Gourmet's Thai-Spiced Tomato Soup

I remember quite vividly the first time I read Gourmet. I was thirteen years old and visiting my father and his new wife in their house in a suburb of Boston. It was the first time I'd met Susan - my new stepmother - and I was jetlagged and a little overwhelmed. But Susan was nice and my father was happy and the house was cute and there was a cat named Taylor who warmed to me right away, so I found myself relaxing in spite of it all.

And furthermore, the next morning when I woke up too early and came downstairs, I discovered a stack of magazines with looping script that spelled out Gourmet, with luminous photographs and mouth-watering recipes and photographs of food and stories - well-written, to boot - about the very things I liked to read about. I leafed through the pages slowly in wonder. I felt like the world was opening up, quite literally, in front of me. Whole galaxies of possibility in front of my very eyes! I'll never forget that feeling.

Before long, I was copying - in longhand - all the recipes that grabbed my imagination. I don't even remember how many loose leaf pages I filled, but for years after that first visit, I would look forward to settling down on my visits to see my dad and Susan with a stack of Gourmets by my side; hours stretching ahead of me in which I could read and fantasize and lose myself in the beauty of that magazine.

For me, as for many, many others, Gourmet was not just a magazine. It was one of the first things that Susan and I shared, and I can't look at an issue without thinking of her. I had an emotional attachment to it, as well as a professional one. As a cookbook editor, I used Gourmet to find photographers, stylists, and writers, not to mention book ideas. It has been an invaluable source of inspiration.

Much has been said and written about the folding of Gourmet over the past few weeks. I know some people never warmed to the "new" Gourmet. I know some people subscribed only because of Ruth Reichl. I know some people think the Internet killed Gourmet. And some people think heartless businessmen in suits are to blame. I don't know what did Gourmet in ultimately, but what I want to address are readers threatening to cancel their subscriptions to other magazines out of protest or anger because of the folding of Gourmet.

Please don't. Please remember there are people behind all those other magazines, people who work hard and who are passionate, who have tastes and opinions that matter, who are doing their very best in a very difficult industry, whose work each month inspires millions of cooks and readers and dreamers and artists. If anything, in the wake of Gourmet folding, we should become new subscribers to other food magazines, lending those publications our support and our dollars, letting the writers and editors there know that people are still reading, still paying attention, still hungry, for lack of a better word, for nourishment. Magazines aren't static - they're living, growing, changing things and they need us, like a plant needs water, to keep them vibrant and alive.

I found this fantastic soup on Gourmet.com earlier this week. After one of the magazine's editors warned that web-exclusive recipes on the site would eventually disappear when the site got taken down, I spent the better part of an hour getting lost in there, finding delicious things to cook, rereading older pieces by MFK Fisher and Francis Lam, marveling at the amount of work that went into it all.

Tonight, after more than a week out of my kitchen, I chopped up an onion and cooked it in olive oil, then stirred in ground cumin and a few spoons of prepared red curry paste, cooking and stirring the paste gently to release the fragrance. Then I poured in chicken stock, a can of tomatoes and their juice, crumbling brown sugar and some salt. After a brief simmer, a 15-minute window in which I had just enough time to straighten up the apartment, admire a new pair of shoes and read my mail, the soup was ready. I blitzed it into smoothness with an immersion blender, and brightened it up with a good squeeze of lime juice. My apartment smelled incredible.

Would you understand what I meant if I said this soup tasted like the brightest summer day, simultaneously, impossibly full of languor and excitement? The flavors are strong and bright and layered, despite the humble ingredients, and the fact that you can make the whole thing within half an hour of walking in the door only makes this taste better. The original recipe has you add a cup of water to the brew, but I left it out and the soup was perfect: just hot and spicy enough and not too thick. I find traditional tomato soups, slick with cream, leave much to be desired. This one is my new gold standard: practically shimmering with life.

Thai-Spiced Tomato Soup
Serves 4

1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Thai Kitchen red curry paste
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 (14-oz) cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Juice of 1/2 lime
A handful of cilantro leaves (optional)

1. Cook onion in oil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add curry paste and cumin and cook, stirring, 2 minutes.

