Steemit Iron Chef 2017 #01 : Wild Oregon Myrtle Tomato Soup
What a magical, mysterious flavor! From a single leaf, foraged from a wild tree native only to Oregon and California. It makes the best tomato soup!
I was so excited to see Tomatoes as the mystery ingredient for the first stage of the Steemit Iron Chef challenge, created and hosted by @progressivechef. My entry is a starter course -- a cold tomato soup with a cocktail. This has become my favorite way to make tomato soup. It would be a hit in any fancy restaurant. The flavors are so ethereal and mysterious, but sweet and delicious! The secret is a single leaf from a wild shrub - the Oregon Myrtle tree.
The wild Oregon Myrtle tree (Umbellularia californica) goes by many other names. It's often called California Bay Laurel, California Bay, or California Laurel. But that just makes for a lot of confusion, I think. It's not related to the Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) that provides the Bay Leaf used in soup and stew. And neither are related to the English Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) or the Portugal Laurel (Prunus lusitanica), which are not real laurels at all -- in fact, they are toxic! I'll stick with Oregon Myrtle to reduce confusion. Sometimes I call it Myrtlewood, because so many people in Oregon know this plant for all the tourist souvenirs made from the wood of larger plants.
This is such a simple soup, so easy to prepare. But the flavors are magical and memorable. The soup itself is only four ingredients: olive oil, onion, tomatoes, and a single leaf from the Oregon Myrtle. I just sautee a chopped onion in olive oil until translucent. Then I add the tomatoes and the Myrtle leaf, and simmer until the soup smells so good that I can't wait to eat it!
I like using frozen homegrown tomatoes for this soup. I add the whole, frozen tomatoes to the onions and let them cook on low until they have thawed and broken down completely. When the soup is hot, I remove the Myrtle leaf. Usually I just serve the tomato soup hot, with the seed and skin included. That's homestead style!
But @progressivechef challenged us to "elevate" our dish. So I put the soup in a blender and then strained it. Once it was cool, I topped it with finely chopped Italian leaf parsley and Rose-of-Sharon flower petals. It does look nicer this way and the smooth texture works well for a cold soup.
What do I have to drink with my soup starter course? A nice cocktail! IT's a Black Locust Flower Gin and Tonic. I showed how to make it during my Baby Dolphin Party. I would serve this soup to any company. The volatile oils of the Myrtle leaf perfume the whole dish. With each bite, the flavors run through your whole head -- so refreshing! So tasty!
What Do You Think?
I hope you get to try Oregon Myrtle Tomato Soup sometime. It's delicious!
- Have you used Oregon Myrtle in cooking?
- Does Oregon Myrtle grow near you?
- Would you try my Wild Oregon Myrtle Tomato Soup?
- Do you like your tomato soup warm or cold?
I write about foraging because I believe that we can all have lives that are richer, more secure, more grounded, and more interesting by getting to know the plants and the land around us – in our yards, our parks, and our wilderness.
I would like Steemit to be the premier site for Foraging on the Internet! If you have any thoughts about foraging, or experiences to share, write a post and be sure to use the Foraging tag. And check out the @foraging-trail to see curated quality posts about foraging. Happy Foraging!
Thanks @progressivechef for creating the Steemit Iron Chef contest series.
Plant List
Oregon Myrtle - Umbellularia californica - leaves, all year
Bay Laurel - Laurus nobilis - the common bay leaf in stores
English Laurel - Prunus laurocerasus -- NOT EDIBLE!!
Portugal Laurel - Prunus lusitanica -- NOT EDIBLE!
Rose of Sharon - Hibiscus syriacus - flower petals
Haphazard Homestead
Look yummy! It seems easy to be prepared! I love tomatoes! Nice post! ;)
Thanks, @tangmo!
Good to see you posting! This looks yummy and you did a great job on the presentation.
Thanks, @old-guy-photos! I'm hoping to be more regular here on Steemit pretty soon.
