The word “soup” traces back to the post-classical Latin term suppare, meaning “to soak.” It originally referred to the “sop,” a piece of bread used to soak up savory liquids, rather than the liquid itself.

The practice of boiling ingredients to make soup likely dates to the Upper Palaeolithic period, roughly 50,000 to 12,000 years ago. Early humans may have used animal hides or watertight baskets to heat water.

Archaeologists have suggested that Neanderthals might have been the very first soup makers, boiling animal bones to extract nutrients and drinking the resulting broth.

Before the invention of clay pots that could withstand fire, ancient people boiled water by dropping fire-heated stones into pits or baskets filled with liquid.

While the West rarely eats soup for the first meal of the day, it is a breakfast staple in many Asian cultures. In Japan, miso soup is a traditional way to start the morning.

The line between “soup” and “stew” is notoriously blurry. Generally, soup is considered to have more liquid than solids, whereas stews contain more solid ingredients cooked in a smaller amount of liquid.

In Chinese and Japanese dining etiquette, thin soups are often treated like a beverage. It is perfectly acceptable to pick up the bowl and drink the liquid directly rather than using a spoon.

Miso soup is made from a stock called dashi. This stock is unique because it is typically prepared from kombu (dried kelp) and katsuobushi (dried, fermented tuna flakes).

French onion soup became legendary at Les Halles, the great central market of Paris. It was known as the “breakfast of the workers” because it was hearty enough to sustain market laborers through their shifts.

The famous “Soup Nazi” character from the show Seinfeld was actually based on a real New York City soup vendor named Al Yeganeh, who was known for his strict ordering rules.

“Portable soup” was a forerunner to the modern bouillon cube. Invented in the 18th century, it was a highly concentrated meat stock boiled down until it became a solid, rubbery glue that could be carried in a pocket.

The Royal Navy began issuing portable soup to its sailors in the early 19th century as a way to provide nourishment during long voyages when fresh meat was unavailable.

The first patent for a tin can used for soup was granted in 1810 to an English inventor named Peter Durand. However, the first canning factory could only produce about six cans per hour.

Condensed soup was a revolutionary invention by the Campbell Soup Company in 1897. By removing the water, the company could use smaller cans, which drastically lowered shipping and storage costs.

Despite being a classic today, tomato soup was not overwhelmingly popular in the United States or Britain until Campbell’s launched an aggressive marketing campaign for it in the late 19th century.

During the Great Depression, the famous gangster Al Capone actually opened and funded a soup kitchen in Chicago to feed the thousands of people who had lost their jobs. It was mostly done for PR.

In many European and Middle Eastern cultures, chilled fruit soups are common. For example, Denmark is famous for rødgrød, a sweet red berry soup often served with cream.

The “Mock Turtle” in Lewis Carroll’s *Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland* is a pun on “Mock Turtle Soup,” a cheaper 18th-century alternative to real green turtle soup made using a calf’s head.

“White soup” was a high-status dish in the 19th century, made from veal stock, cream, and almonds. It was famously mentioned in Jane Austen’s *Pride and Prejudice* as a requirement for a ball.

In Arab and Middle Eastern cultures, charitable soup kitchens existed as early as the 16th century, providing free meals to the needy as a religious and social duty.

The traditional Spanish soup gazpacho is served cold and never cooked. It is essentially a liquid salad made from blended raw vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

The Hungarian dish goulash is officially classified as a soup (gulyás) in its homeland, even though most of the rest of the world prepares and categorizes it as a thick meat stew.

Ancient Romans were prolific soup eaters. Their cookbook *De re coquinaria* contains numerous recipes for grain-based pottages and vegetable broths thickened with wheat.

Soup kitchens were crucial during the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s. The famous chef Alexis Soyer designed a “famine boiler” that could produce 100 gallons of soup at a time.

Chicken soup has been called “Jewish Penicillin” due to its long history as a home remedy for the common cold, a practice that dates back to ancient Egypt and Persia.