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White Broths with Vermicelli
Light and delicate white broths may be produced by stirring the yolks of 2 or 3 fresh eggs with 2 tablespoonfuls of cold water, which must then be poured into the hot broth, gently stirring it all the time, without allowing the broth to boil after the eggs are put in, or they will be curdled.
This is a liaison — egg yolks used to thicken and enrich a clear broth — written for the sickroom, where a cook wanted nourishment without heaviness. The whole thing turns on heat control.
- The hinge: keep it under a simmerYolks set at roughly 150-160F and the mixture curdles once it approaches boiling. Bring the broth to just below a simmer, around 175-180F, take it off direct heat, and stir the yolks in there. It will not thicken much beyond a light body, and it should not.
- Temper firstThe two tablespoons of cold water loosen the yolks, but it is safer to also ladle a little hot broth into the yolk mixture, whisking, before returning the lot to the pan. This is what "gently stirring it all the time" is guarding against.
- QuantitiesThe recipe fixes only the eggs (2 or 3 yolks) and 2 tablespoonfuls of water; no quantity of broth is given. That number of yolks would suit something on the order of a pint of broth, and more yolks give a heavier, custard-like result that defeats the point.
- The vermicelliThe vermicelli appears only in the title; the instruction itself does not mention it. Since the broth must not boil after the yolks go in, any pasta would have to be softened first — cooked separately or in the broth — and added before the liaison.
- What "white broth" meansA clear, unbrowned stock: veal, chicken or a light fish stock, made without roasting the bones and skimmed carefully so it stays pale. A brown beef stock will look muddy once yolks are added.
- Holding and reheatingAn egg-thickened broth cannot be reheated over a flame or held long on the stove. Make it at the moment of serving and strain through a fine sieve if any threads of set egg appear.
- SeasoningSeason the broth before the yolks go in, so that no further stirring in a hot pan is needed afterwards — that is what risks the very curdling the instruction warns about.
Invalid cookery formed its own chapter in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century household manuals, when convalescence at home was long and diet was regarded as part of the treatment. Broths, gruels, beef teas and light custards made up most of it, and the underlying idea was that a sick person eats very little, so every spoonful should carry as much nourishment as possible in an easily digested form. The egg-yolk liaison here is the same technique used in classical French practice, where yolks slackened with a little liquid are stirred into a sauce off the heat, without the butter and cream. Vermicelli, sold dried and cheap, was a standard addition when something more substantial than plain broth was wanted.