Soup

Food historians tell us the history of soup is probably as old as the history of cooking. The act of combining various ingredients in a large pot to create a nutritious, filling, easily digested, simple to make/serve food was inevitable. This made it the perfect choice for both sedentary and travelling cultures, rich and poor, healthy people and invalids. Soup (and stews, pottages, porridges, gruels, etc.) evolved according to local ingredients and tastes. New England chowder, Spanish gazpacho, Russian borscht, Italian minestrone, French onion, Chinese won ton and Campbell's tomato...are all variations on the same theme.

Soups were easily digested and were prescribed for invalids since ancient times. The modern restaurant industry is said to be based on soup. Restoratifs (wheron the word "restaurant" comes) were the first items served in public restaurants in 18th century Paris. Broth [Pot-au-feu], bouillion, and consomme entered here. Classic French cuisine generated many of the soups we know today.

Advancements in science enabled soups to take many forms...portable, canned, dehydrated, microwave-ready. "Pocket soup" was carried by colonial travellers, as it could easily be reconstituted with a little hot water. Canned and dehydrated soups were available in the 19th century. These supplied the military, covered wagon trains, cowboy chuck wagons, and the home pantry. Advances in science also permitted the adjustment of nutrients to fit specific dietary needs (low salt, high fiber, etc.).

"Cereals, roasted to make them digestible and then ground and moistened or diluted with water to make a paste, either thick or thin, did not become gruel or porridge until people had the idea and means of cooking them. They may initially have been cooked by hot stones in receptacles of natural substances, and then in utensils which could go straight over the fire. Soup, in fact, derives from sop or sup, meaning the sliced of bread on which broth was poured. Until bread was invented, the only kind of thick soup was a concoction of grains, or of plants and meat cooked in a pot. Gruel or porridge was thus a basic food, a staple from of nourishment, and long held that place in Western countries, for in practice bread was a luxury eaten only in towns. A thick porridge of some kind is still the staple food of many peoples, and it is not always made of cereals, but may consist of other starch foods: legumes, chestnuts or root vegetables."

---Food in History, Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, translated by Anthea Bell [Barnes & Noble Books:New York] 1992 (p. 177)

"Soup...This category included liquid foods for invalids, such as beaten egg, barley and emmer gruel...and the water from boiling pulses, vegetables or other foods...soups or purees made from vegetables or fruits...broth made with meal of legumes or cereals with added animal fat...and soup in the usual modern English sense, based on meat and vetetables...Medicinal spices and herbs might be added to these various soups, especially if they were intended for invalids as part of a prescribed diet."

---Food in the Ancient World from A to Z, Andrew Dalby [Routledge:London] 2003 (p. 307)

"Soups. General Observations. The culinary preparations included in this section are of fairly recent origin in their present form, dating from only the early part of the 19th century. Soups of the old classical kitchen were in fact complete dishes in themselves and contained, apart from the liquid content and its vegetable garnish, a wide variety of meat, poultry, game and fish. It is only the liquid part of these classical dishes which has retained the name of soup. Examples of old style of soup which still survive are the Flemish Hochepot, the Spanish Oilles and the French Petite Marmite...On this point as on many others, culinary art owes much to Careme...."

---The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery, A. Escoffier, first translation of Le Guide Culinaire [1903] by H.L. Cracknell and R.J. Kaufmann [John Wiley & Sons:New York] 1979 (p. 65)

[NOTE: Escoffier's notes regarding soup classification and serving are also contained in this book.]

Recommended reading:

Soup Through the Ages: A Culinary History with Period Recipes /Victora R. Rumble...BEST source for researchers and foodies.

/Victora R. Rumble...BEST source for researchers and foodies. Soup: A Global History /Janet Clarkson...general overview

/Janet Clarkson...general overview An Exaltation of Soups/Satricia Solley...history headnotes, fun facts & recipes

Cold soup. Really?

Yes! In most countries, cuisines and periods; for starters, dessert or holiday fare. We Americans are not collective fans but we are intrigued. Especially when the heat is on outside. Think: Vichyssoise, Gazpacho & fruit soups.

"Reams have been written about the worth of good hot soup. And we're inclined to agree with much of this praise. But, in this book, cold soup is the 'in' thing. The idea may be so strange to a number of us and so different from the bracing stimuli of hot soup, it might be necessary to adjust our mental taste reflexes to the delicacy, the soothing quiet effect of chilled soup. We haven't been able to pinpoint who made the first cold soup, nor where, but notable examples of this refreshment are to be found in many countries. And contrary to what you might think at first, just about as many are from cold lands as from the tropics or sun countries. Russia makes a meaty hot borsch, but their chilled beet borsch is much more popular and more of a classic. The Danes dote on chilled buttermilk soups, and all Scandinavians and Finns as well enjoy their cold fruit soups as a first course or dessert. Around the Mediterranean, the Greeks make a chilled lemon soup called Avgolemono that looks and tastes like chilled sunshine. The ways to make Spain's iced salad-soup, Gazpacho, are without number...Yogurt, buttermilk and interesing herbs and spices such as mint, cardamom, cinnamon, fennel, etc., enhance cool soups of the Middle East. Tropical countries all over use their lush produce to make exotic cold soups of avocado, coconut, melon, strange vegetables and fish of all kinds. Perhaps the all-time favorite cold soup is our own American-made original Creme Vichyssoise Glacee creatd by the late Chef Louis Diat at the New York Ritz. It was named for his hometown, Vichy, France, and was, of course, simply an elegant version of a popular French county potage made of leeks and potatoes. In like manner, we've found that many of the lovely shellfish bisques, the creamy vegetable and chicken soups so beloved by the great chers, are equally good, or better, served cold. They seem more delicate, and refresh in a quiet, serene sort of way."

---Serve it Cold!: A Cookbook of Delcious Cold Dishes, June Crosby and Ruth Conrad Bateman [Gramercy Publishing Company: New York] 1968 (p. 41-42)

[NOTE: This book offers recipes for Bloody Mary Soup, Jellied Cucumber Soup, Snappy Jellied Madrilene, Jellied Mushroom Consomme, Consome Imperial, Belmar Hotel's Gazpacho [Mazatalan, Mexico], Gazpacho Grenada, Hungarian Tomato Soup, Lobster Buttermilk Bisque, Buttermilk Borsch, Iranian Cucumber Mast, Watercress Yogurt Soup, Avocado Madrilene, Vichyssoise Glacee, One-Of-Each Singhalese, Cubumber Taerragon Soup, Coconut Curry Soup, Coconut Milk, Latin Pumpkin Soup, Iced Avocado, Shrmip Cucumber Bisque, Iced Avocado Clam Soup, Cold Crab Soup, Pink Strawberry Soup [recipe for the Rainbow Room, NYC Rockefeller Center], Blueberry Wine Soup, & Peaches 'N' Cream Soup. Happy to scan/share recipes.]

"With the first breath of really warm weather, the cook starts thinking about new and wonderful cold soups. The refereshing chill and tang of these as a first course or as a 'starter' is a wonderful nudge to one's appetite. The main thing to remember is that cold soup must be really cold, just as hot soup must be really hot, to be good. No betwixt-and-between stuff here. Have the plates or bouillon cups chilled too. The beading of moisture that usually forms on the cups adds to the illusion of coolness. A quick way to get soup very cold is to pour it into the ice tray of the refrigerator. Watch it carefully from time to time so that it does not freeze. When it is just at the point of forming ice crystals, or in the case of jellied soup, has just jellied, take out the tray, and let it stand in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve the soup in cups or plates. Soups chilled in this way are really cold and also do not have the chance to absorb the odors of other foods in the refrigerator while in the lukewarm stage. Almost any soup that is good hot is good cold, with the exception of mixed vegetable soups and broths with barley or rice. Black bean soup, with a slice of lemon and some sherry added, is wonderful chilled. So is borstch, topped with a dab of sour cream. Add a pinch of curry powder to cold cream of asparagus soup, and you'll have an unusual and interesting flavor. Cold potato soup, made with a little extra sour cream and a good sprinkling of chopped chives, makes that aristocrat of cold soup, the Vichyssoise, sit up and take notice."

---The Soup Book, Louis P. DeGouy, facsimile 1949 edition [Dover Publications:New York] 1974 (p. 73)

Why the word "soup?"

"The etymological idea underlying the word soup is that of soaking. It goes back to an unrecorded post-classical Latin verb suppare soak', which was borrowed from the same prehistoric German root (sup-) as produced in English sup and supper. From it was derived the noun suppa, which passed into Old French as soupe. This meant both piece of bread soaked in liquid' and, by extension, broth poured onto bread.' It was the latter strand of the meaning that entered English in the seventeenth century. Until the arrival of the term soup, such food had been termed broth or pottage. It was customarily served with the meat or vegetable dishes with which it had been made, and (as the dreivation of soup suggest) was poured over sops of bread or toast (the ancestors of modern croutons). But coincident with the introduction of the world soup, it began to be fashionable to serve the liquid broth on its own, and in the early eighteenth century it was assuming its present-day role as a first course."

---An A-Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 316) "Our modern word "soup" derives from the Old French word sope and soupe. The French word was used in England in the in the form of sop at the end of the Middle Ages and, fortunately, has remained in the English language in its original form and with much its original sense. We say "fortunately" because it is clear that nowadays a "sop" is not a "soup." The distinction is important. When cooks in the Middle Ages spoke of "soup," what they and the people for whom they were cooking really understood was a dish comprising primarily a piece of bread or toast soaked in a liquid or over which a liquid had been poured. The bread or toast was an important, even vital, part of this dish. It was a means by which a diner could counsume the liquid efficiently by sopping it up. The bread or toast was, in effect, an alternative to using a spoon...Soups were important in the medieval diet, but the dish that the cook prepared was often a sop that consisted of both nutritious liquid and the means to eat it. The meal at the end of a normal day was always the lighter of the two meals of the day, and the sop appears to have had an important place in it. In fact it was precisely because of the normal inclusion of a sop in this end-of-the-day meal that it became called "souper" or "supper."

---Early French Cookery, D. Eleanor Scully & Terence Scully [University of Michigan Press:Ann Arbor] 1995 (p. 102) "Soup. The most general of the terms which apply to liquid savory dishes...Similar terms in other languages include the Italian zuppa, the German Suppe, Danish suppe, etc. Of the various categories of the dish which may be eaten, soup can certainly be counted among the most basic...Its role...as an appetizing first course should be viewed against the historical background, in which soups with solids in them were a meal in themselves for poorer people, especially in rural areas..."

---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 735)

[NOTE: This book has separate historical entries on several popular soups. Ask your librarian to help you find a copy.] Why do we "eat" rather than "drink" soup?

