Bookbinder soup
Subject of my article is … Food
Bookbinder's soup was pioneered in the United States of America in 1893 when Samuel Bookbinder created Old Original Bookbinder's restaurant in Philadelphia. The soup is served at many restaurants and is very popular at Drake Hotel in Chicago. The soup is a tomato-base soup with typical stew vegetables such as carrots, celery, bell peppers, onions, leeks, mushrooms and garlic. It is commonly made with turtle as the meat, but it more commonly shows up used with Red Snapper. The soup made by the Drake Hotel in Chicago has been written about by several different sites and is said to take less than an hour and a half to make. The Chicago Tribune released a list of ingredients and directions on how to prepare the Drake’s version of the Snapper Soup. The Chicago Tribune says that this was given to them by the executive chef at the Drake.
Etymology
Bookbinder's soup name is derived from one of the restaurants it is served at, Old Original Bookbinder's. The name Bookbinder came from Samuel Bookbinder who opened Old Original Bookbinder's in 1893. Samuel Bookbinder was an immigrant from the Netherlands. Bookbinder opened Old Original Bookbinder's in 1893. The name of the soup comes solely from the name of the restaurant because it has been served at the restaurant for over one hundred years now. The soup has other names, as it is often referred to as "Snapper soup"(because Red Snapper fish and Snapper Turtles are used in the soup). However, at different restaurants other than Old Original Bookbinder's the soup is referred to as Bookbinder's, for example Drake Hotel in Chicago. Ironically however, Bookbinder's lists the soup as Snapper soup in their own menu.
History
Bookbinders soup is historic at mainly two restaurants, Old Original Bookbinder's restaurant and the Drake Hotel. There are several theories on how the soup traveled from Philadelphia to Chicago. One theory is that the soup was a sign of social status for the hotel at the time (It has been said that President Taft hired a personal chef in the White House solely for the purpose of making Bookbinder's soup), and that the hotel found a way to retrieve the recipe directly from Old Original Bookbinder's in Philadelphia. As a hotel that catered to the more wealthy and higher status humans on the earth, the Drake was rumored to want the soup in order to appeal to people such as the President of the United States of America.
Ingredients:
• 10 oz of red snapper fillet • 2 tablespoons butter • 2 tablespoons olive oil • 4 tablespoons flour • 2 medium carrots, rough diced • 2 medium celery ribs, rough diced • 1 large onion, rough diced • 1 medium green bell pepper, rough diced • 8 white peppercorns, crushed • 2 cloves garlic, rough diced • 1 bay leaf • 3 tablespoons tomato paste • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro • 8 cups fish stock (I use the house-made from Dirk’s Fishmarket on Clybourn) • salt • 1/4 cup sherry • 3 dashes Tabasco (citation 3)
Directions:
1. Add olive oil to a Dutch oven over medium heat and sear and cook snapper fillets until done, about 3 minutes a side. Remove fish and let it rest on a separate plate. 2. Melt the butter in the Dutch oven then saute carrots, celery, garlic, onion, and green bell pepper for about 4 minutes. 3. Add the flour to the Dutch oven, and stir the mixture for about 5 minutes or until the flour/butter/oil mixture is a peanut butter color 4. Stir in peppercorns, bay leaf, tomato paste, cilantro, thyme, and rosemary; cook 2 minutes. 5. Whisk in the 8 cups of fish stock until smooth; heat to boil. Then reduce heat to a low simmer for 30 minutes. 6. Add 3 dashes of Tabasco at the 15 minute mark, and salt to taste along the way. Adjust salt to your liking at the end of 30 minutes. 7. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer; discard solids and return broth to pot. 8. Flake reserved snapper and add half of the sherry and stir both into the broth. 9. Serve in bowls, with the remainder of the sherry served tableside for pouring at the moment of eating the soup. (citation 3)