It is then stirred until it is very dark, without
being burnt, when half a pint of boiling water is boiled
with it for five minutes to dissolve it ; it may then be
strained into a bottle, and put aside till wanted. Caramel
thus prepared beforehand is very much to be prelerred
to the rough-and-ready browning used by cooks every
day, and made by burning sugar in an iron spoon. The
latter preparation is almost certain to spoil the flavour of
a dish into which it enters. The former, if used very
carefully indeed, may improve the look of a soup without
injuring its taste. Yet even this is a dangerous addition,
and should be dispensed with if possible.
Purdes differ from thick soups in that the vegetables
used in flavouring the liquor, or the materials used for
thickening, are rubbed patiently through a sieve ; then
mixed with the liquor once more, and boiled up again
before serving. In purdes nothing is wasted ; you get
the full benefit of everything used in making the soup.
Yet it is to be feared that purdes will never be very
popular with people who have to do their own cooking,
because this process of rubbing vegetables through a
73
Thick Soups and Purees.
/
sieve is rather troublesome, and calls both for time and
patience. If these can be given, however, the result is
sure to be satisfactory ; and if girls who have till now
been accustomed only to the ordinary' method of cookery
usually carried on in English kitchens will follow the
directions given, and patiently make a puide properly,
they wilt be astonished to find what excellent soup can be
made for a trilling cost.
The best of it is that a girl who gets the idea of making
one pur^e can make every purde. Therefore, as potatoes
^re within the reach of all I will describe the process of
making potato pur^e✪ Potato Purée, and I hope girls will remember that
although potatoes are used here, the process would be
the same whatever vegetables were used, and whatever
the purde might be.
Before we began to make our soup, however, we should
want a hair sieve, and a small one can be bought fin-
about ninepence. If we determined to make soup every
day, we should do well to get a wire sieve ; and a
moderate-sized tin wire sieve would cost about half-
a-crown, though a brass wire sieve would cost about four
shillings. The vegetables could be made to go through
the wire sieve more quickly than through the hair sieve,
but the purde would not be quite so smooth in the former
case as in the latter. At the same time the wire sieve
would last much longer than the hair sieve.
Besides the hair sieve we must procure a stewpan
with a closely-fitting lid, one leek, or if this is not to be
had, one small onion, a pound of potatoes, weighed after
being washed and peeled, half of a small stick of celery',
and a pint and a half of stock. We wash the leek and
cut the white part only into dice ; then put these, the
potatoes thinly sliced, the celery, and four peppercorns
into the stewpan with one ounce of butter. We cover
the stewpan closely and place it on the fire for five
minutes to “ sweat ” the vegetables, and we shake the pan
now and then to keep the potatoes from sticking and
thus acquiring colour. After being steamed in butter in
this way vegetables intended for soup give out their
flavour better than they would if boiled at once in
the stock.
We now Dour the nint and a half of white stock over
74
✪ Vegetable Soup
Page 46 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1882. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
It is then stirred until it is very dark, without being burnt, when half a pint of boiling water is boiled with it for five minutes to dissolve it ; it may then be strained into a bottle, and put aside till wanted. Caramel thus prepared beforehand is very much to be preferred to the rough-and-ready browning used by cooks every day, and made by burning sugar in an iron spoon. The latter preparation is almost certain to spoil the flavour of a dish into which it enters. The former, if used very carefully indeed, may improve the look of a soup without injuring its taste. Yet even this is a dangerous addition, and should be dispensed with if possible.
Purdes differ from thick soups in that the vegetables used in flavouring the liquor, or the materials used for thickening, are rubbed patiently through a sieve ; then mixed with the liquor once more, and boiled up again before serving. In purdes nothing is wasted ; you get the full benefit of everything used in making the soup. Yet it is to be feared that purées will never be very popular with people who have to do their own cooking, because this process of rubbing vegetables through a
Thick Soups and Purées.
/
sieve is rather troublesome, and calls both for time and patience. If these can be given, however, the result is sure to be satisfactory ; and if girls who have till now been accustomed only to the ordinary' method of cookery usually carried on in English kitchens will follow the directions given, and patiently make a purée properly, they will be astonished to find what excellent soup can be made for a trilling cost.
The best of it is that a girl who gets the idea of making one pur^e can make every purde. Therefore, as potatoes are within the reach of all I will describe the process of making potato purée, and I hope girls will remember that although potatoes are used here, the process would be the same whatever vegetables were used, and whatever the purde might be.
Before we began to make our soup, however, we should want a hair sieve, and a small one can be bought for about ninepence. If we determined to make soup every day, we should do well to get a wire sieve ; and a moderate-sized tin wire sieve would cost about half a crown, though a brass wire sieve would cost about four shillings. The vegetables could be made to go through the wire sieve more quickly than through the hair sieve, but the purde would not be quite so smooth in the former case as in the latter. At the same time the wire sieve would last much longer than the hair sieve.
Besides the hair sieve we must procure a stewpan with a closely-fitting lid, one leek, or if this is not to be had, one small onion, a pound of potatoes, weighed after being washed and peeled, half of a small stick of celery, and a pint and a half of stock. We wash the leek and cut the white part only into dice ; then put these, the potatoes thinly sliced, the celery, and four peppercorns into the stewpan with one ounce of butter. We cover the stewpan closely and place it on the fire for five minutes to “ sweat ” the vegetables, and we shake the pan now and then to keep the potatoes from sticking and thus acquiring colour. After being steamed in butter in this way vegetables intended for soup give out their flavour better than they would if boiled at once in the stock.
We now pour the pint and a half of white stock over
Records on this page
Potato PuréeVegetable Soup