Soup

Pozole is a soupy and aromatic Mexican stew that comes in three versions &ndash; red, white, and green, symbolizing the colors of the Mexican flag. Although there are many variations, pozole verde or green pozole is usually made with a combination of hominy, chicken or pork (or both), onions, garlic, salt, and a green sauce consisting of poblano and jalape&ntilde;o peppers, green tomatoes, lettuce, radish or spinach leaves, oregano, cumin, pumpkin seeds, salt, garlic, and onions. The ingredients are covered with water, simmered until everything is fully cooked, and then mixed with the sauce and simmered for a few more minutes. The stew is served in individual bowls and it's usually garnished with shredded lettuce, diced onions, lemon wedges, and chicharr&oacute;nes.

Pozole verde

Belgium

Flemish leek soup is one of Belgium's national dishes and a favorite during the cold and rainy winter months. To make this thick, nutritious and heartwarming dish, leeks are cooked with potatoes in a flavorful beef broth. Preisoep is most often prepared as a mere soup, but it can also be elevated to quite a meal when meaty beef bones are added to the pot, cooked until tender and reserved for the second course.

Preisoep

Croatia

Pretepena juha is a traditional soup hailing from the Međimurje region of Croatia. It is typically made with high quality dried pork products, chopped sausages, eggs, flour, stock, chopped gourd, sour cream, onions, garlic, and various spices. This thick soup is a wintertime staple in the region, so it is always served hot. Its name is derived from the word pretep, denoting a combination of sour cream, milk, and flour, which imparts the typical thickness to this nourishing dish. This soup is one of the rare ancient dishes which have been preserved until today with the recipe almost completely unchanged.

Pretepena juha

Though it employs simple ingredients, prežganka is a Slovenian classic. This nourishing soup is prepared with water, flour that is lightly browned in oil, and spices such as caraway seeds, paprika, salt, and pepper. A lightly whisked egg is often added into the soup, which gives the dish a thicker consistency and a more complex flavor. Prežganka is commonly served with croutons or toasted bread on the side and is believed to be a great hangover remedy. A similar dish is found in Croatia, where it goes under the name prežgana juha or ajnpren juha, and in Germany, where it is commonly referred to as einbrennsuppe.

Prežganka

France

This famous French carrot soup is claimed by Cr&eacute;cy-la-Chapelle in the Seine-et-Marne department and Cr&eacute;cy-en-Ponthieu of the Somme department. Both towns are widely known for their carrots and, interestingly, any French recipe bearing the name Cr&eacute;cy is made with carrots. Also known as potage de Cr&eacute;cy, this French classic is usually thickened with rice, flavored with fresh herbs like chervil, mint, chives, or parsley, and typically served garnished with croutons.

Purée Crécy

Spain

This pur&eacute;ed soup hails from the farmlands of Andalusia and gets its name from huertas, the local commercial vegetable gardens which are something like truck farms. In fact, there is a whole family of Spanish dishes called hortalizas, made with the vegetables harvested from huertas, and pur&eacute; hortelano is one of them. It is traditionally made with chard, spinach, onion, leeks, and salicornia (sea asparagus); thickened with bread crumbs, and served with a sliced hard-boiled egg in the soup, preferably with some toasted bread on the side.

Puré hortelano

Brazil

Quibebe is a hearty and Brazilian soup or stew made from winter squash and onions. It has a very thick texture and is traditionally served before a larger entr&eacute;e or the main meal. The dish is somewhat similar to curry due to the usage of chili paste, ground ginger, and coconut milk. It is recommended to garnish quibebe with fresh parsley.

Quibebe

Whether it is prepared with fresh tomatoes or pureed tomato sauce, this creamy and refreshing soup is a staple dish of traditional Czech cuisine. It is usually seasoned with bay leaves, allspice, or cloves, and thickened with saut&eacute;ed onions and flour. Although it can be enjoyed on its own, it is traditionally complemented with rice or pasta, and served as a warm, nutritious appetizer.

Rajská polévka

Rancho canario is a traditional soup with a stew-like consistency originating from the Canary Islands. Although each kitchen has their own variation, the soup should always be hearty, filling, and very thick. It usually contains onions, chicken or beef (or both), carrots, pasta, potatoes, chickpeas, sausage such as chorizo or smoked ribs, saffron, paprika, cumin, and garlic. This thick soup is especially popular during the colder months of the year. The word rancho means mess, referring to the abundance of inexpensive ingredients used to prepare the soup, and also feed the whole family in the process. Although rancho canario usually shows up on menus as a starter, it's regularly served as a main meal due to its heartiness.

Rancho canario

Rassolnik is a popular Russian soup with a unique aroma and flavor coming from pickled cucumbers, pearl barley, vegetables such as potatoes, onions, and carrots, fresh herbs, and offal such as chicken liver and beef or pork kidneys. Originally, rassolnik was called kalya and was made with fish instead of offal. It was often prepared as a meal for kings and nobles. Since the 19th century, kalya became rassolnik, and fish was left out of the equation. It is believed that rassolnik has great hangover-curing properties and today, the soup is usually garnished with finely chopped dill and a dollop of sour cream on top.

Rassolnik

Indonesia

Rawon is a unique Indonesian dish with origins in East Java. This flavorful soup is usually made with slow-braised beef and other traditional Indonesian ingredients such as lime leaves, lemongrass, ginger, and chili. However, the key element is buah kluwek, the Indonesian black nut. This unusual Indonesian spice is highly toxic when raw, and always needs to be fermented before consumption. It is ground with other ingredients and spices, giving the dish its earthy and sour taste and the unique dark black color. The origin of the dish is believed to be the city of Surabaya, the capital of East Java. Primarily prepared as a plebeian dish, it soon became a favorite among royalty and quickly grew in popularity. Today it can easily be found on the menus of numerous traditional Indonesian restaurants. It is usually served alongside plain rice, salted eggs, bean sprouts, and sambal - a spicy Indonesian chili paste.

