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Different Types Of Soups

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The two general classes of soup already mentioned permit of numerous methods of classification. For instance, soups are sometimes named from the principal ingredient or an imitation of it, as the names potato soup, beef soup, macaroni soup, mock-turtle soup testify. Again, both stimulating and nutritious soups may be divided into thin and thick soups, thin soups usually being clear, and thick soups, because of their nature, cloudy. When the quality of soups is considered, they are placed in still different classes and are called broth, bisque, consomme, puree, and so on. Another important classification of soups results from the nationality of the people who use them. While soups are classified in other ways, it will be sufficient for all practical purposes if the housewife understands these three principal classes.

CLASSES DENOTING CONSISTENCY.–As has already been pointed out, soups are of only two kinds when their consistency is thought of, namely, clear soups and thick soups.

CLEAR SOUPS are those made from carefully cleared stock, or soup foundation, and flavored or garnished with a material from which the soup usually takes its name. There are not many soups of this kind, bouillon and consomme being the two leading varieties, but in order to be palatable, they require considerable care in making.

THICK SOUPS are also made from stock, but milk, cream, water, or any mixture of these may also be used as a basis, and to it may be added for thickening meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, or grain or some other starchy material. Soups of this kind are often made too thick, and as such soups are not appetizing, care must be taken to have them just right in consistency.

CLASSES DENOTING QUALITY.–When attention is given to the quality of soup, this food divides itself into several varieties, namely, broth, cream soup, bisque, chowder, and puree.

BROTHS have for their foundation a clear stock. They are sometimes a thin soup, but other times they are made quite thick with vegetables, rice, barley, or other material, when they are served as a substantial part of a meal.

CREAM SOUPS are highly nutritious and are of great variety. They have for their foundation a thin cream sauce, but to this are always added vegetables, meat, fish, or grains.

BISQUES are thick, rich soups made from game, fish, or shell fish, particularly crabs, shrimp, etc. Occasionally, vegetables are used in soup of this kind.

CHOWDERS are soups that have sea food for their basis. Vegetables and crackers are generally added for thickening and to impart flavor.

PUREES are soups made thick partly or entirely by the addition of some material obtained by boiling an article of food and then straining it to form a pulp. When vegetables containing starch, such as beans, peas, lentils, and potatoes, are used for this purpose, it is unnecessary to thicken the soup with any additional starch; but when meat, fish, or watery vegetables are used, other thickening is required. To be right, a puree should be nearly as smooth as thick cream and of the same consistency.

CLASSES TYPICAL OF PARTICULAR COUNTRIES.–Certain kinds of soup have been made so universally by the people of various countries that they have come to be regarded as national dishes and are always thought of as typical of the particular people by whom they are used. Among the best known of these soups are Borsch, a soup much used by the Russian people and made from beets, leeks, and sour cream; Daikan, a Japanese soup in which radishes are the principal ingredient; Kouskous, a soup favored by the people of Abyssinia and made from vegetables; Krishara, a rice soup that finds much favor in India; Lebaba, an Egyptian soup whose chief ingredients are honey, butter, and raisin water; Minestra, an Italian soup in which vegetables are combined; Mulligatawny, an Indian rice soup that is flavored with curry; Potroka, another kind of Russian soup, having giblets for its foundation; Soljinka, an entirely different variety of Russian soup, being made from fish and onions; and Tarhonya, a Hungarian soup containing noodles.

An Alternative To Venture Capital In The Food And Beverage Industry

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If you are an entrepreneur with a small food or beverage company looking to take it to the next level, this article should be of particular interest to you. Your natural inclination may be to seek venture capital or private equity to fund your growth, but that might not be the best path for you to take. We have created a hybrid M&A model designed to bring the appropriate capital resources to you entrepreneurs. It allows the entrepreneur to bring in smart money and to maintain control.

We have taken the experiences of a beverage industry veteran, a food industry veteran and an investment banker and crafted a model that both large industry players and the small business owners are embracing.

I recently connected with two old college mates from the Wharton Business School. We are in what we like to call, the early autumn of our careers after pursuing quite different paths initially. John Blackington is a partner in Growth Partners, a consulting firm that advises food and beverage companies in all aspects of product introduction and market growth. You might say that it has been his life’s work with his initial introduction to the industry as a Coke Route driver during his college summer breaks.

After graduation, Coke hired John as a management trainee in the sales and marketing discipline. John grew his career at Coke and over the next 25 years held various positions in sales, marketing, and business development. John’s entrepreneurial spirit prevailed and he left Coke to consult with early stage food and beverage companies on new product introductions and strategic partnerships.

Steve Hasselbeck is now a food industry consultant after spending 27 years with the various companies that were rolled up into ConAgra. His experience was in managing products and channels. Steve is familiar with almost every functional area within a large food company. He has seen the introduction and the failed introduction of many food industry products.

