"bisque" news and stories

Happy National Seafood Bisque Day!

Today bisque refers to any rich, dense soup consisting of a base ingredient thickened with cream, but the early varieties typically used edible fish or shellfish culled from the ocean, even making use of pulverized shells from the selected crustacean.

The soup is thought to take its name from the Bay of Biscay in Spain, where cooks rely on the coastline for an abundance of seafood and fish. Popular bisques over time have used primary ingredients like pigeon, crayfish and game poultry, but today the term is loosely -- and, some argue, inaccurately -- used to cover a plethora of cream-based soups.

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One of the best and most successful dishes I have ever made was Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Bisque, courtesy of Epicurious and Bon Appetit. It ripped me, and subsequently many others, out of the halls of squash dislike because rather than relying on the over-used habits of squash with sweetness, this soup revels in rich and savory flavors. To this day, it's the best squash soup I've ever had, and it's one that can be made with absolute ease.