A steaming bowl of something delicious might just be the world’s most popular form of medicine. In nearly every culture, there’s a soup known for its superpowers, especially when cooked with love by an elderly relative.
There has been some scientific research into whether these curative feelings can be backed up by actual findings. In one frequently cited study from over 30 years ago, a researcher at the University of Nebraska looked into the healing potential of “Grandma’s chicken soup” and discovered that chicken broth simmered with veggies might have anti-inflammatory properties (although a study could not identify which ingredients were responsible). Regular soup consumption has also been associated with a higher intake of vitamins and a lower risk of obesity , which are certainly good reasons to pick up a spoon.
But the biggest benefit of soup is likely that it’s a comforting way to connect with your roots — and, in some cases, eat them.
We asked a dozen photographers from The Everyday Projects — a global community of photographers using images to challenge harmful stereotypes —to share their favorite under-the-weather liquid remedies from their countries. We’ll be offering up two servings. Enjoy six now, and we’ll have the other half a dozen for you ready by the weekend.
Some of these are soups that the photographers grew up eating, so they’re able to share personal reflections. You’ll also be treated to interviews and fascinating tidbits from local fans and chefs. And, of course, we have included recipes if you want to get a taste of these soups at home.
We’d also like to hear from you about healing soups in your family repertoire. Send a brief description to goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line “soup.” We hope to include reader recipes in a follow-up story.
Happy — and healthy — slurping!
Catalonia
Thyme for something simple
By Matilde Gattoni
Just four basic ingredients are all that’s needed to make sopa de farigola, or thyme soup, which was once a staple among poor Catalonian farmers and herders. The blend of thyme, day-old bread, eggs and olive oil was a simple dish available year-round, thanks to thyme’s abundance in the Catalan countryside.
Locals would harvest the aromatic herb in May, when it blooms. Then they would dry the branches — including leaves and flowers — and store them to ensure a steady supply until the next harvesting season.
“We used to make this soup almost every day,” explains Angela Farre Palacin, 87, a retired sheepherder from the village of Avellanos, who learned the recipe from her parents. “It is one of the best soups in Catalonia — and the best one for maintaining good health.”
Indeed, sopa de farigola is considered a traditional remedy for all sorts of ailments or physical discomforts, including coughs, respiratory issues, stomachaches, constipation, sore throats and flu. That’s likely because of its star ingredient, thyme, which is rich in antioxidants and boasts antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties.
For me, it evokes comforting memories of my childhood holidays in Perpignan, where my grandmother would prepare it whenever my sister or I fell ill. It remains one of my all-time favorite dishes to this day.
Variants of the original recipe include garlic and vegetable or chicken broth instead of water.
Sopa de farigola (thyme soup)
This classic soup from Catalonia, Spain, shines a light on the virtues of simple food. Thyme, with its savory intensity and anti-inflammatory properties , is the star of the show. Since there are so few ingredients, use the best you can get your hands on: fresh thyme (not dried), organic eggs and good olive oil.
Active time: 5 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
3 cups water
1 stale loaf of bread
a generous fistful of fresh thyme sprigs
extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs
salt
ground black pepper
Pour 3 cups of water into a small pot and bring to a boil on medium high.
While waiting for the water to boil, cut 4-6 thin slices from a stale loaf of bread. Divide them between two soup bowls.
Once the water is boiling, add the thyme to the pot and reduce the heat to medium. Keep at a lively boil for 3 minutes.
While the thyme is boiling, generously drizzle olive oil over the bread in the soup bowls. Carefully crack an egg into each bowl, taking care not to include any shell.
Reduce the heat further to low and continue simmering the thyme for 3 more minutes.
Then, turn off the burner and carefully ladle 1 ½ cups of hot broth into each bowl through a mesh sieve, to catch the thyme leaves and stems. Break the yolk in each bowl with a spoon and gently stir. Season with salt and black pepper.
Cover each bowl with a saucer or inverted bowl so the hot broth can cook the egg.
Let stand for another 3 minutes.
After three minutes, uncover the soup. Check the seasoning and add salt, if needed. Serve immediately.
Note: Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness, especially if you have certain medical conditions.
Tunisia
When life gives you lemons
By Noureddine Ahmed
Neila Nahdi is a cancer survivor. During chemotherapy, whenever she ate, she says that everything tasted strange or had no taste at all. But hsou — a traditional dish whose name means “soup” in Tunisian Arabic, made with tomatoes, coarse semolina, pickled lemons, capers, harissa and a stirred-in egg — was one of the few things she could tolerate.
