Seasons and holidays

Cool dishes for hot summer days

When the heat rises, many cuisines turn to chilled soups, cold noodles and icy desserts. These dishes cool the body and refresh the appetite.

Gazpacho
Spain
A chilled tomato soup from Spain, particularly enjoyed in summer for its refreshing taste.
Gazpacho or gaspacho, also called Andalusian gazpacho (from Spanish gazpacho andaluz), is a cold soup and drink made of raw, blended vegetables. It originated in the southern regions of the Iberian Peninsula and spread into other areas.
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Naengmyeon
North Korea South Korea
Cold buckwheat noodles in icy broth, commonly eaten in summer in Korea.
Naengmyeon (냉면, in South Korea) or raengmyŏn (랭면, in North Korea) is a noodle dish of North Korean origin which consists of long and thin handmade noodles made from the flour and starch of various ingredients, including most commonly buckwheat (메밀, memil) but…
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Bingsu
South Korea
A Korean shaved-ice dessert topped with sweet ingredients such as red beans.
Bingsu, sometimes written as bingsoo, is a milk-based Korean shaved ice dessert with sweet toppings that may include chopped fruit, condensed milk, fruit syrup, tteok, and red beans. The most common variety is patbingsu (Korean: 팥빙수, lit.
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Samgyetang
South Korea
A ginseng chicken soup eaten in Korea on the hottest days as a summer health food.
Samgye-tang (Korean: 삼계탕), or "ginseng chicken soup" is a tang (Korean soup) that consists primarily of a whole young chicken (poussin) or quail filled with garlic, rice, jujube, mung bean, and ginseng. It is traditionally considered to be a health food.
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Okroshka
Russia
A cold Russian soup of vegetables and meat in kvass or kefir, popular in summer.
Okróshka is a cold soup of Russian origin, which probably originated in the Volga region.
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Ceviche
Peru
Raw fish cured in citrus juice, a fresh coastal dish of Peru.
Ceviche, cebiche, sebiche, or seviche is a traditional cold dish consisting of raw fish or shellfish marinated in citrus and seasonings.
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Hiyashi chūka
Japan
Chilled ramen noodles with colorful toppings, usually served in summer in Japan.
Hiyashi chūka is a Chinese-style Japanese dish consisting of chilled Chinese-style alkaline wheat noodles (中華麺, chūkamen), with various toppings. It is usually served in the summer. It is also called reimen in Kansai region and hiyashi rāmen in Hokkaido.
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Nagashi sōmen
Japan
Thin wheat noodles caught from a stream of cold water flowing through bamboo.
Sōmen (Japanese: 素麺), somyeon, sùmiàn (Chinese: 素麵) or soomin (Okinawan: 素麺) is a very thin noodle made of wheat flour, less than 1.3 mm in diameter. The noodles are used extensively in East Asian cuisines.
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Kakigōri
Japan
Japanese shaved ice with flavored syrup, a classic summer treat.
Kakigōri (かき氷) is a Japanese shaved ice dessert flavored with syrup and a sweetener, often condensed milk.
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Mango shaved ice
Taiwan
A Taiwanese shaved-ice dessert, especially enjoyed in the hot summer months.
Mango shaved ice is a popular dessert in Taiwan, especially enjoyed during the hot summer months.
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Halo-halo
Philippines
A Filipino dessert of shaved ice, evaporated milk and sweet beans and fruit.
Halo-halo is a cold dessert in the Philippines made with crushed ice, evaporated milk or sometimes coconut milk, and flavoring such as ube jam (ube halaya), sweetened kidney beans or garbanzo beans, coconut strips, sago, gulaman (agar), pinipig, boiled taro…
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Cendol
Indonesia
A shaved-ice dessert with green jelly and coconut milk from Southeast Asia.
Cendol, also known as lot chong (Thai: ลอดช่อง), mont let saung (Burmese: မုန့်လက်ဆောင်း), nom lut (Khmer: បង្អែមលត), lod song (Lao: ລອດຊ່ອງ) and bánh lọt, is a traditional Southeast Asian dessert characterised by soft, green, worm-like jelly strands made…
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Cold borscht
Poland
A cold beet soup found in Poland, Ukraine and neighboring countries, a summer soup.
Cold beet soup is a cold summer soup found in the cuisines of Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine.
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Salmorejo
Spain
A thick chilled tomato and bread soup from Córdoba in Spain.
Salmorejo, sometimes known as ardoria or ardorío, is a traditional soup originating from Córdoba, Andalusia, southern Spain, made of tomato, bread, extra virgin olive oil and garlic.
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Ajoblanco
Spain
A cold almond and garlic soup from Spain.
Ajoblanco (sometimes written ajo blanco) is a popular Spanish cold soup typical from Granada and Málaga (Andalusia). This dish is made of bread, crushed almonds, garlic, water, olive oil, salt and sometimes vinegar.
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Vichyssoise
France
A cold leek and potato soup of French cuisine, served chilled.
Vichyssoise is a soup made of cooked and puréed leeks, potatoes, onions and cream, chilled and garnished with chopped chives.
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Sour cherry soup
Hungary
A chilled Hungarian fruit soup, a summer delicacy.
Sour cherry soup is a slightly sweet soup made with sour cream, sugar and whole fresh sour cherries, and served chilled. Originating in Hungarian cuisine, this soup is a summer delicacy in several European cuisines.
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Dovga
Azerbaijan
An Azerbaijani yogurt and herb soup, served chilled in summer.
Dovga (Azerbaijani: Dovğа) is an Azerbaijani soup made from plain yoghurt and herbs. Traditionally, it is served as a wedding soup and is introduced between courses of meat, intended to boost digestion. Dovga is a soup that is cooked with a variety of herbs.
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