Etiquette experts tell us we "eat," rather than "drink" soup because it is considered part of the meal. Additionally, in most cultures soup is consumed with a spoon rather than sipped from the container. Consistency (clear broth, chunky chicken vegetable, creamy cold cucumber), preparation (puree, reduction, simmer, dried), and ingredients (meat, vegetable, strarch, dairy, fruit) do no factor into this particular equation. "The liquid element in a meal is either placed first and "eaten" as a soup, with a spoon, or it is poured over the solids as sauces, gravies, creams, or syrups. The accompanying drink is kept separate, standing outside the meal: literally standing in a high glass, and literally outside, beyond the cutlery fence bounding the "place."...We...carry the liquid in our beer and wineglasses directly to our mouths." ---The Rituals of Dinner, Margaret Visser [Penguin Books:New York] 1991 (P. 242) Culture/cuisine variations

You can study these by examining current and historic cuisine-specific cookbooks. Here you will find popular/traditional recipes. Some of these books also contain historic notes. Books concentrating on specific eras/countries (classical Greece, Medieval Europe, 19th century Russia, etc.) are good for background. Reay Tannahill's Food in History is an excellent place to learn about the prehistoric origins of cooking. If you are a culinary student check your school's library. It most likely has the books you need to complete this assignment. If you need help identifying books written on a specific place/time we can provide you with titles. Your librarian can arrange to obtain them for you. Sorry, we do not find a comprehensive book covering the history of all soups in all places through time. Specific soup types

Looking for a case study? We recommend Andrew F. Smith's Souper Tomatoes. This informative book tracks the origin and evolution of tomato soup. It also includes historic recipes. SoupSong is a culinary delight of facts, fiction, and trivia. Stock, broth & bouillon

The difference and connection between stock, broth, bouillon, and consomme is complicated. It helps sometimes to start with definitions:

ABOUT STOCK

"Stock. Etymologically, stock is simply something one keeps a stock of for use. Nowadays usually conveniently conjured up by adding water to a commercial preparation (the term stock cube is not recorded until as recently as the 1960s; American English still prefers the more refined-sounding bouillon cube, which dates from the 1930s), stock is traditionaly the product of a pot kept constantly simmering on the hob, to which odds and ends of meat, bones vegetables, etc. are added from time to time to keep up a continuous stock for flavoury broth as a basis for soups, stews, sauces, etc...In practice, few households or restaurants have the sort of constantly available source of low heat necessary for this perpetually self-renewing stockpot, and most stock is made afresh in individual batches as needed."

---An A to Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 325) [1653]

"1. Mushroom stock. Get the worst of your mushrooms, wash them carefully with their skin and stems on, without removing anything. Boil them in a pot with good blouillon; as they boil, put in a bouquet of herbs, an onion stuck with whole cloves and a few bits of roast meat, everything well seasoned with salt. After it has all boiled well, put it through a strainer; put it into a pot to use it as you need it. This can be used in all sorts of ragouts, even pottages, and often it can be used in place of mutton stock. 2. Beef or Mutton Stock. Cook your meat, whether beef or mutton, a little less than half. PRick it with a knife and pressit in a press if you have one becasue that will be much more effective. When the meat is pressed and the juice is extracted, get a spoonful of bood bouillon and baste hyour meat wtih it, and again extract as much juice as you can to make up what you need. Put it into a pot with a little salt. Mix the juice of a lemon into it when you are ready to use it."

---La Varenne's Cookery, A Modern English Translation and Commentary by Terence Scully, The French Cook, Chapter XXI, "Mushroom, Beeef or Mutton Stocks which can be used in many sauces and ragout preparations," [Prospect Books:Devon] 2006 (p. 226) [1869]

"General stock, or Grand Bouillon, is the principle of all the soups and sauces which follow; it is used instead of water, to which it is much to be preferred. General Stock is made with legs of beef, knuckles of veal, and any fresh meat trimmings and bones. Cut all the meat from the bones; break them; and put them, together with the meat, in a stock-pot, with about 2 1/2 pints of cold water to each pound of bones and meat; and add a little salt, and put on the fire to boil; skim carefully; and put in some carrots, onions, and leeks; simmer for five hours; strain the Stock through a broth napkin, into a basin, and keep it in a cold palce, till wanted."

---The Royal Cookery Book, Jules Gouffe, Translated from the Fench and Adapated for English Use by Alphonse Gouffe [Sampson Low, Son, and Marston:London] 1869 (p. 226) [1875]

"Stock is the bassis of all meat sauces, soups, and purees. It is really the juice of meat extracted by long and gentle simmering, and in making it, should be remembered that the object to be aimed at is to draw the goodness out of the materials into the liquor. It may be prepared in various ways, richly and expensively, or economically, and recipes for all modes are given in this work. All general stock, or stock which is to be used for miscellaneous purposes, should be simply made, that is, all flavoring ingredients should be omitted entirely until its use is decided upon. The stock will then keep longer than it would do if vegetables, herbs, and spices were boiled in it, besides which the flavouring can be adapted to its special purpose. To ensure its keeping, stock should be boiled and skimmed every day in summer, and every other day in winter. The pan and the lid used in making it should be scrupulously clean. A tinned iron pan is the best for the purpose. Those who need to practise economy will do well to procure a digester, which is a kind of stock-pot made with the object of retaining the goodness of the materials, and preventing its escape in steam. When ready, stock should be poured into an earthenware pan, and left uncovered until it is cold. It should on no account be allowed to cool in a metal pan. Before being used, every particle of fat which has settled on the surface should be removed, and the liquor should be poured off free from sediment. A few years ago it was customary for cooks to make stock with fresh meat only, the rule being a pound of meat to a pint of stock. Altered prices have necessitated the adoption of more economical methods, and now excellent stock is constantly made with the bones and trimmings of meat and poultry, with the addition or not of a little fresh meat, or a portion of Liebig's Extract of Meat. In a house where meat is regularly used, a good cook will never be without a little stock. Broken remnants of all kinds will find their way to the stock-pot, and will not be thrown away untily, by gentle stewing, they have been made to yield to the utmost whatever of fresh meat is used it is better for being freshly killed. The liquor is which fresh meat has been boiled should always be used as stock."

---Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery with Numerous Illustrations [Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co.:London] 1875? (p. 924-5)

[NOTE: This book contains general notes on the prinicples of stock as well as several recipes.] Recommended reading

Pickled, Potted, and Canned/Sue Shepard "Concentrates" (p. 175-184)

ABOUT BROTH

"Etymologically, broth is that which has been brewed'; the word comes ultimately from the same prehistoric Germanic source as modern English brew. From earliest times it was used for the liquid in which something is boiled', and the something' could be vegetable as well as animal...By the seventeenth century it was becoming largely restricted to the liquid in which meat is boiled', and more particularly to a thin soup made from this with the addition of vegetables, cereal grains, etc. (the term Scotch broth dates from at least the early eighteenth century)...The proverb "Too many cooks spoil the broth' is first recorded in Sir Balthazar Gerbier's Three Chief Principals of Magnificent Building, 1665."

---An A to Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 44) "Broth. A term which usually means the liquid in which meat has been cooked or a simple soup based thereon. It is a close equivalent to the French bouillon and the Italian brodo, but difference between the evolution of cookery in English-speaking countries and those of the cuisines which use other languages have give it...a flavour of its own. The word comes from a root which means simply to brew, without specifying the presence of meat, and there are early examples of broths made with just vegetables...However, for several centuries, broth has usually implied meat. It has also been prominent in invalid cookery...It could be said that broth occupies an intermediate position between stock and soup. A broth (e.g. chicken broth) can be eaten as is, whereas a stock (e.g. chicken stock) would normally be consumed only as an ingredient in something more complex. A soup, on the other hand, would usually be less simple, more finished', than a broth."

---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 108-9) ABOUT COURT BOUILLON

"Court bouillon. A court bouillon (in French literally short bouillon') is a light stock used mainly for poaching fish or shellfish in. It is made from water and the usual mixture of stock vegetables (onions, carrots, celery) and herbs, with the optional addition of white wine or (particularly for freshwater fish) vinegar. The term has been used in English texts since the early eighteenth century, but Eliza Acton in her Modern Cookery (1845) made it clear that cooking with court bouillon was still far from an everyday event: court bouillon--a preparation of vegetables and wine, in which (in expensive cookery) fish is boiled.'"

---An A to Z of Food & Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 92-3) "Court buillon. A flavored liquid intended for the cooking of eggs, vegetables, or seafood, and in use in France and elsewhere for many centuries. In modern times its use is reserved almost exclusively for seafood, especially fish..In early Englsih cookery books the term is ofent spelled strange ways, e.g. courbolion (May, 1685). However, there was little difference between early English recipes and early French ones. La Varenne...gave several recipes for fish cooked in a court bouillon...Stobart (1980) points out that: "Meats and vegetables are less often cooked court-bouillon for an obvious reason. A court-bouillon is prepared in advance by boiling the flavouring ingredients before the food it put in to cook. This is necessary with fish, and shell fish, as they spend only a short time in the cooking liquid. But the meats and vegetables, which take longer to cook, the flavouring materials can usually be boiled while the food is cooking.""

---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 220) Ude's recipe, 1828 "Court Buillion.

Take three carrots, four onions, six shallots, and two roots of parsley, which pick and wash. Mince them. Put a small lump of butter into a stew-pan, with the above roots, and fry them till they begin to get brown. Moisten next with two bottles of red wine, a bottle of water, a handful of salt, some whole pepper-corns, and a bunch of parsley and green onions, seasoned with thyme, bay leaves, sweet basil, cloves, &c. Let the whole stew for an hour, and then strain it through a sieve, to use as occasion may require. If you should have no wine, put In some vinegar. The court-bouillon is better after having served sevearal times than on the first day. It is a famous thing for stewing fish."

---The French Cook, Louis Eustache Ude, [1828] facsimile Englished reprint [Arco:New York]1978 (p. 257)

Related recipe? Beef tea & consomme. Soup or stew?

