Austinist Interview: Talking Soup with David Ansel

In America, we rock summertime barbeque. Hamburgers, ribs and the sacrosanct tofu pup all roast under our fair dominion. But soups are not quite within the purview.

Austin's very own authority on the subject is trying to change that. His name is David Ansel, known to many as The Soup Peddler. He rose to fame locally in 2002 by delivering homemade soup to residents of Bouldin Creek (atop a yellow bicycle, of course, with a tenuously attached cooler trailing behind him).

David's culinary operation has grown enormously since then, and his kitchen and delivery service now occupy a storefront off of South 1st Street. Several Soup Peddler vehicles park outside, a reminder that the business can field an average of 700 delivery requests per week.

If you didn't already know that soup is hot fun in the summertime, you will soon. Read on, as David waxes poetic about boiled carcasses! Sweet!

Where are summer soups popular? And what kind of soups are they?

There are some pretty solid American traditions of summer soup-eating… in the northeast and northwest, chowders are pretty much seasonless. The northwest’s summer halibut and salmon runs makes this a deep tradition, and halibut bones are the best fish stock bones I’ve ever had. Gumbo, as well, is a cherished soup throughout the summer, as are many gulf coast seafood soups. In Maryland, where I grew up, crab soup is a summer thing only, eaten in any temperature with Old Bay seasoning to match. I find that picante personalities are common in the summer for hot soups. Cold soups, with pretty rare exceptions, suck. I mean, they’re good food, but they miss huge parts of the subjective value of soup… most are stockless, and there’s no steam, none of that nurturing sensibility.

This is the first summer since your 2002 opening that The Soup Peddler will remain open for business. What led you to take this chance?

Foolishness and greed, perhaps. On the other hand, I want to keep my staff, I want them to feel secure and not have to rebuild the business every fall. I also changed our menu to include (now mostly) non-soup items… casseroles, desserts, salads, and the like. That was supposed to be the way we’d become more seasonless as a business, and the success of that play remains to be seen.

Long story short, the summer is already, at this early date, proving to be a formidable enemy to the health of this company. Public perception of the business changed last fall from being “the little engine that could” to being “corporate” and very successful, and a lot of the devoted Soupies felt that we didn’t NEED their support like in the past. But as a small local business, we literally need support from Austin to keep doing what we’re doing, pursuing our ambitions and passions.

You've traveled all over the world tasting, tasting and tasting. What's the most unusual soup you've ever tried?

I haven’t ever had bird’s nest soup, shark fin soup, or any such weirdness… I don’t think that in my travels I’ve really had anything too bizarre. Probably the most unusual setting for a soup was a beef stew that I ate at a random village in Lesotho about three days into a five day walkabout. This was WAY off the beaten path, where only beaten horse paths led from village to village and I was the first gringo that most of the children (and likely some of the adults) had ever seen. The stew was in a big cast iron pot set into coals in the middle of the village, and was unbelievably delicious. This was a place where “buying local” is not a virtue, it’s a necessity.

What's the strongest personal connection you've had with a fellow soup maker? Do most soupmakers share a similar personality profile?

I think that my favorite peer in the soupmaking world is Pat Solley, of Tacoma Park, Maryland. Her website is one of my main inspirations for recipe hunting. It seems like soupmakers are patient people who appreciate the alchemy of human effort… like gardeners, they like to patiently watch things change and make subtle refinements. Strangely, the best soup essay I’ve ever read was from Dwight David Eisenhower, describing how he makes stock and soup.

The motto of your business is "Soup is Love." Why? Should all of us stop dating and start cooking?

Finding joy in cooking for yourself and your loved ones is a great way to turn a daily chore (feeding yourself) into a daily pleasure.