2. Add broth, tomatoes, brown sugar, and salt and simmer 15 minutes.

3. Purée soup in batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids). Return soup to pot and reheat. You can also leave the soup in the pot and purée using an immersion blender. Stir in the lime juice and serve, garnishing with cilantro, if using.

Comments

[Carolyn]

A beautiful tribute, and a great-looking soup. It's amazing how much life Gourmet inspired.

[Shauna from Piece of Cake]

What a great Gourmet story. I think so many of us have one. It makes me crazy when people say that Gourmet was "out of touch" in some way. The whole point of Gourmet was just what you said--to inspire, to give regular home cooks something to aspire to, and to prop good food up to an artistic level that it deserves. And unlike so many other magazines, Gourmet always, always did this, no matter who was at the helm.

Thanks for the warning about all the web-based material disappearing! I will be firing up my printer, like, now.

[BF]

a wonderful post, luisa. thanks.

[Leah]

Oh, Luisa. All this great writing and tomato soup? xo

[maggie (p&c)]

I lost myself in their website today, too, after you mentioned combing through it. Such amazing stuff, stuff to sustain us for a long time—until someone revives the magazine?

[Penny De Los Santos]

wonderfully thoughtful post and so well written. We should all support a food magazine right now, multiple ones if you can afford it. Each subscription is like a vote, sending a message to advertisers and publishers.

[Ashley]

You inspire. Thank you for these words filled with wisdom and heart.

[Frenchie]

This was a moving a moving piece Luisa. I feel like all of us have such a different, unique and interesting relationship with Gourmet and I am always curious to hear these tales. This soup also sounds like something I should be making soon. I am going to have to do a huge Gourmet.com download session very soon.

[notyet100]

ummm soup looks yum,..

[rachel]

We were talking about this over supper the other night, not just Gourmet but magazines in general and the newspapaers we read. I don't think it was just the wine but we all decided to subscribe to a new magazine we really enjoy and to buy a paper and ink newspaper at least 4 times a week.
I did it by the way I made the fried zucchini.
what lovely soup.

[deborah]

this is one of the loveliest posts i have read about gourmet.

i really wish it wasn't folding, but i have a good feeling that there will be another one like it.

i'd love to give this a go, even though most tomato soups leave me uninspired. can't wait!

[Kerrie]

I found Gourmet in the 80's and thought it was the most elegant magazine. I learned to cook by making those impossible menus and at the end I felt I really accomplished something. It sustained me through the stresses of life. I personally like Ruth Reichl's books but never loved what she did to Gourmet. As an expat, I still subscribe to American food magazines which I supplement with the internet.

Love your site and have made several of your recipes. Made the Pecan Bread three times (cleaning out the cupboard) and was beloved by all who received.

All the best.

[Mama JJ]

My aunt, hearing about my disappointment and dismay at the closing of Gourmet, is buying me a subscription to Bon Appetit---I can't wait!

[TheKitchenWitch]

I'm addicted to all of the food rags: Bon Appetit, Saveur, Cook's Illustrated, Cooking Light, Gourmet, Everyday Food, the new Food Network Magazine...my husband rails at me because I have stacks of they laying everywhere. I can't help it though--it's a sickness.

I was sad to hear about Gourmet folding. However, I'll do my part to single-handedly keep the food magazine business healthy :)

[kristinlang.wordpress.com]

thank you for not only the soup, but for the impassioned plea. it made me so so so sad to hear that people were even considering cancelling subscriptions to other amazing magazines just because gourmet folded.

[Tricia]

Beautifully written. Thank you for this.

[Kelly Jo]

that was beautifully written. I am adding this soup to my menu this weekend- can't wait!

[Adrienne]

What a lovely post. I am glad you brought up the point of the people behind the pages... it was disappointing to hear about people cancelling their subscriptions to other magazines. I already get Bon Appetit so I'm trying to decide between Saveur and Fine Cooking to replace (as if they could!) Gourmet. Maybe now I'll just get both :)

[kim]

Beautiful tribute for a wonderful magazine.

