The legend of my mother’s turkey soup pervaded conversation in our house every time we had turkey. A jeering comment from my dad - “I even tried Ketchup - nothing could make that soup edible.” He said it in a loving way, like he really was trying to do anything to make his new wifes soup edible. After years of this, my brother or I would even chime in “You aren’t going to make Turkey soup are you?”
The story was that in the first years of their marriage, my mom found a turkey soup recipe, but neglected to follow the recipe entirely. She made the whole thing, including simmering the carcass, adding all the vegetables and spices in two hours. Apparently she also forgot to taste it. She and my dad sat down to eat and nothing could bring it to life - not even ketchup. Needless to say, she never, ever tried again.
For some reason, I have always felt the same fear of making turkey soup, it was like a curse. I suppose it came down to the fact my mother couldn’t make it taste good, and I felt that if she couldn’t, then I wouldn’t be able to either!
Turkey is an interesting broth. It is much lighter than chicken, but has its own special flavour. There is a certain savoryness about it, less fatty than chicken I think. This does make it harder to make a good tasting soup, I have found. One year, during the first months of my engagement to Justin, my mom and I decided to through the carcass in some water for later soup making projects. Then, a couple of months later, Justin was sick and all I had was the turkey broth to make him a soup. (Can you hear the foreboding music?) Read the complete Post.