By Norman Knight
I grew up on Campbell’s soups. After walking home from elementary school for lunch I was greeted by my mom and a bowl of Tomato.
Chicken Noodle nursed me through childhood colds, while Cream of Mushroom was the secret ingredient in countless family casseroles. If we are what we eat, I grew up as a canned soup kid.
Later, I was introduced to the joys of cooking homemade soups. My wife Becky is a consummate soup maker (not to be confused with consommé which is a type of soup. Although, as I think about it, sometimes she is a consommé soup maker, as well.) I have learned much from her.
One of my favorite soups we make is when we add to the pot various ingredients and leftovers we have lying around. Being crossword puzzle fans, we sometimes call it our “miscellaneous collection of things” or “Olio Soup.”
This should not to be confused with “oleo soup.” Such a concoction, I suppose, would be soup based on lots of margarine which I don’t think sounds very appetizing.
The reason soup is on my mind is because January is National Soup Month. I’m not sure who designated January as National Soup Month. Perhaps it was a Campbell’s marketing executive or a Washington lobbyist for Big Soup. Maybe it was simply someone who really liked soup.
Whatever, I can’t think of a more appropriate month to enjoy and honor soup than during what is statistically the coldest month of the year. A bowl of hot soup is the perfect food to warm you inside while weathering the bitter outdoor cold.
I often order the soup and salad choice when I dine at a restaurant. I didn’t realized until recently — actually while reading a book about soup — that the word “restaurant” originally came from a French word meaning “a restoring food” and referred to an inexpensive soup that was sold as a remedy for physical exhaustion. In 1765 a Parisian businessman opened a shop near the Louvre where he sold such bouillons restaurants. After a time,“restaurant” came to be understood as any sort of eating establishment.
I don’t eat Campbell’s soups much anymore, but somebody does. According to Campbell’s Soup Company website, three of the most popular soups in America are the same soups I grew up on: Tomato, Chicken Noodle and Cream of Mushroom.
Each year Americans slurp more than 2.5 billion bowls of these three canned condensed soups. (Finishing school disclaimer: In this country slurping is still considered bad manners and should not be done in public. Also, stir your soup if it is too hot, don’t blow. I’ll bet my childhood practice of crumbling Saltines into my tomato soup would qualify as an etiquette no-no.)
Although I enjoy a good soup at a restaurant, my preference is to make a pot and then enjoy it at home. It is more relaxed, and if I feel like drinking the last bit of soup by tilting the bowl or sopping it up with bread, I don’t feel shamed by society. (Finishing school disclaimer, Part II: Sopping with bread is allowed as long as you put the bread on your fork and then sop.) Hmm.
An interesting thing about the above disclaimer is that the word “sop” comes from the same Germanic source as the word “soup,” so, I’m thinking maybe at one time sopping by holding bread with your fingers wouldn’t have been considered bad manners. Considering the archeological evidence for the existence of soup can be traced back to 20,000 B.C. It’s likely that what is considered proper eating etiquette has changed since then.
Well, it’s cold outside and looks to stay that way for a while. Maybe I can get Becky to help me make some soup to warm us up. Olio soup would be nice. Or just some consommé.
Norman Knight, a retired Clark-Pleasant Middle School teacher, writes this weekly column for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
