oggbashan
Dying Truth seeker
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2002
- Posts
- 56,017
Soup, Sir?
In 1960 I travelled from the UK to Australia as a first class passenger on the flagship of the Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd (Royal Rotterdam Lloyd) MV Willem Ruys.
The voyage was enjoyable, comfortable, and the staff were magnificent. Their attention to passenger comfort was exemplary. I only realised how good they had been when I travelled on other ships.
But there was one problem. Meals were a lottery because the menus were in Dutch and the Dutch interpretation of Restaurant French. Their French didn’t align with the English version of Restaurant French, and of course neither would have made sense to a real Frenchman.
The menus were extensive and there was a significant choice of main course. However, reading the menu we weren’t sure whether the meat (or fish) was just that, and we should order vegetables as well, or whether the dish came with appropriate vegetables. We could have a bare piece of meat, or a dish amply supplied with vegetables and our extra order of vegetables as well.
We could have asked the waiter. We did. He/she could explain in Dutch IF he/she knew what the dish was. Usually they were as clueless as we were, and we didn’t understand Dutch. We had Dutch people on our table but although their English was better than the waiter’s, they didn’t understand the menu either. Sometimes it didn’t make sense in Dutch. It looked good with a wide choice but what the listed items were? We didn’t know.
For all of us, evening meals were a gamble. We would try to understand and then order. Until the plate arrived at the table we might have no idea what would come. By day two the six of us on our table had worked out a strategy. We would order six different items, and vegetables if we thought them necessary. Those who had too many vegetables would pass them to those who had none. After a week into the voyage we had learned most of the items by trial and error.
But Soup? Surely soup should be easy? It wasn’t.
Here is a selection of the soups listed on 1960 1st class menus from another voyage, not the one I was on:
Monday
Clear Trois Filets Soup (Heldere Trois Filets Soep)
Bagration Cream Soup (Gebonden Bagration Soep)
Tuesday
Clear Solange Soup (Heldere Solange Soep)
Clermont Cream Soup (Gebonden Clermont Soep)
Wednesday
Clear Italienne Soup (Heldere Italienne Soep) I knew that one!
Caroline Cream Soup (Gebonden Caroline Soep)
Thursday
Clear Bergère Soup (Heldere Bergère Soep)
Dubarry Cream Soup (Gebonden Dubarry Soep)
Friday
Clear Madrilène Soup (Heldere Madrilène Soep)
Londonderry Cream Soup (Gebonden Londonderry Soep)
Saturday
Clear Belle Fermière Soup (Heldere Belle Fermière Soep)
Jackson Cream Soup (Gebonden Jackson Soep)
Obviously Soup = Soep; Clear = Heldere; and Cream = Gebonden. There was a choice of Clear or Cream Soup everytime.
But what were the soups? Apart from Italienne, I still don’t know.
Any suggestions about what each soup might have been?
In 1960 I travelled from the UK to Australia as a first class passenger on the flagship of the Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd (Royal Rotterdam Lloyd) MV Willem Ruys.
The voyage was enjoyable, comfortable, and the staff were magnificent. Their attention to passenger comfort was exemplary. I only realised how good they had been when I travelled on other ships.
But there was one problem. Meals were a lottery because the menus were in Dutch and the Dutch interpretation of Restaurant French. Their French didn’t align with the English version of Restaurant French, and of course neither would have made sense to a real Frenchman.
The menus were extensive and there was a significant choice of main course. However, reading the menu we weren’t sure whether the meat (or fish) was just that, and we should order vegetables as well, or whether the dish came with appropriate vegetables. We could have a bare piece of meat, or a dish amply supplied with vegetables and our extra order of vegetables as well.
We could have asked the waiter. We did. He/she could explain in Dutch IF he/she knew what the dish was. Usually they were as clueless as we were, and we didn’t understand Dutch. We had Dutch people on our table but although their English was better than the waiter’s, they didn’t understand the menu either. Sometimes it didn’t make sense in Dutch. It looked good with a wide choice but what the listed items were? We didn’t know.
For all of us, evening meals were a gamble. We would try to understand and then order. Until the plate arrived at the table we might have no idea what would come. By day two the six of us on our table had worked out a strategy. We would order six different items, and vegetables if we thought them necessary. Those who had too many vegetables would pass them to those who had none. After a week into the voyage we had learned most of the items by trial and error.
But Soup? Surely soup should be easy? It wasn’t.
Here is a selection of the soups listed on 1960 1st class menus from another voyage, not the one I was on:
Monday
Clear Trois Filets Soup (Heldere Trois Filets Soep)
Bagration Cream Soup (Gebonden Bagration Soep)
Tuesday
Clear Solange Soup (Heldere Solange Soep)
Clermont Cream Soup (Gebonden Clermont Soep)
Wednesday
Clear Italienne Soup (Heldere Italienne Soep) I knew that one!
Caroline Cream Soup (Gebonden Caroline Soep)
Thursday
Clear Bergère Soup (Heldere Bergère Soep)
Dubarry Cream Soup (Gebonden Dubarry Soep)
Friday
Clear Madrilène Soup (Heldere Madrilène Soep)
Londonderry Cream Soup (Gebonden Londonderry Soep)
Saturday
Clear Belle Fermière Soup (Heldere Belle Fermière Soep)
Jackson Cream Soup (Gebonden Jackson Soep)
Obviously Soup = Soep; Clear = Heldere; and Cream = Gebonden. There was a choice of Clear or Cream Soup everytime.
But what were the soups? Apart from Italienne, I still don’t know.
Any suggestions about what each soup might have been?
