I don't honestly know if oxtail barley soup is in any way actually connected with Scotland, but my mother claimed it was. She was great with soups - a necessity for cooks toiling away in the dreary, cold and damp winters of the British Isles and Ireland. To this day, chicken or vegetable stock simmers away on the stovetop once or twice a week in her kitchen.

My mother's oxtail soup is one I will always remember. I had a love-hate relationship it. The oxtail itself disgusted me and buying that snake-like tail it was always my least favorite part of our grocery shopping trips. But the taste of the soup was wonderful - rich and intense, it warmed and fortified like little else.

I'm thinking of it now after looking through a gallery of warming soup recipes at Chow. The folks there have rounded up 27 hearty soups to help us through the winter, including an oxtail and barley soup.

Have a look - and use the comments below to tell us your favorite winter soup. And if you're looking for some more great soup ideas, check out these from Outpost's own archives.