There is NO cuisine without SOUPS!
There is no cuisine in the world that does not include a large array of soups. Western and Eastern cultures, African nations from primitive tribes to those with elaborate culinary repertoires and all Latin American countries have many favorite soups. But the countries with probably the largest soup repertoire and greatest popularity are those in Eastern Europe— Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Russia. In Hungary, a meal is not a meal without soup and bread, just as a meal is not a meal without rice in Asia. Eastern European soups range from light to very robust. Mediterraneans favor lighter first-course, instead of main-meal, soups. In the Orient, on the other hand, they tend to serve first-course soups more in celebrations and feasts, not in every-day meals, except for the full-meal soups in noodle shops. Oriental soups consist of a full-flavored poultry or meat broth with few added ingredients. The focus is on the full-flavored broth and anything else is merely embellishment, garnish and texture. Take, for instance, Chinese hot-sour soup. It starts with a full-bodied no-compromise meat broth to which the cook adds Chinese mushrooms, bamboo shoots, bean curds, a little pork, and even eggs. These ingredients cook in the broth for just a few minutes, so their flavors have little impact on the soup. It is the broth that provides the taste buds with a jolt of pleasure, other items add to the complexity, provide body and mouthfeel. Most soups pack plenty of nutrition. A wisely chosen pair of soup and salad can give you the healthiest meal of the day and virtually your complete daily nutrient need. If you make your
own, you can regulate the amount of fat, total calories, cholesterol, sugar, salt or whatever your personal concern may be. If you use prepared soups, read the labels carefully. They are usually long lists that read like check-lists for chemistry experiments. TASTINGS Jewish penicillin They have been telling us at least since the 12 th century that chicken soup cures a variety of illnesses. Now there is even medical research to verify its impact on the common cold (thanks to Dr. S. Rennard’s team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, 1993). Although the researchers couldn't identify the single substance in the soup that fights bacteria, viruses or other invaders of the body, they clearly showed that there is something in old-style chicken soup that is very beneficial. Their best guess is that it is the combination of broth, chicken and vegetables, along with TLC in the preparation, that provide the magic. Whatever it is, take time to prepare your own without shortcuts during the flu and cold season. A soup is often the only hearty course that is acceptable to both vegetarians and meat eaters. Babies love it, and their great-grandparents do, too. Get into soups Soups offer many advantages to the home cook and they are particularly great for freeform cooks who scowl at recipes. First, they are most amenable to changes. If you don't have a particular ingredient, substitute. You will get a different-flavored soup, but it will still be good, provided you substitute with good kitchen sense. When you replace an ingredient, use another of similar taste, preferably ones of the same family, in case of vegetables. It is fine to use broccoli if you can't get Brussels sprout, turnips for parsnips, or onion for shallots. But substituting beets for cabbage somehow doesn't make the same sense. Leaving an ingredient out completely because you don't have it on hand or you hate it doesn't ruin the soup, unless, of course, that ingredient is as essential as salt. Second, soups keep extremely well. Many, if not most, soups even improve with storage as the flavors fuse, marry and intensify. This is particularly true for hearty soups made up of many ingredients—thick vegetable soups, soups made from legumes, meat and chicken. Never waste your time making enough soup for just one meal. A little more cutting up triples or quadruples the result. Most soups keep well refrigerated for days or even a week. If you don't think you will use it that soon, freeze the extra in measured portions. You can thaw a portion next month when time has gotten away from you, and a starving family is demanding dinner now. Freezing extra soup in a heavy plastic bag is very practical. Bags not only take a minimum of freezer space but when you need a meal in a hurry, just cut the bag away from the frozen hunk of soup and drop it into the pot to reheat. Or place the plastic bag of frozen soup in a bowl and microwave it. It is almost an instant meal and far better than any prepared foods you can get in the supermarket’s frozen food section. Add a different spice or set of spices, an additional vegetable or leftover meat, fish or poultry, and your family may not even recognize it as the soup they ate not long ago. Altering texture and appearance by puréeing works well, too.
