Have you seen it with the standard soups such as vegetable soup, tomato soup or mushroom soup, but are you still looking for a delicious filled soup? Then try something different; soup from the VOC. A delicious slightly spicy soup to which you can add vegetables of your choice. The basis of the soup is tomato and gingerbread, supplemented with delicious herbs and spices. Complicated? No, can be made in an instant!
Soup from the VOC
The name says it all; Soup from the VOC. Before the recipe is discussed, we will first go into the background of the ingredients that make the soup so characteristic.
VOC stands for the Dutch East India Company. The VOC was a large trading company active in the 17th and 18th centuries. The VOC had a monopoly (exclusive right) on the spice trade between Europe and Asia. They left with large fleets to Asia to trade there. At that time, for example, few herbs were known in the Netherlands, while they were already widely used in Asia.
However, the VOC was not the first to discover what could be achieved in Asia; the Portuguese preceded them in the 16th century. At the time, people knew very little about the world, so explorers such as Vasco DaGama went out. This happened with large seaworthy ships with which they tried to sail all kinds of routes at sea. That’s how they discovered Asia and the spices and herbs they had there. Some examples of this are cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and pepper. They soon discovered that there was a lot of money to be made with it; from that moment on the Portuguese started to trade herbs and spices from Asia to other European countries and thus made money like water.
The Netherlands got wind of this and of course wanted to get a piece of it. However, a trip to Asia cost a lot of money and for that reason the VOC was founded. Traders from all over the country joined the VOC and joined forces and financial resources. Ships, weapons and crew could be financed from this.
This soup has been given the name VOC soup because its ingredients use spices from the VOC period. However, these herbs do not have to be purchased separately; one of the bases of this soup is gingerbread. Gingerbread contains all kinds of spices that will give the soup a characteristic taste.
Necessities
- 1 liter of beef stock
- 1 small can of tomato paste
- Half to three-quarters gingerbread (to taste; the more gingerbread, the thicker the soup)
- 300 grams of beef in cubes
- 50 grams of butter
- 1 winter carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 teaspoon sambal oelek
- freshly ground pepper
- salt
- creme fraiche
Preparation method
- Peel and chop the onion.
- Peel the carrot and grate it (or cut it very finely) into coarse strips. If desired, slices can be chosen.
- In a pan, fry the onion and the carrot with a little butter until it becomes translucent.
- Add the beef and fry it briefly. Add the gingerbread (crumbs and small pieces / chunks), the tomato puree and the sambal and fry over a high heat for about three minutes.
- Add the stock to the baking mixture.
- Bring to the boil and let it simmer for about one hour with the lid on the pan.
- Season the soup with salt and pepper as desired.
Serving tips
- Add a dash of sour cream or a teaspoon of crème fraîche and some chopped parsley if desired.
- Also delicious as a meal soup with a crispy baguette.
Enjoy your meal!
