"Oh, a splendid soup is the true pea-green,
I for it often call,
And up it comes, in a smart tureen,
When I dine in my banquet hall.
When a leg of mutton at home is boiled,
The liquor I always keep,
And in that liquor, before 't is spoiled,
A peck of peas I steep;
When boiled till tender they have been
I rub through a sieve the peas so green.
"Though the trouble the indolent may shock,
I rub with all my power,
And having returned them to the stock,
I stew them for an hour;
Of younger peas I take some more,
The mixture to improve,
Thrown in a little time before
The soup from the fire I move.
Then seldom a better soup is seen
Than the old familiar soup pea-green."
The best of this poetical recipe is that it is not only funny, but a
capital formula.
"The giblet may tire, the gravy pall,
And the truth may lose its charm;
But the green pea triumphs over them all
And does not the slightest harm."
Some of us, however, prefer turtle. It would seem sometimes as if
turtle soup were the synonym for a good dinner, and as if it dated
back to the days of good Queen Bess. But fashion did not set its seal
on turtle soup until about seventy years ago; as an entry in the
"Gentleman's Magazine" mentions calipash and calipee as rarities. It
is now inseparable from the Lord Mayor's dinner. When we notice
ninety-nine recipes for soup in the latest French cookery book, and
when we see the fate of a dinner made or marred by the first dish, we
must concede that it will be a stumbling-block to the young
housekeeper.
Add to that the curious fact that no Irishwoman can make a good soup
until she has been taught by years of experience, and we have the
first problem in the dangerous process of dinner-giving staring us in
the face. A greasy, watery, ill-considered soup will take away the
appetite of even a hungry man; while a delicate white or brown soup,
or the _purées_ of peas and asparagus, may well whet the appetite of
the most pampered _gourmet_.
The subject of soup-making may well be studied. A good soup is at once
economical and healthful, and of the first importance in the
construction of a dinner. Soup should be made the day before it is to
be eaten, by boiling either a knuckle of veal for a white soup, three
or four pounds of beef, with the bone well cracked, for a clear
_consommé_, or by putting the bones of fish, chickens, and meat into
water with salt and pepper, and thus making an economical soup, which
may, however, be very good. The French put everything into the soup
pot,--bones, scraps, pot liquor, the water in which onions have been
boiled, in fact in which all vegetables including beans and potatoes
have been boiled; even as a French writer says "rejected MSS. may be
thrown into the soup pot;" and the result in France is always good. It
is to be observed that every soup should be allowed to cool, and all
the fat should be skimmed off, so that the residuum may be as clear as
wine.
Delicate soups, clear _consommé_, and white soups _à la Reine_, are
great favourites in America, but in England they make a strong,
savoury article, which they call gravy soup. It is well to know how to
prepare this, as it makes a variety.
Cut two pounds of beef from the neck into dice, and fry until
brown. Break small two or three pounds of bones, and fry
lightly. Bones from which streaked bacon has been cut make an
excellent addition, but too many must not be used, lest the
soup be salt. Slice and fry brown a pound of onions, put them
with the meat and bones and three quarts of cold water into
the soup pot; let it boil up, and having skimmed add two large
turnips, a carrot cut in slices, a small bundle of sweet
herbs, and a half a dozen pepper-corns. Let the soup boil
gently for four or five hours, and about one hour before it is
finished add a little piece of celery, or celery-seed tied in
muslin. This is a most delicious flavour. When done, strain
the soup and set it away for a night to get cold. Remove the
fat and next day let it boil up, stirring in two spoonfuls of
corn starch, moistened with cold water. Season with salt and
pepper to taste, not too salt; add forcemeat balls to the
soup, and you have a whole dinner in your soup.
An oxtail soup is made like the above, only adding the tail, which is
divided into joints, which are fried brown. Then these joints should
be boiled until the meat comes easily off the bones. When the soup is
ready put in two lumps of sugar, a glass of port wine, and pour all
into the tureen.
The Julienne soup, so delicious in summer, should be a nice clear
stock, with the addition of prepared vegetables. Unless the cook can
buy the excellent compressed vegetables which are to be had at the
Italian warehouses, it is well to follow this order:--
Wash and scrape a large carrot, cut away all the yellow parts
from the middle, and slice the red outside. Take an equal
quantity of turnips and three small onions, cut in a similar
manner. Put them in a stewpan with two ounces of butter and a
pinch of powdered sugar, stir over the fire until a nice brown
colour, then add a quart of clear, well-flavoured stock, and
let all simmer together gently for three hours. When done,
skim the fat off very carefully, and ten minutes before
serving add a lettuce cut in shreds and blanched for a minute
in boiling water. Simmer for five minutes and the soup will be
ready. This is a most excellent soup if well made.