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Chilcano de pescadoClear fish broth

In the fishermen's terminals of Chorrillos and Callao, chilcano is what you drink on a Sunday morning after a long night: a clear, gingery broth made from the heads and bones left over from cleaning fish for ceviche, with chunks of fish, red onion, chilli and a squeeze of lime in the bowl. It is light and warming, around 160 kcal a bowl, and still gives about 24 g of protein from the fish fillet and the broth. The common mistake is squeezing the lime into the pot while it boils, which turns it bitter; add it to each bowl at the table. Don't boil the bones for more than 30 minutes either, or the broth turns cloudy and harsh. Chef's tip: ask the fishmonger for heads and frames from mild white fish like sea bass or cod, and leave out oily fish such as mackerel, which makes the broth strong and fishy.

55 min

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Chorba khodra (light Moroccan vegetable soup)

Chorba khodra is the everyday soup of Moroccan homes from Tangier to Agadir, served for supper on cold evenings and to anyone feeling unwell. Carrots, courgettes, potato, turnip and celery simmer with onion, tomato, coriander, parsley, ginger and a little turmeric, then get blended into a smooth, light orange soup thickened with a spoon of fine vermicelli or semolina. Serve with bread and a lemon wedge. Most people boil it too long so the herbs turn dull; add the fresh herbs in the last 10 minutes. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of smen or olive oil stirred in right before serving gives it the roundness of the restaurant version. Contains wheat (vermicelli).

45 min

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Pira caldoCreamy fish soup with cheese

Along the Paraguay River from Asunción to Concepción, pira caldo is the fishermen's soup, said to restore strength after a long night: chunks of firm river fish poached in a broth of onion, peppers and tomato fried in fat, then made creamy with milk and melted fresh cheese. Surubí or other catfish is traditional; any firm white fish such as hake or pollock works. The mistake most people make is boiling the soup after the milk and cheese go in, which splits it. Chef's tip: fry the vegetables until they are very soft and sweet before adding the water; that is where the flavour comes from.

60 min

Paraguayan Soups

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Caldo de gallinaHen broth with noodles

In Lima's markets and the all-night caldo stalls of districts like La Victoria, a bowl of caldo de gallina is the dawn breakfast for market porters, taxi drivers and anyone coming home late: a deep, golden broth from a slow-simmered hen (a boiling fowl) with ginger and spring onion, ladled over thick noodles and yellow potato, with a boiled egg, lime and ají chilli on the side. The common mistake is boiling the broth hard, which clouds it and toughens the meat; keep it to a lazy simmer. The chicken must reach 74 °C, though after this long simmer it will be well past that. Chef's tip: cook the noodles separately, then put them in the bowls; cooked in the pot they drink the broth and turn it starchy.

150 min

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Chorba beida (Algerian white chicken soup)

Unlike the red chorba of the rest of the country, the 'white' chorba of Algiers has no tomato at all: chicken, onion and a cinnamon stick are cooked gently in butter, simmered with chickpeas and fine vermicelli, then thickened at the end with egg yolks and lemon. It is a classic of Ramadan tables in the capital, and is also cooked for guests at weddings and family gatherings. The soup is silky and pale gold, mild and comforting, with a soft lemony tang. Serve it with bread and a squeeze of extra lemon. Chef's tip: once the egg yolks are in, never let the soup boil; boiling is the common mistake that curdles it into scrambled threads.

60 min

Algerian Soups

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BabboucheSpiced snail broth

After dark in Marrakech's great square, the babbouche stalls are recognisable by their steaming cauldrons and the toothpicks laid out by every bowl. Small land snails simmer in a dark broth of liquorice root, aniseed, thyme, caraway, bitter orange peel, chilli and a bundle of herbs that sellers say has fifteen ingredients, believed to soothe the stomach and warm you on a cold night. You pick the snails out with a toothpick, then drink the peppery, herbal, faintly sweet broth. At home, buy live snails sold for cooking, already purged by a reputable seller, discard any with broken shells or that do not move or retract when touched, and cook them through for at least 45 minutes. Chef's tip: keep the spices in a muslin bag; the broth stays clear and you avoid crunching on seeds.

90 min

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Welsh cawlLamb and leek broth

Cawl is the national dish of Wales, a slow broth of lamb on the bone, swede, carrots, potatoes and leeks that farmhouses kept simmering through the winter, and which is eaten with bread and a hunk of Caerphilly on St David's Day. Many families serve the broth first and the meat and vegetables after, and say cawl tastes best on the second day. Chef's tip: chill it overnight and lift off the fat that sets on top for a cleaner broth.

