When you visit any restaurant these days, there is a good chance you’ll find them serving a soup of the day. This soup changes constantly and can usually only be found out thanks to your waiter letting you know what’s on the menu. So, why is this such a popular menu item? We’ve created a brief history of soups of the day to help you understand the reasoning behind this restaurant staple!
When dine in restaurants became a staple that the general public could afford, restaurant owners found themselves cycling through many more basic ingredients than the specialty items higher-end guests would order. Things like fresh vegetables, basic meats like chicken and beef, grains and lentils. These items were used in many dishes, which meant that even though there were some leftovers, there weren’t enough to make several new dishes with them. Combine this with the short shelf life of fresh ingredients, and the soup of the day was born.
Ingredients that hadn’t been used the day before would be combined by experienced chefs to create a spontaneous soup that would then be served for one day only. Often, the soup would change based on what menu items had been most popular, any catering that had been done, and the price of ingredients. It was an economical way to ensure no food went to waste!
These days, soups of the day tend to be a little less spontaneous. Many restaurants have noted which of their soups are the most popular and offer specific soups on specific days. Others have given their chefs full rein to create whatever soup they want to. More often than not, it can be a sort of combo of all three of these methods. Chefs nowadays also have the benefit of cataloging and searching up new recipes in minutes, meaning they can create new specials much faster than the chefs of the past. They also have the privilege of ordering ingredients that can be flash preserved and stored in their kitchens, giving them the opportunity to create the soup they want without relying on leftovers.
Meet & Eat is proud to be a part of the classic, soup of the day tradition, so why not stop in and ask what we’ve got cooking today? There is always something new on the menu, guaranteed to keep you full and warm on even the chilliest afternoon!