Rumford Soup

Rumford Soup was invented in the late 1780s in Germany by minister Benjamin Thompson, also known as Count Rumford.

Poverty, corruption, and troubles with the army weighed heavily on him. Upon coming to power, he set about making sweeping changes. His grandest project was perhaps the Munich Plan, which aimed to rid the city of beggars by feeding the poor and putting them to work. After sending troops to round up the beggars, Rumford established workhouses where the poor, children included, laboured at making military uniforms. A new challenge then arose: all these workers needed to be fed. It was at this moment that Sir Benjamin began to think seriously about how to make food both nourishing and affordable.

Rumford was among the first champions of the potato as a good, cheap, and filling food, at a time when many Europeans still regarded this ingredient from the New World with suspicion. To ease people into accepting this unfamiliar food, the Count decided to add it in the form of a purée. After some experimentation, he arrived at the recipe for a perfect, nourishing, and inexpensive soup. It was cooked with peas, vegetables, potatoes, and pearl barley, seasoned with vinegar and salt, and served with a piece of bread. This dish became Sir Benjamin's secret soup, which in time came to be known as Rumford Soup and was prepared with an ever-growing variety of ingredients.