Unit 320Prepare, Cook and Finish
Complex Soups.
Revision of Level 2 Soups.
Basic Soups.
Preparation Of Soups.
• The making of a soup requires as much skill as any other area of kitchen work. Only ever use fresh ingredients as an insipid, badly seasoned soup without character is a recipe for disaster.
• For a meal with several courses soup will usually be served first, unless a cold surprise or canapé is offered which will be served before the soup.
Classification of Soups.
• Soup is a general term which is applied to every type, whether hot or cold, thick or thin.
• Many soups can also be served cold and consommé in particular is often served in its cold jellied form.
UNTHICKENED.
• Broth.
• Consommés.
• Bouillions.
• Chowders.
• Cold*.
THICKENED.
• Bisques.
• Potages.
• Velouté.
• Bisques.
• Brown roux based.
• Cold *.
Unthickened.
Broths & Bouillions.• Broths: A combination of various types
of vegetables which are cooked in a clear stock with the addition of cereal and a garnish of diced meat or poultry. E.g. Scotch Broth.
• Bouillons: Unclarified but clear stock served plain or with a garnish. E.g. Petite Marmite.
Consommé.• Is a clarified stock of beef, chicken or
combination of both.
• Into the clarification can be added tomatoes, pimentos, beetroot, etc, in order to accent one of these flavours.
• The garnishes are many and varied. Cheese straws, grated cheese, petits patés are also served under certain conditions.
• Bortsch is a duck and beef/beetroot flavoured consommé.
Thickened.
Puree Soups.• A purée soup consists of a base of pulse,
vegetables or potatoes or a combination of one or more.
• Vegetables with a high starch content will thicken themselves.
• Those with low starch content will require an additional thickening agent. EXAMPLE.
• For example, Purée Crecy (Puree of Carrot).
Potage.• A potage is a soup with a garnish of vegetables
which have been cut to a definite shape. It may also include as part of its garnish peas, beans, cereals and Italian pasta.
• It is made with a good quality white stock thickened with a liaison and finished with a garnish.
• Shredded, toasted bread and grated parmesan cheese (one or both) are usually served separately.
• For example Potage Germiny.
Crème.
• A cream soup consisting of a base of vegetables (legumes), poultry, veal or game.
• It is moistened with white stock (veal, poultry or game) but receives its thickening from béchamel or a base white roux.
• It is finished with cream and served with garnish, usually in keeping with its name.
• For example cream of asparagus soup, cream of onion soups.
Velouté.
• This type of soup is prepared on the same lines as a cream soup, except that it receives its thickening mostly from a velouté sauce or a base blonde roux with the flavour of poultry, veal, fish or game.
• It differs however in that it must be finished with a liaison of yolks and cream, which gives it the final thickening.
• For example, Velouté Agnus Sorel (Chicken & Mushroom).
Bisque.• This is a specialised soup always made with
shellfish (lobster, shrimps, crayfish, crawfish, crabs).
• Its thickening is derived from rice or riceflour and is moistened with fish or veal stock.
• It is finished with butter or a liason of pounded lobster eggs or butter. Brandy and cream are stirred in at the last moment, and the garnish is in keeping with its name.
• For example Bisque de Homards (Lobster Bisque).
Brown Roux Based.
• This is a thick passed soup made from a brown roux.
• They are garnished with meat and always served hot.
• E.g. Oxtail soup.
Chowders
• Fish soup made from clams. Usually written as ‘Clam Chowder’. Onions, green peppers, celery stalks, smoked bacon thickens with potatoes.
• Stock comes from the cooking of the clams.
• Finish with cream. Origin – America. Variations around coast of Boston, Cape Cod, Connecticut and Maine.
Cold Soups.• Certain soups are made to serve cold,
others can be served hot or cold.
• Cold – Gaspacheo, Cucumber, Jellied Consommé.
• Hot/Cold – Vichysoisse, Watercress, Consommé.
• Most soups can be served cold.
Thickening Agents Used in Soups.
• Roux: White, blonde and brown. 25 – 40 gms of flour to ½ ltr stock.
• Pulses: High is starch and require no further thickening. 200 gms to 1 ½ ltr of liquid. Lentils require 300 gms.
• Purees: Purees of vegetables provide thickening in a number of soups. Vegetables low in starch/high water content will require the addition of extra starch in the form of a roux.
• Béchamel: A thin béchamel may be used in a number of cream soups.
• Liaison: this has 2 purposes, it will thicken and also enrich the soup.
Accompaniments.• Sippets for purees and roux based.
• Finely grated parmesan cheese for bouillons and Italian soups.
• Toasted croutes for soups served in marmite pots.
• Cheese straws with turtle soup.
Garnishes.• Vegetable garnishes, good quality
precise cuts.
• Meat garnishes added to clear or broths.
• Coarsely chopped herbs to broths.
• Pluches of herbs for consommés and broths.
Summarize