SOUP

 SOUP

 

The French word “Potage or Soupe” is known as Soup in English & Zuppa in Italy is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.

Soups are similar to stews, and in some cases there may not be a clear distinction between the two; however, soups generally have more liquid than stews.

 

History:

 

Potage has its origins in the medieval cuisine of Northern France and increased in popularity from High Middle Ages onward. A course in a medieval feast often began with one or two potages, which would be followed by roasted meats.

 

Evidence of the existence of soup can be found as far back as about 6,000 BC.Boiling was not a common cooking technique until the invention of waterproof containers (which probably came in the form of clay vessels). Animal hides and watertight baskets of bark or reeds were used before this. To boil the water hot rocks were used. This method was also used to cook acorns and other poisonous plants.

 

The word soup comes from French soupe ("soup", "broth"), which comes through Vulgar Latin suppa ("bread soaked in broth") from a Germanic source, from which also comes the word "sop", a piece of bread used to soak up soup or a thick stew.

 

In America, the first colonial cookbook was published by William Parks in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1742, based on Eliza Smith's The Compleat Housewife; or Accomplished Gentlewoman's Companion and it included several recipes for soups and bisques. A 1772 cookbook, The Frugal Housewife, contained an entire chapter on the topic. English cooking dominated early colonial cooking; but as new immigrants arrived from other countries, other national soups gained popularity. In particular, German immigrants living in Pennsylvania were famous for their potato soups. In 1794, Jean Baptiste Gilbert Payplat dis Julien, a refugee from the French Revolution, opened an eating establishment in Boston called The Restorator, and became known as "The Prince of Soups". The first American cooking pamphlet dedicated to soup recipes was written in 1882 by Emma Ewing: Soups and Soup Making.

 

Portable soup was devised in the 18th century by boiling seasoned meat until a thick, resinous syrup was left that could be dried and stored for months at a time. The Japanese miso is an example of a concentrated soup paste.

 

 

Classification of Soup

Various factors such as raw materials used in the preparation, colour, origin, garnishes etc. influence the classification of the soups but the best way to classify soups are the classification on the basis of consistency, characteristics & nationality.

 

The following table classifies the soups according to their consistency, characteristics & nationality.

 

As per the classification chart soups can be divided into three categories i.e. clear soup, thick soup & nationality soups. These are further more elaborately explained below –

 

ð     Thin / Clear Soups

Clear soups are quite often termed as” thin soups” which are clear, flavoured nutritious liquids & are prepared without using starch. Most of the time rich meat stock is base of these soups. These are further divided into two categories i.e. passed / strained clear soups & unpassed / unstrained clear soups. These are discussed below in short.

1.       Passed / Strained Clear  Soups : The clarification of soup is done by egg coagulation & to ensure more purification straining is advised through muslin cloth or high quality parchment paper. Consommé is the best example of passed clear soup.

Consommé : In cooking, a consommé is a type of clear soup (amber colour) made from richly  flavored  stock  or  bouillon that has been clarified, usually through a fining process involving egg protein. Consommé takes its name from the garnish with which it is served for example – Consommé Celestine,  Consommé Brunoise, Consommé Royale etc.

Cooking & serving Consommé :

A consommé is made by adding a mixture of ground meats, together with mire-poix (a combination of carrots, celery, and onions), tomatoes, and egg whites into either bouillon or stock. The key to making a high quality consommé is simmering; the act of simmering, combined with frequent stirring (before the raft forms, once formed do not stir!), brings impurities to the surface of the liquid, which are further drawn out due to the presence of acid from the tomatoes. Eventually, the solids begin to congeal at the surface of the liquid, forming a 'raft', which is caused by the proteins (including albumins, mucoproteins, and globulins) in the egg whites. Once the 'raft' begins to form, the heat is reduced, and the consommé is simmered at a lower heat until it reaches the desired flavor, which usually takes anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour. The resulting concoction is a clear liquid that has either a rich amber colour (for beef or veal consommé) or a very pale yellow colour (for poultry consommé). It is then carefully drawn from the pot and passed again through a filter to ensure its purity, and is then put through a lengthy process where all of the visible fat is skimmed from the surface. To ensure total purification, the consommé can be refrigerated, which draws out remaining fat, which can easily be skimmed off with cheesecloth. Alternatively, the consommé can be placed in a wide, shallow container such as a sauté pan or large bowl and wide strips of parchment paper can be dragged along the surface; the tiny amounts of remaining fat adhere to the parchment, leaving the consommé perfectly de-greased. Cartilage and tendons should be left on the meat because of the gelatin they contain, which enhances the mouth feel of the soup. If beef or veal is used, shin meat is ideal because it is very low in fat and very high in gristle, and although it is undesirable for most other purposes, it is near essential for the flavour of the consommé. The meat is best if it is ground very fine, as if for a mousse line.

