Country of origin: United States

Original recipe credit: The Ultimate Vegetarian Cookbook by Roz Denny

Cream of mushroom soup has been a special dish for me and my mom for as long as I can remember. Whenever my dad goes out of town, my mom and I have a tradition to eat cream of mushroom soup together. 

Our recipe, like many cream of mushroom soup recipes, begins with chopping the fragrant onion and celery and heating them in a pot along with a generous pour of sunflower oil until a soft sizzle fills the room. Then, add a splash of soy sauce, a tasteful amount of vegetable stock, and a sprinkle of some seasoning, bringing the ingredients to a boil and covering with a lid until the vegetables are soft. At this point, a soft mushroom aroma always wafts about the house as I wait impatiently to eat. After simmering, strain the vegetables (saving the stock) and puree them in a blender or food processor, adding them and the stock back to the pot when smooth. Finally, bring it back to a boil and stir in the milk.

When I was younger, I remember excitedly sprinting down the stairs to the kitchen table when my mom called me to dinner, my mouth watering in anticipation. Cream of mushroom soup was a great comfort food for us, with a smooth texture and a subtle flavor. 

Despite where my mom and I were in our relationship throughout the years, cream of mushroom soup has always been a timeless meal for us as it was something that only the two of us shared while we spent valuable time together, even making eating the leftovers enjoyable by adding in pasta.

No matter how old I was or what time of day, mushroom soup always connected me and my mom as a tradition. Even now, anytime we eat it, it brings back a flood of memories of binge-watching TV shows, talking about our days, and just spending time with each other, just the two of us.