That's actually a really good question. Isn't a vegetable coullis also a soup? If a fruit coulis has enough acid in it what keeps it from being a gastric? If same said fruit coulis is just a bit thicker isn't it a chutney? What is the real difference between a tomato coulis and a tomato sauce - just a bit of spice? Is Tobasco a coulis technically, or just pepper infused vinegar? If your sorbet melts is it now a fruit coulis? Is the only difference between fruit coulis and jam just a bit of pectin?
There is no one answer. I say this because I several years ago I spent a few days looking up every name for stock, fummet, boullion, consummee, pot liquer, coulis and every other quasi-defined "fond de cuisine terminology" that I know of in English and French tracing the terms back to their origins. What I found is that there is no clear cut definition. In protest I tossed my notes and decided not to waste any more thought power on debating food terms with people because it's irrelevant; the words mean what people want them to. Now I wish I did not toss the notes. Oh well...
CDF
