Queen Victoria Soup

Without any explanation but this: "A modern adaptation of a rich and famous English soup", the Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook (1951 edition) gives us this recipe for Queen Victoria Soup. How famous could it be, really? I couldn't find a single reference to it anywhere else. This must have come from the era of Frech Toast and Belgain Waffles - the time when stay-at-home Americans, perhaps influenced by the returned soldier boys of WWII, fancied themselves to be sophisticated familiars with all things European. Thus, not just English soup, but historical English soup.

It makes a damned fine soup wherever it really came from. It hearty enough to be a meal on its own with just a nice crusty bread to go along with it and a piece of fruit for dessert.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . QUEEN VICTORIA SOUP

1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon minced onion
1/2 cup mushrooms, cut fine
1 cup diced celery
4 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon tapioca
1/2 cup cooked chicken, diced
1/2 cup cooked ham, diced
salt and pepper
sage, nutmeg and onion salt
2 hard-cooked eggs
1 or 2 cups cream
chopped parsley

Melt butter, add onion and cook until yellow. Add mushrooms and celery; cook 10 minutes. Add stock, tapioca, chicken, ham and seasonings. Cook 20 minutes. Add eggs, chopped fine, and cream. Serve in big bowls with chopped parsley on top. serves 7-8

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Now comes the scary part: a post-script at the end of the recipe says:
"To simplify, use canned cream of mushroom soup in place of fresh mushrooms, and cream and canned luncheon meat in place of ham. Not the same, but still very good and a thought for the emergency shelf."

When they say canned luncheon meat, they mean Spam. See? WWII, just like I said.

Comments

[monkey]

i was excited about the recipe until the post script. tinned soup and meat! oh! hrh victoria would not be amused.

pass the tea and crumpets, please, your royal soupladyness.

[triticale]

Not as much of a stretch as my substitution soup. I have approximated Nigerian Groundnut Stew with cream of chicken soup, frozen chopped spinach, peanut butter and hot sauce.