Soops or butter'd Meats of Spinage. is a traditional Stuart recipe (from Robert May's cookbook) for a classic vegetarian soup of spinach and fruit in a stock and white wine base. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Stuart version of: Soops or butter'd Meats of Spinage.
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Original Recipe
Soops or butter'd Meats of Spinage. (from Robert May's Accomplisht Cook 1660)
Soops or butter'd Meats of Spinage.
Take fine young spinage, pick and wash it clean; then have a skillet or pan of fair liquor on the fire, and when it boils, put in the spinage, give it a warm or two, and take it out into a cullender, let it drain, then mince it small, and put it in a pipkin with some slic't dates, butter, white-wine, beaten cinamon, salt, sugar, and some boil'd currans; stew them well together, and dish them on sippets finely carved, and about it hard eggs in halves or quarters, not too hard boil'd, and scrape on sugar.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1kg (2 1/4 lbs) young spinach leaves
4 tbsp dates, chopped
50g (2 oz) butter
150ml (3/5 cup) white wine
generous pinch of ground cinnamon
salt, to taste
1 tsp brown sugar
6 tbsp currants, boiled briefly then set aside to plump
1.2l (5 cups) vegetable stock or water
coarse brown sugar, to garnish
Method:
Wash the spinach leaves thoroughly then bring a pan of water to a boil, add the spinach leaves and blanch for 5 minutes. After this time, drain the spinach then chop as finely as you can before adding to a pan with the dates, butter, wine, cinnamon, salt, sugar, currants and stock.
Bring just to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes.
After this time, turn into a warmed tureen, sprinkle over some coarse brown sugar and serve.
