User:Shinoj kv/sandbox

Tomato soup

As we've been so soggily reminded over recent weeks, British summertime is as much a mindset as a season. Although such biblical deluges should come as no surprise (Elizabeth David, looking on the bright side in her essay, Summer Holidays, wonders "in what other climate could one do three month's work in a fortnight's holiday?"), they can still throw the cook slightly off balance.

With barbecues and picnics off the menu for the moment, and stews, bakes and stodgy puddings singing their siren call again, it's not easy to feel inspired about summer cooking. Soup, I think, is the ideal solution. Warming yet light, and perfect for those anaemic seasonal ingredients which won't quite cut it in a salad, they're the answer to all your problems. Except, perhaps, how to stop the rain killing your tomato plants.