Of course, we are referring to authentic, delectable, high-quality soups. If soups are made without the right training and, more crucially, without a grasp of their unique features, they can quickly devolve into insipid, insubstantial meals. It has been observed that for many cooks, making a superb soup is more challenging than making a dish of great complexity.
Since a decent outcome is generally difficult to attain, soups are typically prepared carelessly. As a result, soups frequently end up being the most flavorless, unappealing dishes in the home. They are consumed for reasons such as “we need to eat soup,” “we need to eat something hot,” “winter always requires the soup,” and others very unrelated to taste judgment. And because we are accustomed to it, soups are rarely served at our celebrations, including birthdays, dinner parties, and banquets. They only offer a hot, so-called “main course,” an appetizer or snack, and they don’t serve anything else since the meal is “too simple.” In the meantime, soup that has been prepared correctly and with great expertise serves as both a table decoration and a first course.
However, making a decent soup is a tremendous art that calls for extra care and effort. The important point is that, for a variety of reasons, making high-quality soups is more challenging than making any other food.
Briefly about the circumstances
First, soups improve as they cook to a lesser extent. It is advisable to cook the soup in a pot to a capacity of no more than 10 liters for no more than 6 to 10 servings at a time. Therefore, handmade soup that is prepared for 3 to 5 persons is preferred to all others.
Second, never use metallic without any covering for soup utensils; always use faience, porcelain, stone, or enamel. Therefore, the thickness of the dish, together with its material, coating, and protection, affects both its thermal conductivity and heat capacity. Soup boils more slowly and quietly, which improves the flavor.
Third, soups need to have a precise ratio of water to other ingredients. By the time the food is finished cooking, each dish shouldn’t contain more liquid than 350 to 400 cubic centimeters. 200 to 250 milliliters at the very least for each serving. Liquid cannot be added or drained during cooking because doing so would substantially alter the flavor. However, neither in catering nor in homes is this situation seen very often. Before beginning to cook, the amount of water and other ingredients in the soup must be carefully balanced, taking into account how much water will evaporate during the cooking process.
Six rules you need to know
1 Soup requires extremely fresh ingredients, careful handling, and the removal of any flaws by cleaning, cutting, and scraping. Products for the soup should also be able to remove odors, as not everyone is able or willing to do so. Each item of meat, fish, or vegetable destined for soup should be thoroughly pre-cleaned, washed, and dried before being cut.
2 Because it impacts the flavor, it is important to strictly follow the method of cutting that is unique to this soup while chopping food. This means that a whole onion should be added to one soup and chopped into another; a whole carrot should be added to one soup and diced or cut in half in another. This is a necessity determined by the soup’s taste and appointment, not a decorative outward variation.
3 In order to prevent any of the ingredients from being digested and to prevent the soup from boiling for an excessive amount of time, the goods should be added to the soup in a specific order. The cook must be aware of and retain the cooking times for all ingredients and products in order to do this.
4 Soup should always be salted at the very end of cooking, but not too late when the main ingredients have just finished cooking but have not yet been digested and are able to equally absorb the salt. When the soup is salted too early, even when the ingredients are hard, it takes a long time to cook and becomes overly salty since the salt primarily stays in the liquid. Conversely, when the soup is salted too late, it becomes salty (liquid) and flavorless (thick).
5 You must continually observe your soup while it cooks to prevent boil-overs. This involves frequently tasting the soup, fixing errors as they occur, and observing how the flavor of the broth changes as the meat, fish, and veggies cook. Because he won’t let go for even a second, the soup is an uncomfortable dish for chefs. Leaving the soup to its fate is a common practice in the home and in restaurants. Skilled chef does not value time when preparing soup since they are aware that any “losses” will be made up for with superior results.
6 The soup is mostly boiled, salted, and given just a few minutes—between 3 and 7—to reach its maximum readiness before the most essential phase begins. According to the kind and requirements of the recipe, as well as the particular cook’s talents and preferences, it is required to “bring the soup to taste” during this period, said the cook-practices. Usually, this last step won’t satisfy everyone, and right now the soup might be irreparably ruined. A skilled chef may transform a seemingly average soup into a work of art by adding a variety of flavors and spices at the last minute.
When the soup is finished and the heat is turned off, the real chef does not rush to put it on the table. He will pour it into a tureen and cover it for 7 to 20 minutes to allow the spices and salt to properly permeate the meat or other components. This will also ensure that the liquid portion of the soup is not watery but instead has a lovely, thick consistency. The rich flavor, tenderness, softness, and appropriate temperature of this soup make it appealing to the touch, the sense of smell, and the digestive system.