Who is who in soups The foundation of any good soup is either broth, stock, bouillon or consommé. So what's the difference between these four? Not a great deal. They are all liquid end-products that absorb most of the flavor from the original food—meats, vegetables (or even stones if you're making stone soup). The differences in the four are strength, concentration and clarity. Here is your guide to this mysterious jargon. ¨ Broth is what you end up with when your main ingredient is meat, fish or poultry, with vegetables and spices acting only as flavorings. Broth has a full, rich flavor. ¨ Bouillonis the French term for meat broth. Beef bouillon and beef broth are the same thing. ¨ Stock is somewhat lighter, more predominantly vegetable-flavored and is made from whatever is available. Some meat or bones may be part of the solids. Stock is also very flavorful. You can serve a stock as is, adding little more than few fresh vegetables or noodles and garnish. It is also popular as a base for more complex soups, stews and sauces. ¨ Consommé is a broth that has been clarified to the transparency of tea. The idea is to develop an even more intense flavor than in broth. The demand for crystal clarity makes it hard to prepare it successfully. Here are some tricks chefs use to prevent cloudiness, and to clarify a broth once it has clouded. They are not difficult to do by home cooks though they take a little time. 1. Whisk a small amount of the hot stock into beaten egg whites. Add this mixture to the completely fat-free stock and bring slowly to a simmer, stirring occasionally to disperse the egg whites throughout. Over a few minutes' time, the egg whites collect the sediments in the stock and rise to the surface. Now you can filter the egg whites through a cheesecloth. Be careful. If the stock comes to a boil, it may cloud up again. 2. You can also add lean ground beef or broken-up egg shells to the stock, bring it to a simmer, then filter as above. The beef adds extra flavor, but the egg shells only help to clear sediments. Serving a cupful of clear, cloudless, incredibly tasty hot liquid with nothing added provides a first course that few others can satisfy. It is a fabulous start for a formal meal, and that is exactly what consommé’s place is in the meal. ¨ A double consommé has an even more intense, luxuriously rich flavor. To prepare this, cook fresh meat and vegetables in a previously prepared broth, then clarify it. This is now in the professional chef’s arena. We inherited this complex terminology from the classic French culinary art in which the distinction between a broth and a stock was important. Being a stickler to precise terminology in nouvelle cuisine is no longer as important. The huge array of classic French sauces is hardly ever used outside the milieu of French cookery, and whether you produce a stock or a broth matters little, as long as it results in a superb soup. The term broth, however, is used less today in preference to stock, whatever the base of the resulting liquid. While we are with terminology, let's identify some other common soup terms: ¨ Purées. You pass both liquid and solid through a blender, food processor or food mill, ending up with the same flavor but an altogether different consistency and mouthfeel. If you have served the same soup twice already and still have leftovers, purée and add a fresh garnish. You created a new soup with little effort. A blender produces a very fine purée, like baby food. A food processor doesn't purée quite that fine and food mills vary depending what type you have.
Cream soups. These are purées to which you add milk, cream or a combination of both. ¨ Bisque is a cream soup in which the main ingredient is traditionally shellfish, though you can use vegetables for a bisque, too. ¨ Chowder is a thick fish or meat soup with vegetables in milk, cream or a combination of the two. With these basic definitions you'll know what any cookbook or restaurant menu is talking about. But how you prepare your own soup base matters not at all. Get out the stock pot Stock is the basis of many soups. You can make a big pot of it from time to time, use some immediately and freeze the rest in small batches. That way you always have stock on hand. If you are economically-minded, accumulate stock ingredients continually in your freezer in a large, heavy plastic bag reserved for the purpose. Add any clean vegetable peelings, raw poultry bones, wings, hearts, gizzards (omit the liver—it is too strong in flavor), any unused meat parts, even the chicken skin. Don't mix meat bones with poultry bones. Store them separately for two different stocks. Carrots, celery and onions are the three essential ingredients in a traditional stock. Anything else is optional. If you use whole vegetables for your stock, you need not peel them, just wash well. You can add onion with skin on. Just cut it into several large pieces for better exposure in the liquid. Onion skins have no flavor (chew some to test this for yourself), but they give a pleasing brownish tinge to the stock. If you like a lighter, golden yellow color of a traditional chicken soup, peel the onions. The ratio of vegetables is not critical, but cooks typically add onion, carrot and celery in the ratio of 2:2:1. A piece of parsnip, parsley root or celeriac gives a fuller flavor. Don't be afraid to add pieces of green pepper, even a chili, parsley stems, scallion tops, smaller chunks or peelings of turnip to your freezer cache. Strong-flavored vegetables, like Brussels sprouts or cabbage overpower everything else, so find another use for them.
