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Soup and Bread Cookbook: Building Community One Pot at a Time
The Soup and Bread Cookbook aims to explore the social role of soup through a collection of terrific, affordable recipes from food activists, chefs, and others. This quirky exploration of the cultural history of soup as a tool for both building community and fostering social justice is the result of a brainstorm: eating your way through a pot of soup day after day can get boring why not get together and swap some with friends? Now neighbors across the country are getting together regularly for home-based "soup swaps." In Chicago, the arts collective InCUBATE uses soup as a microfunding tool. And of course, soup can be a political statement: the radical volunteers of Food Not Bombs have been providing free vegetarian soup to the hungry as a protest against war and social injustice since 1980. These are just a few examples of the stories Bayne wraps around a collection of delicious, accessible, and tested soup recipes.
200 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 11, 2011
45 people are currently reading
291 people want to read
About the author
Martha Bayne
7 books10 followersMartha Bayne is a writer and editor based in Chicago. Founder of the Soup & Bread series of hunger-relief fundraisers, she is the author of Soup & Bread Cookbook: Building Community One Pot at a Time (Agate/Surrey, 2011), and her features and essays have appeared in Time Out Chicago, Bookforum, the Baffler, the Christian Century, and the Chicago Reader, where she was on staff for ten years.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 26, 2011
Does anyone not like soup? Stop here and read no further.
Before I go further in this review, I'll start with the disclaimer: these are my cousin's books, and therefore I might be presumed to be more than a little biased. Bluntly, this is the sort of book readers are not likely to hear about unless there's some sort of personal connection--a family member or one of the people who attended the soup nights or a beneficiary of the (crock)pot funds, say--and I think it deserves more attention...because it's a decent cookbook. I won't blog about books I haven't read. I never read books I don't like. I won't use. This book is all three.
The Soup and Bread project started almost exactly two years ago, in the depths of a Chicago winter in the depths of an equally cold recession that left a good many Chicago residents unemployed or underemployed and hurting for some way to socialize that didn't require Great Financial Expenditures1. My cousin and her acquaintances started bringing crockpots of soup, and occasionally bread, to a local bar, the Hideout. While not a soup kitchen in the sense of providing free food to the destitute, the group encouraged people to come and partake and to give what they could, whether a dollar or a $20 or nothing at all; no one was turned away and they didn't check who'd contributed. All proceeds were donated to various food assistance groups around Chicago, a different one each week. The idea for a cookbook came originally simply to answer the repeated question "Have you got the recipe for that yummy soup?" and involved pinning a number of freethinking hipsters through Chicago down to specific proportions and measurements, some more successfully than others. It was a self funded self-publication, but unlike many purely vanity press publications, this one was deliciously useful.
The soups in the first book are an interesting blend of cultures and cuisines, ranging from meat-laden indulgences to vegan delights2, kimchee to collard greens. I haven't tried everything yet, but I can particularly recommend the mock turtle and lamb french onion soups. My one real complaint is that some of the recipes assume access to a metropolitan food supply which can provide ingredients such as 'mulefoot' pork from heritage pigs, but even that's not insurmountable in today's more cosmopolitan world, mail order being what it is. My copy's getting stained and battered, and I'm looking forward to starting all over again now that the soup season's started anew in the Great Lakes regions.
Unfortunately for those not in the know, the original collection is no longer in print, though it never was as "in print" as even the smallest runs from mainstream presses. Fortunately for soup lovers, the second season's soup recipes are now collected in a book which, it is to be hoped, gets a slightly larger run and larger mainstream exposure. As a proponent of smaller independent bookstores (and [gasp] libraries!) I'd suggest bugging your local bookstore to carry same and your library to try interlibrary loaning same3.
Never enough soup, I say!
1and, not surprisingly, many more flat out destitute and homeless
2several soups are vegan while others can be tweaked to eliminate dairy elements
3I hope older readers will forgive me for humming a few bars of Alice's Restaurant here--can you imagine fifty people a day walking into a bookstore or library and demanding a few recipes from this cookbook?
