer. as a compromise you could use half stock /half water

• The soup has to be served really warm in deep (warm) plates. In each plate, serve a generous amount of cabbage and 2 pieces of pork belly per person. Once the soup is served place a bowl or plate with the toasted bread pieces and the grated cheese (optional) in the middle of the table so that people can help themselves. The bread is placed on the top of the soup and has be soaked before eating. But I guess this is all personal preference. Bon appetit.

 procedure

Food preparation

1. Tear off the outer leaves of the cabbage until you are left with the core (meaning no more cabbage leaves can be detached easily). When done rinse the cabbage under cold running water.

2. Cut the cabbage in 4 quarters and trim off the base of the stem.

3. Slice the smoked pork belly in squares or rectangles of around 1 cm (half an inch) thick.

4. Cut the carrot in a rough "mirepoix" (medium size cubes or chunks).

5. Cut the onion in half and prick 3 cloves on one half and cut the other in 2 quarters.

Instructions:

1. Place the cabbage quarters in a stock pot filled with cold water with 2 pinches of rock salt. Bring to the boil and as soon as the water starts to boil, turn the heat off and rinse the cabbage under running cold water.

2. Remove the hard part of the stem of each cabbage quarter (as shown in the video). Then roughly slice each quarter and set aside.

3. Place a stock pot on the stove on medium heat. Add the butter and let it melt. Next, add the carrot and the 2 quarters of onion and leave to sweat for 20 to 30 seconds. Add half of the cabbage, mix well and leave to cook for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes add the pork belly slices along with the other onion half with the cloves. Add the rest of the cabbage on top and leave as is. Don’t mix this second layer of cabbage with the rest of the ingredients.

4. Add the chicken stock and cover the stock pot with a lid leaving a small opening to allow for steam release. Cook for 1h 30 minutes. You can cook the soup for a slightly shorter time if you like your cabbage to have a bite to it.

5. When the soup is ready, slice and toast some sourdough bread to serve with the soup.

6. Grate some cheese over the soup just before serving.