Bisque offers rich way to enjoy crabmeat

Good sweet Maine crabmeat is just the ticket for the bisque that Laurie Littlefield was looking for. I know some of you with lobstermen neighbors can get crabs from them, and pick the meat yourself, while others will have to buy some. Even canned crabmeat is fine in this recipe, which came from Alice Girven of Islesboro.

Now the word bisque sent me scurrying to the dictionary and various other cookbooks, because it would appear nowadays that a bisque is just a seafood soup. One definition from the 1700s said it ought to be spelled “bisk” and was “a rich pottage made with quails, capons, fat pullets, and especially pigeons roasted.” But the older “Joy of Cooking” said it is a soup made with shellfish.

I think this needs a bit more research, but I suspect that our Colonial mothers would have been astonished to see us use so much milk in a soup, and our Victorian mothers would have said this would make a good chowder if we hadn’t left out the potatoes and fish. I suspect a French influence here.

Who cares? It’s delicious no matter where it came from.

The word minced associated with onions, carrots, and celery, makes me think “food processor” – a few good pulses on chunks of those vegetables nicely does it. The herbs ought to be fresh if you can manage it. Parsley, tarragon, dill and chives are good. I make a bundle of them in my fist, and use kitchen scissors to snip them into the soup.

I hear that a good bisque can be constructed from canned cream of celery soup, thinned with milk or water, as long as a generous splash of sherry and some herbs are added. That might be a good fallback if company shows up at a quarter to dinnertime.

Send queries or answers to Sandy Oliver, 1061 Main Road, Islesboro 04848. E-mail: tastebuds@prexar.com. For recipes, tell us where they came from. List ingredients, specify number of servings and do not abbreviate measurements. Include name, address and daytime phone number.

Crab Bisque

3/4 stick of butter or 6 tablespoons

11/2 medium onions, minced

1 carrot, minced

1/2 stalk of celery, minced

2 tablespoons of flour

1 quart of whole milk

1 teaspoon each of finely chopped fresh parsley, tarragon, chives, dill

1/2 pound of lump crab meat (or more if you wish)

1/4 cup of Madeira or dry sherry

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a heavy two-quart saucepan. Add the minced vegetables and saut? until they are soft. Add the flour, and cook for five minutes stirring constantly. Add the milk and herbs, and stir to avoid any lumps. Then add the crab and Madeira, and salt and pepper. Bring it to a simmer over a medium heat, for about 15 to 20 minutes. Do not let it boil.