Allison Cafe

Celebrating Soup for National Soup Month, Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Shrimp

We periodically fall back on a few favorite soup recipes this time of year. Chicken soup is our classic recipe that we make whenever we are looking for a healthy meal, but to also put that leftover chicken to use. But this week when I had some leftover chicken to use up, I wanted to venture out of my soup comfort zone. So I decided to try a spicy tortilla soup recipe. Wow, was I ever glad I did. I was surprised at how easy it was to blend all the ingredients and how flavorful the soup was. It is on my top ten list of favorite soups now.

After enjoying a bowl of thick tortilla soup I got to thinking. Every dish has a history. And I am sure there is a history for tortilla soup just like there is for chili. But what about the heritage of soup itself? I was surprised to learn that many historians consider soup to be the original fast food. In can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was sold as a street food using lentils, peas and beans as the main ingredient. As a new member of a Greek family I can tell you that the Greeks take great pride in their ancient influence on modern culture. So I guess I was not really that surprised to learn that the Greeks had a hand in the early adoption of soup as a popular meal.

Ok, so that explains when and why soup first started to catch on, but what about the name? Why soup? Some think that it got its name because of the sound you make when you slurp it up. Others believe it had to do with the fact that it was often sopped up with bread, so from the Latin word suppa or sop – to soup. And one last theory is that it was derived from the “sup” in the word supper.

And finally a little more fact finding for you on the subject of soup in honor of January’s National Soup Month. Soups can be classified into two broad groups: clear soups and thick soups. The French classifications of clear soups are bouillon and consommé. Depending on which thickening agent is used, thick soups fall into several classifications:

• Purées, which are vegetable soups thickened with starch;
• Bisques, which are made from puréed shellfish or vegetables thickened with cream;
• Cream-based soups, which are thickened with cream or béchamel sauce;
• Veloutés, which are thickened with eggs, butter and cream.

Other ingredients commonly used to thicken soups and broths include rice, flour and grains. Soups are also very similar to stews, the generally accepted difference being that soups have more liquid than stews.

When you think about it, most soup recipes are really healthy for you, – well if you ignore the thick soups which contain cream and therefore more calories. The broth-based soups, chicken broth-based ones in particular, are the healthiest. It also is one of the most economical meals you can make because it can be made with just about any combination of ingredients. And sometimes that selection of ingredients can be closely tied into a region’s culture. The vast catalog of soup recipes spans all types of cuisine. Have you ever wondered why soup is such a common thread across all cultures? What other entrée can be translated to almost any cuisine? There are soup recipes with roots in almost every culture, making it a dish that is as simple to make is it is diverse. It can be enjoyed anytime of year, not just this month. So here is to soup, let us enjoy it for its healthy, flavorful and culturally diverse qualities.

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