Our Soups

Our tasty soups: the history and the myths  

How about a genuine, traditional fish soup? The first ever la belle-iloise canned fish soup is celebrating its 60th anniversary. The original recipe goes back to 1962 and over the years we have devised many more (fish, vegetable and bisques), taking our inspiration from French culinary traditions. And we’ve been creative too!

There are the traditional Breton fish soups, such as the famous Cotriade de poissons or Godaille du pêcheur. And then there are the good recipes from other regions, such as Rock Fish Soup with the flavours of Provence, a Mediterranean tradition, Tuna Soup Basquaise, inherited from the South-West, or Lobster Bisque, with its ancient origins in the South of France. There are also those that are the fruit of our spirit of innovation, like the Sea Bream Soup with Jerusalem Artichokes, Buckwheat and Chestnut Chips, our unique Shellfish Soup, or our two cold summer soups, 100% vegetables and seaweed!

All our canned meal soups are also available in assortments, to renew and revive the pleasure of soup day after day! To make it all even better, we've developed our own rouille sauce, a great partner for fish soup, in two versions: the classic Sauce rouille, and its spicier twin Sauce rouille Garlic & Pepper. Finally, to make it easier to open tinned soups, we've designed a zinc and beechwood can opener with an ergonomic handle and a chic design.

What better way to warm up in winter than with a tasty soup? Ah, good soup... a mug that you hold in your hands, a bowl that you blow on, a soup plate steaming with goodness that does you good. The spoonful that immediately invigorates the body and warms the heart. And in summer, who wouldn't want a nice cold soup to cool down?

La belle-iloise canned soups are just like homemade soup, and sometimes even better! Thanks to the superpowers of canning, the carefully selected fish, vegetables and ingredients retain all their nutritional value, fortifying us like a magic potion!In fact, it's said that the recipe for the soup of the indomitable Gauls contains mainly vegetables and fish. Could that be the secret?

Yes, humans have been eating soups since prehistoric times! The mastery of fire, the advent of agriculture, fishing and pottery all contributed to the invention, 10,000 years ago, of the first soups made from seeds, herbs, vegetables, fish or meat carcasses...

The ancestor of fish soup was the fisherman's soup, made from unsaleable or unsold fish: an anti-waste solution first and foremost. Gradually, however, we began to use fish of increasingly higher quality. When they were at sea, fishermen began to cook fish soup from the best cuts. And at the end of their long fishing trips, they would take their precious recipe home with them, along with some good fish as payment.

This is how the secret of fish soup spread ashore. Now you can order fish soup in the world's best gourmet restaurants!

Fish soup can be found in the culinary traditions of every continent, but each has its own specific recipe depending on the local fish, the fishing season and inherited customs. In France alone, there are more than 20 recipes for fish soup, which vary from region to region. And it's not just the coastal populations that have made it their own: you can find soup made with freshwater fish from the Rhine in eastern France, or from the Loire in the heart of the country, in the Centre region.

So much for the history of soup, now let's turn to its contemporary legends:

"Eat your soup, it makes you grow", a very human legend handed down from generation to generation.

Rest assured, soup also has very real virtues. It's packed with vitamins and minerals thanks to the vegetables, and when it contains fish, shellfish or seaweed, it's packed with protein! Antioxidant and remineralising, it's also a great source of hydration: one soup is the equivalent of 2 glasses of water. So soup helps to combat dehydration in summer due to the heat, and dryness in winter due to the cold and heating.

"Soup makes you slim" is a famous claim, but it's too vague to make such promises.

It's also true that our good soups from la belle-iloise have no more than around sixty calories per 100g, and yet soup is so filling: it's easy to feel full with soup, thanks in particular to the fibre in the vegetables it contains! Sometimes served as a starter, soup is often used as a main course, especially if it's a hearty fish dish. However, if you're watching your figure, remember to go easy on the cream, croutons and cheese!

In conclusion, remember that soup is not a sad thing! Oh no, soup is convivial and should be shared. Don't you remember that beautiful tureen that used to sit on the table at family dinners??