"senate soup" news and stories

Pictured at right is the very last few spoonfuls from a pot of navy bean soup my father made recently. As bean soups go, this one is on the thin side, its deep bean-y taste complemented with the robust porky flavor of a smoked ham hock. The United States Senate has served this soup every day for, by some accounts, over a hundred years. What better way to commemorate the presidential inauguration of the first senator to be elected to the office since Kennedy?

My father followed the Senate's published recipe, making just a few changes based on the variation published in American Classics, one of the many tomes issued by the Cook's Illustrated people. To my surprise, neither recipe advises soaking the beans overnight, instead bringing them to a boil straightaway with the ham hock. More shockingly still, the American Classics version makes a strong case for salting from the get-go, which flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that salting toughens the beans.

To make the soup just as my father did, which I most urge you to do, use the Senate recipe but don't bother heating the water first, add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt to the water with the beans, and throw in a clove or two of minced garlic while browning the onion in the butter. My father browned the onion and garlic excessively, which tasted quite nice.

The final step? Ladle some soup into a red, white, and/or blue bowl, crank up the TV volume when Aretha comes on stage, and enjoy your senatorial soup.