What is the difference between soup and stew? On the most basic level there is no absolute difference. Like ancient pottage, both soup and stew descend from economical, easy, healthy, forgiving, and locally sourced family feeds. Throughout time, these two interrelated menu items converge and diverge. Modern American cultural context does, however, separate soup from stew quite simply. The test is not in the ingredients or method, but which course it is served. Soup is starter/accompaniment; stew is main course. Soup, in some contexts, variously became regarded as haute cuisine (consomme, vichyssoise), healthful restoratifs (18th century French Restaurants & Jewish grandmother chicken soup), and economical family fare (commercial vegetable beef, tomato). Soup can be served as first course (classic menu), lunch (paired with sandwich or salad) and dessert (fruit soup). It can be served hot (most) or cold (gazpacho, cucumber). Either way, the stock reigns supreme. Stew is generally appreciated in larger chunks as main course, always served warm. Slow cooking renders tough cuts of meat delicious. The fact "stew" was a verb before it was a noun means much. Deliberate slow cooking with minimal moisture produces amazing results. Stew is generally regarded as community feed ( Brunswick Stew, Kentucky Burgoo & Booya) or family fare; not eligible for haute cuisine. The best way to compare definitions of two terms is take them from the same source. It is interesting to note Escoffier does not attempt to define the differences. If you're examining the differences within a specific culture/cuisine/period context, compare soup and stew recipes offered in cookbooks serving your target period. Menus confirm meal placement. [1952] The Master Dictionary of Food & Cookery, Henry Smith [Philosophical Library:New York]

"Soup as a food consists of water in which meat, fish, poultry, game, vegetables or even fruits are stewed, to extract all the food value with the least possible loss of vitamins and flavour. Cereals and thickening agents are sometimes added to give body."---(p. 225) "Stew...is nothing more or less than simmering foods in the smallest possible quantity of liquid. The meat, poultry or game and liquid are served together as a 'stew,'...Stewing has many advantages from the nutritive and economic standpoints."---(p. 230) [2001] The New Food Lover's Companion, Sharon Tyler Herbst [Barrons Eduational Series:New York] , 3rd edition

"Soup. Theoretically, a soup can be made in any combination or vegetables, meat or fish cooked in a liquid. it may be thick (like Gumbo), thin (such as a Consomme), smooth (like a Bisque) or chunky (Chowder or Bouillabaisse). Though most soups are hot, some like Vichyssoise and Fruit Soups are served cold...The can be served as a first course or as a meal, in which case they're usually accompanied by a sandwich or salad."---(p. 581) "Stew. Any dish that is prepared by stewing. The term is most often applied to dishes that combine meat, vegetables and a thick soup-like broth resulting from a combination of the stewing liquid and the natural juices of the food being processed."---(p. 596) [2003] Encyclopedia of Food Culture, Solomon H. Katz, editor-in-Chief [Thomson Gale:New York] Volume 3

"Soup. A soup is a broth that is infused with flavor. It may be think and crystal clear like a consomme, voluptuously smooth and creamy like a creamed soup, or so chunky with meat, fish, grains, and/or vegetables it is just this side of stew. A soup may be the first of several courses, intended just to whet the appetite; it may be one of many dishes served at the same time; or it may be a hearty meal in a bowl. The bottom line is that in order to be soup, it must be enough of a liquid preparation that eventually one gets around to sipping it, or eating it with a spoon."---(p. 297) "Stew. A stew had been described as an assortment of foods cooked in liquid within a container with a lid. Stews are usually made from several ingredients and may be named for the most important of these, for example, beef stew; for its point of origin, for its point of origin, as in Irish stew; or for the pot in which it is cooked, as in Rumanian ghivexi, named for the Turkish guvec, an earthenware pot in which the stew is cooked. The word "stew" is said to have come from the old French word estuir, meaning to enclose."...Stews are commonly regarded as 'comfort' foods, everyday dishes served to family or close friends in an intimate setting, rather than as fare in more public settings or at special occasions."---(p. 341-342) Dry soup mix & California dip

Soup mix, as we Americans know it today, descends from portable soups consumed by explorers, soldiers, and travelers for hundreds of years. Rehydration is a simple and economical way to serve hot nourishment when standard recipes are not possible. A survey of historic American newspaper articles and food history sources confirm dried soup mixes were introduced to the general consumer in the 1930s. The market blossomed in the 1940s, when several companies agressively promoted a variety of flavors to busy housewives. The hook? Convenience (quick, easy), economics (mixes were inexpensive) and versatility (mixes could be used to create sauces for casseroles, gravies for meats/vegetables, and dips for snacks). Of all these products, the most famous is Lipton's Onion Soup Mix. Why? In the early 1950s a recipe for California Dip, combining this product with sour cream, caught the attention of the American palate. This classic dip is still beloved by many today. Dry soup mixes

"A new branch in the food industry has spring up rapidly since the start of the year and is beginning to contribute some funds to advertising. It is the soup mix business and at the rate companies are entering the field there will be at least a dozen contenders by the end of the year. The Thomas J. Lipton Company appeared to have started the parade earlier this year with numerous test campaigns on Contintental Noodle Soup mix in newspapers. Since that time General Mills, with its Betty Crocker noodle soup mix, Skinner and Eddy Corporation with its Minute Man vegetable, noodle and chicken flavor rice soup mixes and Dainty Food Manufacturers, Inc., a Kraft Cheese affiliate, with its Dainty noodle soup mix, have all entered the lists. These three companies are all using newspapers and radio to test comapigns in various cities."

---"Advertising News and Notes," New York Times, June 10, 1941 (p. 39) "Manufacturers of dehydrated soups have formed an organization sponsored by the Grocery Manufactures of America to handle the industry's problems and have elected L.J. Gumpert, director of sales of B.T. Baggitt, Inc., as chairman. The group will be known as the Soup Mix Manufacturers. Mr. Gumpert said sales in the industry have jumped from $300,000 in 1939 to an estimated $40,000,000 for this year."

---"Heads New Association of Soup Dehydrators," New York Times, April 22, 1943 (p. 35) How much did these early soups cost? These prices were advertised by Gimbel's Department Store, New York Times, November 7, 1943 (p. 23)

"Dainty Onion soup mix, 4 portions, .10

Lipton's noodle soup mix, .08

Lipton's pea soup mix, .09

Lipton's black bean soup mix, .09 How good were these early products & how were they received?

USA commercial dry soup mix reviewed by Consumer Reports 1963 & 1978 says it all. [1963]

"Americans, while giving lip service to the truism that there's nothing-like-a-plate-of-old-fashioned-home-made-soup, annually consume countless platefuls of the ready-made kind. The every-simmering pot of soup stock long since has gone from the kitchen, put to rout first by the convenience of canned soups and now by the even greater handiness of dry-mix soups, which are making their mark on the market. Light and compact, dry-mix soups take up less pantry space than cans and are easier to tote home from the store or out to a campsite. But how do they really compare with the home-made soups of memory? With canned condensed soups? With each other? To answer these simple though subjective questions, CU chose a number of staff members who demonstrated in tryouts that they could reproduce their soup judgements; that is, when given a series of unidentified soups to taste and describe, they gave a similar flavor description each time they tasted a particular soup. These individuals, none of whom could be considered a gourmet, served as panelists to examine the soups prepared from the mixes, and to describe, independently of each other, the taste odor, and texture characteristics, noting particularly any brand-distinguishing features. The test covered six leading brands of dried soups--Campbell's, Red Kettle, Goodman's Knorr, Lipton, Mrs. Grass, and Wyler's--in the most popular flavors, chicken noodle, beef noodle, onion, and green pea. The panel also tasted Campbell's canned soups in the same four flavors. In each case the tasters did not know either the type or the brand they were sampling. The verdict, briefly, was: First, none of the soups tasted as good to the panelists as the home-made soups they knew or remembered. Second, the tasters preferred dry-mix-noodle and onion soups to the canned versions, mainly because the noodles and onions were firmer and the onions also crisper. An third, different brands of dry-mix soups seemed to cater to different tastes. Generally speaking, the panel described Campbell's Red Kettle and Lipton soups as having 'a true flavor.' The Knorr soups were described as heavily spiced and well garnished, a quasi-European impression emphasized in recent advertising for this American-made version of a famous old Swiss line. A fourth brand, Wyler's, was judged relatively weak in flavor, with bouillon-like overtones...The dry soups, but the way, were found as easy to prepare as the canned condensed type, although the lump of soup stock in Wyler's chicken noodle mixed dispersed rather slowly and had to be broken up with a mixing spoon. Most brands are conveniently packaged in pouches containing the makings of two to five portions, depending on the brand and your own idea of portion size. Campbell's Red Kettle comes two small cans to the box. Except in the green pea mixes tested, the packaged ingredients were not distributed uniformly enough to permit preparation of only part of a package. In general, you can expect to pay less per serving of dry-mix soups than of canned condensed. For example, an eight-ounce serving of chicken noodle soup from a dry-mix may cost from 2 1/2 cents for the Wyler's to 6 1/2 cents for Campbell's Red Kettle or Knorr, against 7 1/2 cents for canned condensed Campbell's Chicken Noodle. Be careful reading the ingredients, which (as informed consumers know) are listed on food labels in order of their proportion by weight in the package, will indicate that dry-mix soups are by no means the bargains their package advertising often makes them out to be. Take the beef and chicken soup mixes. package pictures often play up the meat content...but every brand of chicken or beef noodle mix except Campbell's Red Kettle listed more salt than meat in the mix. The minimum amount of chicken in any product called chicken soup, when sold in interstate commerce, is set by the Poultry Inspection Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When the mixes tested by CU were packed, this agency required a minimum of 2% chicken meat as a preparation of the dry mix. A typical 1 1/2-ounce packet of chicken soul thus could contain as little as .03 ounce of dried chicken; a single serving, as little as .01 ounce. As of last March, and after much haggling, this definition of chicken soup was changed so that the 2% chicken-meat minimum applied to the reconstituted, ready-to-serve soup rather than to the dry mix. This boosted the legal minimum of chicken meat in a typical s erving all the way up to about .04 ounce. It may be that some consumers are content with chicken as a flavor, and don't expect to find much of the bird itself; it is true that no type of chicken soup is known to offer chicken meat on any substantial scale. Still, .04 ounce is down to a pretty fine scale. And there remains the question of what to call the mixes which offer less than that or even no chicken meat at all. Since these products are not considered poultry products, the Food and Drug Administration has jurisdiction over them; it is currently pondering phrases like 'noodle soup mix, chicken flavored' or 'imitation chicken flavor' or 'soup flavored with chicken fat.' CU suggests 'mock chicken soup' or perhaps 'chicanery soup.' Because even standards like those for chicken meat in chicken soup are as yet entirely lacking for other dry-mix soups, vigilance by the consumer is especially important for these products. Complaints to the FDA...about beef soup without beef, ham soup without ham, bacon soup without bacon, may help bring the day when consumers can trust the big print on the labels of a great many more prepared foods than now merit that confidence."

