CLASSIFICATION OF SOUP with Examples

Majorly soups are categories into four types as: Thin, Thick, Cold and International.

Thin soups are further devided into two types; Passed and Unpassed.

Thick soups are categorised as chowder, bisque, puree, cream and

Sl.	Classification	Base	Passed/Unpassed	Finish	Example
1	Clear	Stock	Passed	Usuallygarnish	Varieties ofconsommé
2	Broth	Stock and cuts of vegetables	unpassed	Choppedparsley	Minestrone and scotch broth.
3	Puree	Stock, fresh vegetable	Passed	Croutons	Lentil and potato Related soup.
4	Valuate	Blond roux,veg,and stock	Passed	cream	Chickenveloute
5	Cream	Stock and veg. puree and white sauce	passed	Cream and Creammilk	Cream of   mushroom cream of chicken.
6	Bisque	Fish stock and shell fish	Passed	Finishwith cream	Lobster
7	Chowder	Milk,	Passed	Cream	Oyster

Broths

The term broth and bouillon can be used interchangeably. Broths are among the simplest soups to prepare. Normally, their flavor comes from long-simmering of a variety of ingredients together in one pot. An assortment of separately cooked foods may be added at various times during cooking requirements of the individual items. All the ingredients should finish cooking at the same time.

Consome

This is concentrated, a thin, clear soup made from meat, poultry or fish. The word has the same origin as consummate, meaning to bring to completion or to perfection. A consommé is cooked long enough for most of the ingredients to be extracted into the liquid. In the most general sense, consommé is a meat, poultry or fish stock, which has gone through a special clarification process, served hot or cold.

Purees

They are slightly thicker than cream soups & are somewhat coarser in texture. They are normally based on dried peas, lentils or starchy vegetables, such as potatoes & carrots.

Cream Soups

Cream soups are based on béchamel sauces.

Chowders

Thick soup resembling a stew made with meat or fish and vegetables, often flavored with cheese.

Bisque

These are traditionally based on such crustaceans such as shrimp, lobster & crayfish. These share characteristics with both purees & cream soups.

Veloute

A veloute is based on a light veloute sauce, a sauce thickened with roux & finished with a liaison of egg yolk & cream.

Vegetable Soups

Any soup containing one or more vegetables, cut in dice, brunoise, julienne, chiffonade or paysanne and eaten with the liquid they have flavored, is classified as vegetable soup or potage.

Cold Soups

This is a special category because this grouping of soups is served differently from any other: Well chilled, in chilled cups or bowls. The popularity of cold soup has recently increased. Many soups that are prepared to be a hot soup can be changed into a cold soup by simply chilling them well and making minor alterations to the structure and flavor. For instance, many purees can be served

chilled if they are made with little or no butter and thinned with cream after chilling.

International Soups

• Gazpacho – Spain
• Mulligatawny – Sri Lanka
• Chicken Broth – England
• Cockie Leekie – Scotland
• Clam Chowder – U.S.A
• Bortsch – Russia
• Beer soup – Germany
• French Onion Soup – France
• Minestrone – Italian.

Special Points for the Service and Preparation

• The first-class, clean, strong and flavourful stock should be used, as it would help in producing good quality soup.

• If there is a heavy entrée, the soup should be thin or light.

• If the heavy soup is served, the portion should be small.

• The soups should not in any way be filling or consist of food particles that require much chewing

• The garnish should be small and dainty so that they can be picked up easily by soup-spoon.

• Soups should be always moderately seasoned.

• Serve hot soups; piping hot, and cold soups; very cold.

• A little sugar should be added to tone the acidity of the soup, before mixing cream as it prevents curdling.

• Consommé should be amber in color (onions halved and browned on the hot plate are added to the soup for color)

• Accompaniments of the soups should be of a crisp character, e.g. Melba toast, various crackers, breadsticks, cheese croutons, bread rolls, etc.

• Entrée portions of one liter of soup yield five portions.

BASIC RECIPES OF CONSOMME WITH 10 GARNISHES

What is consomme?

