For those who find solace in a warm bowl of soup, you’re not alone in appreciating this timeless comfort food. Janet Clarkson, the author of “Soup: A Global History,” asserts that soup is among the oldest and most ubiquitous dishes worldwide. With ancient roots, soup-making techniques evolved from simmering in turtle shells to using metal pots during the Bronze Age.
Boiling food became a crucial practice, allowing societies to sustain themselves on stable grains, enhancing the nutritional and medicinal value by incorporating herbs and other ingredients. Presenting a pot of hearty soup to a friend with a cold, accompanied by some bread, is a tradition that resonates across cultures, rooted in the historical view of soups as restorative.
Despite the modern distinction between brothy soups and heartier stews, the diversity of spoonable foods worldwide defies these simplistic categories. According to Clarkson, a broad definition of soup encompasses anything cooked in water, with the flavored water becoming an integral part of the dish.
This expansive perspective accommodates the tremendous culinary diversity worldwide. CNN Travel offers nominations for 20 of the best soups globally:
Banga | Nigeria: A soup from the Niger Delta featuring oil palm tree fruits, fresh catfish, beef, and dried seafood.
Beef Pho (Phở Bò) | Vietnam: A rice noodle soup with broth simmered for hours, infused with cinnamon, star anise, and warm spices.
Borscht | Ukraine: A vibrant soup with tender beets in red broth, often topped with sour cream and flavored with kvass, a lacto-fermented beet juice.
Bouillabaisse | France: A fisherman’s stew from Marseille, blending saffron, olive oil, fennel, garlic, and tomatoes with various seafood.
Caldo Verde | Portugal: A homey soup from Portugal’s Minho region featuring thinly sliced greens, potatoes, onions, and Portuguese chouriço sausage.
Chorba Frik | Algeria, Libya, Tunisia: A North African soup, popular during Ramadan, featuring freekeh (green wheat), tomato broth, aromatic spices, and various meats.
Chupe de Camarones | Peru: A creamy shrimp chowder from Arequipa, Peru, with shrimp, Andean potatoes, corn, and ají amarillo chili pepper.
Gazpacho | Spain: A chilled vegetable soup from Andalusia, Spain, with tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, olive oil, and stale breadcrumbs.
Groundnut Soup | West Africa: A peanut soup found across West Africa, prepared with meat, fish, or chicken and often featuring bitter, leafy greens.
Gumbo | United States: A hearty soup from Louisiana, influenced by West African, Native Choctaw, and French cuisines, with variations like seafood, chicken, and sausage gumbo.
These soups showcase the rich tapestry of global culinary traditions, celebrating diverse flavors, ingredients, and cooking techniques. Each bowl tells a unique story, reflecting the cultural and historical context from which it emerged.