---Consumer Reports, May 1963 (p. 225-226)

[NOTE: ratings of "acceptable" soups, by flavor, offer brief descriptions of flavor, texture and price. They are not ranked best--worst.] [1978]

"Consider homemade chicken soup. It contains chicken, vegetables, and rice or noodles. As the soup cooks, flavors and nutrients form those ingredients are released into the broth. The soup tastes good. And while it won't cure a cold or anything else, it is an ideal fluid replacement when you're sick. Now consider the dehydrated soups tested for this report. Judging from their labels, the soups' vitamin content is practically nil. A principal seasoning is salt, which most Americans need less of, not more of. The soups' flavor, which wasn't especially good, was usually helped long with generous doses of monosodium glutamate (MSG), a chemical compound that contains sodium and causes unpleasant symptoms in some people. And there's evidence that some dried soups are manufactured with less than tender, loving care. But dried soup mix is certainly convenient. If you can stew a pot of water on the range, you can fix a dried soup. With a regular mix, you just add powder to the water and cook. With an instant mix, you add hot water to the powder in a cup and drink. We tested 43 regular and instant mixes --chicken soup (the most popular variety), beef soup, and a variety of vegetable soups, including tomato. You won't find a list of nutrients on the labels of these powders. There'd be precious little to put on such a list. According to published figures, thiamin is the most plentiful important nutrient in Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup. One serving's thiamin content equals some 7 percent of the RDA [Recommended Daily Allowance] for a woman. Other nutrients listed in the Lipton soup ranged from 0.4 to 3.9 percent of the RDA. Standard sources show other dried soup mixes are similarly low in nutrients. What about protein? We checked to see. Most of the soups come in six- or eight ounce portions. Of those soups, all but one provided less than four grams of protein per portion...The exception is Lipton Cup-A-Soup Green Pea, which provided 5.4 grams. Four of the soups come in 15-ounce portions and consist mostly of needles. Thanks mainly to the noodles, those four provide about eight to nine grams of protein per portion--a good contribution to a person' daily protein need. While low in vitamins and minerals, the dried soups are higher in carbohydrates--or sugars and refined starches--than soup should be. Most of the ingredient labels indicate one or more (usually more) of the following sugars: corn sweeteners, sugar, dextrose, and lactose. In addition, most of the soups list one or more of the following starches: potato starch, corn starch, modified food starch, wheat starch, and various flours. All those added sugars and starches have little nutritional value. We analyzed for sucrose, or common table sugar. Some soups contained no sucrose. Most were fairly low in sucrose. The tomato soups were higher than the other products, containing 2 1/2 to 6 grams--about a teaspoon--per serving. Calories per portion were usually fairly low. The soups in six- and eight-ounce portions generally provided form 30 to 80 calories. The 15-ounce 'noodle' soups provided 320 calories or so--about what you'd get with a bowl of noodles. What's in the soups, aside from dehydrated chicken, beef, vegetables, or noodles? The ingredients list on a typical dried soup reads a bit like the index to a chemistry textbook. We could have analyzed for months to determine how much of what is in each dried soup. We didn't. Instead, we've given a guide to dried-soup additives...and analyzed only for sodium and monosodium glutamate. Our taste experts judged that saltiness was the major flavor characteristic of the tested soups. Salt is approximately 40 percent sodium. Most of the soups contained between 700 and 900 milligrams of sodium per portion. A few were somewhat lower. And 12 were astonishingly high--about 1040 to 1630 milligrams per portion. With those, you get about one-half to three-quarters teaspoon of salt per serving...Monosodium glutamate is used in dried soups as a flavor enhancer. many people can ingest MSG without experiencing side effects. But some individual experience what's been called the 'Chinese restaurant syndrome,' which consists of a variety of uncomfortable, temporary symptoms, including a burning sensation throughout the body, upper chest pain, facial pressure, and headache. All the tested dried soups but Kroger Cup-of-Soup Cream Style Chicken Flavor list MSG as an ingredient. And our analysis of the Kroger showed it contained glutamic acid, the main component of MSG. Most of the soups contained between 500 and 800 milligrams of MSG per portion. Some contained less. And some contained more than 1000 milligrams per portion. The soup with the highest amount, Wyler's Chicken Flavored Rice, had about one-quarter teaspoon per six-ounce portion...How does this conglomeration of dried foods and chemicals taste after you've drowned its sorrows in hot water? We asked our sensory consultants to taste the stuff. None of the regular dried soups was judged better than Good; note of the instants was judged better than Fair. Unlike good homemade soups (such as CU's chicken soup...the dried soups contained few natural flavors, aromas, and textures. Some had artificial and 'off' flavors. Most tasted very salty...Recommendations: Dried soup mixes don't have much to recommend them. Even the best of the tested soups didn't taste like a good homemade soup. Most were high in sodium and MSG...As an alternative to the dried soups, you might heat up a canned soul. Pour sensory consultants tried a canned chicken noodle soup, a vegetable beef soup, and a tomato soup. All tasted a bit better than the dried soups. Canned soups in general should also contain more nutrients than dried soups. But, if the three soups we analyzed are any yardstick, canned soups (per manufacture's suggested portion) contain as much sodium as the worst of the dried soups and only a bit less MSG than the run of the dried soups. If you want nutritious soup that tastes good, try making your own. In the box below we give a recipe for CU's chicken soup. It costs about the same per portions as a dried soup. It's not exactly a convenience food. But once you cook it, you can freeze what you don't eat. If you sometimes have dried soup because it's convenient, try making it with skim milk or nonfat dry milk; the soup will baster better and be more nutritious, too. As for choosing among the tested soups, you're on your own. You can choose one rated Good over one rated Fair, but that still leaves you with so-so taste, low nutrition, sodium, and MSG. We calculated each soup's cost per serving using the serving size designated by the manufacturer. The regular soups were usually cheaper.Most of them cost from 6 to 10 cents per serving; the instants usually cost from 13 to 15 cents. The Maruchan instants, at 57 cents per serving, and the Nissin instants, at 58 cents, give you about 2 1/2 times the soup for about three or four times the price of the other instants. NOW THIS IS SOUP!

As an alternative to dried soup, why not make your own? To get you started, here's our recipe for a hearty chicken stock (see any cookbook) which takes some time to prepare.

1 tablespoon chicken fat skimmed from homemade chicken stock

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

4 ounces uncooked dark-meat chicken, cut up

1 medium carrot, diced

1 large celery stalk with leaves, diced

1 very large scallion (green onion), diced

4 cups homemade chicken stock

1/4 cup egg noodles, broken up

1/2 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Melt the chicken fat in a large pot. Add garlic. Saute. Add the chicken. Stir the mixture occasionally as you dice the carrot, celery, and scallion. Add the vegetables to the pot. Saute a few minutes to soak up any remaining fat. Add stock. Bring to boil. Add noodles. Boil five to seven minutes until noodles are al dente. Add parsley, salt, and pepper just before serving. The soup tastes much better when the chicken meat that does into it is dark meat. Our recipe makes about eight six- ounce cups of soup and costs from 7 cents to 14 cents per portion. Our calculations showed that CU's chicken soup provided more protein than most of the tested chicken soups--5 grams per six-ounce cup of soup, or about 10 percent of a woman's RDA./ It contained a lot less sodium--about 185 milligrams per portion. And it contains no MSG or additives like those in the dried chicken soups. CU staffers who tried our homemade chicken soup thought it tasted just great. One staffer praised its 'good chicken flavor.' Another loved it because the vegetables 'were nice and firm.' Still another enjoyed it because it was 'nicely full of stuff.'"

---Consumer Reports, November 1978 (p. 615-119) [NOTES: (1) Products were grouped by regular and instant. (2) Ratings compared overall sensory, cost per serving, serving size, calories, protein, sucrose, MSG & sodium. (3) No personal credit is given for CU's chicken soup recipe.] California dip

Combinations of onions and sour cream have been enjoyed by Northern European peoples for centuries. This 20th century dip was the brainchild of a visionary housewife who took dry soup mix to the next level. "This may not be "the mother of all dips," but it is surely America's most beloved. The Lipton Company, whos dry onion soup mix is the basis of California Dip, doesn't claim to have invented it. That distinction belongs to an anyonymous California cook, who blended sour cream with the soup mix back in 1954--two years after it hit the market. Word of the new dip spread through Los Angeles faster than a canyon fire, newspapers printed the recipe, onion soup mix sales soared, and Lipton executives, a continent away in New Jersey, were ecstatic. They tracked down the recipe, perfected it, and beginning in 1958, printed it on every box of Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Soup Mix."

---American Century Cook Book, Jean Anderson [Clarkson Potter:New York] 1997 (p. 24) "For your next cocktail parity or TV treat try mixng package Onion Soup mix (just as it comes from the package) together with one pint of sour cream, as a 'dip' for crackers or potato chips. The tasty combination, called appropriately 'California Dip' because it originated on the West Coast, is wonderful, and a cinch to prepare. Refrigerate until ready to use. Time involved: split second."

---"Quick Snack Dip," North Adams Transcript [MA], February 17, 1955 (p. 11) "Imagination and ingenuity go hand-in-hand when you are planning a party menu. And the canapes you serve to whet guests' appetites should be given free reign on both counts. Here is a delightful development in the 'dunk and dip' department that will have the crowd pleasing their crackers for more. It is an original hors d'oeuvres that combines a package of onion soup mix and a pint of sour cream, both available at the corner grocery store. And it takes but a minute to mix--happy news for the harried hostess! She can either mix it up at the last minute or make it a bit before the party and then tuck it away in the refrigerator. This mixture should be kept chilled until you use it. To make a sizeable bowl of this delicacy called "California Dip," stir a package of onion soup mix, just as it comes from the package, into a pint of commercial sour cream and blend thoroughly. Place the bowl in the center of a big round wooden platter and surround it with a piquant variety of cheese crackers, corn chips, melba toast and potato chips. Give it a gay garnish or snipped parsley for looks and serve with a flourish. This basic recipe can also be varied by blending a three-ounce package of cream cheese thoroughly with the onion soup mix and half-pint of sour cream. The subtle blend of flavors and creamy consistency make this dip a delightful beginning to the rest of the menu. Try it once and see how it adds to your laurels as a hostess. California Dip

1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1 pint commercial sour cream

Stir Lipton Onion Soup Mix just as it comes from the package into sour cream and blend thoroughly. Use as a dip for potato chips, corn chips, crackers or melba toast. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve. Philadelphia Spread

1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1 pint commercial sour cream

3 oz. package cream cheese

Allow cream cheese to soften. Stir in Lipton Onion Soup Mix (just as it comes from the package) and sour cream, then blend well. Use as a spread for crackers, melba toast, or your favorite wafers."

---"Onion Soup Aids Party-Hostess," Pittsburgh Courier, April 23, 1955 (p. A10) Alphabet soup

Similar Nabisco's Animal Crackers, Campbell's Alphabet Soup is an iconic American children's food product. Neither company "invented" these items, they capitalized on existing popular foods it using savvy marketing and economical production. Competing companies (Heinz also made an alphabet soup) are long forgotten. Before we had canned alphabet soup, we had alphabet-shaped pasta (aka alphabet pastes) that were marketed specifically to American consumers as a novelty soup additive. Then, as now, spelling out words with soup pasta was fun for all ages. Our survey of historic newspapers confirms some parents declared their children brilliant because they were "soup spelling" at very early ages. The term "Alphabet Soup" also has another meaning in the American Lexicon. During the New Deal Era (FDR) new federal programs were springing up at an amazing pace. These programs were known by their acronyms. Newspaper reporters and political commentators regularly referred to this phenomenon as Alphabet Soup politics. The attribution was not a favorable one. Linguist Barry Popik's notes are comprehensive and interesting. "Alphabet soup" is a noodle soup with alphabet-shaped noodles. The soup is cited in print since the 1880s and 1890s.

