Chicken Soup From 1759

[@IsaVarg]

This channel is my chicken soup. I've always loved history, but for whatever reason, it wasn't until I found this channel that I started being interested in early American life, and now I'm hooked on the cozy, welcoming atmosphere.

[@jeromelasala3656]

I feel the same way, but I hated history when I was in high school. Always had low grades in History second only to Math. However, now that I'm a bit more older, I've taken a lot more interest in the simple things in life like foraging and cooking with firewood, watching people cook ancient recipes or wondering what it was like living in the simpler times. I have now come to romanticise the rustic way of living. Townsends and Tasting History helped influence that kind of feeling inside me

[@MrAtrophy]

I was just going to post something like this. With everything going on in my life personally and in the world, I need channels like this.

[@VictorIanTownsend]

I've been watching this channel a lot too. But the thing is, my last name is also Townsend. Perhaps, we have some sort of connection?

[@personnel5757]

samesies :D

[@wwsuwannee7993]

Chickens were too valuable for their eggs to eat all the time. Unless a new brood had to many roosters, or an old hen quit laying, everyday folks didn't eat it. Side note: if you have or can find an old tough stewing hen to make broth...you just elevated chicken soup to world class, the flavor is amazing.

[@Riley._.Pierce1]

That's what I do on my farm. If the chickens stop laying, it gets turned into gumbo (also, don't want to waste money on a chicken that won't lay)

[@paulp57]

@@wwsuwannee7993 I had a rooster mixed in with the hens I ordered as chicks. One too many wake ups at 3am lead to coq’au vin.

[@dr.froghopper6711]

Excellent point. A healthy old hen that no longer lays makes outstanding soup stock! And the schmaltz that can be rendered from an old hen is very rich.

[@snowysnowyriver]

Here in the UK, right up to the 1960s, fresh roast chicken was expensive for just this reason. Chickens were raised for eggs. Only older birds were available for stews for the working class, often mostly rural families My grandparents kept chickens and a young bird was culled just once a year for Easter Sunday lunch. The rest of the year we only got chicken when a bird stopped laying. Only the middle-class city dwellers and the rich could afford to spend a lot of money on a young chicken. We working rural people were far more likely to be eating home-raised duck and rabbit.

[@wwsuwannee7993]

@@snowysnowyriver Rabbit makes a good meal...excellent fare. I ate my share as a youth. I would rather have it than chicken :)

[@metal87power]

In Poland, beef is a usual ingredient of chicken soup and it makes the soup even more delicious. We just boil cuts of chicken and beef together with basic spices and add other ingredients after the meats are almost done. Beef instant broth is optional.

[@snowysnowyriver]

Here in the UK, right up to the 1960s, fresh roast chicken was expensive for just this reason. Chickens were raised for eggs. Only older birds were available for stews for the working class, often mostly rural families My grandparents kept chickens and a young bird was culled just once a year for Easter Sunday lunch. The rest of the year we only got chicken when a bird stopped laying. Only the middle-class city dwellers and the rich could afford to spend a lot of money on a young chicken. We working rural people were far more likely to be eating home-raised duck and rabbit.

[@majcrash]

Did no one like duck eggs?

[@Pelencheification]

“Add a little nutmeg” ahh there it is

[@dianaarmitage512]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@Gleb_Martynov]

ahahahahahahahhah

[@thes.a.s.s.1361]

Now I’m wondering what nutmeg would taste like in chili

[@CharleneCTX]

@@thes.a.s.s.1361 There are lots of recipes for chili with nutmeg, especially Cincinnati-style chili. Give it a try.

[@SheyD78]

I'd imagine it would be a little different with period ingredients, because the chicken would probably be older and tougher than the norm today, unless it was for a really high end household. The lettuce and spinach too except at the very beginning of their season. Makes sense to boil them and cook them more than we might today. Bet their chicken had more flavour in those days though.

[@anna9072]

More flavor, also more collagen, I find my home-grown heritage chickens much more gelatinous than supermarket chickens.

[@O-sa-car]

bet they make fantastic chicken & dumplings

[@SheyD78]

@@anna9072 Great for soup, get a better mouthfeel to it I'd imagine.

[@anna9072]

@ yes, they make SUPERB broth.

