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Soup is a food which is largely liquid, often containing or cooked from solid components such as vegetables and meat. Soup differs from a stew in that it is more liquid and has fewer solid contents. Some sweet soups, such as fruit soups, are common in Chinese or Japanese cuisine, but are not usually found in Western cuisine.
The origin of soup is usually connected to the development of pottery vessels capable of holding and cooking liquids over a fire without breaking, a technology available in Mediterranean cultures since Neolithic times (circa 5000 BC)
Learning to boil food was advantageous because it greatly expanded the available food supply for humans. Previously inedible grainThe word grain has a great many meanings, most being descriptive of a small piece or particle. For examples: a grain of sand or salt; see grain size for granule a grain is a type of simple dry fruit technically called a caryopsis . In agriculture, such crs, tougher vegetables and animal boneFor other uses of the word "bone", see bone (disambiguation). Gray's illustration of a human femur, a typically recognized bone. Bone refers either to a hardened connective tissue or to one of the individual structures, or organs, into which it is formed,s could be cooked together to add their tasteTaste is one of the most common and fundamental of the senses in life on Earth. It is the direct detection of chemical composition, usually through contact with chemoreceptor cells. Taste is very similar to olfaction (the sense of smell), in which the che and nutrientNutrients and the body A nutrient is any element or compound that is necessary for or contributes to an organism's metabolism, growth, or other functioning. There are six nutrient groups and these can be divided into those that provide energy and those ths to a dish.
In addition, making soup was a convenient method of cooking food, as food could be cooked as long as water and fire were available. Cooking food in water was an advancement in cooking methods, since it improved the consistency of cooking.
Mixing foods with water seemed to lead inevitably to people drinking the brothLiquid in which meat, fish, cereal grains, or vegetables have been simmered and strained out. Broth is used as a basis for soup, gravy, or sauce. It is very flavorful and can be eaten alone or with garnish. Broth differs from soup stock which requires onl as well as eating the items cooked in it.
The discovery of an old man without functional teeth in NeandertalThe Neandertal 1 or Neanderthal was a species of genus Homo Homo neanderthalensis that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia during the last ice age. They seem to have been well adapted to extreme cold, but appear to have had difficulty adapting to c remains cause some to speculate that the Neanderthals may have invented soup before the Neolithic, because there was no other means of delivering nutrients to sustain a person without teeth.
Archaeologists have demonstrated two possible means of creating soup before the invention of pottery. The first method is to fill an animal skin with water and cook it over fire. The second method is to dig a hole in the ground, fill the hole with water and contents to be cooked, and then place a hot stone into the hole.