As per Encyclopedia, “Soup is a liquid broth that is infused with flavor”. Soups have been around since ancient times. They can be served as appetizers at the beginning of a meal, or as chowders which are a meal in themselves.
Easy to prepare they provide good nourishment for the body. They are the ultimate comfort food on a cold winter day. Basically soups are prepared by cooking up meat or vegetables with seasonings in a stock or a broth and serving it up with a dash of salt and pepper.
Soups can be broadly classified into clear and thick soups.
- Clear soups – are very flavourful and are mostly served at the beginning of the meal as appetizers. They are low in calories and often contain minerals, like Mulligatawny soup, are further classified into bouillon and consomme.
1 )Bouillon – is the french word for broth. It is a clear seasoned broth with no solid ingredients. It can be used as a base to cook other foods. Traditionally the word bouillon was used to describe a soup based on beef broth, while the fish broth was usually called court bouillon. This is different from ‘Haitian bouillon soup’
2 ) Consomme– is a clear soup made from richly flavored stock or bouillon which has been clarified using egg whites. They are often served at the beginning of the meal.
- Thick Soups– are those which are thickened using some kind of thickening agents.
1 ) Purees– are vegetable soups that are thickened with starch, which is usually corn starch.
2 ) Bisques– are thick rich soups, usually made from shellfish and thickened with cream.
3 ) Cream soups– are those which are thickened with bechamel sauce.
4 ) Veloutes– are thickened with butter, eggs, and cream.
5 ) Chowder – is a thick soup that is not strained.
The simplest way to make any soup is to cook up the vegetable with water and spices, discard spices, blend, strain and reheat with salt, sugar and pepper powder. To this basic version, you can add cornflour slurry, cooked and reserved vegetables or cream. With this in mind, you can try out varieties of soups.
So that is a small note on soups. On this page, I shall be posting soups, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Do try them 🙂 .
Vegetarian Soups
Non-Vegetarian Soups
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