The most nourishing soup

A pot of Rumford’s Soup from the basic recipe: pearl barley and dried peas, water, salt, some vinegar (no potatoes). Thanks to Gestumblindi.

Found - an 'extract' from a book about food with a recipe for pearl barley soup. This piece appears in various forms throughout the 19th century but derives from work with the poor by Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford)  when he was army minister in Bavaria in the 1790s. Rumford was an American ennobled by the courts of Europe because of his pioneer discoveries in cooking.The soup is sometimes known as Rumford's Soup. He wrote:

The difference in the apparent goodness, or the palatableness, and apparent nutritiousness of the same kinds of food, when prepared or cooked in different ways struck me very forcibly and I constantly found that the richness or quality of a soup depended more upon a proper
choice of the ingredients and a proper management of the fire in the combination of those ingredients, than upon the quantity of solid nutritious matter employed ;— much more upon the art and skill of the cook, than upon the amount of the sums laid out in the market.

I found, likewise, that the nutritiousness of a soup, or its power of satisfying hunger, and affording nourishment, appeared always to be in proportion to its apparent richness or palatableness. But what surprised me not a little, was a discovery of the very small quantity of solid food, which, when properly prepared, will suffice to satisfy hunger, and support life and health ; and the very trifling expense at which the stoutest and most laborious man may, in any country, be fed.

After an experience of more than five years in feeding the poor

Make Mine with Marshmallows

Some recipes from the 1939 marshmallow cook book Make Mine with Marshmallows.  The booklet was produced by the Angelus Campfire Company and the company continues today as Doumak in Bensonville near Chicago. The original marshmallow, a delicacy enjoyed by the Pharaohs in 2000  BC, was based on the marshmallow plant. The modern variety is simply corn syrup, sugar, dextrose, water and (the magic ingredient) air. Doumak have a website about the history and manufacture of marshmallows. Here are 3 recipes from this excellent cookbook.


CAMPFIRE MARSHMALLOW MERINGUE

1 quarter-pound package (16) Campfire Marshmallows
1 tablespoon milk
2 egg whites
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Place marshmallows and milk in saucepan. Heat slowly, folding over and over until marshmallows are half melted. Remove from heat and continue folding until mixture is smooth and fluffy. Allow to cool. Meanwhile, beat egg whites until they hold a peak. Slowly add sugar, beating constantly. Add salt and vanilla extract. Blend lightly with marshmallow mixture and spread on pie in swirls. Brown in broiler or hot oven (450 degrees F.) for ½ minute or until tips of meringue swirls are golden brown. Sufficient to top 1 filled pie.
Lemon, Orange or Lime Meringue: Follow above recipe, substituting 1 tablespoon desired fruit juice for vanilla extract.

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COLA MARSH ICE

1 ½ quarter-pound packaqes (24) Campfire Marshmallows
2 cups cola beveraqe
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Place marshmallows and 2 tablespoons cola beveraqe in saucepan. Heat slowly, foIdinq over and over until marshmallows are half melted. Remove from heat and continue foldinq until mixture is smooth and fluffy. Cool sliqhtly, then blend in remaininq cola beveraqe and lemon juice. Pour into tray of automatic refriqerator and freeze, stirrinq two or three times durinq the freezinq period. Serve firm as an ice or somewhat melted as a dessert which is both sipped and spooned. Garnish with curled lemon rind and fresh mint sprays. Serves 5.

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MINT MALLOBET

1 ½ quarter-pound packaqes (24) Campfire Marshmallows
¾ cup hot water
½ cup fresh mint leaves, cut fine
½ cup cold water
¼ cup lemon juice
3 drops qreen food colorinq
2 eqq whites
1 tablespoon suqar

Place marshmallows, hot water and mint in saucepan. Heat slowly, foldinq over and over until marshmallows are half melted. Remove from heat and continue foldinq until mixture is smooth and fluffy. Allow to cool, then blend in cold water, lemon iuice and food colorinq. Chill. Beat eqq whites until they hold a peal. Slowly add suqar, beatinq constantly. Blend liqhtly with marshmallow mixture. Pour into tray of automatic refriqerator and freeze, stirrinq twice durinq the freezinq period. Serve as a dessert ice or as a meat accompaniment. Serves 6.

