Just my cup of....Soup (Batchelors Cup a Soup Golden Vegetable)

Member Name: valve90210

Product:	Batchelors Cup a Soup Golden Vegetable
Date:	10/10/08 (26 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick and easy to prepare, yummy

Disadvantages: More expensive than some own brand versions which are catching up in quality

As the evenings begin to draw in, the mornigns get darker, the nights get colder and a chill sets in, I always feel that it has become the season for soup. Much like the hot sun (remember that?) is a signal that it is time to drinking a nice tall glass of Pimms, the first signs of a morning where the grass is laden with dew, where the windows are thick with condensation, where the first moment out of bed sends a shiver of cold down your spine indicate to me that the time is right for some nice warming soup.

Both my girlfriend and I are big fans of soup and often make our own using whatever vegetables we have in the fridge along with our flavours and seasoning from our always well stocked herb/spice rack. We make a big batch and have it for a few days. Sometimes we even make a batch to go in the freezer, which works very well indeed.

However, there are times when you don't have much in stock in the fridge not the time to create a master piece of soupiness. At times like these we resort to an old favourite which has been around for years...the cup-a-soup! One of my favourite flavours as a child was Golden Vegetable. Having recently started having soup again as the days have chilled, I purchased a pack of Golden Vegetable to see if I enjoyed it as much I used to.

I tore open the sachet, emptied the contents into the mug and poured on the hot water. Remembering back to my childhood when a lack of thorough stirring lead to lumps of undissolved powder at the bottom of the mug, I stirred vigorously and ensured that I reached deep into the mug to the very bottom, bringing the spoon back to the surface frequently to check for signs of undissolved residue. Before very long, there were no more signs and I was happy it was fully mixed.

The soup itself was a nice creamy yellowy colour, with nice looking bits of green and red floating to the surface, bits which I assume at some point in time have been parts of vegetables. All in all, it's looks welcoming and comforting.

I always think a large part of the pleasure from soup is derived from the aroma and this soup does not disappoint. It has a creamy savoury scent with a hint of buttery sweetness.

The first sip with soup tends to be quite tentative as you are unsure of exactly how hot it is and you want to take care not to burn your lips or tongue. I generally let my soup cool down for a few minutes to so I can swig it down and get nice mouthfuls of it. I approached this soup in this manner. My first mouthful reminded my mouth of exactly the flavour I had experienced as a child, quite creamy savoury vegetable flavour with a hint of sweetness, almost exactly as it smells. When I was a
child I loved this soup, did I still find it as tasty? Well, the answer is this. I did enjoy it, it is still a pleasant flavour, however as I have got older and more aware of flavours and my palete has improved, I found I was able to taste more in the soup, including a slight unnaturalness to the after taste but overall it is still a nice soup.

When compared to homemade soup, I don't think any instant soup can really be expected to be an equal because really although they go by the name of soup they are two very different items. Instant soups like this will never take the place of a nice home made soup but they come in very handy for something hot, fast and yummy! I would recommend this product for this very reason, it's very fast to prepare, reasonably priced (though own brand versions are cheaper and some are
actually very good) and pretty darn good.

Summary: A nice soup for when you are in a hurry.