What is the purpose of putting Crackers in soup? Some say it is to reduce the temperature of the soup, others say it is for flavor. What’s the deal?
[Moderator Hat ON]
Moving to IMHO.
[Moderator Hat OFF]
Jesus, Gaudy, if THIS isn’t a Great Debate, what IS?
(I maintain, and I’ll argue this to my dying day, that they are added to THICKEN THE BROTH!!!)
I use crackers to thicken the soup. So much so that it becomes more like mush than soup.
It depends on the soup.
For chicken noodle, I crumble a butt-load of saltines into it until it resembles a bowl of mush. I do this to add texture and a salty flavor. For tomato soup, I float a handful of cheese crackers (Cheezits, Cheese Nips, what have you) in the soup to add some substance. The goal is to have one cracker in each spoonful of soup. If I run out of crackers before I run out of soup, I just dump another load of them in and keep going until all is gone.
Temperature never really is a concern for me, although I admit that the saltines seem to cool the chicken noodle fairly quickly. No, for me, it’s a matter of taste, texture and substance.
**thickening agent
saltifier
polymer
**
And you MUST add 1/4 box per bowl of 3-alarm chili, or you are not doing it right.
Definately texture and thickening the broth. Especially in tomato or chicken noodle soup… Yum!
Reasons to add crackers to soup:
Crunchiness, especially when my roommate has let the veggies cook for too long, again!
Salt, most crackers have extra salt, but it doesn’t look like you are criticizing the cook if you add crackers.
Accent, they have such great vocalizations, especially when the soup is really hot.
I just sprinkle ‘em on and eat the damp crackers, repeat.
Dammit, now I’ve had this running through my mind all day . . .
[Shirley Temple voice]:
“Animal crackers in my soup,
Monkeys and rhinos loop-the-loop;
Gosh, oh gee, but I have fun
Swallowing animals one by one!
In ev’ry bowl of soup I see
Lions and tigers watching me—
I stuff my tummy like a goop
With animal crackers in my soup!”
[Alex Trebek] Crackers in Soup [/Alex Trebek]
What is a thickening agent?
[Alex Trebek] Correct! [Alex Trebek]
- An aside to Eve *
I’ve always wondered why she would put *Animal * crackers in her soup. Aren’t they more like cookies then crackers? Ick!
This is exactly the reason that oyster crackers were invented. I also use the 1 cracker per spoonful rule when eating tomato soup.
I am glad I am not the only person on this green/blue/brown earth that likes solid soup (I do the same thing with stew ) broth, yick!
How can you add more crackers if you ran out?
::d&r::
Hehehe…you and me both…they absorb all the liquid and make it thick and yummy!
What about using Fritos. In corn chowder, they are the best!
I am a texture eater. I put crackers in my soup for the crunch. And because I am a texture eater, I must eat those crackers before they become mushy & turn my whole bowl of soup into baby food.
Texture eaters also put french fries on their hamburgers.
You’d love Primanti’s, if you like french fries on burgers.
Tevya—I always wondered why the hell anyone would put animal crackers in their soup, too. My only guess is that back in the 1930s, animal crackers were salty and not sweet.
Either that, or Shirley Temple was bulemic.
so, we’re loading up the chicken noodle with tons and tons of crackers, right? Wouldn’t that cool the soup? That’s what I’m getting at. Sure, it makes it into a mushy taste treat, but it would also lower the temperature Am I crazy?
The first line to the song was originally “Saltine crackers in my soup…” but the Nabisco Co. pitched a fit over the unauthorized use of the name of their product so the line was changed (“We’re not going to have our product associated with that no-talent moptop. Who does she think she is, the Ambassador to Ghana?”). “Ritz crackers” didn’t scan correctly and “oyster crackers” didn’t fit the image the producers wanted so they said, “Aw, fuck it. Go with animal crackers and hope no one notices that you wouldn’t put animal crackers in soup.” Truely, the Hollywood way.
Actually, the ORIGINAL version of the song was,
“Heroin needles in my arm—
Louis B. Mayer says ‘no harm!’
Gosh, oh gee, my face sure glows
When I stuff cocaine up my nose!
With every jab of junk I see
Lions and tigers watching me—
Like Judy Garland I’ll buy the farm—
From heroin needles in my arm!”
For some reason, that didn’t make it past the Production Code guys . . .