170 min

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Hssoua belboula (barley soup with milk)

Few things are as soothing on a cold morning in Fez or Marrakech as a bowl of hssoua belboula, the pale, porridge-like soup of cracked barley cooked in water and then milk. Many families eat it for breakfast in winter or as a light supper, and it often appears on the Ramadan table too. It is mild and gently savoury, with a whisper of cumin and a knob of butter melting on top, and the barley grains stay soft but slightly chewy. Serve it piping hot with a little extra cumin to sprinkle, plus dates or bread on the side. A common slip is adding the milk too early and boiling hard, which catches on the bottom and scorches the soup. Chef's tip: rinse the barley grits in a sieve until the water runs almost clear; it washes away loose flour so the soup is creamy rather than gluey.

40 min

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Chupe de camaronesPrawn chowder

Arequipa's picanterías serve one chupe on each day of the week, and the prawn one, made with crayfish-like camarones from the Majes and Ocoña rivers, is the grandest, especially on Fridays in Lent. It is a big orange chowder: a broth made from the prawn shells and heads, coloured with ají panca, filled with potatoes, corn, broad beans and a little rice, then softened with evaporated milk and fresh cheese, with an egg poached in each bowl. Rich, sweet and gently spicy, it needs nothing but bread. Large shell-on prawns stand in well for river prawns. Many cooks boil the prawns from the start and they turn to rubber; add them at the end and cook only until pink and opaque. Chef's tip: fry the heads and shells in the oil first and press them hard; the orange fat that comes out is what gives chupe its colour and depth.

75 min

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Cock-a-leekieChicken and leek soup

Cock-a-leekie is Scotland's national soup, a clear broth of chicken and plenty of leeks, traditionally served on Burns Night and St Andrew's Day. A few prunes go in at the end, which sounds odd but gives little bursts of sweetness against the peppery broth. Some families thicken it with a handful of rice or barley. Chef's tip: add most of the leeks only for the last 15 minutes, so they stay green and silky instead of turning grey.

105 min

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InchicapiPeanut chicken soup

From the riverside kitchens of Iquitos and the Peruvian Amazon comes inchicapi, a festive chicken soup traditionally made with a free-range hen for birthdays and fiestas. Raw peanuts and a little maize flour are ground and stirred into the broth, which turns it creamy, pale and nutty, and pieces of cassava, garlic, ají dulce and sacha culantro (a long, serrated, strongly flavoured coriander) finish it. It is served with rice, boiled plantain or cassava. If you can't find sacha culantro in Asian or Latin shops (sold as culantro or ngo gai), use a big handful of coriander. The pitfall is adding the peanut paste dry: it clumps and catches on the bottom, so loosen it with broth first and stir often. Chef's tip: use raw, not roasted, peanuts; they keep the soup pale and give it the right fresh, milky taste.

75 min

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London particularSplit pea and ham soup

London particular is a thick, yellow-green soup of split peas and smoked pork ham hock, named after the pea-souper smogs that once smothered the city. It was a cheap winter warmer in Victorian London eating houses and is still on menus in pubs and cafés when the weather turns. The hock gives a deep smoky saltiness and shreds of soft meat. Chef's tip: skim the grey foam off as the water first boils, for a cleaner taste.

135 min

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MenestrónBeef, bean and pasta soup

Think of the Italian minestrone after a century of Lima kitchens: menestrón is thicker, heartier and greener, a weekday soup that families and menú restaurants make in huge pots. Beef shin simmers into a rich broth with potatoes, squash, corn, cabbage, green beans and white beans, then short pasta goes in, and finally a purée of basil, spinach, garlic and fresh cheese turns the whole pot pale green and fragrant. It is a meal in a bowl, best with bread and a squeeze of lime or a spoon of ají. People tend to add the basil purée too early; boiled, it loses its colour and its scent, so stir it in off the heat. Chef's tip: for a vegetarian menestrón, skip the beef and use vegetable stock, with a cheese made with microbial (vegetarian) rennet.

100 min

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Partan breeCrab and rice soup

Partan bree comes from the fishing villages of the north-east of Scotland, where partan is the Scots word for the brown crab and bree means broth. Rice is simmered in milk and fish stock until soft, blended with the crab's brown meat, and finished with sweet white claw meat and a little cream. It is the coast's answer to a bisque, simpler and milder. Buy ready-cooked crab meat and keep it chilled. Chef's tip: add the white meat right at the end and only warm it through, so it stays in flakes.

40 min

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PatascaHominy and tripe soup

Through the highlands of Ayacucho, Huancavelica and Apurímac, patasca (also called mondongo) is the soup for cold mornings, carnivals and the day after a fiesta: plump white mote, dried maize kernels that burst open like flowers after long boiling, in a clear, rich broth with honeycomb tripe and beef shin, perfumed with mint and oregano. It is filling and gentle, and gets its fire at the table from a spoon of rocoto sauce. Plan ahead: the maize needs an overnight soak and several hours of simmering. Buy tripe cleaned and blanched from a butcher or Latin or halal shop; it must be simmered until soft and fully cooked. The typical mistake is salting the mote early, which keeps the kernels hard. Chef's tip: cook the maize and the tripe in separate pots, then combine; each needs a different time and the broth stays cleaner.

