Soup Diary 100805

Over the years I've taken a stab at making various kinds of soup myself, and while I occasionally create something that (I think) transcends the mere ordinary, the only variety that I can pretty much nail every time out is chicken noodle. A big part of the reason for this is that it's pretty tough to mess up (though once I did go a bit overboard on the garlic). One of the consequences of this consistent success in my own kitchen is that I rarely will order chicken noodle soup in a restaurant. My experience tells me that I can do as well as any chef with this particular concoction. As proof, I offer the cup I ordered a couple days ago at a roadside restaurant just outside Silver Creek, New York where I stopped for dinner with my Mom after a pleasant day conducting some genealogical research down in Titusville, Pennsylvania. The menu gave the impression that this was a house specialty, and it was pretty good. In fact, it was virtually identical to the stuff I make for myself, though I'm partial to orzo instead of broad egg noodles as for the pasta component. Otherwise, the broth, the seasoning, even the supplementary veggies were all the same as I use-- the result, I might add, not of a favorite recipe but rather the result of many years of experimentation. It was uncanny how familiar this tasted, but upon consideration no great surprise. Chicken noodle soup is just one of those things that mostly defies individuation. In that regard, it may be closer to a sure thing than just about anything one is likely to encounter on a menu, which I'll let you decide is a good or a bad thing.