Titanic's Cream of Barley Soup
Barley soup may seem like a working class dish, but this cream of barley soup was served in 1st Class on the ill fated voyage of Titanic.
Servings 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup pearl barley
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 small carrot finely chopped
- 1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1 large egg yolk (I freeze the white for another purpose)
- 1 pinch salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 whole nutmeg freshly grated
- 2 sprigs fresh parsley chopped for garnish
- fried bread croutons (optional)
- nonfat strained yoghurt to drizzle (optional)
Instructions
- Wash the barley, heat in a pot of cold water to the boil for a few minutes, then drain and let cool.
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, and sauté the vegetables until lightly browned.
- Add the barley and chicken stock and simmer uncovered for an hour or two. The longer the better in my view to give the flavours a chance to full blend.
- Strain into a clean saucepan and season with a touch of nutmeg, salt and pepper. Save the vegetables to add to your servants hall soup, or you can enjoy a nice little snack of flavourful barley.
- To incorporate the egg without it curdling, temper it by spooning a little of the liquid into a separate small bowl, add the egg yolk and mix well. Stir this back into the soup pot.
- Reheat the mixture, but don’t let it boil or the egg with curdle.
- Sprinkle with chopped parsley and bread croutons, and drizzle a little yoghurt if you like before serving.