The New Deal legislation of the 1930s resulted in many new government agencies, such as the TVA, CCC, WPA, FDIC, SEC, and NRA. These lettered agencies were called "alphabet soup" in 1933. The FBI, CIA, NSA and other agencies are still sometimes called "alphabet soup" agencies. (Oxford English Dictionary) alphabet soup, a clear soup containing pieces of paste or biscuit shaped like letters of the alphabet. 1907 Black Cat June 15 Alphabet soup—that thin, clear soup, with little noodle or cracker letters in it.

2 October 1880, Colorado Springs (CO) Daily Gazette, pg. 4, col. 5 ad: Marge Fil’s Macaroni, one pound boxes. Pates (Pastes?—ed.) and Alphabets for Soup.

8 October 1884, Freeborn County Standard (Albert Lee, MN), pg. 13, col. 5: Alphabet Soup. From the Rochester Post Express. At a fashionable resort near Rochester too much French on the bill of fare started and spoiled a first-class romance recently. (...) She noticed that the young lady dawdled an unconscionable time over the soup with the French designation, and she noticed also that she (the duenne) never received the same kind of soup that was served to her charge. Suspicion was aroused. Could it be that Miss Ida’s soup was made of some potent love charm? SHe would watch. SHe took occasion to mover her chair to Ida’s side and made a discovery that almost paralyzed her virgin heart. THe little particles in Ida’s soup were letters of the alphabet, and on the very first day she read this sentence: S-w-e-e-t, A-l-f-o-n-s-e l-o-v-e-s t-h-e-e-; and this: "I-t-a-l-y- a-w-a-i-t-s h-e-r q-u-e-e-n."

SOURCE: Barry Popik, includes an impressive list of historic newspaper citings & notes. Avgolemono

Contemporary cookbooks hail this creamy soup as the "national" soup of Greece. Similar recipes, in both soup and sauce forms, are also found in contemporary Turkish and Arab cuisine. Culinary combinations of egg and lemon are not native to the region, as evidenced in ancient texts. This suggests avgolemono was introduced at a later date. Food historians trace the origins to southern Europe, suggesting the dish traveled to Greece with Sephardic Jews. Greek traditions

"The really Greek sauces can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The number is led off by the well-known Egg-lemon sauce which might be called the National sauce."

---And the Greeks: A Book of Hellenic Recipes, Allan Ross MacDougall [Near East Foundation:New York] 1942 (p. 8) Middle Eastern connections

"Avgolemono literally 'egg-lemon' the Greek name of a characteristic E. Mediterranean sauce. The name in Arabic (tarbiya) and Turkish (terbiye) literally means 'treatment; improvement'. Avgolemono may be used either as a sauce for fish, lamb, or vegetables (particularly artichoke) or as a flavouring in various casserole dishes and soups (which it also thickens)."

---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 42) Southern European flavors

"An egg and lemon sauce may sound more Greek than Spanish but it is, in fact, a tradtiional sauce from the Canary Islands and goes back hundreds of years."

---The Foods and Wines of Spain, Penelope Casas [Alfred A. Knopf:New York] 1982 (p. 268) "Greece's long connection with the Venetian Republic accounts for some of the culinary influences that appear Italian. But it does seem that the Venetians learned a thing or two from Greece. For example, the Venetian manzo alla greca derives from the Greek original as seen in (besides the name) the basic avgolemono, or lemon and egg yolk sauce. This sauce was popular in Venice and was also used in another preparation known as bolito alla cortigiana...However, at least one scholar believes the influence on both Greek and Venetian dishes may come much later, from French cuisine, because of the use of eggs in the sauce, derived from French-style compound sauces."

---A Mediterranean Feast, Clifford A. Wright [William Morrow:New York] 1999 (p. 232) Sephardic Jewish connection

"Avgolemono. This egg and lemon combination is a Greek favorite sauce and soup. But it is also considered a cornerstone of Sephardic cooking. Claudia Roden's fascinating book on Jewish food has several recipes for this as a sauce, and she suggests that it was probably Portuguese or Spanish in origin. Made like a custard, it is similar in flavor to a hollandaise, but much lighter and fresher in the absense of large amounts of butter."

---Modern Middle Eastern Food: artichoke to za'atar, Greg Malouf and Lucy Malouf [Univeristy of California Press:Berkeley CA] 2008 (p. 173)

[NOTE: Book of Jewish Food/Claudia Roden 1997] "Atrustada (Cold Egg-and-Lemon Sauce)...This sharp, refreshing sauce is one of the cornerstones of Sephardi cooking. It is generally known as Greek and Turkish, but it also appears in old Judeo-Spanish and Portuguese recipes. It is served with fish or brains or with boiled or steamed vegetables." (p. 247) "Pishkado kon Agristada (Fish with Egg-and-lemon Sauce)...Also called 'pishkado kon uevo e limon,' this is one of the most characteristic Sephardi ways of cooking fish. The sauce is known to us all as Greek and Turkish, but it also appears in early Iberian communities in countries such as England, Holland, and Denmark--where the Ottoman and Greek influence was hardly felt. The earliest Jewish cookbook published in England, in 1846, which had mostly Portuguese dishes, is full of egg-and-lemon sauces. The one for fish was adopted by the Eastern European immigrants, and 'halibut with egg-and-lemon sauce' is one of the most common Friday-night dishes in Britain today. If I have to name one city that was famous for this specialty, it is Salonika. There, it was a Saturday dish to be eaten cold. Any kind of white fish can be sued--sole, haddock, cod, halibut, swordfish." (p. 338)

---The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York, Claudia Roden [Alfred A. Knopf:New York] 1996 "Soupa de huevos y limon [Egg-lemon soup. Salonika. This soup is traditionally served after the fast of Yom Kippur."

---Cookbook of the Jews of Greece, Nicholas Stavroulakis [Cadmus Press:Port Jefferson NY] 1986 (p. 153) Recipe sampler

[14th century:Catalonia]

"Lemon Sauce. If you want to make lemon sauce make almond milk of peeled almonds with chicken broth. Cook it in a good pot with ground spices, ginger and saffron, and a lot of white sugar and lemon juice. And let it boil a lot. If you want to put in a better ground substance, you can put in a chicken wing that is well minced, strongly enought so that it is not noticeable. This sauce should be colored, and it should be served with roasted or boiled chickens, and it should have penty of sugar and lemon juice, so that each of the flavors attracts the other. And flavor it with salt, spices, verjuice, and sweetening."

---The Book of Sent Sovi: Medieval Recipes from Catalonia, edited by Joan Santanach, translated by Robin M. Vobelzang [Barcino-Tamesis:Woodbridge Suffolk] 2008 (p. 51) [1846:London]

"Egg Sauce: A Fine White Sauce for Boiled Chickens, Turkeys, or White Fricassees. Beat up the yolks of four eggs with the juice of a fine lemon, a tea-spoonful of flour, and a little cold water, mix well together, and set it on the fire to thicken, stirring it to prevent curdling. This sauce will be found excellent, if not superior, in many cases where Englsih cooks use melted butter. If capers are substituted for the lemon juice, this sauce will be found excellent for boiled lamb or mutton."

--- , Edited by a Lady (Judith Montefiore), facsimlile 1846 edition, introduced by Chiam Raphael [NightinGale Books:New yoRK] 1983 (p. 19) [NOTE: The introduction of this book confirms Sephardic culinary influence on the recipes.] [1942:Greek-Americans]

"Soupa Avgholemono

1/3 cup of rice

1 quart chicken broth or bouillon

1 egg-yolk

Juice of half a lemon

Salt and pepper.

Wash the rice in two or three waters and drain. Add slowly to the boiling broth and cook for 45 minutes, or until the rice is very soft. Whisk the egg-yolk and add the lemon juice to it, beating them well. Pour in gradually a cup of the hot broth while stirring the egg mixture constantly. This, then, pour into the boiling soup and stir well for a few seconds. Take from the stove and serve immediately. Serves four."

---And the Greeks: A Book of Hellenic Recipes, Allan Ross MacDougall [Near East Foundation:New York] 1942 (p. 5-6) "Egg-and-Lemon Sauce (Avgholemono)

2 eggs

Juice of one lemon, strained

Beat the eggs slightly. Add lemon juice. Beat well. Then pour into sauce a tablespoon of the boiling stew juice (or the juice of the fish, if the sauce is intended for a fish dish). Do it gradually, beating constantly. This is done to prevent sauce from curdling. Pour sauce over the boiling stew or fish and remove from fire at once."

---And the Greeks: A Book of Hellenic Recipes, Allan Ross MacDougall [Near East Foundation:New York] 1942 (p. 8) [1955:London]

"Avgolemono.

The best known of all Greek soups.

To 2 pints of strained chicken broth, add 2 oz rice and boil in the broth until well cooked. In a basin beat up 2 eggs and the juice of a lemon. Add a little boiling broth to the eggs in the basin, spoon by spoon, stirring all the time. Add this to the rest of the broth and stir for a few minutes over a very slow fire."

---Mediterranean Food, Elizabeth David [Penguin Books:New York] revised edition 1955 (p. 17) [1986:Greek Jews]

"Soupa de huevos y limon. Egg-lemon soup

1 3 lb chicken

Juice of 2-3 lemons

1 cup rice

3 eggs, separated

1 teaspoon flour

Salt and pepper

Chopped parsley

Clean and wash the chicken well. Put it into a large stewing pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove the scum and fat on the surface. Cover the pot tightly and cook for about one hour, or until tender. Them remove the chicken form the stock, put in a large serving dish, sprinkle with lemon juice, and set aside while you make the soup. The chicken may follow as a second course or be saved for another purpose. Bring the stock to a low boil, add the rice, and cook until tender. While the rice is cooking, beat the egg yolks with a teaspoon flour until creamy. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper and put in the top of a double boiler. Cook over barely simmering water, stirring constantly. Still stirring, slowly add tablespoons of the stock until a very thin sauce is formed. Remove from the heat. Beat the egg whites until fluffy and fold them into the sauce. Cool for a few minutes and then add to the stock pot. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with additional lemon wedges. Serves 4."

---Cookbook of the Jews of Greece, Nicholas Stavroulakis [Cadmus Press:Port Jefferson NY] 1986 (p. 153)

[NOTE: This book also offers are recipe for Poyo en slatsa blanko (Chicken in egg-lemon sauce) from Salonika (p. 70)

Compare with Italian Stracciatelle & Zanzarelli soups.

