Why am I tasting chicken soup instead of wine?
I ask myself the same question.
But the answer is that I have been diagnosed with a pinched nerve and have been prescribed anti-inflammatory and muscle-relaxant drugs.
…And a warning not to drink alcohol while I’m taking them.
So, in order to maintain my tasting abilities, I decided – at the behest of my friend James Harbeck (who puts this blog on the internet) – to do a tasting of chicken soups that are on the market.
Monday, January 27th: I went to the Superstore in St. Catharines to pick up four chicken soups to add to the one we currently have in the fridge: Antipasto’s Italian Wedding Soup, which has a chicken stock base. It’s a one-litre bottle that serves six.
The purchased soups were:
- Swiss Chalet Chicken Noodle (can)
- Campbell’s Chicken Noodle (can)
- Lipton’s Cup-a-Soup (box of four sachets)
- Knorr Chicken Noodle (packet)
Tuesday, January 28th: I prepared all the soups according to the companies’ instructions and poured them into identical bowls and tasted them with the same sized spoon. Here are my notes:
Swiss Chalet Chicken Noodle: Lots of vegetables here – carrot, peas and red pepper as well as shell noodles. The vegetable flavours tend of overpower the chicken stock flavour. Noodles are al dente, which added character. 6/10
Campbell’s Chicken Noodle: The chicken stock was salty and dilute; there’s not a lot of chicken flavour here, in spite of the tiny pieces of chicken. 4/10
Lipton’s Cup-a-Soup: Again, the chicken flavour is dilute, which could have something to do with the directions on the packet: “Empty soup into your mug. Add ¾ cup (175 mL) BOILING water, stir…” I would suggest you cut the boiling water to ½ cup to get more intensity of flavour. Easy to prepare but the noodles are bland. 5/10
Knorr Chicken Noodle: Bizarre, chemical flavours. 3/10
Antipasto’s Italian Wedding Soup: The rich chicken stock is stracciatella-like with parmesan cheese, pasta squares and marble-sized balls of beef, pork, and veal. A bowl of this is a meal in itself. Not cheap at $18.99 for the litre, but you get six servings out of it. (8/10)
I bought this soup at Antipasto’s, which is at 3–87 Hannover Dr., St. Catharines, 905-641-5211.
When it comes to this no-alcohol-with-muscle-relaxant-tablets regime, I think I’m going to stop the tablets and rely on wine as my muscle relaxant.