Zuppa - Italian Comfort Food As in many cultures, to an Italian, soup is comfort food. It is difficult not to feel better after enjoying a large, filling, bowl of soup. An old saying in Italy is that soup does seven things, or, La Zuppa fa sette cose. It is said to; quench your thirst, satisfy your hunger, fill your stomach, aid in your digestion, make your teeth sparkle, color your cheeks, and help you sleep. A clue to its very importance in Italian cuisine is reflected in the many different names given to different types of soup. In general, a minestra is a soup containing either rice or pasta along with vegetables, and possibly beans. A minestrina is a lighter broth soup, with just a little pasta or rice added, while minestrone would be a much heartier, thick soup. Zuppa is different from all these other soups as it has bread added, either to thicken, or as a condiment. Italians usually will eat soup as a first course instead of pasta or rice, or as a light evening meal if the large meal of the day was at lunch. Italian soups reflect the imagination and ingenuity that runs through all Italian cooking. Every soup is usually made from scratch with fresh ingredients, or leftover meats and vegetables from a previous meal. A soup can be as simple as a vegetable or two cooked in broth with a little rice or pasta added, or can be a complex multi-step procedure such as one containing homemade stuffed pastas in a fragrant meat broth. Grated cheese is usually served on the lighter broth based soups, while a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil is used on thicker, heartier soups. Many Italian soups are typically served just warm, or at room temperature to allow the flavours to meld, as it is thought the true flavour is lost when serving it very hot. There are regional differences found in Italian soup recipes, just as there are in other categories of food. In the north, Emilia-Romagna in particular, stuffed pasta such as cappelletti, or Tortellini is served in a flavourful homemade meat broth. The soups in Tuscany and Umbria are more typical of old country recipes, and are heartier with beans, grains and bread used to fortify them such as Ribolitta, or Pappa Pomodoro. In the south, rich, thick Minestrone, or Lentil soups are common, while in the mountains, heavy, rich, full flavored soups, often fortified with bread and cheese can be found. Now that you understand the importance of soup in Italian cuisine, why not try one of the recipes offered here, or choose one from my Italian Soup Recipe Collection! Buon Appetito! By Deborah Mele 2002 ********* ********* We will be adding more articles about soup. To add your favorite articles please fill in the form below. We will be happy to add them to our Italian pantry articles. To add to your enjoyment and please check out these other information links. For the live one on one discussion of your favorite articles on soup or other great stories join your friends here. Are you interested in adding your article but you think your writing skills are not what they should be? Think again... What a pleasant surprise. I ran across this fabulous book. I only wish that all the text books where written this way when I was in school and college life would have been so much simpler and a whole lot easier...
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