It is served piping hot in consommé cup & saucer with doily and the cutlery require at the table is joint spoon.  Generally the accompaniment of consommé is the garnish itself but sometimes celery stalk is offered to minimize the meat flavour present in the soup which may not be liked by many clients.

 

POPULAR CONSOMMÉ SOLD IN RESTAURANTS

 

ü  Consommé Alexandra     : Consommé garnished with the  juliennes of chicken & shredded lettuce (it’s a chicken consommé)

ü  Consommé Andalouse  : Consommé blended with tomato puree & garnished with royal pudding, juliennes of tomato & boiled rice.

ü  Consommé Brunoise      : Consommé garnished with small dices of spring vegetables.

ü  Consommé Celestine     : Consommé garnished with the strips (juliennes ) of pancake.

ü  Consommé Dubari          : Consommé garnished with blanched flowerets of cauliflower.

ü  Consommé Florentine   : Consommé garnished with juliennes of blanched spinach.

ü  Consommé Juliennes      : Consommé garnished with the juliennes of spring vegetables.

ü  Consommé Paysanne     : Consommé garnished with uniform size cut fresh vegetables.

ü  Consommé Royale          : Consommé garnished with savoury egg custard.

ü  Consommé St. Germain : Consommé garnished with fresh green peas.

 

2.       Unpassed / Unstrained Clear  Soups : These soups are not clarified after preparation. Broths are the best example of unpassed clear soup.

Broths : Broths are similar to bouillons but the liquid is a little cloudy & contains all types of vegetables, meat, chicken etc. which are cut into regular shape. Some of the popular broths are – Scotch broth, chicken broth etc.

 

ð     Thick Soups

Thick soups are generally passed soups except the Coulis which is exactly same to the bisque but the only difference is that of straining. The other examples of thick soups are described below.

1.       Puree : These are pulps of vegetables like carrots, peas, spinach, tomatoes, potatoes etc. Starch vegetables like potato acts as self-thickening agent while the others need an additional thickening agents. Examples of such soups are – tomato puree, puree parmentier, pea soup etc.

 

2.       Cream : These are a blend of béchamel sauce with purees of vegetables, meat or poultry. Milk may be added to dilute & achieve correct consistency. Examples of such soups are – cream of tomato, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup etc.

 

 

3.       Veloute : This is prepared by a blend of stock, roux & puree. The finishing is done by mixing cream & egg yolk as it enhances the taste & texture. Examples of such soups are – chicken veloute, celery veloute etc.

 

4.       Chowder : These are heavy thick soup from America. The base is tomato or milk with seafood, potatoes, onions, pieces of bacon & various seasonings for flavor. Examples are- Clam chowder, Oyster chowder etc.

 

 

5.       Bisque : This is a puree of shellfish thickened with cream of rice. It is a thick soup to which wine is added for flavor. This is a passed soup. Examples are – Bisque d’ Homard, Crayfish bisque etc.

 

6.       Coulis : It is a shellfish soup  same as of the bisques. The only difference is that bisque is a passed soup & Coulis is unpassed soup.

 

ð     NATIONALITY SOUPS

Nationality soups are nothing but the soups of various or a particular country which is accepted or famous at international level. These soups represent the culture, tradition & cuisine of the country. Following chart represents the nationality soups of various countries along with the main ingredients used in the preparation.

