Chapter – 2 SOUPS

The popularity of soups today may be due to increased nutrition consciousness, to a desire
for simpler or lighter meals, or to an increased appreciation of how appetizing and
satisfying soups can be. Whatever the reasons, they emphasize the importance of soup
making skills.

2.1 Aim / Principles of Soup Making

The basic aim is to prepare an appetizing, economical and easily digestible dish by
extracting nourishment and flavour from the solid to the liquid. It is probable that soup in
its earliest form was a complete meal because it was found hearty, nourishing and
wholesome. Soup is a liquid food consisting of meat, seafood, vegetables, cereals or poultry.
They play an important role on the menu and are regarded as appetizers as they stimulate
the appetite for the heavier foods to follow. On the menu, they are served as the first
course, if hors d’oeuvres are not being served.
Stock is the foundation of all good soups. Stock is made by putting solid food into cold
water and by a long slow process of extracting the nourishment into the liquid. The best
stocks are made from meat and bones together, e.g. white consommé. Since this is
expensive for household purposes or institutional feeding, bones and leftovers are used.

2.2 Classification of soups

SOUPS

THIN SOUPS THICK SOUPS COLD SOUPS INTERNATIONAL SOUPS

PASSED UNPASSED

Consommés Broths Puree Cucumber French Onion (France)

Bouillons Cream Gazpacho Scotch broth (Scotland)
Bisque Cock-e-leekie (Scotland)
Chowder Creole (New Orleans)
Velouté Minestrone (Italy)

Convenience Soups can also be a part of this table as this is now readily available in the
market.
It is probable that soup in its earliest form was a complete meal because it was found
hearty, nourishing, economical and wholesome.
Soup is a liquid food that contains meat, seafood, vegetables, cereals or poultry. They play
an important role on the menu and are regarded as appetizers as they stimulate the
appetite for the heavier food to follow. On the menu, they are served as the first course, if
hors d’oeuvres are not being served. If hors d’oeuvres is served then soup is served as the
second course.
THIN SOUPS
Most of the thin soups are clear, flavored nutritious liquids and are prepared without the
use of starch. The soup is a thin liquid with garnish or with small, dainty cut food items
floating in it. Some of the consommés are slightly thickened with tapioca.
Consommé: Comes from the word “consummate”, which means to bring to completion or
perfect. It is a strongly flavored, clarified soup. Its flavor is heightened by the addition of
meat, poultry and seasonings. Consommés are varied and the soup gets its name from the
additional ingredients that are added to the consommé. Sometimes it is named after
historical figures, people or events in the form of accompanying garnish.
Consommés should be sparkling clear and well flavored and they are varied. They can be
served hot or cold.

Recipe for Consommé (1 liter)

Minced meat 225 gm. Onions 70 gm.

Carrots 50 gm. Turnips 30 gm.
Stock 1.5 l. Egg whites 2 no.
Celery 40 gm. Thyme ¼ tsp.
Bay leaf ½ no. Peppercorns 3 no.

Method:
Mix minced meat and chopped onions, carrots, turnips, celery and mix well with egg
whites. Add cold stock, thyme, bay leaf and peppercorns. Place on fire, go on stirring so that
the ingredients do not stick to the bottom of the pan and the particles are suspended. When
the mixture starts boiling, lower the temperature and let it simmer until the coagulated
mass (raft) comes to the top. Simmer for 1-½ hours.
When consommé is clear and tasty, strain through a double muslin cloth. Add seasoning.
N.B. beef stock is good for consommé as it is full of flavor and has body.

