Senate Bean Soup

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There are plenty of places in the country’s capital to warm up with a steaming bowl of corn chowder or minestrone. But there’s only one place to get D.C.’s signature soup: the United States Senate. “What we know is around 1904, 1905, Senate bean soup shows up and it’s been on the Senate menu for whatever the eating facility may be ever since,” says Betty Koed, the associate historian for the U.S. Senate.It’s Koed’s job to know about the governing body’s various traditions, from the fanciful seersucker Thursday to the somewhat more serious “maiden speech” — a new lawmaker’s first address on the Senate floor.“

Tradition is very important to the Senate,” Koed said. “The Senate as an institution is very respectful of its history, its tradition and its precedents.The soup’s origin story is a little murky. Koed says there are two tales of how the soup got on the Senate menu. One has Sen. Fred Dubois of Idaho asking that a bean soup be put on the menu around 1902 or 1903. Apparently, he said the soup should be on the menu every day, and it’s been on ever since.The other explanation pins the bean soup request to Sen. Knute Nelson of Minnesota in 1904.

Thunderation! I had my mouth set for bean soup. From now on, hot or cold, rain, snow, or shine, I want it on the menu every day.

House Speaker Joe Cannon, 1904

For what it’s worth, Dubois was a Democrat. Nelson was a Republican. But the bean soup is clearly bipartisan.Not to be outdone by the Senate, the House instituted its own version of bean soup. In 1904, House Speaker Joe Cannon demanded that it be put on the House dining room menu.“Thunderation!” he shouted. “I had my mouth set for bean soup. From now on, hot or cold, rain, snow, or shine, I want it on the menu every day.”The major difference between the two chambers’ bean soups is onions, Koed explains. The Senate iteration has them; the House version does not.The original bean soup recipe is pretty basic — navy beans, ham hocks, onions, butter and water, with some salt and pepper to taste. An updated version also has some carrots, celery and mashed potatoes.In some form or another, Senate bean soup has been on the menu every day but one for 110 years.

“There was one time in the 1940s during World War II that they actually went a day without bean soup because there was food rationing going on and they ran out of their ration of beans,” Koed says. “So it was a one-day departure from the standard menu.” That’s what makes the soup a tradition — its reliability. And senators like reliability.

The late Sen. Everett Dirksen of Illinois also thought the soup might be credited with helping energize the members.“It has… become an inviolate practice and a glorious tradition that the humble little bean should always be honored,” he wrote in 1963. “I venture the belief that the marathon speakers of the Senate …would agree the little bean had much to do with [their] sustained torrent of oratory.”No story about this fabled soup would be complete without a trip to the Dirksen Senate cafeteria to find out what Senate staffers thought of the soup. It turns out, not much.No one seemed to be getting the bean soup, instead going for the other offerings at the soup stations — chipotle sweet potato, chicken noodle and chili. One of the diners explained why none of the staffers were eating the bean soup.“I think it’s for tourists,” she says.Regardless of whether Senate bean soup is only ever eaten by tourists, it’s not going anywhere.“Because the Senate has this deep respect for tradition, it’ll probably be there for a long time to come,” says historian Koed.

The recipe attributed to Sen. Fred Dubois includes mashed potatoes and makes a five-gallon batch. The recipe served in the Senate today does not include mashed potatoes, but does include a braised onion.

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Senate Bean Soup

Course Soup
Cuisine American

Ingredients

  • 1 pound dried great northern beans or 6 cans white beans, drained and rinsed (16 oz cans)
  • 1 meaty ham bone about 1 pound of rough diced ham
  • 1 smoked ham hocks
  • 3 medium onions chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 3 celery ribs chopped
  • 1 large russet potato, rough chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Minced parsley or chives for garnish

Instructions

  • Rinse and sort beans. Soak overnight or Place beans in a Dutch oven or soup kettle; add water to cover by 2 in. Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for about 3-4 hours (or until beans are softened).
  • Drain and rinse, discarding liquid. In a large Dutch oven or soup kettle, place the beans, ham bone or hocks and 3 quarts water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 2 hours.
  • Skim fat if necessary.
  • Saute onions, celery, until translucent. Add to beans along with parsley, potatoes, salt and pepper; simmer 1 hour longer.
  • Set aside ham bones until cool enough to handle. Remove meat from bones; discard bones. Cut meat into bite-sized pieces and return to Dutch oven. Heat through. Sprinkle with parsley or chives.