Soup is the order of the day this time of year. Our earlier Facebook post of this week asked which soup is your favourite. We got some interesting suggestions back! From classic French leek with Potato and Chervil to Sweet Potato with Pear.  Seafood Chowder also came out tops. Many of our seafood restaurants, like Aqua of Dublin and O’Connor’s of Bantry, Co. Cork,  are famous for their chowders. Soups are personal to the people eating them. We like a good old fashioned cream of vegetable soup that makes the most of winter’s root veggies. Butternut squash also makes a divinely smoothy bowlful. Roast the flesh first so it takes on a bit of caramelisation in the taste. Add some spice and it really enhances the sweetness of the butternut flesh. A recently enjoyed Roast Cauliflower soup surprised our palates and went down a treat. Chunky soups can include beans or pasta to add a substantial feel and make the soup almost a meal in itself. Spicy Tomato with Chickpeas is one of the favourites at our Good Food Ireland Shop of the Year 2013-2014, Urru Culinary Store in Bandon, Co Cork. The comments are still coming in as to who likes what in the soup stakes. We’re sure our chefs out there aren’t short of ideas for a comforting bowlful to warm us all up when it’s nippy outside.