Chorba is traditionally prepared with mutton or lamb which can also be substituted with beef or poultry depending on the recipes and regions.
Chorba is definitely the culinary symbol of Algeria as much as harira is the same for Morocco but as iconic as it is, it was not born there.
It was actually imported to Algeria by Turkish invaders in the sixteenth century. In the Ottoman army, soup was particularly important in the Janissary Corps where the çorbaci (literally “soup man”) was a military rank equivalent to colonel. From Turkey, it spread throughout the Balkans, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia and the Maghreb.
In Turkey, it is called çorba, in Iran: chourba (شوربا), in Afghanistan: chorwa (شوروا), in Romania: ciorba, in Kyrgyzstan: chorpo (шорпо), in Russia: churpa (шурпа), in Kazakhstan: sorpa (сорпа), and in Central Asia: chorpa (شورپا).
In the Maghreb, chorba is consumed in Algeria, but also in Tunisia and Libya.
