Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Source for Filling Soups
Review: 'Daily Soup' is the name of a New York City chain of restaurants that serve only soup. This book presents the one hundred best recipes out of the five hundred soups the author / chef / owners have developed at the restaurants. This description alone promises a first class collection. I began reading the book with great expectations about the quality of the recipes.One aspect of the recipes in this book is that since 'Daily Soup' serves only soup, every recipe must be robust enough to be a full meal. The authors state this plainly in the beginning of the book. If you need a light soup, look to Barbara Kafka's 'Soup, A Way of Life' or James Peterson's 'Splendid Soups'. Early in the book, it became clear to me that the authors truly have fun with their soups and succeed in communicating that sense of fun to you, dear reader. This is a rare commodity in culinary writing which you find as a rare spice to a few writers such as Julia Child and as a truly hot ingredient in the works of Alton Brown and Wayne Harley Brachman. This gave me even greater expectations for the book. The good humor appears in most general instructions, sidebars, headnotes, and selected chapters devoted entirely to whimsy such as the best soups to eat to various movies and the best musical accompaniment for some soups. The introductory chapter(s) including a section entitled 'Some Things to Remember' are pure gold in the world of advice about soup. The most interesting advice regarded temperature in general and freezing soups in particular. Another obvious but often forgotten fact about temperature is that every time an ingredient is added to a heated pot of soup or stock, the temperature will drop a bit, so one's figuring about how long the cooking will take and what must be done to keep the food a temperature which will kill any roaming bacteria who get the notion to join the party. The authors organize their recipes in a sensible fashion, by primary ingredient. This is doubly sensible in their case in that almost every soup is hearty enough to satisfy one as a full meal should. Therefore, there are no broths and few soups with a small number of ingredients. The authors augment their classification by ingredient with one or more additional classifiers above the name of the soup. These classifiers include 'vegetarian', 'spicy', 'dairy free', 'vegetarian', and 'low fat'. The principle ingredients, being recipe chapter names, are Vegetable; Tomato; Rice; Grain, Pasta, and Bread; Corn; Potato; Bean; Chili; Lentil and Pea; Nut; Coconut; Cheese; and Fruit. To these are added chapters on Roux based soups such as the gumbos and 'Really Delicious Soups That Didn't Fit Into Any Chapter'. This chapter contains seven recipes. The perfect example of this is Bouillabaisse. Bouillabaisse is also a perfect example of the fact that the authors are not standing on custom in the recipes they use. I was surprised to find them using a vegetable stock in the Bouillabaisse when a recent Tyler Florence show in Marseilles shows the stew being done with a very fresh fish stock. I also checked a recipe by Paul Bocuse. This recipe also uses a broth made from fish flesh and bones. Both French sources give recipes taking between an hour and a half and two and a half-hours. The 'Daily Soup' recipe can be cooked and ready to serve in forty minutes, not including the ingredients prep and stock making. In fairness, the French recipes included the stock making in the timing. In the case of other classics such as chili, the authors can have it more than one way, as there are six (6) different chili recipes. Even so, all six recipes have a higher than traditional carb count from either beans or pasta. All this really means is that these ladies and gentlemen are creating their own versions of classic soups to fit the strategy of their recipe. It is not at all surprising that all 'Daily Soup' recipes are made with stocks prepared by 'Daily Soup' itself. These stocks are so instrumental to the outcome of their soup recipes that I would feel uncomfortable in making any of these soups with anything less than a homemade stock, preferably one made by their recipe. Here is where I found a rare problem with the book. The authors in the introduction state that vegetables do not need to cook as long as meat in a soup. This agrees perfectly with statements in a recent text by the Culinary Institute of America, which goes on to give stock recipes which add the veg an hour before the stock is to be done. Somehow, the authors of this book overlook this advice when it comes to their meat stockmaking. In the lamb stock recipe in particular, they cover both meat and veg with the water and simmer together for four hours. I was also quite surprised at the two (2) hour cooking time for the basic fish stock. The fussiest fish stock recipes stop at 30 minutes. I have never seen an authoritative fish stock recipe that cooks for more than an hour. Most stop at 45 minutes. The other side of the coin is that all stock recipes are quite simple. Patience is the only ingredient that may be difficult to find. I must say that all recipes look delicious and highly recommended. The 'Daily Soup' recipes simply do not skimp on ingredients or the proper application of love and patience. Even the very simple Vichyssoise uses two types of potatoes and heavy cream. One last sale point is that the authors have converted several traditional non-soup recipes such as Peking Duck into soups. This gives added interest to the book, as if you needed it. Highly recommended, serious soup making. No, there is no mention of the Soup Nazi!
