The European cookbook for American homes (from Italy, Spain, Portugal and France)

Melt butter in pan and add onions; simmer slowly until golden. Add broth, season and simmer. Slice the small end of a French loaf very thin; dry slices crisp in the oven. (The French use an attenuated thin crusty loaf called a flute.) Pour soup into a casserole, float bread on top so as to nearly cover. Sprinkle cheese over bread; set in oven and brown. Bring casserole at once to the table, and serve in hot soup plates. Americans once resident in France are ever afterward attacked by a returning longing for this peasant soup, which is always served with ceremony in the finest restaurants. It is a specialty of the market eating places around Les Halles in Paris, where vendors of carrots and cabbages rub elbows in the early dawn with jewelled and opera-cloaked all-night revellers, over hearty helpings of a dish which is equally good for putting one to bed happy, or fortifying for a day of hard labor. Ile-de-France SOUPE JULIENNE DE ST. MAUR i onion, halved and sliced 2 small carrots, cut julienne 2 celery stalks, cut julienne Yz small cabbage, chopped 2 tablespoons butter 1Y2 quarts well-seasoned stock 1 cup cooked rice Y2 cup shredded lettuce l/i cup shredded sorrel (or 2 tablespoons lemon juice) 2 egg yolks, beaten Simmer onion, carrot, celery, cabbage, butter, stock and rice % hour. Add lettuce and sorrel and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from fire and add egg yolks. The recipe for this celebrated international soup originated in Paris. Nivernais SOUP NIVERNAIS (Soupe a la Nivernaise) *4 cup minced carrots *4 cup minced young turnips 4 tablespoons butter Y& pound bacon, diced il/i quart meat broth (beef or mutton) Salt and pepper lA cup sliced lettuce and sorrel, mixed 8 small Brussels sprouts, cooked l/4 pound beef marrow, sliced Rounds of bread Fry carrots and turnips in half the butter, but do not brown. Add bacon and broth, salt and pepper, and gently cook until reduced to 1 quart. Quickly brown lettuce and sorrel in rest of butter, and add with the Brussels sprouts. Cook 5 minutes. Skim off superfluous butter. Drop marrow slices in boiling salted water and blanch. Have ready the rounds of bread dried in the oven. Take up marrow with a skimmer and lay on the bread. Take soup up in a tureen and lay bread on top of it. THE SOUP WITHOUT AN EQUAL (Potage a la Nonpareille) 1 stalk celery, diced V2 cauliflower 3 small carrots, diced 1 cup green peas Y2 bunch asparagus, diced Salt and pepper Meat broth Toasted bread, diced Cook celery, carrots and asparagus in the meat broth. Cook cauliflower separately in salted water, dice and add. Fifteen minutes before the soup is ready add the green peas. When they are tender, season, garnish with diced toast and serve. PEASANT SOUP (Potage Paysanne) 1 onion, sliced Herb bouquet 1 carrot, sliced Salt and pepper 1 young turnip, sliced 1 teaspoon granulated sugar Vz small cabbage, sliced i% quarts chicken or beef broth 2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon minced parsley Put all ingredients except parsley in a casserole, cover, set in a moderate oven (350° F.) and simmer until vegetables are very tender. Sprinkle over with parsley and bring casserole to the table. Ntce WHITEBAIT SOUP AS MADE AT NICE (Soupe de Poutine a la Nicoise) i onion, sliced 3 tablespoons butter or oil