Soup

Soup is a savoury liquid food that is made by boiling ingredients, such as meat, vegetables and beans in stock or hot water, until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth. Boiling was not a common cooking technique until the invention of containers about 5,000 years ago, so soups presumably were little-known before that time.

Early history

The word soup originates from the Teutonic word suppa, which refers to a Medieval dish consisting of a thick stew poured on slices of bread, called sop, used to soak up the liquid. Often described as potages, French onion soup is an example of a modern soup that retains this bread sop.

Related Topics:
Teutonic - Medieval - Bread - French onion soup

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Thin soups became popular in Europe during the 17th century, when the spoon was invented. The spoon was designed to accommodate the new fashion of wearing large, stiff ruffles around the neck.

Related Topics:
Europe - 17th century - Spoon

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The word restaurant was first used in France in the 16th century, to describe a highly concentrated, inexpensive soup, sold by street vendors called restaurer, that was advertised as an antidote to physical exhaustion. In 1765, a Parisian entrepreneur opened a shop specializing in restaurers. This prompted the use of the modern word restaurant to describe the shops.

Related Topics:
Restaurant - France - 16th century - Antidote - Exhaustion - 1765 - Parisian - Entrepreneur

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In America, the first cookbook was published by William Parks in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1742, based on Eliza Smith's Compleat Housewife; or Accomplished Gentlewoman's Companion and it included several recipes for soups and bisques. A 1772 cookbook, The Frugal Housewife, contained an entire chapter on the topic. English cooking dominated early colonial cooking; but as new immigrants arrived from other countries, other national soups gained popularity. In particular, German immigrants living in Pennsylvania were famous for their potato soups. In 1794, Jean Baptiste Gilbert Payplat dis Julien, a refugee from the French Revolution, opened an eating establishment in Boston called Restorator, and became known as "The Prince of Soups". The first American cooking pamphlet dedicated to soup recipes was written in 1882 by Emma Ewing: Soups and Soup Making.

Related Topics:
America - Cookbook - Williamsburg, Virginia - 1742 - 1772 - Immigrants - German - Pennsylvania - Potato - 1794 - Refugee - French Revolution - Boston - Pamphlet - 1882

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Portable soup was devised in the 18th century by boiling seasoned meat until a thick, was left that could be dried and stored for months at a time. The Japanese miso is an example of a concentrated soup paste.

Related Topics:
Portable soup - 18th century - Japan

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Today, according to the Campbell Soup Company, chicken noodle soup is one of the most popular soups in America. It is considered by many an effective remedy for the common cold, and is sometimes referred to as "Jewish penicillin" (a reference to the stereotypical fondness of American Jews for chicken soup).

Related Topics:
Campbell Soup Company - Chicken noodle soup - Common cold - Jewish - Penicillin - Stereotypical

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