Soups & Stews



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From Soup to Canned Soup It is assumed that the soups we know today originated in the Stone Age, when sacks filled with various ingredients were cooked over a fire to make a porridge. The invention of earthenware in Mesopotamia allowed for more liquid meals to be cooked, mainly containing grains and vegetables. Archaeological finds suggest that there were already soup bowls made of stone and wood about 5,000 years before Christ. After soups gained popularity in the Roman Empire, they spread throughout the rest of Europe. Until the late Middle Ages, it was common to prepare a morning soup with saltwater and crushed grain. From the 16th century onwards, it was not just the lower classes who enjoyed soup, but also the more affluent. A prime example is the Spanish national dish "Olla podrida" - a stew with several types of meat and vegetables. This soup required hours of cooking time as it was always prepared for larger groups (at least 30 people). From the 19th century onwards, soup was often cooked with fewer, but high-quality ingredients such as game and special spices. In the late 19th century, the first prototypes of ready-made soups were invented. Among other things, there were soup concentrates developed by Julius Michael Johannes Maggi and Johann Heinrich Grüneberg's Erbswurst. Due to the very good price-performance ratio of such products, soups were often served on the table in working-class families. The various types of soup Gastronomy distinguishes between five types of soup, which are further divided into several subtypes. The two most important types are undoubtedly clear soups and thick soups. Typical clear soups include beef broth, consommé and chicken broth. In our shop, for example, you can order Sonnen Bassermann Meine Hühner-Bouillon. Cream soups and thick vegetable soups are grouped together under the name thick soups. Examples of these products include Sonnen Bassermann Meine Pfifferling-Cremesuppe and Gut & Günstig Tomaten Cremesuppe mit Sahne. The remaining three types of soup are cold soups, ready-made soups and traditional national soups. Cold soups include fruit cold soups and milk soups. Both fruit cold soups and milk soups usually require cornstarch or another binder. The group of ready-made soups includes instant soups (mostly packed in bags), canned soups and frozen soups. Finally, there are soups whose ingredients and preparation methods have a long-standing tradition. An example of a traditional national soup, which is now also well-known in Germany, is the Bihun soup. The soup, which originates from Indonesia, is called "Soto Bihun Iga" in its home country, meaning "rice noodle soup with ribs". If you want to prepare Bihun soup according to an original Indonesian recipe, you need to allow at least two hours, as a piece of cross-rib with bone needs to be cooked first. In addition to the actual broth, a special seasoning paste, soup filling, and a vinegar sauce must be prepared. Fried onion flakes, Krupuk (shrimp chips) and Ketjap Manis (special soy sauce) are also essential accompaniments. It is much easier to order Gut & Günstig Bihunsuppe with chicken and glass noodles or Indonesia Bihunsuppe from our range. The quality of today's canned soups Although tins are no longer soldered with lead, you should not eat canned soups every day: According to a study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health in Cambridge, many of these ready-made products contain Bisphenol A, which is believed to have a negative effect on human health. Bisphenol A is an intermediate product that is produced during plastic production. Among other things, it is used for the interior lining of metal cans. Interior coatings are currently being developed that do not release such substances into the soups. It is suspected that a soup made of fresh ingredients contains significantly more vitamins than a canned soup. A study by the Institute of Food Technology and the University of Applied Sciences Niederrhein compared fresh soups with canned soups. The result was surprising: The percentage of vitamins in canned soups usually corresponded approximately to the amount of vitamins in fresh soups. Some canned soups even had more vitamins than comparable freshly prepared soups: For example, a carrot soup was found to contain 18% more folic acid than the fresh comparison product. So you certainly don't have to feel guilty if you indulge in a canned soup from time to time - it is certainly healthier than fast food. But why is the loss of vitamins in canned soups so low? This is due to modern manufacturing processes: After the vegetables have been blanched briefly, they are immediately put into the can. The can is then sealed airtight, and the contents are pasteurized. The vitamins are largely preserved because they are protected from the negative influence of light and oxygen. How long do canned soups last? Like other canned ready meals, the shelf life (and thus the edibility) of the contents usually exceeds the legally specified minimum shelf life by months or even years. However, you are on the safe side if you follow the printed minimum shelf life date. Ideally, you should store canned soups in a dark and dry room with a temperature between 10 and 18 degrees Celsius. If you have a dry cellar room, the cans are well stored there. If you are one of those who like to stock up from time to time, make sure to put the cans with the shortest shelf life in front and those with a longer shelf life in the back. In any case, you should dispose of a canned soup that has a bulging lid directly. Not only is the taste of a spoiled canned soup anything but good, but you are also risking a food poisoning. Always buy flawless, i.e. undamaged and rust-free, cans in the supermarket to be able to consume safe products. Of course, as a food supplier, we ensure that only intact cans are shipped - and securely packaged.

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