INTRODUCTION TO SOUP, LE POTAGE

Soup is not only the first part of a meal it must be devised in such a manner as to set the tone for the whole meal, or in other words it must be in harmony with the complete menu.

Historically soup occupies an honoured place, from acting as a base necessity for travelling nomads, when it was really a pot Au Feu filled with anything that was available at the time, being the only way family on the poverty line could make things meet when scraps would be boiled to provide sustenance for the day,

Originally the word was sop, and was used to identify the chunk of bread used to mop up the liquid matter.

Soups of the old classical kitchens of the 17/18 centuries were still of the nature a complete meal within themselves, containing liquid, vegetable and a wide variety of meat, poultry, game or fish.

Examples of osme that still exist today are pot au feu, poulle au pot, peti marmite, bouillibasse.

It wasn’t until the 19^th Century after Anton Crème and some of his successors have made many refinements to reach the standard of perfection we know today. Besides their contribution to the menu, soups are important for other reasons.

cold climates, easy heating.
hospitals, fast and easy nourishment to the sick and speed up recuperative process for the handicapped and those who are unable to cope with solid foods.

Soups are in most instances easy and cheap to prepare and fresh ingredients do not necessarily make the dish more expensive, frequently less.

Apart from fish it is an exta for cooking that allows the greatest scope for experimentation, flavours,

e.g. Potage Soffrino Battle

Cosmopolition – Mix.

The modern trends are to steer away from the more substantial soups and promote delicate consummes pure creams and veloutes, disposing of flour as thickening and using leason and bread instead, is not a new innovation this method was used in Elizabethan times.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOUPS

Puree

Puree soups are composed of a basic ingredient which can be single vegetables and combination or vegetables or a single fleu of poultry, game or shellfish, almost all forms of these soups should be supported by a thickening agent.

rice for purees of poultry, shellfish and certain vegetable. (e.g. crème cresy)
Potatoes for purees having a base of leaf vegetables and curtain root vegetable e.g. pumpkin(crème poteron).
Lentils for all purees of game.
Purees, croutons or fried bread.

Veloute fine soup with the texture of velvet

Veloute soups prepared from a prepared base of ordinary veloute make a little thiner than usual for veloutes of vegetables.
Poultry, game or fish veloutes, which ever is applicable to the main ingredient of the soup.
Certain basic ingredients such as chicken and fish should be cooked in the veloute being boned first, minced returned to soup and passed, the consistency of the soup should be adjusted with the bullion.
If preparing a veloute of vegetables place the appropriate vegetable to cook in the veloute having been accordingly prepared blanched, and stewed in butter.

e.g. swede, turnip, parsley, sorrel.

In the preparation of a veloute of shellfish the shellfish are cooked with a mirepoire in the usual manner then finely pounded and added to the veloute before being passed, ( bordelaise mirepoix)

Garnishes for Veloutes

These take after the basic ingredient of the veloute in the form of dice, jullien, quinnel’s and royals, or if the basic ingredient is a vegetable in the form of brunoise fine, printanieers and chiffonands in certain cases these garnishes may be supplemented with no more than one Tbsp rice (boiled).

Clear garnished Consommés

Soups which are derived from simple bougoise cookery and local soups.

Printanniers – spring tunned vegetable naveran.

Veloute and its derivatives

Allemande, parisienne, leason, yolk, mush, nutmeg, leve jus, pepper, butter.

Supreme – finished with cream.

Soup veloute bagration gras (with addition of garnish puree)

Veal veloute and pounded veal, leason yolk, cream, macaroni

Soup Cressonaire, Veal Valaite, blanched, Watercress (Yolk Cream) garnished watercress etuve au beure.

Finauciere sauce madema, truf essense,paos.

Valoise foyot m-glace béarnaise.

Fish Breton, fine jullien, w-winepoix ,veloute, cream, butter.

Veg Breton fried onion, espagual or tom., clove garlic, parsley.

