Soup's On!

by Liv Stecker

In addition to a smattering of other nonsensical celebrations, January is National Soup Month in the United States, which makes sense considering the leftover turkey, cold weather, budget resolutions and need for excuses to visit the Olive Garden (unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks, anyone?). But soup has been a winter tradition since long before Joseph A. Campbell canned his first batch of tomato bisque. 

Until a few years ago, anthropologists believed that humans have been adding ingredients to boiling water to make various forms of warm liquid sustenance for more than 5,000 years. Turns out they were off by a few thousand millennia. Evidence of man made containers for boiling substances, such as pottery from a cave in China, as well as artistic depictions of this cooking method, have recently been dated to more than 25,000 years ago. Before this, neanderthals were using steam to crack rocks open and render fat from animal bones. The natural progression of technology led to using hot rocks inside of containers made of animal hides to boil water with various edible flora and fauna added in. Evidence of boiled starches on paleolithic teeth indicate that neanderthals were cooking grains in water ages before ceramics appeared on the archeological record. 

And here we are, 25,000 years later, making January into National Soup Month because we still recognize the value in boiling a whole bunch of flavors together in a pot and letting it warm us all the way down to our toes. The word “soup” is derived from the latin “suppa”, which meant bread soaked in broth, and is also the root for the Germanic “sop”, bread used to soak up soup or stew. Soup is inadvertently responsible for the word “restaurant”, which means ‘to restore something’, as well, which was coined to refer to street vendors in 16th century France who sold highly concentrated soups at inexpensive prices that were said to instantly energize weary customers. As the vendors took their miracle cure indoors, the term “restaurant” stuck, as did the healing powers of the proverbial chicken soup. 

In western civilization, soup has long been the poor man’s cure for hunger. An inexpensive way to stretch ingredients and flavor to feed many hungry mouths. The old European folktale “Stone Soup” hails from the 16th century and tells the story of a starving traveler who tricks local villagers into making him a big pot of soup, which he starts with only a rock in a big kettle of water. His zeal about the stone soup he is making catches the imagination of the townspeople and they bring vegetables and meat to contribute to the flavor of the potluck stew. In the end, the stone soup is enjoyed by all, but most of all by the clever wanderer.  

The French tradition of soup classifications is observed widely throughout western cultures, including clear soups like bouillon and consomme, and soups like bisques that are thickened with cream, or purees thickened with starch. Stews usually contain less liquid than a soup, and more solid ingredients. In the last century, soups have been manufactured in dry and condensed versions for convenience, but it is often still considered the starter course before an entree in formal dining. 

Soup is now a worldwide tradition, with hot and cold specialties in almost all cultures. Asian tradition introduced noodle soups and the unique addition of tofu to many recipes. Some countries feature dessert soups as a specialty. 

At the heart of it all is the mythical healing properties of soup in the dead of winter, savory flavors blended together to combat the elements, viruses and plagues that stalk us in the freezing temperatures. It is the go-to comfort food for cold climates, it comes in endless forms and flavors, from kitchen-sink hamburger soup to rich chicken and gnocchi goodness, Ukrainian borscht and Vietnamese Pho, hearty potato, clam chowder and zesty minestrone - you could eat soup for the entire month of January and never use the same recipe twice, not to mention saving a few bucks and perhaps even sloughing a few of those extra holiday pounds. Go ahead! We dare you!