The vegetables that go into soups may be raw, or added as purées or blends made especially for a particular brand, dry, freeze-dried, infused, ready-cut and refrigerated, or IQF. The types of vegetables in a given soup not only impart important building-block flavors, but they also add an aesthetic and mouthfeel that can help a soup develop authenticity. Large vegetable chunks, for example, lend a home-style appeal, while blended or puréed soups have a more upscale appeal.
“Vegetable purées and blends can be made with or without visible vegetable chunks, depending on the customer’s end goal,” says Hemming. “One blend we’ve been working with is a South American blend with vivid pieces of diced chiles and bright specks of herbs in the convenience of a purée.”
Garlic is one ingredient that most refrigerated-soup manufacturers use raw. It is most often bought peeled or preroasted. “Garlic is an interesting thing,” says Jeff Stokes, vice president of sales, Christopher Ranch, Gilroy, CA. “When you chop it raw, it has an intense garlic flavor, but when it is prechopped, much of the volatile flavor that you want in garlic is lost.” It also matters which variety of garlic is used. If one compares California garlic to Chinese garlic, California has a lower water content, higher oil content, higher allicin levels and one-third higher Brix, meaning it holds its flavor in the cooking process better. Soups made with Chinese garlic lose flavor more quickly as they sit.
Meat, poultry and seafood products also may be added raw, or in IQF form. Larger chunks and lesser cuts of meat most likely are added to braised-type stews and soups. More-delicate products like chicken breast, shrimp and other seafood are more likely added toward the end of the cooking process to prevent toughness and overcooking.
Companies may use real cream for some soups, often without the carrageenen added for stabilizing effect. Other companies may use dry nondairy creamers because of their lower cost and convenience, and for stability in the finished soup. When real cream and milk are used, care must be taken by the end user to make sure soups are not overheated, which might cause separation.
For cheese-based soups, process cheeses or cheese bases that are processed from natural dairy ingredients using emulsifying salts, as well as possibly starches or gums, are easy to use, says Diane Kussy, R&D section manager, Land O’Lakes, Inc., Arden Hill, MN. “They are available in loaf or block form and can be shredded or diced prior to incorporating into the soup formula. These products offer a wide variety of flavors—from very mild Cheddar to strongly flavored Italian or blue cheese profiles. And they allow manufacturers to deliver a rich, creamy-smooth texture in the finished soup.”
Cheese and other dairy powders also can be used in refrigerated soups, notes Kussy, and may offer some distinctive benefits. While powders won’t develop the same creamy-smooth texture as a process cheese (perhaps necessitating the addition of texturizing agents), they may serve as the main contributor of flavor, or boost flavors coming from process cheeses or other natural dairy ingredients.