50. Soups classed as cream soups consist of a thin white sauce to which
is added a vegetable in the form of a purée or cut into small pieces.
Because of their nature, cream soups are usually high in food value; but
they are not highly flavored, so their use is that of supplying
nutrition rather than stimulating the appetite. Considerable variety can
be secured in cream soups, for there are scarcely any vegetables that
cannot be used in the making of them. Potatoes, corn, asparagus,
spinach, peas, tomatoes, and onions are the vegetables that are used
oftenest, but cream soups may also be made of vegetable oysters, okra,
carrots, watercress, celery, cabbage, cauliflower, beans, lentils, and
dried peas. The vegetables may be cooked especially for the soup, or
left-over or canned vegetables may be utilized. It is an excellent plan
to cook more than enough of some vegetables for one day, so that some
will be left over and ready for soup the next day.
If the vegetable is not cut up into small pieces, it must be put through
a sieve and made into the form of a purée before it can be added to the
liquid. Two kinds of sieves for this purpose are shown in Fig. 7. It
will be observed that with the large, round sieve, a potato masher must
be used to mash the vegetables, the pulp of which is caught by the
utensil in which the sieve is held. In making use of the smaller sieve,
or ricer, the vegetable is placed in it and then mashed by pressing the
top down over the contents with the aid of the handles.
51. THIN WHITE SAUCE.--The liquid for cream soups should be thin white
sauce made entirely of milk or of milk and cream. The flavor of the soup
will be improved, however, by using with the milk some meat stock, or
the stock that remains from cooking celery, asparagus, or any vegetables
that will lend a good flavor to the soup. The recipe here given makes a
sauce that may be used for any kind of cream soup.