Bread Bowls

Posted by Bobaganush on Jan 6, 2012 in Faire Food | 3 comments

One of my favorite things to eat at a Renaissance Fair or Festival is the soup in the bread bowl!

Now the real problem is that I don’t know which I like more:  the bread bowl or the soup.  I have had lobster bisque in the bread bowl.  I have had clam chowder in the bread bowl.  I have had broccoli cheese soup in the bread bowl.  All of the soup were good and the bread bowls are almost always the same but there is no better feeling then devouring the bread bowl after it has soaked up the soup for the better part of 15 minutes.

Here is my theory when eating the bread bowl.  First things first, save the cap for last.  Start eating the soup.  You don’t want to eat too fast, if you eat the soup too fast then it doesn’t have time to soak into the bread.  Work the soup!  Start in the middle and let the soup soak in.  After you have achieved maximum ‘soakage,’ you are ready to start on the main course.

Take your spoon and start pulling the completely-soaked bread from the sides of the bowl.  This is the tenderloin of the bread bowl.  It is full of the flavor of the filling you chose.  It is soaked and tender.  It is the BEST!

After you are done with the gooey goodness of the inside of the bread bowl you can dig into the crusty part of the bread bowl.  If you were smart you may have let some of the soup slop over the side of the bowl so that you can soak it up with the crust.  Either way, the crust is always amazing.  It has the taste and texture of a French bread and the crust is always a little thick – it has to be to contain the soup.

Finally, you are left with the cap.  Savor the cap like it is the lid of a pudding cup.  This is the hidden treasure that comes with the bread bowl.  It is also portable, take it with you.  Get a bread bowl at the next fair you attend.  Find a picnic table and gorge yourself.  Dig into it and enjoy the starchy, wonderful taste of the Bread Bowl!

- Bobaganush the pirate