[@anna9072]

@ yes, excellent. The meat doesn’t disintegrate like store-bought.

[@Elban19]

"What are we missing for this chicken broth?" "A snake" "Ah, yes."

[@missp5050]

😂😂❤😂😂

[@MrHeavy466]

"Ah, yessssssss" 🐍🐍🐍

[@dansharpe2364]

I suspect that the original intention of this recipe is how to cook a whole chicken in a rich broth that will eventually become a distinct soup to be eaten on subsequent days, no doubt with the tied leek and celery added back in, and some of the leftover chicken meat added after the bird being served whole. Akin to American Italian Sunday Gravy in concept.

[@patricialavery8270]

Never heard of that but my English mom would make a full roast beef Sunday feast with Yorkshire Pudding and the lot, the next day maybe open faced sandwiches and finally the gnarly, gristly end of the roast became ground up meat in Shepherd's Pie, stretching the brown gravy with beef broth ,Kitchen Bouquet, dripping or crisco and flour if needed.

[@Mrx2848]

​@patricialavery8270 I do something similar when I make French Onion Soup. I take the leftovers and, spread them on English Muffins, cover with cheese, and broil them.

[@Ikwigsjoyful]

@@Mrx2848That sounds delicious!

[@lazygardens]

"American Italian Sunday Gravy" ???

[@QuantumRangerPower]

A complex recipe, but sounds and looks delicious.

[@Whitetail1982]

Why am I watching a Townsends video while hunting? I'm hungry now.

[@lukef456]

Same

[@mevl4822]

It’s a dangerous game. I tend to have to have a sandwich while watching.

[@Yamaha38XCRacer]

Good luck, I hope you get a monster buck, or a donkey doe so you can finally eat!!!!!

[@rustyshackleford1508]

Better make the shot count, then.

[@paulp57]

Make some chicken soup.

[@Matthew-m2y5v]

Finally a recipe to prove the truth that beef and chicken can cook together when need to feed a lot of people. My family would look down on this but I’m disabled and sometimes have to be creative and I don’t hold back when I’m hungry but I make beautiful things better than them and beef will hold you over anything but chicken is easily cheaper

[@natviolen4021]

Why would anybody look down on this? To me the chicken only soup is the everyday version while the chicken+beef soup is the luxury one. So much more flavour and proteins.

[@Matthew-m2y5v]

@@natviolen4021 sometimes people can have so much they know so little. The best moments in certain generations or life conditions are when people had to figure it out with love and they found the best recipes. My great aunts are the generation after the Great Depression and they behave like loud greedy witches. I probably would have been just like them if not being disabled slowed me down from other children to see I don’t want to be like that. It’s been war ever since. So when they feed me cold pizza I turn around and use the pizza as bread to a lovely baked crusted chicken I brined for days then pressure cook with washed sticky rice for 3 minutes with a beautiful ground beef steak cooked the same but topped with a beautiful gravy that has some of the dry chili beef powder left over from unused ramen. It is luxurious eating under dim lights but so lonely at times when I think about how my family may never care until they are hungry which they’ve said then they’ll come to me because I store freeze dried and cans. It’s just people. Some will some won’t. Some will never

[@TysonBabb]

I have recently returned to university to finish my History degree. I have always loved this channel, and you have inspired me to take a course on culinary history next semester :)

[@ginndiaries]

I always eat my meals while watching your videos. I have appreciated my life and this food in front of me by learning how hard to make delicious meals in old time. Thank you really.

[@beansbrewsandbread]

I wonder if the reference to "parsley root" is to Hamburg Parsley, root of Parsley (the herb) or parsnip? I'm guessing Hamburg Parsley. Also the addition of Sorrel with the greens would give a nice lemony sort of flavour too to the soup - which you could substitute for a little lemon juice / rind perhaps if you couldn't get access to any. Great video as ever! Cheers, Andy!

[@beckypennington79]

Thank you John for the video, and happy holidays to you and your family❤

[@DaleBaker-e3u]

This man's videos, are a different class. Utterly brilliant, and always fascinating.

[@kariannecrysler640]

I wonder if the viper addition was an indigenous contribution? I know snakes have been used medicinally for almost as long as we have writing & they found snake head beads from Sefer Tepe dating 10,000 ish years ago.

