Home | Cookbooks | Diary | Magic Menu | Surprise! | More ≡

Sops or Soppes

Breads
Historic

Pieces of bread over which a soup or broth is poured. Known at least since the 'Ayenbite of inwyt' of about 1340 "Ase is a zop of hot bryead huanne me hit potež in-to wyn." and in a 15Cent cookery book we find "Then cast the same licour vppon že Soppes, and serue hit forthe fore a good potage". Broth-on-Sops as a method of service appears repeatedly until, by the early 19Cent it was necessary for writers to explain what this old-fashioned practice was.

Although this manner of service, once commonplace, is now rare or extinct in England, where it has evolved into things-on-toast, a variant continues to be offered in parts of Canada as 'hot sandwich with gravy' The name is carried on in Mexico and the Southern USA where 'sopes mexicanos' are thick corn bread-cake made from masa harina, water, salt, and oil with toppings, like chicken, vegetables, and salsa.


Canadian hot chicken sandwich
Image: https://www.rosacooking.com



Sopes Mexicanos
Image: patijinich.com


Some receipts including sops include:
Aleberry
Chickens with Lettuce
Milk Soup
Oil Soup
Tripe with Spinach
Poultry with Citrus Sauce
Marrow Toast
Red Herring


Many more references will be found in old cookbooks such as:
The Accomplisht Cook, 1660
The Forme of Cury, 1390
The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby, 1669
The Compleat Cook, 1658







MORE FROM Foods of England...
Cookbooks Diary Index Magic Menu Random Really English? Timeline Donate English Service Food Map of England Lost Foods Accompaniments Biscuits Breads Cakes and Scones Cheeses Classic Meals Curry Dishes Dairy Drinks Egg Dishes Fish Fruit Fruits & Vegetables Game & Offal Meat & Meat Dishes Pastries and Pies Pot Meals Poultry Preserves & Jams Puddings & Sweets Sauces and Spicery Sausages Scones Soups Sweets and Toffee About ... Bookshop

Email: editor@foodsofengland.co.uk


COPYRIGHT and ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: © Glyn Hughes 2022
BUILT WITH WHIMBERRY