Rumford's Soup
Rumford soup or Rumfordsche soup is an inexpensive, nutritious soup based on barley and dried peas. Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, invented in 1795 for the soldiers of the army of his employer, the Bavarian Elector Karl Theodor of the Palatinate, and for the detained beggars and unemployed in his military workhouse in Munich Au to this economical, yet nutritious to supply. It was distributed in the following years in numerous soup kitchens to the needy.
Preparation
The simplest Rumford soup consists only of barley and peas which are boiled in water for hours until a creamy, thick soup is formed. It is Spiced with salt and wine or beer vinegar. This soup could be produced per serving in the workhouse in Munich's Au for 3 cents.
According Rumford offered barley the best basis for such a soup. He wrote:
" All other european grain types and Sleeve fruits, which I experimented, deeds only getting half the effect, and gave bey einerley costs only half of nourishment. One can therefore view the barley as the rice Gros Britain! It requires freylich a long and violent boiling; but if this happens belonging, it thickens a large extent Waßer and prepares it, I suppose, to decompose before. So it gives a soup from which it constitutes a component part, is an abundance of nourishing material to give the otherwise capable of. "
For cost savings soon a part of the barley was replaced by potatoes, which is about a penny per serving one parte. Also recommended Rumford to give even cut into the soup plates in thin slices of stale white bread that was left in bakeries - because must be chewed. " Chewing conveyed known digestion very strong; it also prolongs the duration of enjoyment beym eat "as Rumford remarked.
Rumford and later cookbook authors also recommended richer recipes supplemented by vegetables such as onions, carrots, celeriac, turnips, leeks, kohlrabi, cabbage or sauerkraut. The water is replaced by bone broth, enriched with some meat as fresh or salted pork or beef, bacon or offal. This richer soup is flavored depending on the recipe with herbs and spices such as pepper, marjoram or thyme, but usually omitted the vinegar. The bread is toasted sliced or diced into fat. Such variants found its way into the traditional food of the 19th century.
History
In the time of the Napoleonic Wars against Napoleon's troops, the urban population impoverished and was dependent in many places on soup kitchens in which then often Rumford soup was issued.
At the turn of 1803/1804, this soup was also introduced in Prussian Silesia. About the free edition in Green Mountain reported the " Silesian provincial newspapers " on February 18, 1804
"Our city is now enjoying a charitable event more. To come to the aid of the poor of our city, the Rumford force soups are also been introduced to the usual ingredients and with this soup since 27 of December,. 1803 samples made are so outlandish that they have confirmed that it touted the best. The Police Director Höpfner makes the soup before hand and to subsequently averaged to a fund or be made to do so by benevolent -minded frey voluntary gifts, weekly zweymal cook with different distractions to 40 people and austheilen for free to the poor. "
Merck's products lexicon of 1920 known under the keyword " soup time goods " (defined as " mixtures of meat with flour, vegetables and fat " ) is a " so-called Rumford soup " consisting of 44.7 % flour, 31.8% barley, 13.5 % coarse pieces of meat and 10.0 % saline.
Similar dishes
- Pea soup, Erbswurst
- Barley soup