Thick Soups

[weinoo]

This past weekend, I made a soup. I think soup can be categorized into any number of styles; thick soups, broths, vegetables, creams, and on and on.

In the thick soup category, I place soups such as those made with grains like barley. The soup I made this weekend was based on a mix of grains and pulses from Umbria - there were lentils, barley and spelt in the package, which I picked up on sale at Eataly.

Now, here's the conundrum. When I make a soup like this, I usually add the recommended amount of liquid, in this case a mix of stock and water. And then I add more. And the soup just absorbs every last drop. And then I add more liquid and the soup absorbs that.

So, do you ever stop adding liquid or do you keep adding liquid to make it a soup? Otherwise, it's just a bowl of grains, isn't it?

[Mjx]

If I get something that thick, I often take some stock or broth in a separate pot, and start adding the thick stuff to that, until it reaches the consistency I'm looking for: with grains (and legumes, even more so) as a base, the capacity for unaffected absorption seems limitless.

[Lisa Shock]

I also keep a separate pot of hot stock nearby and adjust consistency at the time of serving -particularly for barley soups. If any leftover soup is refrigerated, it invariably becomes a thick solid that needs thinning during re-heating. But, once again, I focus my energies at serving time.

[heidih]

Similarly, I just add hot water or broth to the amount being served. Thinning in the pot, over time, tends to drift towards a mush consistency.