Soups and Stews

A student at Le Ferrandi culinary school in Paris tends to a simmering pot of veal stock under the watchful eye of his professor.

First, you brown some onions, celery, and bacon. Next, you pour in stock or water and maybe a little wine, scraping up the f lavorful caramelized bits before adding meat or vegetables. Then you stir, season, taste, and wait. As the pot simmers and your kitchen fills with aromas, sharp f lavors mellow and subtle ones intensify, until it all comes together in a beautiful union. Creamy corn chowder, French onion soup bubbling beneath gooey Gruyère, Polish pork and sauerkraut stew—such dishes feed the soul, warm the body, and leave us content.