Noodles Don’t Belong in New Bedford Kale Soup [OPINION]

Who puts macaroni noodles in kale soup? Really? Macaroni noodles belong in Chef Boyardee macaroni and cheese or my mother's American chop suey. Yankee Doodle put a feather in his cap and called it macaroni, but even he knew better than to put that bent noodle into a panela of kale soup. Come on, man!

For the record, I am not Portuguese, not even a little bit, but I've spent most of the last 63 years in New Bedford. That's got to give me some kind of street cred on the subject of kale soup. God knows I've consumed enough of it.

I understand there is kale soup and then there is Portuguese soup. There is a difference. Portuguese soup means Vavo needed to clean out the fridge. Anything from noodles to sardines is liable to wind up in there. That's kind of the way I make soup, too.

Kale soup is different. It's an art form. Kale soup requires kale – not cabbage, kale. It must also have chourico or linguica in it. Beans and small, diced potatoes round out the soup. Some folks add chunks of beef, but to me, that belongs in Portuguese soup and not kale soup.

Kale soup is meant to be chunky soup, not pureed, and certainly without macaroni noodles. Pureed soup is for people without teeth. I may get there someday, but for now, I want my kale soup full of stuff. Take a look at the photo at the top of this article, and that's how it should look.

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Now, you may have been raised on kale soup with macaroni in it. I'm sorry for you. Maybe that’s how they make kale soup in Fall River, but without a doubt, New Bedford kale soup is better than Fall River kale soup. That's just the way God planned it.

Just say no to macaroni noodles in kale soup!

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.