Carrot Soup I is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic soup of carrots, onions and a turnip cooked in meat stock enriched with beef bones. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Carrot Soup I.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
120. INGREDIENTS.—4 quarts of liquor in which a leg of mutton or beef has been boiled, a few beef-bones, 6 large carrots, 2 large onions, 1 turnip; seasoning of salt and pepper to taste; cayenne.
Mode.—Put the liquor, bones, onions, turnip, pepper, and salt, into a stewpan, and simmer for 3 hours. Scrape and cut the carrots thin, strain the soup on them, and stew them till soft enough to pulp through a hair sieve or coarse cloth; then boil the pulp with the soup, which should be of the consistency of pea-soup. Add cayenne. Pulp only the red part of the carrot, and make this soup the day before it is wanted.
Time.—4-1/2 hours. Average cost per quart, 1-1/2d.
Seasonable from October to March.
Sufficient for 10 persons.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
4l of stock made from boiling a leg of mutton or a joint of beef
a few beef bones
6 large carrots, scraped and thinly sliced
2 large onions, chopped
1 turnip, peeled and halved
salt, freshly-ground black pepper and cayenne pepper, to taste
Method:
Combine the stock, bones, onions and turnip in a stockpot. Season to taste then bring to a simmer and cook for 3 hours. Add the carrots, return to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes, or until the carrots are soft enough to be easily pulped.
Remove the turnip, strain the solids from the soup and place in a blender (or purée through a fine sieve). Return the liquid and the purée to a pan, bring to a boil then adjust the seasonings and add a little cayenne pepper. Continue cooking until the soup reaches the consistency of pea soup then take off the heat, ladle into soup bowls and serve.
