Shorpa

Shorpa is a clear soup of lamb or mutton, simmered with potatoes, carrots and onions. It is the Turkmen soup known there as Şorpa, and it is also made in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Cooks in each country follow their own family methods, so the cut of meat and the amount of pepper vary from kitchen to kitchen.

What it really is

The soup starts with a broth. Lamb or mutton, usually cooked on the bone, is simmered slowly in water until the meat is tender and the liquid is clear and rich. The cook skims foam and surplus fat from the surface. Potatoes, carrots and onions go into the pot and cook in the same stock, and the soup is seasoned with black pepper and salt. Its flavour comes from the meat and bone rather than from a long list of spices, and the broth stays thin and clear rather than thick like a stew. The vegetables are cut into large pieces and cooked until soft in the broth.

How it's served

• Hot, in a deep bowl, with the meat, potatoes, carrots and onions ladled in together.
• With flatbread on the side, which is torn into the soup or eaten alongside it.
• As a main course at a family meal, eaten with a spoon from a shared table.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the meat: lamb or mutton, on the bone, and say the broth is clear.
• The classic recipe contains none of the declarable allergens, but the bread served with it is wheat, so list the bread as its own item and flag wheat there.
• If the kitchen thickens the broth with flour or adds noodles or pasta, add wheat to the allergens for the soup as well.
• List the standard vegetables and seasoning: potato, carrot, onion, black pepper and salt.
• State whether bread is included or charged extra, since guests often ask.