Fans across the globe celebrate Star Trek Day on September 8th to remember the timeless legacy Star Trek has left on society and pop culture.
On September 8th, 1966, the pilot episode for the series Star Trek was introduced on American television. Aiming for an adult audience, this was the was the first time a scientific fiction series would explore questions of morality through scientific narratives.
The original cast of the Star Trek series consisted of: Ship’s Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer and Science Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Chief Medical Officer: Leonard H. “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelly), along with a diverse cast.
The original series, though not long-lived, went on to spawn generations of series and movies, as well as hundreds of novelisations. With current incarnations including Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Lower Decks, the series is as much a part of popular culture as apple pie and Star Wars.
Star Trek has always had a fascination with food, from Klingon bloodwine to Boimler’s struggles with the replicator on Lower Decks. But to celebrate Star Trek Day, we though we’d bring you a real classic from the original series; Vulcan Plomeek Soup from the episode Amok Time. Since it’s hard to get ingredients from Vulcan at the moment, we’ve had to improvise a little. This recipe comes from https://foodreplicator.tumblr.com/.
Vulcan Plomeek Soup
As Vulcans are vegetarian, or more probably vegan, this recipe is suitable for vegans. The original is described as being quite a bland soup, so seasonings are fairly minimal. There are various iterations of Plomeek soup in the Star Trek canon; they appear to be a variety of colours and thickness. This recipe is based on the original Plomeek soup, as thrown against the wall by Spock when in the throes of pon farr. If you’re interested in testing out its properties, you can always throw it against the wall, but we suggest eating it instead.
(Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a starter)
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 5 carrots
- 2 small-medium sweet potatoes, peeled
- 3 small-medium beetroots, peeled
- 3 sticks celery
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- Salt and pepper
- Vegetable oil
- Parsley for garnish (optional)
Method
- Start by peeling the beetroots and then the sweet potatoes. Wear a pair of gloves when peeling the beetroots if you don’t want to get pink hands! Then chop up all the vegetables, including the onion and garlic cloves, into chunks. Don’t worry about making them too exact as they will all get blended at the end.
- Start by sauteeing the garlic and onion in vegetable oil until soft. Then add the rest of the vegetables and cook for a few minutes.
- Add 750ml of the stock, reserving the rest. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until all vegetables are quite soft, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Ladle portions of the vegetables and stock into a blender and blend until smooth. Alternatively, you could use a hand blender.
- When all the soup is blended, check the flavour and add salt and pepper to taste. At this point, check the soup’s thickness – if too thick, add the remaining vegetable stock as needed.
- It would be logical to garnish and serve with parsley.
See also: Celebrate World Coconut Day with Exotic Recipes
