Narrator:
SOUP IS A LIQUID FOOD
THAT IS AS OLD
AS COOKING ITSELF.
ITS APPEAL
IS QUITE LITERALLY BIBLICAL
BECAUSE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT,
A SON TRADES HIS INHERITANCE
FOR A POT OF LENTIL SOUP.
OF COURSE, TODAY,
ONE DOESN'T HAVE TO
SACRIFICE IT ALL FOR SOUP
BECAUSE IT'S USUALLY
READILY AVAILABLE IN CANS.
WITH THE INVENTION OF CANNING
IN THE EARLY 19th CENTURY,
SOUP SOON BECAME AVAILABLE
ON DEMAND.
ON THE HOME FRONT,
THIS CAUSED QUITE A STIR.
NO NEED FOR A LONG SIMMER.
JUST OPEN THE CAN,
REHEAT, AND SOUP'S ON.
TO MANUFACTURE LENTIL SOUP,
THEY MAKE A HEARTY SOUP BASE.
THEY LOAD MEASURED AMOUNTS
INTO A HEATED MIXER,
BEGINNING WITH PURéE GARLIC.
THE MIXER'S WALLS
ARE STEAM-JACKETED
SO THE MIX WILL COOK EVENLY
WITH NO SCORCHING ON THE BOTTOM.
THE NEXT INGREDIENT
IS OLIVE OIL.
THEY ACTIVATE THE STEAM HEAT,
AND THE GARLIC BEGINS TO SIZZLE.
THEY ADD CHOPPED ONION.
THE MIXING BLADES GENTLY TOSS
THE INGREDIENTS AS THEY SAUTé.
THEY BLEND IN DICED CELERY
AND COOK UNTIL TRANSLUCENT.
THE NEXT ROUND OF INGREDIENTS
TAKES THE FLAVOR UP A NOTCH.
THEY INCLUDE CHOPPED CARROTS,
SEA SALT, AND FRAGRANT SPICES.
BALSAMIC VINEGAR
ADDS A SWEET TARTNESS
TO THIS LENTIL-SOUP BASE.
THEY'RE NOW READY
TO LIQUIFY THE INGREDIENTS.
THEY OPEN THE TAP,
AND FILTERED WATER SPILLS IN.
AS THE SOUP BEGINS TO SIMMER,
THEY ADD CRUSHED
AND DICED TOMATOES.
THE FINAL INGREDIENT
FOR THIS ROBUST LENTIL-SOUP BASE
IS SPINACH.
MIXING IT
MAKES FOR A COLORFUL SWIRL,
AND, AS THE INGREDIENTS COOK,
THEY BECOME
INCREASINGLY AROMATIC.
MEANWHILE, RAW, PEELED POTATOES
RIDE A STEEP
AND SLATTED CONVEYOR UPWARD.
THE SLATS KEEP THE POTATOES
FROM ROLLING BACK
AS THEY MAKE THE CLIMB
UP TO A HOPPER.
FROM THE HOPPER,
THE POTATOES SLIDE DOWN A CHUTE
AND INTO A REVOLVING DRUM
WITH CROSS-CUTTING BLADES.
THE BLADES CUT THE SPUDS INTO
SMALL CUBES AND SPIT THEM OUT.
AFTER A TRIP
PAST A METAL DETECTOR,
THE POTATO CUBES LAND IN A BIN.
IN SMALL-CUBE FORM,
THEY'LL COOK FASTER LATER.
NEXT, LENTILS, HARD AND DRIED,
SURGE IN A STEADY STREAM
ONTO A REVOLVING ROUND TABLE.
THE TABLE HAS OPENINGS THAT LEAD
TO LITTLE CHUTES WITH DOORS.
THEY OPEN TO FUNNEL THE LENTILS
INTO CANS
MOVING ON A CONVEYOR BELOW.
THIS ENSURES THAT A SPECIFIC
AMOUNT IS FED INTO THE CANS.
PARTIALLY COOKED GREEN BEANS
AND THE RAW POTATO CUBES
NOW FLOW
ONTO A SECOND REVOLVING TABLE.
THE CANS WITH THE LENTILS HAVE
NOW MOVED INTO POSITION BELOW.
THE VEGGIES FALL THROUGH
THE HOLES AND INTO THE CANS.
THE CANS, WITH MOSTLY
UNCOOKED INGREDIENTS,
NOW HEAD TOWARDS
THE PISTON FILLER.
IT PIPES THE STEAMING HOT
VEGETABLE-SOUP BASE
DIRECTLY FROM THE KETTLE MIXER
INTO THE CANS,
FILLING THEM TO THE BRIM.
IMMERSED IN THE HOT LIQUID,
THE LENTILS, POTATOES,
AND GREEN BEANS
AT THE BASE OF THE CAN
COOK A LITTLE AND SOFTEN UP.
SENSORS DETECT THE APPROACH
OF THE CANS AND CUE THE LIDS.
THE LIDS DROP ONE BY ONE
ONTO THE CANS BELOW.
A DEVICE THEN
INTERLOCKS THE RIMS OF THE CANS
AND THE LIDS
FOR A HERMETIC SEAL.
THE CANS MOVE INTO ANOTHER LANE
AND TRAVEL PAST
AN X-RAY MACHINE.
IT SCANS THE SOUP INSIDE
FOR METAL CONTAMINANTS
LIKE STRAY BOLTS OR SCREWS.
IF THE IMAGES ARE CLEAR,
THE CANS OF SOUP MOVE ON
TO A GIANT PRESSURE COOKER.
HERE, THE CONTENTS COOK UNDER
PRESSURE FOR ABOUT A HALF HOUR.
PRESSURE-COOKING SIMULATES
THE EFFECT OF A LONG SIMMER
IN A FRACTION OF THE TIME.
THE SOUP THEN COOLS
FOR 10 MINUTES.
IT IS NOW THOROUGHLY COOKED
AND PRESERVED.
NOW ON THEIR SIDES
WITH GLUE APPLIED,
THE CANS OF LENTIL SOUP
ROLL OVER LABELS,
AND THE LABELS ADHERE.
THEY PRODUCE MORE THAN 15,000
CANS OF LENTIL SOUP AN HOUR
AT THIS FACTORY.
THAT'S 105,000 CANS
IN ONE SHIFT.
IT'S ENOUGH
TO FEED A SMALL CITY.
