In the introduction to 500 Soups, Susannah Blake states, "For as long as humans have been cooking food over a fire, soup has been eaten in one form or another..."  We might add that today soup is the harried cook's best friend.  It is healthy and can be made in quantity, perfuming the air as it cooks, then frozen for later use.  500 Soups adds to the magic of soup by offering endless variety.   You will find broths, bisques, and chowders; you will find holiday soups, chilled summer soups, warming winter soups.  

500 Soups is a neat, well-designed book, compact and easy to use, so well organized that you'll find those harried moments less harried.  There is an opening on equipment, a list of basic stocks, and pages of ideas for serving soup, whether for accompaniments or garnishes.  The individual chapters follow Classic soups all have easy to follow variations.