Shamus Ian Fatzinger/Fairfax County Times
100 Bowls of Soup’s pulled chicken chili. Founder Katharine Mardirosian of McLean sells her soups at the Reston farmers market on Saturdays.
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McLean woman offers a soup for every occasion
‘100 Bowls of Soup’ the standard for McLean’s Mardirosian
By early July, farmers markets are in full display: vegetables, fruits, baked goods, flowers … everything the savvy cook could want. But the Reston Farmers’ Market holds a surprise: a soup vendor. Tucked into the back by the pathway to the lake, McLean resident Katharine Mardirosian and her stand, 100 Bowls of Soup, offers shoppers sips from one of her daily soup specials. And if the crowds aren’t pressing around, perhaps Mardirosian will chat about her soup story, for her wares are certainly a unique find at area farmers markets.
For one, she can explain how she came up with the name for her fledgling business. “I liked the idea of 100 flavors of seasonal soups,” she says. “It seemed like a good goal.”
Although Mardirosian is not a professional chef, “I have been cooking soup for years,” she says. “I grew up eating great soups.”
And Mardirosian augmented her soup knowledge after spending time in Eastern Europe, where soups are mealtime staples. “I learned how to make great soups there from scratch,” she says. “I experimented with many unfamiliar combinations, using citrus, vinegars and spices to flavor the soups.”
Back in the states and married, she went from working as a business consultant for several telecom startups to being a stay-at-home mom. Yet soup-making was part of her regular kitchen regimen. “I was always making soups for the family,” she says, “because they did not like the commercial ones that are so laden with salt, cream and other unwanted ingredients. So I started simply, making my own chicken and vegetable stock.”
She also found her children could be her harshest critics. “My son is not open-minded. He’ll eat only minestrone, chicken noodle, pea soup and bean soup,” she says. “The joke is, he’ll eat my chicken noodle soup, but also ramen noodle packed with salt, MSG, and chemicals. My daughter will eat anything [of my soups].”
As Mardirosian started donating soups for school events, she started to think seriously about a soup-making business. “In 2009 I started with test-marketing several soups: the classic chicken noodle and the minestrone, and then I started experimenting with vegetables,” she says. “The first year was an incredible learning curve.”
As she describes her work, Mardirosian has taken basic and classic recipes, and after hours of experimenting with ingredients, she has developed a line of soups stamped with her own personal flair. “Something will inspire me, like my gazpacho evolved over many months,” she says. “Or I will be inspired by a vegetable. For example, I had not cooked with beets until a few years ago, so I started experimenting with them. I could also be inspired by a flavor or by something I see in the market.” Luckily, she has a husband and honest friends with good palates who judge her final products. “I get tired of my own soups,” she says.
A stickler for cooking with quality seasonal and local ingredients, Mardirosian has developed a relationship with local farmers and also with Pennsylvania’s Tuscarora organic growers, from whom she purchases the bulk of her produce in the fall and winter months. “I won’t make gazpacho until July when tomatoes are great,” she says. “I make cold soups in summer: gazpacho, zucchini-basil, carrot and fresh ginger; vevety beets, carrot coriander, and a cucumber dill.”
In all, Mardirosian has a total menu of about 30 soups. Most are low-fat, and low in sodium, primarily based on vegetable stock, and are packed in 15-ounce containers. “Probably the most popular soup is my ginger-carrot,” she says. “It contains no salt and is an all-season soup.”
For more information, contact Katharine Mardirosian at the Saturday market in Reston, email 100bowlsofsoup@gmail.com, or check out her website: www.100bowlsofsoup.com.
Carrot & Fresh Ginger
(Vegan, Gluten Free)
A deliciously light but satisfying soup chilled or warmed, with the bold flavor of fresh ginger and lemon. Garnish with a swirl of yogurt, cream or goat cheese. Freezes well.
Serves 3 to 4
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 cloves garlic, diced
4 large carrots, sliced
1 sweet potato or yam, sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Yogurt, cream or goat cheese as garnish
Heat olive oil in medium-sized stockpot. Add onions, celery, carrots and garlic and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add half the grated ginger and sweet potatoes and cook for five minutes. Add 1 ½ to 2 quarts water, just enough for vegetables to be floating. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and simmer for another about 20 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Puree vegetables in batches with remaining fresh ginger. Transfer to pot to cool. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste, and garnish as desired.