I am going to try this, as I still have many many tomatoes left in my garden. Thank you so much @haphazard-hstead Upvoted
Thanks, @gardengirlcanada! I wonder how accessible Oregon Myrtle is outside of its natural range. I'm glad you have a lot of tomatoes, especially up there in Canada. Any tomato soup would be a good soup, I think! :D
Ok this is a new one for me, what is Oregon Myrtle? It was not easy to get this many tomatoes with so much rain and an early frost this year, but I did and have and will make a bunch of stewed tomatoes. I still have lots of salsa left from last year. thanks
Oh you homestead version looks sooo good (and I see the cool fork again :p) Of course I would eat both, since tomato soups, any kind, are my favourite soups! and I never remove the seeds or skin. They are full of goodies:)
Good luck in the contest!
I"m glad to know another person that eats the whole tomato! I do like homestead cooking better than the fancy stuff, that's for sure!
I just wouldn't bother peeling it :p And the skin in soup (or in sauce) doesn't bother me at all.
I would eat any fancy desert. But food... not sure... Looks pretty but I wouldn't know what in there or how to eat it :) I like simple food.
You are one inspiring Steemian!! Yes, I believe I have seen a similar shrub on our land, I will have to check to be certain. Thanks for sharing your skills, and your recipe with us. I make my soups and sauces with the seeds and skin too hahaa, like you say must be the homesteader way (no time!!) AHHAAAA!!!
I would be surprised to see this plant in your area. But you probably have the English Laurel, which isn't related and is considered toxic. I see a lot of posts in foraging identification forums where people show the English Laurel or Portugal Laurel and want it to be the California Bay Laurel. The fragrance of the edible one is so unique and unmistakable. It would be nice if we could have Smell-o-Steemit! If you find your shrub, maybe we could do a pair of posts comparing our shrubs to see how similar or different they are.
And it's nice to know somebody else that cooks "the homestead way", lol! I figure those seeds and skins are good for us, since they are straight from the garden. I hope your late summer and early autumn are going well!
Ooh yes, thanks for the info, it would probably be the English or Portugal considering I'm on the East Coast of Canada. Yeah a smell-o-Steemit would be so wonderful to have!
I couldn't imagine my own sauce or soup without my skins, it seems like such a waste. And the good nutrients are usually in skins, so yeah, a must have for sure!
You got me thinking about how to store or ship these Oregon Myrtle leaves. I just pick them fresh off the tree when I need them. If they would last well enough to arrive fresh in the mail, that would be cool. I need to do some homework!
Glad to meet someone else that appreciates tomato skins, lol.
never seen Oregon myrtle in my neck of the woods ( Copenhagen, Denmark) will have to try and find it so I can experience the flavour, sounds great
I've never seen the leaves for sale anywhere, even here where they are native shrubs. They have so many leaves, it wouldn't take much to harvest a lot! If you find any, I'd love to hear about it! Or maybe I can get into the export business, lol! Their flavor is worth buying, I think.
As usual @haphazard-hstead is here with another surprising assemblage! How i'm glad you joined the steemit iron chef my friend! I'm sure we all are going to discover amazing and unique foraged foods from you!
I am always learning so much from your so informative post! I have never used the Oregon Myrtle, it seems to have a very nice flavor and intense too as i noticed you used only 1 leaf!
So happy to see how you elevated the dish, by blending and enhancing with the flowers!
Welcome on board steemit iron chef my friend!
Wish you all the best in this marathon cooking contest!
@progressivechef
Thanks @progressivechef! I've been away too long! You are right that this leaf has an intense flavor. One leaf, 15 minutes, is enough to infuse this soup with its volatile oils. It's not a flavor familiar to folks, but everyone I have served this to has really liked it -- and they ask me to make it again! Your contest is going to challenge my simple peasant style of cooking. Or maybe I will have to elevate a dish by taking it to my rooftop, lol! ; )
Yes i've noticed that you were not too much present the last days my friend! Hope all fine for you!
