Soup’s on

Want to share your favorite soup for a good cause? Then the fifth annual Great Jersey City Soup Swap is worth checking out today (Sunday, Jan.23).
The annual event is being held at Made With Love Organic Artisan Bakery and Café on Jersey Avenue in downtown Jersey City. It will start at 3:30 p.m. with the swap to start at 4 p.m. sharp, according to organizer Monyca White.
White said how the swap works is that people bring four quarts of frozen, homemade soup to Made With Love the day of the swap. Participants then make an introduction of the soup they brought to the event. The public can also bring in their soup, gumbo, or chili on the day of the event with having to pre-register, White said.

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“Last year, we were all strangers to each other and we left as friends.” – Celeste Governanti
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Then people will pick a number from a hat as to which soup they will choose to swap for. White said a door prize will be given to the person whose soup is chosen first. However, the object of the event when she first started it in 2007 was not competition.
“I read about these kinds of swaps happening in private across the country,” said White, a downtown resident who works as an attorney for the Legal Aid Society in New York City.
“I thought this would be a great way to bring the community together since Jersey City is a commuter city with so many people working in Manhattan, and not everyone has the opportunity to meet their neighbor.”
The other aspect of the event is it is food drive for the food pantry operated by St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church on Barrow Street in downtown Jersey City. Soup swap participants are encouraged to bring non-perishable goods such as canned food along with their soup.
White will be bringing her four quarts of spicy salmon chowder along with her donation for the food pantry.
“It’s been a lot of fun and the event has become more popular with each year,” White said.

It’s soup-er

Celeste Governanti, the owner of Made With Love, is looking forward to holding the Soup Swap for a second year. She’ll prepare a green lentil soup as homage to her recent trip to Paris.
“It’s a food-sharing experience, and it’s a good match with my space and the event,” Governanti said. “It benefits the community in more ways than people think.”
Governanti also looks forward to seeing interesting creations like last year. They included Hungarian cabbage soup and chili made with grass-fed beef.
And she enjoys the communal experience that occurs from the swap.
“Last year, we were all strangers to each other, and we left as friends,” Governanti said.
For more information, visit www.madewithloveorganics.com or call (201) 451-5199.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.