Need an ethnic soup

[Chris Cognac]

Folks, I need e gullet help...I have to find another soup to include in an article about ethnic soups...I have Pho and Mexican Caldo....I need something else to complete a trio...It should look appealing when photographed and fairly easy to make...I have latin and asian covered...so something from another part of the world....also, one that I can make or find in a local restaurant!

Rock on!

Chris

[reesek]

how about spanish gazpacho? it varies by region...i once had a spectacular trio of gezpachos in granada...or was it cordoba? anyway - one of them was the traditional cordobes "white" gazpacho made with blanched almonds, garlic, bread and peeled grapes. i don't have a recipe, but i bet someone in the EU forum would.

i found a great website (in spanish though) gazpacho web i'd be happy to translate any if you're interested - but it's very cool - loads of variations.

good luck!

edited to note that the link for english version doesn't include actual english version, but does reflect the opinion of every spaniard i encountered.

Edited May 21, 2004 by reesek (log)

[Toliver]

Borscht? Deep red with a swirl of sour cream should look very photogenic.

edited to elaborate.

Edited May 21, 2004 by Toliver (log)

[gus_tatory]

what about a nice dahl (lentil soup from India/Pakistan) with cumin? the garam masala spices will make it pretty to photograph...

[Carlovski]

Tom Yam (Although that is a bit close to Pho)

Rasam? (Still asia, but a different part!)

Don't know what the definition of ethnic is, but you could also have Gazpacho (In it's many forms), Borscht, Harira (Moroccan).

Don't know what your local restaurants are unfortunately though!

[Carolyn Tillie]

Borscht? Deep red with a swirl of sour cream should look very photogenic.

edited to elaborate.

That was my thought exactly - Caspian Cuisine in Santa Monica makes a fabulous borscht that would be worthy of photographing...

[Chris Cognac]

Borscht?  Deep red with a swirl of sour cream should look very photogenic.

edited to elaborate.

That was my thought exactly - Caspian Cuisine in Santa Monica makes a fabulous borscht that would be worthy of photographing...

The Borsht would look nice...but an Indian soup could work...What do you all think of a Jamaican pepper pot soup?

[slbunge]

how about spanish gazpacho? it varies by region...i once had a spectacular trio of gezpachos in granada...or was it cordoba? anyway - one of them was the traditional cordobes "white" gazpacho made with blanched almonds, garlic, bread and peeled grapes. i don't have a recipe, but i bet someone in the EU forum would.

I've made a recipe for a Malaga Almond Gazpacho (Ajo Blanco Malagueño) from Gourmet (look here). Fantastic summer soup.

Thinking about it, though, borscht might be more photogenic.

There is also a Polish cold beet soup with cucumber and buttermilk (Chlodnik Litewski) classically topped with hard-cooked egg slices. Because of the buttermilk, the soup is a beautiful pink color and looks great with egg to contrast. Not sure you would find it in a restaurant, though.

[ianeccleston]

I've heard of a creamy, spicy mango soup from India - I've been meaning to make it. It sounds like it would taste great and make for a nice photo.

Ian

[Behemoth]

My vote is for moroccan Harira...still unusual to most americans, and pretty nice looking to boot.

Another unusual one: North German Aal-suppe. It comes with a good story -- originally made with smoked ham, dried fruit, beans and vegetables, the name referred to "all" meaning everything soup. But when visitors to the region got confused, thinking it referred to "eel" soup, they started adding eel, and now most versions contain that.

[Pan]

You've gotten good suggestions. Gazpacho was actually the first thing I thought of.

You could feature split pea soup as representing eastern Europe. Another possibility is ribollita or zuppa di verdure.

[Mayhaw Man]

Seafood Gumbo

Believe me, this is another part of the world.

[snowangel]

White Gazpacho from our own RecipeGullet would be a great choice, too.

[hathor]

Ribollita would look luscious.

What about mulligawtawny (curried mussel soup)?

[Pan]

I've never had Mulligatawny with mussels, only with chicken or in a vegetarian version.

[Pan]

I also thought of some Hungarian soups: Cold Cherry Soup and Gulyasleves (Goulash Soup).

[Suzanne F]

I've never had Mulligatawny with mussels, only with chicken or in a vegetarian version.

Same here. When I think mussel soup, I think Billi Bi (curried mussel soup).

But I vote for . . . um, gazpacho? No, borscht. No wait -- cold cucumber/buttermilk soup with shrimp.

[sashimi]

I like gazpacho as well, but a couple other relatively easy soups:

Italian wedding soup

New England chowder

Minestrone

Lobster bisque

[chow guy]

A pureed soup like Vichchoisse or Parmentier offer a nice contrast to the others and are very versatile.

[divina]

Italy....

I have several soups on my site

Ribollita from Mario's andyellow bell pepper soup from Cibreo

and my own Pappa al pomodoro which like ribollita is a bread thickened soup..

Cacciucco is a sort of Cioppino fish soup which is also really nice..

or just Pasta e Fagioli with Tuscan herbs..

can you tell I love soup?

Edited May 22, 2004 by divina (log)

[Holly Moore]

One of my all-time favorite soups. Snert.

Also known as Dutch Pea Soup. It was my first meal on my first trip to Amsterdamn and a passion ever since.

[jackal10]

cockie leeky

One of the Japanese noodle soups

I'd also vote for Borscht (or schav with sorrel)

[Chris Cognac]

Italy....

I have several soups on my site

Ribollita from Mario's andyellow bell pepper soup from Cibreo

and my own Pappa al pomodoro which like ribollita is a bread thickened soup..

Cacciucco is a sort of Cioppino fish soup which is also really nice..

or just Pasta e Fagioli with Tuscan herbs..

can you tell I love soup?

Well, i think its running between Borscht, that lovely yellow pepper soup and maybe a few others..i will have to see...i like the color or both of those...I will have to find a place that makes the yellow pepper soup if I do that one....I am sure someplace in L.A. has is on the menu..

[Carlovski]

One of the italian bread thickend soups would photograph well, especially with a hearty drizzle of EVOO.

Or for real wow appeal you could try a completely clear Gazpacho variant - draining tomatoes through muslin to get tomato 'water', add delicately sliced and carved vegetables and you have a real visual stunner. Not really a home cooking style dish though!

[chefdg]

My vote is for "Ajo Blanco" or white Gazspacho. You can make it look nice by garnishing with some of the ingredients that go into the soup, and peeled, seedless grapes.