corns, one small teaspoonful; large bunch of savoury herbs: (calf's foot if convenient) to simmer 5 to 6 hours.

Obs. 1.-This broth forms in France the foundation of all richer soups and gravies. Poured on fresh meat (a portion of which should be veal) instead of water, it makes at once an excellent consommée, or strong jellied stock. If properly managed, it is very clear and pale; and with an additional weight of beef, and some spoonsful of glaze, may easily be converted into an amber-coloured gravy-soup, suited to modern taste.

Obs. 2.--It is a common practice abroad to boil poultry, pigeons, and even game, in the pot-au-feu, or soup-pot. They should be properly trussed, stewed in the broth just long enough to render them tender, and served immediately, when ready, with a good sauce. A small ham, if well soaked, washed exceedingly clean, and freed entirely from any rusty, or blackened parts, laid with the beef when the water is first added to it, and boiled from three hours and a half to four hours, in the bouillon, is very superior in flavour to those cooked in water only, and infinitely improves the soup, which cannot, however, so well be eaten until the following day, when all the fat can easily be taken from it: it would, of course, require no salt.

CLEAR, PALE, GRAVY-SOUP OR STOCK.

Rub a deep stewpan or soup-pot with butter, and lay into it three quarters of a pound of ham freed entirely from fat, skin, and rust, four pounds of leg or neck of veal, and the same weight of lean beef all cut into thick slices; set it over a clear and rather brisk fire, until the meat is of a fine amber-colour : it must be often moved, and closely watched, that it may not stick to the pan, nor burn. When it is equally browned, lay the bones upon it, and pour in gradually four quarts of boiling water. Take off the scum carefully as it rises, and throw in a pint of cold water at intervals, to bring it quickly to the surface. When no more appears, add two ounces of salt, two onions, two large carrots, two turnips, one head of celery, a two-ounce faggot of savoury herbs, a dozen cloves, half a teaspoonful of whole white pepper, and two large blades of mace. Let the soup boil gently from five hours and a half, to six hours and a half; then strain it through a very clean, fine cloth, laid in a hair sieve. When it is perfectly cold, remove every particle of fat from the top; and, in taking out the soup, leave the sediment untouched; heat in a clean pan the quantity required for table, add salt to it if needed, and a few drops of Chili or of cayenne vinegar. Harvey's sauce, or very fine

mushroom catsup, may be substituted for these. When thus prepared, the soup is ready to serve it should be accompanied by pale sippets of fried bread, or sippets à la reine. Rice, maccaroni in lengths or rings, vermicelli, or nouilles, may in turn be used to vary it; but they must always be boiled apart till tender, in broth, or water, and well drained before they are slipped into it. The addition of young vegetables, too, and especially of asparagus, will convert it into an elegant springsoup; but they, likewise, must be separately cooked.

ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR GRAVY-SOUP.

Instead of browning the meat in its own juices, put it with the onions and carrots, into a deep stewpan, with a quarter-pint of bouillon; set it over a brisk fire at first, and when the broth is somewhat reduced, let it boil gently until it has taken a fine colour and forms a glaze (or jelly) at the botton of the stewpan; then pour to it the proper quantity of water, and finish the soup by the preceding receipt."

*

Obs.-A rich, old-fashioned English brown gravy-soup may be made with beef only. It should be cut from the bones, dredged with flour, seasoned with pepper and salt, and fried a clear brown; then stewed for six hours, if the quantity be large, with a pint of water to each pound of meat, and vegetables as above, except onions, of which four moderate-sized ones, also fried, are to be added to every three quarts of the soup, which, after it has been strained, and cleared from fat, may be thickened with six ounces of fresh butter, worked up very smoothly with five of flour. In twenty minutes afterwards, a tablespoonful of the best soy, half a pint of sherry, and a little cayenne may be added to the soup, which will then be ready to serve.

CHEAP, CLEAR GRAVY-SOUP.

The shin or leg of beef, if not large or coarse, will answer

*The juices of meat, drawn out with a small portion of liquid, as directed here, may easily be reduced to the consistency in which they form what is called glaze; for particulars of this, see Chapter III. The best method, though perhaps not the easiest, of making the clear, amber-coloured stock, is to pour a ladleful or two of pale, but strong beef-broth to the veal, and to boil it briskly until well reduced, thrusting a knife, when this is done, into the meat, to let the juices escape; then to proceed more slowly and cautiously as the liquid approaches the state in which it would burn. It must be allowed to take a dark amber-colour only, and the meat must be turned, and often moved in it. When the desired point is reached, pour in more boiling broth, and let the pan remain off the fire for a few minutes, to detach and melt the glaze; then shake it well round before the boiling is continued. A certain quantity of deeply coloured glaze, made apart, and stirred into strong, clear, pale stock, would produce the desired effect of this, with much less trouble.

extremely well for this soup, and afford at the same time a highly economical dish of boiled meat, which will be found very tender, and very palatable also, if it be served with a sauce of some piquancy. From about ten pounds of the meat let the butcher cut evenly off five or six from the thick fleshy part, and again divide the knuckle, that the whole may lie compactly in the vessel in which it is to be stewed. Pour in three quarts of cold water, and when it has been brought slowly to boil, and been well skimmed, as directed for bouillon (page 6), throw in an ounce and a half of salt, half a large teaspoonful of pepper-corns, eight cloves, two blades of mace, a bunch of savoury herbs, a couple of small carrots, and the heart of a root of celery: to these add a mild onion or not, at choice. When the whole has stewed very softly for four hours, probe the larger bit of beef, and if quite tender, lift it out for table; let the soup be simmered from two to three hours longer, and then strain it through a fine sieve, into a clean pan. When it is perfectly cold, clear off every particle of fat; heat a couple of quarts, stir in, when it boils, half an ounce of sugar, a small tablespoonful of good soy, and twice as much of Harvey's sauce, or should this not be at hand, of clear and fine mushroom catsup. If carefully made, the soup will be perfectly transparent and of good colour and flavour. A thick slice of lean ham will improve it, and a pound or so of the neck of beef with an additional pint of water, will likewise enrich its quality. A small quantity of good broth may be made of the fragments of the whole boiled down with a few fresh vegetables.

