Tomato soup
Tomato soup with basil
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| Type | Soup |
|---|---|
| Serving temperature | Hot or cold |
| Main ingredients | Tomatoes |
| Variations | Gazpacho |
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Tomato soup is a soup made with tomatoes as the primary ingredient. It may be served hot or cold in a bowl, and may be made in a variety of ways. It may be smooth in texture, and there are also recipes which include chunks (or small pieces) of tomato, cream and chicken/vegetable . Popular toppings for tomato soup include sour cream or croutons. Tomato soup is one of the top comfort foods in Poland and the United States. It can be made fresh by blanching tomatoes, removing the skins, then blending into a puree.
The first noted tomato soup was made by Maria Parloa in 1872, and Joseph A. Campbell's recipe for condensed tomato soup in 1897 further increased its popularity.
Commercially prepared tomato is available in a variety of forms, including canned, condensed and in dehydrated powder form. "Tomato" ranks among the top three flavors of soup produced by the Campbell Soup Company.
Canned tomato soup is primarily tomato puree that is tomato paste and water with a few other ingredients added for flavor and physical properties of the food. The tomato is a high acid food therefore, “ … the tomato is not considered a high-risk food, as the pH of the fruit generally ranges from pH 4.2-4.9 with an average of about 4.5. At this point pathogens are unlikely to grow”. However, there are still some food born pathogens that can pose as a major problem when it comes to the safety of the food and its shelf life stability. The main concern when canning is anaerobic microorganisms that produce toxins like Clostridium botulinum. Even though the tomato is a high acid food it still falls in the range where this organism can grow and produce toxin pH 4.6-8.5 with an optimum growing temperature between 30-40C and a maximum temperature of 50C. Even if the bacteria are killed they release heat resistant spores that if they start to multiply become a threat.
The thermal death time is used to determine how long it will take to kill bacteria at a certain timF= Time in minutes at 250F e and temperature.
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Wikipedia