When it has been reheated, the
cleared stock will be ready to serve.
32. THICKENING SOUP.--Although thin, clear soups are preferred by some
and are particularly desirable for their stimulating effect, thick soups
find much favor when they are used to form a substantial part of a meal.
Besides giving consistency to soup, thickening usually improves the
flavor, but its chief purpose is to give nutritive value to this food.
In fact, whenever a soup is thickened, its food value is increased by
the ingredient thus added. For this reason, it is advisable to thicken
soups when they are desired for any other purpose than their
stimulating effect.
33. The substance used to thicken soups may be either a starchy material
or food or a puree of some food. The starchy materials generally used
for this purpose are plain flour, browned flour, corn starch, and
arrowroot flour. Any one of these should be moistened with enough cold
water to make a mixture that will pour easily, and then added to the hot
liquid while the soup is stirred constantly to prevent the formation of
lumps. A sufficient amount of this thickening material should be used to
make a soup of the consistency of heavy cream.
The starchy foods that are used for thickening include rice, barley,
oatmeal, noodles, tapioca, sago, and macaroni. Many unusual and fancy
forms of macaroni can be secured, or the plain varieties of Italian
pastes may be broken into small pieces and cooked with the soup.
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