“When you go through chemo you don’t just need nutrition. You need something that makes you feel human again,” she says. “Hsou did that for me. It was simple, it was warm, and it reminded me of home.”
Nahdi’s mother used to make it, especially in the winter or when someone in the family was feeling under the weather. In Tunisia, hsou is cherished because of the belief that it can combat colds, flu and fatigue. “It was one of the first dishes I learned to cook because it’s quick, affordable and always turns out good,” says Nahdi, who especially loves eating hsou with her sister Noura. “We’ve shared many meals like this growing up, and even now, when we sit down together to eat it, it feels like a moment of connection.”
The magic for her is in the combination of flavors. “The pickled lemons and red peppers wake up your senses. The heat from the harissa helps clear congestion and warms you up from the inside. The broth is light but nourishing. It doesn’t sit heavy on the stomach,” Nahdi says. When she has a cold, she drinks the soup slowly, and with each sip she starts feeling better. She truly believes in its power as a natural remedy, which is important in Tunisia, a country grappling with high rates of self-medication and excessive antibiotic use .
Because hsou is so flexible, it can work for anyone, Nahdi notes. It’s great for vegetarians, and vegans can just leave out the egg and let it simmer longer to thicken. If someone likes meat, she suggests adding small meatballs.
Hsou
The semolina in this soup cooks up to a soothing, porridge-like consistency. Coriander, harissa and preserved lemons revive the senses.
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Yield: 5-7 servings
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon harissa
3 cloves of garlic
5 cups water
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon chile powder (like Aleppo chile powder)
salt
black pepper
½ cup coarse semolina
1 tablespoon capers
1 tablespoon pickled red pepper
½ cup preserved lemon
pinch of dried mint
Chop the yellow onion and mince the garlic. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the chopped onion to the pan and saute until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
Next, add the tomato paste, harissa and 1 cup of water to the pot. Stir and cover.
When the mixture comes back to a boil, add the garlic, coriander, caraway seeds and chile flakes. Generously season with salt and black pepper and stir.
Pour 4 cups of water into the pot and mix to combine. Cover the pot and continue cooking over medium heat until it boils, about 5 minutes.
Uncover the saucepan and slowly whisk the semolina into the soup in a steady stream, stirring constantly to prevent clumping. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot with a lid, leaving it open a crack. Simmer for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add salt, as needed.
While the mixture simmers, roughly chop the pickled red pepper and the preserved lemon. Add them to a small bowl with the capers and mix.
When the semolina has thickened the soup to a loose porridge-like consistently, turn off the heat.
Ladle the hsou into bowls and garnish with a tablespoon of the caper-preserved lemon mixture and a pinch of dried mint. Serve immediately.
Thailand
This soup definitely has roots
By Andre Malerba
Most of what the world recognizes as Thai food isn’t actually Thai. Stir-fried dishes are largely a product of Chinese influence, and rich, coconut milk-based curries draw inspiration from Indian cuisine. Truly traditional Thai food is often rooted in the idea of food as preventive medicine and centered around vegetables, herbs and spices — like gang liang, a soup dating back to at least the Ayutthaya period (1351-1767).
It is a dish of endless adaptability, shifting to accommodate availability or preference. But each component is frequently chosen for its purported medicinal properties. The soup typically features fingerroot (or krachai), which is in the same family as ginger and native to Southeast Asia and may reduce inflammation and boost immunity. (It’s been tested as a potential COVID treatment in hamsters.) You’re also likely to find dried shrimp and shrimp paste — a good source of protein and calcium — as well as red shallots , which contain quercetin, a natural decongestant, and lemon basil leaves, which are thought to ease digestion. Chunks of gourds and mushrooms add heartiness and other nutrients.
Hnoi Lathitham, 57, and her aunt, Ankachatra Janpiban, 84, grew up eating gang liang about once a week. “Eating for health is part of being Thai,” says Lathitham, a chef who has dedicated her career to sharing Thai food with people around the world.
Janpiban attributes her longevity to this style of eating. “My mother would use lemongrass in her version of the soup,” she says, recalling its strong, herbal fragrance. At 14, she left home to work for a woman in Bangkok — someone who, notably, did not use lemongrass. That detail has stuck with her for 70 years. Personally, she enjoys adding corn.