own, you can regulate the amount of fat, total calories, cholesterol, sugar, salt or whatever your personal concern may be. If you use prepared soups, read the labels carefully. They are usually long lists that read like check-lists for chemistry experiments. TASTINGS Jewish penicillin They have been telling us at least since the 12 th century that chicken soup cures a variety of illnesses. Now there is even medical research to verify its impact on the common cold (thanks to Dr. S. Rennard’s team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, 1993). Although the researchers couldn't identify the single substance in the soup that fights bacteria, viruses or other invaders of the body, they clearly showed that there is something in old-style chicken soup that is very beneficial. Their best guess is that it is the combination of broth, chicken and vegetables, along with TLC in the preparation, that provide the magic. Whatever it is, take time to prepare your own without shortcuts during the flu and cold season. A soup is often the only hearty course that is acceptable to both vegetarians and meat eaters. Babies love it, and their great-grandparents do, too. Get into soups Soups offer many advantages to the home cook and they are particularly great for freeform cooks who scowl at recipes. First, they are most amenable to changes. If you don't have a particular ingredient, substitute. You will get a different-flavored soup, but it will still be good, provided you substitute with good kitchen sense. When you replace an ingredient, use another of similar taste, preferably ones of the same family, in case of vegetables. It is fine to use broccoli if you can't get Brussels sprout, turnips for parsnips, or onion for shallots. But substituting beets for cabbage somehow doesn't make the same sense. Leaving an ingredient out completely because you don't have it on hand or you hate it doesn't ruin the soup, unless, of course, that ingredient is as essential as salt. Second, soups keep extremely well. Many, if not most, soups even improve with storage as the flavors fuse, marry and intensify. This is particularly true for hearty soups made up of many ingredients—thick vegetable soups, soups made from legumes, meat and chicken. Never waste your time making enough soup for just one meal. A little more cutting up triples or quadruples the result. Most soups keep well refrigerated for days or even a week. If you don't think you will use it that soon, freeze the extra in measured portions. You can thaw a portion next month when time has gotten away from you, and a starving family is demanding dinner now. Freezing extra soup in a heavy plastic bag is very practical. Bags not only take a minimum of freezer space but when you need a meal in a hurry, just cut the bag away from the frozen hunk of soup and drop it into the pot to reheat. Or place the plastic bag of frozen soup in a bowl and microwave it. It is almost an instant meal and far better than any prepared foods you can get in the supermarket’s frozen food section. Add a different spice or set of spices, an additional vegetable or leftover meat, fish or poultry, and your family may not even recognize it as the soup they ate not long ago. Altering texture and appearance by puréeing works well, too.
