What Makes Soup So Good? - The Recipe Processor 2000 VR

Why is soup so common in all the world's cultures? What is it about soup that makes it so appealing, regardless of what local ingredients there are?

I think it is because every culture in history has had a "lower" class that has had to make do with the cheapest, least sought after ingredients. Higher "quality" ingredients often have as much to do with texture as with flavor, and the richest people in any society get the pick of the tenderest cuts of meat, the finest spring vegetables, and the freshest fruit. In contrast, the "peasantry" lives on the tougher cuts of meat, the bones often included, root vegetables and leftover fruit that has either been dried or fermented.

But these "lower" cuts of meat and root vegetables are not devoid of flavor, in fact they often have much more owing to what makes them less desirable: their texture. Tougher foods are denser, and contain more flavor, more varied tissues, and often more nutrients. Compare, for instance, an onion and an asparagus. Which has the more flavor? Sure, if you had to eat one raw you would probably pick the asparagus. But ask your self which one you would give up for life if you had to!

But using tougher foods does not mean you have to give up texture for the extra flavor; nor does intensity of flavor mean you have to have less subtlety. What it does mean is that you have to treat it differently from the way you treat "finer" foods.

The Recipe Processor 2000 VR is a feature full recipe management program. Enter and manage individual recipes. Search through recipes by name, category, sub category, ingredient, directions, or wildcard name. Adjust serving size and ingredient amounts instantly. Convert from one measure to another. Print either of two available shopping lists. Display two recipes side by side for comparison. Calculate recipe nutrition and cost.