[Chiot's Run]

This will be a perfect option to spice up my homecanned tomato soup that I make with my homegrown tomatoes all summer. I can jars and jars of it and all winter long I try different combinations of spices to make it new and exciting. This one sounds fabulous - Thanks.

[Antonietta]

What a great Gourmet story! I love what you say about other magazines as well. We will all miss Gourmet but we should embrace other food magazines, especially in this troubled market. Thanks!

[Lisa (dinner party)]

Thank you for writing this. So much is being written about Gourmet and I think you brought up one of the most important points. Blogs, yours especially, are wonderful in their own way but how sad would it be not to have inspiring magazines? Keep advertising and subscribing, people!

[The Leftoverist]

I love lime and tomato together in soup. And fifteen minutes is just my style.

I'm so sad about Gourmet that I haven't even really talked about it yet. My Mom has subscribed ever since I can remember-for over 20 years, and I just can't bear to think of my months without that issue in my mailbox. I'm definitely not canceling my subscription. I need that last one.

[Robin]

Thank you Luisa, I am one of the many who is sad to see the end of Gourmet and I really needed this reminder not to let it happen to other magazines. For now at least I will accept my imposter subscription to Bon Appetite to be delivered.

I fear that many things we all rely on will disappear in this way before we realize our place and responsibility in their success. I have worked in retail a lot and often waited on customers who then went and bought the products I showed them online. After the store closes they lament their inability to view the items in person.

-Robin

p.s. Without the food magazines the food blogs would have less content, mine included. Gourmet was always a great source of inspiration.

[Christina]

Very thoughtful post, Luisa. And the soup looks wonderful, too. Thanks for sharing.

[Sarah]

Luisa, as a person working on the advertising side of a very old, unique, thoughtful, and important art magazine, i appreciate your comments. we need to keep the industry alive and protesting will do nothing of the sort. thank you for your loving explaination.

in addition, this soup looks absolutely perfect for a chilly new york day! i can't wait to try it with some bread for dipping. what a beautiful post ;)

[Brooke Rane]

what a wonderful post and tribute to Gourmet, and also to what effect magazines can have on our lives. how important it is to keep the industry going and growing. thanks for the great post.

[Stephanie]

This soup sounds delicious. I'm going to add it to my repertoire. I also found this a wonderful tribute to Gourmet. Great post!

[brooke]

i was devastated when i read that gourmet was folding and so many people who didn't get it laughed at me for being upset. it is so nice to read your beautiful post and know that there are others who not only understand, but feel the same way.

[Dawn in CA]

I will miss Gourmet terribly. Such a beautiful magazine, both the "old" and "new" versions. As much as I love the 'net, I will never give up on cooking and travel magazines as long as they are available. Turning the glossy pages as you read the stories and take in the photos... it brings a different kind of pleasure you just can't get from a computer screen.

That said, I won't be giving up my favorite blogs, either. Your writing is really so beautiful. xo, Dawn in CA

[Kary Gonyer]

I used to sit in my room in high school..(I'm 53 years old now..)and type recipes from Gourmet on a typerwriter to have for when I got married. I still have them. My mom thought I was working on homework.

I was saddened to hear about Gourmet's demise. I loved that magazine. Have loved it all my life. I will treasure the copies I still have.

Oh..and on the soup front...just made French Onion...from MTAOFC.

Thanks for such a heartfelt post. Beautifull written.

Kary

[AJ]

I don't know anyone in the food biz or at Conde Nast but it seems to me that the latter could get some additional mileage out of creating and selling a CD version of Gourmet. Conde Nast already did it with the New Yorker and it is a great resource. Not just literary content, the New Yorker CDs have every page of every issue since 1925 scanned in so you get ads as well. It also has a note-taking feature that would work really well with a cooking magazine. I know I would be asking for it for Christmas if it existed.

[Jen Herr]

just lovely. your stories, photographs and recipes are beautiful. you are my favorite!

[Winnie]

Simple and delicious soup with many of my favorite flavors...
Lovely post Luisa!

