Joan Nathan: www.joannathan.com
Citrus Fruit Soup
Citrus Fruit Soup
This recipe is adapted from Lior Lev Sercarz, the master spiceologist who provides spices for some of the greatest chefs in New York City. I first had this soup eight years and I'm still thinking about it!
- 3 cups orange juice
- 1 vanilla bean, scraped
- 4 cardamom pods, crushed
- 1 tablespoon pink peppercorns, crushed
- 2 tablespoons orange blossom water
- 2 oranges
- 2 blood oranges
- 2 tablespoons sugar, if needed
- 1 cup roughly chopped Turkish dried figs
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon chopped mint
- 2 tablespoons toasted pistachios or almonds
1. Bring the orange juice to a simmer in a saucepan. Turn the heat off and add the vanilla bean and its seeds, the cardamom, peppercorns, and 1 tablespoon of orange blossom water. Let sit, covered, for 30 minutes. Then put the mixture through a strainer, reserving the juice.
2. Cut off the tops and bottoms of the 4 oranges with a sharp knife. Slice off the peel and the white pith from top to bottom, and cut in between the white membranes to extract individual segments. Put segments in a large bowl with the strained orange juice. If the juice is not sweet enough, stir in sugar a little at a time. Add the figs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. You can do this up to a day in advance.
3. Just before serving, ladle some of the citrus juice figs, and orange segments into a glass dessert bowl or individual cognac glass. Splash remaining orange blossom water and olive oil over the fruit. Then sprinkle with cilantro and mint leaves and scatter a pinch of pistachios or almonds on top.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings