There is a reason that soup is so early in the lessons that Mary Johnson Bailey Lincoln taught at the Boston Cooking School. It’s easy, cheap & filling. If all you’ve ever had is canned Campbell’s soup, this simple tomato version is the perfect introduction to making your own. It requires no fancy tools or ingredients & fits right into a modern menu as well as a historic one. Once you’ve tried it, I’m confident you won’t bother with the canned stuff again.
Take a look at that recipe. Seems pretty unremarkable, but one ingredient stood out to me immediately.
Canned tomatoes!
Yes, canned foods existed and were commonplace in 1884. Tin canned foods were “perfected” in the middle 19th century thanks to various wars throughout the decade. After all, the military needed a better way to store & transport large quantities of food to soldiers all over the world. Canning proved to be more durable & faster to produce than previous methods like drying and salting. It also required less work after the fact to produce eatable food, as anyone who’s tried to eat salt pork or hardtack will attest to.
That’s not to say that early tin canned foods didn’t have their problems. The biggest of these was spoiling due to the way early cans were formed. At first cans featured a simple, single fold side seam that would let air in, and food out, if it wasn’t sealed with solder. Which, in the 19th century, meant lead solder. I’ll just let you imagine the issues that putting lead in direct contact with food caused.
Luckily by the mid 1880s, we figured out a way to not only remove the toxic lead from cans, but make them seal better without it. The secret is a folded seam & most canned goods you find even today will use this method. Both edges of the can are placed with the same sides together, those are folded down once and that fold is then flattened against one side of the can. If you sew you’d recognize this seam as a flat felled seam made from metal rather than cloth. The double fold creates an edge that keeps air out and means any additional sealing can be done without contacting the food inside. Certainly a simple solution for a serious problem.
Of course, you could use home canned tomatoes from glass jars as well. I’ll save the lesson about the history of mason jars though.
Until then, I’ll see you in the past!
Tomato Soup, without Stock
And easy Victorian recipe for a classic favorite.
Ingredients
- 1 28 oz can, peeled tomatoes (whole or diced, depending on how smooth you like your soup)
- 1 pint hot water
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 cloves
- 4 peppercorns or 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp chopped onion
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
Directions
- Step 1 Combine canned tomatoes, water, sugar, salt, cloves & peppercorns in a pot on the stove & bring to a boil.
- Step 2 If using whole, peeled tomatoes, mash with a potato masher.
- Step 3 Melt the butter in a frying pan until bubbly.
- Step 4 Add onion & parsley.
- Step 5 Fry carefully for 5 minutes without burning.
- Step 6 Add cornstarch & mix well.
- Step 7 Stir ingredients from the frying pan into the tomatoes.
- Step 8 Let simmer 10 minutes or longer.
- Step 9 Check seasoning & add more salt & pepper if needed.
- Step 10 If a smooth soup is desired, strain before serving (or blend in a modern blender).
- Step 11 Serve with plain boiled rice, toasted crackers or croutons.
Works Cited
Lincoln, Mary J. Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book: What to Do and What Not to Do in Cooking. Boston, MA: Roberts Brothers, 1884.
1880-1890 hand soldered tin tomato can.
