Book of Soups: More than 100 Recipes for Perfect Soups

Creamy bisques, fresh vegetable purées, hearty meat-and-potato potages--soup delights one and all. Recognizing its primal appeal, The Culinary Institute of America Book of Soups provides over 100 exemplary recipes for the adored dish as well as detailed technical information all cooks can use. The book concentrates on the whys and hows of soup production; over 50 step-by-step photographs display basic methods for preparing a complete range of soups, from broths and cream soups to bisques, chowders, cold soups, and more. The soups themselves are enticing and include supper specialties like Purée of Split Pea, elegant specialties such as Cantaloupe Soup with Lime Granité, refreshing cold soups like gazpacho, and down-home treats including Cream of Tomato Soup and Seafood Gumbo. Soups from the global kitchen are well represented, too, with recipes for the likes of Thai Hot and Sour Soup and Leblechi, a delicious Tunisian chickpea soup. With recipes for dessert soups--one made with strawberries is particularly pleasing--and for accompaniments like Cheddar Rusks and Sage Dumplings, the book is a completely informative exploration of a dish much loved but too often neglected. --Arthur Boehm