Culinary jottings

*' Countiy parsley," to my mind, spoils any soup. It is nearly as bad as too mncli spice, and unfortunately our natives are very fond of it. I have interdicted its use in my kitchen under pain of a fine. Tarragon is the best flavouring herb you can use in a clear soup, (consomme ct l'estragon) but we have only the vinegar in India, not the plant itself, and a leaf or two is, what we desire in soup. I brought out from England and have also received by post, some dried tarragon leaves which I have found highly satisfactory, and can safely recommend others to try. Unfortunately tarragon is not included in Crosse and Blackwell's dried herb list, so you must write, if sufficiently enthusiastic, to a friend who has a large kitchen garden, and beg him to fill a bottle or two with tarragon leaves carefully dried for you. In London any greengrocer can comply with this order from June till the end of October.* Basil, which can be procured in bottles, is the best herb for clear mock turtle, and other clear soups made of shell-fish. I will now conclude this, my first chapter on soupmaking, with a code of general rules on the subject : — 1. Take care that your stock pot, a roomy vessel, is thoroughly clean before you commence operations ; — a good scalding with hot-water in which a lump of washing soda has been dissolved, will make matters certain, and take away that smoky taint which all our utensils get in India owing to our wood fires, and chimneyless ranges. 2. Use soft water rather than hard, 3. One shin of Indian beef is enough for two persons, two shins ought to suffice for six, and so on. 4. Put the fresh soup-meat with the bones separately broken up, and the salt, into cold-water : hot (not boiling) * Since this was written in 1878, Messrs. Moir and Son have introduced the di-ied herb in bottles which will be found excellent. — W. water should be poured round meat and bones that have been previously cooked. 5. A quart of water to half a pound of meat and bone is said to be the outside you can allow in England, but a smaller proportion will be found advisable in India — a quart to a pound for instance. In any circumstances there must be sufficient water to cover the meat and bone. 6. Remember that slow boiling, and retarding actual boiling as much as possible, are important points to start with. 7. Do not cover up your pot closely, the steam should evaporate to assist the strength of the soup, and keep it clear, 8. Skim frequently during the early stage of your proceedings,— a cup of cold-water thrown into the pot causes the scum, or albumen, to come up quickly, and, of course, retards boiling. 9. Use a wooden spoon. 10. Put in your vegetables, flavouring herbs, &c., after the skimming is finished, and let them simmer till they are done. 11. Wash your vegetables very carefully before adding them. 12. As soon as the vegetables which arc put into the pot-aii-feu are done, they should be removed, and the heat under the soup-kettle maintained at simmering point. 13. It will take four or five hours to extract the essence from a few pounds of beef, so begin as soon as you can, and don't hurry the work. 14. It is better to season too little than too highly, so be very careful when adding pepper, herbs, &c.