[Food trivia] Cereal: Soup or Salad?

[najaB]

Since we seem to be in the mood for silly food-related polls, here's another one: Cereal with milk, is it a soup or a salad? Using the dictionary definitions, it could be either:

• Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot, that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water.
• A salad is a dish consisting of mixed ingredients, frequently vegetables. They are typically served chilled or at room temperature, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a variety of flavors, are often used to enhance a salad.

And before anyone says "soup has to be hot", remember gazpacho.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

The idea that cereal could be considered either a "soup" or a "salad" has not once ever crossed my mind...

I wouldn't class it as either. It's just what it is: cereal.

 

[nlogax]

Never crossed my mind either, but as I tend to chuck a generous handful of raisins into my bowl of cereal that sounds to me more like a (fruit) salad.

 

[Railsigns]

Since we seem to be in the mood for silly food-related polls, here's another one: Cereal with milk, is it a soup or a salad? Using the dictionary definitions, it could be either:

• Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot, that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water.
• A salad is a dish consisting of mixed ingredients, frequently vegetables. They are typically served chilled or at room temperature, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a variety of flavors, are often used to enhance a salad.

Relying solely on those definitions, cereal with milk cannot be a soup because it contains neither meat nor vegetables. Whether it qualifies as a salad depends on satisfying the "mixed ingredients" criterion, so maybe Fruit 'n Fibre with milk counts as a salad, but All-Bran with milk doesn't...

 

[najaB]

Relying solely on those definitions, cereal with milk cannot be a soup because it contains neither meat nor vegetables. Whether it qualifies as a salad depends on satisfying the "mixed ingredients" criterion, so maybe Fruit 'n Fibre with milk counts as a salad, but All-Bran with milk doesn't...

Corn is a vegetable.

 

[Railsigns]

Corn is a vegetable.

Only if harvested when fresh; otherwise, it's a grain.

 

[hexagon789]

Corn is a vegetable.

Actually the kernels are a fruit.

 

[najaB]

Only if harvested when fresh; otherwise, it's a grain.

Ooh... that's technically correct. Which is the best type of correct. But, as well as being a grain, it's also a fruit - so I say it qualifies for making soup, unless you're saying tomato soup isn't soup?

 

[Railsigns]

it's also a fruit - so I say it qualifies for making soup, unless you're saying tomato soup isn't soup?

As I said, I'm relying solely on the dictionary definitions you supplied in the first post, but since a tomato is regarded as a vegetable for culinary purposes, we can safely conclude that tomato soup is indeed a soup.

 

[hexagon789]

Ooh... that's technically correct. Which is the best type of correct. But, as well as being a grain, it's also a fruit - so I say it qualifies for making soup, unless you're saying tomato soup isn't soup?

Corn soup sure; cereal soup, nah

 

[Yew]

I believe that the cube rule (https://cuberule.com/) would say that the type of food is based on the location of the structural carbohydrate. As most cereals are non-structural, then they are either soup or Nahcos. However Weetabix is structural (at the beginning at least) so would be a form of Toast.

 

[GusB]

I really can't believe that this thread actually exists! Is there something the water today?

 

[Techniquest]

I really can't believe that this thread actually exists! Is there something the water today?

I must confess, I wondered what the OP was on when I first saw the thread title. The level of intrigue was mega, so I had to dive in. Honestly, I initially thought it was a bit of a weird thread, but there's been some interesting discussion.

As a good example on that, the Cube Rule is not something I've ever heard of before today, but I'm very curious. So I'm about to go and look it up. I'm expecting something fascinating, and potentially a source of conversation at work tomorrow!

The weird and wonderful things one finds on here sometimes!

As for my view on cereal, I could never count it as a salad no matter how I justified it, that's knocking on the door of insanity. I'd never call it a soup either, that's just borderline insane and I honestly wonder how people come up with these things!