I know people, I'm afraid to say, that dislike soup. They find it to be a pale substitute for a plate of meat and sides. Soup, for them, if it must be digested, should be consumed in small portions prior to eating an actual meal. I scoff at this. Hak!

Soup can be satisfying, on par with a plate of Thuringer links and potato pancakes. Well, maybe not that satisfying, but pretty darned satisfying. Lentil soup. I ate it every month of my childhood. The dead of summer. What's for dinner? Lentil soup. Is there ham in that? No. Bacon? Nope. Just lentils, carrots and onions? Don't forget a bay leaf. Yum.

All of that sounds like a condemnation. However, I love lentil soup. It is one of my favorite things to eat. And though I would rather not eat it on a blistering summer evening, I will. I will! Hot foods make you cool. That's what my childhood friend and current neighbor Sherwood Day says. He's an armchair biologist and an ottoman nutritionist.

Soup! Eat up! It is a meal! It is an appetizer! It is a dessert! It is everything!

Enough!

Your weekly reduction!

Articles and videos concerning the development and formulation of soup products.

Soup’s On!
New ethnic and upscale soups require quality, authentic flavors. Here’s a “soup-to-nuts” look at soup—and how to develop and preserve those flavors through the process.

Prepared Soups & Side Dishes: A Corporate Executive Chef’s Perspective

Soups and Sides Get Creative
Growth has been elusive in packaged soups in recent years, but 2013 saw soup makers willing to embrace unconventional approaches to jump-start sales.

Gluten-free Soup with Kale
Blount Fine Foods combines on-trend flavor with top-of-mind health attributes.

All-natural, Authentic Ingredients
Kettle Cuisine emphasizes ingredient integrity in four new all-natural, fresh soups.

Seafood Soups, Sauces
Oregon Seafoods used the National Restaurant Show to showcase new Sea Fare Pacific soups and sauces for foodservice distribution.

Find more articles and videos about formulating soups.