I once met Anton Mosimann

Another 'once met' jot - this from tireless jotter RMR. He reminds me there was anthology of such meetings edited by Michael Ondaatje (with David Young and Russell Banks) called Brushes with Greatness (Toronto, 1989). Many of the contributions are Canadian but there are one or two superstars (John Lennon, Muhammad Ali, Dalai Lama, Jayne Mansfield). They solicited contributions for a second volume but so far it has not been published.


Anton Mosimann

It was just before Christmas 1998. The brilliant Swiss chef had recently opened a swanky new restaurant in the heart of Belgravia . I wanted to see this, but, I was more looking forward  to discussing with him the six thousand cookery books he had amassed —one of the finest collections in private hands—and most of which had recently installed into his Mosimann Academy in trendy Battersea. And there was always the chance of a free meal….

Some hope. There was no food on offer, but I did get a coffee, which was very, very good. I sat in the restaurant drinking it while waiting for Mosimann to turn up. While I sipped I gazed up at the framed menus from around Europe that adorned the walls from top to bottom. I waited, and waited…

Eventually, the great man arrived and he showed me into what looked like a board room. On the table were a dozen or so of his favourite books, which included one dated 1507,the oldest cookery book ever printed. The actual interview was less interesting. Before we began he made it known that he could give me only twenty minutes. Mosimann seemed less than happy talking in English and I had to lead him a little in his responses. There were too few nuggets to chew on, but two stuck in my mind. The first was his determination to try out many of the recipes from his antique books and manuscripts, including a 1737 recipe for cheesecake, which he revealed came from Germany, rather than America. The second was his conscious decision not to decorate his restaurant with pictures, but to frame his huge archive of menus, which had accumulated over many decades, and stick them on the walls instead. The latter I considered a stroke of genius.

The twenty minutes flew by. Looking back at what I had actually recorded, I knew that there wasn’t enough, so I turned to his autobiography and amplified some of his answers to my questions.

In fact, this interview was the shortest I’d ever done—some of the others have gone over the three hour mark. But I’m glad I did it. How often can one boast of having handled a cookery book printed in 1507?

Elvis's Cook

Memories Beyond Graceland Gates by Mary Jenkins (cook and housekeeper to Elvis known at Graceland as Mary Langston, her married name) published in USA by Eastland in 1989.

In this food orientated book Mary writes that Elvis returned from a concert tour in 1972 and told her about a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich he had eaten while on the road. Mary said it took her three tries to get the sandwich to his satisfaction, and then she cooked them for him the rest of his life. By all accounts she was a very good hearted woman and 'truly loved Elvis.' This old Amazon (2008) review has good background on this rare and expensive ($200) book and sheds light on the dream of the King of Rock:

This is a very positive book about Elvis ... it was wrote by Mary Jenkins ...Mary cooked for Elvis for years ... She loved Elvis dearly and his fans... Mary never said one negative thing about Elvis in her life... In the house Elvis purchased for her Mary would invite the fans in for a visit if she felt good she enjoyed cooking meals like she did for Elvis for the fans I was honored to be among one of the fans she cooked for along with Sharon and Sue...I will always remember the days I spent with her listening to Elvis stories ... the book is a must to any Elvis Fan collections... Mary passed a couple of years back she is missed by all for the love she had for everyone the beautiful smiles she gave everyone she met, the funny stories she would tell about Elvis such a pleasure to be around ... oh yes, she is the one that made the banana sandwiches for Elvis... The first one she made was a flop the next one Vernon stood beside her telling her just how to make it the way Elvis like it ... this book is one every fan should have in their collection...
Shirley