# Anywhere other than the US where crackers are a popular accompaniment to soup? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anywhere-other-than-the-us-where-crackers-are-a-popular-accompaniment-to-soup/597843 "2011-09-28T03:53:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anywhere-other-than-the-us-where-crackers-are-a-popular-accompaniment-to-soup/597843/41 "2011-09-29T06:03:27Z")
> [@Terraplane](#): > > If you ever see migas on a menu in US, be aware that it’s probably going to be very different from what you’re used to. [Migas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migas#Tex-Mex_migas) _Adds another one to her list of “words English acquired from Spanish but which mean something else”_ Mind you, I’m not very fond of our migas, yours look interesting… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anywhere-other-than-the-us-where-crackers-are-a-popular-accompaniment-to-soup/597843/42 "2011-09-29T06:11:37Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > What I want to know is why European restaurants never offer free refills on nonalcoholic drinks? Although I must admit I met several Italian restaurant owners who were pleasantly generous with the wine. As **An Gadaí** explained, here soda with your meals is viewed as… well, in Spanish I’d say _un capricho_, not so much a luxury as something just plain unnecesary which complicates things for everybody else (a kid who starts whining “Mom, buy me something!” is having a _capricho_, too). Most people don’t keep sodas at home regularly (the exception is _gaseosa_, which happens to be a local product). Daily menus, for example, will include water and wine; they may offer wine-with-white-soda (_vino con gaseosa_, _tinto de verano_), but anything else is off the offer. You get refills for your drink if it’s part of the offer, you don’t if it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anywhere-other-than-the-us-where-crackers-are-a-popular-accompaniment-to-soup/597843/43 "2011-09-29T10:24:40Z")
To address the OP, I could see soup being eaten with a sufficiently, thin, crisp, and perhaps, unleavened flatbread like say [matzo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matzo) as an accompaniment, maybe in parts of Europe and the Mideast. Matzoh as a cracker like soup companion or addition (not to be confused with matzo ball soup, which is matzo dumplings.). That is not to say there are also more breadlike versions of matzo, similar to pita. Or maybe in Scandinavia, something like hardanger [lefse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefse) (hard or crisp lefse potato flat bread). Also of interest to **Nava** , perhaps, and closely related to the Spanish and Mexican _Migas_ is the Jewish [Matza Brei.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matzah_brei) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anywhere-other-than-the-us-where-crackers-are-a-popular-accompaniment-to-soup/597843/44 "2011-09-29T10:40:02Z")
Not sure, if this counts, but I have seen some bedouin and middle eastern breads that are baked as hard as a rock and keep indefinitely for long journeys, which, like hardanger lefse, and perhaps hardtack are ideal for soups as they need hydrating to become edible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anywhere-other-than-the-us-where-crackers-are-a-popular-accompaniment-to-soup/597843.md?page=2)