Some Consommés
Alexandra: chicken consommé thickened with tapioca garnished with juliennes of chicken,
quenelles and shredded lettuce.
Andalouse: Consommé blended with tomato puree garnished with dices of Royale and
dices of tomato, juliennes of ham, boiled rice + vermicelli and threaded eggs.
Bretonne: Consommé garnished with juliennes of leeks, celery, onions, mushrooms and
chervil shreds
Brunoise: Consommé garnished with small cubes of carrots, turnips, celery, leeks, peas
and chervil.
Carmen: Consommé garnished with tomato puree and capsicum garnished with juliennes
of tomato, capsicum, rice and chervil shreds.
Celestine: Consommé lightly thickened with tapioca and garnished with julienne of crepes
mixed with chopped truffles or herbs.
Chasseur: Game consommé garnished with juliennes of mushrooms and game quenelles or
profiteroles stuffed with game puree.
Colbert: Consommé garnished with Printaniere of vegetables and small-poached eggs.
Diplomate: Chicken consommé lightly thickened with tapioca and garnished with
juliennes of truffles and roundels of chicken forcemeat blended with crayfish butter.
Grimaldi: Consommé clarified with fresh tomato puree, garnished with dice of royale and
juliennes of celery.
Julienne: Consommé garnished with juliennes of carrots, leeks, turnips, celery and cabbage
plus green peas and chiffonade of sorrel and chervil.
Mikado: Chicken consommé with tomato flavor, garnished with dice of tomato and
chicken.
Printanier: Consommé garnished with balls of carrots and turnips, peas and chervil.
Royale: Chicken consommé garnished with cubes of custard.

Consommé variations with garnishes

Garnishes Ingredients
Breton juliennes of celery, onion. and leeks.
Brunnoise small-diced vegetables.
Dubarry floweret’s of cauliflower.
Florentine juliennes (strips) of blanched spinach.
Julienne juliennes of cut vegetables (3 cm strips).
Madrilène tomato dices and green peas.
Paysanne uniform size cut fresh vegetables
Printaniere mix fresh spring vegetables, cut in small dices.
St. Germain fresh green peas
Celestine julienne of thin pancakes.
Cereals rice and barley.
Diablotin diamonds of cheese biscuits.
Egg drops pour into boiling consommé, beaten egg.
Royal dices of savory egg custard.
Tapioca pearls of tapioca.
Vermicelli fine noodles.
Consommés could be named by the garnishes used.

Bouillon and Broths are terms that are interchangeable and practically mean the same.
They are unpassed soups.
Bouillion comes from the word (boil). It has more pronounced strong meaty flavor and is
clear soup with pieces of vegetables, meat, sea food, etc. floating in the soup.

Broths are similar to bouillons but the liquid is a little cloudy and contains all types of
vegetables, meat, chicken, etc. These should be cut into regular shapes, floating in the soup.
The broths have usually cheaper cuts of meat, such as the scrag end of mutton, fowls. Some
of the popular broths are Scotch broth, mutton broth, chicken broth, petite marmite, soup
bonne-femme, Soup paysanne and potage fermiere.

THICK SOUPS
They are passed thick soups and in this category are purees, cream, veloute, bisques and
chowders.

Purees: - starchy vegetables like potatoes and legumes or cereals when pureed in soups,.
Usually act as self-thickners and need no further thickening ingredients. Many vegetables
like carrot, pumpkins, peas, leafy vegetables need a thickening agent, as their own purees
do not cohere. These soups are served with fried golden brown croutons. Some examples
are as below: -
 Compiegne puree of white rajma (haricot beans).
 Conde puree of red kidney beans with red vine
 Grecque puree of green peas
 Lamballe ½ of fresh peas puree and half tapioca puree

Cream soups: -
They are composed of a puree of vegetables, fish, poultry or meat, thickened with béchamel
sauce or given a cream finish. Milk is used to dilute and achieve correct consistency.
Various cream soups are: -
 Cream of Germaine.
 Cream of tomato.
 Cream of argenteuil (asparagus).
 Cream of mushroom soup.
 Cream of chicken soup.
 Cream of lentil soup.

Velouté:-
Veloutes as soups are similar to other veloutes, but differ from purees, as they require a
thickening element and a roux. Velouté is prepared by roux, adding stocks and the pureed
vegetable or meat and hot milk is blended in, to produce a smooth soup. Generally
proportions for a veloute soup are half basic veloute, ¼ puree (main ingredients
characterizing the soup), ¼ stock or white consommé used to dilute the mixture of puree
and veloute to the correct consistency. Finishing of veloutes is done by a liaison, i.e. cream
and egg yolks, as it enhances the taste and texture. Examples of veloutes are:
 Chicken veloute.
 Almond veloute.
 Celery veloute.

