Last night I cooked what I thought was a casserole. How wrong was I?
Ashley (kindly) offered that it was more like a thick soup so, as you do after several glasses of Rioja, I asked the question on Twitter as to people’s opinion on the difference…
Now I’ve had some good responses on the ol’ social sites to invitations for information and opinions, but I’ve never had such gorgeous globules of insight like I did last night.
Most folks accurately called out that along with casserole and soup, there was stew and broth to think about.
I had actually cooked our feast on the hob as I swear I had read you could do it that way. To check, fuelled by another glass of reeking Rioja, I gathered some cook books by Jamie Oliver, Nigel Slater and London’s Canteen restaurant and found no reference to casseroles.
The Tweets however kept coming…
There’s a trend developing here!
It’s not about the consistency. It appears the proof is in the method – oven or hob!
But wait!
Jackie Harris claims it’s utensil-specific, echoing Antonio’s claim.
And so does Chris!
I must say though, some soups are chunky and can be eaten with a fork can’t they? Or am I betraying my boarding school manners with such a heinous assumption?
Lauren Litwinka the gets all technical on me with a regional language variation deduction and a Master Chef master stroke.
And Disa ejects, I mean interjects with:
So using these assertions and Bing, I have concocted the following:
Casserole is from the French for “saucepan”, and they are thick meaty dishes cooked in the oven!
Soups and stews are simmered rather than boiled on a hob, and the defining characteristic is the amount of liquid involved. More liquid means more likely to be a soup.
Didn’t see any rules on cutlery though, so I guess eating straight from the bowl isn’t too much of a problem either?
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A ‘runny’ casserole can usually be salvaged by cheating a little. Add some cornflower halfway through cooking time. One heaped desert spoon of cornflower in cold water, mix well and stir into casserole and return to oven (gas 4) Better still, McDougalls Instant thickening Granules, sprinkle into casserole and stir well-always works for me. Minimum cooking time 2 hours approx. Try it Mel. Did you ‘brown’ the meat before cooking by the way- 5 mins in a very little oil?