Bad Breath Soup

A variety of soup the pianist occasionally prepared, much to the horror of some of our children, was Bad Breath Soup. The soup was a derivative of the previous meal, which was always New England Boiled Dinner. A large ham , boiled with onion, cabbage ,carrots and spuds was the original meal, and then the soup was made with the leftovers and with the "held over" boiling water. A big dollop of split peas was added to the soup with seasoning. The boiled New England dinner is best served as big chunks to give a sense of rotundity. The chunks can then be diced more finely for the soup. There is always enough to freeze several soup packets for later. It is clear that the nose and tongue,though aligned and working together, are neurologically autonomous as well. The tongue taste buds are mediated by the 7th, 9th, and 10th cranial nerves and the olfactory role of the nose by the 1st cranial nerve. What an object smells like then, is a scent that is slightly different, than what it tastes like. The wine and cheese people who are tasters know this, but they may not know why! However, Bad Breath Soup is a misnomer. It smells like onion and cabbage, both hearty and strong vegetables, and giving a superb smell only exceeded by the taste, conducted by an orchestra of cranial nerves. As adults, our mature children have now developed a keen relish for Bad Breath Soup, though it continues to be called by it's traditional name. Our children learned to eat this soup by the admonition that, "Bad breath is better than no breath at all!"