Another variation involves adding banana flower, a large, teardrop-shaped pod that turns the broth a milky white. “It is prepared for new mothers because it is thought to help produce breast milk and is very high in iron,” Lathitham says.
Gang liang
Most of the work in this recipe involves prepping the many vegetables studding this hearty soup. Though the work of making the spice paste is traditionally done in a mortar and pestle, blitzing the ingredients in a food processor saves a significant amount of time. Fingerroot, ridge gourd, lemon basil and ivy gourd can be found in large Asian supermarkets or online.
Active time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
3 shallots
3 cloves of garlic
2 small green chiles
2 tablespoons fingerroot (or a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger)
2 tablespoons shrimp paste
1 tablespoon dried shrimp
1 teaspoon white peppercorn
1 ridge gourd, aka Chinese okra (or 2 small zucchini)
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms
10 ounces pumpkin (or kabocha squash or butternut squash)
1 ivy gourd (or ¼ chayote)
1 cup lemon basil (or Thai basil), leaves removed from the stems
6 cups of water
1 vegetable bouillon cube (or 1 cup of vegetable stock)
Equipment
food processor
Trim both ends of the shallots and garlic cloves and remove their skins. Trim the tops of the green chiles. Thinly slice the shallots, garlic, chiles and fingerroot. (If using fresh ginger, use the sharp edge of a teaspoon to scrape the peel off the ginger. Slice the ginger into thin coins and then julienne.)
Add shallots, garlic, chiles and fingerroot (or ginger) into the bowl of a food processor, along with 2 tablespoons of shrimp paste, 1 tablespoon of dried shrimp, and 1 teaspoon of white peppercorns. Pulse the mixture in bursts until it turns into a paste. Scoop into a bowl and set aside.
Remove the ridge gourd’s tough, thick skin using a vegetable peeler and cut into half-inch rounds. (If using zucchini, trim the ends and cut into half-inch rounds.) Set aside.
Trim the stems from the shiitake mushrooms and discard. Slice the caps into quarter-inch strips. Cut the pumpkin (or kabocha or butternut) into large chunks. Dice the ivy gourd (or chayote). Set aside.
Pour 6 cups of water into a large pot and heat on medium high. Add the shrimp paste mixture and the vegetable bouillon cube (or vegetable stock). Stir and bring to a boil.
Once the stock is boiling, add the pumpkin (or squash). Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Next, add the ridge gourd and ivy gourd (or the zucchini and chayote). Cover and cook for another 7 minutes.
Add the shiitakes to the pot. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. While the shiitakes are cooking, remove the lemon basil (or Thai basil) leaves from the stems.
Add the basil leaves to the pot, remove from heat, and cover so that the basil leaves just begin to wilt.
Check and adjust the seasoning as needed. The soup can be eaten on its own or over rice.
Kashmir
Right on the mutton
By Showkat Nanda
Unlike the rich, spice-laden meat dishes of typical Kashmiri cuisine, chatte rass (or tchhatt-e-rass) — a traditional mutton soup — emphasizes nourishment over indulgence. It is often prepared when someone in the family is unwell, as it is believed to aid recovery by building strength and promoting digestion. Manzoor Ahmad Rather, a scholar who loves chatte rass, says, “My mother always made this when anyone at home fell sick, but everyone in the house would end up having some. It’s simple, light, and full of warmth.”
The soup’s healing properties are attributed to its list of ingredients, starting with mostly bony cuts of mutton meat that provide protein. Fennel seeds are thought to aid digestion and give the soup a mild, aromatic flavor. Some chefs add in a pod or two of cardamom for more digestive benefits, as well as its ability to combat infections.
The process relies on slow cooking to extract the rich flavors and nutrients from the meat. It starts with frying onions until golden brown, adding bony mutton pieces and lightly frying them with basic spices. The mixture is then transferred to a pressure cooker with plenty of water, allowing the meat to soften and release its essence into the broth. The soup is cooked over a long period, which deepens the flavor and gives the broth its characteristic golden color. Another key difference between chatte rass and other Kashmiri mutton dishes is the amount of water used. There is significantly more water than other preparations, resulting in a clear, mild soup.
Chatte rass is often served with plain rice or traditional Kashmiri bread, making it a humble, yet deeply comforting, meal.
Chatte rass
This mutton soup is an iconic staple in Kashmiri kitchens, seen as a natural remedy for a range of ailments. While the term mutton often refers to the meat of an adult sheep in many English-speaking places, in the cuisines of South Asia and the Caribbean, mutton typically refers to goat meat.