The consomme comes from the word ‘consummate’ which means to bring to complete or perfect. It is a clear soup which is prepared from beef, chicken stock, and garnish with verities of ingredients. This can be served hot or chilled, consomme take it name generally from of the garnish for example:
Consomme Julienne: Julienne cuts of vegetable.

Basic Consomme (1 lit)

S No. Ingredients          Quantity

01         Minced meat          225gm.

02         Onion                  70gm.

03         Carrot                  50gm.

04         Turnips                  30gm.

05         Stock                  ½ lit

06         Egg white          2 no.

07         Celery                  40gm.

08         Thyme                  ¼ tsp

09         Bay leaf                  1 no.

10         Peppercorns          3 -6 no.

Method:

Mix minced meat and chopped onions, carrots, turnips, celery and mix well with egg whites. Add cold stock, thyme, bay leaf and peppercorns. Then put on fire and go on starring so that the ingredients do not stick to the button of the pan and the articles are suspended. When the mixture starts boiling then control the temperature. And let it simmer until the coagulated mass come to the top. Simmer for ½ hour. When the consommé is clear and tasty then strain through a double muslin cloth and adding the seasoning agent.

Variation of consommé

SL.          Name                                            Garnish

01 Consommé Royal                    Dice of savoury, egg custard.
02 Consommé Julienne            Julienne cuts of vegetables.
03 Consommé Brunnoise            Small dice cuts of veg. (2mm)
04 Consommé Celestine            Julienne cuts of thin pan cake.
05 Consommé vermicelli            Fine noodles.
06 Consommé entasse                    Lightly jelly with gelatin.
07 Consommé Breton                    Julienne cuts of celery, onions lack.
08 Consommé Daubery            Floweret’s of caulis flower
09 Consommé Madrilène            Dice cuts of tomato and green peas.
10 Consommé st. German            Green peas.
11 Consommé cereals                    Rice and barley.
12 Consommé Paysanme            Uniform size cuts of fresh vegetables.
13 Consommé Diabolism            Diamond cuts of cheese bisque.
14 Consommé Aurora                    Tomato puree and tapioca.
15 Consommé Caroline            Dry cook rice.
16 Consommé Hungarian            Paprika powder and saute tomato.
17 Consommé Leopold            Semolina, Julienne of chervil.
18 Consommé Egg-drops            Beaten egg.
19 Consommé Thunderstone    Slice mushroom.
20 Consommé Florentine            Julienne cuts of spinach.
21 Consommé Washington            Sweet corn.
22 Consommé Permentiere            Potato
23 Consommé A ‘I’ Agnon            Golden brown onion.

SOUPS

Soups are a generally warm food made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are characterised by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth. Traditionally, soups are classified into two main groups: clear soups and thick soups. The established French classifications of clear soups are bouillon and consommé. Thick soups are classified depending upon the type of thickening agent used: purees are vegetable soups thickened with starch; bisque are made from pureed shellfish or vegetables thickened with cream; cream soups may be thickened with béchamel sauce; and veloutés are thickened with eggs, butter, and cream. Other ingredients commonly used to thicken soups and broths include rice, lentils, flour, and grains; many popular soups also include carrots and potatoes.

Definition

It is probable that soup in its earliest form was a complete meal because it was found hearty, nourishing, economical and wholesome.

Soup is a liquid food consisting of meat, seafood, vegetables cereals or poultry. They play an important role on the menu and are regarded as appetizers as they stimulate the appetite for the heavier food to follow. On the menu, they are
served as the first course, if hors d‘oeuvre is not being served. If hors d‘ oeuvre is served then the soup is served as the second course.

Composition of soups

From the above explanation, it is evident that for making any kind of soup the following group of ingredients are obvious.

• Stock: of any variety.
• Main body ingredients: the soup will gets its name.
• Herbs: to match the flavor.
• Butter: as cooking medium.
• Seasonings: for the taste.
• Thickening agent: for binding solids and liquids.
• Garnish: for presentation and eye appeal.

The function of soup on the menu is to stimulate the customer’s appetite rather than act as a complete meal.  For this reason many soups are of alight and delicate nature.  Hot soups are a welcome feature on winter menus; conversely cold soups are ideal in the summertime.As the soup preparation needs very less amount of butter or fat and also not very spicy,it can be easily an ideal food for invalids.

