SOUP, BEAUTIFUL SOUP

Anything but your run-of-the-mill soup recipes from a former assistant to James Beard and present chef at The Ballroom in New York City. Rojas-Lombardi has cooked extensively in Europe and this country, but because of his Peruvian upbringing, most of these recipes are rooted in South American cuisine. Included among the seafood soups are several variations of a ""chupe,"" a Peruvian chowder filled with corn, potatoes, squash, and chilis. In his introduction the author warns of his inclination to use three ingredients: peppers, ginger and garlic. In other words, these soups are not bland. Meat soups include Beef-Pineapple (with a lot of peppers), Lamb with Anchovies, Minestrone with Pesto, and Patita, which is a boned and stuffed veal foot. Veal feet may be difficult to find, as are some other ingredients in this book. A tomatillo soup, for example, calls for a green cherry tomato used in Mexican salsa--it's not a common supermarket item. Nor is a quail egg for a Spinach-Quail Egg Soup. Tuna with Lemon Grass Broth requires lemon grass, an ingredient found in Spanish and Chinese markets. Many of the recipes include hominy, not gruel but whole-grain kernels, also found in Spanish markets. A healthy addition, for sure, but not widely available. Other vegetable soups include more familiar fare like Carrot, Asparagus, Eggplant, Mushroom-Barley, and Lentil soups, although these too are spicier than usual, making use of mace, cumin, garlic and others. In sum: recommended for those with access to the unusual, as well as a taste for it.