John’s experience at Coke and Steve’s experience at ConAgra led them to the conclusion that new product introductions were most efficiently and cost effectively the purview of the smaller, nimble, low overhead company and not the food and beverage giants.

Dave Kauppi is now the president of MidMarket Capital, a M&A firm specializing in smaller technology based companies. Dave got the high tech bug early in his business life and pursued a career in high tech sales and marketing. Dave sold or managed in computer services, hardware, software, datacom, computer leasing and of course, a Dot Com. After several experiences of rapid accent followed by an even more rapid decent as technologies and markets changed, Dave decided to pursue an investment banking practice to help technology companies.

Dave, John, and Steve stayed in touch over the years and would share business ideas. In a recent discussion, John was describing the dynamics he saw with new product introductions in the food and beverage industry. He observed that most of the blockbuster products were the result of an entrepreneurial effort from an early stage company bootstrapping its growth in a very cost conscious lean environment.

The big companies, with all their seeming advantages experienced a high failure rate in new product introductions and the losses resulting from this art of capturing the fickle consumer were substantial. When we contacted Steve, he confirmed that this was also his experience. Don’t get us wrong. There were hundreds of failures from the start-ups as well. However, the failure for the edgy little start-up resulted in losses in the $1 – $5 million range. The same result from an industry giant was often in the $100 million to $250 million range.

For every Hansen Natural or Red Bull, there are literally hundreds of companies that either flame out or never reach a critical mass beyond a loyal local market. It seems like the mentality of these smaller business owners is, using the example of the popular TV show, Deal or No Deal, to hold out for the $1 million briefcase. What about that logical contestant that objectively weighs the facts and the odds and cashes out for $280,000?

As we discussed the dynamics of this market, we were drawn to a merger and acquisition model commonly used in the technology industry that we felt could also be applied to the food and beverage industry. Cisco Systems, the giant networking company, is a serial acquirer of companies. They do a tremendous amount of R&D and organic product development. They recognize, however, that they cannot possibly capture all the new developments in this rapidly changing field through internal development alone.

Cisco seeks out investments in promising, small, technology companies and this approach has been a key element in their market dominance. They bring what we refer to as smart money to the high tech entrepreneur. They purchase a minority stake in the early stage company with a call option on acquiring the remainder at a later date with an agreed-upon valuation multiple. This structure is a brilliantly elegant method to dramatically enhance the risk reward profile of new product introduction. Here is why:

For the Entrepreneur: (Just substitute in your food or beverage industry giant’s name that is in your category for Cisco below)

1.The involvement of Cisco – resources, market presence, brand, distribution capability is a self fulfilling prophecy to your product’s success.

2.For the same level of dilution that an entrepreneur would get from a VC, angel investor or private equity group, the entrepreneur gets the performance leverage of smart money. See #1.

3.The entrepreneur gets to grow his business with Cisco’s support at a far more rapid pace than he could alone. He is more likely to establish the critical mass needed for market leadership within his industry’s brief window of opportunity.

4.He gets an exit strategy with an established valuation metric while the buyer helps him make his exit much more lucrative.

5.As an old Wharton professor used to ask, What would you rather have, all of a grape or part of a watermelon? That sums it up pretty well. The involvement of Cisco gives the product a much better probability of growing significantly. The entrepreneur will own a meaningful portion of a far bigger asset.

For the Large Company Investor:

1.Create access to a large funnel of developing technology and products.

2.Creates a very nimble, market sensitive, product development or R&D arm.

3.Minor resource allocation to the autonomous operator during his skunk works market proving development stage.

4.Diversify their product development portfolio – because this approach provides for a relatively small investment in a greater number of opportunities fueled by the entrepreneurial spirit, they greatly improve the probability of creating a winner.

5.By investing early and getting an equity position in a small company and favorable valuation metrics on the call option, they pay a fraction of the market price to what they would have to pay if they acquired the company once the product had proven successful.

Dean Foods utilized this model successfully with their investment in White Wave, the producer of the market leading Silk Brand of organic Soy milk products. Dean Foods acquired a 25% equity stake in White Wave in 1999 for $4 million. While allowing this entrepreneurial firm to operate autonomously, they backed them with leverage and a modest level of capital resources. Sales exploded and Dean exercised their call option on the remaining 75% equity in White Way in 2004 for $224 million. Sales for White Way were projected to hit $420 million in 2005.

Given today’s valuation metrics for a company with White Way’s growth rate and profitability, their market cap is about $1.26 Billion, or 3 times trailing 12 months revenue. Dean invested $5million initially, gave them access to their leverage, and exercised their call option for $224 million. Their effective acquisition price totaling $229 million represents an 82% discount to White Wave’s 2005 market cap.

