Recipe column “Own Stove”: The best soup for autumn? Chicken broth with walnuts!

The walnut is the second most popular nut in the world after the almond. At least, that's what the statistics say, and it's interesting that this supposed favorite nut is used so little in cooking. It appears in bars and trail mix, in salads, on cheese boards, and of course in cakes, but beyond that, the kitchen uses the walnut surprisingly timidly, at least in our region. Now, admittedly, nuts aren't a classic stew ingredient, but a little more use would certainly be welcome.

In Georgia, for example, the walnut is a kind of culinary national treasure. Ground walnuts are blended into delicious sauces or pastes, mixed with coriander, chopped onions, bell peppers, celery, and tarragon, and used to fill, for instance, delicately roasted eggplants, making a wonderful appetizer. Similar recipes exist in Russia and Turkey. In northern India, walnut chutneys are served as a complex accompaniment to chicken or vegetable curries. And in Italy, walnuts are puréed into wonderfully rich pasta sauces.

Another popular (and somewhat forgotten) use for walnuts is in soup. This can be savory with onions, as in Poland; sweet with rice flour and sugar, as in Cantonese cuisine (Hup tul woo); or creamy and elegant, as in France. Corre Larkin , whose cooking channels on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok have hundreds of thousands of followers, recently reminded us of the latter. Larkin's recipe comes from a historical French cookbook, and she was surprised by how delicate walnut soup tastes, its nuances ranging from milky to tobacco-like, surpassing even the range of chestnut soup. The soup's simple preparation is also surprising; (if you have a good stock on hand) it requires only a handful of ingredients and is ready in 15 minutes.

For the soup, crush 200g of walnuts (look for inexpensive "broken walnuts" at the supermarket), the leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs (or the needles from 1 rosemary sprig), and 1 clove of garlic, ideally in a mortar and pestle, until you have a coarse walnut paste. Heat this in a stainless steel pot with 500ml of chicken stock (vegetable stock works too) and simmer gently for about 5 minutes. The better the quality of the stock, the better the soup will taste. Purée the walnut-stock mixture in a food processor until smooth, then return it to the pot (perfectionists can strain the soup through a sieve, but this isn't necessary) and add cream to taste, about 100ml. Let everything simmer for another 1 to 2 minutes until the soup has a silky consistency and looks like a creamy latte macchiato. Finally, season with salt, black pepper and a good white wine or champagne vinegar.

This final touch of acidity (lemon juice would also be worth a try) guarantees the balance of the soup, which is similarly rich to chestnut soup. You should definitely adjust the quantities of ingredients to your taste. If the soup is too thick, add more broth; more cream makes it creamier, but also less rich; the broad heat of pepper can be replaced with the pointed heat of chili. Crispy bacon bits work just as well as roasted pumpkin or roasted pear as a garnish. The result is traditional and nourishing in the best sense, elegantly warm and comforting, like a cashmere blanket gently enveloping you on gray days.

Quantities for 2 (main course) to 4 people (starter): - 200 g walnuts or walnut pieces - 500 ml chicken stock (or vegetable stock) - 2 sprigs fresh thyme - 100 ml cream - 1 generous splash of white wine or champagne vinegar - salt, black pepper