Alexis Soyer's Part 1: Soup
COOKERY FOR THE PEOPLE.
SOUPS, IN IRON SAUCEPAN,
OR STEWPAN.
SIMPLIFIED STOCK FOR SOUPS, GRAVIES, AND
PLAIN SAUCES.
Eloise,—Perhaps yon are not aware of the reason why the great majority of people in this country are opposed to, and even accused of not liking, soup; the simple reason is, that every receipt described in most Cookery Books, is so complicated and expensive, that they cannot afford either the money, time, or attention, to prepare it. I will therefore endeavour, in this little book, to obviate that difficulty, by simplifying the receipts, and reduce it to a system alike quick, nutritious, wholesome, and economical; and thus soup may form a part of the daily fare of every dinner table.
Please pay particular attention to the following receipt, for when you are perfect in it, and can make it quick and well, almost every sort of soup can be made from it, and it will often be referred to in different sauces and dishes.
1. Stock for Clear Soup. First Lesson.—Cut two pounds of knuckle or scrag of veal into small pieces, place them in the iron pot or stewpan, with two ounces of salt butter or dripping, two ounces of lean bacon cut small, three teaspoonfuls of salt, half a spoonful of pepper, a gill of water, three middle-sized, or six ounces of, onions sliced. Put on the fire; when boiling, stir round with a spoon for about ten minutes, or until it forms a whitish thick gravy at the bottom, or gets rather dry, then add five pints of hot or cold water; when boiling, let it simmer gently for three quarters of an hour, skim it well, pass it through a sieve, and it will be found clear and ready for use for the following soups. Only one third of this quantity need be made. In case bacon or ham cannot be obtained, use half a pound more meat and a little more salt.
The meat not being overstewed, will be found excellent eaten plain, or with parsley and butter, or any sauce.
2. Second Lesson.— Proceed exactly as No. 1. Add two cloves and about two ounces of carrot, and the same of turnip, leeks, celery, or a quarter of a pound of one of them, if you cannot get the variety. To add more zest to the flavour, add the smallest quantity of thyme, winter savory, or a bay leaf. You are, no doubt, aware that at present, in most market towns, an assorted lot of vegetables may be obtained at one penny per plate, and sometimes at one halfpenny. This second lesson is very important, as it gives you the key whereby you may vary the flavour of every kind of soup.
Note. This broth is of a nice white colour, and should it be required to look like sherry wine, add sufficient colouring, (see No. 462), or half a burnt onion when it is making : these in most large cities are now becoming common, and may be procured at the grocers, at the cost of eightpence the pound. They will go a great way, and if kept in a dry place will last for years.
3. Brown Gravies.—The following is very good for brown sauce, and also for every kind of roast meat, game, or poultry; and a gill of it may be used to give a colour to any kind of broth, instead of colouring or burnt onions. As there is a little difficulty to make it properly, it should only be done on particular occasions.
Grease the bottom of the pot with about two ounces of fat, butter, or dripping; cut four onions in thick slices crossways, lay them on the bottom, and place over them three pounds of leg or shin of beef, or clod and sticking; cut it slantway in pieces, chop the bone, then add two teaspoonfuls of salt, half a spoonful of pepper; set it on the fire until it begins to hiss, which indicates that all the moisture is dispersed; reduce the heat of the fire by throwing ashes on the top; put on the pan with the cover over. Let the onions stew until quite brown, but not burnt, and the fat is as clear as oil, which you will easily perceive by holding the pan or pot on one side, the contents of which will be smoking hot, and stick to the bottom, though not burning; immediately add five pints of cold water; when boiling, skim and simmer one hour; pass through the sieve, and put by till wanted. It will keep for many days in winter, and also in summer, by boiling it every other day, with the addition of half a gill of water added to it now and then.
4. Lesson No. 2.—The remains of roast or boiled meats, game, poultry, &ec, may be added, cut up, and the bones broken, using only half the quantity of meat. The meat may be taken out and served separate, with a mustard or any sharp sauce.
