Brodetto pasquale

The story

Brodetto pasquale was the Easter soup of old Rome, a broth of boiled beef and lamb thickened at the last moment with beaten egg yolks and lemon, scented with marjoram and poured over toasted bread with grated pecorino. Turismo Roma, the city's tourist office, lists it among the old Easter flavors of the Roman table and warns that the liquid must never boil once the eggs go in. An article in the newspaper Il Foglio describes Easter in working-class Rome as a shared feast that began after Mass, or at the neighborhood clubs for those who skipped church, and ran from late morning into the evening. The brodetto was often made on the spot by whoever took charge of it. After 1880 some cooks added a spoonful of tomato concentrate, which older recipe books never mention. The boiled meat was not wasted: it was shredded, dressed with oil and lemon, and eaten on toast or with semolina polenta. An English version appears in the Feast Day Cookbook, published in New York in 1951. Easter falls on March 28 in 2027; make the broth on Saturday and finish it with the yolks just before the meal.