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food / travel

Bowl Of Cool: The Best Summer Soups From Around The World

If you love soups in the winter, you can feel like you're missing out in the summer. But don't fear! Here's a roundup of the best soups from around the world for warm weather.

Photo of gazpacho

Gazpacho soup

Emma Albright

A bowl of warm soup on cold winter days always seems like food for the soul. So for soup lovers out there, the arrival of summer may feel a little depressing.

But fear not! Cold soups are still a great option when the weather is warm. From light, refreshing soups to rich and creamy ones, here’s a list of cold soups around the world that will fulfill your winter cravings and help you cool off on a summer afternoon.


🇧🇬 Bulgaria's tarator

Bulgaria has one of the freshest and lightest cold soups ever made. Tarator is made from plain yogurt and cucumber. Bulgarian yogurt is known for its taste and is a key part of Bulgarian cuisine. Most dishes include yogurt in their soups, salads, desserts and sauces. The secret of Bulgarian yogurt lies in a small bacteria called Lactobacillus Bulgaricus, which causes the milk to ferment and create the unique flavor. An easy recipe that also helps your gut!

🇪🇸 Spain’s gazpacho

Photo of gazpacho soup

Gazpacho is a typical Spanish cold soup using tomatos, bread, and vinegar topped with croutons.

VW/Zuma

Spanish gazpacho is a classic. Originally from Andalusia, the recipe stems from peasants and laborers who used dry bread dipped in water and mixed with tomato. The name Gazpacho actually stems from the Arabic origin meaning “soaked bread”. And now the Andalusians in Southern Spain have also come up with a meaty twist. Just add some hard-boiled eggs and some Iberian ham (jamón ibérico) if you’re craving that extra protein to turn the basic gazpacho into a full course meal!

🇱🇹 Lithuania’s beet soup

Photo of beetroot soup

Beetroot soup

Igor Golovniov/ZUMA

Another delicious summer soup is Lithuania's beet soup. The ingredients include kefir, cucumbers and beets. The soup even has its own national festival called the “Pink soup fest”. According to Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, the first event will take place in June and is set to become an annual tradition. The aim of the festival is to present modern variations on the Lithuanians' favorite soup. Although every Lithuanian knows the traditional recipe, famous chefs will demonstrate how to improvise and create new versions of the meal.

🇰🇷 Korea’s naengmyeon

Naengmyeon is a cold noodle soup and a favorite treat in Korea. Buckwheat and starch noodles are placed into a cool beef broth accompanied by pickled radish, slices of hard-boiled eggs, and Korean pear, with all of the ingredients seasoned with mustard and vinegar. Buckwheat noodles originate from North Korea, but after the Korean War, the dish became popular throughout the country regardless of the season. Are you craving a cold soup yet?

🇫🇷 France’s Vichyssoise

Photo of Vichyssoise soup

Vichyssoise soup is made out of leeks, onions and potatoes.

Huy Mach/St Louis Post-Dispatch/Zuma

This French soup is made out of leeks, onions, potatoes, cream and chicken stock. Its history is disputed: some food historians claim the soup invented by French chef Jules Gouffe in 1859. Others say the original creator was Louis Diat, a French chef working at the New York Ritz-Carlton, who was inspired by the potato and leek soup of his childhood, so he named the soup after his hometown of Vichy. Either way, what's not up for debate is how delicious Vichyssoise is.

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food / travel

Inside The Search For Record-Breaking Sapphires In A Remote Indian Valley

A vast stretch of mountains in India's Padder Valley is believed to house sapphire reserves worth $1.2 billion, which could change the fate of one of the poorest districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Photo of sapphire miners at work in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district

Sapphire mining in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district

Jehangir Ali

GULABGARH — Mohammad Abbas recalls with excitement the old days when he joined the hunt in the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district to search the world’s most precious sapphires.

Kishtwar’s sapphire mines are hidden in the inaccessible mountains towering at an altitude of nearly 16,000 feet, around Sumchan and Bilakoth areas of Padder Valley in Machail – which is one of the most remote regions of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Up there, the weather is harsh and very unpredictable,” Abbas, a farmer, said. “One moment the high altitude sun is peeling off your skin and the next you could get frostbite. Many labourers couldn’t stand those tough conditions and fled.”

Abbas, 56, added with a smile: “But those who stayed earned their reward, too.”

A vast stretch of mountains in Padder Valley nestled along Kishtwar district’s border with Ladakh is believed to house sapphire reserves worth $1.2 billion, according to one estimate. A 19.88-carat Kishtwar sapphire broke records in 2013 when it was sold for nearly $2.4 million.

In India, the price of sapphire with a velvety texture and true-blue peacock colour, which is found only in Kishtwar, can reach $6,000 per carat. The precious stone could change the socio-economic landscape of Kishtwar, which is one of the economically most underdeveloped districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

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