Rating: 
Summary: Not thrilled with first few recipes we tried.
Review: Based on the previous 5 star reviews, we bought this book because we love soup. I believe that a cookbook is only as good as the first few recipes you try. First one we tried last week was Pablano Corn Chowder. It was good, but not nearly as good as the corn chowder served around the corner at our neighborhood coffee shop. The recipe calls for adding in the fresh corn sliced off the cob. Basically you end up with crisp corn floating in a heavy cream and cheese broth, which is OK. I prefer pureeing half the corn to give it more of a corn cream base instead to make the soup smoother. 2nd recipe we tried for a party last weekend was Thai Chicken with Ginger and Coconut. This recipe was a weird fusion mix that didn't have the flavor of Thai at all. It called for a whole can of tomatoes (28oz), that turned the entire broth into a tomato base and that was all we could taste after the other ingredients were added. A few tablespoons of tomato paste should have been the most added or a fresh tomato, since the can of tomatos overpowered the soup. Also, it called for a whole chicken which was way too much for the amount of broth in the soup. The worst part of the recipe, however, was the direction given to puree the following items together: garlic, ginger, lemongrass, sugar, curry paste & salt in a blender or food processor. Anyone who has cooked Thai should know that lemongrass prepared in a food processor is not a good idea. It's not a chewable item, so you end up with many hundreds of chards of lemongrass. We saved the dish by getting out our strainer & straining the lemongrass chards out of the soup base. We also ended up having to add more curry paste, a stalk of lemongrass to the broth, remove the tomatoes, add in additional lime juice, etc to save the dish for the party. It would have been a disaster the way the recipe was written. Also there was so much vagueness in the ingredient list such as the mention of Thai Curry Paste (did they mean yellow, red or green)? I ended up using red. Not too thrilled with this new cookbook, other than the book being a good size and easy to handle. There were no variations mentioned nor ingredient substitutions suggested. I would not recommend this cookbook.
Rating:
Summary: When All You Do is Soup--It Better Be Goood! This is!
Review: Can a restaurant survive with just great soups! Sure, and so can it's cookbook. This is outstanding selection of interesting ingredients, techniques and creativity, all around that cuisine we call "soup." What is especially useful about this cookbook's structure is the page heading describing not only the main ingredient, i.e. veggie, beef, etc., but also its fat rating, and dairy free, etc. warning, as well as "spicy" warnings. Many times there is also listed "Variations" recommendations, which gets one thinking about possible modifications and/or new recipe creations of one's own. This is fun soup cooking and great eating! Try the likes of some of my favorites: "Winter Borscht With Beef Short Ribs"; "Cauliflower Vichyssoise"; "Valencian-Style Paella" (with saffron and lobster and shrimp and baby artichokes); "Yucatan Chicken-Lime" (my absolute favorite which I also spice up with some broken tortilla chips which one can buy flavored these days); and Pot Pie Soups, chicken, lobster,mushroom. The book is also fun due to great and comical B&W photos and excellent additions such as Periodic Table of Soups and Soup Personals, e.g. "Successful, long-stemmed Wild Mushroom seeks family of Barley, 2-3, 1 cm, for Eastern European soup romance and possibly more. I am athletic, a fungus, love logs, and hate tight spaces." There is also great sections on ingredients, techniques, and sparse Source listing. A true Soup Lovers treasure!
