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WHITE SOUP (another way) (Into six quarts of water put)
Into six quarts of water put a knuckle of veal, one large fowl cut into quarters, a pound of lean ham, half a pound of rice, two anchovies, a few peppercorns, two or three onions, a bundle of sweet herbs, and three or four heads of celery. Stew all together till the soup becomes sufficiently strong, then strain it through a hair sieve into an earthen pot; after it has stood all night, take off the fat, and pour the clear soup off into a stewpan, and put into it half a pound of almonds beaten very smooth, boil a short time, and run the soup through a lawn sieve; then put in a pint of cream and the yolk an egg. Serve hot.
A large-format almond and cream soup of the old school, made in two stages a day apart. Nothing here is difficult, but the finish is where it can be lost.
- Do not boil after the cream and yolkOnce the egg yolk goes in, hold the soup below a simmer — around 170F — or it will curdle into threads. Temper the yolk with a ladle of hot soup before adding it, and if the pot is very hot, take it off the heat first.
- Scale it downSix quarts of water plus a veal knuckle, a whole fowl and a pound of ham is banquet quantity, enough for a large party. A quarter batch — 6 cups water, a 1 lb veal bone, two chicken legs, 4 oz ham, 2 oz rice, 2 oz almonds, 1/2 cup cream, one yolk — fits a domestic stockpot.
- "A knuckle of veal"The lower leg joint, sold now as a veal shank or osso buco cut. Ask a butcher, or substitute a meaty veal or beef marrow bone; the point is gelatine, which gives the soup its body.
- "One large fowl"A boiling fowl, an older laying hen with firm flesh and deep flavour, cooked for hours. A 4–5 lb stewing hen if you can find one, otherwise a roasting chicken of the same weight, which will be tender in about 90 minutes rather than three hours.
- SievesA hair sieve was a coarse horsehair mesh — a fine strainer lined with a double layer of muslin does the same work. A lawn sieve was much finer still, used here to catch almond grit; a chinois or a strainer lined with a clean cloth is the equivalent.
- The almonds"Beaten very smooth" means pounded to a paste in a mortar, traditionally with a spoonful of liquid to stop them oiling. A food processor with a few tablespoons of the hot soup gets there in a minute. Blanched almonds only — skins will speck the soup grey.
- Timing on the stew"Till the soup becomes sufficiently strong" is three to four hours at a bare simmer for the full quantity, skimming at the start. Boiling hard clouds it, which defeats the purpose of a white soup.
- The overnight standChill the strained stock in the refrigerator rather than leaving an earthen pot on a cold larder floor. A large volume left at room temperature overnight sits in the range where bacteria multiply; cool it quickly in a shallow container, then lift the set fat off in the morning.
- SeasoningThe recipe relies on ham and two anchovies for salt and gives no final seasoning. Taste after straining and before the cream goes in, since reduction concentrates what the ham has already contributed.
White soup — often identified with the French soupe à la reine — is a veal-and-fowl broth thickened with pounded almonds and enriched with cream, related to the medieval blancmange family in which almond milk did the work of dairy. It was associated with the supper table at private balls: in Pride and Prejudice Bingley says he will send round his cards for the ball as soon as Nicholls "has made white soup enough." The recipe sets out a sequence a cook was expected to know — long extraction, overnight clarification by chilling, then a liaison of nut paste, cream and yolk added at the last moment. Almond thickening of this kind became less common through the nineteenth century as flour-based white sauces spread.