My husband is a proud Yorkshire man and was brought up on a diet of all things Yorkshire, all of which he was delighted to introduce me to when we started dating. One of the foodstuffs he most loves is Hendersons Relish. I’d never heard of this before I met him, so there’s a good chance you may not have either. It’s like Worcester Sauce (don’t hate me, Yorkshire people), in that has an intense, savoury richness which adds an incredible umami flavour to any dish. Yorkshire people particularly like their pies slathered with it – and with good reason.
When we decided to try out the plant based diet, deep, savoury flavours were the ones I thought I’d miss the most. However, on making a mushroom soup, I have discovered that this does not necessarily need to be the case. I found, quite by chance, that Hendersons Relish (unlike Worcester Sauce) is vegan friendly. Woo!
This earthy soup is a wonderful warmer for lunch, as a starter, or with a fat hunk of sour dough, a satisfying dinner. Enjoy!
Rich Mushroom Soup
Serves 4 – takes 30 minutes
3tbsp olive oil
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
600g mushrooms
1 vegan stock cube
600ml water
3 tbsp Hendersons Relish
2 slices whole grain bread
Handful chopped chives
1. Roughly chop the onion and add to a large casserole dish with two tablespoons of the olive oil. Sauté gently for 5 minutes.
2. Finely chop the garlic and add to the pan, then roughly slice the mushrooms and add these too. Cook (without stirring) for 3-4 minutes, then add the stock cube, water and seasoning and cover. Simmer for ten minutes.
3. Meanwhile, put your oven on to the highest temperature. Cut the bread up into rough squares and toss with the remaining oil and some salt. Put in the oven and cook for 5-10 minutes until golden and crisp.
4. Whizz your soup with a blender or food processor. If it’s too thin, add some more water to your liking, then add the Hendersons Relish. Check your seasoning and add more if necessary.
5. To serve, top each bowl with a handful of croutons and chopped chives. Yum!
You can get my Le Creuset dishes here.
WHAT TO HAVE FOR DINNER TONIGHT 
Looks great! Is Hendersons Relish available in the States?
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I’m not sure! If you can’t find it in international food sections of supermarkets, I’m sure you’ll be able to get it online. A bottle lasts a fair while so it’d be worth it!
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Henderson’s relish is not sold outside of Sheffield in UK or at least it didn’t used to be. The closest thing you will get to it is Worcester sauce.
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Is there anything similar to the aforementioned relish? What’s in it? That might help. Or is it the idea that making this rich satisfying soup is aided by some kind of Umami-ish adjunct – in which case I’d be thinking of things like Kimchi, umeboshi, cultured kraut, Hosein, tamari.
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Co
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Lovely hearty recipe and I’m from Yorkshire but don’t remember Hendersons Relish when I lived there in the 90s – is it new? Also you could deepen the flavour even more in this soup by soaking a few dried porcini mushrooms and then adding term in too 😄
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