Goat can be found in the freezer section of South Asian or Caribbean markets. You can also order it for delivery online.
Active time: 45 minutes
Total time: 6 hours
Yield: 5-7 servings
Ingredients
3 medium yellow onions
4 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 tablespoons fennel seeds (plus extra for cooking water)
6-8 cardamom pods
2 pounds bony goat pieces (goat leg, shoulder or ribs — or lamb shoulder is you cannot find goat meat)
12 cups water
Equipment
Dutch oven or large stockpot
Roughly chop the yellow onions. Heat the Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat and add the canola oil. When the oil shimmers, add the onions to the pot and saute, stirring often. Continue to saute until the onions are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Add the salt, turmeric, 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds, and cardamom. Saute for 2 minutes.
Add the pieces of goat to the pot and fill with water until the pieces of goat are submerged, about 12 cups.
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds into the cooking water. Simmer on low heat for approximately 5 hours or until the goat meat is very tender and easily comes off the bone.
Check the soup periodically and skim off any foam or scum that accumulates on the surface of the broth.
Salt the broth to taste. Serve in bowls, with rice on the side.
Jamaica
Putting the “ital” in vital
By Sierra Nallo
“What you have on your land is what you put in your sip,” says chef Tony Allen, as he holds up freshly prepared ital sip — a vegetarian soup filled with local produce, including coconut, okra, carrot, yam and cassava. The dish has Rastafarian roots and is a reflection of their belief in all things natural. The name ital comes from the word “vital,” as a nod to its nutritional benefits. Soups are an integral part of the Jamaican home remedy tradition, and many people turn to soups as a way to stay healthy and fight off illness.
Allen explains that the difference between soup and sip is that soups can contain meat products and salt, whereas a sip has neither, and only uses natural seasonings. There are plenty of other ways to add flavor to the pot, he notes during the cooking process at his family’s farm in the lush St. Thomas parish of Jamaica.
He starts by developing the rich base by blending fresh coconut milk with an assortment of herbs and spices. Scotch bonnet pepper and pimento seed add a subtle heat, and clove and bay leaf further its depth. “Scallion is good for stomach and colds, as my Granny would tell me, ginger for circulation and inflammation, and pimento simply tastes nice,” Allen says. “We like to say: Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.”
Another healing element of the dish? “That brother and sister vibration,” says Nzinga Allen. “When we come together we have one Spirit, and everything is irie [which means good] when you gather around food, right? When you’re having a sip, it’s the end thing, it’s the community, it’s the hands that made it. All those things come together to make that sip healthy and good for the soul and body.”
An element of the Nyabinghi tradition, one of the sects of Rasta, is that men prepare the food for a gathering where many people are expected to attend. This tradition allows for a brotherhood to congregate around the preparation of the dish, while women enjoy each other’s company and keep an eye on the children, before they ultimately unite for the meal. The expectation is that there is enough ital sip for all, and if for any reason the pot is empty before everyone is satisfied, another batch is begun.
Ital sip
Herbs, aromatics and vegetables pack so much flavor into this plant-based soup that you won’t even notice the absence of salt. Ital is an adjective that means “healthy” in Jamaican patois. It also refers to the Rastafari practice of eating unprocessed, whole foods as a way of increasing what they refer to as livity, or life energy.
Active time: 40 minutes
Total time: 75 minutes
Yield: 3-4 servings
Ingredients
2-inch piece fresh ginger
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs fresh tarragon
3 scallions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion
3 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil
1 medium yam
1 cup red kidney beans, cooked
1 Scotch bonnet (or habanero) pepper
1 teaspoon whole dried allspice berries
3 dried bay leaves
½ teaspoon dried whole cloves
2 carrots
½ chayote
1 green banana
¼ pound fresh okra
Use the sharp edge of a teaspoon to scrape the peel off the ginger. Grate the peeled ginger using a microplane and divide the grated ginger between two medium bowls.
Strip the thyme and tarragon leaves from their stems. Roughly chop the leaves.
Thinly slice the scallions, garlic and onion.
Divide the thyme, tarragon, scallions, garlic and onion into the same two bowls as the ginger.
Pour the can of coconut milk into the pitcher of a blender (or into a wide-mouthed jar for an immersion blender). Add the herbs and aromatics from one of the medium bowls to the coconut milk and blend. Set aside.
