Souper Sunday

My weekend was highlighted by the fact that yes indeed, our weather services finally had a correct forecast—about two inches of fresh fall snow hit the ground, the roads were slippery, and I had to wear my winter jacket for the first time. At least I always have a warm kitchen beckoning me to bake, right?

How was your weekend..did anything exciting happen?

Today’s post is a branch off of Jenny’s themed food of the week. She picks one type of food and everyone sends in their favorite recipe/picture in that category. This weeks theme was soup—how perfect for the chilly fall days! So Jenny and I decided that I should do a little blog “history” info on the food she chooses each week. Every Sunday there will be a feature on my blog, and then you can check out Jenny’s to see all the great submissions of the week.

Soup

History Lesson

One of the first types of soups can be dated to about 6,000 B.C.^[ Boiling was not a common cooking technique until the invention of waterproof containers about 9,000 years ago.

The word soup comes from French soupe ("soup", "broth"), which comes through Vulgar Latin suppa ("bread soaked in broth") from a Germanic source, from which also means the word "sop", a piece of bread used to soak up soup or a thick stew.

The word restaurant (meaning "[something] restoring") was first used in France in the 16th century, to describe a highly concentrated, inexpensive soup, sold by street vendors, that was advertised as an antidote to physical exhaustion. In 1765, a Parisian entrepreneur opened a shop specializing in such soups. This prompted the use of the modern word restaurant to describe the shops.

Commercial soup became popular with the invention of canning in the 19th century, and today a great variety of canned and dried soups are on the market. Dr. John T. Dorrance, a chemist with the Campbell Soup Company, invented condensed soup in 1897

America’s Top 3 Soups

• Campbell’s Tomato
• Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom
• Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup

**Approximately 2.5 billion bowls of these soups alone are consumed each year!**

Soups By The Region

• Bird's nest soup is a delicacy in Chinese cuisine.
• Bisque - A thick, creamy, highly-seasoned soup, classically of pureed crustaceans, of French origin.
• Canh chua (sour soup) - A Vietnamese dish made with rice, fish, various vegetables, and in some cases pineapple.
• Clam chowder - two major types, New England Clam Chowder, made with potatoes and cream, and Manhattan Clam Chowder, made with a tomato base.
• Gumbo - A traditional Creole soup from the Southern United States, thickened with okra pods.
• Leek soup - A simple soup made from Leeks popular in Wales during Saint David's Day
• Minestrone - An Italian vegetable soup
• Tomato soup (pomidorowa) - Traditional polish soup made of tomato concentrate

What is your favorite soup?

Apparently people’s soup choices reflect their personality types..

• If you have a hankering for chicken noodle soup, you scored high on the church-going scale, are fond of pets, are more likely to be stubborn and less likely to be outdoorsy.
• If minestrone filled your mug, you were more likely to be physically fit, nutritionally conscious, family spirited, unlikely to own a pet and also on a restricted diet
• A vegetable soup aficionado was a homebody at heart, less likely to be a world traveler, less likely to be spontaneous and more likely to read family and home magazines.
• Tomato soup lovers, by contrast, could stomach more adventure, were more likely to be social and also tended to enjoy books and pets.

Read more about that study here.

Review of my Favorite Store-Bought Soup Line

Imagine Creamy Red Bliss Potato & Roasted Garlic Soup

It’s light, yet filling, creamy, yet flavorful. All the goodness of a thick potato soup condensed!

 

 

Imagine Organic Creamy Tomato Soup

This blows Campbell's Tomato Soup to the ground when it comes taste and nutrition. No “can” taste here, but instead the taste of fresh pureed tomatoes.

 

 

Imagine Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

I was expecting a bland taste with this, but instead it was creamy with a pleasant sweet and savory taste to it. Perfect for bread n’ butter dipping!

 

 

 

Soup Recipes on My Blog

• Rustic Tortellini Soup
• Clam & Oyster Chowder
• Easy Cheesy Tomato Gumbo

Soups I Have Saved to Try Soon!

• Cocoa-Kissed Beef and Delicata Squash Chili
• Chickpea & Peanut Stew
• Kath's Cabbage Soup
• HG Very Veggie Stew
• Italian Sausage & White Bean Stew