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Soups
Soup is a tasty, popular food. It is nutritious,
wholesome, and stimulates the appetite. Soup should
be served at least once a day in cold weather, if practical,
and at least every few days regardless of the weather. A
key rule in serving soup is that it be served as hot as
possible.
GALLEY-PREPARED SOUPS.— There are four
basic kinds of soup:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Light soups are made from clear, unthickened
stock.
Heavy soups are made from stock vegetables,
rice, or pasta such as noodles, macaroni, and
spaghetti.
Cream soups are made with milk, stock, or
vegetables and lightly thickened. They should
be heated to serving temperature, but never
allowed to boil.
Chowders are made with fish, shellfish, or
vegetables.
There are three basic soup ingredients: stock
vegetables, and thickeners. These basic ingredients are
discussed next.
Stock.— Stock is made by cooking meat bones,
poultry bones and trimmings, vegetables, and
seasonings in water. Alternately, it is made by using
dehydrated soup and gravy bases, which saves time,
labor, and space.
These various bases contain salt;
therefore, the amount of salt added should be
determined by careful tasting during the cooking
process.
The standard stock items, instant beef, chicken, or
ham soup and gravy base, may be reconstituted for use
in any soup recipe. These powdered bases are seasoned
and when they are reconstituted in boiling water they
have the characteristic flavor of beef, ham, or chicken
broth. The proportions that should be used to
reconstitute these bases are included in the A
(miscellaneous) section of the AFRS.
Vegetables.— The vegetables most commonly used
for soups are celery, carrots, peas, beans, onions, green
peppers, and tomatoes. Vegetables are cut into small
cubes, or into matchlike strips that are called julienne.
Vegetables used in soups should be cooked according to
the instructions given in the AFRS for soup.
Thickeners.— Soups are thickened by adding a
roux or a paste. A roux is a mixture of fat and flour. A
cold, light roux is usually added to soups that are to be
thickened. In onion soup, for example, the cold roux is
stirred into the hot soup stock and the soup is cooked
until no taste of raw starch remains. Roux may be
prepared ahead of time and refrigerated. A roux maybe
prepared by two methods: the cold roux method or the
warm roux method. Cold roux is prepared by
combining flour with liquid fat, then stirring until a
smooth paste is formed. In the warm roux method the
fat is first melted over low heat and then the flour is
added.
A paste is prepared by whipping flour or cornstarch
into a cold liquid (usually water) and then adding it to
hot liquid that is cooked until it thickens. In the final
step of preparing bean soup, for example, a flour and
water paste is stirred into the soup that is then cooked
for 10 minutes.
GALLEY PREPARED SOUPS.— The individual
recipe in the soup section of the AFRS specifies the
types and amounts of seasonings that should be used.
When meat or chicken stock is made, the flavor from
the ingredients used is very concentrated; therefore, it is
essential to use accurate amounts of the ingredients.
Just before the soup is to be served, check it again for
proper seasoning. It is better to add more seasoning to
the stock or soup a short time before it is served, rather
than have a soup so highly seasoned it is unpalatable. If
the taste check indicates that the soup is too salty, add
sliced raw potatoes to the soup, bring soup to a simmer
for a few minutes, then remove the potatoes.
COMMERCIALLY PREPARED SOUPS.—
Dehydrated, instant, condensed, and ready-to-serve
soups are not only easy to prepare but they are also time-
and space-savers.
Dehydrated soups such as chicken noodle, green
pea, and tomato vegetable are prepared by merely
adding the specified amount of boiling water. Then the
mixture is covered and allowed to simmer for the length
of time specified on the container. The finished product
is similar in appearance and flavor to the same type of
soup made with raw food items.
Sauces
Sauces add to the appearance and flavor of food, but
they should never be overpowering. Sauces should be
handled carefully to avoid contamination and
food-borne illness. Store in a chill space and never hold
them longer than 4 cumulative hours at temperatures
between 40°F and 140°F.
5-23
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