Making Soup (Information)

From an article by Louise Tennent Smith.

‘Making soup is fun, an exercise in kitchen creativity which cannot go wrong—you can ALWAYS fix a soup.

‘Homemade stock is good, and easy to make, though time consuming. But don’t give up on soup making if you haven’t time to make your own. There are good canned. dried and frozen bases that will allow you to whip up a good soup in no time at all.

‘Seasoning: The stock itself gives the base seasoning to a soup, as do herbs and spices added during the cooking. The addition of wine frequently enhances the flavor. Add about one-quarter cup to one quart of soup just before serving, and do not boil after adding. Use sherry for light soups with a chicken base, red wine with beef based soups, white wine with fish soups. A cup of beer for every three cups of soup is good with bean and other hearty vegetable soups.

‘Thickening: Cooked cereals such as rice, noodles and dumplings give body to a clear soup; added raw, they will thicken a soup. Other thickeners include egg yolks, pureed vegetables and roux of flour and butter.

‘Color: Soups using a good quantity of meat, onion skims, tomato skins or browned onions usually have excellent color. Other color additives include browning sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, wine, tomato sauce and soy sauce. The latter group should be used with great care in delicate soups, as their flavor might be overwhelming.’

[THE BALTIMORE SUN; February 13, 1991]

Posted by Fred Peters.