Heat a large sauce pot on medium-high heat. Add the extra virgin coconut oil and the herbs and aromatics from the second medium bowl. Saute for 5 minutes.
Peel the yam and cut it into a large dice. Add the yam to the pot along with half of the spiced coconut milk mixture and the cooked red kidney beans and simmer for 10 minutes.
Thinly slice the Scotch bonnet (or habanero). Add the allspice berries, bay leaves, Scotch bonnet (or habanero) pepper and clove to the pot. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
Peel the carrots. Cut the carrots, chayote and green banana into 2-inch chunks. Trim the caps off the okra, but leave them whole and don’t expose the seeds (that will make the soup slimy).
Add the carrot, chayote, green banana, okra and the remaining seasoned coconut milk to the pot along with half a cup of water. Simmer for a final 10 minutes and serve in bowls.
Georgia
A cure after a night of feasting
By Daro Sulakauri
My great-grandfather and his friends had a tradition. They would feast on Saturday nights, and then they would gather at 6 a.m. on Sunday to eat their favorite hangover cure: khashi, a slow-cooked soup made with beef tripe, hooves and bones. After a brief rest, they would attend a service at Tbilisi’s Sioni Cathedral at 9 a.m. to listen to the sacred choir singing and, afterward, drink champagne and enjoy good coffee at a nearby café.
This is what I know from my father, who closely absorbed his grandfather’s traditions, growing up in the 1940s. My dad became a well-known artist in Georgia. But aside from painting, he enjoys cooking, and khashi is one of his specialties.
Khashi comes from both the mountains and lowlands of Georgia. Because the preparation is a labor-intensive and lengthy process, khashi was reserved for special occasions. Khashi was mainly eaten when cattle were slaughtered for a large feast. Traditionally, cooking would begin at midnight and guests would be served in the morning.
The soup was also specially prepared as a medicinal dish. Khashi was consumed for colds, gastrointestinal diseases, fractures and wounds. The primary nutritional value is thought to be in the natural gelatin, which is released during cooking. Research shows gelatin may have several benefits, including in injury prevention and tissue repair .
In Tbilisi, the culture of khashi houses developed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and remained popular even in the 1990s. In the Avlabari and Ortachala districts, men would go to these special khashi houses to eat khashi starting at 6 a.m. after a night of feasting.
For the full experience, pair the dish with chacha (the very potent Georgian pomace brandy) and traditional shoti bread baked in a circular clay oven.
Khashi
Traditionally, this restorative soup from Georgia includes a variety of cow parts, like hooves, tripe, shank and intestines. As they cook slowly, the collagen in the hooves converts to gelatin, a source of proteins and antioxidants. In this version of khashi, oxtail and beef tendon have been used in place of the hooves and offal. Both oxtail and beef tendon are rich sources of collagen. They can be found in the meat department of international grocery stores or ordered online.
Active time: 40 minutes
Total time: 7 ½ hours
Yield: 10-12 servings
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds beef tendon
2 pounds oxtail
water
2 cups whole milk
8 cloves of garlic
salt
Equipment
cleaver or very sharp knife
large stockpot
microplane or garlic press
Put the beef tendon into a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water. After rinsing, use a cleaver or a very sharp knife to cut the beef tendon into 3- to 4-inch pieces.
Add the beef tendon to a large stockpot along with the oxtail and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then discard the water.
Refill the pot until the tendon and oxtails are covered with 4 inches of water. Simmer on low heat for 6-7 hours with the lid mostly covering the pot but open a tiny crack.
Check the pot periodically and skim off any foam or scum that comes to the surface. The oxtails will render a significant amount of fat as they cook. Make sure to skim the fat globules off the top of the broth. Add water as necessary to keep the oxtails and tendon covered.
When the oxtail meat is fork-tender and the tendon is very soft and creamy (taste a piece!), add 2 cups of milk. Continue cooking just until the broth comes to a boil again, then turn off the heat.
Peel the skins from the cloves of garlic. Use a microplane or a garlic press to finely grate the garlic into a medium bowl. Ladle a cup of broth into the bowl and stir.
Serve the soup in bowls, making sure there are a few pieces of oxtail and tendon in each bowl. Serve with lavash (or another kind of flatbread), a small bowl of sea salt and the garlicky broth, which people can use to season their individual bowls of soup.
Vicky Hallett is a freelance writer who regularly contributes to NPR.
Bio note tk for Genevieve Villamora
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