Turmeric, the brilliant yellow spice, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties–important weapons in the battle to stay on top of diabetes. (Cumin—another spice in this soup—has these beneficial properties too.)
It also has a world class, gold medal ability to stain anything that comes into contact with it–so handle with care–or rather with a spoon is the rule!
It helps give this stunning summer soup–suggested almost as an afterthought in the lovely Riverford Farm Cook Book–its luminous colour.
Which apples to use?
I used Fuji last time, which are a favorite apple for me.
Next time I want to try Granny Smith.
You could try a mix too.
for 4
3 large apples–peeled, cored and chopped up
1 medium onion–chopped
25 gms/1 oz butter
1 tsp each turmeric, cumin, coriander, mustard powder (I use English mustard powder. Whizzing some seeds in a grinder is another option–or simply leave it out!)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 pint/450ml stock (I use organic vegetable stock cubes)
salt and white pepper
juice of half a lemon
creme fraiche or yoghurt (for garnish)
mint leaves (for garnish)
- Melt the butter in a pan.
- Add the onion and sauté gently to soften.
- Add the apple pieces and the spices and mix in.
- Add the stock and simmer gently for fifteen minutes.
- Liquidise to a smooth texture, using a food blender or hand mixer.
- A ladle and a half per bowl is perfect.
- Top with a teaspoon of creme fraiche or yoghurt and a leaf of mint for garnish (if you have it).
We asked guests at lunch a couple of days ago to guess what soup they thought it was–it puzzled a few!
Serve it hot in the new apple season to come too!
Robin Ellis 
This sounds so good, I’ll try it! We are having a great year for fruit trees here in Colorado, infact so good that most of the top branches of my 12 year old apple tree broke and fell down on the lower branches! It was absolutley loaded this year. I really believe it’s from the Topbar Bee hive I added this March. It’s all that pollination of 5 or 6 thousand bees!! And we have hardly any “bad apples.” Poor tree just too much of a good thing!
This sounds wonderful! Love the spices but would not have thought to put with apples. Must give it a try.
My daughter will be here for the weekend.. cant try this alone! cant wait!
What a new way to use this most beneficial spice! Who would have thought of apples? Thank you, Robin. I’m so glad to learn that Aussie bred Granny Smith apples have found their way to France.
My doctor is of the opinion that not enough is known or paid attention to in our western world to Turmeric as it is in India. Statistics show us that in India the incidence of cancer, Altzeimer’s disease and diabetes is very small per capita compared to these horrors occuring among us.
Ginger too Odette.
I read this piece this morning in the Huffington Post about research done at the University of Sydney on the effectiveness of GINGER in the management of glucose levels for diabetics.
It cautions at the end that the research needs to be on-going–but ginger is a regular in my kitchen and adds flavor. A chopped up piece with boiling water poured over it makes for a simple cup of ginger tea. So learning that it could be beneficial as well as tasty is a plus.
Yet another reason why ginger is a must-have on the supermarket shopping list. Not only does its fragrance transform a stir fry, this Asian root could have the power to help manage our sugar levels, say Australian researchers.
Scientists at the University of Sydney, investigated the active constituents of the rhizome of Zingiber officinale, Roscoe (aka ginger), to determine their relationships with glucose uptake in the body.
According to News Medical, extracts from an Australian-grown ginger were able to increase the uptake of glucose into muscle cells independently of insulin.
Professor Basil Roufogalis, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry said: “This assists in the management of high levels of blood sugar that create complications for long-term diabetic patients, and may allow cells to operate independently of insulin.”
There are 2.9m people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK and an estimated 850,000 people who have the condition but don’t know it, according to Diabetes UK.
Diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in your blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly.
This is because your pancreas does not produce any insulin, or not enough, to help glucose enter your body’s cells – or the insulin that is produced does not work properly (known as insulin resistance).
“The components responsible for the increase in glucose were gingerols, the major phenolic components of the ginger rhizome,” said Professor Roufogalis, said to Medical Daily.
“It is hoped that these promising results for managing blood glucose levels can be examined further in human clinical trials,” he added
This, dear Robin, is a hope of millions and would be a wonderful beginning to control and to beat diabetes if this research could be a success. Thank you for sharing this article of great hope… So far ginger tea was known to me as an effective digestive tea.
Ginger growers in the State of Queensland would be ecstatic. Ginger grows there like potatoes in some parts of Europe.
My very next produce Coop had a selection of apples, so I chose “Summer Grannies” with which to make this soup. A very tart variety, I learned — I didn’t add the lemon. I had it first hot, and the next day chilled. Both were delicious, but my vote goes to the cold version. Thanks for another yummy and healthy recipe, Robin!
I tried it with Grannies and I liked it.