Are you looking for a way to gussy up your soup? If so, you may want to consider adding a garnish. In my experience, there are several ways to garnish a bowl of soup. Here’s a quick rundown on five of my favorite methods:
Egg Custard Cut Outs (Royale)
If you really want to give your family and friends something to talk about, you may want to consider garnishing your soups with egg custard cut outs. In my experience, egg custard cut outs or royales as they are more formerly known, pair well with consommés, spinach soup, vegetable soup and asparagus soup.
In order to make a basic egg custard cut out, you’ll need 1 tablespoon of clear stock, 1 beaten egg, cookie cutters and a dariole mold. A dariole mold is a cup shaped mold that resembles a shot glass. You can generally purchase dariole molds through restaurant supply shops or kitchen specialty retailers.
Once you have all your supplies on hand, mix the ingredients together and pour the mixture into the dariole mold. Then place the dariole mold into a water filled pan. Afterward, pop the pan into a preheated, 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and let it bake until the custard firms up. Once the custard is done cooking, let it cool. Remove it from the dariole mold and cut it into fancy shapes using cookie cutters or a knife. Then place the custard garnishes onto the soup and serve it straightaway.
In my opinion, crispy onion rings also make an excellent soup garnish because they add texture and flavor. You may opt to create your own onion rings or purchase premade onion rings. Examples of premade onion rings include French’s French Fried Onions and Funyuns. Onion rings pair well with onion soup, Hungarian hot sausage and lentil soup, potato soup and lentil soup with peas and ham.
Julienne Strips
Julienne strips make a great soup garnish too. In order to make julienne strips, simply slice a few vegetables into thin strips. Vegetables that I would recommend using include leeks, carrots and turnips. Proceed by boiling the vegetable strips in salted water. Once that’s done, rinse the julienne strips with cold water and pat them dry. Then place the julienne strips on top of the soup and serve it immediately. Soups that pair well with julienne strips include chicken soup, vegetable soup and broccoli cheese soup.
Grated or Shredded Cheese
Grated or shredded cheese makes a superlative soup garnish as well. You may opt to grate or shred you own cheese or purchase ready-made containers of cheese. Soups that pair well with cheese garnishes include tomato soup, taco soup, chicken tortilla soup, French onion soup and Italian wedding soup.
Bread Croutons
Last but not least, homemade bread croutons make a wonderful soup garnish as well. Homemade croutons are very easy to make. If you have never made homemade croutons before, there are plenty of crouton recipes available online. Personally, I like making croutons out of French bread or Italian bread. Other folks prefer to use rye bread or melba toast. Of course you could also opt to buy ready-made croutons. Bead croutons often pair nicely with French onion soup, chicken jalapeno soup, tomato soup and creamy broccoli soup.
Source: Personal Experience
Killeen Gonzalez has a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management. She is a former special events planner.
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