Soup

Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. According to The Oxford Companion to Food (OCF), "soup" is "the most general of the terms which apply to liquid savoury dishes"; others include broth, bisque, consommé, potage and many more. Although most soups are savoury, sweet soups are familiar in some parts of Europe.

Soups have been made since prehistoric times, and have evolved over the centuries. Originally "sops" referred to pieces of bread covered with savoury liquid; gradually the term "soup" was transferred to the liquid itself. Soups are common to the cuisines of eastern and western countries and have been served at the grandest of banquets as well as in the humblest peasant homes.