EGG COOKERY

Introduction to Egg Cookery

An egg is a nutritious alternative source of protein to ovavagens. It is packed with a lot of protein and other energy-giving nutrients.

Initially, eggs were treated as non-vegetarian in nature, but today science has proved that unfertilised egg can be treated as vegetarian.

Egg cookery is very vast by itself. Eggs are used for cooking, baking, poaching, etc. be it in Indian style of cooking or continental, it plays a vital role. Eggs of hens, ducks, geese, quails, ostrich, and emu are used frequently nowadays.

The most popular and widely used eggs are of hens in India, although eggs of turkeys, guinea fowls, ducks, and geese are also used.

Colour
The colour of eggshells and egg yolks varies with the breed of hen and the food they eat, but this makes no difference to the food value.

Temperature
The ideal storage temperature for eggs is 2-5 degree Celsius.

Significance
Eggs are essential to all kinds of cooking, not only in the preparation but as food in their own right. They produce meals that are economical in price, and with a minimum of waste and time. By the term egg we mean those of the domestic hen, but these are not the only edible eggs. There are those of ducks, geese, turkeys, also of wild birds such as plovers and gulls.

An egg has been described as a “Complete Food” because they are highly nutritious and used in a range of recipes. Yolks and eggs are used separately.

In all culinary preparations, eggs are used for binding, colouring, enriching, increasing volume, coating, etc.

STRUCTURE OF AN EGG

Egg is primarily made up of shell, membranes, air cell, albumen, chalazae, vitelline membrane and yolk.

STRUCTURE OF AN EGG

Shell
Bumpy and grainy in texture, an eggshell is covered with as many as 17,000 tiny pores. Eggshell is made almost entirely of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) crystals. It is a semi-permeable membrane, which means that air and moisture can pass through its pores. The shell also has a thin outermost coating called the bloom or cuticle that helps keep out bacteria and dust.

Inner and Outer Membranes
Lying between the eggshell and egg white, these two transparent protein membranes provide efficient defense against bacterial invasion. If you give these layers a tug, you’ll find they’re surprisingly strong. They’re made partly of keratin,
a protein that’s also in human hair.

Air Cell
An air space forms when the contents of the egg cool and contract after the egg is laid. The air cell usually rests between the outer and inner membranes at the egg’s larger end, and it accounts for the crater you often see at the end of a hard-cooked egg. The air cell grows larger as egg ages

Albumen
The egg white is known as the albumen, which comes from albus, the Latin word for “white.” Four alternating layers of thick and thin albumen contain approximately 40 different proteins, the main components of the egg white in addition to water.

Chalazae
Opaque ropes of egg white, the chalazae hold the yolk in the centre of the egg. Like, little anchors, they attach the yolk’s casing to the membrane lining the eggshell. The more prominent they are, the fresher the egg.

Vitelline Membrane
The clear casing that encloses the yolk.

Yolk
The yolk contains less water and more protein than the white, some fat, and most of the vitamins and minerals of the egg. These include iron, vitamin A, vitamin D, phosphorus, calcium, thiamine, and riboflavin. The yolk is also a source of lecithin, an effective emulsifier. Yolk colour ranges from just a hint of yellow to a magnificent deep orange, according to the feed and breed of the hen.

SELECTION OF AN EGG

Selection criteria of an egg are as follows:

• A fresh egg is heavy. As the egg gets older it loses water through the shell making air pocket larger so the older the egg, the lighter it will be.
• One way of judging the quality is by observing the condition of the shell. When the egg is freshly laid the shell is covered with a substance called bloom. This coating disappears with time. So the egg may be considered as fresh if the bloom is there.
• One can determine the freshness of an egg by shaking it.
• Another is to break an egg on to the plate if the yolk is compact and positioned in the centre, the egg is fresh if the egg is old, the yolk has the tendency to spread.
• The freshness of an egg can also be tested by holding it up to the light this process is known as candling. Holding the egg in front of the light, an air chamber indicates fresh egg.
• It is easy to test the freshness of an egg by plunging into the water. The fresh egg will settle in the bottom of the glass and if the egg is stale it will float to the surface water.
• Stale eggs will have an unpleasant odour.
• Check for the crack in the shell which could let bacteria in and contaminate the egg.

