Soup of
HOME-made soup is best, but commercially prepared versions are improving and are, in some cases, not as bad as the reputation that goes before them.
This was the unanimous conclusion of seven soup aficionados who gathered at the Holiday Inn, Sutton, Surrey, last month to take part in the first of Caterer & Hotelkeeper's tasting panels.
The judges, who were selected to represent a cross-section of the industry, came together from various parts of the country to subject their palates to 21 different soups.
BBC Radio Four's The Food Programme was also in attendance at the tasting, recording the event through the eyes and tastebuds of the Observer food and drink columnist Nigel Slater.
Caterer editor Gary Crossley asked manufacturers and suppliers to provide soups which had been launched during 1993 as new flavours, new recipes or which had just become available to the catering market. There was no shortage of interest, and from a vast array of contestants 19 products were eventually chosen to reflect as many flavours as possible.
Holiday Inn executive chef Cliff Owen, who was responsible for making up all the soups on the day, also agreed to produce two soups of his own to see how the commercial version matched home-made varieties, and to keep our panelists on their toes.
Owen's soups were kept a closely guarded secret, and were not typical of the recipes he served up at the Holiday Inn. The participants were told that the range would include some home-made varieties but none of them knew what they would be tasting or when.
OBJECTIVES
The aim of the exercise was to comment on the soups individually and judge each one on its own merits against a set of criteria. The judges acknowledged that even if some soups were not appropriate for them, they could be useful in a different catering operation.
After a light buffet lunch to line their stomachs, our guinea pigs were put to the test. Behind the scenes in the kitchen Cliff Owen set to work, making up the soup, following manufacturers' instructions to the word.
Each soup was judged on the following criteria:
lcolour
lsmell
ltexture
lseasoning
lflavour
Judges were asked to give a mark out of five for each of the above. The following scale was applied:
1 = dislike a lot
2 = dislike slightly
3 = neither dislike or like
4 = like slightly
5 = like a lot
results
The soups were tasted in three batches of seven, with a break in between each batch to avoid the onset of tasting fatigue. Each judge tasted the soups in a different order so that no particular significance would be attached to either the first or last soup they tasted.
Members of the Holiday Inn's management team delivered the soups following a strict matrix, and strict checks were made to ensure that everyone received the correct soup. The judges were also asked to guess the variety of every soup.
After all the tasting the marks were totted up and Gary Crossley read the results. Not surprisingly, Cliff Owen's two home-made soups split pea and Bavarian goulash had taken top honours with first and second places respectively.
Of the manufactured soups, Baxters of Speyside led the field in the more than 20p per portion category with 146 points out of a possible total 175 for its chicken & almond. In second place came New Covent Garden's carrot & coriander followed by carrot & lentil from Caterers Choice.
Leading the category of less than 20p per portion, and way ahead of some of the more expensive varieties, came Tillery Valley's country vegetable with it's cauliflower and almond in second place. Nestlé's tomato & basil and Booker Fitch's asparagus also fared well.
So what did the experts think of the soups they had tasted? This is a selection of their views:
David Evans:
baxters of speyside's
carrot, onion & chick pea
"Nice colour and texture but the flavour's disappointing. Not sure what the herbs are."
Noel Byrne:
tillery valley
cauliflower & almond:
"Very strong almond smell but when you taste it the almond is not as overpowering as you might think. I like it, and yes, I might consider serving it."
Robert Dodwell:
new covent garden
carrot & coriander:
"The only point that lets it down is perhaps the colour which is very bright. It's got an exceptionally good flavour. We could serve it but it would need another ingredient to give it a better texture."
Elaine Murphy:
new covent garden spinach with
nutmeg:
"It looks like the bottom of the pond and I'm hard-pressed to taste it. I don't like the smell either."
Angela Lidstone:
nestle
tomato & basil:
"One of the more pleasant ones I've tasted today, but I'm still not sure whether I would serve it."
Robert Dodwell:
booker fitch
tomato:
"I'm not too impressed by what I've got here. The colour is rather false and the texture is gooey. It would also need some seasoning if I were to eat it."
Abigail Richmond:
bender & cassel
cream of smoked salmon:
"I think it was lobster bisque. It looked all right and the smell wasn't too bad, but there was no real flavour to it. Perhapsif it were 4p a portion,I might considerserving it."
David Evans:
bender & cassel,
duck & cranberry:
"Not too bad at all. A good depth of flavour and well seasoned. There was, however, a hint of monosodium glutomate about it which would stop me serving it in my restaurant."
Gareth Johns:
caterers choice
carrot & lentil:
"Quite good, a pleasant texture. I might not serve this particular one, but I'd serve something similar."
Angela Lidstone:
booker fitch
asparagus:
"I think it could do with some seasoning. It's not really to my liking."
Elaine Murphy:
geest
broccoli & cheese:
"Too greasy for my liking. I wouldn't serve it."
Nigel Slater(below):
booker fitch
tomato:
"It was very luminous and had the same orange glow found in Lucozade."
Robert Dodwell:
caterers choice
pea & ham:
"Poor on the smell but the rest is very acceptable. Very palatable indeed."
Nigel Slater:
caterers choice
pea & ham:
"Almost home-made. I'd happily eat that."
Gareth Johns:
w&p foodservice
french onion:
"Quite a nice aroma and the colour's not bad. But the flavour lets it down. Too caramely and too sweet."
Robert Dodwell:
geest
clam chowder:
"Not a bad soup, good flavour, good smell. But let down by the texture which was rather jelly-like."
Nigel Slater:
bender & cassel
cream of smoked salmon:
"I thought initially it had a lot going for it. I like the colour and it smells good. But the flavour is not terribly exciting. I wouldn't choose it but if I were served it I would eat it."
David Evans:
Baxters of Speyside chicken & almond
"As good a commercial chicken soup as you're likely to get. Simple and well executed."
Elaine Murphy:
cpc caterplan
minestrone:
"Very artificial minestrone. I didn't enjoy the flavour at all."
Robert Dodwell:
w&p foodservice
celery:
"It has certain characteristics which remind me of wet cardboard."
Nigel Slater:
w&p foodservice
celery:
"If I were served this soup in a restaurant I would send it back."
David Evans:
tillery valley
country vegetable:
"It looks very nice, with good natural colour in all of the vegetables, and nicely seasonedtoo. I'd serve it at home, but not in my restaurant. If someone served it to me in a different restaurant I'd be quite happy."
