# Europe Forum > European Culture & History > European food and recipes >  European style soup

## misa.j

I was flipping through my cooking book yesterday and found so many good recipes for soups. As I expected, most of them were originated in European countries; Minestrone from Italy, Cold Bulgarian cucumber soup, Gazpacho from Spain, lentil soup popular in Medditerranean, Bouillabaisse from France etc. 

There are some soups that the recipes are over 100 years old which I think is amazing. 

So, what is your favorite soup, or do you have recipes you could share? 

Thanks!

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## Maciamo

I am not sure which soup is common in the US and where each soup originated, but here are a few common sorts of soup in Belgium : pumpkin soup, tomato soup, cream (& mushroom) soup, green pea soup, onion soup, cucumber soup, mixed green vegetable soup (courgette, celery, parsley, etc.), nettle soup (well, maybe less common), carrot soup, etc.

Some modern recipes are quite original. For instance, there is a Belgian organic "fastfood" chain that serves "spinach and Boursin (the sotf herb cheese) soup".

I noticed that corn soup and potato soup were common in Japan. I guess it is an American import, as I almost haven't seen them in Europe.

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## Kinsao

mmmm!
I don't make my own soup, but my favourites are:
carrot and coriander
tomato and basil
minestrone
lentil
 :Liplick:

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## misa.j

> I noticed that corn soup and potato soup were common in Japan. I guess it is an American import, as I almost haven't seen them in Europe.


Yeah, I guess they are from America, although there are various styles depending on a region, creamy Southwestern style corn soup is famous. 
Minestrone is hearty and savory, good autum soup. I just had it the other day. 
Here is a recipe for one of my favorites, spinach & garlic soup. Some packaged fresh spinach is said to be unsafe to eat right now here in the states, but if you can get organic locally-grown spinach, it's so easy to make it. 

Ingredients
10 ounces Fresh spinach -- trimmed/coars
4 cups Chicken broth
1/2 cup Shredded carrots
1/2 cup Chopped onion
8 cloves Garlic -- minced
1/3 cup Butter
1/4 cup All-purpose flour
3/4 cup Heavy cream or half & half
1/4 cup Milk
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Ground nutmeg

In a 5-quart Dutch oven, bring spinach, broth and carrots to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat; cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute onion and garlic in butter until onion is soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add flour; cook and stir over low heat for 3-5 minutes. Add to spinach mixture. Puree in small batches in a blender or food processor until finely chopped. Place in a large saucepan. Add cream, milk, pepper and nutmeg; heat through but do not boil.
Serve with bread.

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## Minty

You seem to be very interested in cooking Misa!

My favorite European soups are:

Lobster 
Pumpkin 
Sweet potatoes
Mixed vegetable soup

If I think of more I would let you know!

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## misa.j

Hi Minty! Yeah, I do like cooking, and I thought talking about soup would be an interesting topic for the colder weather.

I would definitely like to try to make lobster bisque! Another one of my favorites, although it is from New England in the US, is New England style clam chowder.

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## Minty

> Hi Minty! Yeah, I do like cooking, and I thought talking about soup would be an interesting topic for the colder weather.
> I would definitely like to try to make lobster bisque! Another one of my favorites, although it is from New England in the US, is New England style clam chowder.


Yeah the weather is getting cold isn't it? You live in NY? I been to NY once it's quite cold in the winter I remember.

Western soups are very different from Asian soups aren't they? I actually make miso soups very often at home, we like miso soups. Chinese soups taste quite different too, I get to have some when I was back in Mfsia on vacation, I havenft tasted some foods I used to eat as a kid for ages, and it was nice. My husband likes the foods too.

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## Duo

Speaking of european style soup just this morning very early on awaiting to return home from the night before hand I had a turkish soup calle corba which is made of a medium sized thickness in liquid but with pieces of a sheep's stomach in the soup. Not quite bad

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## misa.j

> I been to NY once it's quite cold in the winter I remember.


Expecially upstate NY where I live gets very cold in the winter; the city I live in has been the coldest city in the whole nation sometimes. Even though we have the central heating which keeps the house warm, it's still quite nice to have a bowl of hot soup after being in the cold. 



