A stock tip

A FRIEND RETURNED from Italy the other day with a recipe for what she called zuppa lucchese – i.e., soup in the style of Lucca, and so far as I could tell, a variant of the classic Italian soup pasta e fagioli, with farro substituted for the pasta. Farro – a wheat berry that resembles a larger version of barley – has been, on and off, a staple grain in Italy for several millennia, but it is little known in this country, and therefore one is grateful for any guidance about what to do with it.

Italian recipes of the vernacular sort are glories of imprecision: "some" of this, a "little" of that, a "healthy splash" of something else, usually extra-virgin olive oil. The farro soup seemed pretty straightforward: indeterminate quantities of farro and beans (white or cranberry) – enough to feed whatever crowd might be expected – some chopped tomatoes, herbs to taste, liberal squirtings of extra-V, and meat stock.

"Oh, but you don't eat meat," my friend said gravely. "Well, you could use vegetable stock, or even water." It was clear she was thinking that, yes, one could do these sad things if one were prepared to accept a plainly inferior result.

But I do eat meat! I longed to protest. I like meat! I eat much it much less than I used to, but I am not a fanatic; I don't believe meat is murder; I am inclined to accept recent research suggesting that the ideal human diet is essentially that of our hunter-gatherer forbears: heavy on berries, seeds, and nuts, with some lean meat. And using some meat stock in an otherwise immaculately vegetarian soup would hardly count as meat at all – would it?

It is true that many of the Italian-style soups I've made over the years – in particular one of caramelized onions and sage, poured over bread cubes – have turned out fine with just water. It is also true that the onion soup was incomparably better when made with some stock I'd coaxed from beef bones inherited from a neighbor's dinner party and browned in the toaster oven. Despite this revelation, meat and its associated fluids remain off-limits to me at home. We are doing our bit, but I am a little unclear on the concept, bit-wise, and more alert than before to the cost in pleasure.

Erratum: We misidentified one of the parties photographed in connection with our recent review of Maverick ("The American Idea," 9/14/05). The chef shown with general manager Mike Pierce was not executive chef and co-owner Scott Youkilis but sous chef Nick Cataldo. We are sorry if the mistake caused confusion or fluttering of hearts.

Paul Reidinger

paulr@sfbg.com