Saturday 09 June 2001
Can you feel the soup tonight
I love soup. For so many reasons, in so many ways; occasionally bordering on the carnal. I never ever get tired of it; I could eat a bowl of soup every single day and never get bored; especially those big bowls of Malaysian/Singaporean noodly soups, full of delicious tempting bits and pieces of meat or fish and vegetables, loads of rice noodles to slurp, and divine spicy broth ... *droool*.
Comfort. Time may heal all wounds (or alternatively, wound all heels, bwahaha), but soup is what helps get you through the first ugly stages. A big bowl of Campbell's Tomato Soup is the oral equivalent of a snuggle from your best friend or big brother; it gives total comfort and reassurance, the kind that can only come from someone who's known you forever and knows without a doubt you're the loveliest, sweetest, sexiest, funniest person they know. It's also soothing for the throat which is a bonus if you've been doing a lot of crying.
Choice. Soup is a great food choice; it can be a classy entrée or a full, balanced meal. A smooth, light puree of vegetables or a gutsy chicken chowder. Creamy, chunky, hot, cold, spicy, interesting, sophisticated, simple ... there are as many or more types of soup in the world as there are people.
Nutrition. Soup is very nutritious and not too calorific (stay away from lobster bisque if you're worried about the calories). You can pretty much exist solely on soup, which is why it's such an excellent food for Singletons (although if you're going to go the Soup Diet route, I would advise having some bread and salad on the side, followed by a couple of pieces of fruit ... ).
« « « « «
There is, allegedly, some kind of etiquette associated with what you serve soup in. My copy of Joy of Cooking states unequivocally that if one is serving a consommé, it must be served in a bone china soup-cup (one of those ones with two handles), while chunky soups must be served in large shallow bowls, and to not do so is akin to a capital offence. Well.
I am not so discriminatory. I serve my soup, regardless of type, in Chinese or Japanese style rice/soup bowls; they do not affect the flavour, the presentation is pleasing; and it stands to reason that a deeper bowl will keep the heat of the soup for longer. Bone china cups, my arse.
« « « « «
Sometime last year, whilst hanging out on-line, I got into a discussion with another person in the channel, about how we were both very much anti the "L" word at the time. I decided that everytime the "L" word was required to be spoken (eg, "I love anchovies on pizza"), it should be replaced by something innocuous that wouldn't distress us unduly. Like "soup". And so it came to pass ...
As an extension of this decision, we came up with the following:-
Top Ten Soup Songs
Much better.
previous entry home next entry