How do restaurants/cafes/hotels make their vegetable soup?

[misspym]

Just wondering as dd loves the type of soup they serve. Nothing fancy just the standard one you see lots of places.

I make many different soups that she likes but she would be delighted if I could make cafe style soup for her.

I have a feeling it might not be as healthy as my own homemade attempts.

Does anyone know?

It would be a lot saltier than your versions, I expect!

Yep, loads and loads of salt.

Usually all the leftover bits of veg and some bouillion

Oh yeah and a lot more salt that you'd put in at home!

The stock needs to be Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon Powder - it makes a huge difference.

I had a feeling salt would feature heavily

I don't like salty foods so my homemade efforts are definitely not very salty.

I remember hearing that soup in restaurants often contain a lot of oil too but not sure about that. Doesn't sound very appetising.

Thanks for the bouillon tip. I'll see if I can get some.

Salt, oil, cream

Loads of salt and butter and then blend.

I suspect a lot of pubs and chain restaurants buy their soup from wholesale catering suppliers like this. 165 portions at a time...

www.brake.co.uk/products/grocery-processed/soup/dehydrated-soup/bulk-dehydrated-soup/a7688-brakes-tomato-soup-mix

Agree with the marigold swiss bouillon powder.
The other thing is I sweat the vegetables for quite a long tome - up to 30 minutes,( in a mixture of butter and olive oil.) before I add the stock. I usually use dried mixed herbs too

And if you don't like using too much salt, lemon juice used sparingly works to give the same effect.

The secret to most restaurant food (and I've worked in plenty) is salt and more butter than you could ever imagine!

Layering flavours is also really important, so the base of onion and garlic cooked down in lots of butter for a long time. If you want tomatoey veg soup, add tomato puree and cook it out for at least 10-15mins, until it goes a rusty colour. Then sweat down the veggies till really soft, add wine if you want it, whack the heat up and cook it off so it's completely evaporated. Then add good stock and lid on and simmer. Blend if smooth and taste it. Season to how you like it, and finish with cream when it's off the heat. Works for pretty much any veg soup you like!

Also if it's tasting a bit flat, something acidic will really being it up. Depending on what veg you're using, lemon or lime juice or wine vinegar are good starting points. Just add a bit at a time until it tastes good.

We make all our own and never lace them with salt?

Lots have added sugar too

Depends which restaurant/cafe. In ours it comes chilled in a 5 litre bag which we heat in the microwave then keep in a heated soup urn.
I suspect a lot of chains use this method to keep things consistent.

Black pepper!

You need to use mainly root veg as they give the soup a silky consistency when you blend it. I make it all the time with whatever root veg we have, usually carrots parsnips and maybe sweet potato, with an onion cooked in small amount of oil, bit of chilli paste and bit of garlic paste. Add chopped up root veg and about a litre of water with 2 knorr stock pots and cook until soft then purée with hand blender. Makes perfect silky soup every time and only needs small amount of extra seasoning. Very easy, cheap and healthy and makes about 4-6 portions for about £2-£3 all in.

Some bouillion powders contain msg - if you're sensitive to this make sure you read the list of ingredients.

Best vegetable soup ive tried was when I worked in a pub as a student. The chef used to roast the root veg first and used chicken bouillon. - I was vegetarian at the time and devastated when I found out.