Soup vs. stew

I was just thinking - is the only difference between soup and stew is that soup has more liquid?

I say that because I was trying to make green chile stew, but I used a large can of chicken broth, so it was more like soup, but tasted fine. What's your opinion?

This question, plus yesterday watching a Tivo-ed rerun of an Alton Brown stew episode, made me curious:

http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blsoupgloss.htm

Now that I think about it, sounds right to me. Add a bunch of Beef Broth to Chili, you got Chili soup.

NYNM

Yes the thickness of the broth is the determining factor between soup and stew.

When i think of soups think of chicken noodle or tomato something light and delicious.

When I think of stews I think, Beef Stew or even a "gumbo"

Your green chile soup sounds good.

Ha! I had to search cuz I just faintly recalled asking that in the past. Not many answers then either, but pretty entertaining....
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3131

Here's what wikipedia has to say on the subject:

"The distinctions between stew, soup, and casserole are fine ones. The ingredients of a stew may be cut into larger pieces than a those of a soup and retain more of their individual flavours; a stew may have thicker liquid than a soup, and more liquid than a casserole; a stew is more likely to be eaten as a main course than as a starter, unlike soup; and a stew can be cooked on either the stove top or in the oven, while casseroles are almost always cooked in the oven, and soups are almost always cooked on the stovetop. There are exceptions; for example, an oyster stew is thin bodied, more like a soup. The choice of name is largely a matter of custom; it is possible for the same dish to be described as soup, stew, or casserole."

That explanation makes it a clear as mud!

quote:

Originally posted by GordonW

This question, plus yesterday watching a Tivo-ed rerun of an Alton Brown stew episode, made me curious:

http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blsoupgloss.htm

Now that is one GOOD answer that everyone looking at the "Soup" area here should read! Informative (and styles I never heard of.
Billy Bi?

IMO, soup is thinner and stew is thicker. That doesn't mean you can't have a thicker soup or a thinner stew (and oyster stew is excluded).

Whatever you make, thick soup or thin stew, PLEASE don't call it a "stoup" like Rachel Ray

Kevin

i wonder about this sort of thing too..

My hambone soup is pretty thick (specially if I puree 1/3 of the white beans with a stick blender when it is all cooked.. ) When I add in crackers and stuff, it is probably thicker than most stews.

of course some of my stews are deadly thick...

Soups and stews seemingly can be somewhat interchangeable depending on one's custom or definition. I would say in general a stew is more solid food chunks coated with liquids that can be eaten with a spoon or partially with a fork. A soup is more liquid with solid foods less chunky immersed in the liquid and must be eaten with a spoon. I don't understand Wikipedia's classification of casserole being anything like a soup or stew. A casserole to me is a baked dish that can be eaten generally with a fork. Well, that's my impressions for what it's worth.

Stew is a cooking term, meaning to cook your food covered in little liquid for a while.
There are many types of soup, chowders, gumbos, bisques, vichyssoise, bouillabase, consomme.
NYNM seems like you made a soup.

Oh just call it a STOUP like RR that covers it all...lol

quote:

Originally posted by exsquidao

Oh just call it a STOUP like RR that covers it all...lol

You beat me to it. I was just about to post that.

quote:

Originally posted by NascarDad

i wonder about this sort of thing too..

My hambone soup is pretty thick (specially if I puree 1/3 of the white beans with a stick blender when it is all cooked.. ) When I add in crackers and stuff, it is probably thicker than most stews.

of course some of my stews are deadly thick...

Maybe you made a potage.

quote:

Originally posted by MiamiDon
Maybe you made a potage.

I had not even considered that possibility...
partly cause I am not sure I ever heard of a potage before lol I learned something new today now I can go home ;)

[:p

quote:

Originally posted by NascarDad

quote:

Originally posted by MiamiDon
Maybe you made a potage.

I had not even considered that possibility...
partly cause I am not sure I ever heard of a potage before lol I learned something new today now I can go home ;)

Potage
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Potage (from Old French pottage; "potted dish") is a type of soup where meat and vegetables are boiled together with water until they form into a thick mush. Potage has its origins in the medieval cuisine of Northern France and increased in popularity from High Middle Ages onward. This was one of the most common side dishes for all types of meat and fish. During the Tudor period, a good many English peasants' diets consisted almost solely of potage. Some Tudor-era people ate self-cultivated vegetables like cabbages and carrots and a few were able to supplement this from fruit gardens with fruit trees nearby.

quote:

Originally posted by NYNM

I was just thinking - is the only difference between soup and stew is that soup has more liquid?

I say that because I was trying to make green chile stew, but I used a large can of chicken broth, so it was more like soup, but tasted fine. What's your opinion?

I'd like your recipe for green chile stew.

These are all very good responses to a very slippery question. I do think there is a difference.
Some dishes are definitely soup and others stew. If there is a lot broth and few solids, it is soup. If the broth is thickened and there are a lot of solids it is stew. These are the easy ones, even a child could tell the difference,
 
Then there are things in-between and this is a huge category. Gumbo is a prime example, it is neither soup nor stew, it has its own category, it is gumbo. This works for gumbo, but one certainly cannot call all the in-between dishes gumbo as gumbo has its own history and heritage.
 
There are already many names as Fabulousoyster pointed out, but they only define established dishes with a history and culture. They are what they are because they have specific names. The Rachael Ray "stoup" thing...all I can say is that is really "stoupid".
 
I make a lot of hearty soups and sometimes thin stews which fall into the in-between category and have not come up with a proper name for them. I usually call them concoctions and leave it at that. After eating these concoctions my stomach will usually tell me if they were soup or stew.
 
I am sure with all the talented folk on Roadfood, better definitions and names for all these slippery in-between orphan concoctions can be achieved. Let's hear some. 

To add another name to the kettle, when I make a thick soup with finely chopped vegetables and a small amount of liquid, we call it porridge.

I think of the difference between soup and stew not in terms of thickness of broth or how much broth there is but the size of the solid ingredients.  In soup, they're tidbit sized or pureed, in stew, they are large enough to require mastication before swallowing.  Soup satisfies the primal need to slurp and can be eaten without teeth while stew satisfies the primal needs to both slurp and chew. 

I get the continuum from soup to casserole, more flowable to less flowable?  Soups are usually made on the stove top, stews on the stove top or in the oven, casseroles in the oven.  Try slurpiing a casserole.

I've had gumbos with a very thin roux and large pieces (jumbo shrimp, oysters, large chunks of crab meat) and gumbos that were so thick they hardly were flowable at all, a somewhat liquid casserole in essence, and I'm talking gumbos made by Certifiable Cajuns,  and I think gumbo fits in the continuum rather than being a whole separate category.

I have tried to answer this question for YEARS!!! I will let my fellow Roadfooders answer it for me...

RubyRose


To add another name to the kettle, when I make a thick soup with finely chopped vegetables and a small amount of liquid, we call it porridge.

Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold
Peas porridge in the pot 9 days old
Some like it hot, some like it cold
Some like it in the pot 9 days old.