I’m making a tomato and white bean soup tonight! How did you know?
I think part of the reason it’s so comforting is the fact that it is both savory and light. It doesn’t make you feel heavy after you’ve eaten it, just warm. Tomato soup is kind of like love. It makes you feel warm and tingly and leaves a good taste in your mouth. And it’s red, the color of love.
Campbell’s tomato soup is good, but homemade tomato soup is a hundred times better!
If we were to anthropomorphize soups, tomato would surely be the heart. It’s warm, red and very centered—universally loved and loving. I’m thinking split pea might exist at the other end of the . . . er . . . spectrum.
You know, it’s simple food. It keeps, it’s handy, it’s tasty, it’s satisfying, it’s inexpensive and sometimes you just want something simple—and just as @janbb said, it’s great with a grilled cheese sandwich. I sometimes get in the mood for it and sometimes, I run out of food. Either way, I agree, it’s a comfort food. Viva la tomato soup!
@picante :-O I am in shock that you would attack pea soup in such a way!! As I said, it is my favourite but I really think it has to do with the memories it evokes. I have never made home made tomato soup. I will have to because I really don’t much like tinned tomato soup.
@Bellatrix, I harbor no ill-will toward pea soup. It wasn’t in my mother’s repertoire, so it never got on my personal comfort food list. The color has always been a wee off-putting to me. Peace and love to you and all things soupish ;-)
I know exactly why tomato soup is so comforting for me.
When I was very young, maybe 3 or 4, I was at my godmother’s house and there was a power outage. She managed to make some tomato soup probably had a gas stove or something like that and we ate it by candlelight together, just the two of us. Whenever I have a bowl of tomato soup, I think of that time and I feel wonderful.
I too am a great lover of the Pea Soup and I think others would be too, if it just didn’t look like baby vomit. If people tasted it with blindfolds on, I think they would love it too.
Soup, in general is one of the 8 Wonders of the Food World According to Kardamom.
And for you naysayers here’s a recipe for Split Pea Soup This one is vegetarian, but most pea soups have ham or bacon in them, so here is a more traditional Pea Soup
@john65pennington I don’t particularly love Campbell’s tomato soup, but Trader Joe’s Organic Tomato Bisque is the best tasting canned tomato soup I’ve ever tasted!
I loved it as a kid. I still eat it now. Usually, I break a buncha crackers and sprinkle them all in the soup, tastes awesome. Maybe it’s comforting because it’s easy to make, and there’s so much stuff you can do to/add to it.
It’s warm, red, and savory… that makes me think that tomato soup soothes the caveman in us. Like, our distant ancestors hunted and then tore into some red meat. We’re a little more civilized now, but that kind of thing still appeals.
I don’t know, I’m flunkering. This is probably the sanest thing I will come up with tonight.