> Western soups are very different from Asian soups aren't they? I actually make miso soups very often at home, we like miso soups.


One of the things I noticed about miso soup is that it doesn't keep well, and it's good when fresh; on the other hand, a lot of European style soups get better when all the ingredients are blended in after hours of simmering.

Duo, I just looked up the word "corba", I guess it means _soup_ in Turkish. I would love to try good Turkish soups!

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## cursore

Minestrone
Pasta e ceci (chickpeas in soup with small pasta)
Pasta e Fagioli (Beans in soup with small pasta)
Pasta e Patate (Potatoes in soup with small pasta)
Pasta e lenticchie (lentils in soup with small pasta)

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## Minty

> One of the things I noticed about miso soup is that it doesn't keep well, and it's good when fresh; on the other hand, a lot of European style soups get better when all the ingredients are blended in after hours of simmering.


Yes, that's why whenever I buy for us a packet of miso; I would continuously make it into soups for almost every day until it is finish. :Poh:

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## Minty

> Minestrone
> Pasta e ceci (chickpeas in soup with small pasta)
> Pasta e Fagioli (Beans in soup with small pasta)
> Pasta e Patate (Potatoes in soup with small pasta)
> Pasta e lenticchie (lentils in soup with small pasta)


Interesting, all your favorite soups have pastas in them. Now I am going to ask a stupid question, so are all Italian soups with pastas or it is just something you love?

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## cursore

> Interesting, all your favorite soups have pastas in them. Now I am going to ask a stupid question, so are all Italian soups with pastas or it is just something you love?


In Italian cuisine, there are thousands of recipes depending on which region you are from.

My sister married 22 years ago a guy from central south Italy just 200 kilometres from our place, she had to be re educated to meet their standard and to learn the local recipes.
I know for instance that on Christmas day she will cook Thistle soup, which is a local recipe.

The above mentioned soups were the most common in my house, but no not all Italian soups contains pasta, and soup pasta is different from pastasciutta like spaghetti, maccheroni, penne, etc...

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## Maciamo

I have bought a new recipe book (from Belgium) for soups only. Here a some interesting soups I found in it :

- Belgian endive, bacon and sage soup
- cauliflouwer and pine nuts soup
- chestnut soup (tried it for the first time a few weeks ago  :Wink:  )
- garlic soup
- potato and truffe oil soup
- green peas and scallops soup
- salsify and nut pesto soup
- white beans and risotto quenelle soup
- Jerusalem artichoke and smoked duck soup
- fennel and carrot soup
- ginger and carrot soup
- courgette and mimosa soup
- spinash and apple soup
- cucumber and coriander cappucino
- mango and coconut milk soup
- cold pineapple soup
- fig, clementine and cinnamon soup
- melon gaspacho
- rhubarb and verbena soup
- peach and lavender soup

At least it doesn't lack originality...

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## Kinsao

Ooooh, I like the sound of ginger and carrot soup!  :Liplick:  ... and it is nearly lunch time *stomach rumbles* I might have to go and search for some nice soup soon!  :Laughing:

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## Niedy

My favorite soup is something called "Eintropfsuppe"... clear soup in which you put egg mixed with flour and salt... looks a bit strange... but I like the taste...

and if you ever make crepes and there are some left over... just roll them up, cut them into thin slices and put them in a clear soup...



oh and a austrian specialty is the K&uuml;rbiscremesuppe (Pumpkin Creme Soup)...

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## miu

I like salmon soup. I have made this soup many times to friends form other countries and was a bit surprised when some of them said that it's not really even a soup -- more like a watery stew or something  :Laughing:  For this recepy, it depends how much you want to add the ingredients, I guess. 

Salmon soup 

1 l fish stock
potatoes (4-5)
carrots (1-2)
1 onion
500g salmon (or less if you like, I usually put a lot since I like it  :Relieved: )
10 whole allspice/Jamaica pepper
cream
dill

1) clean the carrots, onion and potatoes and add them to the boiling fish stock with the allspice. Boil until the vegetables get soft enough.
2) cut up the salmon into pieces and add into the soup, cook until ready (doesn't take long, 10-15 mins)
3) add cream and dill, you can also add something else to suit your taste.

That's it.

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