Garlic soup

Few things are as simple to make and pleasant to eat as garlic soup, provided you like garlic. In French cuisine there are many recipes for this soup family that includes the tourin blanchi from the Bordeaux area which is served to newlyweds to re-invigorate them.

In the south of France, people add ingredients like onion, stale bread, sometimes tomatoes and they use duck or geese fat. In the north, they use butter and add potatoes.

Here, I am mainly using garlic, with some herbs and tiny turnips that were left in the larder. You can use a prepared stock or resort to cubes. I used a sachet of Ariake chicken stock.
I recommend the use of a closed blender instead of a plunger blender.
On the picture you see a small young fresh head of garlic that I cooked whole for decorative purposes. I also chopped up the stems of the fresh garlic.

Ingredients

• Two heads of garlic (more if you like and dare), preferably fresh
• Some olive oil
• Three turnips
• 1.5 litres of stock
• Some herbs like majoran, fresh thyme

Steps

1. Peel and chip the garlic. If you have fresh garlic then also chop the green stem finely and keep apart. Clean and cut the turnips.
2. Put olive oil in a large pan or casserole and add the garlic. Heat and turn until it starts taking some colour.
3. Add the stock, or just water and add a stock cube or sachet.
4. Cook for 30 minutes.
5. Let it cool before blending, strain through a sieve.
6. Add the chopped stem and herbs before serving.