Rice Soup
Hearty, porridge-like soup with cream and mace
City/Region: Titanic | England
Time Period: 1845 | 1912
It wasn’t uncommon for third class passengers to have to bring their own food and utensils on voyages, but not so on the Titanic. The food was simpler than the extravagant meals served to second and first class, but there was plenty of it and was said to be quite good. Four meals were served every day: breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper. “Rice Soup” was on the dinner menu on April 14, 1912, and the recipe I’m using comes from 19th century English cook Eliza Acton.
The consistency of this dish lands somewhere between a soup and a porridge. It’s hearty and filling and has a combination of flavors that’s strange to a modern palate. First you get the mace, then the chicken stock, and a bit of heat from the cayenne last. It’s weird, but good.
“Throw four ounces of well-washed rice into boiling water, and in five minutes after pour it into a sieve, drain it well, and put it into a couple of quarts of good white boiling stock; let it stew until tender; season the soup with salt, cayenne, and pounded mace; stir to it three quarters of a pint of very rich cream, give it one boil, and serve it quickly.”
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup (105 g) long grain rice
- 2 quarts (2 L) chicken or veal stock
- A large pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon mace*
- Scant 1 cup (225 ml) cream
*See notes below.
Instructions:
- Rinse the rice. Add it to boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Drain the rice.
- Bring the stock to a boil and add the drained rice. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes. Keep an eye on it while it cooks, and if the level of the stock starts to get a little low, put the lid on it. We’re going for soup, not just cooked rice.
- After the rice has cooked, stir in the salt, cayenne pepper, mace, and cream. Bring it back to a boil for 1 minute, then serve it forth.
Notes
- Mace comes from the outside of a nutmeg seed and tastes similar to nutmeg with notes of cinnamon and black pepper. It's used in a lot of historical recipes and is definitely worth getting.
- Link to mace: https://amzn.to/3SMkVJ5
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you buy something through them, it does not cost you anything more, but we will get a small commission which helps keep the site up and running. Thanks!