The Evolution of Soups and Stews
The first soups and stews probably originated with the first prehistoric cook who figured out how to soak flora or fauna in water to make it more easily edible. That said, food historians credit the advent of cooking pots — clay or carved stone vessels able to withstand high temperatures — with the arrival of soups and stews that resemble the dishes you know today.
Without heat-safe pots, water could not be boiled for extended periods. Very hot water is needed to dissolve meat sinews, break down plant fibers, and extract nutrients from otherwise inedible bones. The flavorful broth would have been a happy side benefit of cooking meats and vegetables in a pot.
The first stews were probably porridges of grain — which boiling would have rendered soft and thick — studded with meats and berries. No doubt, soups left on the fire too long were another source of prehistoric stew.
Although early recipes and practices passed from country to country via migrations, armies, and trading vessels, the ultimate melting pot for soups and stews was the colonial United States.
The British brought their recipes for pea soup, duck soup, and broths; the Germans added potato soups, fruit soups, meaty stews, and dumplings; French settlers added soups thickened with roux, julienned vegetable mélanges, and turtle soup. Strongly flavored soups and stews with tomatoes, peppers, fish, sausages, and beans were the province of the Spanish. African hands stirred the pots with okra, greens, pork, and herbs. The first writings about food from the American colonies mention both subsistence and well-laden tables offering soups and stewed meats.
Archeological evidence suggests that once animals became domesticated and crops cultivated, soups and stews flourished. Ancient cooks around the Mediterranean in particular, including Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East, used soups and stews extensively, boiling their harvest in crockery vessels. Biblical scholars cite references to lentil stew in the tale of brothers Esau and Jacob, and an a.d. 4 Roman cookbook offers instructions for stew making.
During the 1800s, home cooks canned soups for year-round use and travelers could reconstitute dried soup mixes while en route from one corner of the United States to another. But the biggest development in the distribution and automation of soup came in 1899, when Joseph Campbell figured out how to make canned, condensed soup in a preserving and canning factory outside Philadelphia.
Five years later, the company was selling 16 million cans of condensed soup a year, including Tomato, Vegetable, Chicken, Consommé, and Oxtail varieties. Today, the company sells more than 2.5 billion cans of soup annually, and it is by no means the only major player.
Combine commercial soup sales — including restaurant soups, canned soups, aseptic-pack soups, improved dehydrated soups, and gourmet frozen soups — with the gallons of soups made by home cooks every day, and there's no doubt that soup is one of the world's most beloved dishes.