The addition of cloves (say four), a little mace, carrots, turnips, and celery, and a few sweet herbs, will vary the flavour of the gravy.
5. Clear Vegetable Soup, Lesson No. 1.—Cut in small dice, two-thirds of carrots and turnips, and one-third of onions, leeks, and celery, altogether about half a pound; wash them well, drain, put into pan or iron pot, two ounces of butter or dripping, and a teaspoonful of sugar; put on the fire, stir often; when no moisture is to be seen add three pints of broth No. 1, simmer and skim, until the carrots are tender, and serve. If all the above vegetables cannot be obtained at the same time, use the same weight of either. Be careful that you remove the fat from all clear soup. All clear vegetable soup, when done, ought to partake of a brownish colour.
6. Lesson No. 2.—The addition of a few green peas, when in season, also small pieces of brocoli, a cauliflower, or a few Brussels sprouts, previously boiled, makes an improvement in the above. A little chervil and tarragon render it both pleasant and refreshing.
7. Clear Turnip, Lesson No. 3.—Peel and cut in large dice half a pound of turnips, put in pan with butter or fat, and a little sugar; proceed as above, Lesson No. 1, add the broth, simmer, skim, and serve. It will not require so long doing as No. 1. Give it a nice brown colour. If turnips are either streaky or spongy, they will not do.
8. Jerusalem Artichokes.—Wash, peel, cut in dice, and fry as above; when nothing but the clear fat is seen in the pan, and they are sufficiently done, add the broth. A few minutes will cook them.
9. Carrot Soup.—For carrots proceed as above, and simmer till tender; they take twice as long as the artichokes doing.
10. Vermicelli and Macaroni.—Pray, Eloise, why should not the workman and mechanic partake of these wholesome and nutritious articles of food, which have now, in consequence of those restrictive laws on provisions having been repealed, become so plentiful and cheap? It only requires to know how to cook them, in order that they should become as favourite a food in these northern climes, as they are in the southern.* Boil three pints of the broth No. 1, break into it a quarter of a pound of vermicelli or macaroni; boil till tender, and serve. Macaroni takes twice as long as vermicelli doing.
Or, the macaroni can be boiled separate, and kept in salt and water for some days, and used as required for soups and made dishes.
11. Rice.—Wash well two ounces of common Bengal rice; boil it gently in three pints of broth; when tender, serve.
12. Tapioca and Semolina.—In case of illness, two ounces of tapioca or semolina may be used instead.
13. White Soup with Meat.—When the broth No. 1 is done, skim off the fat, put the meat in the tureen, then put into a basin two ounces of flour, mix gently with half a pint of milk, a half teaspoonful of salt, and a quarter ditto of pepper; add to the broth by degrees; boil it ten minutes, and keep stirring; skim and serve with the meat. Fried or toasted bread cut in dice may be added.
14. Good White Mock Turtle Soup may be easily and cheaply made thus:—Purchase a calf s head; if large, use one half for a day's dinner; cook as receipt No. 87 ; take the remains of that, if any, with the other half, and remove the bone; cut the meat into square pieces; add it in proportion of one pound of meat to every four quarts of broth of No. 1; mix some flour and milk, as above, and add it to it, and half a teaspoonful of cayenne popper, and four cloves; let it simmer on the fire for one hour, tie up six sprigs of savory, same of thyme, which put into the soup, and remove when serving. The juice of half a lemon is an improvement, just before serving, as well as a drop of wine, if handy. If required brown, add three tablespoonfuls of colouring; and use water or broth for thickening, instead of milk. The water in which the calf's head is boiled may be kept, and added to the stock. This soup will keep for a long time if boiled occasionally, and a little water added; it should never be covered, or fermentation will commence; it should be occasionally stirred until cold. Strong stocks are more likely to turn sour than thin ones, more particularly if they have vegetables and flour in them; to prevent which, when this soup is kept in a basin, leave the mouth exposed to the air.
15. Cow-heel.—Another very cheap and nutritious soup may be made by an ox-foot or cow-heel; having bought them cleaned and partly boiled, stew them till tender, remove the meat from the bone, out them into nice pieces, and proceed as for mock-turtle.
