Soup Unit

This marking period we worked on soups and sauces. We started by making stock. Stock is made by taking a liquid and adding a nourishing element, bouquet garni made with cheesecloth, and mire poix. The mixture simmers and then is strained through a chinois to get the liquid by itself. The stock our group made came out well and we did not run into any problems. The soup that our group chose to make was minestrone. Again we did not run into any problems and the soup was delicious. As a group we decided to add bacon bits at the end of the cooking time although the recipe did not call for it. The bacon added a lot of flavor and made the soup even better. I think it was good that we decided to change the recipe and we learned that the recipe does not have to be followed in order for the food to taste good. The puree had a different outcome. When we made this soup we tried to make it with sweet fruits and vegetables such as mango, corn and carrot. Although it smelled delicious the one jalapeno pepper we added overpowered everything and made the whole soup taste terrible. It was very bland and had a bad taste so we experimented with different seasonings and ingredients to make it taste better. Although in the end nobody was able to eat it. We learned that all the ingredients should get along and sweet foods don’t usually have a strong flavor. At the end we garnished it with parsley and mixed in chicken. The last soup we made came out perfectly. The tomato soup was a simple soup that didn’t need a lot of preparation or effort. It looked like it came out perfectly although nobody tasted it. We did not run into any problems and the group worked efficiently. Camden F.