Soups

World of soups
Allow yourself to be inspired by soups from around the globe, from the homespun Jewish chicken soup, to the gumbos, made from okra, chicken, seafood or meat, of the American South. India has countless dahls (lentil soups); Middle Eastern Muslims break their Ramadan fast with harira, made from lentils, chickpeas, and lamb; and Japan is famous for soups based on miso (fermented soybean paste).

Eastern Europe boasts goulash (a beef and paprika stew that started life as soup) and borsch (beetroot and meat soup). Spanish gazpacho is always fashionable; Greeks love avgolemono (egg and lemon soup); and Italy has numerous bean and pasta soups, such as minestrone. Closer to home, Scotland is renowned for cullen skink (smoked haddock soup) and Scotch broth (mutton and barley soup).

Soup specifics
The word 'soup' comes from the Latin 'suppare', which means 'soaking', and once described a dish of meat or vegetables that was soaked in the liquid in which it was cooked. In ancient times, soup was referred to as either broth (meaning 'brewed') or pottage ('cooked in a pot'). Bouillon, from the French word for 'boil', simply means stock. Consommé, a French word meaning 'consummated', describes the process in which an ingredient is simmered for a long time to acquire a concentrated flavour; its modern meaning is 'clear soup'.

Chowder, which comes from chaudrée, a Breton word for cauldron, is a thick soup that's associated with New England and the American north-east. Depending on where it's made, it can have clear stock or a tomato base, or a creamy milk base, into which seafood (usually clams) are added.

Possibly originating in the Bay of Biscay near Spain, bisques are rich, thick soups that were once made from poultry and game birds, but are now normally cooked with crustaceans. Velouté, literally 'velvety' in French, is soup that's thickened with cream, egg yolks, flour and butter.