Autumn is soup time, writes Andrew Coppolino

Damp and chilly fall weather demands a soup solution. The warming bowl is filling and satisfying, and whether you make them at home or slurp them at a restaurant, there's a wide variety of soups from around the world to savour locally.

Here are a few soup selections to consider when the weather gets nasty (soup availability can change frequently, so please check with respective restaurants).

The dill pickle soup at Ethel's Lounge in Waterloo comes into the soup rotation with some regularity, according to cook and kitchen manager Chris Gardner.

The story goes that an Ethel's staffer had a hankering for dill picklesand the kitchen obliged.

"Most of our soups use a vegetable broth,"Gardner says.

"We start with a standard mirepoix, add potatoes and a whole whack of chopped dill pickles along with some dill weed and dill pickle juice. When we add a bit of cream, it becomes a sort of chowder."

Soups from around the world

For more adventurous eaters you can get sopa de mondongo, a Latin American version of tripe soup, at The Guanaquita in downtown Kitchener.

Staying with the Central American theme, Cactus Mexican Restaurant in Waterloo cooks up a classic posole: hominy (hulled corn kernels) with shredded pork, oregano and guajillo pepper.

Similarly, a pork-bone broth is the rich foundation for tortilla soup at Taco Farm inWaterloo.

"It's made from smoked pork bones and has pulled chicken. We add fresh Oaxaca cheese and pickled onions and top it with chips, cilantro and lime. The broth is poured tableside. It's definitely a favourite,"according to owner Nick Benninger.

Technically, soups should be the consistency of heavy cream or else they start verging into stew territory. That's the boundary you're at with Veslo Family Restaurant's hearty goulash soup, certainly an Oktoberfest-season favourite.

"There are some secret ingredients in there that we won't share,"said Miki Culum, who co-owns Veslo with his brother Alex.

"It's Austrian-inspired with both pork and beef. And there's some spice as well but not too much."

The rich bowl is a warming meal in itself, especially with a serving of Veslo's home-made lepinja, a Serbian flatbread.

Vegetarian and vegan options

Vegetarian and gluten-free soups like mushroom, butternut squash, carrot-ginger and more can be found at Waterloo's Seven Shores Community Caf.

The soups, scratch-made and locally sourced, change every couple of weeks. It's the same with the vegan selections at Jane Bond Caf in uptown Waterloo.

"Early next week, we will serve herbed mushroom with white wine," says kitchen manager Anya Steffler.

"It's vegan and gluten-free. Another favourite this autumn is sweet potato with coconut and lemongrass. It's also vegan and gluten-free."

At Caf Pyrus in Kitchener, they recently prepared a miso-style mushroom soup, though their soup repertoire is constantly evolving.

"The soup changes day-to-day depending on the extra veg we have on hand as well as what's in season," says manager Tory Shantz.

Copper Branch in Waterloo has a butternut squash soup with pumpkin, carrot, onionand the soothing winter seasonings of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.

Pho and ramen options

Soups from Japan, China and Thailand can have deep rich flavours and a bit of spice heat to warm you, so make sure you check out the various pho noodle shops and ramen in the region.

I might point out Gol's Lanzhou Noodle for traditional hand-pulled Chinese noodles near University of Waterloo.

There's big slurpy flavour there.

My Thai and Thai Coconut Island in Cambridge both have the famous Thai soup Tom Yum, a classic hot and sour soup which often uses tamarind and has lemongrass and galangal, a cousin of ginger. Visit Mimo Thai Kitchen in Waterloo for their version too.

At Kitchener's Pho Tran, the bun bo hue is a rich pork and beef noodle soup with a spicy mam ruoc shrimp paste.

The dish traditionally has a few cubes of blood pudding as well. It's delicious and warming in its spicy heat as outside temperatures drop.

So, as autumn rolls in with full force, turn to soups to tamp down the chilly blast. We can expect to see local kitchens adding to their soup creations, according to Gardner at Ethel's.

"Fall flavoured soups will be coming on strong in the next little while," he says.

Making soup at home

If you're making soup at home, it's a great way to clear out the fridge of leftovers and odds and ends. Make a lot and freeze it for later.

Start with some good stock, if you don't make your own. Think about cooking individual ingredients and the size of the chop or dice to cook them evenly.

Cook in layers and build flavours, making generous use of aromatics like onions, shallots, garlic and celery. Taste and season the soup as you add ingredients and build flavour. Cream isn't necessary, but it adds richness.

Potage bonne femme

Based on Elizabeth David, French Provincial Cooking (1960)

David calls this an old-fashioned French soup "the cheapest and one of the nicest of all vegetable soups."

Ingredients

1 oz. butter

3 carrots, finely diced

2 large leeks, cleaned and finely sliced

1 lb. potatoes, peeled and diced

4 cups water

Salt and pepper

Sugar

Cream, parsley to finish

Method

Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the carrots and leeks and make sure the butter coats them fully. Cook for a few minutes. Add the potatoes, the water, some salt and a three-finger pinch of sugar.

Cook steadily ("but not at a gallop," David says) for 25 to 30 minutes. Pass the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve, twice if necessary.

Taste the soup and adjust seasoning. When ready to serve add the cream and some very finely chopped parsley, if you prefer.

"The carrots are not essential to the soup, but they add a little extra flavour and colour," David says.