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Mango, Coriander and Pomegranate Soup

Mango, Coriander and Pomegranate Soup 

Today I made my first soup from the fruit section of The Soup Book (by the way, that link brings you to a really good view of the book). The recipe is by Sophie Grigson, whose introductory note states that this "unusual chilled soup is extraordinarily good, bursting with health and vitality, and is made in seconds." The ingredients are mango, red chilli, fresh ginger, fresh coriander, lime juice and pomegranate juice (cranberry juice is a suggested alternative).

The spouse is away at present - in the wild north-west of the country where it was snowing earlier! This meant I had to do the shopping, something I don't mind doing, but I tend to spend more than himself when I'm let loose. It's all those two-for-the-price-of-one and "buy one, get one free" special offers. I feel it's my duty to avail of them. Then I come home and find I haven't enough space for all my goodies. But I digress.

There was no cooking involved in making today's soup; only one of the six soups in the fruit section (mango and curry leaf) involves cooking. All I had to do was peel, chop, squeeze, pour and liquidise. Very simple, but it didn't just take seconds as Sophie asserts. I didn't know what to expect, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The mango wasn't quite ripe enough, but I couldn't wait. The younger offspring was a little reticent about whether or not he liked it, but half an hour late he expressed some degree of approval. The older offspring, who is still out of rugby action because of his recent knee injury, was very impressed with the soup. I had poured him out a glass of it so he was a little sceptical that I was serving him a soup. He really liked it, saying it tasted "healthy". Fortunately, I have two more mangos that should be riper in another two to three days, and more of the other ingredients, so I'll make it again during the week and then the spouse can try it too.

Buzzing About


Last Sunday I was working in my front garden, creating a new border in which to plant lavender (very good for attracting bees), when one of those big bees went by, probably a bumblebee, the sort my friend MH would think of as a Berthe/Bertha.

The spouse keeps a book entitled Potty, Fartwell and Knob: Extraordinary but True Names of British People in our downstairs loo. Among the extraordinarily named people you can find are Bertha Bread Binns (b 1886), Mahala Honeyballs (b 1811), Abraham Soup (b 1606), Minnie Woman (b 1891), Bea Bee (b 1866) and Large Bee (b 1829)!

On a less frivolous note, I came across a report in the Irish Times during the week about Global Bee Colony Disorders and Other Threats to Insect Pollinators, a report published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).  Read more and download the full report from this link.
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