OK, as y'all know, I'm involved in a project re: cold soups.

Soup is one of those things. We all know what it is, right? But do we. I looked up the definition. There are several minor variations, but, in general, this is it:

"Soup: (n) A liquid food prepared from meat, fish, or vegetable stock combined with other ingredients and often containing solid pieces."

Seems straight forward enough. But then......

By this definition, isn't gravy actually soup?
And how do puree's fit in?
At what point does a dish stop being soup and become stew? And does anyone beside Rachael Ray include that third category stoup?

Hey, Kevin: You remember the chowder discussion on the other site? This is even worse.

Soup is a food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables in stock or hot/boiling water, broth until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth.

Chowder got it's name from the pot in which it was cook called a CHAUDRON (a pot). All it is - is a variety of soup thickened with flour and has milk/cream, etc. in it.

A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in water or other water-based liquid, typically by simmering, and that are often served without being drained.

Gravy is and English sauce often from the juices that run naturally from meats or vegetables during cooking.

Puree (and more rarely) mash are general terms for food, usually vegetables or legumes, that have been ground, pressed and/or strained to the consistency of a soft paste or thick liquid. (mashed potatoes, applesauce, bisques, hummus, etc.)

Puree overlaps dishes with similar consistencies - thick soups, creams, gravies, etc.

Many foods overlap others and of course there is always "everyone's opinion" - and anytime someone else will come up with another term meaning the very same thing as something else.

I sure wouldn't lose any sleep over this.

Welcome to the wonder world of cooking!

Brook, Brook, Brook... why do you do this to me?

Did you stay up all night thinking up a way to baffle me so early in the morning? (hee-hee!) To top it off, I got 4 hours of sleep, and Dad & the Baptist wife just called and expect me to show-up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to church and then Sunday dinner afterwards. And I'm thinking "Where was this invitation last night when we talked at 7:00PM before I decided to stay up 'till all hours w/ friends playing cards?" Yikes! I tell ya what, KYH... I'll order soup today after church, instead of salad at the little buffet-joint we go to and see if an answer to your question magically presents itself... Hey it could happen! Ha! Until then... I got one hour to get pretty and I tell ya- it's gonna take every minute of that hour this morning, so I best get a move on!

Soups???? Two basic categories - clear and thick. BROAD GROUPS. I wouldn't lose sleep over bouillon, consomme', purees, bisques, veloutes, etc.

A cold soup is a soup that is served at or below room temperature.

And now - which thread should I use for sewing this - the dark blue, denim blue, Egyptian blue, Dodger blue, cornflower blue, midnight blue, marine blue, or more of a gray-based with a blue tone??????? Sounds silly to me - but that is about how much worry I would put into someone's definition or soup, puree, gravy, etc.

One can go crazy if they get to OCD with culinary definitions. I mean, before I throw my burger on the grill, is it a burger or steak tartar?