In the Soup

The Larousse Gastronomique defines soup as a liquid food served at the beginning of meal or for lunch, a snack, etc. Like this there are so many definitions, and we too order soup at the beginning of a meal, thinking the purpose of soup, that is to increase the appetite, but many times the purpose deceive us.
I would call the soup as our first food, when humans invented cooking some nine thousand years ago, they wouldn’t have thrown away the water in which the meats/vegetables were cooked. So consuming both the liquid and meat/vegetable comprise the definition soup.
Unlike today where bread and bread rolls were served alongside, traditionally the soup was poured in a bowl with slices of bread in it, which makes the bread soft by the time one consumes it. Is bread an accompaniment for soup or the soup a tenderizer for bread, whichever way it is, soup and bread always marry well.
Another definition say ‘Soup is a food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat, vegetables in stock or hot boiling water, until the flavor is extracted forming a broth’. A wonderful definition. Only when it is flavorful it will increase your hunger. But, Gazpacho a cold soup is prepared by grinding all the ingredients and emulsifies with oil, it is not only flavorful but also avoids the boiling procedure.
Both the definitions of soup has the presence of meat/vegetable or any solid food, but again the soup Consommé is a highly flavored clear soup without any meat or vegetables in it, why Consommé. Our own Rasam have all the features of a soup and is an excellent appetizer.
For a long time the evening meal in France consisted solely of soup, so one drinks the liquid, chew the meat/vegetable, with or without breads. The stomach is full and no further courses; today the same heavy soups still occupy the place under Appetizer. Once I mistook tomato soup for sauce and started spreading it on the sliced bread, the soup was so heavy and thick which makes you to dip some snacks into it.
Rather finding fault with soup it is better to know what one order, because soup always goes in first and not to forget that our stomach needs some space for the remaining courses. The classification of soup is myriad and will confuse you more on that next time. By the time you can say what is your favorite soup.
HAPPY SOUP!