Before I go further in this review, I'll start with the disclaimer: these are my cousin's books, and therefore I might be presumed to be more than a little biased. Bluntly, this is the sort of book readers are not likely to hear about unless there's some sort of personal connection--a family member or one of the people who attended the soup nights or a beneficiary of the (crock)pot funds, say--and I think it deserves more attention...because it's a decent cookbook. I won't blog about books I haven't read. I never read books I don't like. I won't use. This book is all three.
The Soup and Bread project started almost exactly two years ago, in the depths of a Chicago winter in the depths of an equally cold recession that left a good many Chicago residents unemployed or underemployed and hurting for some way to socialize that didn't require Great Financial Expenditures1. My cousin and her acquaintances started bringing crockpots of soup, and occasionally bread, to a local bar, the Hideout. While not a soup kitchen in the sense of providing free food to the destitute, the group encouraged people to come and partake and to give what they could, whether a dollar or a $20 or nothing at all; no one was turned away and they didn't check who'd contributed. All proceeds were donated to various food assistance groups around Chicago, a different one each week. The idea for a cookbook came originally simply to answer the repeated question "Have you got the recipe for that yummy soup?" and involved pinning a number of freethinking hipsters through Chicago down to specific proportions and measurements, some more successfully than others. It was a self funded self-publication, but unlike many purely vanity press publications, this one was deliciously useful.
The soups in the first book are an interesting blend of cultures and cuisines, ranging from meat-laden indulgences to vegan delights2, kimchee to collard greens. I haven't tried everything yet, but I can particularly recommend the mock turtle and lamb french onion soups. My one real complaint is that some of the recipes assume access to a metropolitan food supply which can provide ingredients such as 'mulefoot' pork from heritage pigs, but even that's not insurmountable in today's more cosmopolitan world, mail order being what it is. My copy's getting stained and battered, and I'm looking forward to starting all over again now that the soup season's started anew in the Great Lakes regions.
Unfortunately for those not in the know, the original collection is no longer in print, though it never was as "in print" as even the smallest runs from mainstream presses. Fortunately for soup lovers, the second season's soup recipes are now collected in a book which, it is to be hoped, gets a slightly larger run and larger mainstream exposure. As a proponent of smaller independent bookstores (and [gasp] libraries!) I'd suggest bugging your local bookstore to carry same and your library to try interlibrary loaning same3.
Never enough soup, I say!
1and, not surprisingly, many more flat out destitute and homeless
2several soups are vegan while others can be tweaked to eliminate dairy elements
3I hope older readers will forgive me for humming a few bars of Alice's Restaurant here--can you imagine fifty people a day walking into a bookstore or library and demanding a few recipes from this cookbook?
April 3, 2018
So many great soups, and so many great stories. I've been slow to make my way through the recipes in this collection--partly because I keep coming back to ones I've made already! It's the perfect book for lazy Sunday soup-making.
August 14, 2018
Fabulous recipes, interesting backstories for each, and lots of inspiration for doing good and being the change you want to see in the world. Martha Bayne and Sheila Sachs are geniuses.
October 18, 2012
Soup can create community. That is the basic premise of this book. There are certainly recipes and cooking information, but this book is also a call to social action.
From simple soup suppers, soup swaps, chili competitions, soup for fund-raising, soup for social justice - this book covers the gamut of soup and the way it finds its way into all aspects of society.
The soup recipes include soups from around the globe, from very simple creations to elaborate ones, but all doable for the home cook. Also included are recipes for a few types of bread.
For those that are inspired to do something described in the book, the final "chapter" outlines basic steps that can be followed to begin your own soup and bread event.
From simple soup suppers, soup swaps, chili competitions, soup for fund-raising, soup for social justice - this book covers the gamut of soup and the way it finds its way into all aspects of society.