Bigos

"Mikolaj Rej did not mention bigos specifically in any of his writings during the sixteenth century, so the dish must have assumed its more familiar name and form within the past three hundred years. Bigos was initially composed of mixed game, which by definition was food reserved for the nobility. It has evolved over time into a more egalitarian preparation, since many Poles make it today, although rarely with game. It is even available in most Polish pubs and bistros. Some Polish etymological material has suggested that the word bigos is...from the German Bleiguss. This is not a food, but something associated with a custom: pouring molten lead into cold water on New Year's Day. The resulting strangely shaped flakes of metal are then studied to predict the future. This etymology is doubtless erroneous, although bigos was probably a modification of a medieval German dish. The archaic German verb becken (to cut up or chop and equivalent to the old English verb bray) would offer a more promising possibility. So would Beifuss, which appears in old German as biboz, bivuoz, and other variations. Beifuss is a term for mugwort (Artemesia vulgaris), a popular medieval condiment for meats. In any case, we do know what bigos is in medieval terms, since it is made with leftovers and was originally structured in layers. It is similar to the cabbage-and-meat mixture known as choucroute alsacienne, although the ingredients in that preparation are not chopped up into small pieces, which may be one of the keys to the origin of bigos. Perhaps it is rather more like another Alsatian dish, pote boulangere (Baeckoffe), which descends from the medieval compostium (meaning a mixture). This braised layered dish made with cabbage, leftover meats, and fruit is known as Gumbistopel in parts of Bas-Rhin and Switzerland. It is traditionally made in many parts of southern German and Austria, where it still survives under numerous dialect designations. it is also indigenous to the old Saxon cookery of Transylvania and has thus evolved into many variant forms in Hungarian cookery. It would be tempting to point toward a Hungarian avenue for the introduction of bigos into Poland, given the flow of other culinary ideas from that part of Europe. But it is also true that Hedwig of Andechs-Meran (d. 1243), later known in Poland as Saint Hedwig of Silesia, would have been perfectly at home with this dish during her thirteenth-century youth in the Bavarian monastery at Kitzingen. The medieval origins of bigos are oddly alluded to in a most un-medieval source: the Paradok molodym khozajkam (A Gift to Young Housewives), a nineteenth-century Russian cookbook. The author, Elena Molokhovets, never explained where she found her recipe for Polish bigos, but her procedure for making it involved the older, the more medieval technique of layering the ingredients in line with the structure of a compositum. The significant part is at the beginning of her recipe, where she layers the bacon and cabbage. This step was technically unnecessary because she could have chopped them just as easily. She was evidently remaining faithful to an older recipe format, yet she was obliged to stew the dish because she was preparing it on a cookstove. The layering aspect is the connecting element, and in the Middle Ages this initial step was easily performed in an oven or braised under coals. The medieval Polish kitchen was supplied with a number of utensils that could be used to accomplish this--in fact the whole dish could be prepared this way. The most typical implement was a three-legged dutch oven made of earthenware. Such a pot (missing its lid) was excavated from a thirteenth-century site in Warsaw' Old Town, although the archaeological report misidentified it as a patelnia (skillet). If the rest of Molokhovets's ingredients had also been added in layers the result would still be bigos. In fact, if the recipe for cabbage compositum with mushrooms...is combined with the chicken baked with prunes..., the mixture would remind most Poles of bigos. What separates the modern Polish dish from its medieval roots is the subtle alteration in structure and procedure that took place as the recipe shifted from hearth to stove cookery. While bigos is stewed today, it is not sloppy with liquid because the stewing is intended to cook it down. In any case, the preparation should be thick like Sicilian caponata, which is why Poles today serve it as an hers d'oeuvre on toast or bread before a formal meal."

---Food and Drink in Medieval Poland, Maria Dembinska, revised and adapted by William Woys Weaver, translated by Magdalena Thomas [University of Pennsylvania Press:Philadelphia PA] 1999 (p. 20-22)

"In the treasury of Old Polish culinary recipes bigos is one of the most precious jewels. Its traditions go back far into the past and the future predicts further long-lasting popularity for this dish. In older days bigos, stored in wooden casks or great stoneware pots, was a necessary component of a well-equipped pantry. Reheating the bogs many times only adds to the flavor and aroma. Thus an unexpected guest could be served bigos, or it was eaten on hunting expeditions, when it was heated in a kettle hung over an open fire. A cask of bigos was taken 'for the road', since it was part of the classical Old Polish traveling food supply. It was also served during carnival, at Easter feasts and on many other occasions. The tastiest bigos was made during Christmas and Easter, as there was a great variety of meat and game on hand, and these make up the essence of bigos. We fin many good words about this dish in Old Polish literature...Bigos is a composition not only complex, but also with a great many variants. In each Old Polish kitchen it was made in a different way, in accordance with home traditions. Thus, there was hunting bigos, Lithuanian bigos, rascal's bigos and others, made with sauerkraut, with sauerkraut and fresh cabbage and with fresh cabbage only. Take 3 lbs. sauerkraut of fresh cabbage for 2 lbs. various beats (kielbasa or ham should prevail). Equal parts of sauerkraut and fresh cabbage may also be taken. Some, however, take 3 lbs. assorted meats for 2 lbs. cabbage (sour or fresh) and no one has said anything against these generous Old Polish proportions, especially since this practice appears to be rare today. The assorted meats should consist of the following, cut into cubes: port roast, roast beef, joint of pork cooked in vegetables, a piece of roast duck and sliced kielbasa (better: various kinds of sausages if possible, along with lean cooked ham cut into cubes). The addition of roast game raises the flavour of bigos considerably, but without game it will be just as excellent. Sauces from roast meats are also added to the bigos. The sauerkraut can be chopped and fresh cabbage can be thinly sliced and scalded with boiling water before cooking. Cook the cabbage over low heat in a small amount of water (better: in the stock from cooked kielbasa). If only fresh cabbage is used, add 1 1/2 lbs. sour apples, peeled and finely chopped, towards the end of cooking. Apples are also added to sauerkraut, but in a smaller amount (4 large sour apples). Separately, cook at least 2 oz. dried mushrooms. Slice the cooked mushrooms thinly and add to the cabbage and heat along with the stock. now add 2 large, finely chopped onions lightly browned in lard or butter. If a richer bigos is preferred, fry the onions in 2-4 oz. lard. While the bigos is simmering, add 20 prunes (stoned), cut into strips. The prunes may be substituted by 1-2 tablespoons well fried plum butter. Season the bigos with salt, pepper and, if desired, with a little sugar. It should be sharper in taste. Finally, add 1/2-2/3 cup dry red wine or Madeira. After adding all the ingredients cook the bigos over low heat for 40 minutes (careful: stir often, as it tends to burn). Next day, reheat the bigos. It is tastiest and 'mature' after the third reheating. Some add a roux of flour lightly browned in fat, which makes the bigos thicker, But if the bigos is well cooked, in our opinion, this addition is unnecessary. The bigos may also be seasoned with a tablespoon of thick tomato paste. Old Polish cuisine does not make use of this because it was not known then. But we strongly recommend the addition of tomato paste. Cook the bigos in an enameled or cast-iron enameled pot, but never in an aluminum one. Serve it very hot. Whole-wheat (or white) bread is served separately, along with a glass of chilled vodka (Wyborowa, Rye or Zubrowka), which improves digestion."

---Old Polish Traditions: In the Kitchen and at the Table, Maria Lemnis & Henryk Vitry [Hippocrene Books:New York] 1996 (p. 230-233)

Elena Molokhovet's recipe, circa 1861

"655. Hunter's stew form leftover beef with sauerkraut (Bigos iz ostavshejsja zharenoj govjadiny, s kisloju kapustoju) Line a saucepan with 1/4 lb or more pork fat, add 3 glasses squeezed out, slighly soured cabbage [i.e. sauerkraut], and top with another 1/4 lb pork fat or bacon. Pour on bouillon, cover with a lid, and stew. When the sauerkraut has half cooked, remove pork fat and cut it into small cubes together with the pork skin, Mix with the cooked beef, game, etc., cut up in the same manner. Stir the cubed meat and pork fat into the sauerkraut, sprinkle with pepper, and add 1/2 spoon flour fried until golden with 1 spoon butter and a finely chopped onion. Stew, covered, until the sauerkraut browns slightly, stirring often with a spoon to prevent the sauerkraut from burning. When the sauce boils away, everything may be turned out onto a platter. Pour butter fried with finely pounded rusks over the sauerkraut and mixed meats, bake, and serve for breakfast or for dinner before the bouillon."

---Classic Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovets' A Gift to Young Housewives, originally published in Russia 1861, translated and introduced by Joyce Toomre [Indiana University Press:Bloomington IN] 1992, 1998 (p. 217-208)

Billy bi

What is Billy Bi?

"Billy by is made of mussels cooked in white wine with onions, parsley, celery, and fish stock. The soup is served hot or ice-cold with fresh cream, the mussels and grated Parmesan cheese being served separately."

---Larousse Gastronomique, New American edition of the World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia, edited by Jenifer Harvey Lang [Crown Publishers:New York] 1988 (p. 97)

[NOTE: There is no entry for this dish in LG 1938 or 1961.]

"Billi-bi. A soup made from mussels, cream, and seasonings. Under the name 'mouclade' it is a well-known soup of of Normandy, where the mussels are left in the final preparation; in a true billi-bi they are removed before straining the soup. Billi-bi (sometimes spelled 'Billy By') is a popular soup in American restaurants but its origins are French."

---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 28)

Why the name?

Food historians generally agree on the "inventing" chef. They disagree on the person it was named for. Nor is there a concensus on the "definative" spelling of this dish.

"Billy by or bilibi. A mussel soup said to have been created by Barthe, the chef of Maxim's, for a regular customer called Billy, who adored mussels....Other souces claim that billy by was invented in Normandy, after the Normandy landings, when a farewell dinner was given to an American officer called Bill. So it was called 'Billy, bye bye', which degenerated to 'billy by'."

---Larousse Gastronomique, New American edition of the World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia, edited by Jenifer Harvey Lang [Crown Publishers:New York] 1988 (p. 97)



"... I have recorded its history, which is essentially French-American. The story goes that a wealthy American named William B. Leeds lived off and on, in Paris and that his favorite restaunt was Maxime's, conceivable the most celebrated restaurant in the city. The menu listed a cream of mussel soup, and this was his choice on almost every visit. Leeds was a reat favorite of the owner and as a result of his passion for the soup it was dubbed billi-bi, a version, of course, of Billy B."

---"Billi-bi: A rich, fast and festive soup," Pierre Franey, Chicago Tribune, December 15, 1983 (p. N_C11)

"Some have claimed that the soup was named after William Bateman Leeds, Sr. (1861-1908), president of the American Tin Plate Company, at Maxim's restaurant in Paris. But Jean Mauduit in his book Maxim's, Soixante Ans de Plaisir et d'Histoire (1958), wrote, 'The recipe was created by chef [Louis] Barthe to please an old regular customer who nourished an exclusive passion for mussels; the success of the dish was so great that they named it, as an honor, with the dimiuntive and the initial of the customer's name, even though he was not really the creator [my translation]. Mauduit gives the man's name as William Brand. The management of Maxim's, however, says that Barthe created the dish for Brand ('an American client of Maxim's') in 1925, but not at Maxim's; instead Barthe created the dish at Ciro's restaurant in Deauville."

---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 28)

[NOTE: We own a copy of Manduit's book. Original recipe reference (en Francais) here.]