Dean Foods is reaping additional benefits. This acquisition was the catalyst for several additional investments in the specialty/gourmet end of the milk industry. These acquisitions have transformed Dean Foods from a low margin milk producer into a Wall Street standout with a growing stable of high margin, high growth brands.

Dean’s profits have tripled in four years and the stock price has doubled since 2000, far outpacing the food industry average. This success has triggered the aggressive introduction of new products and new channels of distribution. Not bad for a $5 million bet on a new product in 1999. Wait, let’s not forget about our entrepreneur. His total proceeds of $229 million are a fantastic 5- year result for a little company with 1999 sales of under $20 million.

MidMarket Capital has created this model combining the food and beverage industry experience with the investment banking experience to structure these successful transactions. MMC can either represent the small entrepreneurial firm looking for the smart money investment with the appropriate growth partner or the large industry player looking to enhance their new product strategy with this creative approach.

This model has successfully served the technology industry through periods of outstanding growth and market value creation. Many of the same dynamics are present in the food and beverage industry and these same transaction stru7ctures can be similarly employed to create value.

Quick View To Civilization Of Chinese Food

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Chinese food now holds a popular place among the entire population of the world. You can find a Chinese restaurant in every major city and in many smaller areas of the world as well. Why is Chinese food so popular? Is Chinese food healthy? What is the history of Chinese food?
Firstly Id like give a brief introduction of the development of the Chinese food culture.
In China, food and its preparation has been developed so highly that it has reached the status of an art form. Rich and poor, the Chinese people consider that delicious and nutritious food is a basic necessity. There is an old Chinese saying Food is the first necessity of the people.
Many scientists believe that Chinese food history dates back to the Peking Man which started using fire for cooking about 400,000 years ago. Others claim that Chinese cuisine was established during the Chinese stone age when people began to produce noodle and to cultivate rice.

Chinese food history is remarkable for its variety. Almost each Chinese Dynasty introduced some new innovations, enriching unique Chinese food history. Thus, the Zhou Dynasty is responsible for the appearance of a such well-known Chinese food tradition as chopsticks, and the Qing Dynasty is associated with most of today’s Chinese food popular dishes. Another feature of Chinese food history stir-frying (a famous Chinese food cooking technique) was created during the Tang Dynasty to conserve valuable fuel.

Chinese food history has a deep philosophical background which influenced Chinese food recipes, cooking tips and menus. Thus, in Chinese culture preparation of food is considered not just a craft but an art. Most Chinese food popular dishes require special experience and talent of the chef, however many of them were much modified for western Chinese food restaurants.

Some Chinese food history experts think there are two basic philosophies that had the biggest effect on Chinese food Confucianism and Taoism. After Confucius standards of etiquette food is cut into small pieces before being served, and there should be no knives on the table. The followers of this Chinese food history movement propagated harmony during both cooking and eating.

Taoism which had also a great influence on Chinese culture, and particularly on Chinese food history, focused on such important concepts as healing powers of food and its healthiness. In this way, the Chinese discovered that using ginger as a garnish is a good remedy for upset stomach and cold.
However, the consumption of food is a vital part of the chemical process of life is to state the obvious, but sometimes we fail to realize that food is more than just vital. The only other activity that we engage in that is of comparable importance to our lives and to the life of our species is sex. As Kao Tzu, a Warring States-period philosopher and keen observer of human nature, said, “Appetite for food and sex is nature.” But these two activities are quite different. We are, I believe, much closer to our animal base in our sexual endeavors than we are in our eating habits. Too, the range of variations is infinitely wider in food than in sex. In fact, the importance of food in understanding human culture lies precisely in its infinite variability -variability that is not essential for species survival. For survival needs, all men everywhere could eat the same food, to be measured only in calories, fats, carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins. But no, people of different backgrounds eat very differently. The basic stuffs from which food is prepared; the ways in which it is preserved, cut up, cooked (if at all); the amount and variety at each meal; the tastes that are liked and disliked; the customs of serving food; the utensils; the beliefs about the food’s properties -these all vary. The number of such “food variables” is great.
Chinese food, when authentic is probably the healthiest food in the world. Some restaurants, which are not authentic, prepare their menu with highly saturated fats or with meats that contain unhealthy amounts of animal fat. These Chinese restaurants are not recommended and they are both neither authentic nor healthy.
Good Chinese food however, is prepared and cooked with poly-unsaturated oils. Authentic Chinese food does not require the use of milk-fat ingredients such as cream, butter or cheese. Meat is used, but not in abundance, which makes it easy for those who love authentic Chinese food to avoid high levels of animal fat. Many believe that authentic Chinese food is really the ideal diet.
Nowadays people are attracted both by Chinese food exoticism and its medical aspects. According to Chinese food history specialists, Chinese cuisine has never been so widespread as it is today.

