I usually am not a huge fan of soups, and only enjoy the occasional soup in the autumn and winter, but I love cooking and was intrugued by the idea of a cookbook with only soups! The book is very well written and I love the different chapters that include a big variety of recipes, definitely more that I could imagine! One thing I didn't love is the illustrations. It's not like they're bad, they're actually very charming, but I found it kind of jarring to not see actual photos of the dishes. All in all this is a good book that definitely inspired me to make more soups and I think it would make a great gift for friends and family during the holiday season.

Doing pretty much what you'd expect, this gives us a guide to the world's soup courses, with recipes for each. With few illustrations – and none of those pesky, modern photographs – we often have to guess at the intended results, but as it says here in the preamble the soup is pretty much a forgiving dish, allowing you to get away with a lot. So yes, what we'd expect – which here surely includes extolling the virtues of the low-food-mile, seasonal produce, the classic recipe (whether classically British, like pea and mint, or nettle, or much more exotic), and generally giving us the green-light to think of soups as panaceas and perfect picks year round. There's even a two-page box-out about foraging.

A lot of this is claimed to tweak a NT chef's recipe, so this should not be too far from the output of all their cafes and tea-rooms across Britain. And a lot of this is not what the bog standard soup-dabbler would come up with – whether it be the oats in the nettle soup, the prunes in cock-a-leekie, or roasting cauliflower leaves. To that end, advocates of this and that will dislike the generic "mushrooms" called for. But few will help themselves to the cold, dessert soups featuring fruits and flowers (OK, peach and lavender at least), or witness the variety of accompaniments to consider, and think the demand of the task has not been met. A strong four stars.

Book Review:
Soups by Maggie Ramsay
Published by Collins Reference, September 2023

Like a lot of recipe book owners, I have a lot of cookery books on my shelves that are pristine - well, dusty - because they have never been used. They were purchased with the best of intentions, flicked through, recipes cooed over, and then placed on the shelf, never to see the light of day again.

Soups would be different, surely? It's an ebook, so all the information is right there on my phone. Soups are something I eat a LOT of. Without getting too much into it, I live a chronic illness life and spend all time in bed or on the sofa. Things need to be easily prepared, refrigerated, and frozen.

There are no photographs in this book, but I didn't find that an issue. The illustrations are cute and made a nice change. The recipes themselves are tasty and varied, with different sections, including one for easy one-pot meals and also suggested accompaniments for the soups, which was great. The one thing I'd change to make this book perfect for me would be to make it all vegan. Then it would be my go-to recipe book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Collins Reference for the ARC provided via NetGalley; this is my honest review.

#BookReview #RecipeBook #Soups #MaggieRamsay #BookCommunity #CollinsReference #NetGalley #ARC #BookReviewer #ARCReviewer

I love these National Trust books. I own a couple and find them not only good for cooking, but I enjoy sitting down just to read them and find out some of the back stories of where the recipes have come from. As I've mentioned before in a similar review, they make a great present to buy for someone who has been looking after your house, whilst you've been away.

I’m a huge fan of cookbooks and I love soups in all seasons. This book is really complete and offers a huge variety of soup recipes.

I usually prefer cookbooks with actual photographs of recipes but this book is really well illustrated.

It’s a book that would be appreciated by soup lovers for sure!

Thank you NetGalley and Collins Reference for the ARC of this book.

A realIy nice collection of some hearty staples and some with a more international flavour.
I made the celeriac soup and it’s really tasty.
It’s nicely illustrated too and would make a good gift.

Lots of nice soup recipes - some that you could find in other recipe books too, but also a good amount of soups I wouldn't have thought of. I do miss photos, though - it's not a necessity, but does make me more inspired to cool something.

There are 80 soups in this National Trust cookery book which is divided into 5 main sections alongside and introduction, a how to make soup and stock, garnishes and accompaniments.

