Back in the summer of 1990, I discovered Campbell’s Scotch Broth soup. I decided right away that this was my favorite condensed soup, and that it ranked pretty high in comparison to any type of soup. Then I left for college (where the cafeteria served their own version of Scotch Broth once). By the time I finished my first year and went back home to Portland, I was unable to find Scotch Broth at any local grocery stores. I figured this was a temporary problem, but I kept looking every time I went to a store — with no luck.

Until today.

I’ve scanned the soup section at almost every grocery store I’ve set foot in for the past 12 years, without seeing a single can of Scotch Broth soup. Today, at the Giant supermarket a few blocks from my apartment, I found 11 cans. I bought them all, and I’m halfway through a bowl right now. Mmm, mmm, good.

It’s kind of a coincidence that I found this soup when I did. About two weeks ago, I started searching online for Scotch Broth info, and found a Scottish pub north of DC that serves it. I have yet to go, but I will soon. And I revisited FoodLocker.com, a site that I found a couple of years ago that will ship Campbell’s Scotch Broth soup (and other regional or otherwise hard-to-find foods) to you at a premium. I’ve almost ordered from them several times, but it’s always seemed a little too expensive for something I should be able to get cheaply at any grocery store. I understand that scarce items command a higher price — so I guess this just demonstrates the upper limit of value for one of my tastes in comparison to the other things I could spend money on instead . . .

But for the time being, at least, I plan to keep buying out Giant’s stock of Scotch Broth. Give it a try yourself, if you can find it — maybe a wider distribution will start to catch on again.