A few days ago, I was walking Gibbs with my friend and neighbor, Michele, when the topic turned to making a soup she called “Chuck-it.”
“Chuck-it?” I asked, wondering if it was a recipe that called for ground chuck. If so, I couldn’t begin to imagine why she’d tell me about it. I’m not a vegan, or even a vegetarian, but I haven’t eaten beef in decades. Just never cared for the taste. My husband, Mike (who loves a steak medium rare), claims it’s because my mother cooked the life out of it, steak included, until it was no more palatable than chew leather. That may be, but I’m in no hurry to revisit the memory. Besides, my mother used to boil broccoli until it was yellow and our green beans usually came from a can. Today, I’m a huge fan of both vegetables, though I prefer them served fresh and lightly steamed.
But I digress. Turns out Michele was talking about cleaning out her refrigerator. Anything without blue mould that could possibly be salvaged—a leftover piece of chicken breast, some sad looking veggies, a sprout-y potato or onion—went into a pot with some broth to become Chuck-it soup, a skill learned from her Polish mother.
“Ah,” I said, instantly understanding. “My mother called it Ein Topf, which literally means One Pot in German. We had it most Thursday nights, Thursday being the night the Penz family went grocery shopping after supper.”
I thought back to all the Ein Topfs I’d eaten, some more successful than others. I can distinctly remember dreading the ones with leftover turnip, or worse, pickled red cabbage. Some things  simply do not belong in a soup.
But I’m nothing if not my mother’s daughter, and while it’s not a weekly ritual, I’ve made my fair share of Ein Topfs over the years, not that Mike has tried a single one. Seems his Ukrainian mother made her own version of Chuck-it and Ein Topf, and he vowed never to eat another one once he’d left home. But to me, cleaning out the fridge, dicing and chopping those rescued relics, brings back memories of a simpler time, a time when families went grocery shopping together every Thursday night after a bowl of homemade soup.
What about you, readers? Any Ein Topfs or Chuck-its in your life?
Definitely! My mum always made soup, though not so much with leftovers. It was trad Scottish soup, consisting of a leek, carrots both grated and chopped, lentils, dried peas and barley… and definitely turnip – though I’ve discovered that turnip doesn’t work if you make a huge pot and freeze some for later. Mum was working pre-freezer days, and made it ‘keep’ for a week by boiling it for twenty minutes each day.
I often make soup from fresh ingredients and lentils, leeks and carrots are a mainstay. You cannot beat leeks for flavour! I think I’d like your mum’s soup — all except the turnip of course.
My Midwestern farm mom also cooked the heck out of the meat, and I love beef today–medium rare for my steaks. I attribute that to the family I nannied for one summer in college. They grilled out a lot and I learned how good food could taste. I like my veggies the way you do, too, steamed. One summer, spending my usual week with my cousin at their hog farm, I had the best hamburger I’ve ever tasted. My uncle had traded a hog for a steer and the meat was fresh, just butchered. Kind of like the carrots I used to grow. They tasted SO sweet. An hour after they were pulled from the ground, you could tell they were losing that sweetness.
Hi Kaye, I can understand. We grow cherry tomatoes each summer — they taste as sweet as candy — nothing like from the store. But you haven’t talked me into beef (or pork). I can do poultry and fish — maybe because we seldom had either growing up.
The Irish had the same tradition and I remember these soups from my childhood. Typically there would be a lot of potatoes involved, as well as onions and carrots. I can’t remember whether they were any good, but as family traditions go this one didn’t survive to the next generation.
Hi Kevin, Irish and potatoes — who knew? LOL. You should revisit — you never know!
My mother hardly ever made soup. Canned asparagus boiled to oblivion and flopped in a dish with no salt or pepper was my personal worst. She did things with canned beans and other veggies that would probably be illegal these days. Thank goodness my Greek husband came to my rescue with olive oil and lemon juice which makes almost any vegetable (except parnips) a treat.
Too funny, Carolanne. I know remember my mother boiling asparagus (I think it came from a can, too, but maybe a jar). I also remember a time when canned soup poured over veggies was considered quite the treat!
It’s a miracle we didn’t all die of scurvy!
so true!
Samrin Nosrat who wrote Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, has a recipe she calls Anything You Want Soup. Seems similar! Mine always has half dead celery and carrots. Lol.
Laurel, wilted carrots and celery are almost mandatory!