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Egg Soup
Heat a quart of milk in a double boiler into which has been stirred a minced onion and a pinch of soda. Rub a tablespoonful each of butter and flour to a paste, and stir into the milk. Season to taste with pepper and salt. Poach 6 eggs and lay them in the bottom of the tureen, and when the soup is smooth and creamy, pour it carefully upon the eggs.
A milk soup thickened with a butter-and-flour paste, poured over poached eggs at the table. Simple, but the order of operations matters more than the ingredient list suggests.
- Poach the eggs lastHave the soup finished and hot before the eggs go into the tureen, or they will sit and firm up. Poach them soft, 3 minutes in barely simmering acidulated water, so the yolks still run into the soup when served.
- The pinch of sodaA period habit meant to keep the milk from curdling, especially with onion in it. Milk held gently in a double boiler is unlikely to curdle, so the soda can be left out; too much gives a soapy, slightly slippery taste.
- Beurre manié, not a rouxRubbing raw butter and flour to a paste and stirring it into hot liquid is a beurre manié. Add it in small pieces and whisk, then hold the milk hot for 8-10 minutes so the flour loses its raw taste. A tablespoon of each thickens a quart only lightly.
- Strain or mince fineThe onion is there for flavour, not texture. Either mince it very fine or infuse the milk with a halved onion and lift it out before thickening.
- Double boilerUsed here because milk scorches over direct heat. A heavy saucepan over low heat works if you stir, but the double boiler makes it easier to hold the soup hot without scorching.
- QuantityA quart of milk and 6 eggs serves 6 as a first course, one egg to each bowl. Warm the tureen and the bowls, since the soup is thin and loses heat quickly.
- SeasoningBland by design. Salt generously, use white pepper if you want to keep the colour clean, and a scrape of nutmeg is in keeping with the period.