Bisque

bisque is now a rich soup of creamy consistency, especially of crayfish or lobster. An earlier use, for soups of game birds, has fallen into desuetude. Wine and/or cognac often enter into the recipes.

The bisque (in early English usage ‘bisk’), together with the olio, pupton, and terrine, was one of the grandes entrées of French court cookery elaborated by la varenne and Massialot. It was a composite stew or pottage made on a very grand scale, involving many different sorts of meat or fish and trimmings, and a rich sauce. The Accomplisht Cook of robert may (1685) illustrates the wider use of the term in his time. He gives two recipes for Bisk of Carp, both involving many ingredients and having plenty of solid matter in them. And his Bisk of Eggs sounds even more surprising to modern ears.