The Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking: A Year of Our Soups (Compass) [Paperback]

Rick Curry (Author)

Book Description

Series: Compass | Publication Date: October 29, 2002

In his early years as a novice, Brother Rick Curry learned that the quickest route to popularity among his peers was to master the art of cooking. Soup is one of the staple foods in a Jesuit community, and there is almost always a pot simmering on the stove. In more than forty years as a Jesuit brother, Brother Curry has traveled the world, lived in many different communities, and prepared many, many pots of soup. This collection includes recipes for sixty of his most popular soups-everything from an exotic Roasted Red Pepper Soup to the classic Minestrone Milanese to a hearty Corn Chowder, from a relatively simple chicken soup to the more complex Mussels Soup Billy-bi. But Brother Curry writes about a great deal more than soup. He includes stories to savor about his life in the community of Jesuits: the people he's met; the meals he's enjoyed; and the daily practices of patience, reverence, humility, and care that go into making a good soup and a good life.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Brother Curry's second cookbook is a natural companion volume to his first, The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking. He presents 60 recipes for soups from a variety of cuisines, both simple and more elaborate. But the recipes are only part of the book, as Curry introduces each one with mini-essays whose subjects range from theological questions to religious history to his own 40-plus years of experience in the Jesuit community. A cookbook that intersperses recipes w0not appeal to everyone, but Curry, who is also the founder and director of the National Theater Workshop of the Handicapped, is a natural storyteller, and his text is very readable. For larger collections and others where the first book was popular.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Brother Rick Curry, S.J., author of The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking, is the founder and artistic director of the National Theater Workshop for the Handicapped. He is also an actor, a teacher, and a master breadmaker.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (October 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014219610X
• ISBN-13: 978-0142196106
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #249,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking is a gem!, December 7, 2002

By 

fair_deal_guy "BB" (Prior Lake, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking: A Year of Our Soups (Compass) (Paperback)

If you're looking for the ultimate gift cookbook, I can't think of a better choice than The Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking. This book is beautifully written, and engages the reader's heart and soul unlike any other cookbook I've ever encountered. The recipes are SUPERB, and there is a year's worth of variety in this compact volume.

I've loaned The Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking more times than I can count, and everyone who's borrowed it ended up buying their own copy. That's the highest praise I can lend this wonderful book!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Soups Great Stories, August 13, 2006

By 

Steven R. McEvoy "MCWPP" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking: A Year of Our Soups (Compass) (Paperback)

"There is something so comforting about soup. It touches something deeply rooted in our lives." p. 5 This book is a journey around the work and through the year.

The soups are divided into church seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. It is filled with interesting stories and antidotes from Curry's travels and from Jesuit history and lore.

The recipes are great and the tales make them nourishing for the soul as well as the body. With soups from around the world and tales of travels, life loss and joy, the book will be a pleasure to read. Savor the words of wisdom as you enjoy the soups.

Rick Curry entered the Society of Jesus in 1961. In the last forty years he has been an actor, baker, teacher and author. He founded the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped, a nonprofit acting school for persons with disabilities. With both a asters and doctorate in arts he has created the first residential center for arts for persons with disabilities.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The stories and philosophizing are better than the recipes., March 4, 2003

By 

David J. Gannon (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking: A Year of Our Soups (Compass) (Paperback)

This works better as a "memoir of soup making" rather than a book of soup recipes. Mr. Curry has an engaging and stimulating writing style and many of the stories that surround the recipes are quite delightful. The recipes themselves leave a lot to be desired. A lot of the ingredients I've never heard of and a lot of the soups are designed to be made by someone with unlimited time and patience available-not the norm in the typical American household. Some of these concoctions seem to have been designed to be exotic merely for the sake of being exotic, not because they provide superior soups. Of those recipes that seemed doable on our schedule with what we normally have at hand for our routine cooking, all were fine but none exceptional or particularly noteworthy.

If offbeat soup making is your life, then this might be a good choice. For most people, I'd say look for it on a friend/acquaintance's bookshelf and read it for the stories.