[net.cooks] Campbells Creamy xxxxxx Soups

johnf@apollo.uucp (John Francis) (01/10/86)

Hold it, hold it!  Although I have not tried the Creamy Spinach (because
I do not like spinach), and I too was singularly unimpressed with the
Creamy Potato (did not taste of anything), both my wife and I really like
the Creamy Broccoli and Creamy Asparagus. The broccoli, in particular,
contains lots and lots of pieces of real broccoli!

figmo@lll-crg.ARpA (Lynn Gold) (01/12/86)

Forgive me, but I don't see how anyone can bring themselves to eat the
stuff that Campbell's calls soup.  Their soups in general are high in
sodium, and all the ones I've been subjected to (growing up in south
Jersey near the Campbell's plant causes one to be subjected to their
products alot) had the same funny taste to them.  Their pasta was
always too mushy, too.

As for me, if I want soup, I either buy it "homemade" from a restaurant I
trust, make a big batch and freeze the rest in individual servings, or
make a soup that's easy to crank out in 45 mins or less.

Speaking of such recipes, here's one given to me by a Lebanese grocer
in Philadelphia's Italian Market:

		Lebanese Yellow Lentil Soup
		---------------------------

Saute some chopped onion -- enough to comfortably cover whatever size
saucepan you are using to make the soup -- in 1-3 T butter until limp.
Add yellow lentils and water at the ratio of 1/3 c. to 1/2 c. lentils to one c.
water for the volume of soup you want (depending upon how thick you want
it), bring to a boil, and simmer until lentils have cooked (20-40 minutes).
Add salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!

For a variation, try browning the butter before adding the onions.

--Lynn Gold
...lll-crg!figmo

spp@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Stephen P Pope) (01/13/86)

I have to agree with John Francis on this one --
Both the Creamy Broccoli and Creamy Asparagus are pretty
good WRT your average canned soup.  They have no MSG,
and are not nearly as salty as typical.

steve

reid@glacier.ARPA (Brian Reid) (01/14/86)

I've always found Campbell's soups to be quite acceptable, though certainly
not dinner-party quality. After reading all this stuff on the net about
Campbell's Creamy xxxxxx Soups I went out and bought a can of Creamy
Broccoli and a can of Creamy Asparagus.

I was horrified by the Creamy Asparagus soup--there is something chemically
the matter with it. It tasted of zinc and selenium and sulfur and volatile
acids, like the worst kind of canned vegetables. I was unable to repair it
with any amount of doctoring.

The Creamy Broccoli soup was not awful, like the asparagus. It certainly
wasn't as good as ordinary Campbell's soups, and was significantly more
tasteless than the Lipton's International dried broccoli soup, its
marketplace competitor. I found that by simmering some frozen broccoli in
it, and adding some sauteed onions and a little sherry, I was able to turn
it into a respectable soup: its errors seem to be errors of omission and not
of comission.

I don't plan to buy any more of these creamy soups. I think I can do a lot
better by making a dilute Cream of Mushroom from the red and white can and
adding some frozen broccoli and some onion and garlic.
-- 
	Brian Reid	decwrl!glacier!reid
	Stanford	reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA