Brown Windsor soup is a traditional British soup which was popular in Victorian and Edwardian times. For some reason it was also popular in the 1980s – and was a starter on the menu of Fawlty Towers.

Marguerite Patten in her Century of British Cooking book has this to say on the subject:

The title of this soup suggests it was a favourite at Windsor Castle but I can find no record that confirms this. Over the years the word ‘brown’ has prefixed the name. Sadly this often describes a very indifferent dish. The true Windsor soup, whether clear or thick and satisfying, is rich in flavour and very delicious. The bouquet garni suggested for this soup consists of parsley, thyme, rosemary, and a bay leaf.

(You can see two different recipes by Marguerite Patten for brown Windsor soup here: a clear version and a thick version.)

Since the 1980s brown Windsor soup has fallen out of fashion but – just as with many other dishes which have been cast aside like old lovers – it's now become fashionable to create a new take on an old dish.

Donna Hay’s Modern Classics Book 1 also revives and recreates old favourites, although – to the best of my knowledge – she hasn't written about brown Windsor soup yet.

That honour falls to Jamie Oliver, who published a brown Windsor soup recipe in the July 2008 edition of the Australian delicious magazine. Browsing through the magazine, I saw the photo and thought “Yum!”. It was only afterwards that I noticed the title – brown Windsor soup with pearl barley. Oh well, I’ll try just about anything once and had a go at making it.

It was pretty good. Certainly filling. I might make it again, but for similar cost, time and effort, and ingredients, on reflection I'd probably rather have goulash soup, which is more complex and tastier. I also made some dumplings to go with the brown Windsor soup – now that'll stick to your ribs on a cold day.

This is Jamie Oliver’s recipe for brown Windsor soup with pearl barley. He suggests serving it with hunks of cheesy mustard soda bread to mop up every delicious drop, but I made dumplings for my version.

I sort of followed Jamie's version and it turned out tasty, but for the time and effort I definitely prefer goulash soup. Here's Jamie Oliver's modern take on this classic dish.

Brown Windsor Soup With Pearl Barley

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

A large knob of butter
Olive oil
500g chuck steak, diced
1 tbsp Marmite or Vegemite
A splash of Worcestershire sauce
1 red onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, trimmed, chopped
1 bay leaf
A sprig of fresh rosemary
1 tbsp plain flour
2 litres (8 cups) beef stock
¾ cup (150g) pearl barley

Method

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Lightly brown the meat in the pan, then stir in Marmite and Worcestershire sauce. Turn the heat up and keep stirring as the meat browns further. It will start releasing lots of juices – just keep stirring and cooking until all the liquid has evaporated.

Throw in the veggies, bay leaf and rosemary. Cover and sweat gently over low heat for about 8 minutes or until the vegetables have softened. Stir in the flour and, after 1 minute, pour in the stock. Season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer, add the pearl barley and cook for about 1 hour until the pearl barley is soft.

Take the saucepan off the heat and discard the bayleaf and rosemary sprig. Whizz the soup with a hand-held blender for a couple of seconds so it thickens but there are still some chunky bits in it, then give it a good stir.

I have a couple of Jamie Oliver cookbooks and find them very useful. Good, tasty stuff without over-complicating things. I’ll review them soon.

Cook With Jamie

Jamie Oliver
Hardback, 448 pages
2006, Michael Joseph
ISBN 0 718 14771 5
RRP: £26.00

In her excellent book, Marguerite Patten’s Century of British Cooking, Marguerite gives two recipes for Windsor soup (you can also see our comments about the dish here.) One is for a clear version and one for a thicker, heartier version which, she says, is the Windsor soup known today. She calls the first one simply Windsor soup. Here is her version of thick Windsor Soup.

Version 2 – Thick Windsor Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the stock:

1 calf’s foot
few beef bones
2.1 litres/3½ pt water
bouquet garni
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup:

50g/2 oz beef dripping or butter
1 large onion, chopped
225g/8 oz stewing beef, diced
2 medium carrots
2 celery sticks, chopped
bouquet garni
150 ml/¼ pt Madeira wine

Method

Put all the ingredients for the stock into a pan and simmer for 2 to 2½ hours then strain and measure out 1.5 litres/2½ pints.

Heat the dripping or butter, add the onion and beef and stir over a low heat for 10 minutes. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil then add the carrots, celery and extra herbs. Simmer for 2 hours, then sieve or liquidise. Return to the pan with the wine and reheat. Check the seasoning and then garnish as for the clear version.

Variations: It is the beef and vegetables that thicken the soup. If you like it even thicker use a little flour or cornflour or add 1 or 2 diced potatoes with the other vegetables.

Another way of adding body is to add 50g/2 oz long grain rice when reheating the soup. Cook until the rice is tender.

(You could also try Jamie Oliver’s modern take on Brown Windsor Soup with barley.)

Marguerite Patten’s Century of British Cooking

Marguerite Patten
Hardback, 336 pages
1999, Grub Street
ISBN 1 902304 14 4
RRP: £25.00