Rules' Stilton Soup

Among my favorite restaurants in the world is Rules in London. It is the oldest restaurant in London (though there are food-serving pubs that are older), and it is wonderfully Edwardian (it was, in fact, one of Bertie's haunts, and a place he regularly took Lily Langtry). They have a splendid menu, with the specialty being game. I virtually always have the same thing -- the Stilton soup and the wild Highland red deer, though the preparation of the deer varies from trip to trip.

I have had great venison other places, but I've never found anything comparable to Rules' Stilton soup. It is slightly seasonal, in that it is prepared with celery in the fall and watercress in the spring -- and though one can hardly discern the vegetable matter at all, this element being overwhelmed by the silky, creamy, succulence of the Stilton, I still prefer the version with watercress.

So the post might serve to send you to Rules next time you're in London, but my real purpose is to find out if anyone has a recipe for this soup or knows how I might come by one.

I may try to figure this out myself, when the current work deadlines have passed and I come up for air once again, but in the meantime, I thought I'd find out if someone in the forum has already tackled this and discovered the secret to this fabulous soup.

Thanks.

HI,

Over at Epicurious, they have a Leek and Stilton soup with Port. It would adapt well to substituting celery and watercress depending on the season. It might be just perfect as-is.

Regards,

I don't know anything about stilton soup, but your post has put me in the mind of a spectacular dinner I once had in the secret private dining room at Lily Langtree's in the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas. They have a chef from Hong Kong who does nothing but cook in this private room, usually for high rollers from China and Japan. There is no menu. You can request anything you want and it is cooked to order from a seemingly endless stash of exotic Chinese ingredients...or you can put yourself in the hands of the chef. That was a truly great dinner. Thanks for the memories!

Cathy2 wrote:Over at Epicurious, they have a Leek and Stilton soup with Port. It would adapt well to substituting celery and watercress depending on the season. It might be just perfect as-is.

Well, it doesn't look like it's precisely the same soup, but it looks like it would easily be modified -- and at least it gives me some quantities to start with. I'd probably have just gone and gotten a pound of Stilton -- not that that's a bad idea.

I'll look forward to trying this.

Thanks.

stevez wrote:I don't know anything about stilton soup, but your post has put me in the mind of a spectacular dinner I once had in the secret private dining room at Lily Langtree's in the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas. They have a chef from Hong Kong who does nothing but cook in this private room, usually for high rollers from China and Japan. There is no menu. You can request anything you want and it is cooked to order from a seemingly endless stash of exotic Chinese ingredients...or you can put yourself in the hands of the chef. That was a truly great dinner. Thanks for the memories!

Anything you want?

So, what was your wish?

David Hammond wrote:Anything you want?

So, what was your wish?

Duck. And lot's of it.

HI,

I looked up and down Rules website hoping they might have a cookbook. You may also want to go back a number of pages on Google, because maybe somewhere someone has posted their effort to make that soup.

You could also post on a London-centric website, because very likely someone has tried to imitate their soup. I still have a clipping from the Chicago Tribune Magaine from the early 1980's when they attempted to make an Apple Pancake like Walker Brothers. If it is as good as you indicate, there has to be out there a recipe.

Best regards,

Cynthia,
I have not had the soup you refer to,, but, in the interests of widening the search, I am aware of a soup that involves stilton. The cheese and some cream are incorporated into a soup made with chicken stock and a puree of onion, cabbage, and cauliflower. The cabbage and cheese synthesis is nothing short of miraculous. All you can taste is a certain nuttliness. The cabbage supports the umami from the blue cheese with its turn toward sweetness. Wow. I can locate the recipe once I am settled if you like.

Josephine wrote:Cynthia,
I have not had the soup you refer to.

Airfares to London are pretty low right now, so we could fix that, if you'd like.

And yes, I'd love the recipe you have if/when you find it.

Cynthia wrote:Airfares to London are pretty low right now, so we could fix that, if you'd like.

The idea of an escape is very tempting, I must say. . . Estimated date for finding soup recipe: December 12th.

You could write in to Bon Appetit - in the front section of their magazine every month, they feature people's requests of how to reproduce favorite things they've had from restaurants. I assume they have contacts with the industry that we just don't and they could get the recipe for you (and maybe your request will be published!)

messycook wrote:You could write in to Bon Appetit - in the front section of their magazine every month, they feature people's requests of how to reproduce favorite things they've had from restaurants. I assume they have contacts with the industry that we just don't and they could get the recipe for you (and maybe your request will be published!)

That would certainly be fun. Even if I managed to reproduce the soup, it would be lovely to have the "real" recipe. Thanks for the suggestion.