Bisques:-
These are shell fish puree soups, thickened with rice or cream. It is a slightly thick rice
cream type of soup with small particles of cooked shellfish floating in it, to add flavor and
color. A small amount of wine is added to enhance the flavor. Examples of bisques are:
Crayfish bisque and lobster bisque.

Chowders: -
These are originated from America. They are thick heavy soups, owing their consistency to
potatoes. Chowders consist of potatoes, onions, and pieces of bacon, various seasonings
and seafood. They can be milk or tomato based. Crackers are generally added just before
serving. Examples of chowders are:-
 Clam chowder
 Seafood chowder
 Oyster chowder.
Coulis: -
This is a term used for thick soups made with a puree of shellfish. Sometimes the term is
also used for liquid purees for example: Purees of fruits, vegetables, chicken etc.

COLD SOUPS
Chilled soups include those that are jellied by the natural gelatin in the meat stock or by
addition of gelatin powder or those that are thickened with starch or puree. Cold
consommé Madrilène is popular. Vichyssoise is a rich cream of potato soup, which is served
cold and garnished with chopped chives. Borscht can be served cold or hot. Andalouse
gazpacho is a refreshing tomato and cucumber soup with a garnish of thin strips of
pimentos, cumin seeds for flavor accompanied with croutons. Cold soups have become so
popular that summer menus are incomplete without it.

INTERNATIONAL SOUPS
There are many varieties, cold or hot, thin or thick soups. They have been placed in special
category, as they have different origins. There are certain soups that originated in a certain
locality and are associated with that particular place. In some cases, these soups have a
great tradition, as the New England clam chowder, helped the early colonists to survive
many winters. Crecy soup originated when nothing was available at the site of Battle of
Crecy. The carrots were grown in that land and were taken and cooked. Most of the
national soups are un-passed soups. Some of the international soups are as below:

Name Origin
Minestrone Italy
Green Turtle Soup England
French Onion Soup and Petite Marmite France
Scotch Broth and Cockie-Leekie Scotland
Creole New Orleans
Mulligatawny India
Bortsch Polonais Poland
Olla-podrida and Gazpacho Spain
Manhattan clam chowder America
Hotch Pot Flamanda Belgium
Camaro Brazil
Laberkroedel Germany
Paprika Hungary
Bouillabaise (salt water and shellfish stew) France

CONVENIENCE SOUPS
These are marketed in dried, liquid or frozen form. They are available in many form and
varieties. The soups are sold in cans, bottles or sachets. Some in ready to use forms, others
in concentrated forms.
2.3 Classical Accompaniments and Garnishes for soups
1. Croutons: dices or other shapes made from bread, toast, and pastry.
2. Profit roles: prepared from choux paste. They are miniature cream puffs, which may
be filled or used plain.
3. Cereals: rice or barley.
4. Cheese: cheese balls, grated Parmesan serves with croutons on one side.
5. Cream: unsweetened whipped cream or sour cream.
6. Meats: usually small dices or juliennes.
7. Seafood: diced or flaked (Large enough to distinguish)
8. Pastas: noodles, spaghetti, other pasta products such as star letters, cornets, etc.
9. Vegetables: cut in various sizes, shapes – juliennes, round, slices, dices of sprig,
printaniere vegetables.

Special points for service of soups and preparation of soups

1. First class, clean, strong and flavorful stock should be used, as it would help in
producing good quality soup.
2. If there is a heavy entrée, the soup should be thin or light.
3. If a heavy soup is served, the portion should be small
4. The soup should not in any way be filling or consist of food particles that require
much chewing.
5. Garnish should be small and dainty, so that they can be picked up easily by a soup
spoon.
6. Soup should be moderately seasoned.
7. Serve hot soups piping hot, and cold soups c=very cold.
8. A little sugar should be added to tone the acidity of the soup, before mixing cream as
it prevents curdling.
9. Consommé should be amber in color.
10. Accompaniments of soups should be of crisp character. Example Melba toast,
various crackers, bread sticks, cheese croutons, bread rolls etc.