Just Souper
Sunday
Soup is old, but just how old is tough to say. Earthen cookware from about 20,000 years ago was found in a Chinese cave with evidence that it was used for soup. However, more direct evidence of 8,000 year-old soup itself was found in modern-day Iraq and had a unique main ingredient: hippopotamus meat.
Tuesday
The term “souped up” for performance-enhanced vehicles apparently came from an ugly practice in early horse racing, wherein the animals were injected with often-dangerous chemicals to make them run faster. A horse treated in this fashion was called “souped up.”
Wednesday
Generally speaking, broth, stock, or consommé is usually a thin liquid base, flavored with vegetables or meat. Soup is the general term for solid ingredients in a liquid base, stew has longer-simmered “stewed” chunky ingredients, chowder is typically a milk-based soup with chunky ingredients, especially potatoes, and bisque is a cream-based or otherwise finely pureed soup.
Thursday
Fashion, vanity, and history are connected by soup. As thin soups became popular at the same time as the fashion of huge neck ruffles in in 14th century Europe, soup spoons were developed to keep soup-eaters’ ruffles clean. Later, French king Louis XIV wanted to see his own royal face when he ate his soup, so ordered his chefs to develop a clear and reflective soup, hence the creation of consommé.
Friday
Europe is the most soup-loving continent, led by the UK and Russia.
Saturday
Condensed soup was developed in 1897 by Dr. John T. Dorrance, a chemist with the Campbell Soup Company. Most soups are primarily water anyway, so condensing means more soup could be shipped economically and reconstituted by the consumer who adds a can of water to the concentrate.