Heather Little-White, Contributor

As strange as it may sound, etiquette dictates that you 'eat your soup' instead of drinking it. We eat soup instead of drinking it is because soup is considered part of a meal.

It kick-starts the meal and should be eaten with a spoon rather than sipped from a container. With other liquids served with a meal such as wine or juice, they are taken directly to the mouth in a glass for drinking.

In Jamaica, Saturday soup is an age-old feature of local cuisine. According to food historians, soup is probably as old as the history of cooking. Making soups require the combination of ingredients in a large pot to create what is usually filling, nutritious and easy to digest. Food is served across several cultures to please the palates of the rich and the poor, sedentary and nomadic. Soup is easily digested and thus often prescribed for invalids and persons recuperating from sickness.

Soups developed according to the ingredients available and tastes of the culture - New England clam chowder, Spanish gazpacho, Italian minestrone, Chinese wonton, bussu, janga, pepperpot and Campbell's tomato. From ancient times, soups have been served in public restaurants, giving rise to the popular broth, bouillon and consommé. Many of the soups we know today originated with classic French cuisine.

Supper

In earlier times, soup derives from 'sop' or 'sup', meaning a slice of bread on which broth was poured. The implication of the name soup is that of soaking. Before bread was invented, thick soup was made from the combination of grains, plants and meat cooked on hot stones in one receptacle made of natural substances and then in utensils that could go over a fire. Soups in old classical kitchens were complete dishes with a liquid component with vegetables and a wide variety of meat, poultry, game and fish. In early French cookery, the evening meal was lighter than other meals and soup usually featured prominently in it and so 'sop' became 'souper' or supper.

Modern restaurants still promote the consumption of soups with variations of the theme. Technological advances have developed soups in many convenient forms - portable, instant, microwaveable in cans, foams and plastics. Packet soup was designed for the traveller who could easily reconstitute it with a little hot water. Convenience soups have made adjustments to meet dietary needs such as low salt, cholesterol free and high fibre. Medicinal herbs and spices may be added to various soups to boost health benefits.

Grand bouillon

In cookery, we hear about stock. It simply means keeping a 'stock' for use. Traditionally, stock is a simmering pot with bits and pieces of meat, bones, vegetables and skins. The juice of meat is extracted by long, gentle simmering to bring out all the goodness. Stock is used as the base for soups, stews, sauces and gravies.

Today, stock is prepared by adding water to a commercially prepared flavoured stock cube. The English still prefer to refer to bouillon cube. A grand bouillon, or general stock, is the principle of all soups and sauces and is used instead of water. A court bouillon is a light stock with wine, mainly used for poaching fish or shellfish. Court bouillon is not for everyday cooking.

Broth

Broth is something that is brewed. It means the liquid in which meat or vegetables have been cooked. Broth occupies an intermediate position between stock and soup. Chicken broth can be eaten, whereas stock is an ingredient in a more complex dish. A soup is more finished than a broth.

Crayfish bisque

Early bisque dishes included the pulverised shells of shellfish and then it became pottage, a thick soup mixture like a purée. Early recipes called for crayfish and today a bisque is thick, rich soup of creamy consistency, usually containing crustaceans like lobster, crab and crayfish. Bisque is flavoured with white wine, cognac or double (heavy) cream and the flesh of the main ingredient is diced.

Shells may be used to make the original purée. Bisques were made with quail or pigeons. It was not until the 17th century that crayfish became the main ingredient and soon after prepared with other types of shellfish. The next time you go out to eat, try having crayfish soup, or bisque, or au maigre.

Clam chowder

Chowder is known as fisherman's stew, with most popular being New England clam chowder. A chowder can be described as a buttery, hearty soup made with corn, chicken or other chunks of food. The Dictionary of American Regional English suggests that the word 'chowder' was derived from the French word for a large caldron in which the sailors threw their catch to make a communal stew, a custom carried to New England in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Consommé

A clear soup is known as consommé and it may be served hot or cold at the beginning of the meal. Consommé is a French culinary term and is past participle of the verb 'consommer', meaning to consume, or accomplish or finish, implying a finished soup as opposed to simple stock or broth. Double consommé is a clarified consommé.

Spanish gazpacho

The Spanish left their influence in soups through gazpacho, brought to North America by missionaries, English colonists, French settlers, Italian migrants and others. Gazpacho is a Spanish vegetable soup which is served cold. Made of tomato, pepper, onion, cucumber, olive oil and usually breadcrumbs, gazpacho is cooked in a large clay bowl and brought to the table with garlic croutons and small bowls of raw vegetables.

Other popular soups include Vichyssoise, a chilled potato and leek soup created by French chef Louis Dat of the Ritz in New York City. Goulash, which originated in Hungary, is today a signature national dish. Goulash is a rich Hungarian meat stew made of beef (or pork, veal or lamb) with lavish amounts of onions bulked out with potatoes and seasoned generously with paprika.

Heather Little-White, PhD, is a nutrition and lifestyle consultant in the Corporate Area. Send comments to editor@gleanerjm.com or fax 922-6223.