COMMODITIES: SHORTENING (FATS & OILS)

Fats are solid at room temperature and melt when heated. Those used in cooking include butter, margarine, lard, suet, and hydrogenated fat.

Oils are liquid at normal temperatures but solidify at lower temperatures. Those commonly used in cooking are peanut (groundnut/arachide) oil, coconut oil, mustard seed oil, sesame (till) oil, olive oil, and safflower oil.

Shortenings of fats that are used in the baking industry and confectionery.

Hydrogenation Of Oils
The conversion of oil into fat is known as hydrogenation. The process changes the physical properties of the oil.
Hydrogenation consists of treating oil under suitable pressure and temperature with hydrogen, in the presence of a catalyst, usually Nickle (Ni). Under these conditions, the unsaturated fatty acids present in the oil combines with the hydrogen. This chemical process brings about a physical change and the liquid oil change into solid fat. The unsaturated fatty acids are chiefly those of the oleic type and are converted into solid stearic acid. The varying consistencies available in fats is due to the process of hydrogenation being stopped at various stages.

Shortenings
Fats can be used as shortenings or as a cooking medium. In confectionery, fats impart their characteristic flavor as well as shortening qualities. Their effect is to coat and break down the gluten strands, so that instead of being hard and tough to eat, foods containing shortening break off short and melt readily in the mouth.

Factors to look for in Shortenings:

Creaming Value
This affects the volume of the item eg: cakes. The amount of air incorporated during creaming increases the volume of the item.

Shortening value
The shortness gives to the end product. Shortness is a quality essential in products such as biscuits & cookies.

Stability
Refers to keeping quality and shelf life.

Consistency
Hardness or Softness depending on the purpose. Hardness for puff pastry and softness for cakes.
Water absorption will also affect the emulsification value of the shortening.

Power
As for shortening agents, fats add to the nutritional and satiety values of flour mixtures like doughs and batters. They also contribute to the taste and flavor. The type of fat and the way it is incorporated will affect the texture (eg: shortcrust pastry and flaky pastry). Baking must be done at correct temperatures. As the fat melts during baking, it must be absorbed by the flour. If the heat is insufficient, the melted fat will run out and result in a hard product. Fat which has been broken up into small particles during creaming will be more easily absorbed than fat left in large pieces.

Fat as a frying medium

Fat as a frying medium function in three ways:

• It serves to transmit heat to the articles of food to be fried.
• It adds to the nutritive value (calories).
• It contributes to the flavor and taste and texture of the food.

Fat used as a frying medium must have:

• High smoke point
• Low congealing point
• Low moisture content
• High stability
• The acceptable flavor which is neutral

RAISING AGENT OR LEAVENING AGENT

Leavening or raising means to increase the surface area of any dough or batter by creating gas bubbles inside the dough or batter. This also makes a product light in weight. The expansion of gas bubbles during baking increase the volume of the product and gives a desirable porous structure.

Raising agents that are used in the kitchen can be classified into the following categories:

• Biological (yeast)
• Chemical (baking powder, baking soda, baking ammonia)
• Mechanical (beating, whisking, creaming, sieving)
• Lamination
• Combination of all

Biological Raising Agent

Yeast can be of two types:

1. Fresh or compressed yeast
2. Dry yeast

The scientific name of yeast is Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast is unicellular microscopic fungi.

The structure of yeast consist :

• Cell wall
• Protoplasm
• Vacoale

Food

Simple sugar like dextrose or fructose.

Suitable climate

80 to 85 degree F, at least 70% humidity can give the best result.

Fermentation activity

The protoplasm of yeast contains the following enzymes:

Invertase

It converts cane sugar or sucrose into a simpler form of sugar which is known as invert sugar, which is a combination of dextrose and fructose.

Maltase

It converts maltose sugar into dextrose which can be directly fermented by yeast.

