Mulligatawny soup is another not exactly thick soup, and yet not a puree, but a mixture of the two that we may here allude to, though perhaps a little out of its proper place. Here again the secret of success is patience in rubbing the fried onion, apples, &c., through the tamis; but we will speak of the tamis more fully when we come to " Purees." There is one little point in which mul- ligatawny soup differs from others, and that is, it requires sour apples in its composition. Of course apples, especially sour ones, cannot always be obtained in spring. There are few points in which a knowledge of the priixciples of cookery becomes more beneficial than when such knowledge enables the cook to substitute one ingredient for another. Ingenuity on the part of the cook on this point is a crucial test of excellence. Suppose the time of year is such that no apples can be obtained, the probability is that young green goosebex'ries✪ Mulligatawny Soup are in season; by substituting a few of these for the apples, that peculiar twang in good curry or good mulligatawny given by the apples can be obtained. With regard to thick soups in general, little need be said beyond that, as a rule, the only difference is the addition of brown or white roux. We must, however, again remind our readers, as we have done before, almost ad nauseam, of allowing the soup to boil and throw up the butter, which must be removed by skimming. Soups thickened by arrowroot, corn-flour, plain flour-and-water, do not require this skimming. The common mistake into which inexperienced cooks fall in making thick soup is making it too thick. By adding too much brown roux the flavour of the soup itself is overpowered. Again, in usino- arrow- CASSELL S DICTIONARY OF COOKERY. root for thickening, if care be not exercised the soup will be rendered the con- sistency of a pudding rather than a soup. Recollect, in thickening soups, gravies, &c., the full effect of the thickening added is not felt till the soup or gravy has boiled up for a minute or two; what, therefore, is most requisite is that the cook should possess that quality which of all others I regard as a siiie qud 7wn for success, viz., patience; and, to proceed to pm-ees, I will commence with a remark that sounds like a proverb, viz.. Patience makes the puree. I doubt if of all the trying ordeals a good cook has to undergo throughout the year, whether any is so trying as that of standing over a large wire sieve, wooden spoon in hand, endeavouring to coax the contents through. Let cooks, however, rest assured that this is not labour spent in vain. Take, for example, really good Palestine sovxp. ' We will suppose the artichokes, say a quarter of a peck, to have simmered and got soft ill a couple of ovmces of butter, and that proper care has been taken to prevent them getting brown. We will then suppose them to have been boiled gently in say a quart of good strong white stock, and a bay-leaf added to improve their flavour. Now the whole must, be rubbed through a tamis, or wire sieve, otherwise the soup will be poor. However, rub it through, and add half a pint of boiling cream, and you will have a soup that you need not be ashamed to set before the most particular person in the world. By-the-by, if the artichokes — Jerusalem ones, of course — are not very young, add a little poxmded white sugar✪ Palestine Soup to the soup at the finish.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Mulligatawny soup is another not exactly thick soup, and yet not a puree, but a mixture of the two that we may here allude to, though perhaps a little out of its proper place. Here again the secret of success is patience in rubbing the fried onion, apples, &c., through the tamis; but we will speak of the tamis more fully when we come to " Purees." There is one little point in which mulligatawny soup differs from others, and that is, it requires sour apples in its composition. Of course apples, especially sour ones, cannot always be obtained in spring. There are few points in which a knowledge of the principles of cookery becomes more beneficial than when such knowledge enables the cook to substitute one ingredient for another. Ingenuity on the part of the cook on this point is a crucial test of excellence. Suppose the time of year is such that no apples can be obtained, the probability is that young green gooseberries are in season; by substituting a few of these for the apples, that peculiar twang in good curry or good mulligatawny given by the apples can be obtained. With regard to thick soups in general, little need be said beyond that, as a rule, the only difference is the addition of brown or white roux. We must, however, again remind our readers, as we have done before, almost ad nauseam, of allowing the soup to boil and throw up the butter, which must be removed by skimming. Soups thickened by arrowroot, corn-flour, plain flour-and-water, do not require this skimming. The common mistake into which inexperienced cooks fall in making thick soup is making it too thick. By adding too much brown roux the flavour of the soup itself is overpowered. Again, in using arrow- root for thickening, if care be not exercised the soup will be rendered the consistency of a pudding rather than a soup. Recollect, in thickening soups, gravies, &c., the full effect of the thickening added is not felt till the soup or gravy has boiled up for a minute or two; what, therefore, is most requisite is that the cook should possess that quality which of all others I regard as a sine qua non for success, viz., patience; and, to proceed to purees, I will commence with a remark that sounds like a proverb, viz.. Patience makes the puree. I doubt if of all the trying ordeals a good cook has to undergo throughout the year, whether any is so trying as that of standing over a large wire sieve, wooden spoon in hand, endeavouring to coax the contents through. Let cooks, however, rest assured that this is not labour spent in vain. Take, for example, really good Palestine soup. ' We will suppose the artichokes, say a quarter of a peck, to have simmered and got soft ill a couple of ounces of butter, and that proper care has been taken to prevent them getting brown. We will then suppose them to have been boiled gently in say a quart of good strong white stock, and a bay-leaf added to improve their flavour. Now the whole must, be rubbed through a tamis, or wire sieve, otherwise the soup will be poor. However, rub it through, and add half a pint of boiling cream, and you will have a soup that you need not be ashamed to set before the most particular person in the world. By-the-by, if the artichokes — Jerusalem ones, of course — are not very young, add a little pounded white sugar to the soup at the finish.

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Cassell's dictionary of cookery