Soups

A conundrum: when is a soup not a soup? Answer: when it is a Mediterranean meal. Bouillabaisse is a good example. It has soup elements, yes, but also the substance of a fish main course. Corn and Cumin Soup with Chicken and Roast Red Pepper? Change the amount of chicken and put some bread on the side and then ask whether you have a soup or a main course. In our European tradition, soup can be just as filling as any main course and it is interesting to consider when the idea of a soup as a distinct course at the beginning of a meal first became common practice. Almost certainly it was not until Victorian times and then only in grander houses. The word ‘soup’ comes from humbler origins and the use of bread to sop up broth is a distinction that recognized the food in the bowl was more liquid than solid. Before then soups were thicker affairs that would have contained pulses and grains, one-pot dishes indistinguishable from stews.