1. Soups

2. Soups Soups may be served as an appetiser at the beginning of a meal
the main part of a lunch
a warming snack at any time of the day
Stock
This is a well-flavoured basis for soups, stews and sauces.

3. Thick soups Puréed. Thickened.
Soups can be classified into thick soups and thin soups.
Thick soups
Puréed.
Thickened.
Thin soups
Clear soup.
Broth. 3

4. A good soup… (characteristics)
Is made from a fresh, well-flavoured stock. Soup should be seasoned with pepper and herbs; do not add too much salt, use a salt substitute.
Tastes of its main ingredient.
Is piping hot and has no grease floating on the top (note: some soups are meant to be served cold).
Has a good colour.
A thick soup should not be too thick and should not have starchy lumps.

5. Three ways to thicken a soup
1. Blend 25g of flour or cornflour with cold water. Stir this mixture into the soup just before the end of the cooking time. Bring the soup back to the boil and boil for approximately five minutes. Garnish and serve.
2. Begin by gently frying (sautéing) the soup ingredients, e.g. vegetables, in 25g of fat or oil. Add 25g flour and cook for a few minutes. Gradually add the stock. The soup will thicken once it comes to the boil.
3. Add barley, rice or pasta to the soup 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

6. Guidelines for making soup
Use a heavy with a well fitting lid.
Use the correct proportion of fresh ingredients.
Use a good stock, and saute ingredients to improve the flavour.
Slice or chop ingredients to release more flavour.
Use cold water and bring to the boil slowly. Cover and simmer gently to extract nutrients and flavour.
A pressure cooker speeds up the cooking time; a processor speeds up preparation and pureeing time.

7. How to garnish a soup
Croutons (cubes of bread fried in oil―use a polyunsaturated fat)
Herbs, e.g. parsley
Swirl of cream, e.g. cream of vegetable soup

8. Convenience soups
Instant soups are cheap but can be high in salt and MSG.
Canned soup is convenient but can lack flavour and be high in salt and MSG.
Cartons of fresh soup are expensive but tasty and nutritious.

9. SAUCES
Sauces are well-flavoured liquids and can take many forms. They can be sweet or savoury, hot or cold. Sauces can be used as a garnish or can be part of the dish itself.
Sauces are served with food:
to bind or coat foods.
to add colour and flavour to a dish.
To moisten food
To improve digestibility
To improve the food value
To offset the richness of the food e.g. apple sauce with pork

10. Classification Type of sauce Examples Roux based White, cheese
Fruit purée
Apple, raspberry coulis, cranberry
Egg based
Egg custard
Cold
Mint
Other
Chocolate, butterscotch, barbecue

11. Roux-based sauces
A roux-based sauce is made from equal amounts of fat and flour. Different flavourings and amounts of liquid are added to vary the basic sauce.
There are four basic thicknesses of roux sauces. The amounts of fat and flour stay the same for each one; it is the amount of liquid that changes.
25g fat + 25g flour + one of:
THICK
binding
coating
stewing
pouring
125ml milk/stock
250ml milk/stock
375ml
milk/stock
500ml
milk/
stock
THIN

12. How to make a basic white roux sauce
2. Take off the heat. Add milk gradually, stirring all the time.
1. Melt fat. Add flour and seasoning. Cook for 1 minute and do not allow to burn.
4. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then serve.
3. Return to the heat. Keep stirring to prevent lumping.

13. Variations on basic pouring sauce (500ml)
Extra ingredients
Goes well with
Parsley
Add 2 teaspoons chopped parsley
Bacon, fish
Mustard
Add 1 teaspoon made mustard, 2 teaspoons vinegar
Fish
Cheese
¼ teaspoon mustard (added to roux), 50g grated cheese added at the end and allowed to melt: do not return to heat
Fish, cauliflower
Mushroom
Add 50g sautéed mushrooms after the liquid has been added and then simmer for 5 minutes
Steak, roast beef

14. Other traditional sauces
Food
Sauce(s) that go well with food
Beef
Pepper (steaks), horseradish (roast beef)
Pork
Apple
Lamb
Mint
Turkey
Bread sauce or cranberry
Goose

15. Fruit coulis
Desserts look good if you decorate them with a simple fruit coulis. Purée highly coloured fruits such as strawberries or raspberries, add a little icing sugar and then pour to the side of the dish.

16. Convenience sauces
Convenience sauces are available in many different forms—canned, bottled, dried, frozen or in cartons.
 Advantages:
Speed up the preparation and cooking time of some dishes.
Useful for those with poor cooking skills.
Disadvantages:
They can be high in sugar, salt and other additives.
They can also sometimes be expensive and often lack flavour.

17. HERBS AND SPICES
Herbs and spices are used in cookery to add flavour to foods and sometimes make the foods look more appetising. Listed below are some common herbs. Read your textbook to find out their uses.
Bay leaves
Basil
Caraway (seed)
Cayenne pepper
Chives
Cinnamon
Cloves
Fennel
Garlic
Ginger
Mint
Mustard
Nutmeg
Oregano
Paprika
Parsley
Pepper
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme