SOUP

The word 'soup' comes from the Latin 'suppare', which means 'soaking', and once described a
dish of meat or vegetables that was soaked in the liquid in which it was cooked. Stock is the
foundation of all good soups. Soups are made from meat stock. Meat stock is a broth made by cooking
meat with water and it requires long, slow cooking. Beef, veal, lamb or chicken can be cooked
separately or in combinations. Soups are served all over the world, and they are wonderful time-savers
and appetite satisfiers. Soup may be served as an appetizer, to stimulate the appetite, or it may be
served as the main dish of the meal. If the soup to be served is a hot soup, it must be served piping hot.
If it is to be a cold soup, it must be served icy cold.

TYPES OF SOUPS
Soups are classified according to their method of preparation. Traditionally, soups are
classified into two broad groups: thick (cream) soups and thin (clear) soup. The established French
classifications of clear soups are bouillon and consommé. Thick soups are classified depending upon
the type of thickening agent used:
Purées are vegetable soups thickened with starch, Bisques are made from puréed shellfish
thickened with cream; cream soups are thickened with béchamel sauce and velouté are thickened with
eggs, butter and cream. Other ingredients commonly used to thicken soups and broths include rice,
flour, and grain. One of the first types of soups can be dated to about 6000 B.C.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOUPS

Soups

Thin International Soup Thick

Broth Consommé

Puree Cream Chowders Bisques Velouté

Thick Soups

Soups made without meat stock and milk or cream. These soups are called cream
soups and have for their basis white sauce. They are made by combining thin white sauce
with cooked, mashed or strained vegetable, fish or meat pulp.

a. Purée Soups: - Purée soups are another type of substantial or filling soup
because they are based upon vegetables like broths, these potages are substantial soups
because of their high vegetable content. Puree soups are passed through a conical strainer.
The resulting soup should be smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, while
still being able to pour from a ladle. After reheating and seasoning, the purée soup is served
with croutons as their accompaniment. Soups can be made from one main vegetable, such as
lentils for a purée of lentil soup. Other vegetables are included in smaller proportions for
flavouring purposes, these usually include onion, celery, leek, carrot or a combination of
some of these vegetables. A purée soup is prepared by cooking all the vegetables previously
diced in a good flavored white stock. When the vegetables are cooked, the soup is passed
through a sieve or liquidized, then croutons as an accompaniment.

b. Velouté Soup: - Velouté soup is a lighter richer soup than broth, potages and purée
soups. These soups are made using a blond roux and white stock with a few base vegetables for
flavouring.. The base vegetables are diced and sweated in fat until softened, but not coloured.
The flour is then added and a blond roux is made. The well flavored white stock is added and,
after bringing to the boil, the soup is simmered for 40-50 minutes. The type of stock used will
depend upon the type of soup that is being

prepared. For example, if a chicken velouté is being prepared, then chicken stock is used and
diced chicken will be added for garnish just before service. After being simmered, the soup is
passed through a fine strainer, reheated, and then checked for consistency and flavour. To finish
the velouté soup, cream or milk is often added just before service and an appropriate garnish is
added.

c. Cream Soup: - A cream soup is a smooth, rich soup that has a definite main
ingredient and flavour. It is a soup that has been made from another base soup. For example,
it can be made from any of the three following methods, a puree base that is finished with
milk to create a creamy texture; a puree base that is combined with a thin, béchamel sauce to
create a creamy based soup of a lighter texture than full puree soup; and a velouté base that is
finished with the addition of a cream and egg yolk liaison to create a creamy, rich soup (care
must be taken when adding the liaison).

d. Bisque: - It is a thick, creamy, highly-seasoned soup of French origin, classically

of puréed crustaceans. It can be made from lobster, crab, shrimp or crayfish. Bisque is also
sometimes used to refer to cream-based soups that do not contain seafood, in which the
ingredients are pureed or processed in a food processor or a food mill. Common
varieties include tomato, mushroom, and squash bisque.

