JOIN USSoups are great appetisers. And great appetizers set you in the mood and get you excited about the main course. There are many varieties of appetizers including of variety of breads, snack items and soups. Soups tickles the taste buds and further enhance one’s appetite.
Soups vary greatly in terms of ingredients and also vary in terms of nutritional content. They are healthy sources of protein, fibre, healthy fat, vitamins and minerals. Although, soup originally belongs to the French cuisine, it has been greatly accepted by restaurants the world over.
Dheeraj Mangothra, Chef, Drool Kitchen says that soups have now become an integral part of Indian dining. “The most preferred ones is Murg Yakhni soup which is made from chicken chunks, chicken stock, lemon juice, coriander, a bit of cream, chopped almonds and pepper.
Other than this the staple tomato soup and chicken sweet corn are the most preferred ones.”Traditionally, soups are classified into two main groups, i.e. clear soups and thick soups.
They are classified depending upon the types of thickening agents which are used such as purees, starch or creams.
Soups may also be thickened with variety of sauces, eggs, butter and cream. Other ingredients commonly used to thicken soups are rice, lentils, flour and grains; many popular soups also include carrots and potatoes.
Soups are similar to stews. However, the former generally has more liquid. Explaining this is chef Rajiv Malhotra from The Habitat World. “We have variety of Shorbas here. They are the India soups and are made from cream, potato, spinach, almonds, broccoli, butter and flour. “In continental we have the spinach and corn soup, potato and leek soups, in Chinese we have lemon coriander, hot and sour, wonton soup and then the regular sweet corn soup.”
Rajiv further adds, “Indians have now started treating soup as appetizers, otherwise they used to have it as main course. Earlier, people had it as the main course, but now they have it in smaller proportion to increase their appetites.”
A great variety of cold soups are also available to tingle the taste buds. “Cold soups have become really popular now.
We have Gazpacho soup which is made from cucumber puree, cream and coriander. It is served chilled and even the spoon should be chilled. Other than this we have chicken and fennel soup.” Mohd Irfan, Chef de Cuisine, Hilton, Janakpuri seconds Dheeraj in terms of soup variety and says, “We have four kinds of soups. Dhania ka shorba, dal ka shorba, chicken yakhni shorba and Taimur shorba.”
So the next time you feel really hungry remember the soup is always there to whet your appetite.