I just love your rustic way of cooking btw, keep doing same it's great. Just a little polishing on the presentation like the one you did for the first week and you are good to go! Don't lift it to the rooftop though!Lol!
Have a lovely day ahead!
Thanks for the encouragement. And have fun looking at all those great tomato dishes!
I didn't get an invite, I love tomato soup :)
It will be nice when a Steemit Hardfork lets us send our meals over the blockchain, lol!
Now I would like that Hardfork :)
Welcome, in our case it is extrange to eat tomatoes soup it is more usesfull in sausage for eat with pupusas, for this reason the soup of tomatoes it is not common in El Salvador, i only see the soup in can of cambell soup, but it would be nice to tasted it.
The laurel this plant it is very extrange here you only could get in supermarket, in the pass i get a plants of laurel and i do not know but there it die, i try to get one more and continued to have in the yard.
Best regard.
@galberto
I think you would like the tomato soup -- it tastes much more fresh than Campbells. You know how your own plants taste better than processed ones! This Oregon Myrtle leaves are different from the bay leaves in most grocery stores. These myrtle leaves are so fragrant -- as fragrant as eucalyptus trees, if you have any of those around.
Amazing yes we have in a yard a big eucaliptus tree i took some leaves for make some tea for drink when we have cold i will try with eucaliptus leaves ???? I never thinking in uses this strong aromatic leaves in the kitchen would be nice for get your recipes the flavor and smell strong. Thank you very much for the tips would be nice to tasted i am imagin some recipes with this, i only uses ginger in beans fried for example and have better flavor, yes the soup it is better fresh without chemistry as can of preserved as campbell.
Thank you so much
I have never cooked with eucalyptus, so I don't know how they taste. And there are so many kinds of eucalyptus, that may taste different. Some may be really bad! But their smell is the closest that I can think of, to the Oregon Myrtle leaves. And the oils in both are types of cineole.
Another option might be the younger leaves of the Mexican Avocado (Persea americana var. drymifolia). They are in the same family as the Oregon Myrtle (Lauraceae) and have a spicy fragrance. The other Avocado strains, like the Guatemala or West Indian Avocados, don't have the same spiciness and are not good for food or spice.
Eucalyptus melliodora this is the spice of eucalyptus that exist in our yard, ok I try to identify the local name of Oregon Myrtle. I do not know if exist some similar, I will try because it is very very important know aromatic plants for food.
I will try to identify the Persea Americana I have some avocados plants in our garden but I do not what kind of avocado are it, I review the younger leaves for try to find it,
Thank so much for this nice information, I will review the same spice of aromatic plants.
Happy to see you back on steemit! Missed your wild dishes. Another beautiful entry. Though Oregon Myrtle doesn't grow here I'm sure we can find something else to make this lovely soup. My hubby love tomato soup!
Thanks for the welcome back, @amy-goodrich! Oregon Myrtle has such a unique fragrance and taste. I wonder what's the closest you have around you. You have so many tropical plants that are unique! A Thai basil would probably be really great!
Though I love basil (Italian and holy basil) Thai basil is not my thing! I have said this before but I need to put some more effort in learning my tropical edibles... I'm always so scared to eat something poisonous over here... hospitals are not so good. So you better know what you are eating hehe. Going to Europe in a week so I'll see if I can find the Oregon Myrtle there. You made me curious to smell and taste it!
If you find any Oregon Myrtle in Europe, I'd love to know. I'm really curious how well known or used this plant is. I appreciate your dilemma in learning tropical edibles. There are so many different tropical plants -- including toxic ones. It makes foraging in the temperate zone seem easy!
Moving back to the jungle in just a few months.... eager to do some research. Gonna look for a decent guide of this region. If I can find Oregon Myrtle in Europe I'll def let you know. Have a lovely Sunday.
Good timing in moving back during the winter, lol. I'd like to know what guidebook you find for Cambodia -- the jungle seems so mysterious to me!