How to make the perfect carrot and cilantro soup – recipe | Felicity Cloake's How to Make the Perfect…

Don't laugh, but there was a time in my life when carrot and cilantro soup seemed the pinnacle of culinary sophistication, the rustic carton offering an exciting glimpse of a world of possibilities beyond the large vegetable soup with its single sprig of curly parsley as a garnish. Knocked down, I ate this stuff almost every lunchtime for months, then, as tends to happen with such obsessions, I left the same way I did Archers and Lemonade: abruptly and in a decisive.

Two decades later, however, I fell in love again - with carrot and cilantro soup, anyway. Even given the rapid expansion of my palate over the ensuing years, it remains an intriguing combination of flavors: the sweetness of vegetable and the spiciness of grass, with a simplicity that, at a time when even Cup A Soup is available in 15 different versions. varieties, is almost picturesque. These days, however, I'd rather cook my lunch than microwave it. But what's the best way to recreate the experience?

The more the better - soups with a higher carrot to liquid ratio are proudly carrots, rather than simply veggie and sweet. However, since carrots are almost 90% water, it pays to be a little fancy for best results. The late chef John Tovey, face fa A thousand 1970s and 1980s television viewers and avid soup lover, sweat them under a parchment cartridge in 1974's Good Cook's Guide, which contains the first mention of carrot and cilantro soup I can find. I can feel you all...