In the introduction to 500 Soups, Susannah Blake states, "For as long as humans have been cooking food over a fire, soup has been eaten in one form or another..." We might add that today soup is the harried cook's best friend. It is healthy and can be made in quantity, perfuming the air as it cooks, then frozen for later use. 500 Soups adds to the magic of soup by offering endless variety. You will find broths, bisques, and chowders; you will find holiday soups, chilled summer soups, warming winter soups.
500 Soups is a neat, well-designed book, compact and easy to use, so well organized that you'll find those harried moments less harried. There is an opening on equipment, a list of basic stocks, and pages of ideas for serving soup, whether for accompaniments or garnishes. The individual chapters follow Classic soups all have easy to follow variations. The book is divided into nine main chapter headings:
- cooked and chilled
- healthy and wholesome
- smooth and creamy
- meal in a bowl
- 20-minute treats
- hot & spicy
- sophisticated starters
- asian flavors
- fruity flavors.
In these chapters, you will find classic soups, such as a standby Minestrone soup, but with variations such as Minestrone with Pesto, Minestrone with Green beans, or with Bacon, possibly With chicken. Whatever your ingredient resources, you'll find a way to adapt them. A Cream of Tomato Soup has variations with either bell pepper, or spice or mint of cilantro. If you want something new and innovative, you'll find recipes such as Vermouth and Fennel Soup, or Rich Porcini Soup with Sherry and Nutmeg, Fiery Thai Broth with Tofu and Scallions.
Carefully produced by Sellers Publishing, the book is bound so that the pages stay open. There are color photos throughout by Ian Garlick. This is a lovely gift book along with its similarly sized and formatted companion, 500 Pies and tarts
|
About the Author: Susannah Blake is a food writer and editor based in London. After years working in illustrated book publishing, she turned her hand to developing recipes and writing. She now works as a freelance food writer and editor and consults, commissions, project-manages, art-directs, and writes for various book publishers and magazines. |
©
