Cleo’s Oyster Artichoke Soup

One of the most important recipes to me in this collection is, hands down, this Oyster Artichoke Soup. It’s not just any soup. It’s a soup rich in New Orleans history in more ways than one. How the recipe was acquired, where it was originally cooked, and how it was salvaged after Katrina gives voice to ways in which food and culture remain inseparable throughout Louisiana.

Allow me to explain.

“That is comfort food to me,” Shannon, my hairdresser and good friend, says as she tells me about her favorite childhood recipes passed down from her grandmother. She’s mentioning her grandmother Cleo and her Oyster Artichoke Soup.
These are the best recipes: family grown and nurtured, as flavorful as they are memorable. When speaking with Shannon, I hadn’t had this soup yet, but I could already see its perfection: fresh Gulf oysters promise the savory flavors of New Orleans seafood and quartered artichoke hearts promise the hardy richness of a truly complex, but delicious green. Cooked together, this classic pairing promises to be more than just a clearly delicious family recipe, but a clearly delicious recipe from a New Orleans family.

Shannon’s memory of this dish is something akin to a Eudora Welty short story: set in the Deep South, filled with New Orleans characters, and ending in tragedy, the only remaining character is this soup. For Shannon’s grandmother Cleo, food was an art. Although not a cook by profession (she worked at Maison Blanche in the wedding department on Canal Street), Cleo lived among some of the South’s finest cooks. Because she didn’t drive, or have a car, Cleo rode the bus to work every day. During her daily commute, she chatted up many of the chefs of four-and five-star restaurants, picking up tidbits for many of her recipes.

Now, Shannon’s story would be fabulous if it just ended here, but it doesn’t. In fact, like any great tale, it takes a bit of a turn. Cleo took cooking seriously and had a cabinet filled with cookbooks with handwritten recipes, notes, and ingredients. In 2005 during Hurricane Katrina, this cabinet was flooded, destroying all of the contents. Shannon was supposed to inherit these cookbooks and she tears up when she tells me this story.

Now being many years since Cleo rode the bus to Maison Blanche, many years since Maison Blanche even existed on Canal Street, many years since she last cooked, Cleo cannot recall the recipes or the notes from that cabinet.

Today, only two recipes exist, having survived Katrina: Cleo’s Oyster Artichoke Soup and her French Onion Soup that follows this recipe.

As a resident of Louisiana, I take stories like this one seriously, recognizing that food in this state is always more complex than just the whisking of a roux or the spicing of a dish. And the thing that I find most fascinating about Shannon’s experience is how it reminds me of the rebuilding efforts in the city. New Orleans is famous for surviving natural disasters and re-creating itself better than it was before. Now, every time Shannon makes this soup, I make this soup, or you, one of my readers, make this soup, I get the sense that we are all rebuilding a little bit of New Orleans.

Cleo’s Oyster Artichoke Soup

Although this recipe follows the hand-written instructions Shannon gave me, there are several minor changes throughout: first, I bought pre-quartered artichoke hearts instead of the full-sized ones (which, you would need to halve or quarter anyway); second, I used fresh canned oysters from Whole Foods instead of fresh from the Gulf oysters; third, I added two cups of beef broth as indicated by the two cans.  This soup is extremely rich, so the two cans added some necessary water where I saw fit.

Ingredients:

* 1 can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup

* 1 can Campbell’s Cream of Celery Soup

* beef broth, enough to fill the two empty cans of soup

* whipping cream, to taste

* tarragon, to taste

* rosemary, to taste

* 2-3 cans quartered artichoke hearts

* 2-3 dozen oysters fresh, or fresh canned

* oyster juice (from oysters, or oyster cans)

* pepper, to taste

* 1 medium size onion, chopped

* 1 bell pepper, chopped

* celery, to taste, chopped (optional)

* minced, or pressed garlic, to taste

* butter, or “oleo,” to taste

* mushrooms, chopped, optional

* salt & pepper (black & white), to taste

1.) Dice Cleo’s “Holy Trinity” into small chunks: celery, onion, bell pepper.  Saute Holy Trinity in Oleo or butter (I used about 1/2 a stick of butter).  If using mushrooms, saute with holy trinity.  When onions are translucent, add cans of soup, 2 cans of beef broth, and whipping cream.

2.) Let warm on low-medium heat.  Cut artichokes into bite size pieces (you can skip this step if using pre-quartered artichoke hearts) and add to soup.

3.) Now, add herbs, salt, and pepper.  Taste.  Add more if needed.

4.) Lastly, add oysters and juice of oysters.  Shannon writes, “If you aren’t an oyster fan, you can chop up before putting into soup mixture.”

5.) Serve with crusty French bread and enjoy! Makes 6-10 servings.

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