The spirit of cookery

It is easily seen that the alia is only a more complicated form of the puchero. Kriisch describes the olla when just served on the table as looking like a mountain, surrounded by depository strata, breccias, and nests of alluvial formation ; the gigantic ‘ steert-piece ’ of beef is the central basal granite, round which the rings of chorizos alternate with the savoury herbs, and descend to the foot, where garbangos represent the rolled boulders. Such an olla requires large arrangements, great dexterity of the cook, and a numerous assembly to do justice to so large a collection of prime food ; and for this reason the olla is not by any means a national dish, not even a popular dish, but one reserved for the use of large establishments on special occasions. The puchero, however, can be made in all proportions, and with any additions which accident or a well-supplied market offers, and which may suit any income and any tongue. In France this dish is termed oille, and seems to have been as national as puchero is in Spain, although its origin in Spain is not questioned ; it was a substantial ragout soup at the time of Louis XIII., whose cooks, with their contemporaries, termed it grand otiille ; it is the ouille au pot mentioned in the letters of Madame de Maintenon. The veritable olla has never been much used in France, but in the establishment of the Spanish "Ambassador at Paris the ragout formed part of the diplomatic representation and the official ceremonial. A grandee of Spain or a tifculado of Castile also thinks the olla obligatory on feastdays. But the French have an oille, cl la Francaise which is adaptable to moderate demands, and can be produced in smaller proportions, while it is probably better in quality than the colossal olla. This, therefore, corresponds to the puchero ; it is plat cle relevd. The oille en potage cl I’ancienne mode presents several interesting features, one of which is that the pigeons and the hen to be used in it are stuffed zuith a farce made with bread and bouillon, egg-yolks, an onion baked in ashes, and hashed bottoms of artichokes, besides green herbs, spices, and salt ; then there is beef and veal in large slices, and all soup vegetables in volume ; broth or water is added. The pot is heated to boiling, and then allowed to simmer for five hours. The cook then makes gratinated crusts in a metal dish, and reduces the bouillon until the crusts begin to adhere to the dish. On this basis the meat, fowl and pigeons are served and carved ; the soup is then presented in a separate dish or tureen.* The first and indispensable ingredient of the olla is a volume of good bouillon ; into this beef in cubical slices is immersed ; upon this follows a quantity of mutton, some pounds of veal gristle, a cut of ham, a chicken, two pigeons, a duck, two partridges, two quails, a pound of bacon, chorizos, garbanzos (these should have been soaked in water for twenty-four hours previously) . The spices are placed in a muslin bag. The vegetables are separately prepared, namely, cabbage lettuces, carrots, turnips, boiled with the fat top broth of the olla ; in another vessel are boiled, also with broth from the olla, bottoms of artichokes, onions, green haricots, slices of cucumber, points of asparagus, and green