[mindy]

My earliest encounters with gourmet are very similar to yours. I frist discovered them agazine at the country home of the father of my then-boyfriend. I remember spending many lazy Saturday afternoons in Rhinecliff, New York, yellow pad and pen in hand, copying recipe after delicious recipe. That was more than twenty-five years ago, and I still have some of those, even yellower, pages. The boyfriend, however, is gone.

[anne spice]

What?! Gourmet is closing?

I was reading along, wondering a little about all your sentiment for Gourmet and then *bam*

Wow. I feel like a sorry excuse of an expat... and evidently need to do a better job lest all I'm left with is the UK's sorry 'delicious' rag in lieu of any of the States' wonderful food magazines.

[Luisa]

Thank you, all!

Anne Spice - Yes, it's true. You can read more about it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/business/media/06gourmet.html?ref=dining

and here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/07/dining/07gourm.html?fta=y

[Patty]

Your writing "shimmers" too :)

[Rach]

I LOVE your blog and am a faithful reader, I always look forward to every post. I have never made a comment before but I just want to second your plea for readers to continue to support culinary magazines and publications. Thank you for continually writing great content, reading your blog is like reading a great story!

[jenny]

oh, luisa. as a fellow food-lover and former editor on a magazine that also folded, the gourmet loss has hit me harder than I expected. it does feel like losing a friend, doesn't it? and though my introduction to gourmet was far less romantic than yours, I completely related to that rush-of-discovery feeling, the joy of sitting down with a fat stack and copying recipes for hours. thanks for such a lovely eulogy ... and to everyone else for their happy gourmet remembrances, too. I feel like I've been to a wonderful memorial service!

also on the soup: YUM. I hated tomato soup as a child but love almost every iteration now that I'm "grown up" (yeah, right). but this flavor combo--never would have thought of it. definitely going on the list of foodstuffs I'm planning on making this weekend. with the rain pouring down, it will be just the thing!

[jenny]

p.s. AJ, GREAT idea!! (anyone out there from gourmet listening??) I would snap up those CDs in an instant.

[thecatskillkiwi]

seeing as tomato is my favorite flavor soup flavor, I will be making this and thinking of Gourmet at the same time and hoping the other culinary magazines out there make it... our industry is becoming slimmer by the minute.

[Sues]

I'm loving all these Gourmet recipe posts on blogs lately. This sounds delicious... I love tomato soup AND thai food so I'm sure I'd love this.

I'm SO sad about Gourmet too. I'm going to miss seeing it every month :(

[Julie]

Oh, my goodness, such a beautiful post. I appreciate your writing so much and as usual I'm inspired to cook.

[Lea Ann]

This is my first visit to your blog. I loved reading this post. Beautifully written. I have many food magazine subscriptions and feel very sad that I have never subscribed to Gourmet. Thanks for the heads up on the web exclusive recipes.

I was in the magazine business for 15 years, selling advertising, management. I loved the publishing business and now have had to seek another career due to a 170 page pub. now being 30 pages. So very sad for all of us.

[noelle {simmer down!}]

I just wrote an open letter to Christopher Kimball regarding his op-ed on the demise of Gourmet, and used your blog as an example of both thoughtful writing and why "professional" recipes are not always better (your last post was proof enough of that!).

http://mllenoelle.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/an-open-letter-to-christopher-kimball/

Thanks for being a shining example of what's right with the internet and blogging!

[Janine at Rustic Kitchen]

Lovely. I, too, bonded over Gourmet, for me with Canadian friends who had years and years of issues in the bookcases of their guest room. I'll miss it.

[Anna]

Thank you for sharing that wonderful memory with us Luisa. I too will miss Gourmet magazine and thank you for the heads up about the on-line recipes. I’m heading there right now.

[Lisa-Marie]

Thank you for sharing part of your childhood with us.

I have a bit of a soup making obsession at the moment, and this one is the next I will make!

[chelsea]

Such a shame about Gourmet. I found it to be such a winning combination of stunning photographs, intelligent writing, and always intriguing recipes. Perhaps in it's absence something new from these talented contributors will arise...