The soup recipes include soups from around the globe, from very simple creations to elaborate ones, but all doable for the home cook. Also included are recipes for a few types of bread.
For those that are inspired to do something described in the book, the final "chapter" outlines basic steps that can be followed to begin your own soup and bread event.
January 2, 2014
Soup & Bread COOKBOOK Building Community One Pot at a Time by MARTHA BAYNE
Liked the sound of this as we in the northeast are just having our first n'ester of the new year.
Loved hearing about the reasoning behind the cookbook and 'stone soup'. I also recall hearing of it while reading the fable to our kids.
This is a collection of recipes from soup kitchens in Chicago, Seattle and New York.
New England clam chowder would be my favorite. Such a variety of ethnic cooking in this collection using fresh vegetables and herbs and spices.
Each recipe has a few pages about it's origin. Love the idea of just plain homemade rolls to go along with the soup. Imagine I could add other spices and herbs for flavoring.
I'll be using this book for many meals this upcoming winter.
Liked the sound of this as we in the northeast are just having our first n'ester of the new year.
Loved hearing about the reasoning behind the cookbook and 'stone soup'. I also recall hearing of it while reading the fable to our kids.
This is a collection of recipes from soup kitchens in Chicago, Seattle and New York.
New England clam chowder would be my favorite. Such a variety of ethnic cooking in this collection using fresh vegetables and herbs and spices.
Each recipe has a few pages about it's origin. Love the idea of just plain homemade rolls to go along with the soup. Imagine I could add other spices and herbs for flavoring.
I'll be using this book for many meals this upcoming winter.
October 19, 2012
Okay....I did not read all the stories that kicked off each chapter but I did read some and they were great....I did however read every recipe and book marked several. What was really cool about this other then being free was that it gave me a great starting point to try my hand at making chili ....... I reviewed the recipes from this book and a couple others and then proceeded to make some kick ass Chili (at least my family thinks it is kick ass) and I was very happy with my first attempt...
There were several soup recipes I plan on trying one we get cooler weather......
So not sure if this is still free for kindle but if it is you should grab it while you can....totally worth it
There were several soup recipes I plan on trying one we get cooler weather......
So not sure if this is still free for kindle but if it is you should grab it while you can....totally worth it
December 11, 2012
This cookbook is different than any other cookbook that I have read. Not only does it have good receipes that are a bit out of the ordinary, but more importantly it is a call to social action. What a great idea the author had with this cookbook, thank you Martha Bayne. There are so many people out there that are not just physically hungry but also for social contact with others. The stories in each chapter before each receipe are really moving. I hope to be able to follow the suggestion in the book one day!
September 9, 2013
I loved this book. I got it on my kindle and as I read I knew I'd have to order one for my collection. I actually ordered two as while I was reading I kept thinking of a friend who I thought would enjoy it as well. I mentioned it to her and sure enough, she was intrigued. It will challenge you to make a difference.
January 26, 2016
If you are a soup lover...
This book has been my bedtime read and I'm surprised I didn't dream of soup every night! It is filled with stories and recipes. It has me thinking of doing something similar I've been considering for several years.
This book has been my bedtime read and I'm surprised I didn't dream of soup every night! It is filled with stories and recipes. It has me thinking of doing something similar I've been considering for several years.
December 31, 2015
Marvelous ideas for soup sharing and great LARGE quantity soup recipes.
December 7, 2013
Hummus Soup
September 15, 2015
Some great ideas about food politics as a primer
Some great soup recipes, some good ones and some good fodder for enhancing or creating soups.
Some great soup recipes, some good ones and some good fodder for enhancing or creating soups.
December 16, 2015
Since I actually read this whole book like a book, I'm going to go ahead and rate it. I liked it. Navel-gazing "artists and farmers in an urban utopia!" nonsense at times, but good.
March 20, 2013
love the soup and bread recipes.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews