Bookbinder soup

Bookbinder soup

Bookbinder's soup is a type of soup pioneered in the United States of America in 1893 when Samuel Bookbinder created Old Original Bookbinder's restaurant in Philadelphia. The soup is served at some other restaurants including the Drake Hotel in Chicago. The soup is tomato-based with typical stew vegetables such as carrots, celery, bell peppers, onions, leeks, mushrooms, and garlic. It is commonly made with snapping turtle.

The soup made by the Drake Hotel in Chicago has been written about by several different sites and is said to take less than an hour and a half to make. The Chicago Tribune released a list of ingredients and directions on how to prepare the Drake’s version of the soup. The authors say that this was given to them by the executive chef at the Drake.^[1]

Etymology

Bookbinder's soup name is derived from one of the restaurants where it is served, Old Original Bookbinder's. The name Bookbinder came from Samuel Bookbinder, who opened Old Original Bookbinder's in 1893. Samuel Bookbinder was a Jewish immigrant from the Netherlands.^[2] The name of the soup comes solely from the name of the restaurant because it has been served at the restaurant for over 100 years now. The soup is often referred to as "snapper soup", because snapping turtles are used. However, at different restaurants other than Old Original Bookbinder's, the soup is referred to as Bookbinder's, for example at Drake Hotel in Chicago. Bookbinder's lists the soup as snapper soup in their own menu.

References

1. "Would like to have the recipe for the Bookbinder red...". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
2. "Two Restaurants, Two Families - And No End To The Confusion One, The Old Original, Is Operated Now By Taxins. And The Date Of Its Founding? Well That Depends . .". philly-archives. Retrieved 27 June 2015.