Pumpkin soup is a usually 'bound' (thick)
soup
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...
made from a purée of
pumpkin
A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
. It is made by combining the meat of a blended pumpkin with broth or
stock
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
.
It can be served hot or cold, and is a common
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
dish in the United States. Various versions of the dish are known in many European countries, the United States and other areas of North America, in Asia and in Australia. Pumpkin soup was a staple for the
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
in
North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
ese prison camps during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
Squash soup is a soup prepared using
squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
as a primary ingredient. Squash used to prepare the soup commonly includes
acorn
The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally
two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...
and
butternut squash
Butternut squash ('' Cucurbita moschata''), known in Australia and New Zealand as butternut pumpkin or gramma, is a type of winter squash that grows on a vine. It has a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of a pumpkin. It has tan-yellow skin an ...
.
Preparation
Squash that has initially been separately roasted can be used in soup preparation.
The roasting of squash can serve to concentrate the gourd's flavor.
Squash soup can be prepared with chunks or pieces of squash and also with
purée
A purée (or mash) is cooked food, usually vegetables, fruits or legumes, that has been ground, pressed, blended or sieved to the consistency of a creamy paste or liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., apples ...
d squash.
Pre-cooked, frozen squash can also be used,
as can commercially prepared packets of pre-cooked frozen squash purée.
Butternut squash soup may have a sweet flavor, due to the sugars present in the squash.
Additional basic ingredients in squash soup's preparation can include
broth
Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...
, onion, cream, spices such as sage and thyme, salt and pepper.
Other recipes have been known to include split peas and more exotic spices such as cumin and cinnamon. Pumpkin soup can be served hot or cold, and is a popular
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
dish in the United States.
History
A variety of pumpkin soup originated in Haiti during their independence. Designed to be a statement to french colonists that the Haitian people could work together to create something. The traditional version of pumpkin soup is called
Soup joumou.
Pumpkin "pies" made by early
American colonists had more similarities to being a savory soup served in a pumpkin
than a sweet custard in a crust.
Pumpkin soup was a staple for the
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
in
North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
ese prison camps during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
Squash soup is a soup in
African cuisine
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** Ethn ...
. It is a part of the cuisine of
Northern Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...
,
and the cuisines of Mozambique
and Namibia,
both of which are located in
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...
. Squash soup is also served in other countries and is a part of other cuisines.
Soup Joumou is traditionally consumed in
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
on New Year's Day (January 1), as a historical tribute to
Haitian independence in 1804.
Gallery
File:Crema de calabaza.JPG, Pumpkin soup
File:Cucurbita maxima Zapallo Plomo semillería Costanzi - 2014 08 01 - squash A soup 4.JPG, Squash soup
File:Harefield, Harefield, London (3363509227).jpg, Roasted butternut squash soup
File:Tomato_Pumpkin_Soup_(32881733498).jpg, Tomato pumpkin soup
See also
*
List of African dishes
There is a list of dishes found in African cuisine, a generalized term collectively referring to the cuisines of Africa. The continent of Africa is the second-largest landmass on Earth, and is home to hundreds of different cultural and Ethnic gro ...
*
List of squash and pumpkin dishes
This is a list of notable squash and pumpkin dishes that are prepared using squash and pumpkin as a primary ingredient. Pumpkin is a squash cultivar.
Squash and pumpkin dishes and foods
* ''Hobak-juk'' – a Korean variety of '' juk'' (porridg ...
*
List of soups
This is a list of notable soups. Soups have been made since Ancient history, ancient times.
Some soups are served with large chunks of meat or vegetables left in the liquid, while others are served as a broth. A broth is a flavored liquid usua ...
*
Stuffed squash
Stuffed squash, courgette, marrow, mahshi, or zucchini is a dish common in the region of the former Ottoman Empire from the Balkans to the Levant and Egypt, a kind of dolma. It consists of various kinds of squash or zucchini stuffed with rice and ...
References
Further reading
*
{{Soups
African soups
Soups
Squash and pumpkin dishes
Vegetable soups
Vietnamese soups
American soups
Haitian cuisine
Thanksgiving food
Australian soups
New Zealand soups