Alternative names | Pocket soup, veal glue |
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Type | Dehydrated food |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Portable soup was a kind of dehydrated food of English origin used in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was a precursor of meat extract and bouillon cubes, and of industrially dehydrated and instant food. It is also known as pocket soup or veal glue. It is essentially a partially dehydrated broth and a solid counterpart of the glace de viande (meat glaze) used in French cuisine. It was long a staple of British seamen, military and explorers, as it would keep for many months or even a year. In this context, it was considered a filling and nutritious dish.
Portable soup was made from a slow-cooked beef or veal broth (often 6 to 8 hours), reduced, degreased to remove the fat (which may spoil and become rancid over time) and then reduced repeatedly until it solidified into a jelly. Once it was sufficiently gelatinous to hold its form, it was placed on pieces of flannel or unglazed earthenware dishes and rotated regularly to dry it further. Historically, this was a seasonal process attempted only in the winter when humidity was low. Once dry, it was wrapped in paper and stored in boxes.
In the late sixteenth century, Sir Hugh Plat wrote, in his unpublished notes, of portable soup as a potential military rations for the army and navy, describing it as meat broth boiled down to a thick and dry paste which he called "gelly". Plat's basic recipe was to boil the feet or legs of beef cattle for a long time to make "a good broath" which was then strained and boiled down to "a strong & stiff gelly". This in turn was dried on clean cloths in a windy place out of the sun, cut with wire into pieces, powdered with flour to stop the pieces from sticking, and stored in wooden boxes.
Made in March, it would "keepe all the yeere" (keep all year). Alternatively, the dry jelly could be "stamped" into shape with a wooden die, like the "Genoa Paste" of quinces familiar to Plat and other cooks of the time. He instructed that no sugar or salt should be added to the jelly because such taste would be concentrated by the boiling process, although he speculated that saffron might add colour, and that rosewater could also be added at this stage. He wondered whether baked flour or grated bread could be incorporated to make the jelly "serve as bread and meate the better", and whether the addition of isinglass would make it stiffer. The jelly was variously described by Plat as a "Victual for Warr", "dry gelly carried to the sea", and a food for soldiers on the march. Plat envisaged using this jelly either as the base for soup, or "neat" as a concentrated food. Reconstitution as soup simply involved dissolving a piece of the jelly in hot water to make "good broath", and, because jelly and water alone would be rather bland, adding such flavourings as were available or to taste – sugar, salt, liquorice, aniseed, or other "convenient spice".
Plat emphasised the utility of the jelly as field rations, for "a soldier may satisfie his hunger herwith, whilst hee is in his march". He recommended that a leg of beef or veal be boiled with every 6 or 8 neats' (cows') feet to produce a jelly which would more easily dissolve in the mouth. [1]
The existence of portable soups (called "bouillons en tablettes" in French) is also mentioned, in 1690, in Antoine Furetière's Dictionnaire universel, under the article Tablette: "On a vue des consommés reduits en tablettes, ou des bouillons à porter en poche". ("We have seen consommés reduced into tablets, or broth to carry in your pocket".)[ citation needed ]
As a mass-produced product, portable soup is generally held to have been invented by Mrs Dubois, a London tavern keeper who, with William Cookworthy, won a contract to manufacture it for the Royal Navy in 1756. Mrs Dubois was described as "a person of good character and circumstances". She operated from a tavern, at the Golden Head, in Three Kings Court in Fleet Street. She may have been the widow of a French chef and tavern keeper; but, by 1757, she had a new husband, Edward Bennet, son of a Sheffield knife-grinder. The contract with the navy was alluded to in advertising material long after it had lapsed, Benjamin Piper, successor in the business announced he was "Successor to Messieurs Bennet and Dubois, The original Portable Soup-Makers to His majesty’s Royal Navy" and one Vigor, successor to Piper, used the same rubric on his flyers. [2] The naval authorities [ clarification needed ] hoped that portable soup would prevent scurvy among their crews. They therefore allotted a daily ration to each sailor beginning in the 1750s. Captain Cook was convinced of its efficacy and carried it on both his South Seas voyages. [3]
Lewis and Clark carried portable soup on their 1804–1806 expedition into the territory of the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. According to his letter from Fredericktown, Ohio, on 15 April 1803, Lewis purchased the soup from Francois Baillet, a cook in Philadelphia. He paid $289.50 for the 193 pounds of portable soup stored in "32 canisters". [4] Lewis carried it with him overland to the embarkation point on the Ohio River.
