The Saga of Soup

French peasants living in the Middle Ages provided the first inspiration for soup as we enjoy it today. Without eating utensils, the peasants were inclined to sop up stewed meat juices with bread. For hundreds of years the evening meal in France was known as la soupe. The discovery of soup by the aristocracy was slow, and it wasn’t until Louis XIV a that soup began to take a more elegant turn. As Louis mistrusted everyone, all of his food had to be tasted. By the time the soup course got to the King, it was inevitably lukewarm or cold. In his inimitable fashion,Louis then deemed that only cold soups be served and thus the wonderful idea of cold soup was born.