@sssssoupsssss
The German American at home chef, Theresa Von Wangenheim, whizzing up a buzz with her Instagrammable palette
Stuffed Cabbage Leaf Soup
@sssssoupsssss // Instagram
When did your journey in the kitchen begin?
It began at a very young age! My family made a big point of cooking together and I learned most of my foundational cooking skills from my dad, who used cooking as an unwinding mechanism.
How did your passion project turn viral?
A "happy accident" is the perfect way to describe it. Soups have always been a huge comfort food for me, and I started documenting them as a creative outlet on my (initially private) Instagram page for fun back in 2018. At some point in 2019, my best friend convinced me to make it public and it's been steadily growing ever since!
When it comes to sourcing ingredients, what are your tips?
I try my best to cook with seasonal produce and buy from a variety of grocers and farmer's markets around me in Notting Hill. I definitely don't shy away from frozen vegetables which, apart from being more affordable, are often better (case in point: peas!)
For me, the perfect soup starts with a great stock. I buy a bunch of chicken carcasses from my local butcher every week and simmer up a huge batch of chicken stock to just drink and use in soups throughout the week (or freeze)! Once the stock is sorted, most soups follow a basic formula: fat + alliums + vegetables/protein + broth/stock, which you can blend or keep brothy. What makes a soup really shine are the finishing touches: a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of really good olive oil, or a dollop of creme fraiche to elevate the flavours, followed by something crunchy (think: croutons, seeds, nuts) to add texture. Et voilà!
Chicken Noodle Soup
@sssssoupsssss // Instagram
@harrietwestmoreland // Instagram
Tips to supercharge your soup for immunity?
I love spice and have a very high tolerance, so I've been adding lots of ginger and chilli to my soups this winter - often with coconut milk to round out the flavours. One of my all-time favourite soups is the Thai Lemongrass and coconut milk-based "Tom Kha Gai" that I spice up with chilli oil, coriander, and fresh lime.
Soups are inherently healthy and nutritious when they're homemade, as long as you're using high-quality ingredients, avoiding inflammatory cooking oils and buckets of butter/cream (though there's nothing wrong with either of those in moderation).
Adding in a handful of spinach or kale is an easy way to pack in some extra vitamins, as is a healthy sprinkling of fresh herbs like parsley, basil, dill or coriander.
Tom Yum Goong Soup
@sssssoupsssss // Instagram
Garden Pea Soup
@sssssoupsssss // Instagram
How would you best describe the look you create?
The only constant throughout my years of cooking is my Vitamix: the Rolls Royce of blenders. Other than that my most-used gadgets are silicone baking mats for roasting veggies and my microplane for parmesan or citrus zest.