Fish Bercy, shallots, white wine, stock, reduce, veloute, parsley, butter.

Method has two advantages.

If not thick or glutenous, better suspention and texture, convence soup may be purchased in many forms. To better types the canned variety, powdered variety which in most cases do not bear any resemblance to the original with the additives stabilizer, flavours, preservatives are per facsimile of the real thing, although easy storage a quick and easy regeneration makes easier to work.

Veloute: thick, liason yolks and cream/fish, cream, cardinale

Cream: Creamy consistency

Veloute with cream

½ béchamel ½ vegetable puree

Puree finished with cream, milk

Note:

The vegetable should be cooked in the soup until tender and passed.

Consommés

Broth Stock brunoise, vegetables, meat, poultry, rice, barley

Indipendeit Potage or soupe, terms cover variety soupe puree, passed soup thickened by main vegetables: fresh dried

Foreign soups outside France

Mulligataway

Minnestroni

Cockie leekie

Bortsch

Clam Chowder

Turtle, basel, sage, thyme, rosemary, coriander, peppercorn, bay.

Garnishes

Puree Portuguese, Rice/tom, waldaisen tapioca and tom.

Croutons ¼ dice

Sippits bayette toasted both sides

Flutes French baguettes

Diablotins French baguettes cheese gratinated.

Bisque – Crustaceous, brandy, white wine, stock, rice cream/butter, garnish.

Consommé Clarrified stock

Convinience dried liquid, frozen can, bottled.

SOUPS

GENERAL PROPORTIONS

Foundation	Stock or stock and milk and water	1.2L
Main ingredient	Meat or Pulse or Fresh vegetables or Fish	450g 175g 450g 675g
Flavouring	Vegetables	175g – 225g
Seasoning	Pepper and salt	1 tsp salt, dash of pepper and then season to taste.
Thickening	Cereal or starchy thickening	25g
Fat	Marg, dripping or bacon fat or rind	25g

Simple soups may be divided into two main classes : (I) Thin soups or Broths, (II) Thickened soups.

THIN SOUPS OR BROTHS

THICKENED SOUPS

i. Vegetable soups or Purees.

ii. THICKENED SOUPS

i. Vegetable Soups. In a thickened soup, i.e. puree, the solid ingredients are:

(a) Sautéed (or sweated) to improve the flavour

(b) Reduced by slow cooking to a pulp.

(d) Bound together with some starchy substance to prevent the separation if the solids from the liquids.

Method

Melt the fat
Add the prepared main ingredients and the vegetable flavouring and cook gently together until the fat is absorbed.
Shake from time to time but do not brown the ingredients (this is known as “to sauté” or “to sweat” – the moisture is driven off and the fat is absorbed).
Add the stock and remaining flavourings and bring to the boil.
Skim carefully
Simmer gently until the ingredients are tender
Pour soup through sieve and rub the vegetables through.
Thicken, using Method I, II, III
Taste for seasoning and add more if required.
Serve very hot.

Meat soups

Method

Prepare the meat and cut into neat pieces.
Melt the fat and fry until golden brown.
Add the stock or water and bring to the boil.
Skim thoroughly
Add the prepared vegetables, flavouring and seasoning.
Simmer according to main ingredients
Strain the soup, serve small joints separately and reserve small pieces for garnish.
With the remaining fat and with the flour make a roux (see method III), but cook the flour until it becomes a good golden brown colour before adding the strained soup.
Bring to the boil, allow to boil for a minute or two, stirring all the time.
Add the pieces already put aside, make thoroughly hot and serve.

MEAT SOUPS ETC.