Zymase

This is the most important fermenting agent which breaks invert sugar and dextrose to carbon dioxide, some amount of pure alcohol, and a very small amount of glycerin, acetic acid and some amount of lactic acid. It also produces some flavourful aroma which gives a pleasant fermentation flavor.

Protease

It softens down the flour protein, thus gives a better stretchability for the bread (to be specific on gluten) so that it can get a good volume and structure.

Storage of yeast

Stored at 45 degrees F. Yeast is killed by heat in a range of 127 degrees to 140 degrees F.

The symptom of damaged or rotten yeast

• Buttery consistency
• Brownish in colour
• Crumbly in texture,
• Very obnoxious smell.

Chemical Raising Agent

Chemical raising agent is brought about by the production of carbon dioxide in a solution of acid and alkali, in the presence of heat.

Baking Powder

It is a leavening agent made up of a mixture of an acid reacting salt with bicarbonate of soda. We also add some starch to the mixture to keep it in a dried condition and also to act as a separator between sodium bicarbonate and acid reacting salt, until used.

On the presence of both heat and moisture, the acid reacting salt reacts with sodium bicarbonate and releases carbon dioxide. A part of the gas is entrapped into the gluten structure or small air cells of a batter which already has developed because of creaming action of fat, these structures now expand with the production of the gas and during baking also and the small part of the gas is absorbed by the media itself.

Cream of tarter is actually a form of refining tartar which is a by-product of precipitation from the grape wine manufacturing process

Ammonium Carbonate

It also produces carbon dioxide in the presence of heat but because of the strong offensive flavor, it is always to be used with very strong flavouring agents.

Mechanical Raising Agent

It is an incorporation of air by beating, creaming, whisking and sieving. Whisking of egg and sugar, creaming of fat and sugar, sieving of flour are the e.g. of mechanical raising. All these actions involve physical movement hence known as mechanical raising or leavening.

Lamination Or Water Vapour

Lamination acts as a raising procedure where the fat and dough is folded and rolled. The moisture incorporated in the fat and in the dough also will vaporise during baking and gives it the lift (or raising).

In Indian cuisine, idlis and dhoklas are steamed where heat helps to puff up the final product by vapourising the steam. In popcorn, the corn pop because of the moisture present inside and ultimately its volume increase. In choux pastry water vapour acts as raising agent.

Combination Of All

Danish pastry is an eg. of combination raising where we use yeast in the dough and fat is used by a lamination process. Some other eg. are vanilla buns, fruit cake, etc, where we use whisking, creaming and chemical raising, agent.

THICKENING AGENTS

Thickening agents give body, consistency, and palatable when used. They also improve the nutritive value of the sauce. Flavoured liquids are thickened and converted into soups, sauces, gravies, and curries, etc. In other words, binding agents are used to transforming the stocks into sauces.

There are various types of thickening agents, which are used in modern day cookery. They are as follows:

• Starches
• Flour
• Roux
• Beurre Manie
• Fruit and Vegetable Puree
• Egg yolk
• Cream
• Butter
• Blood

Starches

Starches derived from roots and vegetables are among the oldest and the most versatile thickener for sauces. They are efficient and inexpensive and that they can be used without imparting flavour of their own.

Starches should be combined with liquid and heated to almost boiling temperature to be effective. Some starches are purer than others. Cornstarch, arrowroot starch, and potato starch are almost pure starches and produces shiny sauces, whereas flour contains protein, which gives a mat appearance to the sauces.

Cornstarch

Of the purified starches, cornstarch is the most familiar. They should be used at the last minute for the thickening of the sauces and the cooking liquid that are being served. When it is cooked for long time then it looses its thickening power. Cornstarch is first mixed in water and then used to thicken the sauces and soups.

Arrowroot

Arrowroot is the best of the purified starches because it remains stable even after prolonged cooking. It is used the same way as cornstarch.

Potato Starch

Although potato starch is one of the first starches to be used in French cooking, it has never been popular as a sauce thickener. It is used the same way as the cornstarch and like cornstarch it tends to break down after prolonged exposure to heat.