Food Processing Industry Attractive Sector For Investment In India

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The food processing industry plays a vital role in the economy of any country because it links agriculture to industry. The food processing industry is responsible for diversification of agriculture, improvement of value-added opportunities, and creation of excess that can be exported. All information about it you’ll find at this article.

The food processing industry of India is one of the largest in the world in terms of manufacture, use, export, and development. The sector has immense potential to contribute to growth and employment opportunities of the country.

The food processing industry is very important for an agriculture-based economy like India because it helps in the commercialization of farming and increases the income of farmers. It also generates employment opportunities and assists in the creation of markets for export of agriculture-based products.

In the beginning, the food processing industry was limited to procedures of food preservation and packaging that involved drying, salting, and pickling. However, in the last few years, with advancement in technology, the scope of the sector has grown tremendously. The industry now also includes ready-to-eat food items, frozen fruit and vegetable products, and seafood and meat products. The storage, processing, preservation, and transportation of various food items have given rise to many irradiation facilities, cold storage facilities, and packaging centers.

The food processing industry in India has players from private, public and cooperative sectors. The Food Products Order (FPO) of 1955, Meat Food Products Order (MFPO) of 1973, and Food and Standards Act of 2006 ensure that the food items made after processing in India meet international standards of hygiene and quality.

The main agency responsible for the development of this industry in India is the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. This ministry deals with a range of products related to fruits and vegetables, fisheries, poultry, meat, dairy, soft drinks, and other aerated drinks.

The ministry also plays a proactive role in attracting investments in India into the sector. It keeps announcing various schemes and incentives to promote a favorable environment for functioning and growth of the industry. One such step is the National Food Processing Policy.

The main objective of this policy is to increase investment in the industry by:

Bringing about financial initiatives in the form of rationalization of tax structure of food and machinery used in the industry

Simplification of food laws to cover all issues related to equalization funds, futures marketing, and merit goods

Enabling planned investments in the sector by boosting the market and database intelligence system

Enhancing productivity to ensure availability of the raw material required for the industry all year round

Promoting establishment of processing units close to production areas to avoid cost of transportation and wastage

Thanks to these policy initiatives, the industry has undergone rapid growth in the last few years.

The FDI inflow in this sector from 200506 was approximately US $74 million. Thus, investment opportunities in the food processing sector of India are immense. Not only does the country have the highest food production in the world, it also has a wide variety of crops, fruits, vegetables, livestock, and seafood.

If You’ve Never Had Indian Food, What Should You Try First

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Each individual has always been unique and one of a kind, each has totally different tastes and preferences in all kind of things, may it be in clothing or fashion style, tastes in movies books, and especially in food. Food preferences depend upon the country they originated at. It is that. Chinese are fond of their own Chinese delicacies; Italian people are into pastas and pizzas, and many more.

However, there are tendencies when people opt to something new, something different that would tingle their taste buds, that is why delicacies form different parts of the world are made available in other countries too. Chinese food are famous for their raw ingredients, sushi, sashimi, and the likes, Italian food spread all over the world as most people love pastas, and pizzas, then, there is Indian delicacies. Indian food are known for its spices, the delicacies have distinctive taste and very flavourful mostly are also hot and spicy. So, for those who want their taste buds to get fiery, Indian food is the best choice.

If one hasnt tasted Indian food yet, be better prepared of how it may make you feel after the first bite. Most of Indian foods are spicy, so for those who cant tolerate hot food, better brace you. Also, because of the load of spices in one delicacy, the flavour may not be distinctive as you will experience layers of tastes, thus the taster must prepare himself of the experience. With India having a diverse culture and a colourful variety of traditions, there is also a unique difference between each regions and sometimes, one recipe will have a distinctive way of cooking in each region, having a slightly difference to taste for each which depends on the group of peoples preference. Indian cuisine however is known for its being very flavourful and spicy.

For those who havent tried Indian food yet, and is willing to experience such a delectable event, the best recipe to try first is a recipe of curry. Curry is very famous and a trademark of Indian cuisine and having tasted it will verify an Indian ingredient. Curry may come in various ways to be cooked and usually, it is a spicy dish, thus the first taster must help himself with this and be prepared for the hotness and tingling sensation afterwards.

Curry is full of flavour and offers a layer of tastes, so if you are up for this kind of food, then one wouldnt regret opting for Indian food. Indian delicacies are also known for their kebabs, so, for meat lovers and grill enthusiast, kebab would be a first choice, it offers a lot of flavour too, and it is protein rich. This dish may also come in a variety of ways to be cooked, but basically, this involves meat, may it be lamb, pork of beef. Lamb kebab is well known in India and is sought after by the tourists, so, try having this one and youll surely ask for more. Indian food is all about variation, spices and flavour. It will give the taster, a very unique experience on the table.