My mom can be at home alone and randomly get the urge to make sopa de res. By the time it’s done, without her saying a word to anyone else, the whole extended family will have somehow heard about what she is making and show up at her house for the warmth, laughs and arguments.
Sopa de res isn’t just a meal — it’s an event you don’t want to miss. For Laura Munguia, who contributed the recipe, this is also a dish she associates with her family, her childhood and a good time. To enjoy sopa de res as a child meant that she went on a family trip to the playa and, on the way back, everyone looked forward to the sopa that would replenish their strength after a fun, hot day at the beach. Her extended family often prepared this dish for everyone who visited.
So while someone’s perfect beach snack might be chips, ice cream or hot dogs, for Laura and other Salvadorans, a sopa de res at the end of the day was the cherry on top.
Some historians have suggested that the addition of potatoes or plantains to this soup is from the influence of Afro-descendants in El Salvador. This is especially true in San Miguel, the part of El Salvador with the highest concentration of Afro-descendants.
