Hot soup benefits local kids in need at 5th annual SOUPer Bowl

Posted

Everyone was a winner at the Jan. 30 SOUPer Bowl fundraiser to benefit Hugs Across the County, but the People’s Choice Award went to The Ice Plant for its puree of mushroom soup with truffle creamy Parmesan gremolata.

Rich, Diane and Titus Dettra accepted the trophy for the recipe created by Chef Laird Boles. The soup is made with crimini and porcini mushrooms, chicken broth, garlic, onion, butter and cream. The gremolata is toasted bread, olive and truffle oils, Pamesan, lemon zest, parsley and chives.

“It’s an Ice Plant favorite created by Chef Laird,” Rich Dettra said.

In its fifth year, the SOUPer Bowl is largely facilitated by International Baccalaureate and Hospitality Academy students at Nease High School to raise funds to help provide weekend meals for local food-insecure students. For a $25 ticket, tasters sample soups prepared by 25 area restaurants and culinary programs. The winning soup in 2019 was chicken tortilla presented by St. Johns Technical High School Culinary Arts students.

This year, a team of seventh-graders in the Freedom Crossing Academy 4H Culinary Club were the youngest competitors with chicken tortellini soup.

Young chef Tristan said they developed the recipe because, “This is what we had in our garden.” Undaunted, the students look forward to the next culinary competition.

There were a few gluten-free, vegetarian or vegan options, including The Floridian’s chilled cauliflower coconut bisque with ginger, lemongrass and red pepper reduction. Genie and Jeff McNally chose to serve a cold soup because, “in Florida, you never know what the weather is doing.”

“We think of it as a palate cleanser that still has intensity of flavor,” Chef Genie McNally said.

Lulu’s Waterfront Grill served beer cheese soup with pretzel crouton. “It’s something we do at the restaurant and it goes over real well,” Sous Chef Brett Allen said.

David Cressler Jr, sous chef at Sawgrass Country Club, served spring minestrone verde with pistachio pesto crostini. He said the vegan, gluten-free soup was plant based with kale and leeks as the base.

“We prefer using local and fresh ingredients,” Cressler said. “It’s a vegan selection that’s good and healthy made with in-season ingredients. We also strive to support the community and farmers.”

Tasty soups were on the menu at the annual student-run event, but servers and tasters alike expressed a desire to give back. Karen Gaby recently moved to the area from South Florida. This was her first SOUPer Bowl. She and her husband thought it would be a good opportunity to learn about local restaurants.

“It’s exciting,” Gaby said. “I’m thinking of becoming a volunteer. It’s a great cause.”

She was sampling chicken and Tasso ham chowder prepared by Thomas Allen, sous chef at Vernon’s First Coast Kitchen and Bar. The day before the competition, he switched from serving chicken and dumplings to the chowder.

“I got in some Tasso ham and it was my inspiration,” Chef Allen said. “It’s Cajun ham smoked with a little datil hot sauce.”

To cool off from tasting hot soups, Christy’s Dream Ice Cream served up samples of butterscotch, fabulous Oreo, ridiculously good coconut and other frozen flavors to eager tasters. And everyone could choose a commemorative bowl created by St. Johns County students.

At the end of the evening, Nease students presented a check to Hugs Across the County in the amount of $39,342, just shy of their $40,000 goal. To help bridge the gap and put the total over the top, visit stjohnshugs.org and make a donation by Friday, Feb. 7.