Mid summer, when heat feels the most unforgiving and cooking is the last thing on my mind, I fall back on cold soups.
Soups have always been special to me, whether hot or cold. They seem a bit like alchemy. The mere boiling of bones in water produces a rich flavorful broth.
Sometimes, I eat alone. When I do so, my options are broader, brighter, and easier. But I do not always eat alone. When I eat with others, it is not necessary for my health that I eat. I have other ways of getting nutrition, but it is more pleasant and more of a celebration if I can order and savor something from the menu.
Wintertime is soup time, time for a steaming bowl of goodness for the soul. Since January is National Soup Month, (Go ahead, look it up!) so in its honor the Great Food Search has conducted a FoodQuest in search of taste-tempting soups.
Soup is considered a comfort food for a reason. It is a great way to combat the cold in winter and a great way to combat a cold. Why is it that when I’m sick, I long for my mother’s chicken soup? Is it a myth that chicken soup helps cure your cold? In 2007, the New York Times cited two studies that showed that chicken soup has more than just a placebo effect and does, in fact, reduce cold symptoms, but it would be better not to discuss the unappetizing details of it here.
