Soup classification, part two

A brief follow-up to last week’s newsletter, including a handy dandy flowchart and a few of my favorite recipes

A variation of the Lentil Tomato Stew in Simply Vibrant by Anya Kassoff

Last week, I talked a bit about my love of soup as well as what I called “soup classification.” The idea started from a silly meme I saw related to sandwiches, and ended in looking for (and finding, because it’s the Internet) a chart to classify soups. In reality, no one is going to actually confuse chocolate fondue for soup, but I did have a hard time learning how to properly talk about soups and stews in Spain when I first moved here. As a result, I made the following (simplified) chart for the curious. You can click to enlarge!

The official Come como Kiki Spanish Soup Classification Chart

The definitions of the Spanish terms above are as follows:

• Caldo: Stock or broth

• Puré: Puree

• Crema: Cream

• Sopa: Soup

• Guiso: Stew that is made with added liquid

• Estofado: Stew that is made with no added liquid

• Gazpacho: A cold puréed soup, usually made with tomatoes (but can also be made of fruit, hence its inclusion on the non-savory side of the flow chart). It would technically be a puré.

• Batido: Milkshake

• Granizado: Granita/a drink made with crushed ice

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A delicious homemade fabada eaten at a friend’s house last fall

As the weather is getting colder, expect some future talk of specific soups/stews, including fabada (pictured above), cocido madrileño, and carrilleras. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite recipes, however you want to classify them:

• Smitten Kitchen’s Carrot Soup with Tahini and Crisped Chickpeas

• Golubka Kitchen’s Lemon-Dill White Bean & Potato Soup

• Smoky Potato Chickpea Stew from Budget Bytes

• Our recipe for vegan stewed lentils, found in this post

• The current version of our zucchini cream, from last week’s newsletter

Another favorite: a congee-inspired soup from Gwyneth Paltow’s It’s All Easy, topped with a fried egg

And here are a few extra I’m planning to try in the coming months:

• Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry from Serious Eats

• Easy Beef Stew with Thyme Dumplings by Rachel Phipps

• Chetna Makan’s Dal (Red Lentil)

I’ll keep you posted on new favorites, and if I’m feeling generous, I may even share our super top secret (not really) recipe for the best butternut squash soup (erm, I mean “crema”) ever.

Do you have any favorite soup or stew recipes? Any questions about how soups are classified here in Spain? Do you—gasp!—not like soup and wish to confess? Comments are open below!

See you Friday!

Ki