FOD2070-ABED_1: The Role of Soups in Cuisine

A soup can be described as a liquid product that can be derived from a number of sources. Soups have a renewed popularity because of a number of reasons. People nowadays are more health conscious and soups can be both low in calories and nutritious at the same time. Soups make for a much lighter meal and are great for those with digestion problems.

There are three basic categories of soups: clear soups, thick soups and specialty soups.

Types of Soups	Description of the soup
1.) Clear	- examples are broth, bouillon, and consomme.
a) broth	- flavored liquid produced by simmering meats and vegetables.
b) bouillon	- meat, vegetables, fish or poultry are simmered in water, strained and clarified the resulting product is called bouillon.
c) consomme	- flavorful clarified broth.
2. Thick	- can be thickened in two ways
a) cream soup	- a thickened soup with added milk or cream e.g. cream of mushroom soup
b) chowder	- thick soup made with fish or shellfish, milk, and possibly vegetables such as potatoes
c) bisque	- a cream soup with shellfish or a mixture of pureed fish and vegetables. Contains cream
d) potage	- a general term for soup. Often interpreted as a hearty soup.
e) pureed	- one or more ingredients are pureed e.g. tomato.
3. Specialty Soups	- don't fit any of the above categories. - may be unique because of the ingredients or the fact that the soup may be native to a particular country e.g. pumpkin soup, gazpacho, birds nest soup.

The Role of Soups in Cuisine

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