Portable soup was a kind of dehydrated food of English origin used in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was a precursor of meat extract and bouillon cubes, and of industrially dehydrated and instant food. It is also known as pocket soup or veal glue. It is essentially a partially dehydrated broth and a solid counterpart of glace de viande (meat glaze) in French cuisine. It was long a staple of British seamen, military and explorers, as it would keep for many months or even a year. In this context, it was considered a filling and nutritious dish. Process Portable soup was made from a beef or veal broth cooked over a long period (often 6 to 8 hours), reduced, degreased to remove the fat (which may become rancid over time) and then reduced repeatedly until it solidified into a jelly. Once it was sufficiently gelatinous to hold its form, it was placed on pieces of flannel or unglazed earthenware dishes and rotated regularly to dry it further. Historically, this was a seasonal process attempted only in the winter when humidity was low. Once dry, it was wrapped in paper and stored in boxes. History Hugh Plat In the late sixteenth century, Sir Hugh Plat wrote, in his unpublished notes, of portable soup as a potential military rations for the army and navy, describing it as meat broth boiled down to a thick and dry paste which he called "gelly". Plat's basic recipe was to boil the feet or legs of beef cattle for a long time to make "a good broath" which was then strained and boiled down to "a strong & stiff gelly". This in turn was dried on clean cloths in a windy place out of the sun, cut with wire into pieces, powdered with flour to stop the pieces from sticking, and stored in wooden boxes. Made in March, it would "keepe all the yeere". Alternatively, the dry jelly could be "stamped" into shape with a wooden die, like the "Genoa Paste" of quinces familiar to Plat and other cooks of the time. He instructed that no sugar or salt should be added to the jelly because such taste would be concentrated by the boiling process, although he speculated that saffron might add colour, and that rosewater could also be added at this stage. He wondered whether baked flour or grated bread could be incorporated to