On a late-june evening, I entered a courtyard in the Fifth Arrondissement, right near the picturesque Rue Mouffetard, one of my favorite streets in Paris when I was a student there so many years ago. Beyond the courtyard, I found myself in a large garden in front of an apartment building. After climbing two flights of stairs, I arrived at the home of Irving Petlin, an American artist, and his beautiful wife, Sarah. The two expats have lived here on and off since 1959. Sarah frequents the local markets, going to the Place Monge for her onions and garlic, making sure she visits her potato man from North Africa. Having chosen peonies for the table, she arranged them in a vase next to a big bowl of ripe cherries, making her table, with the Panthéon in the background, as beautiful as a perfectly orchestrated still life. At the meal, I especially liked the soup, which calls for lettuce leaves—a good way, I thought, of using up the tougher outer leaves that most of us discard, but which still have a lot of flavor. The French have a long tradition of herb- and- salad soup, something Americans should be increasingly interested in, given all the new wonderful greens we’re growing in our backyards and finding at farmers’ markets. I often replace the zucchini with eggplant and substitute other herbs that are available in my summer garden. This soup is also delicious served warm in the winter.
Recipe information
Yield
6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Heat the olive oil in a big soup pot, and add the garlic and the onions or scallions, stirring occasionally. Once the onions are translucent, add the romaine lettuce, zucchini, celery, parsley, salt, pepper, and vegetable stock or water. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes, or until the zucchini are cooked. Remove from the heat, and cool to room temperature.
Step 2
Purée the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Either serve warm or chill the soup in the refrigerator. Before serving, sprinkle with the cilantro, the chives or scallions, and the basil, and serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt.
Yogurt
Step 3
Living in France in the 1960s, I loved to eat yogurt served in tiny glass jars and sprinkled with sugar. Although I knew that it was originally a product of the Balkans, I always associated yogurt with France, where it has a long history. Isaac Carasso, a Jew from Thessalonika who came through Spain to France in the 1930s, first peddled his jars of yogurt from a cart on the streets of Paris. During World War II, his family moved his company to New York and called it Danone, in honor of his son, Daniel, who lived to 103, going each day to the office, a living testament to the healthful qualities of his product.
