An infinite variety.

There is an infinite variety of soup, hot soups, cold soups, clear soups, thin soups, thick soups. Soup seems to be a universal form of food and recipes can be found from China to the USA going the long way round. They can range from a light clear consomme, as an introduction to a meal, to a good hearty winter vegetable soup, a meal in itself.

Traditionally in the USA and UK, soup has been the primary form of providing sustenance to the poor and under-nourished. Soup Kitchens used to be a common sight in depressed areas and soup runs are still carried out among the homeless in the UK.

More recently, in the UK at least, soup has become fashionable as the new/old fast food. The trend was started by the New Covent Garden Soup Company but has been followed by many other outlets providing such exotica as 'Thai spinach' and 'Carrot and coriander'.

Making your own.

There is nothing like the taste of home made soup, and it couldn't be easier to make your own. Many will claim that the best home made soup needs hours of preparation, and if you are going to make your own stock that is probably true. These days, however, corners can be cut by using a good quality stock cube. One of these and a pint of boiling water can provide the basis for any number of soups, just add a few diced vegetables and cook until tender

One of my favourite ten minute soups is a floret soup

Ingredients

Method

Bring the stock to the boil, throw in all the other ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes. Season to taste and if you are feeling adventurous sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley. This gives you an excellent light soup with the vegetables still retaining their freshness and bite.

More soup on H2G2:

This is a great Gazpacho recipe with an interesting tale attached Peta's Gazpacho

ffmike suggests vegetarians can replace the Chicken Stock with Veg. stock in this one
ffmike's Potato and Leek

Elico has a great Butternut Soup recipe from South Africa and I guess you could vary it with most types of Squash.

Also check out the soup recipes converation for a great sounding North African soup from Demon Drawer.

For students everywhere...

A common form of soup consumption among students is the Cuppasoup. This is the soup equivalent of Pot Noodle. A small sachet of powder is put in a mug and boiling water is added. Care should be taken at this point to stir thoroughly as failing to do so will present you with a mugful of thin liquid with a sludgy, powder finish. Minestrone versions of this delicacy are particularly frustrating as most of the pasta and vegetable bits sink to the bottom of the mug. This leaves you with the choice of either going and getting a spoon, thus defeating the object of having it in a mug, or tipping your head back and shaking the mug, usually resulting in a faceful of pasta and carrot sludge.