The Queen’s Soup: its origins and history

Bep Al·lès/Ciutadella – Now that Christmas is just around the corner, over the coming weeks we will be talking about two typical dishes from the island of Menorca that have been part of its traditional recipe book since the 19th century: the Queen’s Soup and the Queen’s Nougat, both of which are still found on many Christmas tables.

This week we begin with the Queen’s Soup, and next week we will turn our attention to the Queen’s Nougat. However, these dishes are not dedicated to the same queen, but to different queens, as we will see below.

A Christmas soup

The Queen’s Soup is a broth traditionally served on St Stephen’s Day, also known as the second day of Christmas, as well as on New Year’s Day. In addition to the Christmas broth, usually made with turkey, it includes small fried meatballs the size of a hazelnut, cubes of fried bread, hard-boiled egg, pieces of turkey breast, capon or hen and, depending on the household—since it can be said that every family has its own recipe—small pieces of cooked ham, savoury custard, potato… as well as fine noodles and, in some versions, semolina.

It is said that the origin of the recipe is Spanish, from the library of the Monastery of Alcántara, but that it was stolen during the War of Independence in 1807 and recreated by the cook of King Louis XV for Queen Marie Leszczy?ska under the name consommé à la Reine. Others suggest that it was not in honour of Queen Marie, but of Marguerite de Valois, wife of Henry IV, who popularised it in France as poule au pot, which she ate every Thursday for both lunch and supper.

As mentioned, this recipe is very popular in Menorca, especially in the towns of Ciutadella, Ferreries and Es Mercadal, where it is still served as the first course on the second day of Christmas. Perhaps it remains to be discovered whether this was one of the dishes introduced by the French during their brief stay on the island in the 18th century, or whether it was already a common part of the Christmas culinary tradition.