Some dishes arrive by accident. This vegetable soup started with a memory from 1974 and ended with a missing tetra pak of cooking cream.

I was in Oslo on business with my boss from London, and our Norwegian hosts took us to a restaurant at Holmenkollen - the famous ski jump venue that hosted the 1952 Winter Olympics and has been sending brave and occasionally foolhardy people off a very large ramp ever since. On a later visit I climbed to the top of the jump. There is nothing in the world that would have made me go any further. The view was extraordinary. The drop was not something I needed to contemplate at closer range.

That day in 1974 the menu was restricted, and I chose the vegetable soup. It was delicious - rich, creamy, deeply warming. The kind of soup that makes a cold Oslo day considerably more bearable.

Years later I set about replicating it at Casa Adora. The vegetables were ready, the stock was made, and then I opened the cupboard where the tetra paks of cooking cream live. Empty. Norwegian vegetable soup without cream it was, then.

It turned out better than expected. The cauliflower - left over from the previous day, simmered in turmeric water - gave the soup its colour and its body. Blitzed smooth with homemade vegetable stock, it needed nothing else. The original had cream. This one doesn't miss it.

A note on the lingonberries: the Holmenkollen restaurant finished the soup with a few lingonberries for colour and a hint of sharpness. I've left them out. Lingonberries in Andalucia are about as easy to find as a cold day in August.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

2 medium carrots, roughly chopped

A generous wedge of white cabbage, roughly chopped

Half a small cauliflower, broken into florets

1 tsp turmeric

750ml homemade vegetable stock

Olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

How to Make Norwegian Vegetable Soup Without Cream

1. Simmer the cauliflower florets in a pan of water with the turmeric for 10 minutes until just tender. Drain and set aside - the turmeric will have done its work on the colour.
2. Heat a glug of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently until softened - around 8 minutes.
3. Add the carrots and cabbage. Stir and cook for a further 5 minutes.
4. Add the drained cauliflower and pour over the vegetable stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes until all the vegetables are completely soft.
5. Remove from the heat and blitz until smooth with a stick blender or in a jug blender. Add a little more stock if the consistency needs loosening.
6. Season well with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and finish with a scatter of flat-leaf parsley.

A Note on the Cream

Norwegian vegetable soups are typically rich with cream - and if you have a tetra pak in the cupboard, stir in 100ml at step 5 before blitzing. It softens the flavour and adds richness. The cream-free version is lighter, lets the turmeric and carrot come through more clearly, and is entirely accidental. Sometimes the cupboard knows best.

A Note on the Dill

A traditional Norwegian soup would finish with dill rather than parsley. Dill in Andalucia is considerably harder to find than parsley. Use it if you have it - it suits the dish beautifully. The parsley works perfectly well, and nobody in Monte Lope Álvarez will know the difference.

This recipe is part of the Soup Hub - The Flexible Chef's Complete Collection — every soup recipe from Casa Adora and the road. Explore the full collection.

Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures - The Flexible Chef.