Soup of the earth

Simplicity, balance, fullness and earthiness are some words that come to mind, when enjoying and digesting a bowl of Judith Kennedy’s cauliflower soup with truffle oil.
First make the stock - Roast, onion, leek, potato, Carrot, celery and any other favourite roasting vegetables in Rosnay Olive Oil for 30 minutes in a hot oven. Remove the browned vegies and tip into a saucepan of hot to warm water. Add black pepper and sea salt and simmer for 2 hours.
Strain the liquid – It should be light brown, fairly thick and drops of olive floating on top. Tip in plenty of flowerets of cauliflower and boil steadily until the caulie is soft. Cool down before blending or you will break the glass of the blender!
Now it’s ready to serve in nice wide bowls. Drizzle a little truffle scented oil over the top. Pour a glass of Rosnay wine and sit back and enjoy!
The first thing you might think about is the much-touted truffle oil and how difficult it can be to really taste something upfront, especially in the relatively every-day truffle-infused oil. Then you notice the fullness and balance of the cauliflower soup, without any strong highlights or spice. As you get half way through the bowl the two begin to work together into a full-flavoured but rustic balance. The rest is lost in conversation.
I must try this at home!
After saying this I can’t help but plug a book in which you can find this recipe, whose authors are old friends from opposite parts of my life. Judith Kennedy, known to have many pursuits in the culinary, vinophile, cultural spheres, is the chef and co-author, and I had the pleasure of this soup from her very kitchen tonight, along with some family wines - they were also amazing. Matthew Squires is here too, who I know from uni days 15 years ago as a very chilled-out guy who I went to yoga class with once or twice but who now runs his own Sydney physio practice and helped Judith and many others to great health. He is the phsio, co-author ever-impressive demonstrator of his yoga-inspired exercises.
I don’t know about getting up early for yoga, but I do know that the soup was superb. I can’t wait to get into the rest of this book, as it’s all in bite size practical snippets, which is about all most of us can handle these busy days.
The plug: http://www.rescuemeonline.com or from the Rosnay Cellar door - I’m getting a few spare copies just for you!