Rating:
Summary: When All You Do is Soup--It Better Be Goood! This is!
Review: Can a restaurant survive with just great soups! Sure, and so can it's cookbook. This is outstanding selection of interesting ingredients, techniques and creativity, all around that cuisine we call "soup." What is especially useful about this cookbook's structure is the page heading describing not only the main ingredient, i.e. veggie, beef, etc., but also its fat rating, and dairy free, etc. warning, as well as "spicy" warnings. Many times there is also listed "Variations" recommendations, which gets one thinking about possible modifications and/or new recipe creations of one's own. This is fun soup cooking and great eating! Try the likes of some of my favorites: "Winter Borscht With Beef Short Ribs"; "Cauliflower Vichyssoise"; "Valencian-Style Paella" (with saffron and lobster and shrimp and baby artichokes); "Yucatan Chicken-Lime" (my absolute favorite which I also spice up with some broken tortilla chips which one can buy flavored these days); and Pot Pie Soups, chicken, lobster,mushroom. The book is also fun due to great and comical B&W photos and excellent additions such as Periodic Table of Soups and Soup Personals, e.g. "Successful, long-stemmed Wild Mushroom seeks family of Barley, 2-3, 1 cm, for Eastern European soup romance and possibly more. I am athletic, a fungus, love logs, and hate tight spaces." There is also great sections on ingredients, techniques, and sparse Source listing. A true Soup Lovers treasure!
Rating:
Summary: When All You Do is Soup--It Better Be Goood! This is!
Review: Can a restaurant survive with just great soups! Sure, and so can it's cookbook. This is outstanding selection of interesting ingredients, techniques and creativity, all around that cuisine we call "soup." What is especially useful about this cookbook's structure is the page heading describing not only the main ingredient, i.e. veggie, beef, etc., but also its fat rating, and dairy free, etc. warning, as well as "spicy" warnings. Many times there is also listed "Variations" recommendations, which gets one thinking about possible modifications and/or new recipe creations of one's own. This is fun soup cooking and great eating! Try the likes of some of my favorites: "Winter Borscht With Beef Short Ribs"; "Cauliflower Vichyssoise"; "Valencian-Style Paella" (with saffron and lobster and shrimp and baby artichokes); "Yucatan Chicken-Lime" (my absolute favorite which I also spice up with some broken tortilla chips which one can buy flavored these days); and Pot Pie Soups, chicken, lobster,mushroom. The book is also fun due to great and comical B&W photos and excellent additions such as Periodic Table of Soups and Soup Personals, e.g. "Successful, long-stemmed Wild Mushroom seeks family of Barley, 2-3, 1 cm, for Eastern European soup romance and possibly more. I am athletic, a fungus, love logs, and hate tight spaces." There is also great sections on ingredients, techniques, and sparse Source listing. A true Soup Lovers treasure!
Rating:
Summary: Expensive, time consuming but nearly perfect recipes
Review: I bought this book after reading some of the reviews here and I have to agree with them. I made the salmon chowder and senegalese peanut soup, and they tasted like something from a gourmet restaurant. I have never made such perfect soups. However, these are very expensive and time-consuming recipes. If you follow them exactly, you'll get excellent soup. You'll also spend lots of money on ingredients and about two hours chopping, chopping, chopping to make the vegetable stock, then more chopping to make the actual soup. I nearly lost my mind (and about 35 minutes) grinding a pound of salted peanuts into a paste with a blender, only to realize: Couldn't I have achieved this by buying natural, unsugared peanut butter? Couldn't I have purchased that vegetable stock from Imagine Foods? (Maybe not. After the aforementioned hours of chopping, you might not want to risk [messing] up the whole dish with a substitution. And when you need 12 cups of stock, buying it makes it even more expensive). Anyway, I would recommend this book to a friend. Especially a rich, single friend.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably Delicious!