Each recipe comes with a list of ingredients in both metric and imperial measurements, a step by step guide, timings, servings and whether it is vegetarian, vegan or gluten free. Instead of photographs of the soups made up, there are illustrations of vegetables and bowls. Whilst generally fancy equipment is not required to make soup, a hand/stick blender is a must.

Overall a nice enough book, but without any nice photographs of the recipes, or the ingredients being prepped I find it a bit lacking.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

I bought a soup maker in the January sales after having an abundance of cheap Christmas vegetables. I wanted to know what else I could do getting away from the predictable. This book has a lot of really good soup recipes. The book could do with photos of all the soups but to be honest readers you will know with the frash ingredients what this soup will turn out like

A good book when looking for inspiration for a new soup or an old faithful. Recommended this winter.

I have recently bought a soup maker and was interested in finding some new recipes. There are lots of nice ones from all over the world. The ingredients are clearly listed and the recipe is easy to follow. If you like soup I recommend this book to find some different recipes to try.

A really wonderful collection of soups! I can’t wait to try some of these recipes. The illustrations were beautiful and accompanied the text perfectly. I loved the section at the end that suggested garnishes and accompanying foods to have with the soups!

The recipes in this look really good! I have just made the carrot, chickpea and harissa soup which was really delicious! Definitely will be making more from it!

The soups in this book include the usual suspects (watercress, tomato, cream of chicken etc.) alongside Thai and Morrocan inspired soups. The book is also 'one pot' meals - goulash and lentil/bean stews.

There are plenty of vegan soups (or soups with vegan instructions) in the book as well.
The last chapter is accompaniments - drizzles, bread and scones.

The recipes are well-written and shouldn't cause a problem for newer cooks.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

The illustrations in this book are stunning and truly one-of-a-kind, adding an extra layer of beauty. It is filled with numerous recipes that caught my attention and I can't wait to try them out. Overall, it is a unique and quirky book that stands out.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Soups is a beautifully illustrated recipe book jam packed with a variety of different soups. As a soup lover, I love trying different combinations and recipes, especially during the autumn and winter seasons. The illustrations are truly beautiful and add that extra something to this book to make it aesthetically pleasing however I did miss the photos of the finished soups and feel this could have been added to the back of the book for each soup as a grid maybe as I always like a real photo to compare my soup to as I make it. But, I still enjoyed this book, and the recipes look easy and nutritious with something for all tastes.

It’s that time of year again when we start making big pans of delicious homemade soup and this book is brimming with so many different recipes to choose from. If you’re looking for a traditional soup recipe, or something a little different perhaps, then this book is definitely the one for you.
It has recipes that I have never come across before, which, for me, is always a delight to find. This includes a couple of sweet dessert soups, which is also something that I haven’t seen before.
I love the use of illustrations rather than photographs too, and the extra little tips dotted throughout the recipes are great additions.
I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely be trying out some of the recipes. I highly recommend it.
My thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this advance reader copy. This review is left of my own volition.

This is a fabulous soup recipe book. The soups look and sound delicious and I can’t wait to. Are them.

A delicious selection of warming recipes. Easy to prepare and make. Worth dipping into. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

If you're looking for a great choice of soup recipes look no further! There is a fantastic variety of tasty healthy soup recipes contained in this lovely National Trust book. With six main sections: Soup up your veg; Pulses, pasta and grains; Meal in a bowl; Fish and shellfish; Chilled soups; and Stocks, garnishes and accompaniments. Each recipe includes prep and cook times, whether they are vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free and also have helpful tips. Thank you to Net Galley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is actually an incredible book of soup recipes. I saw the national trust logo and thought to myself it would be old fashioned and unappealing soups - boy did I judge it wrong. There are some unusual ones like nettle soup (although very popular and quite fancy these days). My favourites though are the ones which include noodles and pasta etc. The miso ramen is a firm favourite of mine. I also loved the little twists such as caramelised onion and cider soup, the squash, red pepper, leek and lime soup, and my easy go to of roasted root vegetable with the added bonus of rosemary. A book I will definitely return to during the autumn and winter months particularly.