There are many countries that have their own soups, such as split pea originating in Canada, borsch of Poland and minestrone of Italy. Originally in France, the soupe was a slice of bread on which was poured the contents of the cooking pot (potage). However, soupe and potage are now often synonymous, although the former is always used to designate unstrained vegetable, meat, or fish soups garnished with bread, pasta, or rice; it is also used for regional or classical soups with bread added to them, such as the classic, French onion soup (soupe à l'oignon gratinée).
They can be served hot or cold and can be classified into two broad groups. Clear, being unthickened, bouillon or consommé and secondly thick soups can be further subdivided according to the type of thickening used: purée, bisques, cream and velouté. In addition to these soups there are soups and broths thickened with arrowroot, rice and tapioca.
This is a good way, along with stocks to use up left over foods before they spoil. Some of the ingredients that soups are made from might not of been able to be used in any other recipe. This makes them very low in food cost in reguards for commercial kitchens.