To Sieve Soup

Have ready two spoons (wooden preferably) : one to rub the vegetables through and the other to scrape underneath the sieve. If the same spoon is used underneath, the skin etc, sticking to the spoon is liable to fall into the soup.
Place a sieve inside a bowl large enough to hold the sieve firmly. See that the narrow wooden rim of the sieve is at the top.
Pour a small quantity of the mixture through.
Hold the spoon by placing two fingers on the bowl of the spoon and rub the ingredients through with the edge of the spoon.
Remove, with the second spoon, any of the mixture sticking underneath the sieve.
Continue rubbing until there is practically nothing on top of the sieve.

To thicken the soup

METHOD 1

Mix the flour, cornflour etc., to a thin paste with water, and then add some of the soup to it. Add to the sieved soup, bring to the boil and allow to continue boiling 2-3mins, stirring all the time.

METHOD 2

Wash the cereal (sago or tapioca). Add to the sieved soup and allow to boil until the grain becomes transparent : about 15 mins. Stir frequently.

METHOD 3 (making a roux)

melt the fat in a saucepan.
Remove from the heat and blend the flour smoothly with the fat.
Return the saucepan to the heat, cook thoroughly, stirring all the time, but do not brown.
Remove from the heat and add milk (or some of the soup if no milk is used) gradually, blending and stirring carefully.
Bring to the boil, stirring all the time.
Add the sieved soup, bring to the boil again and allow to boil 2-3 mins., stirring all the time.

IMPORTANT POINTS IN STOCK-MAKING

What to do	Reason
1. Break up the vegetables and cut up the meat.	To expose as much surface as possible to draw out all the goodness.
2. Cut the vegetables into large pieces.	Small pieces break up and become reduced to pulp, thus making the stock cloudy.
3. When the stock comes to the boil, skim it.	To remove the impurities and to prevent cloudy stock.
4. Use a variety of vegetables (less of the strongly flavoured).	Too much of one kind with destroy the balance of flavour.
5. Avoid cooked vegetables and starchy food such as bread, thickened sauces, potatoes.	These make the stock cloudy and may turn it sour, as starch, if left in, will ferment.
6. See that the scraps of meat, etc., are perfectly fresh.	If they are not fresh, bacteria will be present and will cause poisoning.
7. Strain off the meat, etc., as soon as the stock is cooked.	If left in, these substances may turn the stock sour particularly in hot weather.
8. Boil up the stock daily.	To keep fresh.
9. Remove any fat when the stock is cold.	To prevent greasy soup.
10. Clarify the fat and use for frying.	To put the fat to good use and avoid waste.
11. Keep the stockpot or pan scrupulously clean.	To keep the stock perfectly fresh.

IMPORTANT POINTS IN SOUP MAKING

What to do	Reason
1. Use correct proportions of main ingredients and flavourings.	To obtain a good, well balanced flavour.
2. Use stock wherever possible.	To obtain a rich, well flavoured soup.
3. Add salt at commencement and taste for seasoning just before serving.	The salt becomes well absorbed into the ingredients and the flavour is improved.
4. Divide and cut up main ingredients into smallish pieces.	To obtain maximum flavour and nutriment because of the greater surface exposed.
5. Use stock free from fat and remove any fat from meat.	To prevent greasy soup.
6. For a vegetable soup, sauté the vegetables, but do not brown them.	Sautéing improves the flavour of the soup. To brown the vegetables would spoil the colour, appearance and flavour.
7. For brown soups the vegetables, meat, etc., should be browned.	To improve the colour and flavour.
8. Heat very slowly to boiling point and then simmer. Keep lid on while simmering.	To extract nutriment and flavouring. Quick cooking reduces the soup, and consistency will be too thick.
9. Skim when boiling point is reached if meat, pulse, etc., is used.	To removed the scum which rises and so prevent cloudy soup.
10. Cook for a sufficient length of time.	To cook the main ingredients, to blend the flavours, and to draw out the nutriment.
11. Blend thickening carefully into the soup.	To prevent lumps and ensure a good texture.
12. Use roux whenever possible, for thickened soups.	The finished soup is better in texture and richer in flavour.
13. Serve very hot.	Soup that is served lukewarm is unappetising.