The key to good soup is making your own stock to form a basis for your soups. Ready made stock cubes or granules often contain large quantities of salt, flavourings.and preservatives, which may not be good for your health. In addition, they do not produce the exciting flavors of fresh herbs, meat, fish and shellfish skillfully blended.
Soups can be divided into three main groups or classes:
Thin, clear soup, consommé’ or a well seasoned bouillon and clear broth garnished with thin strips of vegetables julienne.
Such soups are made with a light meat stock, but there are also clear vegetable soups and herbal consommés.
Thin, light, delicate cream soups. These include cream of asparagus, celery or tomato soup, light bisques, to which cream is usually added, but which are not thickened with a butter and flour roux. They are usually strengthened with an egg and cream liaison.
Thick soups. These are hearty soups whose general characteristic is they are often a meal in themselves. They are made with vegetables, chunks of meat, fish, as in chowders, rice, pasta, and more often than not, made extra thick with a roux.
Roux is a liaison of flour and fat, usually butter, and is a basis of flour sauces, both sweet and savory. The longer the mixture is cooked, the deeper will be its colour. A roux can be white, with hardly any colour, or allowed to cook until dark for use in brown sauces. For most dishes the roux is used half-and-half.
To create roux, melt 25 g. (1 oz.) of butter slowly in a thick pan, and add 25 g. (1 oz.) of flour removing from the heat and stirring all the time, until there is a perfect blending of the two. Return the pan to the heat and if a light roux is required, cook it for three minutes. For a darker hue, the roux can be cooked to a russet colour and an almost nutty aroma emerges.
When adding liquid to a roux, if it is still hot, add the liquid cold, as it is for soufflés', then the liquid should be added hot.
Soups can be considered the ultimate accomplishment of a cook.