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Photo credit: Logan WalkerA seasonal soup starter isn’t just a delicious amuse-bouche; it’s an invitation. The first spoonful tells a guest that this meal will be thoughtful, seasonal, and beautifully made. Served in a demitasse or a tiny bowl with a swirl of cream or a crisp of sage, soup sets a tone of cozy elegance. Before the entrees arrive, before the toasts and the dancing begin, the taste of warm soup tells everyone, “You’re already home.”
So when the air turns crisp in Utah and the mountains start catching snow, there’s nothing quite like the quiet pleasure of a warm cup of soup to welcome our guests. Seasonal soups are the gentlest kind of appetizer—comforting, aromatic, and just filling enough to say, “You’re cared for” without stealing the spotlight from what’s to come.
In past blogs, we’ve already shared some of our favorite seasonal soups that we love to serve at fall weddings and gatherings. You can find those recipes here:
At the end of this article, we’ll share another of our favorite seasonal soups, Mushroom Bisque.
A Small Sip of the History of Soup
The history of soup is nearly as old as the discovery of fire itself.
Ancient Chinese pottery dating from 20,000 BC shows evidence that hot soup was once boiled inside. But long before that, early humans were building hearths and boiling food as many as a million years ago.
We know that hot soup was a staple in many ancient civilizations including Egypt and Rome. Spartans famously consumed a soup they called “black broth.” (A visitor to Sparta, after tasting black broth for his first time, reportedly said that the soup explained why Spartans were not afraid of death: Anything was preferable to having to eat more of it.)
Porridge and Pottage
By the Middle Ages, soups and stews had become the main thing on the menu for most Europeans. Unless you were part of the elite who could afford such luxuries as roasted meats, fruits, and spices, your daily fare was pretty predictable and, shall we say, soup-forward:
- A breakfast of porridge soup, course bread, and maybe cheese.
- A midday meal of pottage, another kind of soup made by boiling vegetables and grains.
- A smaller meal of bread and pottage at night.
Side note: What’s the difference between porridge and pottage? Porridge and pottage are two different types of soup. The main differences are that porridge (often a breakfast food) is made primarily from grains like oats, rice, or corn and is boiled with milk or water to a thick, smooth consistency. Oatmeal, congee, and polenta are three examples of porridge. Pottage, on the other hand, is a thick, hearty soup that often contains vegetables and other non-sweet ingredients.
If you’d walked into any kitchen in Europe in the Middle Ages, it’s virtually guaranteed that you would have seen some sort of pottage cooking in a large cauldron over the fire. Why was soup so central to medieval Europeans’ diet? There are several reasons, actually.
- Pottage (also spelled potage, which literally means “food cooked in a pot”) could be made out of whatever ingredients were available. If all you had was barley and beans for your pottage, at least it was something hearty to fill you up. And if you were so lucky as to catch a fish or come across some turnips and leeks, then you were in for a treat!
- Pottage made the best use of ingredients. Since nearly anything could go into the pot, leftovers, older ingredients, and even bones could be boiled down, getting the most out of their nutritional value and adding different flavors to an otherwise bland diet.
- Pottage was boiled for hours and kept hot for days, which did a great job of breaking down complex starches as well as making ingredients safe to consume. This was especially important because medieval water was almost always unsanitary and unsafe to drink. Other than fermented drinks like ale or wine, the water content of pottage was pretty much the only way to get clean water into the diet.
- Hard-working peasants didn’t have the time to make elaborate meals, but pottage was an extremely quick, simple, and convenient food to make. Cut up ingredients and add them to the pot, keep the fire burning and enough water in the soup to prevent scalding, and you’re all set! Since pottage could be kept warm over a fire for days on end, it was always available at any time someone needed to eat.
- Pottage required very little in the way of equipment. If you had a hearth, a pot, and maybe a ladle for stirring and serving, you could make pottage.
- Pottage paired perfectly with bread, which was the other staple of the medieval diet.
