Barley Soup with Celery
Melt a heaping spoonful of fresh butter in a frying-pan; put to it a cupful of barley; let it brown a few moments; add to it two quarts of good broth, and salt to taste. Let it simmer two hours or more on a slow fire; chop into it small pieces of celery—let it simmer half an hour. Dissolve in a glassful of sweet cream the yolks of six eggs, a spoonful of fresh butter added in small pieces, and add all to the soup.
A nourishing, old-fashioned barley soup, browned first for depth and enriched at the end with an extravagant six-yolk liaison.
- Toast the barleyBrowning the pearl barley in butter before adding broth deepens its flavor — a small step worth keeping. Figure about 1 cup barley to 2 quarts broth.
- It will thicken as it sitsBarley drinks up liquid, so the soup thickens on standing; loosen with a little extra broth when reheating.
- The rich finish“Six yolks + cream + butter” is a lavish liaison. Temper the yolk-cream mixture with a ladle of hot soup, stir it in off the heat, and don’t boil. You can halve the yolks for a lighter soup.
- CeleryAdd it in the last half hour so it keeps a little bite and fresh flavor.
Barley is among the first grains humans ever farmed, cultivated across the Fertile Crescent thousands of years before wheat became dominant, and barley broths have been comfort and medicine for just as long. This version’s luxurious egg-and-cream finish shows how a peasant grain could be dressed for a fine table — the same democratic move that runs through so much Créole cooking, where humble ingredients meet French refinement.
From page 6 of the 1904 edition.
Original page from the book
