Hubbard Squash SoupHubbard squash is a South American variant that only became a popular food in the late 1700s. However, squash of various types have been eaten by medieval people throughout Europe and the Middle East for quite some time. The Middle Eastern peoples started the craze, and some of the earliest recorded recipes come from there. However, various types of squash were also available and eaten in the British Isles. Historians tell us that they would have seemed more like what we consider to be "summer squash" (zucchinis, for instance).
As we don't have access to medieval seeds at this point, it is considered acceptable within the SCA and some other reconstructionist societies to use modern squash. Blue Hubbard makes a delicious soup, but this recipe could also be made with butternut, turk's turban, or any other winter squash of today. Gourdes in Potage. Take young Gowrdes; pare hem and kerue hem on pecys. Cast hem in gode broth, and do þerto a gode pertye of oynouns mynced. Take pork soden; grynde it and alye it þerwith and wiþ yolkes of ayren. Do þerto safroun and salt, and messe it forth with powdour douce. - Hieatt, Constance B. and Sharon Butler. Curye on Inglish: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth-Century (Including the Forme of Cury). New York: for The Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 1985. (from Gourdes in Potage, via A Boke of Goode Cookery. |
Ingredients:
Add squash and onions to broth, and bring to a full, rolling boil. Reduce the heat and cook until the squash is tender. If you want a "creamy" soup, cook until it's falling apart soft, and if you prefer a clearer broth with chunks, stop when just tender to the fork. Your protein can be pork, chicken, or even vegetarian options such as saitan or walnuts. Boil meat until it's very soft and falling apart (think pulled pork consistency) and then shred it with a fork or mince it up into very small pieces. Stir this into the soup along with the egg yolks and salt. Stir gently, then allow to cook for a few minutes. When putting out the soup, set the sugar and spice mixture on the side in a small bowl, with spoons. Allow people to season to their own taste. Serve this soup as a first course to a feast, or offer it with a salad and a more substantial meat. If you want to stray from the medieval sources, it would be nice paired with grilled cheese! |
INotes from 10/1/2015:
I made considerably more of this recipe than is called for, because it freezes well and I wanted convenient lunches I could just pop into the microwave later. A large batch takes the same amount of time and effort as a small batch, so why not "go big"?
I used 10 cups of broth and about 5 or 6 pounds of cut up squash. I used one very large Spanish onion and one regular sized cooking onion. I also wanted it to be meaty and hearty, as it was all we were eating, so I added about 3 or 4 cups of shredded chicken (which I shredded using my MixMaster with the paddle attachment). I increased the egg yolks to 3, although I could have done more if I had not pureed the soup instead of making it chunky (the egg yolk thickens the soup, making it much more "creamy" or "silky" in texture). I used Himilayan Pink Salt, about 1.5 tsp, and a sprinkle of pepper on the top of each served bowl of soup. We omitted the sweet spices, mostly because I forgot. I also added in a half cup of heavy cream just before serving, to make it extra rich and creamy.
The soup was incredibly thick and hearty, much moreso than I thought it would be. The flavor was excellent! My kids suggested that the squash was kind of lost in the broth, and that it tasted rather like chicken noodle soup. This is a plus, in my opinion, as the soup was full of all sorts of good things for the kids that they wouldn't normally eat.
I made considerably more of this recipe than is called for, because it freezes well and I wanted convenient lunches I could just pop into the microwave later. A large batch takes the same amount of time and effort as a small batch, so why not "go big"?
I used 10 cups of broth and about 5 or 6 pounds of cut up squash. I used one very large Spanish onion and one regular sized cooking onion. I also wanted it to be meaty and hearty, as it was all we were eating, so I added about 3 or 4 cups of shredded chicken (which I shredded using my MixMaster with the paddle attachment). I increased the egg yolks to 3, although I could have done more if I had not pureed the soup instead of making it chunky (the egg yolk thickens the soup, making it much more "creamy" or "silky" in texture). I used Himilayan Pink Salt, about 1.5 tsp, and a sprinkle of pepper on the top of each served bowl of soup. We omitted the sweet spices, mostly because I forgot. I also added in a half cup of heavy cream just before serving, to make it extra rich and creamy.
The soup was incredibly thick and hearty, much moreso than I thought it would be. The flavor was excellent! My kids suggested that the squash was kind of lost in the broth, and that it tasted rather like chicken noodle soup. This is a plus, in my opinion, as the soup was full of all sorts of good things for the kids that they wouldn't normally eat.