Thin Soups

Clear soups run the gamut--from the rustic and homey chicken soup to the most
sophisticated consommé. What separates clear from thick soups is that clear soups are
comprised of a clear brothy liquid with things floating in it, like pieces of vegetables, meat,
fish, rice, pasta, etc. while thick soups have items ground into a stock. The amount of garnish
(the professional term for the "things" floating) in a clear soup varies considerably. Some are
virtually garnishes while others are loaded with solids.

i. Consommé: - This is a clear soup made from a well-flavored stock that is cleared
by the action of egg white protein (albumen) and meat protein which rise to the surface
during cooking, bringing insoluble particles with them. When cool, the coagulated protein is
carefully strained off and the resulting stock should be crystal clear. Consommé may be
garnished in numerous ways and should be served very hot or chilled. The stocks used are
either chicken, beef or game. They should be free from fat globules and thoroughly strained
before being used in the preparation of consommé.

ii. Bouillon: - It is usually made by the simmering of Mirepoix and aromatic

herbs (usually a bouquet garni) with either beef, veal, or poultry bones in boiling water.

iii. Broths: - These consist of a good flavored stock containing diced meat or
vegetables. They are thickened by the starch from either pearl barley or rice that is cooked
with the other ingredients in the stock. As this soup is not passed in any way it is essential to
have a neat brunoise cut of vegetables and finely diced meat. The stock should be well
flavored and be of the same type as the diced meat. Broths is a substantial nourishing food
because of the cereal, meat and vegetable content, and are normally garnished with freshly
chopped parsley, mint or coriander leaves.

Special & International Soup Varieties

Cold Soups: - Cold soups and creams are top stars in the summer. Light and cool, flavorful,
packed with vitamins. The right appetizer for a summer meal. The king of cold soups is
gazpacho. This Spanish soup has multiple variations, but the famous tomato-based gazpacho
is made with stale bread, olive oil, garlic, ground almonds and vinegar. This ancient soup is
called ajo blanco, a "white gazpacho." Vichyssoise is another cold savory soup made of
pureed potatoes and leeks, the soup is enriched with a swirl of cream before serving.

International Soups: – There are many varieties, cold or hot, thin or thick soups. They
have been placed in a special category, as they have different origins. There are soups that
originated in a certain locality and are associated with that particular place. Chowder is any
of a variety of soups, enriched with salt pork fatback and thickened with flour, or more
traditionally with crushed ship biscuit or saltine crackers, and milk. To some Americans, it
means clam chowder, made with cream or milk in most places, or with tomato as "Manhattan
clam chowder." Corn chowder is a thick soup filled with whole corn (maize) kernels. Fish
chowder, along with corn and clam chowder, continues to enjoy popularity in New England
and Atlantic Canada. Seafood chowder is a traditional and popular dish in Ireland.
Sometimes the freshest clam chowder can have a gritty consistency due to small particles of
sand still present in the clams at the time of preparation.
Basic consommé
CONSOMME – BASIC STOCK
Pax: 4

Ingredients : Qty

 Minced beef : 200 gms

 Cold stock : 1 lit
 Carrot : 100 gms
 Celery : 100 gms
 Onion : 100 gms
 Leeks : 50 gms
 Bouquet garni : 1 bunch
 Egg whites : 2 no’s
 Salt : to taste
 Pepper corns : 5 gms
Method:-

1. Thoroughly mix the beef, salt and beaten egg whites together.
2. Peel, wash and finely chop the vegetables.
3. Put the stock in a thick bottomed pan, add vegetables, bouquet
garni, pepper corn and beef mixture.
4. Place over a gentle heat and bring slowly to boil.
5. Lower the heat so that the consommé is simmering very gently.
6. Cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours without stirring.
7. Strain carefully through a double muslin cloth.
8. Remove all fat, using kitchen paper.
9. Correct the seasoning and colour.