Ken Slade, Lithuanian Soup-making, contd.
People often say that soup strengthens and stimulates the human body’s system, provides freshness, and improves one’s mood. The saying prevails that soup is cooked only by ‘regular’ families, because the soup must be cooked in a way for it to be tasty, healthy, and with an attractive appearance to everyone. Well-made soup is a true ornament of the table. Soup is meant to be tasty. The soups cooked with meat, fish, and mushrooms have merged, extracted substances, providing particular tastes and fragrances. For this reason, each soup is different; and has its distinct taste, which is determined by the individually-selected ingredients. Soup is digested more easily than the uncooked ingredients. Carcinogenic substances that are detected in roasted dishes are absent in stovetop-prepared (liquid-based) foods. Although the caloric content of soups is dependent upon the ingredients, nevertheless, there are no issues regarding the sustenance of its bouillon-broth. The nutritional value of soup is increased by the addition of sour cream, butter, milk, sugar, and eggs. Soup is one of the foods that is prepared most-easily. Culinary knowledge/ability is minimal in order to prepare soup. It is possible to cook tasty soup for both one person and for a group of people, respecting everyone’s individual demands, time, and imaginations. In general, soup is considered to be both nutritious and healthy. Beyond the many advantages of soup, some disadvantages of soup are observed; for example, insufficient/lost vitamins from vegetables not processed promptly or over-cooked, and/or insufficient feeling of fullness of quantity. It is known that the more-finelythan-necessary cutting of vegetables results in greater loss of vitamins, aroma, and their other valuable substances. Vegetables are negatively influenced by iron and cooper; it is better to cut/prepare vegetables using tools made of stainless-steel or plastic. In addition, much of the vitamins are lost when vegetables are pulped using a metal screen/mesh. Nevertheless, when soup is seasoned with sugar, salt, and natural acids, then the possibility is increased to sustain the vitamins originally present in the vegetables. In every geographic area, people have their peculiar and varying tastes, as well as their traditional soups. For examples: cold borsch-soup is well-liked and is traditional in Lithuania; in Latvia, a favourite is cabbage soup; in Estonia, mushroom soup; in Poland, rye soup with sausage and eggs; in Sweden, bean soup with bacon; in Norway, moose soup; in Finland, beef soup; in Denmark, mashed-mushroom soup; in Germany, eel soup; in France, onion soup; in Spain, cold tomato-soup; in Turkey, soup ‘Chorba’ -cooked with milk products and wheat. 50 dialogue
WINTER 2014-15, VOL. 28 NO. 2
General Considerations for Soup-making There are some general rules for cooking soup. By following such rules, we cook more tasty, healthy, and aesthetically-pleasing soups. Freshness: All products intended for cooking the soup must be fresh. Rinse in cold water: Vegetables must be rinsed in cold water by using cold or lukewarm water, cleaned with a small brush, and rinsed again with water. Cauliflower, broccoli, and other leaf-vegetables that are hardly cleanable are rinsed in cold water, and then must be kept in salted / acidic water for about 10 minutes, because only then are all pests removed. Peeling: It is advised to thinly peel and scrape all vegetables; because many vitamins, mineral acids, and volatile oils are present in the outer layer(s). Cutting: Vegetables should be cut according to the same size and forms of the other ingredients. For soups containing vermicelli, vegetables should be cut to strawsized diameters and lengths approximating that of the vermicelli; for soups containing macaroni, cut to cubesizes; for soups with other-sized pasta-products, cut to thin circles, or form into balls; with vegetable / legume products, cut to cubes; with grits, process into thin crumbles. Speed: Cleaned, rinsed, and chopped vegetables must be used as quickly as possible, because they are negatively influenced by oxygen and light; the biologicallyactive substances present in vegetables will oxidise and lose their useful qualities. Hot water: Ingredients of the soup must be placed only into hot, and preferably boiling, water; because cold water contains elements that cause oxidation of vitamin C and other composite parts. Moreover, there is less oxygen in boiling water, in comparison to cold; thusly, the undesired oxidation of vitamins occurs more slowly. Sequence: Soup ingredients should be added separately, not together; some vegetables can boil-over, but others may be under/over-cooked. Potted-vegetables and bay-leaves are added at the end of cooking, because if cooked for a long time, they lose their fragrances. Water amount: When cooking, 1.5 cm (~ 5/8 inch) of water must cover the vegetables. An excessive amount of water eliminates vitamins and other useful minerals and substances. Salting: Soup should be salted towards the end of cooking, but not too late, so that all of the ingredients are able to absorb evenly the salt. Always salt to taste, not to a predetermined quantity. Tasting: During the cooking of soup, it must be constantly observed and tasted. Nevertheless, it is not recommended to stir the soup too-regularly and/or toovigorously, because the amount of the oxygen will …/ www.dialogue.ca