Tips on Garnishing Soups
The flavor of almost any soup could be enhanced by adding a splash of color and some extra flavor. We all have a choice on the way we want to present our soups. Although garnishing requires very little extra effort, it does deliver a big payoff. Always try to keep the garnishing for soups as simple as possible. Your choice of garnishing a soup does not have to duplicate an ingredient in the soup, but it should complement all the flavors, and often the simplest of ingredients are the best. Clear and cream soups are most suitable for more elaborate garnishes, while chunky soups are better finished with simple touches, such as finely chopped herbs or freshly grated cheese. Following are some ideas of simple garnishes to enhance the flavour of your soups.
- Fennel fronds.
- A single spring of herbs.
- Small celery leaves.
- A light sprinkling of ground spices tapped off the end of a pastry brush.
- Lightly roasted sesame or pumpkin seeds.
- Coarsely crushed peppercorns or coriander seeds.
- Grated citrus zest.
- Flaked white crab meat.
- A single prawn in the shell.
- Petals from edible flower such as pansy, rose or violet, sterns over a chilled fruit soup.
41 Responses to “Tips on Garnishing Soups”
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Sophie | October 15, 2009 at 9:27 am |
Lovely & useful tips!! Thanks so much!!
Angie@Angie's Recipes | October 15, 2009 at 9:36 am |
The garnish tips listed above are all very practical and helpful, I persoanlly like to use spring onions and ground pepper, but once in a long while some chopped roasted peanuts would be also quite nice to go with the soup.
The weather here is freezing cold and a bowl of soothing warm soup would be really wonderful.
Angie’s Recipes
Natasha - 5 Star Foodie | October 15, 2009 at 1:13 pm |
Excellent tips! Very timely as a lot us are making soups right now! Thanks!
Blond Duck | October 15, 2009 at 6:17 pm |
These are great tips!
KennyT | October 15, 2009 at 8:02 pm |
Great tips, thanks Nora!
Faith | October 15, 2009 at 8:09 pm |
These are really great tips! I love garnishing…I think it’s important since we eat with our eyes first!
Reeni | October 16, 2009 at 7:07 pm |
Great ideas, Nora! Sometimes I like a little drizzle of Extra-Virgin Olive oil too, depending on the type of soup, usually on a thick and creamy one.
lisa (dandysugar) | October 16, 2009 at 11:38 pm |
These are fantastic useful tips! Great ideas!
Kerstin | October 18, 2009 at 5:55 am |
Great post, I often forget about garnishes! I especially love your tip about tapping the spices off a pastry brush – genius!
Erica | October 18, 2009 at 1:31 pm |
Great tips, Nora! I usually add fresh cilantro or potato sticks to my soups.
pigpigscorner | October 19, 2009 at 10:33 am |
Great tips!
Blond Duck | October 19, 2009 at 9:12 pm |
I’m glad you like Dallas Jean Lee!
Rosa | October 22, 2009 at 2:14 pm |
Great ideas!
Cheers,
Rosa
nora@ffr | October 22, 2009 at 4:46 pm |
my friends thanx a lot for the lovely comments.
@angie, reeni and erica, thanx for the extra tips!
cheers!
Gera @ SweetsFoods | October 22, 2009 at 9:15 pm |
Gorgeous tips! It’s a nice way to spice the soup up for the eyes
Cheers!
Gera
Blond Duck | October 23, 2009 at 5:57 pm |
Have a good weekend!
Blond Duck | October 26, 2009 at 6:32 pm |
Cheers to you!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella | October 27, 2009 at 11:17 am |
These are fantasic ideas Nora!
Blond Duck | October 27, 2009 at 5:41 pm |
Halloween week is going to be full of all sorts of spooky fun…
Janet @ Gourmet Traveller 88 | October 27, 2009 at 9:35 pm |
Thanks for the great tips! Very unique post!
Rosa | October 27, 2009 at 10:41 pm |
Have a wonderful second part of week!
Cheers,
Rosa
Cynthia | October 28, 2009 at 1:44 am |
Thanks for the excellent tips!
theUngourmet | October 30, 2009 at 2:53 am |
I love to garnish! Thanks for the great tips and ingredient ideas!
Rylan | October 30, 2009 at 3:00 am |
Thanks for the great tips. This will definitely be useful, specially for my new blog.
black hattitude | October 31, 2009 at 10:21 am |
Hi,
Thank you for the great quality of your blog, every time i come here, i’m amazed.
girlichef | November 2, 2009 at 6:22 pm |
Oh, great tips…and I love my soup, so I’ll be putting some of them to use
Blond Duck | November 3, 2009 at 1:23 am |
I hope you had a wonderful Halloween!
Blond Duck | November 3, 2009 at 6:53 pm |
I can’t wait to see ya’lls Halloween recipes!
Margot | November 4, 2009 at 9:39 pm |
What a great tips Nora, I always struggle with that and often end up making swirls from cream or balsamic cream on them
Blond Duck | November 5, 2009 at 12:03 am |
I like your apple and rasberry smoothie!
Rosa | November 5, 2009 at 5:13 am |
Have a great end of week!
Cheers,
Rosa
Blond Duck | November 12, 2009 at 12:21 pm |
I can’t wait to see what you whip up for Thanksgiving!
Rosa | November 18, 2009 at 7:52 pm |
Thanks for the vote!
Cheers,
Rosa
Kitchen Butterfly | November 22, 2009 at 1:17 pm |
Great tips…especially this season with loads of warmers being made on the stovetop!
Blond Duck | November 23, 2009 at 5:14 pm |
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Blond Duck | November 24, 2009 at 7:55 pm |
I hope you have a grand Thanksgiving as well!
Gera @ SweetsFoods | November 26, 2009 at 6:23 pm |
Happy Thanksgiving Nora!!
Cheers!
Gera
Blond Duck | November 27, 2009 at 1:29 pm |
I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!
Blond Duck | November 30, 2009 at 7:17 pm |
Happy Monday!
Rosa | December 5, 2009 at 10:04 am |
Have a great weekend and thanks for passing by!
Cheers,
Rosa
tasteofbeirut | February 27, 2010 at 2:50 pm |
Great tips! Thanks so much!