6x cold soups to cool down with
Pea soup, onion soup, tomato soup, bean soup… we can’t get enough of them in winter. Lovely for warming up. In warm weather, we don’t need even more heat. Cold soups are eaten all over the world, so here you go: a selection of soups to cool down with.
Gazpacho from Spain
Originally, gazpacho was a dish for the poor population of Spain. Made with stale bread, garlic, olive oil and water, this simple dish could be eaten all year round. When the tomato arrived in Spain, it turned out to be a good (and welcome) addition. Gazpacho is especially popular in Andalusia, where it is eaten with cucumber and bell pepper. Some say it should be cold, others say ice-cold. What is certain is that you can enjoy this gazpacho recipe during a heatwave.
Okroshka from Russia
The fresh green of the cucumber and spring onion, the bright pink of the radish and the scent of yoghurt with parsley and lemon make for a delicious summer dish. Add water to achieve the desired consistency. You also add potato and egg to turn it into a filling meal. Officially, a kind of soft drink made from fermented bread is added instead of yoghurt, but we understand if you don’t have any.
Vichyssoise from France
The soup that sparked Anthony Bourdain’s love of cooking. The fancy name may put you off, but stick with it. This soup is genuinely very easy to make. The main ingredients are leek and potato—lovely and rustic.
Mul naengmyeon from South Korea
After watching this video by Maangchi, a South Korean YouTuber, we don’t need to explain anything else about mul naengmyeon, or noodles in ice-cold broth. Except that it is really delicious. If you ever end up in Seoul, definitely explore the small alleyways and look for Koreans standing in line. There is bound to be a great noodle shop there, where the tables turn over at lightning speed and the ice-cold noodles are to die for.
Rhubarb soup from Iceland
This is actually almost a smoothie. The only ingredients you need are rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice and water. How refreshing do you want it? Excuse us if we accidentally spill some vodka into it.
Borscht from Eastern Europe
Because this soup is eaten in many Balkan countries, with small changes here and there and slightly different names (barszcz in Polish, barščiai in Latvian), we’ll simply call it ‘Eastern European’. In short, this is a beetroot soup. In slightly more detail, it is a broth made with beetroot, leek, carrot, potato and cabbage—but most importantly, remember the beetroot.
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