16. White Soup, with Vegetables, &c.—Having cut and fried the same quantity of vegetables as No. 1, add them to the white soup, free from meat as No. 13; simmer and skim off the fat. Two ounces of vermicelli, macaroni, rice, &c., previously boiled, can be used in the same way.
17. Purée, or Thick Vegetable Soups.—Green Pea.—Put a quart of large green peas, when cheap, in the pot or pan; with two ounces of butter or fat, and the same of lean bacon cut small, a middling-sized onion, little mint, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one of sugar, half the same of pepper, a gill of water; set on slow fire, stir now and then, or until no more moisture remains on the bottom of the pan; add two or three tablespoonfuls of flour, stir round quick, and break the peas against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon; moisten with a quart of milk and a quart of water, simmer twenty minutes, or more if old peas, and serve.
This, by leaving out the bacon, becomes Meagre Soup. Fried bread, in small dice, is a good accompaniment.
If you have any broth (No. 1), use it instead of the milk and water.
By passing the peas through a hair sieve, which is done by breaking and pressing them with the back of the spoon, an inviting purée is produced; after which warm up, and serve.
18. Pumpkin Soup is a very favourite dish in many parts of France, especially with the juveniles; and when in season, there is not a school, college, hospital, convent, or monastery, where it is not made; a proof that it must be very wholesome. In this country, whose climate will not allow its arriving at the same size as on the Continent, the Vegetable Marrow, the American Butter Squash, and the Mammoth Gourd, will replace them.
Cut about two pounds of the flesh of the pumpkin or gourd into large dice, put it into your pan, with three ounces of salt butter or fat; add two teaspoonfuls of salt, the same of sugar, a little pepper, and half a pint of water; set on the fire, and stew gently for twenty minutes. When in pulp, add two tablespoonfuls of flour, stir round, and moisten with three pints of either milk, skim-milk, or water, boil ten minutes longer, and serve with fried or toasted bread, cut in dice.
19. Meagre Soups.—This soup is on the list of meagre soups, a word used by the Catholics for dishes partaken of in Lent, but which is not understood in England; the word having the meaning, want of strength. But this soup, and many others in the same category, are well worthy the attention of the middle classes of this country, it being only meagre in name, and not in fact, as it possesses a large quantity of farinaceous matter; bread being also served with it.
20. Vegetable Marrow.—Peel, and take out the inside, if seeded, cut in slices about two pounds; put in saucepan on the fire, with a quarter of a pound of butter or fat; add two teaspoonfuls of salt, one of sugar, and one quarter of the same of pepper, a gill of water, and one onion sliced; stew gently until in pulp, then add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and proceed as for pumpkin soup.
21. Turnip Soup.—Use two and a half pounds of good turnips, and proceed as above.
22. Red Carrot Soup.—Scrape gently, and cut in very thin slices two pounds of carrots; put them in the saucepan or pot with two onions sliced, two ounces of ham cut small, two cloves, a little thyme, salt, pepper, sugar, as above, half a pint of water, simmer gently forty minutes, then add three tablespoonfuls of flour, and two quarts of broth (No. 1), or use milk, or even water. It is much better passed through a hair sieve, after which warm up again and serve.
White Carrot.—Proceed as for the red.
The Swede, Parsnip, Red and White Beet.—Proceed as for carrot.
23. New Spring and Autumn Soup.—A most refreshing and exquisite soup. At the end of the London season, when the markets are full of everything, and few to partake of them, this soup can be made as a bonne bouche:—
Wash, dry, and cut up four cabbage lettuces, and one coss ditto, a handful of sorrel, a little tarragon and chervil, and two or three small cucumbers peeled and sliced; put into a saucepan a quarter of a pound of butter, then set in the vegetables; put on a slow fire, and stir often, until there is no liquid remaining; add two tablespoonfuls of flour, mix well, and moisten with two quarts of broth (No. 1) or water, and set it to boil; when boiling, add a pint of green peas, two teaspoonfuls of powdered sugar, a little pepper and salt; when the peas are tender, serve. If you use water, increase the quantity of seasoning.
