Peanut soup

One of the best soups I ever had was peanut soup at the restaurant at Mt. Vernon(George Washington"s house not the town) Can anyone tell me more about this soup? Is it a common dish in the south? Where is it found? Thanks to anyone who can give input.

I am no expert at Peanut Soup demographics, but the only area I have ever seen it served is the Tidewater Virginia area. We enjoyed our first experience with it at the Williamsburg Inn several years ago. I expected to find it in Georgia when we started making trips down to Savannah and the Gulf Coast, but I don't recall seeing it on the menus there.

I thought you might be interested in prior discussions.

Al is correct as it seems to be a Virginia thing.

Attached is our prior post.

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=949&SearchTerms=peanut,soup

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Thank you, Sundancer. One of these days i will learn to use the search function a little better.

At the risk of being regarded as chronically flippant, let me say this topic reminded me of the song about peanuts we sang in 4th grade which was buried in my memory until now: "Peas. peas, peas, peas, eating goober peas; goodness how delicious, eating goober peas!" We were told it was a song sang by southern soldiers on the march during [The War Between The States] who were reduced to eating peanuts but managed to keep a sense of humor...

Hey, what can I say, Kennedy was the Prez and the Cold War was in full swing, we were in a flurry to catch up with and surpass Sputnik, and this song was just about the extent of cultural diversity in Ohio at the time in a 4th grade music class. Also that year we were cautiously introduced to a Negro spiritual (Swing Low, Sweet Chariot), an actual African Zulu song (Zum, Gali, Gali), Australian music (Waltzing Matilda), but no Russian or Chinese songs, thank you, for all we knew, music was banned there.

Excuse the tangent, the peanut soup sounds delicious.

Mark,
Peanut Soup is good...but your description of the Southern Soldiers regard for the peanut is pretty 'on target' too. We had a major flap here on the site some time ago about 'BOILED Peanut's'. It was worse than the growling about which end of North Carolina does BBQ correctly ! I enjoyed peanut soup, especially in the ambience of the colonial setting at the Williamsburg Inn on a cold winter weekday evening. Would I drive any distance off my planned route to do it again? Probably Not...but if it shows up on a menu somewhere I might order it.

A bit off topic, but a friend-of-a-friend and her family grew up on Mt. Vernon! Her parents were the caretakers, and they were given a small home on the property.(I think they had mainly "ghosts" as playmates...)
If I ever see her mom, I'll ask for her recipe for peanut soup.

boiled peanuts? do you mean peanuts in brine? I like peanuts in brine, hot or cold.
They're yummy.

The best peanut soup, IMO, is from a restaurant in Williamsburg called the King's Arm Tavern.

You can get it at the restaurant, of course, but you can also purchase the soup in a jar at most of the colonial williamsburg stores.
I purchased a few jars about three, maybe four years ago, and learned that a couple spices which are added as finishers to the soup at the restaurant are not in the jarred version. So it took me some time at home, to figure out which spices to add... and since it was three or four years ago, I can't remember what spices I finally used. I know I added pepper and maybe paprika, some salt for sure, but that's all I remember.

My suggestion is to order the soup at king's arm tavern for lunch or something, and either ask the server, or try to figure it out on your own.
If you get the answer, be sure to post it here.

I'm guessing it was available at Mt. Vernon because George Washington was known to order peanut soup in Williamsburg.

I love Peanut Soup and make it frequently. It is different enough to be the center of conversation at any meal. Here is a version of the King's Arms Tavern Peanut Soup I make:

1 med. onion, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
1/4 c. butter
3 tbs. all-purpose flour
2 qts. chicken stock or canned chicken broth
2 c. smooth peanut butter
1 3/4 c. light cream
Peanuts, chopped

Saute the onion and celery in the butter until soft but not brown. Stir in the flour until well blended. Add the chicken stock, stirring constantly, and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and rub through a sieve. Add the peanut butter and cream, stirring to blend thoroughly. Return to low heat and heat until just hot but do not boil. Serve, garnished with chopped peanuts.

Enjoy.