Who's in the Soup Kitchen

Consider how presidents have manipulated the image of soup itself--serving, as it does, to symbolize both poverty (the soup kitchen) and the common man. Herbert Hoover was, to his sorrow, forever linked to the image of soup lines, symbol of depression America, but FDR turned those tables into a triumph of solidarity when he instituted Tuesday Soup Nights in the White House. (Franklin Roosevelt liked Martha Washington's original crab soup, but with a splash of Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry in it.) Here's First Lady Eleanor, just down from Hyde Park in an oh-so fashionable cloche, doing the honors at a soup kitchen.

Martha Washington’s Crab Soup

1/2 pound fresh crab meat (or 1 cup canned or frozen)
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
3 hard boiled eggs, mashed
Grated zest of 1 lemon
4 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sherry
Dash Worcestershire

Boil crabs in salted water to get meat (if using fresh). In a large saucepan, combine butter, flour, eggs, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Boil on low heat and pour milk in slowly. Add crabmeat to milk mixture and gently cook for 5 minutes. Add cream and remove from heat before it reaches a full boil. Add sherry and Worcestershire. Serves 2.