I love soups! I love making them, serving them, and eating them. I’ve concluded from talking with friends and family that most count soups among their favorite meals. Strange as it sounds, I consider soup my favorite breakfast food (while my husband cringes!).

Soup is the first thing I eat when I visit a new place. My husband and I have had the amazing pleasure of traveling both across the United States and abroad. We have biked and hiked through many of the countries featured in this book, always off the beaten path. Often food was the only way we could communicate with the locals. Many of the recipes I’m sharing in this book are adapted from those I received directly from countryside chefs, whose stock and trade is to provide simple, comfort food.

As those foreign cooks did for me, I am constantly asked to share my recipes, which I am honored to do. I have hosted an annual soup party for my hiking buddies for years, and, little did they know, it was a way for me to try out new recipes. The feedback I got was always positive. For ages, it seems, friends have been encouraging me either to open a restaurant or compile a cookbook. The restaurant is definitely out, and I never seemed to find the time to put pen to paper.

Then came the disheartening news that COVID-related school closures were leaving children and whole families without adequate food. I knew it was finally time to write this book. While it has given me the chance to express my passion for soup, my real intention is to have you help me direct the net proceeds from this cookbook toward feeding people in need. Feeding America’s regional food banks are organizations that help those with food insecurity, and I am happy to have them as a partner as well as the Rotary clubs of District 7570 located thorough the Shenandoah Valley from Winchester, Virginia, to Kingsport, Tennessee.

Food is truly a universal language. This book lets me speak to you in that language, through the authentic flavors of other countries, hopefully in an easy, accessible way. For me, flavor is everything. While seasoning with salt and pepper is fine, I want you to experience great soup, sometimes full of cream and butter and all the rich flavors the world has to offer. Don’t be afraid to indulge once in a while! As much as I have enjoyed making these soups, it is my hope that you do too, while adapting the recipes to make them your own and share with the people you hold dear.

ENJOY!

Debbie