Soup TXT_Layout 1 5/19/14 1:04 PM Page 9
Introduction
Writing as her proper Victorian persona, Miss Manners, author Judith Martin wrote, “Do you have a kinder, more adaptable friend in the food world than soup? Who soothes you when you are ill? Who refuses to leave you when you are impoverished and stretches its resources to give you hearty sustenance and cheer? Who warms you in winter and cools you in summer? Yet who is also capable of doing honor to your richest table and impressing your most demanding guests? . . . Soup does its loyal best, no matter what undignified conditions are imposed upon it. You don’t catch steak hanging around when you’re poor or sick, do you?” And it’s true. Soup is a category of food that transcends classes, cuisines, and eating occasions. While certain soups may be more appealing than others, there’s no one who can say, “I don’t like soup.” That’s probably why it’s been around for many thousands of years. Soup is as old as the history of cooking, and there is evidence of soup dating from 20,000 BCE. While turning a hunk of animal over a fire on a spit is likely older, combining various ingredients in a large vat to create a dish that’s filling, nutritious, and easily digested was probably right behind it. Before the development of waterproof clay containers, boiling took place in animal hides or watertight baskets of reeds, with hot rocks added to make the water boil.
Like other categories of food, soups evolved over the centuries according to what ingredients were local. Physicians in many cultures have prescribed soups to counteract illness since ancient times. Soups simmered with medicinal herbs have been part of Chinese medicine for centuries, and are based on the concept of yin and yang. Yin foods are cooling and yang foods are heating, and all foods are categorized by their yin and yang properties. Foods like oranges, pork, and dried figs all are yin foods that reduce fevers and inflammation, while ginseng, quail, and azuki beans are yang foods that promote circulation and vitality. Our modern English word “soup” comes from the French word sope and the Middle Ages English word soupe. Back then, however, what they really meant was not a soup as we know it today but a “sop,” which was a thick piece of bread that became soaked in a liquid as it was used as a combination plate and spoon. The most common eating implement at the time was the knife, which was much more like a dagger than the place knife of today. Forks and spoons did not become commonplace for another few centuries. Soups were important in the medieval diet, as was the bread by which they were sopped up, and they usually were served at the end of 9
