The culinary history of the 20th century is mostly the story of food manufacturers telling us what to cook, how to cook it, and how innovative and modern it was. That was most memorable with Jell-o and cream soup casseroles, but Campbell's gave us a most interesting idea in 1955 with their "Soup on the Rocks" cocktail campaign. It was a scheme to sell more of their canned beef bouillon. The original recipe was only beef bouillon and ice, but over time it was jazzed up with lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Campbell's didn't push it, but people often added vodka or other alcohol to the mix.
Soup on the Rocks was touted as refreshing, healthy, and delicious. It went over well enough that Campbell's tried it again in 1963 with a nonalcoholic cocktail called the Frisky Sour. And the whole idea of soup cocktails keeps going, even in 2021, with a selection of savory cocktails Campbell's called "brothtinis," presumably to take advantage of the pandemic-era craze for broth. A recipe for the Chicken Soup Martini went viral just this year, although that was not a Campbell's Soup creation. Read the history of soup cocktails, with the recipes for Soup on the Rocks and Chicken Soup Martini at Atlas Obscura.
Frisky Sour: Campbell's Beef Broth mixed with ice water and lemon juice. Photo: Campbell Soup Company
Chicken soup martini - image: Jazzton Rodriguez