Review: I can't stop myself from preparing a different recipe from this book every weekend, regardless of the season! This is one cookbook that needs no embelishment--the recipes are perfect as is. I can't wait for a sequal!
Rating: 
Summary: Soup is good food, and creative soup is a meal
Review: I craved Daily Soup concoctions in NYC, although they were pricey. Alas, this Summer, The Daily Soup closed its retail locations and sold its name to another company. But at least we are left with their bible, the book of soup recipes. Definitely a keepsake. Some say there are four basic soup categories: broth, clear, pureed, and thick. The Daily Soup broke these rules of combined the categories. Therefore, the books chapters are grouped into vegetable, corn, tomato, rice, bean, chili, lentil/pea, cheese, and coconut to name a few. The book includes recipes and stories, as well as recommendations of films and music to watch and listen to as your cook and eat. The standouts SOUPS are; a diary free, lowfat Borscht, Jamaican Pumpkin, Roasted Eggplant Parmesan, Yucatan Chicken Lime, Wild Mushroom barley, Chicken Matzoh Ball (sinker balls), Mexican Tortilla soup, Mexican Posole, Poblano corn chowder, New Zealnd Sweet Potato chowder, Cuban black bean, Chili Con Carne, Cincinnati Chili (ala skyline), 4 bean veg chili, indian black chili, Moroccan lamb stew, indian yellow split pea soup, senegalese with peanut soup, veg gumbo, and watermelon with chicken. My faves are Mulligatawny, Mulligatawny with lentils, and Tuscan multibean. The book also includes their Periodic Table of Soup Types, and nine recipes for veg, chicken, and fish based soup stocks
Rating:
Summary: I can eat soup morning, noon, and night!
Review: I don't know about you, but I can eat soup morning, noon, and night -- in the summer, spring, fall and winter! To me, soup makes me feel better, warms us my house and my soul. Maybe it reminds me of being a kid or of my grandmother -- either way I think it has the same effect on everyone! (PS: Did you know that "lentil soup dates back to 8,000 BC"?) Anyway, In the How to Use this Book section, you will learn Good Cooking Requirements, Ingredient Familiarization, Organization, Taste, Time, and most importantly -- Love! (PS: Did you know that "Hands are for whenever tools don't work; Fingers are for whenever hands don't work; and as far as your Tongue is concerned -- if the soup doesn't touch your tongue often enough, it's unloved!") The Daily Soup Cookbook starts off with recipes containing veggies, tomatoes, and rice, then goes on to grains, pasta, bread, corn, potatos, the very thoughtful -- music recommendations while cooking your soup, beans, chili, another thoughtful entry -- movies to rent while eating your soup, lentils and peas, nuts, coconuts, cheese, a periodic table of soups (a must see, I could never explain it), fruit, the very clever -- Soup Personals (another must see), roux (pronounced roo), and finally, Really Delicious Soups that Didn't Fit into Any Chapter! My favorite parts of the book include: Things to do with Leftover Soup (very helpful for families), Baby Names for the New Milliennium (i.e., Girls: Saffron, Pumpkin; Boys: Stew, Penne, and the best -- Art E. Choke); and of course, the fact that this all started in a small East Village, NY kitchen. For an East Coast chick like myself -- this book is like a warm, aromatic bowl of soup!
Rating:
Summary: After this, you don't NEED another soup cookbook!
Review: I have made many of the recipes in this book and was astounded to discover that ZERO alteration is required to make any of these recipes among the very best soups you'll have the privilege to taste. By nature, I'm a footloose kind of cook--one that looks at a recipe and thinks "what can I do to make this better?" before I even fire up the oven! Well, this cookbook is the only one I've ever come across where I trust each and every recipe to be perfect. I've never been disappointed. Because of my delight with this book, it is not only the only cookbook I've ever recommended to friends (or anyone else I know!), but it is also the only cookbook I give as a gift. A zealot? Perhaps. But try any one of the recipes yourself and you'll be an instant convert. Enjoy!
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