Take a large slice of ham (cold boiled ham is best) and two pounds
of the lean of fresh beef; cut all the meat into small pieces. Add a
quarter of a pound of butter slightly melted: twelve large tomatas
pared and cut small; five dozen ochras cut into slices not thicker
than a cent; and a little cayenne pepper to your taste. Put all these
ingredients into a pot; cover them with boiling water, and let them
stew slowly for an hour. Then add three quarts of _hot_ water, and
increase the heat so as to make the soup boil. Skim it well, and stir
it frequently with a wooden or silver spoon.
Boil it till the tomatas are all to pieces, and the ochras entirely
dissolved. Strain it, and then serve it up with toasted bread cut into
dice, put in after it comes out of the pot.
This soup will be improved by a pint of shelled Lima beans, boiled by
themselves, and put into the tureen just before you send it to table.