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Bouillon with Pimento Cream
Take a can of concentrated bouillon, add an equal amount of water, heat and serve in cups with a spoonful of whipped cream mixed with crushed pimento, on top.
A two-minute first course built almost entirely from a can, in the frank spirit of a book meant to keep the cook out of a hot kitchen. The only thing that can go wrong is the garnish.
- Concentrated bouillonThis means condensed canned broth, of the sort now sold as condensed beef or chicken broth (commonly around 10.5 oz). One can plus one can of water gives roughly two to two and a half cups. Ready-to-serve cartons and cubes are not the same thing: with those, use the broth straight and skip the added water.
- PimentoJarred pimiento (sweet red peppers, roasted and peeled), not chile pepper and not paprika. Drain well and mince very fine or press through a sieve, or the cream will weep pink liquid and sink.
- Whipping the creamWhip heavy cream to soft peaks only, unsweetened, and season it with a pinch of salt. Stiff cream sits on the surface like a lid; soft cream melts into the broth as it is eaten, which is the point of the dish.
- Order of operationsFold the pimento in at the very end and spoon the cream onto the hot bouillon just before it goes to the table. Cream folded in early loses volume, and wet or acidic peppers may slacken it further.
- Serving vessel"Cups" here means bouillon cups or teacups of about 6 oz. The recipe gives no yield; one diluted can fills about three such cups.
- SeasoningCanned condensed broth is already salty, so taste before adding anything. A few drops of sherry or lemon juice in the broth does more for it than salt.
- Served coldThe mixture can also be served chilled; undiluted canned beef broth or consomme may set to a light jelly in the refrigerator, in which case break it up with a fork before spooning the cream over.
Clear soup served in a handled cup, to be sipped, was a fixture of American entertaining from the late nineteenth century onward, and the bouillon cup earned its own place in china services alongside the teacup. What dates this version is the can: commercially condensed broths made a course that once required a stockpot and a day of skimming into something assembled in the time it takes to boil water, and cookbooks of the 1930s and 1940s leaned on them openly rather than apologetically. Canned pimientos played the same role as a ready-made touch of color, turning up in cream cheese spreads, deviled eggs and cheese sandwiches all through the same decades. The pairing of a hot cup of broth with a cold spoonful of cream is a small trick of contrast that a hostess could manage between courses without leaving the room for long.