Soppa ta' l-armla (2024)

Ahh. Soup. Bless. There is nothing like a hot pot of soup to thaw us up now that the weather is turning chilly. It’s the best kind of comfort food. As some chef somewhere once said: First, take an onion, and then make something that will warm the soul.

Even the earliest hom*o sapiens were quick to grasp this: According to archaeological records, one of the first types of soups can be dated to about 6,000 BC right up with the invention of waterproof pouches made of animal skin, which allowed for the perfection of the boiling technique.

The good thing about soups is that even the biggest kitchen-phobic can easily whip up an impressive soup. Because the art of soup is simple - it’s sticking to the ingredients which are in season, and chucking them in a pot.

Unless you’re French of course, in which case you would have to play around with getting the right thickness and colour so you know whether you’re going to call your soup a bouillon, a consommé, a bisque or a veloute.

Maltese soups, lucky us, do not care much for such daintiness. Strained or creamed soups are not traditional. In fact vegetables are more often than not coarsely chopped.

The epitome of Maltese soups is the Soppa ta’ l-Armla - the Widow’s Soup - traditionally called so because the ingredients were cheap and therefore affordable even by the ‘poor’ widow.

The key secret of this thick soup is to stick to white or green vegetables. Carrots and pumpkins are trespassers. Untypical of other soups, the Soppa ta’ l-Armla is rounded off with generous portions of gbejniet (goat cheeselets) and ricotta left melting in the hot soup.

This hearty vegetarian soup is not for the picky light eaters. A puny first course it ain’t - it is served as a meal in itself. Sadly, the Soppa ta’ l-Armla is no longer such a common feature in Maltese homes. It’s a pity because it does not take much to prepare. The only thing is that it needs to simmer for quite some time, making it the perfect candidate to promote slow cooking.