"As for the steaming hot Potage Billy-bi...it was originated in 1925 by a former Maxim's chef, Louis Barthe. He then was in the kitchen at Ciro's, a restaurant in Deauville, France, known for a mussels dish with a particularly succulent juice. A good customer, William Brand, invited some American friends to Ciro's one day. Known the French way of using fingers and a double shell for scooping out and eating mussels would be strange from his guests, he requested that the juice [combined with heavy cream and white wine] be served without mussels. It was such a s success, each guest returned separately and ordered Potage Billy Brand. It was placed on the enu as Potage Billy B. And Billy-bi or Billy-by, as it is also now written, has since become a classic of the French culinary tradition."

---"Front Views & Profiles: Table Talk' Kay Loring, Chicago Tribune, August 18, 1967 (p. B9)

Bisque

"Bisque is a thick rich soup, usually containing crustaceans such as lobsters, crabs, and crayfish. The word was originally borrowed into English from French as bisk in the mid-seventeenth century, at which time it still retained an early application, since lost, to soup made from poultry or game birds, particularly pigeons'. It is not clear where the word came from, although some have linked it with the Spanish province of Biscay."

---An A-Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 29-30)

"Bisque. A rich soup of creamy consistency, especially of crayfish or lobster. An earlier use, for soups of game birds, has fallen into disusetude. Wine and/or cognac often enter into the recipes. When the word was first adopted from the French language, it came over as bisk', and it thus appears in The Accomplisht Cook of Robert May (1685). His recipes, incidentally, illustrate the wider use of the term in his time. He gives two recipes for Bisk of Carp, both involving many ingredients and having plenty of solid matter in them. And his Bisk of Eggs sound even more surprising to modern ears."

---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidison [Oxford University Press:Oxfod] 1999 (p. 77)

"Bisque...A seasoned shellfish puree flavoured with white wine, Cognac and double (heavy) cream, used as the basis of a soup. The flesh of the main ingredient (crayfish, lobster or crab) is diced as for salpicon and used as a garnish. The shells are also used to make the initial puree. The word 'bique' has been in use for centuries and suggests a connection with the Spanish provice of Vizcaya, which lends its name to the Bay of Biscay. Bisque was originally used to decribe a highly spiced dish of boiled meat or game. Subsequently, bisques were made using pigeons or quails and garnished with crayfish or cheese croutes. It was not until the 17th century that crayfish became the principal ingredient of this dish, which soon after was also prepared with other types of shellfish. The word is now used imprecisely for several pink pureed soups."

---Larousse Gatronomique, Completely revised and updated [Clarkson Potter:New York] 2001 (p. 115-6)

Bisque recipes through time



[1651]

"Squab Bisque

Get squab, after they have been cleaned and trussed up--which you do by making a hole in the bottom of their belly with a knife and sticking their legs into it. Blanch them--that is, put them into a pot with boiling water or bouillon from the pot with your best bouillon. Be very careful not to let it darket. Dry your bread and simmer it in the dove bouillon; then set it out after it is well seasoned with salt, pepper and cloves. Garnish it with the doves, and with cockscombs, veal sweetbreads, mushrooms, mutton stock, then pistachios. Serve. Garnish the firm of the platter with slices of lemon."

---La Varenne's Cookery: The French Cook, The French Pastry Cook, The French Confectioner, modern translation and commentary by Terence Scully [Prospect Books:Devon] 2006 (p. 134-135)

[NOTE: "The modern bisque is a thick soup made from pureed shellfish. In La Varenne's day poultry and game birds could be prepared in a bisque, that being merely a dish of boiled fowl on sops...Escoffier wrote that they 'are not very highly esteemed by gourmets, and that is more particularly to be regretted, since when the birds are of excellent quality, they are worthy of the best tables." (p. 134)] [1753]

"Potage of Crawfish.

Cleanse your Crawfish, and seeth them with wine and vinegar, salt and pepper. After they are sod, pick the feet and taile, and fry them with very fresh butter and a little parsley. Then take the bodies of your Crawfishes, and stamp them in a mortar with an onion, hard eggs, and crums of a loaf. Set them in stoving with some good herb broth or some other; if you will use pease porridge it must be very clear. After it is boiled, strain all together; after it is strianed set it before the fire. Then take some butter with a little minced parsley and fry it; then put into your broth well seasoned, and stove it with your dry crusts, covered with a dish or a plate. Put also on your bread a little of a hash of Carp, and juice of Mushrums; fill up your dish, and garnish it with your feet and tails lf Crawfish, with Pomegranate and juice ot Lemon, and serve."

---The French Cook, Francois Pierre, La Varenne, translated into English in 1653 by I.D.G., with an introduction by Philip and Mary Hyman [Southover Press:East Sussex] 2001 (p. 121-2) [1869]

"Crayfish Soup, or Bisque

Put 40 crayfish in a stewpan, with:

1 bottle Sauterene,

1 sliced onion

1 sliced carrot,

5 sprigs of parsley,

1 small pinch of cayenne pepper;

1 small sprig of thyme,

1 bay leaf,

1/2 oz. Of salt,

1 pinch of pepper

Boil for ten minutes; tossing the crayfish to cook them evenly; when done, take off the tails; free them of shell, and reserve them, to add to the soup. Put by the shells and the claws, to make the crayfish butter. Put the insides of the crayfish in the liquor in which they have been boiled; add 2 quarts of consomme, and 2 French rolls, previously cut in slices and dried in the oven, without being coloured; put the stewpan on the fire, and simmer for one hour; then pass the whole through a tammy-cloth, and pour the soup into another stewpan; stir over the fire till boiling takes place, and simmer for ten minutes; Prepare some crayfish butter in the following manner:-- Put the shells and claws of the crayfish in a mortar; pound them well; add 1/4 lb. Of butter, and, when well mixed together put in a closed bain-marie placed in a stewpan half full of boiling water; boil thus for one hour; then press the butter through a broth napkin into a basin of cold water; when the butter is set, take it off the water; drain, and dry it with a cloth, and pass it through a fine hair sieve add a fourth part of the butter to 1/4 lb. Of Whiting Forcemat and, with it, form some quenelles of the size of a pea; poach them in some boiling broth; drain, and put them in a soup tureen, together with the trimmed crayfish tails. Boil up the soup; skim; and thicken it with the remaining crayfish butter; pour it in the soup tureen; and serve." "Crayfish Soup, or Bisque, au Maigre

Prepare 40 crayfish, as in the preceding recipe; remove the tails; pick, and put them by to add to the soup; Put all the shells and the bodies of the crayfish in a mortar; pound them well; put them in a stewpan with 3 quarts of Fish Consomme; boil for half an hour, and strain throguh a broth napkin; trim the tails; put them in the soup tureen with some Fish Forecemat Quenelles, made as above; pour the soup over them; and serve. "Crayfish Soup with Cream

Put 40 crayfish in a stewpan; boil them with:

1 pint of consomme,

10 sprigs of parsely,

1 middle-sized sliced carrot,

2 middle-sized onions cut in slices;

Boil for ten minutes,--tossing the crayfish occasionally; when done, remove the tails; pick them, and put them by; Pound the bodies, claws, and shells in a mortar; put them in a stewpan, with 5 pints Chicken Consomme; boil; and simer for one hour; Make a roux in a stewpan, with 1/2 lb.of butter, and 1/4 lb. Of flour; stir over the fire for five minutes; Strain the consomme from the pounded crayfish; add it to the roux in the stewpan; stir on the fire for twenty minutes; add 1 pint of double cream, 1/2 pint at a time; and, when the soup is sufficently reduced, strain it through a tammy cloth, into a bain-marie-pan to keep warm; Five minutes before serving, boil up the soup, and add another 1/2 pint of double cream; put the crayfish tails in the soup tureen; pour the soup over; and serve."

---Royal Cookery Book, Jules Gouffe, translated from the French and adapted for English use by Alphonse Gouffe [Sampson Low, Son, and Marson:London] 1869 (p. 249-250) [1877]

Bisque of Lobsters/ Practical Cooking and Dinner Giving, Mary Henderson [1903]

665. Bisque or Coulis d'Ecrevisses--Bisque or Cullis of Crayfish

Ingredients:

30 small crayfish, approximately 40 g (1 1/2 oz) each

For the Mirepoix:

50 g (2 oz) carrots

50 g (2 oz) onions

50 g (2 oz) butter

1 sprig thyme

1/2 bayleaf

3 parsley stalks

1 small tbs flamed brandy

2 dl (7 fl oz or 7/8 U.S.cup) white sugar For the Thickening and Moistening:

120-150 g (4-5 oz) rice

1 1/2 litres (2 5/8 pt or 6 1/2 U.S. cups) White Bouillon For finishing:

1 dl (3 1/2 lf oz or 1/2 U.S. cup) cream

150 g (5 oz) butter. Method:

1) Cut the carrots, onions and parsley stalks into very small dice and cook to a light brown in the butter together with the thyme and the bayleaf. Wash the crayfish, remove the tails then cook the crayfish with the Mirepoix until they turn red. Season with 12 g (1/3 oz) salt and a little milled pepper, sprinkle with the brandy and the wine and allow to cook gently to reduce. Add 1 « dl (9 lf oz or 1 1/8 U.S. cups) White Bouillon and allow to cook gently for 10 minutes.

2) Cook the rice in 7 « dl (1 1/3 pt or 3 1/4 U.S. cups) of the White Bouillon.

3) Shell the crayfish and reserve all the tails and ten of the heads.

4) Finely pound the remainder of the shells, add the rice and its cooking liquid together with the cooking liquid from the crayfish. Pass through a fine sieve ad dilute this puree with 5 dl (18 fl oz or 1 1/4 U.S. cups) White Bouillon. Bring to the boil, pass through a fine strainer and keep in the Bain-marie.

Finish the soup before serving with 150 g (5 oz) butter and 1 dl (3 « fl oz or « U.S. cup) cream; correct the seasoning and add a little Cayenne.

Garnish: Cut the reserved crayfish tails in dice and add to the soup. Serve separately the ten crayfish heads which have been trimmed, cleaned and filled with a fish and cream forcemeat and cooled at the last moment."

---The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery, A. Escoffier, originally published in 1903, translated by H.L. Cracknell and R.J. Kaufmann [John Wiley:New York] 1979 (p. 88) "668. Bisque or Cullis of Lobster.

Repace the crayfish with 1 kg (2 2/4 lb) small live lobsters cut into sections. Saute with the Mirepoix and proceed in exactly the same way as for Bisque of Crayfish using rice for thickening. Garnish: Small dices of the reserved loster meat."

---ibid (p. 89)

Borscht

"Borchch. A beetroot soup which can be served either hot or cold. It is essentially a dish of E. Europe, this region being taken to include Russia, Lithuania, Poland (where the name is barzcz) and, most important, the Ukraine. Ukranians count it as their national soup and firmly believe that it originated there. They are almost certainly right, especially if...one can properly apply to such questions the principle followed by botanists: that the place where the largest number of natural variations is recorded is probably the place of origin of a species. There are more kinds of borshch in the Ukraine than anywhere else; these include the versions of Kiev, Poltava, Odessa, and L'vov. Borshch, which is also counted as a specialty of Ashkenazi Jewish cookery, can be made with a wide range of vegetables. However, the essential ingredient is beetroot, giving the soup its characteristic red colour. Sour cream is usually added on top, just before serving..."