Who is who in soups The foundation of any good soup is either broth, stock, bouillon or consommé. So what's the difference between these four? Not a great deal. They are all liquid end-products that absorb most of the flavor from the original food—meats, vegetables (or even stones if you're making stone soup). The differences in the four are strength, concentration and clarity. Here is your guide to this mysterious jargon. ¨ Broth is what you end up with when your main ingredient is meat, fish or poultry, with vegetables and spices acting only as flavorings. Broth has a full, rich flavor. ¨ Bouillonis the French term for meat broth. Beef bouillon and beef broth are the same thing. ¨ Stock is somewhat lighter, more predominantly vegetable-flavored and is made from whatever is available. Some meat or bones may be part of the solids. Stock is also very flavorful. You can serve a stock as is, adding little more than few fresh vegetables or noodles and garnish. It is also popular as a base for more complex soups, stews and sauces. ¨ Consommé is a broth that has been clarified to the transparency of tea. The idea is to develop an even more intense flavor than in broth. The demand for crystal clarity makes it hard to prepare it successfully. Here are some tricks chefs use to prevent cloudiness, and to clarify a broth once it has clouded. They are not difficult to do by home cooks though they take a little time. 1. Whisk a small amount of the hot stock into beaten egg whites. Add this mixture to the completely fat-free stock and bring slowly to a simmer, stirring occasionally to disperse the egg whites throughout. Over a few minutes' time, the egg whites collect the sediments in the stock and rise to the surface. Now you can filter the egg whites through a cheesecloth. Be careful. If the stock comes to a boil, it may cloud up again. 2. You can also add lean ground beef or broken-up egg shells to the stock, bring it to a simmer, then filter as above. The beef adds extra flavor, but the egg shells only help to clear sediments. Serving a cupful of clear, cloudless, incredibly tasty hot liquid with nothing added provides a first course that few others can satisfy. It is a fabulous start for a formal meal, and that is exactly what consommé’s place is in the meal. ¨ A double consommé has an even more intense, luxuriously rich flavor. To prepare this, cook fresh meat and vegetables in a previously prepared broth, then clarify it. This is now in the professional chef’s arena. We inherited this complex terminology from the classic French culinary art in which the distinction between a broth and a stock was important. Being a stickler to precise terminology in nouvelle cuisine is no longer as important. The huge array of classic French sauces is hardly ever used outside the milieu of French cookery, and whether you produce a stock or a broth matters little, as long as it results in a superb soup. The term broth, however, is used less today in preference to stock, whatever the base of the resulting liquid. While we are with terminology, let's identify some other common soup terms: ¨ Purées. You pass both liquid and solid through a blender, food processor or food mill, ending up with the same flavor but an altogether different consistency and mouthfeel. If you have served the same soup twice already and still have leftovers, purée and add a fresh garnish. You created a new soup with little effort. A blender produces a very fine purée, like baby food. A food processor doesn't purée quite that fine and food mills vary depending what type you have.
Cream soups. These are purées to which you add milk, cream or a combination of both. ¨ Bisque is a cream soup in which the main ingredient is traditionally shellfish, though you can use vegetables for a bisque, too. ¨ Chowder is a thick fish or meat soup with vegetables in milk, cream or a combination of the two. With these basic definitions you'll know what any cookbook or restaurant menu is talking about. But how you prepare your own soup base matters not at all. Get out the stock pot Stock is the basis of many soups. You can make a big pot of it from time to time, use some immediately and freeze the rest in small batches. That way you always have stock on hand. If you are economically-minded, accumulate stock ingredients continually in your freezer in a large, heavy plastic bag reserved for the purpose. Add any clean vegetable peelings, raw poultry bones, wings, hearts, gizzards (omit the liver—it is too strong in flavor), any unused meat parts, even the chicken skin. Don't mix meat bones with poultry bones. Store them separately for two different stocks. Carrots, celery and onions are the three essential ingredients in a traditional stock. Anything else is optional. If you use whole vegetables for your stock, you need not peel them, just wash well. You can add onion with skin on. Just cut it into several large pieces for better exposure in the liquid. Onion skins have no flavor (chew some to test this for yourself), but they give a pleasing brownish tinge to the stock. If you like a lighter, golden yellow color of a traditional chicken soup, peel the onions. The ratio of vegetables is not critical, but cooks typically add onion, carrot and celery in the ratio of 2:2:1. A piece of parsnip, parsley root or celeriac gives a fuller flavor. Don't be afraid to add pieces of green pepper, even a chili, parsley stems, scallion tops, smaller chunks or peelings of turnip to your freezer cache. Strong-flavored vegetables, like Brussels sprouts or cabbage overpower everything else, so find another use for them.