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Broths, soups, sauces and gravies

Stock cube
This is a concentrate of meat or vegetables used in cooking to enhance the flavours of various dishes. It usually comes in the form of a cube packed in aluminium foil. This concentrate can also be found in granules, as dry powder and even in the form of jelly. The main ingredients in stock cubes are salt (in variable quantities), monosodium glutamate (although there are several products on the market that no longer contain this ingredient) and other ingredients depending on the type of stock cube: vegetables for vegetable stock cubes and meat extracts for the so-called classic stock cubes, and then mushrooms, fish, animal and vegetable fats, food flavourings, yeast extracts. In recent years, there has been a diffusion of ready-to-use liquid stocks packaged in cartons (meat, vegetable, etc.).

Meat extract
Meat extract is a particularly important ingredient in cooking, used for many years to flavour and enhance dressings, sauces, stocks, risottos and roast meats. It is a highly concentrated meat stock made by boiling and concentrating lean beef, which is then packaged and stored at room temperature, also for long periods of time.

Minestra
The name Minestrone derives from the Italian verb minestrare, to administer, because it was served at the table, “administered” by the head of the family. It is more liquid than soup and in addition to the usual vegetables it contains cereals such as rice, pasta, spelt, barley, etc. In Lombardy it is made with rice, while in Veneto and Emilia Romagna, pasta or cappelletti are added.

Soup
It is made of vegetables but it can be served with croutons. There is never rice or pasta in a soup. Its name is similar in all European languages, deriving from the Gothic word “suppa”, which indicated the slice of bread that was put in the bowls before the broth was poured in. Soup is thick and has a consistent texture, and there is very little liquid, which is absorbed by bread and croutons. Soup is very popular in Tuscany, particular with collard as the main vegetable, while in Calabria and Sicily they use legumes and beans. In Sardinia, it is traditional to added pieces of cheese.

Consomme
A French term, now part of Italy’s gastronomic language, indicating a meat, chicken or fish stock eaten hot or cold at the beginning of a meal, usually in the evening. Consomme can be served on its own (perhaps flavoured with a fortified wine such as Port or Madera) or garnished (very thinly cut pasta, almond paste, vegetable julienne, croutons, poached eggs, etc.).

Liquid Stock
In recent years, ready-to-use stocks have become widespread. It is obtained by boiling beef, poultry, vegetables and extracts in water, after which it is sterilised and packaged in cartons. There are many different variations of liquid stock on the market, and it is used to make soups, risottos, or pasta in broth.

Sauces and condiments, including some very elaborated ones with lots of ingredients and spices, have always been used in cooking to add flavour and aromas to foods. Below is a brief description of the most used industrial products.

Mayonnaise (from the French “mayonnaise” or from the Catalan “mahonesa”)
This is one of the most famous and popular dressings; it is creamy and smooth, generally white or pale yellow, and is eaten cold. It is a stable emulsion of vegetable oil in water, with egg yolk as the emulsifier, flavoured with vinegar or lemon juice; the use of mustard is also allowed. The ingredients are egg yolk, mustard (optional), vinegar, oil and lemon juice. When other ingredients are added, it has various other names. Optional ingredients are, for example, salt, seasonings, spices, herbs, mustard.

Mustard
This is a pasty product with mustard seeds or mustard flour as a characteristic ingredient. Other typical ingredients are vinegar, sour grape juice, grape must, fruit juice, alcoholic beverages or other liquid foods, sugars, salt, herbs, spices and flavourings. It is a condiment obtained from the ground seeds of the mustard plant, native to Asia and a member of the cruciferous family. Mustard is used in cooking and is much loved by consumers. The ingredients in mustard vary from country to country, combined to create different recipes, with a more or less intense flavour depending on the spices used.
In Italy, industrial mustard is made of a mixture of:

- White mustard seeds
- Black mustard seeds
- Vinegar
- Oil
- Salt
- Sugar

Other famous and much appreciated variations are French mustard, especially Dijon mustard which is particularly spicy and flavoursome, and “moutarde à l’ancienne” – well-known and increasingly appreciated in Italy – which is an old-style grainy mustard made in part with whole mustard seeds, giving it a particularly grainy texture and an unmistakable flavour.

Ketchup
Tomato Ketchup is a smooth dressing/condiment made from ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded, or tomato derivatives, including concentrate, with added vinegar, sugars, salt and aromatic ingredients and their extracts, such as onions, spices and permitted additives. The minimum content of dry tomato extract is 6%.