Beyond the Trivia-National Soup Month

What better time to enjoy a warm bowl of soup than in cold weather? That's why January was chosen to celebrate National Soup Month. The trivia question of the day is "What is the best selling soup in the U.S? Is it chicken noodle, cream of mushroom, tomato or vegetable?

Answer:

If you enjoy a bowl of soup at home once in a while, your experience is probably in line with most other Americans. The best-selling soup in the U.S. Is chicken noodle. It's a warm, comforting flavor. Tomato is number two. It was the first soup Campbell's produced, going back to 1897 and it's the perfect combination with a toasted cheese sandwich. Cream of mushroom and vegetable are not in the top five. The other three most popular are clam chowder, potato soup and minnestrone.

Clam chowder is a New England regional favorite that's become an American standard. Potato is probably on the list because there are several versions with additional ingredients such as ham. Minestrone is the Italian version of a vegetable soup that includes beans in a tomato broth.

U.S. favorites are not necessarily shared with other nations. The British prefer tomato soup over other kinds, followed by potato and leek. Chicken soup comes in at number four in the UK.

Then there are the soups that are considered national soups. In the U.S., gumbo is the top national soup, a thick spicy soup from Louisiana. Clam chowder is another. France is into soup in a major way. Who doesn't know of French onion soup? Bouillabaisse is another French soup featuring different kinds of fish and shellfish in a fish stock. If you order vichyssoise, know that you'll be getting cold soup made from potato, leek and cream. A Spanish favorite, Andalusian gazpacho, is also a cold soup that contains vegetables in a tomato base. Mexican favorite soups include menudo, made from tripe (the edible lining from the stomachs of various animals, usually cattle or sheep) and hominy (produced from dried maize kernels). Another is albondigas, a meatball soup. Hungarian goulash is a national soup made from beef with bell pepper, potatoes, paprika powder, caraway seed, and garnished with sour cream.

If none of these float your boat, consider that Wikipedia lists 210 kinds of soup, some that have been around since ancient times.