Come winter, the flu or just an appetizer
before dinner, soups are the one friend that we all bank on in our time of
comfort and need and not to mention; a soothing, delish comfort food at that.
There are tons of ways of making the perfect soup with a plethora of flavors,
herbs, spices to keep you nice and well appeased before your meal. Here’s
Specialfoods’ list of soups to whet your appetite.
1.
Ajiaco – Originating in the Colombian
capital of Bogotá, ajiaco is a chunky
kind of soup that is typically made using three varieties of potatoes, chicken,
and the Galinsoga parviflora herb
(commonly referred to as the guascas
in Colombia.) In Cuba, it is a hearty stew made from pork, beef, vegetables,
chicken, and a variety of starchy roots and tubers classified as viandas.
2.
Acquacotta – A creation of Italy
(Tuscany) and originally a peasant food, historically, its primary ingredients
were water, tomato, onion, stale bread, olive oil and any spare vegetables or
leftovers. It has been described as an ancient dish. This broth-based hot soup
is now made with toasted bread, with other ingredients such as eggs, vegetable
broth, cheeses, basil, celery, garlic, beans, kale, lemon juice, cabbage,
pepper, and potatoes. They also use mushrooms, herbs, leafy vegetables, chard,
mint dandelion greens and chicory as other variants for ingredients.
3.
Brown Windsor soup – Although you can
guess by the name itself that the soup originates from England, we thought we’d
mention it anyway. The Brown Windsor soup could be made from beef steak or
Lamb, and bouquet garni, carrots,
leeks, parsnips, Madeira wine all of which were a popular thing in England
during the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
4.
Cazuela – Spain has news for you, dear
Specialfoodz enthusiasts! The Cazuela is
a Clear broth that is made using rice, squash or pumpkin, potato, corn, and
chicken or beef. Eaten in South America and Spain, it combines the native
spirit along with other ingredients that were later introduced.
5.
Rasam – Granted, Indians usually treat
the Rasam, a south Indian dish more
or less as curry and not soup but this is a sort of broth that actually is
eaten sometimes all by itself so it could qualify as soup. It mostly consists
of various different spices from around India, water and plenty of tamarind
that gives it its tangy, spicy and upbeat flavor.
6.
Sambar – Another south Indian dish, that
is not necessarily considered soup but an accompaniment that is had with rice,
the sambar had to make it to this list as southerners often drink it all up
just as we do with soups when we have it as appetizers. Unlike the Rasam, Sambar, along with spices and
tamarind also has a lentil-based vegetable stew to add to its already unique
flavor. The Sambar is also made in Sri Lanka.
7.
Curry Mee – A Malaysian dish that is
made from thin yellow noodles or/and string thin
mee hoon (rice vermicelli) with coconut milk, chili/sambal, spicy curry
soup, and a choice of prawns, dried tofu, chicken, egg, cuttlefish, cockle and
mint leaves.
8.
Dashi – First made in Japan, the Dashi
is a cold, chilled, clear fish stock made using kombu (sea kelp) and katsuobushi (smoked bonito flakes). The
Dashi broth is often used as a base for miso soup and other Japanese soup
broths.
Joumou
– A
chunky soup originating from Haiti, this mildly spicy pumpkin soup is made
using pieces of potato, beef, plantains and vegetables such as carrots,
parsley, celery, green cabbage, and onions. It is eaten every first of January
in honor of the Haitian independence
