Soup is practically synonymous with cold weather, but some special recipes are even better than others for the holiday season. In Italian Christmas celebrations, fish chowder is eaten during the Feast of the Seven Fishes; matzo ball soup is eaten on Passover; and in the Middle East, you’ll find the Arabic meatball soup shurabet el Eid.

Translating to “holiday soup,” shurabet el Eid contains baked lamb or beef meatballs, rice, kubbeh (or kibbe), deep-fried ground meat, and bulgur croquettes. It is typically served on Easter or Christmas, and also prepared for women to help them regain strength after giving birth, or served to the sick to help them beat a head hold.

To make shurabet el Eid at home, omit the labor-intensive kubbeh dumplings and focus on the rice and small oven-baked meatballs, which are simmered in a cinnamon- and allspice-scented chicken broth and garnished with parsley. There are plenty of recipes for this delicious and filling soup online, and you'll want to make it all winter long.