soups

Cooking in clay pot has a long history and is commonly used in several European, Asian and North African cuisines. The food inside the clay pot is surrounded by steam. That's why it loses little of its moisture, creating a tender, flavorful dish. Beens in clay pot is one of the traditional meals in Bulgarian cuisine and is truly delicious.

Most gazpacho recipes typically include tomato and bread. However, there are many modern variations of gazpacho omitting those ingredients in favor of avocado, watermelon, grapes, meat stock, seafood, etc. Gazpacho has become an almost generic term for chilled vegetable soup. Here is an unusual yet amazingly refreshing watermelon gazpacho recipe.

The Spanish tomato-based, raw vegetable soup originates in the southern region of Andalusia. Most gazpacho recipes typically include stale bread, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, garlic, olive oil, wine vinegar, and salt. Some may also include onion. Gazpacho is believed to originate from an Arab soup of bread, olive oil, water and garlic, that arrived in Spain with the Moors.

Last week, as I was exploring the eco-trails of the Tryavna Balkan, I met a very chatty guy and his 4-year-old son. They were on their way to pick up fresh nettle plants. This reminded me of the delicious nettle soup that my grandmother used to cook every year in the very beginning of spring. Here's the recipe.

This deep red meaty soup has many varieties depending on the region it's coming from. But it seems that it has become somewhat of a Ukrainian national symbol. The red beetroot is the major ingredient of the soup and the bearer of that rich, earthy, delicious flavor. Here is how I cook the Ukrainian Borscht.