Ma chère Amie,—With all due respect to Scotch cookery, I will always give the preference, in the way of soup, to their cock-a-leekie, even before their inimitable hodge-podge. Having a very old friend, from the neighbourhood of Dundee, who used to praise my cock-a-leekie, when on a visit to St. John's Wood, I thought I would give him the same treat here, and on looking over my frugal store and garden of Camellia Cottage, I found I had all that was required, barring the bird; but, with a little perseverance and ingenuity, I succeeded in producing a very nice soup, although it wanted the principal ingredient, so that it deceived not only my husband, but my friend from the other side of the Tweed. Here is the receipt:
24.—I bought two pounds of veal cutlet, and cut it into pieces, like the flesh from the breast of a fowl, and put them in the pan with a quarter of a pound of butter, the same of lean bacon, three cloves, two good onions sliced, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one of sugar, half a one of pepper, a gill of water; set it on the fire, turn it over until forming a white glaze at the bottom, add to it five pints of water, simmer half an hour, pass through a sieve, save the best pieces of the veal. In the meantime blanch two pounds of leeks, free from the top green part, for ten minutes, in a gallon of water, and drain them; then boil the stock and half the leeks together, till almost in a pulp, then add the other half of the leeks and the meat, also eighteen good fresh French plums; simmer half an hour, and serve.
I must observe that my friend praised it very much for having put in the flesh of the fowl only, as he thought, and not the whole carcase, which is the way they serve it in Scotland; an exceedingly inconvenient way, as everybody expects a piece of the fowl, and you often tear it to pieces in serving.
25. Simplified Hodge-Podge.—Cut two pounds of fresh scrag of mutton into small pieces, which put into a stewpan, with three quarts of cold water, and a tablespoonful of salt, one ditto of sugar, half a ditto of pepper; set it on the fire; when boiling, place it at the side to simmer for one hour; keep it skimmed; well wash a large carrot, two turnips, two onions, and six small cabbage lettuces; cut them up, and place in the pot, and simmer till done. A pint of green peas, if in season, may be added. A carrot grated is an improvement. If in winter, use cabbage instead of lettuce. Serve the meat with it.
26. Various Meat Soups.—Giblet.—These should be procured ready cleaned, but if not, they must be cleaned as in No. 459 ; when done, cut them into about twelve pieces, wash them well, and dry in a cloth; put into a pan a quarter of a pound of butter or dripping, set it on the fire, melt it, then add four ounces of flour, stir continually until it begins to brown, add two ounces of lean bacon, and two onions or leeks sliced, fry a few minutes longer, put in the giblets, fry gently for ten minutes, stirring now and then, pour over two quarts of water, stir till boiling, and set it to simmer; then add two teaspoonfuls of salt, half one of pepper one of sugar, three cloves, a little thyme, bay leaf, and about a quarter of a pound of celery well washed and cut up small; continue simmering until the giblets are tender, remove the fat, and serve. A wineglass of sherry and a little cayenne may be added. A pound of beef or veal is, of course, a great improvement. This receipt is for the giblets of a middle-sized turkey.
My Dear Eloise,—Since the alteration in our circumstances I have learnt to practise the most rigid economy, which you will remark in this receipt. When I buy a hare, as I sometimes do, for two shillings, skinning it myself, and selling the skin for fourpence, I save all the blood in a pie-dish, take out the heart and liver, removing the gall; I then cut the hare into two, across the back, close to the last rihs, and cut this part into pieces, using it for soup, and the hindpart I keep for roasting the following day.
28. Hare Soup.—I then proceed as for giblet soup, only using half a pound of either veal, beef, or mutton, cut into dice, and put in the pot with the hare. Fifteen minutes before serving, I mix the blood with the heart and liver, which I have chopped fine, and boil it up ten minutes; skim and serve. The addition of a little brown sugar and a glass of port wine is an improvement: if no wine, a little stout or porter will improve it. It ought to he of a dark brown colour, for which use colouring.
