If a steaming bowl of soup feels like the very picture of old-fashioned comfort to you, you are not alone.
Soup is one of the oldest and most universal dishes in the world, says Janet Clarkson, author of the book "Soup: A Global History."
"Every culture has some kind of soup," she said. "It has very ancient roots." In her book, she writes that early humans cooked it in everything from turtle shells to sections of bamboo, and that metal soup cauldrons began to appear in the Bronze Age.
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Boiling food made it possible to live on stable grain crops, with herbs and other ingredients added for nourishment or medicinal purposes.
Every time you bring a sick friend a pot of hearty soup (maybe with a slice of bread), Clarkson says, you are actually carrying on an ancient tradition. "The split between food and medicine, early people didn't think that way," she said. "I think in every country in the world, historically, some soups have been considered restorative."
That holds true no matter what you call it. Today soup is thought of as thinner and stews as heartier, but the world's edible liquids have never fit neatly into those two English-language categories.
Although Clarkson dove into centuries of etymology to trace the history of soup, potage and broth, she settled on a broad definition. "Simply something cooked in water," she wrote, "where the flavored water becomes the most important part of the dish."
That definition leaves room for the world's enormous culinary diversity. Here are the nominees for the 20 best soups in the world:
Banga | Nigeria
The fruit of the oil palm lends richness and flavor to this soup from the Niger Delta, which also features fresh catfish, beef and dried seafood.
It is so popular that shops sell packets of ready-made spice blend for banga. Most blends include African nutmeg, castor seeds, orima, ijansu and beletete leaves.
The spices saturate the rich red sauce that is the soup's main attraction: soak it up with eba or a ball of starch, two Nigerian staples, both made from cassava in different ways.
Beef Pho (Pho Bo) | Vietnam
The broth simmers for hours with cinnamon, star anise and other warm spices, creating a wonderfully aromatic base for this rice-noodle soup.
Pho is one of Vietnam's most famous culinary exports, but the soup is a relatively new dish, wrote Andrea Nguyen, author of "The Pho Cookbook."
And although today's pho restaurants offer a wide range of flavors, beef was the original. Before 1930, Nguyen explains, the soup was served with slices of raw beef, gently cooked in the broth.
Today beef pho remains the most beloved version in Vietnam, with options that include the original raw beef, a mix of raw and cooked beef, brisket and tendon.
Borscht | Ukraine
Pieces of tender beet float in a bright red broth in this soup, beloved in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe. Often finished with a generous dollop of sour cream, borscht is much more than just beet soup. It gets a tangy kick from kvass, a lactic-fermented beet juice that is another regional delicacy.
And although the soup is sometimes attributed to Russian cuisine, that claim is disputed.
In 2022, UNESCO stated that borscht in Ukraine "brings together people of all ages, genders and backgrounds at the table" and added the soup to its list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. And individual Ukrainian chefs are doing their part to make the soup a symbol of the nation.
Bouillabaisse | France
A fisherman's stew turned culinary icon, bouillabaisse concentrates classic Mediterranean flavors in a dish that has become synonymous with the coastal city of Marseille. Saffron, olive oil, fennel, garlic and tomatoes blend together with fresh fish straight from the sea.
That fish once reflected the daily catch, but now things have gotten a little stricter.
According to the signatories of the 1980 Bouillabaisse Charter, a collective effort by local chefs to protect the quality of the French soup, the most authentic recipe must include at least four kinds of seafood chosen from a list that includes monkfish and crab.
Caldo Verde | Portugal
Thinly sliced greens meld with potatoes and onions in this homestyle soup from Portugal's Minho wine region. Now the soup is a culinary star from upscale cafes to rural kitchens, the very definition of homemade comfort food.
In many versions, tender Portuguese chourico sausage adds an undertone of smoky, salty flavor that makes the soup even more satisfying. Enjoy it with a glass of the famous vinho verde wine from Minho.
Chorba Frik | Algeria, Libya and Tunisia
Durum wheat harvested while still green, called freekeh, adds a pleasant density and nourishment to this North African soup, which is especially loved during the holy month of Ramadan.
The tender grains soak up the tomato broth and fragrant spices, their flavor blending with chickpeas and stewed chicken, beef, mutton or lamb. Served with lemon wedges and a piece of kesra bread.
Chupe de Camarones | Peru
This creamy shrimp chowder is a specialty of Arequipa, a historic city ringed by towering volcanoes. Cold nights in the mountains are perfect for this hearty dish: tender shrimp float alongside chunks of Andean potato and corn.
It has some heat to it, too. A dose of aji amarillo, a chili with a bright, fruity flavor, adds a pleasant zing that balances the rich and creamy ingredients. Perhaps that explains the soup's reputation as a powerful aphrodisiac.
Gazpacho | Spain
Summer in Andalusia brings scorching weather, perfect for cooling off with a bowl of this chilled vegetable soup. Today the most classic version includes tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic and olive oil, with a handful of stale bread crumbs added for body.
Arabs brought the dish to the Iberian Peninsula several centuries before the Spanish tasted the tomato, an ingredient from the New World. The original version was a mixture of bread, garlic and olive oil pounded in a mortar and seasoned with vinegar.
Peanut Soup | West Africa
Like many culinary treasures, peanut soup ignores international borders: meat, fish or chicken stewed in a thick peanut soup is pure comfort food in countries across West Africa. Versions range from Gambian domoda, a national dish, to a Nigerian version made with bitter leafy greens.