Brown caper, or hot horse-radish sauce, or sauce Robert, or sauce piquante, made with the liquor in which it is boiled, may be served with the portion of the meat which is sent to table.

VERMICELLI SOUP.

(Potage au Vermicelle.)

Drop very lightly, and by degrees, six ounces of vermicelli, broken rather small, into three quarts of boiling bouillon, or clear gravy soup; let it simmer for half an hour* over a gentle fire, and stir it often. This is the common French mode of making vermicelli soup, and we can recommend it as a particularly good one for family use. In England it is customary to soak, or to blanch the vermicelli, then to drain it well, and to

* When of very fine quality, the vermicelli will usually require less boiling than this. We have named to the reader, in another part of the volume, Mr. Cobbett, 18, Pall Mall, as supplying all the Italian pastes extremely good.

stew it for a shorter time in the soup; the quantity, also, must be reduced quite two ounces, to suit modern taste.

Bouillon, or gravy-soup, 3 quarts; vermicelli, 6 ozs.; 30 minutes. Or, soup, 3 quarts; vermicelli, 4 ozs.; blanched in boiling water 5 minutes; stewed in soup 10 to 15 minutes.

SEMOULINA SOUP.

(Soupe à la Sémoule.)

Semoulina is used in the same way as the vermicelli. It should be dropped very lightly and by degrees into the boiling soup, which should be stirred all the time it is being added, and very frequently afterwards; indeed, it should scarcely be quitted for a moment until it is ready for table. Skim it carefully, and let it simmer from twenty to five and twenty minutes. This, when the semoulina can be procured good and fresh, is, to our taste, an excellent soup.

Soup, 3 quarts; semoulina 6 ozs.: nearly, or quite 25 minutes.

MACCARONI SOUP.

Throw four ounces of fine fresh* mellow maccaroni into a pan of fast-boiling water, with about an ounce of fresh butter, and a small onion stuck with three or four cloves. When it has swelled to its full size, and become tender, drain it well, and slip into it a couple of quarts of clear gravy-soup; let it simmer for a few minutes, when it will be ready for table. Observe, that the maccaroni should be boiled quite tender; but it should by no means be allowed to burst, nor to become pulpy. Serve grated Parmesan cheese with it.

Maccaroni, 4 ozs.; butter, 1 oz.; 1 small onion; 5 cloves : hour, or more. In soup, 5 to 10 minutes.

Obs.-The maccaroni for soups should always be either broken into short lengths before it is boiled, or sliced quickly afterwards into small rings not more than the sixth of an inch thick, unless the cut maccaroni, which may be purchased at the Italian warehouses, be used; this requires but ten minutes' boiling, and should be dropped into the soup in the same way as vermicelli. Four ounces of it will be sufficient for two quarts of stock. It may be added to white soup after having been previously boiled in water or veal-broth, and well drained from it:

• We must here repeat our warning against the use of long-kept maccaroni, vermicelli, or semoulina; as, when stale, they will render any dish into which they are introduced quite unfit for table.

+ For White Soups omit the onion.

it has a rather elegant appearance in clear gravy-soup, but should have a boil in water before it is thrown into it.

POTAGE AUX NOUILLES, OR TAILLERINE SOUP.

Make into nouille-paste the yolks of four fresh eggs, and when ready cut, drop it gradually into five pints of boiling soup; keep this gently stirred for ten minutes, skim it well, and serve it quickly. This is a less common, and a more delicately flavoured soup than the vermicelli, provided always that the nouilles be made with really fresh eggs. The same paste may be cut into very small diamonds, squares, stars, or any other form, then left to dry a little, and boiled in the soup until swelled to its full size, and tender.

Nouille-paste of four eggs; soup, 5 pints: 10 minutes.

SAGO SOUP.

Wash in several waters, and float off the dirt from six ounces of sago; put it into three quarts of good cold gravy-stock; let it stew gently from half to three quarters of an hour, and stir it occasionally, that it may not burn nor stick to the stewpan. A quarter-ounce more of sago to each pint of liquid, will thicken it to the consistency of peas-soup. It may be flavoured with half a wineglassful of Harvey's sauce, as much cayenne as it may need, the juice of half a lemon, an ounce of sugar, and two glasses of sherry; or these may be omitted, and good beef-broth may be substituted for the gravy-soup, for a simple family dinner, or for an invalid.

Sago, 6 ozs.; soup, 3 quarts: 30 to 45 minutes.

TAPIOCA SOUP.

This is made in the same manner, and with the same proportions as the preceding soup, but it must be simmered from fifty to sixty minutes.

RICE SOUP.

In France this soup is served well thickened with the rice, which is stewed in it for upwards of an hour and a half, and makes thus, even with the common bouillon of the country, an excellent winter potage. Pick, and wipe in a dry cloth, eight ounces of the best rice; add it, in small portions, to four quarts of hot soup, of which the boiling should not be checked as it is thrown in. When a clear soup is wanted, wash the rice, give it five minutes' boil in water, drain it well, throw it into as much boiling stock or well-flavoured broth as will keep it covered till