CANNED CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Even Wolfgang Puck can't get the taste perfect



How many Jewish grandmothers does it take to dismiss canned chicken soup? Probably only one. But we had five, and one grandfather. These mavens tasted seven brands of ready-to-heat chicken noodle soup (no added water) and decided they all left a lot to be desired. It's not that they don't buy soup in cans, it is just that they never buy canned chicken soup. "Who makes better chicken soup than I do?" one asked. Only the others, it turns out.
Many sighs and many choruses of "oy vey" could be heard during the tasting. Before it even started, one announced, "They are all going to taste the same, there is just so much you can do with a chicken once you kill it."
Then came the questions. "Is there MSG in these soups? I can't have any," declared one bubbe. "I can't have any garlic," said another.
In fact, many companies make soup with garlic; five of these brands contained garlic powder.
The women shushed each other and finally got down to business, sipping soup and reminiscing. One octogenarian recalled carrying a live chicken in a brown paper bag to the kosher butcher every Friday before the Sabbath dinner when she was a child. It was also her job to pluck the feathers when she returned home.
As for a winner, "they all stink," said one reluctant taster. Bouquets to Wolfgang Puck. The celebrated Austrian-born TV chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author got three best votes for his brand. Picking a loser was less difficult. Whole Foods Market's 365 organic brand, said the tasters, was lackluster in every way. Campbell's had watery looking broth with a few globules of fat on top.
Besides garlic powder, most of these soups contain cornstarch and chicken fat, (fat gives flavor and the content - mostly 3 percent- was negligible).
"Hey, we do have a winner," one person pointed out, as he was reviewing the labels. "In the salt category." Stop & Shop brand contains a mega dose: a 1-cup serving has 44 percent of the recommended daily allowance of sodium. For comparison, Healthy Choice has 20 percent.
If you don't want salt, MSG, or garlic in your soup, get a chicken and set the pot to boil.

Wolfgang Puck Organic Chicken with Egg Noodles – WINNER
$2.50 for 14.5-ounce can
Whew. Finally a boy you can bring home to your mother - or grandmother - and he cooks no less. Wolfgang Puck garnered three favorite votes. The aroma did it. "Looks good. Smells good. Tastes good." "Very tasty, strong odor smells good." "Delish!! Excellent!" "Looks very appetizing, smells delicious." But it wasn't all kudos: "Salty, strong chicken flavor. Dark color."

Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup
$2 for 15-ounce container
Campbell's, the granddaddy of canned soups, was immediately identified by two tasters, who also chose it as their favorite. "Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup? Tastes great but not homemade." "Looks good, tastes very good," said another. The yellowish color (from beta carotene) gave some a sense that this was more like the chicken soup they knew. "Starting to look like chicken soup, but doesn't taste like chicken soup. Too thick." However the salt factor loomed large (it contains 36 percent of the RDA). "Much too salty."

Healthy Choice Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup
$2 for 15-ounce can
Very few salty comments, but the taste was overwhelming: "Very strong taste, too much seasoning!" "Too much onion. Too much garlic, and the noodles are too large. Definitely not chicken soup. Stinks." (The first ingredient listed is chicken broth and the second chicken breast.) "Not great, passable." Finally: "Slight off taste - medium salty and light color."

Muir Glen Organic Chicken Noodle Soup
$3.49 for 18.8-ounce can
One person chose this as a favorite: "Less salty, mild chicken flavor, and medium chicken color." (For the record, it contains 39 percent of the RDA, which is more than Campbell's.) Another said: "Looks good, very little smell, a bit salty but the taste is OK." "Smells great. Very light looking. I prefer this color - looks like Campbell's soup." One person found it dreadful: "Too thick, too salty, too much cornstarch, and too awful." Finally, "Not enough seasoning."

Progresso Soup Traditional Chicken Noodle
$2.39 for 19-ounce can
Vying for highest in the salt category (40 percent for the RDA); most comments reflected this: "Too much salt." "Salty, metallic flavor and color." One taster voted it best; here's what she wrote: "Maybe real chicken, awful carrots." One worst vote. Someone spotted green flakes floating in the soup. "What is it? I think it's parsley."

Stop & Shop Select Premium Ready to Serve Soup Chicken Noodle
$2.00 for 18.6-ounce can
First a little praise (very little): "Not bad." No garlic to complain about, but plenty of salt: "Some thickening can be noticed, a little salty." "Too salty." "I don't like the size of the noodles." "Off chicken flavor. Medium color." "Definitely not Jewish chicken soup: noodles too thick, too salty, too awful."

365 Organic Chicken Noodle Soup
$1.69 for 14.5-ounce can
The label reads: "A chicken noodle soup even your Grandmother will love." Not these grandmothers. "Tastes flat and watery, and I don't like the color." Others noted this: "A little watery, no smell, and a little peppery." "The soup has too much pepper." But there is no garlic. And a least favorite vote came with this comment: "Awful chicken, too thick, too much cornstarch."

