Dehydrated meat stock, in the form of tablets, was known in the 17th century to English food writer
Anne Blencowe, who died in 1718, and elsewhere as early as 1735. Various French cooks in the early 19th century (Lefesse, Massué, and Martin) tried to patent bouillon cubes and tablets, but were turned down for lack of originality.
Nicolas Appert also proposed such dehydrated bouillon in 1831.
Portable soup was a kind of
dehydrated food used in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was a precursor of
meat extract and bouillon cubes, and of industrially
dehydrated food. It is also known as
pocket soup or
veal glue. It is a cousin of the
glace de viande of
French cooking. It was long a staple of seamen and explorers, for it would keep for many months or even years. In this context, it was a filling and nutritious dish. Portable soup of less extended vintage was, according to the 1881
Household Cyclopedia, "exceedingly convenient for private families, for by putting one of the cakes in a saucepan with about a quart of water, and a little salt, a basin of good broth may be made in a few minutes." In the mid-19th century, German chemist
Justus von Liebig developed
meat extract, but it was more expensive than bouillon cubes. Industrially produced bouillon cubes were commercialized by
Maggi in 1908, by
Oxo in 1910, and by
Knorr in 1912. By 1913, at least 10 brands were available, with salt contents of 59–72%. ==Ingredients==