Flour

In western cooking, flour has long been the most popular thickener for the sauces. It can be used in several ways. Although flour has largely been replaced in recent years by other thickeners. It is still the appropriate choice for many country style and regional dishes. Liquid in which flour is to be added must be degrease before the flour is incorporated. Flour binds with lamb and holds it in suspension throughout the liquid, making it difficult to skim. Result is a greasy, indigestible sauce with a muddy texture and flavour.

Roux

The most common method of thickening liquids with flour is to prepare a roux, by cooking the flour with an equal weight of butter. This enhances the flavour of the flour and eliminates the lumps. Because flour contains proteins and other compounds that imparts flavor, sauces thickened with roux are usually skimmed for thirty minutes once they have been brought to simmer to eliminate the impurities. Although the stock is skimmed before the roux is added, further the sauce is skimmed to eliminate the butter, impurities in the flour.

There are three types of roux:

1. White roux
2. Blonde roux
3. Brown roux
4. White roux

It is prepared by cooking flour and clarified butter for approx. 5 minutes over slow heat and stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. It is used for Béchamel sauce and thick soups.

Blond roux

Is made from fresh butter and flour. The preparation of butter and flour are the same as for white roux. It is made more rapidly and should be made at the last before using. Its colour should be pale gold. It is used for volute sauce and for some soups.

Brown roux

cooking flour in bouillon fat in the oven, gently and for a long time, removing from time to time to stir, makes it. This roux should be of light brown colour. It is used for brown sauce and demiglace.

How to combine roux and liquid

When you have a hot roux, combining it with a liquid is a two-step process. In step 1, you add part of your liquid, cold to the hot roux, blending it in with a whisk. In step 2 you blend in the rest of the liquid hot.

When you have cold roux, you can combine it with hot liquid, over heat, by blending it in with a whisk a little at a time.

Do not try to combine hot roux with hot liquid and cold roux with cold liquid.

Beurre manie

Like roux, beurre manie contains equal part by weight of butter and flour. It differs from roux because it is not cooked and is usually added at the end of the sauce’s cooking rather than at the beginning. It is most often used to thicken stews at the end of the cooking when the braising liquid is too thin.

The beurre manie should be added little by little in boiling stock whisking continuously so that lumps do not form.  Unlike roux the beurre manie should not be cooked once the sauce is thickened otherwise the sauce will a floury taste. One of the peculiarities of flour is that develops a strong floury taste after two minutes of coking that begins to disappear as the cooking progresses.

Fruit and vegetable puree

Some times fruit and vegetable puree are used in thickening sauces and soups. The puree soups are the best example of the same.

Egg Yolk

Because they thicken sauces in several ways, egg yolks are versatile liaison. They provide base for emulsified sauces, such as mayonnaise and hollandaise, and are used in conjunction with cream to finish the cooking liquid of poached meats and fish.  Not only form emulsion of fat and liquid but also combines with air so that they be used for sabayon sauce.

Sauces containing yolk should not be boiled unless they contain flour, which stabilises them. When combining egg yolk with liquids, be sure to combine some of the liquid separately before returning the mixture to the saucepan. If the egg yolks are added directly into the hot liquid then they are liable to coagulate as soon as they get in contact with the heat.

Cream

In recent years thickened cream has replaced roux as the thickener, becoming base for white sauces.

Precaution should be taken in reducing cream. Quick whisk should be given to the cream otherwise they become granular and may break. Always use large saucepan, three times the volume of the cream otherwise flames from the sides can discolour the cream.

Whenever cream is used, as a thickener in a wine based sauce, are sure to reduce the wine otherwise they giving an unpleasant flavor. The cream used in conjunction with egg yolk, butter, and flour gives a better result.

Butter

When butter is whisked into a hot liquid, it forms an emulsion, similar to the action of egg yolk. The milk solids and proteins contained in the butter acts as emulsifier and give butter sauce their sheen and consistency. Because the milk solids in the butter are what maintain the emulsion, sauces and cooking liquids cannot be thickened with clarified butter. In fact cold butter is proffered to hot butter in thickening of the sauces.

Blood

Blood has long been used in cooking to finish sauces for a braised or roasted game, poultry, or rabbit. Blood not only deepens the sauce’s flavor but also acts as a thickener. The blood must be mixed with a little amount of vinegar to avoid coagulation.