Hilton Head Island Packet Logo

Get your garnishes ready ... It's Soup Challenge time | Hilton Head Island Packet

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Archives
    • Contact Us
    • eEdition
    • Newsletters
    • Subscribe
    • Contests
    • About Us
    • Sponsorships
    • News
    • Beaufort Gazette
    • Bluffton Packet
    • Special Reports
    • Databases
    • Local
    • South Carolina
    • Traffic
    • Crime & Public Safety
    • Business
    • Politics & Elections
    • Military
    • Nation & World
    • Professional Opinion
    • Lottery Results
    • Blog: Untamed Lowcountry
    • Sports
    • College
    • Golf
    • RBC Heritage
    • Recreation
    • High School
    • MLB
    • NFL
    • NBA
    • Outdoors
    • Columnists
    • Jeff Shain
    • Cast & Blast
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Technology
    • Full Stock Listings
    • Market Summaries
    • Mutual Funds
    • Treasury Rates
    • New Employee/Promotion Form
    • New Business Owner Form
    • Living
    • Celebrations
    • Religion
    • Food & Drink
    • Family
    • Outdoors
    • Holidays
    • Columnists
    • Lowcountry Gardening
    • Made With Love
    • Faith in Action
    • Entertainment
    • Arts & Culture
    • Local Events
    • Holidays & Seasonal
    • Horoscopes
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Columnists
    • Mindy Lucas
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Other Views
    • Readers Opinion
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit a Letter
    • National Voices
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Columnists
    • David Lauderdale
    • Liz Farrell
  • Obituaries

    • Classifieds
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Sections
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Entertainment

Get your garnishes ready ... It's Soup Challenge time

    ORDER REPRINT →

January 23, 2013 06:17 PM

When it comes to soup, the crusty bread garnish is impossible to deny, no matter how it crumbles.

For the umpteenth consecutive week, the leavened leviathan remains atop the PreGame’s Soup Garnish Power Rankings. In the last PreGame poll before the Lowcountry Soup Challenge — which is Sunday at The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa — there was some shakeup in the lower ranks, but nothing to dislodge the crusty bread out of the top spot.

The soup garnishes playing the best this week, as usual, in mostly particular order:

1. Crusty bread/bread bowl. It can have a tendency to fill you up, thus decreasing one’s Total Soup Quantity Rating, but that’s the only drawback to the crusty bread accompaniment (unless you have a gluten allergy). Whether used for dipping, to cleanse the palate or as a napkin, the crusty bread holds onto the top spot with authority.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Island Packet

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

2. Goldfish. All the fun of oyster crackers, except they taste like cheese and you get to pretend you’re a giant scooping delicious little fish out of a vast ocean of broth! Fee-fi-fo-fum!

3. Crispy Asian noodles. Up-and-comer brings the same texture as a cracker but with more character. Some predict sanctions if Ministry of the Chancellor of Soup (better known as the Soup Cabinet) ever gets around to answering the “How old are these?” question.

4. Chopped chives/onions. Ups the ante on presentation and adds a savory zest that works well in most soups. Some worry over potentially noxious afterbreath, but if your breath is rosy after eating soup without chives/onions, perhaps you need to be a little more adventurous?

5. Oyster crackers. Get the nod over saltines for durability, as even when a maverick oyster makes its way to the bottom of the bowl, it still maintains its form (though perhaps a little worse for wear). Bonus points for being the most geometric: The starchy little hexagons endear themselves in the heart of every mathematician.

6. Saltine crackers. Classic. Portable. Plain.

7. Shredded cheese. Riding high after an easy early-season soup schedule, cheese drops a few spots after a few embarrassing performances on the Asian Circuit and through the Gumbo District.

8. Crumbled bacon. An excellent way to add a bit of savory, smoky punch. Severely hindered by inconsistency in quality, especially in the preponderance of alleged “bits” sometimes served that keep this from moving any higher.

9. Fried Okra. A polarizing garnish, but a lot of Southern support coming out after its tour of the Gumbo District. With the right soup, it brings a lot to the table without taking much off of it. It knocks croutons off the list after their disappointing, mouth-cutting showing in the French Onion at the Souper Bowl.

10. Sour cream/whipped cream/chilled remoulade. The hot/cold juxtaposition these garnishes provide is one of my favorite things. Until it dissipates after 15 seconds or so, leaving a deflated, creamy dollop puddled at the top of a still-very-hot cup of soup.

Biggest rise: Crispy Asian noodles, up six spots after recent experimentation on non-Asian fare (hint: They hold up).

Biggest fall: Grilled cheese sandwich. When the Soup Cabinet ruled it “not actually a garnish” this melty treat dropped completely off the chart from the top position. There hasn’t been this great a soup controversy since the Ministry’s decision on Chili v. Soup.

Andy reminds everyone to protect the roofs of their mouths and practice safe spooning. Email him at acarpenter@islandpacket.com.

Read more here: http://blogs.islandpacket.com/42728#storylink=cpy

  Comments  

Videos

Check out the 3 carnival rides you’ll see at the Hilton Head Island Seafood Festival

Beaufort woman’s off-roading skills land her a spot on TV’s “Truck Night in America”

View More Video

Trending Stories

Update: 1 dead, 2 injured after crash involving tractor-trailer on SC 170, police say

February 16, 2019 10:32 AM

Beaufort man charged in 2017 murders of St. Helena man and his nephew, official says

February 16, 2019 12:27 PM

Payless ShoeSource stores are closing in US. What’s that mean for Bluffton location?

February 16, 2019 04:27 PM

Beaufort County teen’s funeral transforms grief into a celebration of God and hope

February 16, 2019 06:14 PM

Comedian Famous Los leads Home Team in NBA All-Star Celebrity Game

February 16, 2019 12:04 AM

Read Next

Semenya arrives for landmark case at Swiss sports tribunal

Celebrities

Semenya arrives for landmark case at Swiss sports tribunal

The Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 18, 2019 03:51 AM

Caster Semenya has arrived at international sport's best-known tribunal for a week-long hearing in a landmark case that will challenge science and gender politics.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Island Packet

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE ENTERTAINMENT

Chicago police seek follow-up interview with Jussie Smollett

Celebrities

Chicago police seek follow-up interview with Jussie Smollett

February 18, 2019 02:43 AM

Celebrities

Weekend Sports in Brief

February 18, 2019 02:30 AM
His last All-Star complete, Wade turns focus on playoff push

Celebrities

His last All-Star complete, Wade turns focus on playoff push

February 18, 2019 02:14 AM
In France, the Force is strong with lightsaber dueling

Celebrities

In France, the Force is strong with lightsaber dueling

February 18, 2019 02:12 AM
Ducks retire Hall of Fame defenseman Niedermayer’s No. 27

Celebrities

Ducks retire Hall of Fame defenseman Niedermayer’s No. 27

February 18, 2019 12:42 AM

Celebrities

The story behind The Rolling Stones’ Angela Davis song

February 18, 2019 01:01 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Hilton Head Island Packet App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Photo Store
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • Special Sections
  • Place an Obituary
  • Today's Circulars
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story