By 1815, with the publication of physician Gilbert Blane's On the Comparative Health of the British Navy from 1779 to 1814, the efficacy of portable soup for promoting the health of sailors was found lacking. Opinion shifted in favour of canned meats, a process invented in France in 1806, and the proliferation of meat extract, invented by Justus von Liebig.
A similar product, portable gelatin, was developed by American inventor Peter Cooper in 1845, as a staple meal or dessert for families.
Nevertheless, as late as 1881 portable soup was still being described by the Household Cyclopedia as:
exceedingly convenient for private families, for by putting one of the cakes in a saucepan with about a quart of water, and a little salt, a basin of good broth may be made in a few minutes. [5]
Rosół is a traditional Polish soup based primarily on meat broth. Its most popular variety is the rosół z kury, or clear chicken soup. It is commonly served with capellini pasta. A vegetarian version can be made, substituting meat with oil or butter.
Chicken soup is a soup made from chicken, simmered in water, usually with various other ingredients. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear chicken broth, often with pieces of chicken or vegetables; common additions are pasta, noodles, dumplings, or carrots, and grains such as rice and barley. Chicken soup is commonly considered a comfort food.
Broth, also known as bouillon, is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish, or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, gravies, and sauces.
Beef noodle soup is a noodle soup made of stewed or braised beef, beef broth, vegetables and noodles. It exists in various forms throughout East and Southeast Asia.
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Stock, sometimes called bone broth, is a savory cooking liquid that forms the basis of many dishes – particularly soups, stews, and sauces. Making stock involves simmering animal bones, meat, seafood, or vegetables in water or wine, often for an extended period. Mirepoix or other aromatics may be added for more flavor.
In cooking, a consommé is a type of clear soup made from richly flavoured stock or broth that has been clarified, a process that uses egg whites to remove fat and sediment.
Aspic or meat jelly is a savory gelatin made with a meat stock or broth, set in a mold to encase other ingredients. These often include pieces of meat, seafood, vegetable, or eggs. Aspic is also sometimes referred to as aspic gelée or aspic jelly. In its simplest form, aspic is essentially a gelatinous version of conventional soup.
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Meat extract is highly concentrated meat stock, usually made from beef or chicken. It is used to add meat flavor in cooking, and to make broth for soups and other liquid-based foods.
Pottage or potage is a term for a thick soup or stew made by boiling vegetables, grains, and, if available, meat or fish. It was a staple food for many centuries. The word pottage comes from the same Old French root as potage, which is a dish of more recent origin.
Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot, that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling or simmering solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth. Soups are similar to stews, and in some cases there may not be a clear distinction between the two; however, soups generally have more liquid (broth) than stews.
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Mrs Dubois was a naval contractor and tavern-keeper in London in the mid-eighteenth century. She may have taken over business on the death of her husband. Several taverns in London at this time sold ‘portable soup’, a stiff jelly made by boiling down the liquor extracted from very slow-cooked cuts of beef or mutton. Placed in air-tight containers, this substance would keep for some time and could be reconstituted as soup or stock with the addition of boiling water.
Sopas is a Filipino macaroni soup made with elbow macaroni, various vegetables, and meat, in a creamy broth with evaporated milk. Sometimes, people would use Spaghetti instead of elbow macaroni as an alternative. This variant of Sopas is called Spapas. It is regarded as a comfort food in the Philippines and is typically eaten during breakfast, cold weather, or served to sick people.
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