Sr. no.	Name of the Soup in Alphabetical Order	Country	Main Ingredient(s)
	A
01	Asopao	Puerto Rico	Rice
02	Ajiaco (means something that contains many ingredients)	Colombia	Chicken, corn, herbs, avocado, cream, capers etc.
03	Avgolemono	Greek	Chicken, lemon & egg.
	B
04	Borscht	Ukraine	Beet root &/ or sometimes tomatoes.
05	Bourou-bourou	Corfu	Vegetable & pasta.
	C
06	Canh chua	Vietnam	Rice, fish, various vegetables, and in some cases pineapple .
07	Callaloo	Trinidad & Tobago	Cream soup with okra & crab meat.
08	Cazuela (Spanish for cooking pot)	Chile	Piece of meat, potatoes, pumpkin, green beans, carrot, celery, cabbage, sweet corn etc.
09	Clam Chowder	USA	Clam, potatoes, onions, dripping from salt pork or bacon.
10	Cock-a-leekie soup	Scotland	Leek, potato & chicken stock.
	E
11	Egusi	Nigeria	Vegetables, meat fish, balls of ground melon seeds.
12	Etrog	Israel	Citron
	F
13	Fanesca	Ecuador	Figleaf gourd (sambo), pumpkin (zapallo), and twelve different kinds of beans and grains (chochos (lupines), habas (fava beans), lentils, peas, corn and others) representing the twelve apostles of Jesus, and bacalao (salt cod), cooked in milk.
14	French onion soup	France	Beef broth & caramelized onions,
	G
15	Gazpacho	Spain	Stale bread, garlic, cucumber, tomato, olive oil & vinegar.
16	Goulash	Hungary	Beef, paprika & onion.
17	Green turtle	England	Soft shelled turtles.
	H
18	Halászlé (fisherman's soup)	Hungary	Fish & hot paprika
	I
19	Íslensk Kjötsúpa	Iceland	Meat, lamb & various vegetables.
	K
20	Kharcho	Georgia	lamb, rice, vegetables and a highly spiced boullion.
21	Kulajda	Czech	Sour cream, potatoes, dill and quail egg.
22	Kyselo	Bohemia	sourdough, mushrooms, cumin, potatoes &   scrambled eggs
	L
23	Lagman	Uzbekistan	Pasta, vegetables, ground lamb and numerous spices
24	Lan Sikik	Thailand	Noodles, dried fish and tomato extract.
	M
25	Magiritsa	Cyprus	Lamb offal,  onions, dill, butter.
26	Menudo	Mexico	Beef & hominy.
27	Minestrone	Italy	Beans, onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes & more often pasta or rice.
28	Miso soup	Japan	Fish broth & soy.
29	Mulligatawny  (means "pepper water")	India	Lentil & rice.
	N
30	Nässelsoppa (nettle soup)	Sweden	Nettle, chives (or ramson or garlic) and chervil or fennel.
31	Nkatenkwan	Ghana	Groundnut with meat,often chicken & vegetables
	O
32	Okróshka	Russia	It is cold soup.
33	Oxtail soup	England	Tomato base with Oxtails, potatoes, green beans, corn, Mire-poix.
	P
34	Petite Marmite	France	Beef, onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme etc.
35	Philadelphia pepper pot	Philadelphia	Tripe (offals).
	S
36	Shark Fin	China	Shark fin.
37	Sancocho	Latin America	Meat & vegetables such as corn etc.
38	Snert	Netherlands	Split peas.
	T
39	Tarator	Bulgaria	Yoghurt & cucumber.
40	Tom yum	Thailand	Fish with various herbs such as lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce and crushed chili peppers.
	W
41	Waterzooi	Belgium	Fish or chicken, vegetables  including  carrots,  onions, celeriac, leeks and potatoes, herbs (such as parsley, thyme, bay-leaf and sage), egg yolks, cream and butter.
	Y
42	Yukgaejang	Korea	Beef & various vegetables.
	Z
43	Żurek	Poland	Sour rye, sausages.