Customer Reviews

Soup Suppers: More Than 100 Main-Course Soups and 40 Accompaniments

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Arthur Schwarts makes my moth water each time I read his supper ideas in "Soup Suppers...". However, making his recipes calls for more committment.

This isn't a book of elaborate recipies, just a book thats not for working couples who come home exhausted at the end of the day. That said, each recipe I have made from this book has turned out fantastic, a dish I would be proud to serve for company along with the many accompanyments he suggests.

If you have the time to make a nicer meal and the time to shop for good ingredients, or if you just want a book with fantastic meal ideas for when you are going to have company, this book is for you. If you are looking for a day-to-day cookbook and are too busy to make elaborate meals, then I would recommend Schwartz's earlier book, "What to Cook When You Think There's Nothing in the House to Eat" instead.

Soup is food for the soul, and this book proves it. The recipes are easy to follow, and produce the most wonderful experiences with soup you will ever have. I have had this book for two years, and it is the only cook book that I have used weekly, especially during winter. I highly suggest adding this book to your library, and I promise your family will thank you time and time again.

I adore this book.... each recipe I've tried is a treasure. When I'm creating one of Arthur Schwartz' soups for my own family, I feel warm & fuzzy....like I'm cooking next to grandma! His recipe for Garbure, a fabulous, hearty French peasant soup, is one of the finest things one could eat on a cold winter day. Arthur's Polish Creamed Mushroom Barley Soup is also fantastic. I collect cookbooks, & this is easily one of my favorites.

I am this author's biggest fan! I have given his "What to Cook When There's Nothing in the House to Eat" book to many people over the years as bridal shower and new home presents. This book is the perfect companion for the soup lover who already owns the other book. I remember when Mr. Schwartz was the food editor at the NY Daily News newspaper (early 1990's I think) and I used to eagerly await his articles on Wednesdays and Sundays. For those who know what I'm talking about, his recipes are a lot like his articles - yummy and informative! This cookbook not only contains soup recipes (his cream of broccoli is a family favorite) but Mr. Schwartz includes recipes for items to serve with it - breads, appetizers and delicious salads, as well as desserts for after!

Arthur Schwartz, Soup Suppers (Harper Perennial, 1994)

The more cookbooks I read, the more I find the majority of them are repetitive, especially those centered around a given theme. (Certainly makes me appreciate Marlena Spieler more.) Soup Suppers definitely falls into this "too much of a good thing" category for most of its length; a hundred-odd pages of soup recipes and you realize that there's not much variation in technique where soup is concerned. Learn a few basic recipes and then vary the ingredients; the bulk of this book could have been six pages of instructional material and ten or fifteen pages of variations.

Where it does get interesting is in Schwartz' almost in-passing closing section on stuff to serve with your soups, from quick bread recipes all the way to dessert. Instantly, the repetition factor goes away and the book gets absorbing again; it's worth it for that final section alone. (For me, it's worth it for the avocado salad recipe alone, but I understand not everyone is as much an avocado fanatic as I am.) Check this one out of the library first to make sure you want to add it to your permanent collection. ***

We have enjoyed many of these recipes and had to buy a 2nd copy to keep at our cabin. Lots of requests for recipe sharing - esp white chicken chili.