29. Ox Tail.—Cut them at the joints, and proceed as for giblets, adding one pint more water for two small tails, and simmer half an hour longer, or till done. This should be of a brown colour. Vegetables cut into dice may be added. Serve when tender: some will take double the time cooking, according to size.
30. Ox Cheek.—Boil half a large cheek for twenty minutes in two quarts of water, to set it; take it out, cut it into thin slices, or small pieces, and then proceed exactly as for giblets. Serve when tender.
31. Simplified Mulligatawny, quickly done. Lesson 1.—Cut in small dice two pounds of leg of veal, no bone, then put in the pan with two ounces of salt butter, two teaspoonfuls of salt, a quarter that of pepper, a quarter of a pound of onions sliced, and a wine-glass of water. Put it in the pan and place on the fire, stir it about until nearly dry; two ounces of bacon or ham is an improvement; then add a good teaspoonful and a half of curry powder, four of flour, and one of brown sugar; moisten with five pints of water, simmer for an hour or a little longer, skim, and serve. Half a pound of rice, as No. 463, may be served either with it or separate.
Lesson 2.—To the above may be added a small apple, cut in thin slices, also any other meat may be used, instead of veal, and a little bunch of aromatic herbs; the meat to remain in the soup.
32. New Mutton Broth.—Cut two pounds of the scrag, or any other lean part of mutton, in ten or twelve pieces, put in a pan with two ounces of fat, two teaspoonfuls of salt, half of pepper, a gill of water, two middle-sized onions, a good teacupful of pearl barley. Set it on the fire, stir round until it is reduced, moisten with five pints of water, boil, and skim, simmer two hours; and serve.
33. Potato Soup.—Proceed as above, omit the barley, add two pounds of potatoes, peeled and cut in slices, put them in when the broth is boiling; simmer till in pulp, and serve. A few sprigs of parsley, or the flowers of four marigolds, is an improvement, and, at the same time, an agreeable change.
34. Ox Tail Soup in Baking Pan.—Divide two ox tails, wash them well in cold water, then put them in the pan, with three teaspoonfuls of salt, one of pepper, four cloves, a little thyme, if handy, two good onions; add three quarts of water, two tablespoonfuls of colouring; put on the cover, place it in a moderate oven for three hours to simmer, take off the fat, which save for use, and serve. Half a pound of any vegetable, mixed or not, cut in dice, can be added with advantage.
35. Ox Cheek in Baking Pan.—Get half a one ready boned, if not to be had, get the half head with the bone, in which case they should be broken small and put in the broth; but it gives more trouble than it is worth. The solid meat at threepence per pound is more economical. Wash it well, cut off the white part, put the cheek in the pan, and proceed exactly as above; only give it three or four hours to bake. A little mixed spice improves the flavour. Take the fat off, remove the meat, cut it into small pieces, put it into the tureen, and pour the broth over.
36. Cheap Pea Soup.—Put into the iron pot two ounces of dripping, one quarter of a pound of bacon, cut into dice, two good onions sliced; fry them gently until brownish, then add one large or two small turnips, the same of carrots, one leek, and one head of celery, all cut thin and slanting (if all these cannot be obtained, use any of them, but about the same amount); fry for ten minutes more, and then add seven quarts of water; boil up, and add one pound and a half of split peas; simmer for two' or three hours, until reduced to a pulp, which depends on the quality of the pea, then add two tablespoonfuls of 6alt, one of sugar, one of dried mint; mix half a pound of flour smooth in a pint of water, stir it well; pour in the soup, boil thirty minutes, and serve.
37. The above Meagre.—Precisely as above, only oil or butter used instead of bacon or dripping: skim-milk could with advantage be used, in which case add three ounces of salt. Although this is entirely deprived of animal substances, yet the farinaceous ingredients, with the addition of bread, will act generously on the digestive organs, satisfying the heartiest eater.
Notes:
[*] Macaroni is now selling in London at fivepence per pound, and makes four pounds of food when boiled, as No. 463.