American

Black Bean Soup

A historical lunch recipe from Fannie Merritt Farmer's 1910 Boston Cooking-School Cook Book.

Public domain source

Gather

Ingredients

  • 1 pint Black Beans
  • 2 quarts Cold Water
  • 1 Onion
  • 2 stalks Celery or
  • ¼ teaspoon Celery Salt
  • ½ tablespoon Salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon Pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon Mustard
  • Few grains Cayenne
  • 3 tablespoons Butter
  • 1½ tablespoons Flour
  • 2 “hard-Boiled” Eggs
  • 1 Lemon

Make it

Method

  1. 1

    Soak beans over night; in the morning drain and add cold water. Slice onion, and cook five minutes with half the butter, adding to beans, with celery stalks broken in pieces.

  2. 2

    Simmer three or four hours, or until beans are soft; add more water as water boils away. Rub through a sieve, reheat to the boiling-point, and add salt, pepper, mustard, and cayenne well mixed. Bind with remaining butter and flour cooked together.

  3. 3

    Cut eggs in thin slices, and lemon in thin slices, removing seeds. Put in tureen, and strain the soup over them.

Public domainHistorical recipeSOUPS WITHOUT STOCK

Source & rights

Where this recipe comes from

Black Bean Soup, from The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer (1910).

This source recipe has been reformatted for Pantry Start but has not yet been kitchen-tested by our editors. Check current food-safety guidance and use your judgment.

Historical measurements, equipment, temperatures and terminology may differ from modern kitchen practice.