Photo credit: Logan Walker
How Soup Changed Our Language
The pairing of soup and bread gave us several words and phrases in the English language. Diners would place a hunk of bread called a “sop” into a bowl, then pour soup over it until it was “sopping wet.” The act of using the bread to soak up the liquid is also where we got the verb “to sop” (e.g. “Use a towel to sop up the spill”). Also, the tradition of eating soup for the evening meal is where we got the term “supper,” which originally meant “the evening meal of soup.”
Although today we may use the terms dinner and supper interchangeably, supper still refers to the evening meal or last meal of the day. Modern suppers have expanded far beyond bread and soup to include any number of different foods, but the traditional pottage of medieval Europe is generally considered to be the precursor of the soups we know and love today.
Fun Fact: In medieval Europe, dairy products were considered rustic and less dignified, so nobles often avoided eating them. They also avoided many fruits and vegetables because those were seen as “peasant food” unless prepared with expensive spices or served in sauces. So, ironically, the lower classes often had a healthier diet than the rich.
Photo credit: Gabriella Santos
Why Soup Works So Well to Start a Meal
Served as an hors d’oeuvre, appetizer, or even an amuse bouche, soup is a fantastic way to kick off a meal. There are several reasons why.
1. Soup awakens the palate without overwhelming it.
A small helping of soup gently warms guests and gets their senses going — the aroma, the texture, the heat — without diminishing their appetite for the main course.
2. Soup sets the tone.
The sheer versatility of soup means that you can choose the perfect flavors to set the feel for your event. A clear broth or delicate purée signals sophistication and refinement. A rustic, chunky soup feels more homey and casual. Or you can go with something fun and playful like roasted strawberry and lime with basil.
3. Soup is seasonal.
As the outside temperatures drop, so do our appetites for a cool gazpacho or a bowl of chilled cucumber soup. When daylight shortens and sweaters start to appear, we find ourselves craving something more comforting, something to warm our hands as we cradle a cup of hot French onion or butternut squash soup.
It’s partly biology; cooler weather triggers our bodies to crave calories and warmth. But it’s also nostalgia that makes us long for the sights and smells and tastes of fall: cinnamon and nutmeg, fresh bread, and steam rising from a bowl of something delicious. When you greet your guests with a well-chosen sip of soup made with seasonal ingredients, you give them a taste of the best that the season has to offer.
4. Soup is an easy canvas for a striking visual presentation.
A small cup, a handled demitasse, or even a shot glass at a cocktail hour — soup can be served in elegant portions that add visual interest. Garnishes like a swirl of cream, a sprinkle of herbs, or a crisp crouton elevate it instantly.
5. Soup can gracefully accommodate dietary needs.
At Culinary Crafts, we can easily adjust soups to be vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free without compromising on taste.
Photo credit: Logan Walker
Mushroom Bisque
(makes a dozen starter servings)
Ingredients
- 2 cups diced onions
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 (16 oz) containers of your favorite mushrooms
- 1 cup red wine (optional)
- 2 Tbsp dried thyme
- 4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
- ⅔ cup uncooked rice
- 2 cups cream
- ¼ cup butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
Directions
- In a medium pot, sauté onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until onions are translucent.
- Add mushrooms and sauté until they reduce in size by about half and the ingredients start to brown.
- Deglaze the pot with red wine (or 1 cup of stock if you aren’t using wine) and simmer until half the liquid is gone.
- Add stock, thyme, and a little salt and pepper. Add rice and let it cook for 30-40 minutes over medium low heat.
- In small batches, blend the rice soup mixture in a blender until smooth. Return blended mixture to pot.
- Add cream and butter, then leave over low heat for 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Plate and garnish with parsley or microgreens.
Pro Tip: If you pour the mushroom bisque tableside, you can add a lovely visual element to the dish. A handful of sautéed or roasted mushrooms at the bottom of a white bowl make an attractive contrast as well as a tantalizing hint of the soup that will soon cover it. Any sort of edible mushroom will work for this use; it doesn’t necessarily have to be the same type that you used in your bisque. Go ahead and choose lion’s mane or golden chanterelles, whatever catches your eye. In the photo above, we used sautéed beech mushrooms (honshimeji) because they hold their shape well and add a delightful nutty, slightly sweet flavor to the bisque.
Eat Well!
