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Classification of
Soups
Julienne soup:
This is a delicately flavored soup containing
shredded vegetables and is aptly named after
the French word, "Julienne," meaning a
particular way of cutting the vegetables.
Recipes usually include turnips, carrots, 3

onions, leeks, celery and meatballs or poultry.

The vegetables are lightly fried or browned in
butter, but must not be overly greasy. The
soup uses either a consommé or a vegetable
stock.
2. Thick Soups
Unlike clear soups, thick soups are opaque
rather than transparent. They are thickened
either by adding a thickening agent such as a
roux. Or by puréeing one or more of their
ingredients to provide a heavier consistency.
Thick soups include cream soups and purée
soups.

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A. Cream Soups
These are soups that are thickened
with roux, beurre manie, liaison, or
other added thickening agents and
have the addition of milk and
cream. They are similar to veloute
and béchamel sauces in fact, they
may be made by diluting and
flavoring either of these two leasing
sauces. These are usually named
after their major ingredient, such as
cream of chicken or cream of
asparagus.
B. Purées
These are soup that are naturally
thickened by puréeing one or more
of their ingredients. They are not as
smooth and creamy as cream soups.
Purées are normally based on
starchy ingredients. They may be
made from dried legumes (such as
split pea soup) or from fresh
vegetables with a starchy ingredient
such as potatoes or rice add
C. Bisques
These are thickened soup
made from shellfish. They
are usually prepared like
cream soups and are almost
always finished with cream.
D. Chowders
These are haerty American
soups made from fish,
shellfish, and/or vegetables.
Although they are made in
many different ways, they
usually contain milk and
potatoes.
E. Potage
This is a term
sometimes associated
with certain thick,
hearty soups, but it is
actually a general for
soup. A clear soup is
called a potage in
French.
3. Specialty and National
Soups
This is a catch-all-category that includes soups that
do not fit well into the main categories and soups
that are native to particular countries or regions.
Specialty soups are distinguished by unusual
ingredients, such as turtle soup, Gumbo, peanut
soup, and cold fruit soup. Cold soups are
sometimes considered specialty soups. But many
other popular cold soups, such as jellied
consommé, cold cream of cucumber soup, and
Vichyssoise are simple cold versions of basic clear
and thick soups. 10