No matter the country, these soups and stews are creamy, rich and savory, a satisfying combination that often gets a fiery push from a dose of scotch bonnet peppers.
Gumbo | United States
Cultures and flavors come together in this hearty soup, the star of Louisiana cuisine, which draws on West African, Choctaw Native American and French cooking. Versions made with seafood, chicken and sausage are among the most popular today, but there are countless ways to prepare this Southern specialty.
Ground dried sassafras leaves, known as file and long gathered by the Choctaw people, give many gumbo recipes their distinctive seasoning. Some cooks thicken their soup with a cooked flour paste called a roux, while others swear by sauteed slices of okra.
Every possible version is on display each year at the World Championship Gumbo Cookoff in New Iberia, Louisiana, where cooks battle for serious bragging rights and the title of soup master.
Harira | Morocco
When the sun sets during the month of Ramadan, many Moroccans break their fast with a hot bowl of this comforting chickpea stew. Cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and pepper lend a warming spice to the savory tomato broth, which soaks into the tender chickpeas. It is also widely popular in Algeria.
Although vegetarian recipes are popular, the most classic version is stewed with tender pieces of lamb or other meat. It is not only a fasting food for Muslims; some North African Jews also make harira to break the annual fast of Yom Kippur.
Kharcho | Georgia
A sour plum sauce called tkemali adds a bright, tangy flavor to this traditional soup, one of Georgia's most beloved dishes.
It is made with unripe plums, whose sourness balances the richness of fatty beef and the ground walnuts cooked into the soup. The aromatic kick, however, comes from the khmeli-suneli spice blend, a mix of coriander, savory, fenugreek, black pepper, marigold and other spices.
Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup | China
Shaping, or pulling, the la mian noodles by hand for this traditional soup is an art in itself. Masters use finely milled, high-gluten flour and an alkaline powder to make an elastic dough, then stretch and fold a single piece to produce enough noodles for a bowl of soup.
Drop them into a bowl of beef broth for a world-class soup that features tender beef, pale slices of radish, chili oil and fresh herbs. (At some establishments, diners can even order noodles in the thickness and shape they prefer.)
Mohinga | Myanmar
Soup is what's for breakfast across much of Myanmar, where street vendors and tea shops sell steaming bowls of mohinga from enormous vats. The soul of this noodle soup is a fragrant broth that simmers with herbs and is thickened with toasted rice flour.
Fish adds extra richness, and the thin rice noodles are perfect for slurping. Mohinga is so beloved that it has grown from a breakfast into an anytime snack, and every region has its own version of the classic soup.
Menudo | Mexico
Tripe stewed for hours in a spicy, garlicky broth is the ultimate Mexican hangover cure, but menudo goes far beyond morning remedies. It is also a favorite dish at weddings and big events, when a huge pot of the traditional soup can feed dozens of guests.
It is true comfort food, with hominy that gets a fresh bite from a garnish of raw onion, chili and cilantro. Choose from two main varieties: menudo rojo turns deep red from the chilies in the broth, while the Sonora-style menudo blanco is a milder alternative.
Moqueca de Camarao | Brazil
Palm oil and tomatoes tint the coconut broth a warm, orange-red color in this specialty from Brazil's Bahia region, where locals eat steaming bowls of it even on the hottest days.
The main draw of this soup, however, is the sweet, tender shrimp floating in the broth. Traditionally, moqueca de camarao is cooked in handmade cookware made from black clay and the sap of mangrove trees, then brought to the table in that same authentic vessel.
Soto Ayam | Indonesia
Chicken noodle soup may reach its culinary peak in this savory Indonesian dish. Spices such as fresh turmeric, star anise, cinnamon, lemongrass and lime leaves come together to create a deeply layered aroma and flavor, while the yolks of soft-boiled eggs add extra richness.
Every part of Indonesia has its own local version, and the soup is also beloved in Singapore, Malaysia and faraway Suriname in South America, where the recipe arrived with Javanese immigrants.
Eat it topped with fried shallots, fresh lime and a fiery scattering of sliced red chili.
Tom Yum Goong | Thailand
Sweet, sour, spicy and salty, the wonderful broth of this soup is the perfect backdrop for sweet, tender shrimp. Aromatic ingredients include galangal, lemongrass and lime leaves, while pieces of bright red bird's eye chili add extra heat.
Tom yum goong is just one of many varieties of tom yum soup in Thailand, this version enriched with fatty shrimp and a favorite among many food lovers.
Tonkotsu Ramen | Japan
Long-simmered pork bones give an intense flavor to this classic ramen, whose broth is cloudy with bone marrow and fat. It is the signature dish of Fukuoka prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu, but this rich soup is now served in ramen shops across the country (and the world).
Although the main star of tonkotsu ramen is the rich broth, the bowl would not be complete without slices of pork belly and a tangle of noodles, firm in the center. Eat with chopsticks and a flat spoon, and don't forget to slurp, which is believed to enhance the flavor.
Yayla Corbasi | Turkey
Cooked rice or barley adds a grainy sweetness to this creamy yogurt soup. It is thought to ward off colds in winter; some Turkish hospitals even serve yogurt soup to recovering patients.
A pinch of dried mint helps balance the light tartness of the yogurt. Serve with a fluffy round of fresh pita bread.