Taste Kitchen / Smoked Atlantic salmon
Group's diversity spawns a variety of opinions
With the big celebration evening upon us, it's time to taste smoked salmon. For obvious reasons, we chose the Atlantic variety.
Smoked salmon begins with a liquid brine or dry cure of salt, sugar, and other spices. (If you stop the process here, you've made gravlax). Then for smoking, the salmon is put over wood chips, usually cold smoked at low temperatures that cure it without cooking it. Most packages labeled smoked Atlantic salmon contain farmed salmon. Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market, and Lascco Premium all state that on the label.
Farming affects color. Farmed salmon has a dark orange color, wild a lighter pink tone. The color has to do with what the salmon are eating; farmed salmon are fed pellets that include fish meal and in some cases synthetic carotenoids (found naturally in the food of wild salmon), which makes the flesh darker. Some vendors freeze the salmon after it's been smoked, which doesn't affect either color or taste.
Nine people from eight countries tasted five brands of salmon and chased it with club soda. After the tasting, they were rewarded with bagels and a "schmear" (cream cheese) for the leftovers. One taster had worked for a Norwegian company that imported smoked salmon and even without the wrapping, spotted the brand she always buys, Trader Joe's. She thinks it's "good quality for a good price."
No clear winners emerged from this school of fish. There was a three-way tie: two best votes each for Trader Joe's, Spence & Co., and Lascco Premium. As it happened, more people chose Lascco as their least favorite, with comments like, "What did they do to this fish?"
Contrary to what it tastes like, there is no oil added to smoked salmon. Our resident expert explained that the longer salmon is smoked, the more its natural oils come out - but they're the good Omega-3 fatty acids that are in certain fish.
On a shopping expedition at Whole Foods Market one day, a server explained that the more expensive the brand of salmon, the better the fish has been trimmed. It's all the same fish.

DuckTrap Prize Smoked Atlantic Salmon
DuckTrap River of Maine
$12.99 for 8 ounces
"Nicely veined, light in color and rich in flavor. Good balance between salt and fish," wrote one taster who chose this Maine brand a favorite. Some other comments: "Too salty with a heavy taste," "Clean cut pleasant pink color," "Nice thick pieces, the light color is not appealing." "It looks better than the others!" one said. Another: "Slightly too pale." Several said its "mild taste" is an asset and one dubbed it "easy for beginners."

Lascco Premium FancyOriginal Grade Atlantic Salmon
Alderwood Smoked
$15.99 for 1 pound
"Sickly and pale," said one, a comment echoed by several who chose this as their least favorite. "Rather mushy texture, salt was the dominant taste, poor smoked flavor." "Melts in your mouth - not a good thing." That taster thought it seemed like the most "natural" and decided it came from Whole Foods. (It didn't.) The brand has some additives on the ingredient list. "From the first look, I am not sure I want to eat this. It also smells strange." "Looks shredded, not appealing." Another person said it tastes like "smoked cardboard." Two chose it as a favorite and liked the "light texture, thin slices, and delicate feel."

Spence & Co. Classic Smoked Salmon
$12.99 for 8 ounces
Most people liked the deep orange hue in this brand. "Nice and bright," "full color." One said, "too orange." Another associated "the darker color with being oilier than the others - in a good sense." "Nicely salted and a rich texture." One taster found it "richer in fat," another called it "too slippery and slimy." Two people chose it as their least favorite. "It has a fishy smell, too strong odor, something my kids would not touch." "More rubbery than others. Heavy flavor." Sometimes you wonder if everyone is on the same page. This comment after tasting the same salmon: "Good taste but not chewy enough. Lightly salted, richer but dry."

Trader Joe's Atlantic Harvest Smoked Salmon Farm Raised
$4.99 for 6 ounces
The cheapest brand of the group. Many commented on the appearance: "Color is appealing." Texture, said one, is "a bit stiff." Others: "Slightly mushy texture." "Melty." "Very fleshy, not very distinctive poignant taste." "It's a bit too smooth, you don't need to chew it." "This has a long salty aftertaste." "Nice mild flavor, a little tangy, delicious on an empty stomach." Finally: "Smooth, balanced, tasty, and fresh, easy to please, lightly smoked, and nice color."

Whole Foods Market Whole Catch Atlantic Smoked Salmon
Scottish Style Cold Smoked
$12.99 for 8 ounces
Chosen best by two. "That looks really good. You can see the structure of the salmon flesh and it smells like a real salmon. You taste it after you finish eating it." "Looks appealing. Good balance between salt, chewiness, and aftertaste." Some liked the appearance but felt the taste didn't deliver. "Healthy vibrant looks and strong smell. But suddenly disappointing taste - too watery. There was a surprising gap between smell and taste." "Love the color and size. Slippery and oily." Others found the taste "salty and saturated, richer in fat, smoked longer."