SOUPSONG HAS GONE HARDCOPY!
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Release date: 12/28/2004.

You'll find this recipe in it, From AN EXALTATION OF SOUPS,
copyright © 2004
by Patricia Solley,
Published by Three Rivers Press.

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Inspired by the classic recipe in Norman Douglas' Venus in the Kitchen, or Love's Cookery Book (written under the pseudonym of Pilaff Bey), this soup stands on its own as a kind of decadent snack late on some winter's night when you and your honey are wakeful and at loose ends. Almonds were known throughout antiquity for stimulating desire: Samson wooed Delilah with them; Sheik al Nefzawi swore by them; Alexandre Dumas dined on a bowl of almond soup each night before enjoying the favors of Mme. Mars, a diva of the theater. Rich and thickly nutty, slightly honeyed, this soup is lifted to heavenly delight with the tart contrast of jewel-red rasberries. Serve hot to two people with appetite...and maybe with champagne.

• 2 hard-cooked egg yolks
• 1 cup almonds, blanched and skinned
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup light cream
• 2 Tablespoons honey

Garnish: 1/4 cup fresh rasberries, crushed and lightly sugared

Put nuts and egg yolks in the blender and chop fine. Slowly add the chicken stock, a spoonful at a time, until the ingredients make a fine paste. Continue blending on high speed as you slowly pour in the rest of the chicken stock and cream. Pour the contents into a saucepan and heat the soup very carefully on a low heat until it is hot and thick. It must never boil or it will curdle. Stir in the honey right before serving. Ladle into two bowls. Top each with spoonsful of the rasberry puree and serve immediately.