Consomme Nids d'Hirondelles
ince the days of Kublai Khan, the Great, whose Tartar hordes swept over China centuries ago, swallows nest soup has been a luxury to grace the table of epicures and kings.
The exquisite taste of this typical Oriental delicacy so delighted the palates of the Tartar kings, says tradition, that tidings of it were carried back to Europe by traders and wanderers. So in time the news reached Paris and Chinese swallows nests soon were brought from the far East—priceless luxuries for the delectation of the anointed.
The nests, which are gathered in cliffs, are composed of a gelatinous substance, said to be the spawn of fish, and impart a delightful piquancy to chicken stock. Alexander Dumas—as celebrated a gastronomer as a writer—upon tasting the consomme pronounced it a dish fit for the gods.
Only the choicest of these nests—collected from the most perilous ledges along the Asiatic Coast—are used by the Congress chefs in preparing this culinary rarity.
A sort of soup or broth, or brew,
Or hotchpotch of all sorts of fishes,
That Greenwich never could outdo:
Green herbs, red peppers, mussels, saffron,
Soles, onions, garlic, roach and dace:
All these you eat at Terre's tavern
In that one bowl of Bouillabaise.
And true philosophers, methinks,
Who love all sorts of natural beauties,
Should love good victuals and good drinks.
And Cordelier or Benedictine
Might gladly, sure, his lot embrace,
Nor find a fast-day too afflicting,
Which served him up a Bouillabaise."
—Thackeray's "Ballad of Bouillabaise"