Greece, with its temperate climate, is not a country that ever developed a great soup tradition. Most soups in the Greek kitchen are simple to prepare, and do not require complicated stocks or broths as their base. Most, in fact, are made with plain water. There are vegetable and bean soups, soups enriched with rice, trahana or bulgur, meat soups, fish soups, and soups enhanced with avgolemono, the liaison of egg and lemon juice.

The classic Greek soup repertoire includes:

Kakavia: this is the Greek fisherman's soup. Its name, like that of bouillabaisse, is derived from the pot in which the soup is prepared, the kakavi. Generally, it was the shipboard meal, made with a variety of fish -often with the part of the catch that for one reason or another was not aesthetically fit for selling- caught fresh. It is a soup that relies on few, but very fresh ingredients: fish, especially scorpion fish, in varying sizes that are "built" from the bottom of the pot upwards, with the smaller ones on top; water and, sometimes, a little seawater; ample olive oil. On board, kakavia is almost always eaten with paximadia, or rusks.

Psarosoupa: this is a slightly more embellished kakavia, usually with the addition of some vegetables, such as tomatoes, carrots, celery and/or potatoes.

Psarosoupa Avgolemono: this is a simple fish soup enhanced with rice and avgolemono. Oftentimes, the fish (sometimes together with potatoes and carrots) is boiled in water, then removed and served separately. The stock is then enriched with rice, and finally, just before serving, with avgolemono. The fish and boiled vegetables are served separately, with a little olive oil and lemon juice or with mayonnaise.

Magiritsa: this is the classic Greek Easter soup, made by boiling a variety of lamb offal together with shredded lettuce, scallions, dill and rice and then enriching the whole thing with avgolemono. Magiritsa is the dish with which Greeks break the Lenten fast.

Trahanosoupa: this is one of the simplest, oldest Greek country dishes. It is nothing more than trahana, a kind of milk or buttermilk-based tiny pasta, simmered in a little water or broth. Sometimes tomato is added to it.

Fakes: Greek lentil soup, made of small lentils, tomato, bay leaf, onions and olive oil. It is a classic.

Fasolada: this is the Greek bean soup, made of small white beans, that has become one of the country's national dishes. It is a standard on the winter table.

Revithada: the simplest Greek soup, made of chick peas and onions, slowly simmered. Often it is a baked soup, prepared in special clay vases and cooked overnight in a wood-burning oven.

Kotosoupa: this is very similar to the fish soup with avgolemono sauce, except that it is prepared with chicken.