[@thelittlehooer]

I'm recovering from surgery now, and this has made me get more of the chicken bone broth I made. It's all I can eat, but it's soooo good.

[@jackforeman2865]

Missed opportunity to call this video “chicken soup for the 18th century soul”

[@happygardener28]

We are so blessed in this era to be able to have chicken any time we wish, but things may change and old ways will have to be revived. When my son was young he'd gotten a bad round of flu and had trouble holding down any food for several days. Using chicken broth I added several herbs and grated or finely minced vegetables and of course salt. He held down the first quarter cup of strained broth easily so I gave him more. At the third cup I added well cooked rice and the strained veg from earlier and within a few hours he started asking for a sandwich. I've had coworkers and friends use the broth when they had family who were very ill.

[@natviolen4021]

An amazing soup, indeed, Apart from the stuffing, the ingredients are very similar to the soup I use to make and which also contains chicken and beef. The way of serving the 1759 soup is a bit of a hassle, though. I can imagine it together with cooked rice.

[@jamesellsworth9673]

Veal broth has a lighter flavor than beef broth, so I would use it. I would also blanch the younger vegetables we get today rather than stewing them. Egg yolks are better than whole eggs as a thickener.

[@cltmck]

The Greek lemon chicken soup avgolemono is thickened with eggs. That was the first time I ever saw eggs as a thickener. It's very delicious and this looks so too.

[@FrikInCasualMode]

Interesting. My mother still adds pieces of root celery and leeks to chicken soup. Instead of lettuce or spinach she puts in a leaf of savoy cabbage and leaf of lovage. Sometimes also a whole onion burnt over the flame for taste and color.

[@jwenting]

I always put leek, fennel (if I can get it), and carrot to chicken soup (indeed to most soups). Completes the soup.

[@j.j.savalle4714]

Love soup season. This one looks really good with all the various meats in it. Gonna give it a try! Thx Townsends!

[@Blrtech77]

Jon, Thanks and Townsends Rocks along with the Chicken Soup! Be Safe.

[@trevorborcky7405]

What a great recipe. Might have to try it out this winter. Another fantastic video!

[@Hato1992]

Oh damn. In Poland we call it rosół. You can say it's one of national dishes here. Funny fact, rosół at first was term used to call a broth made out of salted meat cut cooked to get rid excess of salt from this meat, name come from rozsół, sól is salt and prefix roz can be used to describe to get something away. But of course it would be waste to throw it away, so it was made into a soup. It's almost always a choice for any event dinners as 1st dish.

[@vaevictis2789]

Same word used in russian for a pickling juice

[@SamClemens-id3cl]

Wow, that was definitely different. Very interesting.

[@mitchmatthews6713]

A Townsend's video at Lions/Colts halftime. Perfect!

[@scotthartley7837]

I feel like it was one of those dishes thst was so commen they just didnt write it down. Thsts my opinion tho

[@lildizzle29]

Wonderful channel, I ❤ it!.

[@corrinofnohr9927]

Such a huge fan of your channel! I really enjoy the way to tell a story not just read a recipe. I’ve tried a few with mixed results 😅

[@CheapCreep]

Campbell's Soup: Snake in chicken broth.

[@JoDusepo]

3:35 Had this recipe author not heard of full stops? What a long-running sentence!

[@Phoenixesper1]

This should just be called barn yard soup, on account the entire barn is in it! LOL

[@OffRampTourist]

Decided to make this for Thanksgiving this year. Using pork and bone broth to invoke one grandmother's holiday cooking and the chicken to invoke the other grandmother's Sunday-preacher-come-to-dinner specialty. Excited to try the egg yolks to thicken as it's hard to make good keto gravy. Happy holidays y'all.

[@throwplate]

Pork in a chicken boiled in beef broth with mutton. The whole farm in one tasty soup.

[@Neolithickneegrow]

Consider that chickens were a valuable animal in the past for their egg laying, so either roosters or older hens were more commonly eaten, the birds were also a lot smaller than today.

