I was first entranced as I paged through this cookbook and repeatedly marked page after page of soups I want to try! They all sound so good!

But sounding good is only the first part; tasting good is what's important. I've tried 2 of the easier recipes thus far, and they were so great that I am eager to try many more!

Both I tried happened to be Chinese in inspiration. We made the soup with bay scallops and sugar snap peas first, and it was easy and elegant and a delight to eat. It takes may an hour, all told; all the ingredients are readily available, and it can mostly be made ahead of time with a 2-minute finish.

This version of Hot and Sour soup was a nice compromise between very authentic versions and easy ones- at least for us. The trick is that it does call for 3 ingredients that most people do not have in their pantries, but which are readily available online: dried shiitakes, dried tree ears/black fungus; and dried lily buds. The use of these, plus a LOT of white pepper to provide the heat, is what makes it authentic, though, and they are easy to deal with once you have them. We did cut the pepper in half, and it was perfect for us. 3 proteins were listed as options along with the tofu; we used the chicken, but it's nice to have a choice. I think next time we'll thicken the broth a hair more, and add a bit more sesame oil. We ate it with homemade ham-and-egg fried rice; it would also be excellent for a light supper with scallion pancakes and/or a stir-fried vegetable.

While I chose 2 Chinese-inspired recipes to try first, this book literally spans the world! I look forward to trying soups from all over the globe!

There's also a nice mix of pretty easy soups like the above, all the way through to quite elaborate. I may pick my next one to be one of the more complicated ones.

Very recommended! ( )

Zero stars. This is easily the worst of the 9 cookbooks I checked out. Ingredients most homemakers not only do not have on hand, but probably do not use with any regularity, and an organization that defies organization.

This is the best cook book that I have ever owned or read. Each recipe goes into to details from shopping to different ways to finish the soup to your taste. ( )

Some cookbooks are good for browsing, but not so good for cooking. Some are great collections of recipes but don't lend themselves well to browsing at length. Peterson's book is full of recipes that guide the cook clearly and carefully through to splendid completion, but is also full of wonderful asides, hints, and background information about various techniques and ingredients. I have learned more about general cooking techniques than I expected to while trying out new recipes from this book. ( )

I have felt at times that Peterson's approaches are going to be a little complicated because of the style of presentation of the book, but time and again when I put myself in his hands I get excellent results. I've come to trust that and have found that Spendid Soup has become a staple in my kitchen. ( )