Rawon

Ecuador

Repe lojano is a traditional soup made with a combination of green bananas, milk, cilantro, grated cheese, and onions. The soup is simmered over medium-high heat until all the ingredients become soft. When served, repe lojano is usually accompanied by avocado slices, cheese, or hot aj&iacute; sauce. If you want the soup a bit thicker, a few small potatoes can be added to the pot. The word repe in the name of the dish refers to the locals' name for green bananas.

Repe

This thick and nutritious chickpea soup is a Greek classic that is enjoyed throughout the country, but is traditionally associated with the island of Sifnos, where it comes in a form of a thick, oven-cooked stew. Revithia varies in consistency and additional ingredients, but it is often enriched with lemon and olive oil that give the dish its specific, tangy flavor. It is usually enjoyed warm, served drizzled with olive oil, and accompanied by bread.

Revithia

Italy

Every Tuscan family has a recipe for this soup that has been refined and passed down through generations. The name means reboiled, referring to the fact that it is commonly consumed on the day after its preparation, when it is reheated with a dash of olive oil. The key ingredients in ribollita are leftover bread, cannellini beans, and seasonal vegetables such as kale, onions, carrots, and cabbage. It is a typical winter dish, and one of its main ingredients, Tuscan kale, is available exclusively in winter. This soup was originally a peasant dish, and it was first prepared in medieval times when servants and peasants were given leftover bread, which they boiled into a soup along with vegetables and herbs from their fields. As they would make large quantities of the soup, it would get reheated over and over again, and the flavor would improve each time that it was reboiled. Cheap, nutritious, and flavorful, this traditional soup remains a staple of Tuscan cuisine.

Ribollita

Rihaakuru dhiya is a traditional soup originating from the Maldives. The soup is usually made with a combination of coconut milk, onions, curry leaves, lemon juice, Scotch Bonnet peppers, and rihaakuru &ndash; a thick sauce or fish paste based on the by-products of processing tuna. The onions, hot peppers, and curry leaves are chopped, and then mixed with lime juice, rihaakuru, and coconut milk. The combination is mixed thoroughly, and some water is added to dilute the mixture. Rihaakuru dhiya is traditionally served with rice as a hearty soup.

Rihaakuru dhiya

Austria

Soups are the essential part of Austrian cuisine, and the most popular clear soup in the country is the simple rindsuppe. This particular variety has played a vital role in the Viennese culinary history, with which it is usually associated. The preparation of the broth is time-consuming and often includes boiling only beef bones for a long time. The meat is cooked separately, usually in large pieces, and is subsequently sliced or cubed, then served. The most common vegetables cooked with the meat include carrots, parsley, celery, and leeks, which are also served together with the diced meat. The onions are typically roasted on an open flame before being added to the soup. While the meat and vegetables are cooking, the foam is left untouched, and only when all of the ingredients are thoroughly cooked, the soup is strained to get its characteristic, clear golden color. The soup is usually served with traditional thin wheat noodles, but other varieties might include semolina and liver dumplings. Rindsuppe is served everywhere in Austria, and it can easily be found in every traditional Gasth&auml;user restaurant. It is usually served as a part of a large three-course meal, either as an appetizer or as the first course.

Rindsuppe

Ris e malastre is a pale yellow Italian soup originating from Piedmont. It's a specialty of Biella. The soup is made with potatoes, rice, milk, butter, and malastre flowers (mountain pansies or Viola tricolor hortensis). The potatoes and malastre are halfway cooked, then the rice is added to the pot. When the potatoes are cooked, they are removed from the pot and crushed with butter. The potatoes and milk are added to the soup, seasoned and stirred well. The soup is traditionally served hot, and it's recommended to garnish it with a few more floating pansies on top.

Ris e malastre

Comforting ros&oacute;ł is a traditional meat soup. Even though the chicken version, called ros&oacute;ł z kury, is the most famous variety&ndash;beef, veal, turkey, or mixed meat broths are also quite frequently prepared throughout the country. Pork should never be used since it results in an opaque broth. Ros&oacute;ł is usually made with meat that is left on the bone, which contributes to the overall taste. The meat is cooked in cold water with a variety of vegetables such as carrots, celery, and mushrooms. It is typically lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, and bay leaves. When the dish is cooked, chopped parsley and thin noodles are added to the dish. Polish tradition suggests that the meat should be left out, but it is sometimes separately chopped and added to the soup. Ros&oacute;ł is regarded as a Polish national dish, equally praised as a starter served in traditional restaurants and also as a hearty and soothing home classic, usually cooked and served on the weekends.

Rosół

This clear and hearty chicken broth is one of the most traditional Polish soups. Usually prepared with meat left on the bone, it can incorporate various diced root vegetables and different types of noodles. The recipes for ros&oacute;ł z kury are typically passed down through generations. This labor-intensive soup is traditionally associated with festive weekend meals and various special occasions. It is recommended to serve the soup as an appetizer while still hot, and to garnish it with generous amounts of freshly chopped parsley.

Rosół z kury

Rūg&scaron;tynių sriuba is a traditional soup originating from Lithuania. The soup is usually made with a combination of sorrel, chicken stock, potatoes, onions, bacon, bay leaves, salt, and peppercorns. Diced onions and chopped bacon are fried over medium heat until the onions are soft. The potatoes are cut into cubes and boiled with peppercorns in a mixture of water and chicken stock. The bacon and onions are also added to the pot, along with the sorrel. The soup is simmered until the potatoes become soft, and it's then served while still warm. If desired, chopped hard-boiled eggs can also be added to the soup for more flavor and texture.