[@StrandedLifeform]

I can understand why people back then would think chicken soup is good for a cold. The different meats, bone broth and vegetables are loaded with vitamins and the hot soup warms your insides. The soups we get in cans today are mostly water loaded with salt and preservatives, there's very little real nutritional value left. Homemade soups are definitely more nutritious and flavorful.

[@MC-810]

Happy Sunday ☕️

[@PsychicIsaacs]

I breed chickens for meat, Old English Game Bantams and also Wyandottes. I also have Hylines and Hyline crosses for eggs. There is a regular stream of Spatchcocks, so I make a 1 1/2 gallon pot of chicken soup each week. Each day I serve myself a bowl, boiling the whole big pot to keep it fresh, and to my own serving I add a cake of ramen noodles, while I am heating it in a smaller pot. Vegetables that I add might include potatoes, carrots, onions, walking onions, sorrel, cos lettuce, silver beet and I might thicken it with either eggs or peanut butter. Herbs added might include rosemary, mint, fennel, sage, basil and Greek oregano. The only things I don't grow so much here are the carrots and potatoes, and peanuts. Otherwise,it all comes from my own garden and farm!

[@bigpoppa1234]

eggs were common in french cooking to clarify consommé using the egg whites to create a raft. Jacques Pepin has a video on youtube. historically you could also use blood for this purpose. the raft soaks up all the solids and muck and lets you open a small hole on the side you can ladle the clear soup stock out of the pot.

[@TheRAMBO9191]

Videos are the best on this channel. Now I want chicken soup!! Or stock. It's finally cold outside. Let's do it! 💪🏻

[@milosterwheeler2520]

So many of your recipes sound like they are cooking for a very large group. This one begins with "Take TWO chickens...:. They nus have had very large pots. Have you done a show about the pots and pans they used?

[@gray_mara]

Good point! I used to be a farm cook and our chickens were enormous, at least twice the size of the paltry poultry I see in shops today. I imagine chickens back then would have been the same, allowed to grow to maturity to maximise egg production. One of our large chickens served 8-10, so two shows that it must have been for a large group, especially as facilities for storage were limited.

[@gailsears2913]

Very interesting! Thank you for digging it up!

[@johnnycasteel7]

Chickens were very expensive, what a concept

[@unclebob1959]

Proud subscriber for 6 years. I miss Indiana!

[@gtbkts]

Thanks for all the amazing videos and epic content!!

[@kinjiru731]

Boy that's a really different take on chicken soup, isn't it?

[@smorefirewood]

Always the best videos when John presents the material.

[@JasonSpanhur]

Great vid from a great channel.

[@arunkumarmarndi6317]

Great video! Would love to have make this in my home!

[@CheapCreep]

*SOUP™* (some disassembly required)

[@ThermomixTm6Edition]

i love youtube clicked on this video have never heard about u but i would like to say well produced content and u have a badass subscriber count, and u inspire me to maybe do some more as a creator, thank u

[@JohnDrummondVA]

Today we would call this "Whole stuffed chicken cooked in beef soup." I am fascinated.

[@ladyprudence6]

I love this channel!

[@stanlee06]

Recipe for polish rosół(chicken soup) is find first in book from 1682 called "Compendium ferculorum, albo zebranie potraw". It's first(or first preserved) polish cook book.

[@floridaprepper751]

Great video sir. Chicken soup is timeless.

[@reignofbliss]

One thing to remember about medicine and medical theory in the 1700s and 1800s was that it was almost entirely ~vibes~. Things like radium and mummified human remains were cure-alls, seen as invigorating, energetic, and healing. From that perspective, it isn't hard to imagine putting a snake in soup for vitality.

[@gray_mara]

I'm definitely going to be quoting this in the future. What a great description!

[@reignofbliss]

@@gray_mara Thank you! If you want to learn more, Kaz Rowe has a couple great videos on Victorian medicine and Abby Cox has one on mummies as medicine.

[@gray_mara]

@reignofbliss I watched the Abby Cox one, but I haven't seen Kaz Rowe's video. I'll check it out, thanks!

[@knzjvmatc-3]

"Of course, I have beef..." Hmmm...saying you don't like Sheep? Hmmm...Cheers from Tasmania (where we don't skimp on the Sheep...).

[@loganl3746]

Mutton is not very common here in the States. You can get lamb sometimes, but basically never get mutton.

