[Sca-cooks] onion soup not period?

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Also sprach Stefan li Rous:
>You're not the first to ask about this. I asked a very similar question
>here some time ago. Most of the period onion soups we have are, I think,
>white soups in an almond milk or similar base. I think the darker, broth
>based onion soups show up later. I'm not sure that we came to a
>conclusive answer. If someone can point me to some early in period,
>dark onion soups, I'd like to hear about it.

In general, one of the big limitations on soups in period Europe is
likely to be an effective absence of brown stocks. While I could see
the bones from roast meat going into the stockpot (hopefully not
after being among the scented rushes and chewed by dogs), the kind of
caramelization of the bones required for a good brown beef or veal
stock doesn't seem to be happening in period, AFAIK.

>This is hardly a comprehensive survey of onion soups and may well be
>subject to some type of bias such as folks not giving dark, broth
>based period soup recipes because the white ones are more different
>than the "ordinary" onion soups of today. My wife does make a
>modern white-based onion soup which she got from a modern cookbook,
>so these are still around.

It is, among other cultures, an Irish thing, to make a milk-based, or
a milk-and-white-stock-based, onion soup.

Adamantius