Cookbook of the Week: Splendid Soups by James Peterson

It seems like we may be in a golden age of cookbooks.

Bookstore shelves are graced by dozens or hundreds of colorful culinary volumes, many published in the two decades, in which regional dishes have been written about by those who grew up eating them rather than by a visitor.

Thanks to changing ideas about how recipes ought to be written, and chapters organized, there are all sorts of ways to match your style of cooking to a particular set of copacetic authors. Only cook in the oven on sheet pans? You can. Want to make dinner in 30 minutes? There are whole books on quick cookery. Two of your family members have different food allergies? No problem!

As enticing as these shiny new books are, there are plenty of volumes from earlier eras that are worth having in your kitchen…

One such book is Splendid Soups by James Peterson, originally published in 1993, and updated in 2000. Peterson, who lived in France for a time and spent a few years teaching at the French Culinary Institute, is a prolific author (and additionally, is a professional perfumer), and I love every one of his books.

I’m not sure which I bought first, Splendid Soups, or Peterson’s early work, Sauces, but both were crucially important as I taught myself to cook. Now that the ground is frosty when I awake, and it gets dark as I stand at the cutting board, soups and stews are regularly on. the menu.

A reason that I loved this book in my twenties is that it contains recipes for simple, comforting fare such as Red Pepper Soup, Greek Lemon Soup and Tuscan-Style Minestrone, but it also pushed the edges of my culinary imagination with offerings like South American Shrimp Chowder, Mussel and Shiitake Mushroom Dashi and Smoke Scented Broth with Ravioli.

If you are in need of a steaming bowl of homemade soup — or a whole winter’s worth — this book will be a perfect companion in the kitchen.