[@KC-gy5xw]

Chicken wouldn't have been so common, unless they had old layers that were past their time! Love me sheep/mutton... Jamaican parents, so used to goat and mutton isn't so different once its curried!! Yum... Mum *hates* lamb, but if I cook it right, she don't realise what she's eating!! Hah!!

[@KC-gy5xw]

@@loganl3746 My friend his parents spent a few weeks over here in UK and had some dish made of lamb as much as they could during that time: They love it, but can't get it so much in USA - they took advantage of being in UK to taste it every damn day!! 😁

[@knzjvmatc-3]

@@loganl3746 I understand...it was more of a tongue-in-cheek dig. Seriously, though you folks are missing out, by not eating sheep. It is sold here as lamb, because some time in the last 50 years, some marketing goofball got all sooky about the name 'Mutton'. Lamb is up to 12 months old, Hogget around 18 months & Mutton 2-years plus. Hogget combines the tenderness of Lamb & the flavour of Mutton. Cheers!

[@knzjvmatc-3]

@@KC-gy5xw My goodness! How deceitful of you...(Grin).

[@jamesriley2594]

Would a more modern version of the recipe have you shred the meat and remove the bones and mix it before serving?

[@TheZinmo]

Are you certain that i would be celery stalks and not root celery? I had the impression that celery stalks are a quit modern thing.

[@tiny989]

Well considering that the stocks grow from the roots likely in this case both could be used

[@viridian4573]

​​@@tiny989 Root celery is known as celeriac which forms a single large underground root similar in shape to a large turnip or rutabaga. Celeriac is a cousin to celery which is used for its bunched aboveground stalks and to lovage which it used mostly for its flavorful leaves as a seasoning herb. Parsley, chervil, parsnips and carrots are also part of the Apiaceae family. The roots of celery ( with the thick aboveground stalks) are not eaten because this plant grows a spreading mass of thin fibrous roots not an edible tuber-like root like celeriac (aka celery root).

[@degariuslozak2169]

Soup Chicken

[@marcusaurelius5149]

Needlessly complicated chicken soup. My favorite!

[@brittanylooney7623]

Wow. This looks amazing. What a unique way of doing chicken soup. I’m gonna have to try this 😊

[@fadedout2562]

Love that chicken soup

[@dalehallmark9174]

Nice looking recipe. A pretty good (any soup) thickener is barley flour used similar to a corn starch. I prefer it to corn starch. YMMV

[@RaspK]

Greek soups are still traditionally thickened with egg, typically also adding lemon juice to bring contrast to the fattiness of the eggs.

[@olddawgdreaming5715]

Thanks for sharing with us Jon, that was an interesting way of putting together a good Chicken Soup. How was the stuffing you made, did you serve any of it in the soup mixed in your bowl? Stay safe and keep up the great recipes around there that you share with everyone. Fred.

[@Xani13]

They likely thought the snake was medicinal due to the reference in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible about the bronze serpent (hence why the medical symbol is a serpent wrapped around a pole).

[@y6cd3sdzHs1g]

I'm just shooting from the hip but wasn't the snake thing an ancient Greek or Egyptian thing? Christianity co-opted a lot of pre-existing "pagan" stuff to push its acceptance, can't really trust anything from the bible

[@jaydoggy9043]

The way I interpreted the end with the eggs: I thought it was going to be a sort of Egg Drop Soup, but eggs as thickener is definitely different to me!

[@AlejandroSanchez-pl6jw]

I come back to this channel for wholesome content.

[@meganlalli5450]

Jon, I thought for a moment youveere going to end with, "as we celebrate the flavors and aromas of the 18th century." This looks very delicious, especially as the days get colder.

[@macsarcule]

Yum! Amazing! 🙂💜✨

[@KingdomDumb]

2 scrawny old world chickens or 1 hefty new world chicken! 😂

[@CzlowiekDrzewo]

It looks really good!

[@JohnAranita]

About Campbell's Chicken Noodle. No need to dilute it. Perfect as is.

[@SFforlife]

This looks like it would taste phenomenal!

[@whanethewhip]

My GF thinks it's weird that I sometimes cook beef and rice except that the rice is chicken flavored but I've always liked the two different meat flavors combined.

