"The History of Soup"

                

Growing up I was fascinated with the history of the world and its people. While my grandmother was in the kitchen busy making soup, I would sit next to my grandfather and ask to hear about his life. He didn't like soup and said that it was not fit to be labeled as lunch or dinner but a wash for your insides.

"Well, you need a good hot washing once in awhile!" grandmother would say as she prepared her soup. I loved her soups and his stories and remember them both when I am cooking in my kitchen.

Grandfather was a great storyteller and had an extraordinary lifetime of stories to tell. I could listen to him for hours. He sparked my interest and created a thirst for knowledge that lead me to my love of reading and researching. Going to the library quickly became a habit and while I was there, I would lose all track of time.

Now we have the Internet for such things, so I googled the history of soup and this is what I found on "wiki".  Fun little facts about soup and a beautiful portrait of a little girl holding a bowl of soup. 

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (Soup 1865) 

Evidence of the existence of soup can be found as far back as about 20,000 BC.^[3] Boiling was not a common cooking technique until the invention of waterproof containers (which probably came in the form of clay vessels). Animal hides and watertight baskets of bark or reeds were used before this. To boil the water hot rocks were used. This method was also used to cook acorns and other plants.

The word soup comes from French soupe ("soup", "broth"), which comes through Vulgar Latin suppa ("bread soaked in broth") from a Germanic source, from which also comes the word "sop", a piece of bread used to soak up soup or a thick stew.

The word restaurant (meaning "[something] restoring") was first used in France in the 16th century, to refer to a highly concentrated, inexpensive soup, sold by street vendors, that was advertised as an antidote to physical exhaustion. In 1765, a Parisian entrepreneur opened a shop specializing in such soups. This prompted the use of the modern word restaurant for the eating establishments.

In the US, the first colonial cookbook was published by William Parks in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1742, based on Eliza Smith's The Compleat Housewife; or Accomplished Gentlewoman's Companion and it included several recipes for soups and bisques. A 1772 cookbook, The Frugal Housewife, contained an entire chapter on the topic. English cooking dominated early colonial cooking; but as new immigrants arrived from other countries, other national soups gained popularity. In particular, German immigrants living in Pennsylvania were famous for their potato soups. In 1794, Jean Baptiste Gilbert Payplat dis Julien, a refugee from the French Revolution, opened an eating establishment in Boston called "The Restorator", and became known as the "Prince of Soups". The first American cooking pamphlet dedicated to soup recipes was written in 1882 by Emma Ewing: Soups and Soup Making.

Portable soup was devised in the 18th century by boiling seasoned meat until a thick, resinous syrup was left that could be dried and stored for months at a time.

"Green Machine Soup"

3 cups of green split pea
 ( wash and soak overnight 
cook with 5 cups of filtered water and drain)

1 tbsp of extra virgin coconut oil
1 bundle of fresh chopped parsley
half bundle of fresh chopped cilantro
1 bundle of fresh kale or collard greens ( your favorite blend of fresh green veggies will do)
2 celery stalks sliced or diced
1 large white or yellow onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic
4 slices of fresh ginger
2 tbsp of cumin seeds
half a cup of brown rice
2 tbsp of sea salt
20 cups of filtered water

Heat coconut oil in a (8 Quart) stainless steel pot, add onions, garlic, cumin seeds and ginger,
sauté until your ingredients sizzle a bit. ( approximately 4 minutes )

Add filtered water, cooked and drained green split pea, parsley, cilantro, celery,
brown rice and sea salt. Bring to a boil and cook until spilt pea is tender. Finally add your kale or
favorite green veggies. Turn off the heat. Stir your soup. Put the lid on and wait 5minutes. The hot
soup will cook the raw veggies just right.

Remove lid and give the soup another stir. With a hand held blender puree the soup right in the pot.

Eat and Enjoy!