Soup facts

Soup Facts that You Might Not Have Known...
Here are some known and little-known soup facts (believe it or not!) that you might find interesting. I did!
Can you believe that Americans sip over 10 BILLION bowls of soup every single year! That's a lot of soup!
Every year, 99% of all American homes buy soup - turning it into a $5 billion business. Whoa! I'm in the wrong business!
Who eats more soup?. Men or women? Well, for a typical lunch, women seem to be more than twice as likely to eat soup as men. Statistics say, 9.6% vs. 4.0%.
When was the earliest evidence of our ancestors eating soup? About 6000 BC! And guess what kind of soup it was? Hippopotamus!
So, in the late 1700s, apparently the French King was so enamored with himself that he had his royal chefs create a soup that would allow him to see his own reflection in the bowl. Sheesh! But as a result, consomme (clear broth) was born.
Since we're talking about the French here's another interesting tidbit of soup. In the French Court of Louis XI, the ladies' meals were mostly soup. Guess what the reasoning was? They were afraid that chewing would make them break out in facial wrinkles!
Why did thin soups became all the rage in Europe during the 17th century? The claim is that the soup spoon was invented. (How did they eat soup before the soup spoon??? - can't quite swallow this one, but it's fun to read about!) Why was this specific kind of spoon invented? Because of the latest fashion trend: large and stiff ruffles that men and women wore around their necks. (I bet that's how clowns got their ideas for their costumes!) The design of the soup spoon was to accommodate wearers of those large ruffles and keep themselves from getting dripped on!
Frank Sinatra always asked for chicken and rice soup to be available to him in his dressing rooms before he went on stage.
Another famous person who loved soup was Andy Warhol. He told someone that he painted those famous soup cans because its what he had for lunch - every day for 20 years!
“Troubles are easier to take with soup than without.” - from an old Yiddish saying.
“Of soup and love, the first is the best.” - from an old Spanish proverb.