Colm O'Gorman's comforting cream of vegetable soup with cheese soda bread

Try this nostalgic dish with a twist

Irish Cream of Vegetable Soup is a wonderfully nostalgic, comforting dish.

Traditional Irish Cream of Vegetable Soup, also known as ‘Funeral Soup’, is a wonderfully nostalgic, comforting dish. Everyone will be familiar with this soup given how often is served at functions here in Ireland, most notably after funerals.

There are countless variations of course, but here in my part of the country it is usually a smooth, creamy vegetable soup seasoned with just salt and white pepper. It is always made with seasonal vegetables, the fresher the better, which pack in loads of flavour. Vegetables, a good quality stock, salt, and pepper; it really does not need more than that. You can vary the vegetables to suit whatever you have to hand. Turnips would also work, as would cauliflower or butternut squash, though I would avoid broccoli as it tends to overpower the flavour of the root vegetables.