---The Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 89)

"Beet soup or barszcz (commonly Germanized in the United States as borscht) never appeared on the royal table during the reign of the Jagiellonian kings, nor was it consumed by the royal servants. Furthermore, it was not even made from beets in its original form, but from the European cow parsnip--also called barszcz in Polish--that grows on damp ground. Its roots were collected in May for stewing with meat, the shoots and young leaves were cooked as greens, and the unopened flow penduncles were eaten as a vegetable or added to soups and pottages. Szymon Syrennius discussed this plant in his herbal and further stated that soups made with it were highly valued in Poland, Lithuania, and Russia. During the Middle Ages it was prepared in soup by itself or was cooked in chicken stock with such additions as egg yolks, cream, or millet meal. The dry leaves exude a sweet substance that was used to create sweet-sour flavors, especially when used with vinegar. The adaptation of cow parsnips to Polish cookery appears to have come from Lithuania. Another wild plant called "water" barszcz...belongs to a related species...and was also used to make a similar soup, although it was considered best when cooked with meat...But where does this leave the beet soup we know today? Mikolaj Rej mentioned a "broth from pickled beets" in the sixteenth century, but it was not known in all parts of Poland. The evolution of barszcz into a recipe using sour beets is of much later date than most Poles would suspect. In fact, the well-known barszcz bialoruski (beet soup with meat,cabbage, eggs, and sour cream) did not arrive in Poland from Russia until the nineteenth century."

---Food and Drink in Medieval Poland: Rediscovering a Cuisine of the Past, Maria Dembinska, revised and adapted by William Woys Weaver, translated by Magdalena Thomas [University of Pennsylvania Press:Philadelphia] 1999 (p. 127-128)

19th century Russian recipes



[1861]

"31. Ukranian borshch (Borshch malorossijskij)

Perepare bouillon #1 from 3 lbs of fatty beef or fresh pork, or from beef with smoked ham. Omit the root vegetables, but add a bay leaf and allspice. Strain the bouillon. An hour before serving add a little fresh cabbage, cut into pieces. Cook, stirring in beet brine or grain kvass to taste or about 2 spoons vinegar. Meanwhile thoroughly wash and boil 5 red beets, but do not peel or cut them; that is, boil them separately in water without scraping. Remove them when tender, peel, and grate. Stir 1 spoon of flour into the beets, add them to the bouillon with some salt, and bring to a boil twice. Put parsley in a soup tureen (some people add the juice of a grated raw beet) and pour in the hot borshch. Add salt to taste. Sprinkle with black pepper, if desired, and serve with the sliced beef, pork, or ham; or with fried sausages, meatballs, or mushroom buns. The borshch may also be served with fried buckwheat kasha, pancake pie with beef stuffing, or plain pancakes."

---Classic Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovets' A Gift to Young Housewives (originally published in 1861) translated and introduced by Joyce Toomre [Indiana University Press:Bloomington] 1992 (p. 131) "119a. Meatless borshch with sour cream (Borshch bez mjasa so smetanoju)

Prepare a bouillon from root vegetables and dried boletus mushrooms [Boletus edulis]. Strain the bouillon. Bake 2 lbs of beets, peel them, and finely grate. Place the beets in a stewpan, cover with the vegetable bouillon, pour in beet brine, boiled separately, and sour cream, and heat until the soup is very hot. Add salt, black pepper, greens, and finely shredded mushrooms. Serve with fried buckwheat groats.

INGREDIENTS: 1 parsley root, 1 leek, 2 celery roots, 2 onions, 10-15 allsocie, 2-3 bay leaves, 5-6 black peppercorns, parsely and dill, 2 lbs beets, beet brine, 1/8 lb dried boeltus mushrooms, 1 or 2 glasses sour cream."

---ibid (p. 144-5) "2739. Borshch from fried beets (Borshch iz zharenoj svekly)

Peel and shred 5 large beets. Grease a large skillet with sunflower or mustard seed oil and heat the pan. Add the beets, moisten them with 3 spoons vinegar, and fry, stirring. Sprinkle on 1 spoon flour, mix, and conitnue frying until the beets are almost cooked while adding root vegetables bouillon by the spoonful. Transfer the beets to [a pan of] strained bouillon and cook until done. To serve, season with greens and 2-3 shredded small mushrooms.

INGREDIENTS: 5 large beets, 3 spoons vinegar, 1-2 spoons oil, 2 carrots, 2 onions, 2-3 small mushrooms, 1 spoon flour, 1/2 parsley root, 1/2 celery root, 1/2 leek, bay leaves, allspice, greens."

---ibid (p. 549-50)

[NOTE: This is listed in the category of "Oil-based fast day soups."]

About beets

"Beet...The name is from the Latin 'beta', which in Middle English became 'bete'.

---The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 27) "Beet. All of today's beets are descended from a wild forebear whose green tops doubltess nourished our own prehistoric forebears. Indeed, the first cultivated beets were apparently tended only for their leaves (eaten like spinach), and it was not until the early Christian era that their roots became appreciated..."

---The Cambridge World History of Food, Kenneth F. Kiple & Kriemhild Conee Ornelas, editors [Cambridge University Press:Cambridge] 1999 Volume Two (p. 1730-1) "Beetroot...of four useful forms of the versatile plant 'Beta vulgaris'. The two which provide vegetables for human consumption...All these cultivated forms are descended from the sea beet, 'Beta maritima', a wild seashore plant growing around the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe and North Africa. This has only a small root, but its leaves and stems are sometimes eaten. Early Greek writers such as Theophrastus referred to the cultivation of this plant. By about 300BC there were varieties with edible roots....until well after medieval times, beet roots remained long and relatively thin. Ther first mention of a swollen root seems to have been in a botanical work of the 1550s and which is recognized as the prototype of the modern beetroot, the 'Beta Roman' of Daleschamp, dates back only to 1587...In Britain the common beets were originally all light in color. The red beet, when introduced in the 17th century, was described by Gerard [1633] with some enthusiasm... It soon found its way into the recipe books..."

---The Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 70) Related recipes? Harvard Beets, Borscht & Chocolate Beet Cake. Callaloo

The ingredient

"Amanthus tricolor--Chinese spinach, Hinn choy, Bayam, Callaloo, Sag. Leaves are eaten raw, boiled steamed stir-fried, or used in soups, stews, curries, frittatas, omelettes, pastas, sauces, etc. Types with very large leaves can be used for wrapping like grape leaves. The crisp interior of large stems makes a tasty cooked vegetable. An excellent hot weather substitute for spinach. Cultivated."

---Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants, Stephen Facciola [Kampong Publications:Vista CA] 1998 (p. 241)

[NOTE: Entry fro Amaranthus mangostnaus refers the reader to Amanthus tricolor.] The soup

"Callaloo is a Caribbean term applied both to a variety of edible greens, and to a soup made from them. The principal recipient of the name seems to be the leaves of the taro plant, but callaloo can also be spinach or various members of the cabbage family. As for the soup, its principal traditional ingredients apart from the greens are bacon or pig's tail, crab meat, okra, and coconut milk. It is widely made in the Caribbean, although it is commonly regarded as a Trinidadian specialty. The word, which first turns up in English in the mid-eighteenth century, is of unknown origin."

---An A to Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 53)

[NOTE: What is taro?] "Callaloo...The name of a soup made in many islands of the Caribbean, callaloo is also the name of the large, wide, green, leaves that go into it. One of these greens is amaranth...-either "Suriname amaranth"...or "Chinese spinach"...The other kind of green is the leaves of dasheen or taro...and in some places "sagaloo"--the leaves resemble spinach or sorrel and are cooked as a vegetable dish."

---Cambridge World History of Food, Kenneth f. Kiple & Kriemhild Conee Ornelas [Cambridge University Press:Cambridge] 2000, Volume 2 (p. 1743) Callaloo recipes are prime examples of "Old World" (salt pork, spinach, bacon, cabbage) foods reinventing themselves in the "New World." One of the most popular soups of the Caribbean (including St. Lucia) is callaloo. This mix of callaloo leaves, salt pork and spices is interpreted differently by each island. "Callaloo (also known as calalou) is served in a variety of guises throughout the Caribbean. Every island's recipe, however, includes the leaves of the taro (dacheen) plant, also called callaloo. Callaloo soup can be made with pork, chicken, crabmeat, okra, pumpkin, yams, yuca, plantains, coconut milk, and whatever else is in the kitchen. Sometimes it's pureed and sometimes its not."

---A Taste of the Tropics, Jay Solomon [Crossing Press:Freedon MA] 1991 (p. 30)

[NOTE: Recipe follows.] "Cullau.

This is callaloo again as interpreted by the island of St. Lucia, called Loo-sha by its inhabitants. It can be seen, green and pretty, from the south of Martinique. Though the island changed hands 14 times between Britain and France, there seems little French, or indeed British, influence in the recipe.

1 pound callaloo leaves or spinach, Chinese spinach, or Swiss chard

12 small okras

4-ounce slice corned beef

4-ounce piece of salt pork

1/2 pound crab meat

2 or 3 sprigs parsley

1 stalk celery, with leaves, chopped

4 scallions, chopped, using green and white parts

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Freshly ground black pepper

1 fresh hot red pepper, left whole (optional)

If using callaloo leaves, cut into 1-inch lengths, wash and drain thoroughly, and blanch for 2 or 3 minutes by immersing in boiling water. Put the greens into a large saucepan or soup kettle with the okras, beef and salt pork left whole, crab meat, seasonings, using a generous amount of pepper, and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until the meats are tender and the soup quite thick. Slice the meat and put some into each soup bowl. Serve in rimmed soup plates. Serves 6."

---The Complete Cook of Caribbean Cooking, Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz [M. Evans and Company:New York] 1973 (p. 61) Another popular regional soup? Pepperpot. Chicken corn soup (PA Dutch)

Our survey of PA Dutch cookbooks and American food history texts confirms the popularity of Chicken Corn Soup among Pennsylvania Dutch peoples. It appears to be a favorite during large summertime community dinners. There are several corn soup variations featuring different ingredients. Corn can be (green) fresh or (Shaker) dried. History texts confirm Native Americans (Eastern Woodland/Iroquois) enjoyed soups made with both fresh and dried corn. Presumably, the Pennsylvania Dutch borrowed from Native traditions to create a product similar to "Old World" traditions. Noodles/dumplings are signature components of German/Central European soup cuisine. What is the difference between corn soup & corn chowder? Dairy.

"Corn soups and chowders also exploit the double blessing of green corn as both vegetable and thickener. The simplest green-corn soup was furnished by the Westminster Presbyterian Church Ladies of Minneapolis in Valuable Recipes (1877): "Two quarts of milk, ten ears of corn scraped dow