When added to a table setting of five pieces, these bowls take the table to another level of genteel splendor. The soup bowls have a delicate curve (if they were straight in their flue, then they would be bouillon bowls, but more on that in another post!) with handles on either side. And when you see the wonderful under-plate that accompanies each bowl, you know the dinner is going to be “something else” :)
What soup to serve with this type of bowl? I have provided a couple ideas below.
Corn Soup is a find from the Victorian Era. Simple to make, this soup filled the emptiness of crème soup bowls and hungry stomachs from the ploughman’s lunch to the fine Afternoon Tea. The recipe is as follows:
Gather 12 ears of the sweetest corn (try using white corn) and husk completely.
Cut the corn from the cob, put one dozen cobs to a gallon of water, which will be reduced to three quarts by the time the soup is done and boil the cobs for at least an hour.
Then add the grains (the eatable corn) and boil until the corn is soft and thoroughly done.
Remove the cobs; then pour on a pint of fresh cream from the top of raw milk (or shake the new milk to mix the cream into the milk for a smoother texture)
Add two well-beaten eggs (temper the eggs so they do not “cook” as you add them to the soup – in a small bowl, beat your eggs, add a table spoon of hot liquid from the soup into the eggs, mixing, and repeat that five or six times…..) then add the egg and soup mixture to the main caldron of the soup)
Salt and pepper to your taste; continue the boiling a while longer, and stir in, to season and thicken it a little, a tablespoonful of good butter rubbed up with two tablespoonfuls of flour.
Or for a modern twist on Crème Soup, try this Crème Artichoke Soup from Elise and “Simply Recipes” and the New York Times, which can be found here.
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