Soup and bouilli facts for kids
Soup and Bouilli was a popular dish in England, much like a hearty stew. It was made with boiled beef and root vegetables, similar to the French dish called pot-au-feu. The name "Soup and Bouilli" comes from how the French served pot-au-feu: first the soup, then the boiled meat, which they called bouilli. In England, bouilli also meant the boiled meat part of the meal.
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A Look Back at Soup and Bouilli
This dish has been around for a long time! Some of the first mentions of Soup and Bouilli in English books came from Tobias Smollett.
Early Mentions in Books
In 1748, Smollett wrote about a meal in France that included "some soup and bouillé." Later, in another book, he described a broth made with mutton chops as "soup and bouilli." This shows the dish was known in England by the mid-1700s.
In 1778, a play called The Camp by Richard Sheridan also mentioned "soup and bouilli" as a main dish.
First Recipes Appear
The first recipes for Soup and Bouilli started appearing in cookbooks. Charlotte Mason included a recipe in her book The Ladys Assistant in 1773. Another similar dish, called Bouillie Beef, was in Elizabeth Raffald's The Experienced English Housekeeper in 1778. In both these recipes, the soup and the meat were served as separate parts of the meal.
Other cookbooks quickly copied these recipes. Famous chefs like William Kitchiner also included their own versions of these dishes. Soup and Bouilli stayed popular throughout the 1800s.
Why Some Called it 'Soup and Bully'
When Charlotte Mason wrote her recipe in 1773, she spelled it "Soup and Boullie." This might show how people in England said the word bouilli back then.
A Less Flattering Name
Even earlier, around 1753, some people started calling it "bully." This was often used by those who didn't understand French customs. They thought the dish was overcooked and didn't taste good.
For example, in a story from 1753, a character complained he "could by no means live upon their soup and bully." Another character grumbled that he "could get no eatables... but what they called bully, which looks like the flesh of Pharaoh's lean kine stewed into rags and tatters." These characters were being made fun of, but their words show how some people felt.
Even a famous French food expert, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, wrote in 1825 that bouilli was "flesh minus its juice." He said it had disappeared from fancy dinners.
The 'Bully Beef' Nickname
In 1838, a coach driver explained that "bully means beef with the strength b'iled out on it." By 1870, a London newspaper even wrote that "the poorest englishman esteems 'bully beef' as being fit only for the pigs."
Despite these negative views, the dish had its fans in England. But calling it "bully beef" was sometimes seen as rude. In 1829, a woman named Sydney, Lady Morgan was embarrassed when a friend called bouilli "bully beef" while she was entertaining important guests.
Canned Soup and Bouilli for Travel
Food canning started in England in 1812. One of the first companies, Donkin, Hall and Gamble, made canned Soup and Bouilli.
By 1813, they were selling these cans to the Royal Navy. In 1814, a Vice Admiral suggested sending "Soup and Bouilli" to sick sailors. This started the practice of giving it to those who were ill or recovering.
For the next 100 years, many companies made canned Soup and Bouilli. It became a common food on long sea trips for both crews and passengers. In 1910, it was still one of the most popular canned soups.
Soup for Health on Ships
From 1835, merchant ships sailing from the UK had to carry medicines. By 1868, canned Soup and Bouilli was officially included in the list of required medical supplies.
However, not everyone thought it was a good idea. In 1861, a doctor named Thomas Spencer Wells said that the Soup and Bouilli for ships was "the very worst kind of provisions." He felt that captains didn't know how much meat they were giving to their crew or passengers.
The 'Soap and Bullion' Problem
The quality of the ingredients in canned meats could sometimes be very bad. In 1852, there was a big scandal about Goldners Meats. This made some sailors never want to eat canned meat again. They remembered when "much of the meat was no better than carrion or the vilest offal."
Disliked by Passengers
Passengers on long sea voyages also started to dislike the dish. They saw it as one of the bad things about cheap travel. Some even threw it overboard! In Australia, in the 1860s, just mentioning Soup and Bouilli in theaters would make the audience laugh.
William Clark Russell, who spent many years at sea, said it had a "disgusting flavour." He warned that "canned meat or tins of soup and bouilli... may produce distempers more terrible than the scurvy." Sailors often called it "the most disgusting of the provisions" and nicknamed it soap and bullion.
Soup and Bouilli Tins: A Second Life
Once the Soup and Bouilli was eaten, the empty tin cans were still useful. In 1828, "70 Empty preserved meat canisters" were advertised for sale.
Creative Uses for Empty Tins
On one ship, a tin worker was busy turning empty soup cans into useful cases. These tins were used for many things:
- Cooking pots
- Paint pots
- Eating bowls
- Drinking cups
- Bailing out leaky boats
- Plant pots
By the 1850s, "soup and bouilli tin" or "bouilli tin" became a common way to describe any used metal container. Sailors, passengers, and immigrants who had spent time at sea knew these tins well.
Examples of Tin Uses
- On an arctic trip, a bouilli tin was used to make a spirit lamp.
- A "Neptune's crown" for a special ceremony at sea was made from a decorated soup and bouilli tin.
- Henry Morton Stanley offered empty soup and bouilli tins as gifts to people he met in Tanzania.
- A soup and bouilli tin became a drum in a makeshift orchestra.
- Someone even suggested a soup and bouilli tin for a coat of arms for people who went to soup kitchens!
- Collections for money were sometimes taken up in a soup and bouilli tin.
Tins in Language and Literature
The phrase "soup and bouilli tin" was also used in a creative way. It could mean something was built quickly or simply, without fancy parts.
- A boat might be launched by "pitching it overboard like an empty bouilli tin."
- A boat could be described as "as (water)tight as a soup and bouilli tin."
- A life-buoy rescue signal was described as being "not unlike a 8lb soup and bouilli tin (so familiar to all immigrants)."
- A ship repairer had a workshop that was a "soup-and-bouilli-can arrangement."
- A rival invention was called a "soup and bouilli-tin gasometer."
- A shipboard newspaper was even called The Durham Bouilli-Tin, playing on the word "bulletin."
Poets and writers also used the expression, often to connect their stories to the sea.
- John Masefield wrote about a character who "mixed red lead in many a bouilli tin."
- Rolf Boldrewood described an island trader who kept his money "in a large soup and bouilli tin in his [sea]chest."
- Catherine Helen Spence marked a waterhole in Australia with an old soup-and-bouilli-tin.