[@Agueroooo]

Making viper broth for thanksgiving this year

[@amymandeville8342]

I love homemade chicken soup! Mom and I have it frequently. Everyone makes theirs differently and I don't always make mine the same way.

[@mikebomar8230]

It's great to see this video I just made homemade chicken soup yesterday.

[@dwaynewladyka577]

An interesting soup concept. That chicken soup does look good. Cheers!

[@dustinmorrison6315]

I think thickening a soup with egg is an italian thing. NotAnotherCookingShow has a recipe for pastina we cook all the time that does that. We honestly like having the scrambled egg bits in there too.

[@lordbarristertimsh8050]

Love this channel ! Also, what is the music you used in this video? I really love it.

[@JROTCBALL]

Love that this soup has almost every barnyard animal in it xD

[@TootTootUSA]

It IS soup time of the year!

[@rakshitya9826]

Gimme that.

[@TheWarthogRunGame]

Ya'll able to do a "Viper broth" sometime? I feel like such a video might peak the interest of everyone!

[@WildwoodCastle]

I'm really looking forward to making this period chicken soup... No snake will be included... 👀

[@natviolen4021]

"No snake will be included." spoilsport 😁

[@DJMarcO138]

I just made a bangin' caldo de pollo this afternoon! Love a good chicken soup.

[@PsychicIsaacs]

BTW, I have raised meat pigeons in the past. Out of curiosity, I did the economic sums for raising Old English Game Bantams for meat versus raising pigeons. Their production levels and feed expenses are similar, and they produce about the same number of table birds per hen, per year. The advantage is, you need fewer cocks (pigeons form strong, monogamous pair bonds, whereas chickens are polygamous). So, this probably makes it more economical to raise Old English Game Bantams for meat, than meat pigeons. The carcasses are about the same size and make a nice meal for one, or a gallon pot of chicken soup (will feed four people). Back in the day, the owner of a winning bird in a cockfight would get to take the loser (dead cock) home, to feed his family, so there is a long tradition of folks eating soups made from these birds. And yes, they are delicious!

[@azraphon]

Viper broth makes a lot of sense. Chickens (like all birds) are in fact reptiles and a snake is all spine - the part that gives most flavour to a broth. Something to think about!

[@MEDavis-kn3ph]

Its possible the forcemeat would be dried fruit such as apples and prunes ground or beaten together with nutmeats and perhaps rice or grains for stuffing. Probably an old scrawny hen " boiled to death". Or maybe wild chicken, tough, lean, hardly edible, but full of flavor and nutrition. Thats what happened to the old mean rooster who chased me around the yard one last time when I was five !

[@TheRosieBoy]

Snake, at least rattlesnakes, taste delicious!! 💝 gree up eating them when i lived in AZ. We always cooked them on the BBQ. Tastes close to chicken and has that texture of chicken thigh. If you ever get the chance to try some, dont pass up on it!

[@maximilian9000]

Tempering eggs is about diluting the eggs so they dont clump together when they cook. They still cook in the soup. That is how they thicken the soup.

[@Splendid123456789]

I loved this recipe! Thank you Mr. Townsend! How did they clean the egg off of that little wisker thing you have? Wishing you and yours a very lovely and happy Thanksgiving!

[@townsends]

Just whisk some really hot water right after you use it, and it's cleaned off.

[@Splendid123456789]

@townsends Thank you!

[@TheAaronChand]

​@townsends in India during the 18th century you had a similar idea with a dish called Nahari which is a meat Curry made with lamb beef or mutton and sometimes chicken. It was invented in the 18th century or 17th century in Old Dehl when the Mughal Muslim Empire was ruling India Nawabs or Dukes who where usually Muslims would eat Nahari after sunrise prayers it became a breakfast dish served to working labour's due to its engery bosting properties. It's still used today as a home remedy for Colds and Flu. After independence from the Brtish Empire And partion of India when Pakistan and later Bangladesh became separate countries Nahari became the national dish of Pakistan and it's well known in Bangladesh not so much in India

[@KristaJ73]

I kick my chicken soup up with a little bit of lemon. Brightens it.

[@richki.24]

when my grandmother was alive she swore by chicken soup as a healing food ...