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American Soup
Put one pound of the neck of mutton into a saucepan with three-fourths of a pound of split peas that have been previously soaked and five pints of water, and place it over a clear fire; when boiling, put into a saucepan one large chopped onion half a turnip, half a carrot and a stick of celery cut into small pieces, also one-half teaspoonful of sugar, and boil all gently for two or three hours. Cut one pound of tomatoes into small pieces, put them into the soup, and boil it for thirty minutes longer. Strain the soup through a fine hair sieve, pour it back into the saucepan again, season it with pepper and salt, and boil up once more. Turn it into a soup tureen, and serve with it a plate of sippets of toast, or croutons of fried bread.
A split-pea and mutton broth of the plainest English type, pushed through a sieve rather than a blender. Nothing here is difficult; the choices worth making are about the meat, the sieve and the heat.
- The hinge: gentle heat"Boil all gently" means a bare simmer, barely moving. Split peas at a rolling boil scorch on the bottom of the pan and the soup takes on a burnt note that no seasoning removes. Stir up from the base once or twice in the first half hour.
- Mutton neckA pound of neck of mutton is bone-heavy, which is the point — it gives gelatine as well as flavour. Lamb neck or shoulder chops are the usual substitute; if you use boneless lamb you will want a cup of the liquid replaced with light stock to make up for the lost body.
- Soaking the peas"Previously soaked" meant overnight in cold water. Modern split peas are cleaner and much fresher and will soften in two to three hours of simmering without soaking, though soaked peas break down more smoothly for a sieved soup.
- QuantitiesFive pints is 10 cups, or about 2.4 litres. Three-quarters of a pound of split peas is roughly 1¾ cups. Expect to lose a good deal to evaporation over three hours; top up with hot water if it thickens past a pourable consistency before the peas are done.
- The tomatoesA pound of fresh tomatoes, roughly three medium ones. A 14-oz tin of chopped tomatoes, juice included, does the same job out of season. Thirty minutes is enough to break them down for sieving.
- Hair sieveA fine hair sieve was a horsehair-mesh drum sieve. A conical strainer or a food mill gives the same result; press hard with a ladle to force the pea and vegetable pulp through and discard only the skins, fibre and bone. Blending instead is faster but produces a heavier, cloudier soup than the original intends.
- Seasoning lastSalt is added only after straining, which is correct — long reduction concentrates it unpredictably. Taste at that point and expect it to want more salt than you think, plus a little vinegar or lemon if the tomatoes were flat.
- SippetsSippets are small triangles or fingers of toast, served on a separate plate so they stay crisp. Croutons of fried bread are the richer alternative.
- YieldAbout six generous bowls as a first course, four as a meal.
The name is the curiosity here: a mutton-and-split-pea broth is thoroughly English, in the tradition of pease pottage, and the recipe resembles the pea soups found in Victorian household manuals. The likeliest explanation for the "American" label is the pound of tomatoes; tomatoes were taken up more readily in nineteenth-century American cookery than in British, though how far that alone accounts for the name is guesswork. Oscar Tschirky's book appeared in 1896 and reads as a working compilation for a large hotel kitchen, which may be why entries like this one are undecorated formulas rather than showpieces.