Chicken broth (Photo — Yvona Fast)

“Stock to a cook is voice to a singer.” — Chinese Proverb --- “Stock is everything in cooking. Without it, nothing can be done.” — Georges A. Escoffier ---- Today, cooks can buy readymade stock or broth in many forms and flavors. There is liquid canned broth, concentrate, paste, dehydrated granules or bouillon cubes. These products come in many flavors: chicken, vegetable, beef, fish, ham, turkey. There are also low-fat, low-sodium, organic and other specialty versions of these products. Most of these processed products are loaded with sodium, artificial flavors, flavor enhancers like MSG, preservatives and gluten. Salt is a key ingredient in most — powdered bouillon or cubes often contain more than 50 percent salt. Portable (dehydrated) soup products are a relatively modern invention, credited to a couple different people. A London tradeswoman, Mrs. Dubois, is credited with the earliest version, manufactured with William Cookworthy for the Royal Navy in 1756.