Principles Bisque

Ingredients

• a pint of boiling cream
• the yolk of an egg
• about half as much boiled rice as there is crab
• cayenne pepper
• a nice heavy crab that is not watery
• a bay-leaf
• a suspicion of nutmeg

Method

1. 1

   Pick out the meat from the claws of the crab and pound it with boiled rice.

2. 2

   Add stock and cayenne pepper, then rub through a tamis.

3. 3

   Boil milk and pour it through a strainer into the soup.

4. 4

   Just before serving, mix the yolk of egg with some soup and add it to the tureen.

5. 5

   Pour in the rest of the soup, ensuring it is hot but not boiling.

Nutrition per serving

Estimated from matched ingredients across 2 servings.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Cassell's dictionary of cookery (1892) by Cassell & Company, page 44. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

PRINCIPLES BISQUE. Milk is a very obvious substitute for cream, especially if a yolk of an egg be added to it, but care must be taken in adding this yolk, or the soup will get ciu-dled. We "svill suppose, therefore, you are recommended to add a pint of boOiag cream to some soup, and you are going to substitute milk and a yolk of an egg instead. If possible, allow the soup to reduce itself by boiling, and you can then add more than a pint of milk. However, boil this milk, taking the usual care that it does not boil over, which milk seems particularly fond of doing, and pour this boiling milk through a strainer into the soup ; next, have ready the hot soup tureen and the yolk of egg; just before serving up the soup, throw the yolk into the tureen, take a spoonful of the soup out of the saucepan and throw it in, and beat it up with the yolk, add a few more spoonfuls, one at a time, to the tureen, and mix in the yolk thoroughly ; then pour in the remainder of the soup, which should not be absolutely boiling, though thoroughly hot. The effect of this milk and egg will be very similar to a pint of cream, but of course much more economical. When cream or milk is used for these white vegetable soups or purees, a bay-leaf and a suspicion of nutmeg may be added. Only be careful with the nutmeg : a very, very little will go a long way, and too much would utterly ruin the soup. Before leaving the subject of soups, there is one I should like to describe, because it is supposed to be a rare and recherche dish, but is in reality very simple, and can be made without much trouble — I refer to bisque made from crab. When the weather is not too hot, and crabs are cheap, take a nice heavy crab that is not watery, and pick out the meat from the claws iiito shreds with a couple of foi-ks. Then take the soft inside of the back, and pick out all the meat from the rest of the crab, and pound it thoroughly in a mortar with a little boiled rice {about half as much boiled rice as there is crab) ; add some good stock and cayenne pejjpe

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.