240 min

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ShámbarWheat, bean and smoked pork soup

Mondays in Trujillo mean shámbar: market stalls and huariques across the city put out pots of this thick, smoky soup of cracked wheat, chickpeas, broad beans, peas and canary beans, cooked with smoked ham hock, pork ribs and pork skin, then stirred through with a fried paste of ají panca and garlic and a handful of mint. It is earthy, porky and rib-sticking, and each bowl gets a scoop of crunchy cancha just before eating. Soak the beans and the wheat overnight. People often cook everything together from the start, and the peas turn to mush before the chickpeas soften; cook the hardest pulses first. Chef's tip: toast the wheat in a dry pan before soaking it; it gives the soup a nutty depth the locals look for.

180 min

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Chairo puneñoLamb, chuño and wheat soup

High on the Altiplano, where nights freeze even in summer, chairo is the soup that gets Puno's market workers and farmers through the day. It is thick and brothy at once: lamb on the bone and a little charqui (dried meat) simmered with crushed chuño, peeled wheat, broad beans, potatoes and squash, scented with cumin, oregano and huacatay or mint. Expect a deep, meaty, slightly smoky bowl with lots of chew. Soak the chuño and the wheat overnight. A common error is adding the potatoes with the meat, so they dissolve before the lamb is tender; they go in for the last 25 minutes. Chef's tip: crush the soaked chuño into small pieces by hand; they thicken the broth as it cooks.

120 min

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BissaraSplit fava bean soup

Bissara is the cold-morning soup of northern Morocco: in Tangier, Tétouan and Chefchaouen you see it ladled out from big pots at street stalls before work, and it is a favourite to break the fast in winter Ramadans. Dried split broad beans are simmered with garlic until they fall apart and blended into a thick, pale purée, then finished at the table with olive oil, cumin and paprika. Eat it piping hot with crusty bread; leftover bissara thickens into a dip you can spread on toast. Chef's tip: be generous with the final olive oil, it is not a garnish but part of the dish.

50 min

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HariraTomato, lentil and chickpea soup

When the call to prayer ends the fast during Ramadan, tables from Tangier to Ouarzazate are set with a bowl of harira, dates and chebakia. This tomato soup is thick with lentils, chickpeas and a great deal of coriander, parsley and celery, and gets its silky body from a flour-and-water slurry stirred in at the end. Many families cook it with a little lamb; this meat-free version uses a well-browned onion and tomato base and olive oil instead of smen, so it is fully vegan and still deeply savoury. Chef's tip: the soup should coat a spoon like thin custard; add the flour slurry slowly while stirring and stop when it reaches that point. Variation: for the meat version, brown 250 g diced lamb with the onion at the start.

60 min

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Vegetable chorba frikTomato soup with green wheat

Chorba frik is the soup that breaks the fast in Algerian homes every evening of Ramadan, from Algiers to Constantine, and it is just as common in Libya as shorba. Frik is young green wheat, roasted and cracked, which gives the tomato broth a smoky, nutty depth. It usually cooks with lamb; here chickpeas, celery and courgette carry it. Serve with lemon wedges and bread. Chef's tip: add the frik only once the broth is boiling and stir for the first minute, or it sinks and sticks.

65 min

Algerian Soups

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Vegetarian vori voriCornmeal dumpling and vegetable soup

Vori vori is the soup Paraguayan grandmothers make on cold June and July evenings: a golden broth full of bori, small balls of cornmeal and cheese that swell soft as they simmer. The name is a Guaraní take on the Spanish 'bolita' (little ball). It's usually made with hen; this version gets its colour and body from pumpkin, carrot and a sofrito with saffron or turmeric. Chef's tip: shape the balls no bigger than a hazelnut; they double in size and larger ones stay raw inside.

70 min

Paraguayan Soups

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Cullen skink

Cullen skink takes its name from the fishing village of Cullen on the Moray Firth in north-east Scotland, and it is now served in pubs from Aberdeen to Edinburgh. Undyed smoked haddock is poached in milk, which then becomes the base of a creamy soup with potato, onion and leek; the flaked fish goes back in at the end. Smoky, gentle and filling, it is eaten with oatcakes or crusty bread. Chef's tip: choose pale, undyed smoked haddock; the bright yellow kind is coloured and tastes harsher.

45 min

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Scotch broth

Every Scottish granny has her own Scotch broth, the thick winter soup that simmers on stoves from the Borders to the Highlands and is often served on Burns Night. Lamb neck on the bone makes a rich stock with pearl barley, dried peas, leek, carrot, turnip and cabbage, and the meat is shredded back into the pot. It is a whole meal with crusty bread. Chef's tip: make it a day ahead; the barley keeps thickening it, and you can lift the solid fat off the top once chilled.

140 min