Pride and Prejudice: Making Mr Bingley's soup

Parbake & Prose is a project created by sibling bibliophile and chef team, Daniella Rossi and Eric Upper.

The concept is pretty simple: Parbake & Prose takes a look at great works of literature (including Pride and Prejudice!) from Greek epic poems to modern classics, and creates recipes based on the dishes in them.

Daniella lives in London and is a committed bibliophile, having studied languages and literature at New York University and receiving a doctorate from the University of Cambridge. After graduation, she spent years working at one of the world’s oldest rare book specialists in London. So books are her thing. Eric lives in New York. He studied at the French Culinary Institute there, and has chefed at Michelin-star restaurants including Charlie Palmer’s Aureole and Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas. He is currently working on a restaurant startup in NYC. Eric creates the recipes. 

The blog explores intriguing books with important food references that help to either progress the storyline, showcase character development or reveal history. Then it provides a step-by-step recipe and cooking guide so you can recreate each dish. Eric and Daniella spend hours conceiving and testing the recipes and balance staying as true as possible to the literary reference with the tastiness of the end product - now they're looking to Pride and Prejudice for inspiration..

Parbake & Prose recently explored white soup from Pride & Prejudice.

First, Daniella set out to answer why Mr Bingley was so adamant that a date for the Netherfield ball be set around the dish. Then Eric created a recipe based on historic cookbooks and the modern palate. To round it all off, the blog highlights some little known facts about Austen and Pride and Prejudice.

In the coming months, Parbake & Prose will return to Austen, this time looking at Mr Wodehouse’s gruel in Emma and comparing it to the austere Victorian version described in Dickens’ Oliver Twist.

Check out Parbake and Prose here, or check out their Facebook page and Instagram.