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Tomato Bouillon (Prepare a tomato sauce there)
Prepare a tomato sauce; there should be two cups. Strain this while hot through one thickness of cheese cloth into six cups of hot Bouillon. Reheat and serve in Bouillon cups with
A clear tomato consommé built on two components the book assumes you already have: its own tomato sauce and its own beef bouillon. The whole point is clarity, so the straining step is the one that matters.
- The hinge is the strainingPour the hot sauce through a single layer of cheesecloth (a doubled layer clogs and forces you to squeeze, which pushes pulp through and clouds the cup). Let it drip; do not press. Anything that goes through opaque will stay opaque.-
- What "tomato sauce" means hereIn a book of this period this is most likely a thin roux-based sauce — butter, flour, stewed tomato, seasoning — rather than an Italian pasta sauce or canned tomato purée; check the book's own tomato sauce recipe. If you substitute, use a thin, well-seasoned tomato purée thinned with stock, and expect a heavier cup.
- BouillonSix cups of the book's bouillon, which in this period generally meant a clear beef broth; keep it unsalted or lightly salted so you can season at the end. Canned or boxed broth works; skim any fat from the surface before combining or the finished bouillon will show beads of grease.
- Reheat, don't boilBring it just to steaming, short of a simmer; the recipe gives no temperature. A hard boil will lift sediment back into suspension and undo the straining.
- Bouillon cupsTwo-handled cups of about 6 to 8 oz, served with a spoon before the fish or entrée course. Eight cups of liquid fills eight to ten such cups.
- The sentence stops mid-airThe original ends "and serve in Bouillon cups with" — the rest of the sentence is missing from the text. Garnishes of the period included whipped cream with a dusting of paprika, a spoonful of salted whipped cream, or cheese straws alongside.
- Seasoning at the endTaste after combining. Tomato flattens beef broth, so it usually wants salt and often a few drops of lemon juice to bring the acidity back up.
Clear tomato bouillon was a fixture of American hostess cookery from the 1890s through the 1920s, when the first course of a formal dinner was expected to be a clear soup rather than a cream or a purée. Bouillon in this period meant a light meat broth, generally lighter and less strongly flavoured than consommé and distinct from stock used for cooking; it was served in its own two-handled cups, sometimes at the reception before guests sat down. The tomato version depended on the wide availability of canned tomatoes, which had become a staple by the last quarter of the nineteenth century and gave cooks a bright, acidic first course in any month. Tomato bouillon was also considered good served cold or barely warm, which suited a summer table.