Everything New is Old Again: Oxtail Soup

Being an avid watcher of cooking television, I've noticed some of the more hipster oriented shows have been venerating a certain bovine dish. To be fair, they're not claiming it's new; on the contrary they're hailing it as a classic, but if you're like me the hype eventually begins to get on your nerves. So here's to the tardy end of the ox - the tail - and the soup it becomes.

To be honest, ox tail soup probably has existed since before mankind domesticated cattle. I'm sure hunter-gatherers were figuring out ways to use the last part of the water buffalo to pass through the door, after all those were the days of waste not want not. However, the oldest recipe I could find for Ox Tail Soup dated back to 1896, the same year Fannie Farmer published her famous and still in print cookbook. The Handbook of Substance Stores: for the Use of the Army of the United States was published by the US War Department in the age of westward expansion and gold fever and was intended as a guide for stocking the strings of forts that enforced America's emanate domain. As you'd expect from a government publication, the instructions on how to make good ox tail soup is less than clear:

As you can tell, the intent was more how to purchase ox tail soup than to make it. I have to admit, though, that the lack of a detailed recipe is nothing new to anyone who pours over old cookbooks. It seems there was a time when a "cookbook" was less an instruction manual on how to cook certain dishes than a list of hints and tips intended to guide an already seasoned and schooled cook to success with their dishes. Note that the recipe above talks about the proper consistency, the amount of bones found in the ox tail, and the fattiness of the soup, but doesn't get specific about ingredients or amounts.

At about the same time the US Army was producing its field guide for stocking the larder a little company from New Jersey was getting its act together. Fruit vendor Joseph Campbell and ice box manufacturer Abraham Anderson banded together to form the Joseph A. Campbell Preserve Company - a catchy name, isn't it? In  1897 the company hired Dr. John Dorrance who would invent the process which would make Campbell's fortune - condensed soup. In 1904, with an advertising blitz which introduced the pudgy, be-freckled Campbell's Soup Kids, the company's full line of 21 different soups were introduced to the public - including ox tail soup.

As with any company that has been around for over a hundred years, offerings change as the tastes of the public change and somewhere in the dusty bins of time, Campbell's Ox Tail Soup was shelved. I doubt that the hipster rediscovery of this culinary artifact will bring about a reintroduction, the trends of the twenty-something generation are too fleeting and the moment a big corporation catches on the fad has jumped the proverbial ox cart. None the less, an interesting trip down memory lane...I wonder if mock turtle soup will catch on next?

Thanksgiving Feed - Campbell's Mushroom Soup (1953)

A staple of the Thanksgiving casserole, that salty soup of mashed mushrooms, Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup. Seems like I can remember when the green bean casserole came into my life. It was sometime during the seventies, back when my grandparents were living and hosted every family gathering in their tiny 30's era bungalow with the six and a half-foot high ceilings. Back then practically everyone smoked and there'd be a Camel-Winston cloud bank from about Adams apple to ceiling. Eventually, with lungs ragged from second-hand smoke, I'd retreat to the tiny backyard to get a breath of icy fresh air and listen to the breeze moving through the nearly-bare limbs of the gigantic apple tree that dominated their tiny lot. Who would have guessed I'd be sentimental for second-hand smoke?

Thanksgiving Feed - Campbell's Bean and Bacon Soup (1950)

Here's one that's near and dear to my heart, Campbell's Bean and Bacon Soup. You see, one of the memories from the all to infrequently golden days of my youth centers around Campbell's Bean and Bacon Soup and Ritz Crackers. Sunday evenings at our house, back in the days before NFL games that ran until midnight and ten-thousand channels of unwatchable reality shows, meant The Walt Disney Hour and The Andy Griffith Show, the ladder of which was often enjoyed while eating a bowl of Campbell's Bean and Bacon Soup that was so packed with Ritz Crackers it had a texture more like oatmeal than soup. Ah, the sometimes good old days.

As for the ad itself, I think I could have gone my whole life without hearing beans described as "munchy meaty and zestful."

Thanksgiving Dinner - Campbell's Soup

Not sure how well a plate of soup would work. A bowl, yes, but a plate...not so much. I'm also not so sure about ads that feature poor ol' Tom Turkey being led to the chopping block. I guess I'm just soft that way.

The bit of ad agency verse over the Campbell Soup Kid reads:

I've done my stunt and in my hunt
I had most lively rambles
I've caught a turk - a good day's work
And also got my Campbell's

Yeah, Wordsworth it ain't.

Thanksgiving Dinner - Soup

Usually I wouldn't choose a Campbell's ad as part of the turkey day buffet, but this one struck me both because it features mushroom soup which seems to be the key element of every green bean casserole I've ever eaten and the model for the mother reminds me of a friend. Interesting that the "soup for lunch" includes a grilled cheese sandwich and pudding with whipped cream topping. Kind of defeats the whole soup for lunch thing, doesn't it?

The unstated reason that mother is away in this ad is the war effort. Rosie the riveter meant the kids sometimes were left to fend for themselves. Nice that the kids kept up the stereotypes while mom was away. They always were thoughtful that way.

Mulligatawny Soup!

Here's a variety of Campbell's Soup you probably won't find at your local grocery store, Mulligatawny! Sounds a bit like it's made of stray cats, but in reality it's a pretty simple affair. In general the recipe consists of a little garlic and onion, some stock, some curry, apples, and chicken. You can find a version on the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog (a personal favorite of mine).

This particular ad comes from the February 1927 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. It's advertising to the ideals of the times - world travel, exoticism, the Far East, and modern convenience. The twenties saw the first wave of young adults who were independent, had money, and didn't want to spend time in the kitchen.

I do have to question the Campbell's kid's assertion that it takes at least two years to make a good chutney. No recipe I found required holding your chutney for years. Then again, maybe when you're a pudgy spokesperson time moves at a different clip.