Chilled Raw Fruit Purées

These soups are made from ripe fruit that is soft enough to purée smooth without first being cooked. Strawberries, melons, peaches, plums, and mangoes are typical ingredients. If the fruit is at the perfect state of quality and ripeness, no additional sweetening is needed. In fact, the sweetness of the fruit purée is usually such that the flavor of the resulting soup must be balanced with an acid, such as citrus juice. If sweetening is needed, a fluid sweetener such as simple syrup or honey is typically used. After puréeing, these soups are sieved to achieve smoothness. They may be finished with precision-cut fruits, thickened creams, or other appropriate garnishes. They may be garnished with a tart sorbet.