- For the album by Blind Melon, see Soup (album). For the book by Robert Newton Peck, see Soup
(book).
Vegetable beef barley soup
Soup is a food which is largely liquid, often containing or cooked from
solid components such as vegetables and
meat. Soup differs from a stew in that it is more
liquid and has fewer solid contents. Some sweet soups, such as fruit soups, are common in Chinese or Japanese cuisine, but are not
usually found in Western cuisine.
History
General development as a food concept
The origin of soup is usually connected to the development of pottery vessels
capable of holding and cooking liquids over a fire without breaking, a technology available in Mediterranean cultures since Neolithic times (circa
5000 BC)
Learning to boil food was advantageous because it greatly expanded the available food supply for humans. Previously inedible
grains, tougher vegetables and animal
bones could be cooked together to add their taste
and nutrients to a dish.
In addition, making soup was a convenient method of cooking food, as food could be cooked as long as water and fire were
available. Cooking food in water was an advancement in cooking methods, since it improved the consistency of cooking.
Mixing foods with water seemed to lead inevitably to people drinking the broth as well
as eating the items cooked in it.
The discovery of an old man without functional teeth in Neanderthal
remains cause some to speculate that the Neanderthals may have invented soup before the Neolithic, because there was no other
means of delivering nutrients to sustain a person without teeth.
Archaeologists have demonstrated two possible means of creating soup
before the invention of pottery. The first method is to fill an animal skin with water and cook it over fire. The second method
is to dig a hole in the ground, fill the hole with water and contents to be cooked, and then place a hot stone into the hole.
Western
Non-Western
Off the beaten path (development elsewhere before European arrival)
Soup as a means of delivering medication
Throughout history, many herbal remedies have used soup as the means of delivery. This
method is used, for example, in Traditional
Chinese medicine.
Modern conveniences
Recently, advances in food technology allow soup-making to be simplified by pre-performing the tasks involved in making
soup.
Condensed soups
Condensed soup was invented in 1897 by a chemist at Campbell's which remains a particularly popular brand for condensed
soup. Removing water from the soup leads to lower packaging and transportation costs. Condensed soups are generally prepared by
combining the condensed soup with water (and sometimes milk) in simple integer ratios; the can in which the soup is purchased is often used as a unit of measurement —
for example, instructions may indicate to use one can of water per can of soup. Some popular types of condensed soup include
tomato soup, chicken noodle, and various broths.
Powdered soup
Powdered soups, ready by just adding cooking water, gained much popularity as a healthy snack in recent years. The low
nutritional value, however, makes it unfit for a complete meal. Most instant soups are extremely high in carbohydrates and sodium.
Powdered soups are ideal in weightlessness, and have been used as
food for astronauts.
Styles
Traditional Western soup recipes
In the West, soup is distinguished from stock, which is an
ingredient of soup, but is not itself a complete dish, and stew, which contains more solids
than soup, although this distinction is not always clear-cut. There are several main families of soup in traditional cuisine:
broth or bouillon is the
uncleared liquid in which meat has been boiled, consommé is a forcemeat
broth cleared with egg white, thickened soup is a soup that contains bread, grain, flour, blood or other thickening
agents, puréed soup is a soup in which the ingredients are blended or strained through a sieve, and a cream
soup is a soup is a smoothly strained soup to which cream is added. A bisque is a kind of puréed soup that is generally made with seared crustaceans. Court bouillon is a special kind of bouillon containing white wine, vinegar or lemon
juice in which other ingredients are poached.
Typical soup ingredients include legumes, such as peas and lentils, all kinds of vegetables, noodles, dumplings, meat, bread,
grains and royale. Generally, all larger
ingredients are diced or chopped, so that they can be eaten with a spoon. Meat is sometimes added as forcemeat balls. Fresh herbs
and croutons are used to garnish soup.
Cold soups
Soups which are designed to be served cold include several variations on tomato soup, the potato-based American vichyssoise, borscht, cucumber soup and fruit soups. Cold soups can be salty when made from vegetables, or sweet, when made from fruits.
Cold soups are frequently served in hot seasons instead of hot soups. Clear consommé sets into a gel when chilled, and may be broken up and served in a
soup dish; a version with tomato-flavored beef stock is the madrilene that was adopted for French cuisine from Spain. Another well-known cold Spanish soup
is the Andalucian soup, gazpacho.
Gazpacho is made by blending chunks of tomato and other vegetables with lemon juice,
balsamic vinegar and
olive oil.
Cream soups
Cream soups are made with milk, cream or
sour cream. Typically all ingredients are blended smooth or creamed. Cream
vegetable or mushroom soups are often used as liquids or sauces in other dishes. This may be the most common use of cream of
mushroom soup. Similar soups may be made with melted cheese as in beer cheese soup.
Noodle soups
Chicken noodle
soup is probably the most popular soup in Western culture. It is often used as a traditional remedy for the common cold. Noodle soups are also
quite common across Asian cuisines.
- Pho is a Vietnamese staple noodle soup
- Ramen is a Japanese noodle soup that comes in several varieties
- Saimin is a Hawaiian
fresh, soft, undried egg noodles in bonito fish or shrimp broth with Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean and Portuguese influences
- Thukpa is Tibetan noodle soup, that is more or less the staple (along with Butter Tea and Tsampa)
Dessert soups
Fruit soups
Fruit soups are served hot or cold depending on the recipe. Many recipes are for cold soups served when fruit was in season
during hot weather. Some like Norwegian 'frukt suppe' may be served hot and rely on
dried fruit such as raisins and prunes and so
could be made in any season. Fruit soups may include milk, sweet or savoury dumplings, spices, or alcoholic beverages like brandy or
champagne.
Cold fruit soups are most common in Scandanavian, Baltic and Eastern European cuisines while hot fruit soups with meat appear
in Middle Eastern, Central Asian and Chinese cuisines. Fruit soups are uncommon or absent in the cuisines of the Americas, Africa
and Western Europe. They are also not seen in Japan, Southeast Asia or Oceania.
- Winter melon soup is a Chinese dish that is not particularly sweet, as
the melon in question is low in natural sugars.
Japanese soups
A feature of East Asian soups not normally found in Western cuisine is the use of tofu
in soups.
- Miso soup is a light broth containing miso. It is usually served at breakfast and sometimes includes tofu, mushrooms, seaweed, or green onions.
- Udon soup has thick, soft noodles in a light broth. There are many varieties with
different noodles and toppings.
Famous soups
Preparation
Soup is usually made from stock, which is water in which meat,
bones, mushrooms and/or vegetables
have been boiled. Stock can be strained and reduced (boiled to reduce the water content) to yield a clear soup called consommé.
Serving
In Western cultures, soup is often one of the first courses of a dinner; if it is
rich in components and calories, it may serve as a whole meal. It is often combined with bread in this case. At home, it is usually a
supper, tea, or lunch meal.
Choice of serving vessel and implements
Soup may be served in a bowl, a bread bowl, or a bowl made of fruit rind, or
even in a cup. Soup is usually consumed using a spoon
(particularly a soup spoon) but may also be drunk straight from the serving
vessel.
Garnishes and side dishes
Crackers, or croutons may be served floating in soup, but the most common accompaniment is bread, either eaten separately or
dipped into the soup, with or without butter.
Soup as a figure of speech
In the English language, the word "soup" has developed several phrasal uses.
- Alphabet soup is a term often used to describe a large
amount of acronyms used by an administration.
- Primordial soup is a term used to describe the organic
mixture leading to the development of life.
- A soup kitchen is a general term for a place that distributes
food of any kind to the homeless
Soup in popular culture
See also
External links
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