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

The broth of the cocido (see recipe) plays the same part in Spanish soup-making as does consomme in the French cuisine, or the stock pot in the English kitchen. In every Spanish household the cocido is cooked every day, either an elaborate one to be served to the family or a simple one for the servants' table; so the clear vegetable soup, rich and highly seasoned, as required in this recipe, is always at hand. Tinned vegetable soup, fortified with a teaspoon of beef extract and additional seasoning to taste, strained, cleared with white of egg and strained through a cloth, is a practical substitute. SEED BROTH (Caldo Semilla) 4 tablespoons wheat 4 tablespoons chick peas 4 tablespoons corn 4 tablespoons dry kidney beans 4 tablespoons barley 3 quarts cold water Salt or sugar Roast the grains and beans in the oven like coffee beans and pound fine in a mortar or run through the coffee mill. Put into 3 quarts of cold water and simmer until only 1 quart of liquid is left. Strain and press through a sieve. Season with salt or sugar and serve hot or cold. The main distinction between Spanish cooking in the mother country and that of her colonial descendants is a sparing use of hot pepper. This soup, for instance, has no pepper ingredient. Fresh, sweet, red and green pimentos are used in appetizing profusion during their season, while strings of them, drying for winter use, hang from eaves and rafters; but there is not a really hot or peppery recipe in the cuisine of Spain, with the exception of red-peppered hard sausages such as chorizo. COLD MILK SOUP J (Sop a de Lee he Frio) 3 pints whole milk Juice 1 lemon 3 egg whites Grated rind of Y2 lemon Powdered sugar Bring milk to boiling point, stirring constantly. Pour into a colorful, decorative serving bowl, cool, and place in refrigerator. Whip egg whites with lemon juice and grated lemon rind, adding enough sugar to make a light snowy cream. Spread this thinly and evenly over the cold cooked milk and leave in refrigerator l/2 hour before serving For delicate supping a plain custard suits every Latin palate. So this custardy soup, being but slightly sweetened, makes an appetizing introduction to a Spanish supper, or, as so many other national dishes, it is a whole meal in itself. Fresh cow's milk is scarce in southern Spain, so this soup would more often than not be made of goat's milk, and all the richer for that. FROGS LEG SOUP (Caldo de Ronas) i fresh pear 3 sprigs parsley Y2 head lettuce 18 frogs legs 1 turnip Salt 1 quart tepid water Peel, core and slice the pear. Chop lettuce, turnip and parsley. Skin and clean frogs legs, salt and add tepid water with first ingredients. Bring to a boil and skim well. Cook for 45 minutes. FISH SOUP (Sopa de Fez) 3 onions 1 cup cooking wine 3 teaspoons olive oil il/2 pounds fresh fish 3 tablespoons tomato paste Salt 1 herb bouquet 3 peppercorns, crushed 1 teaspoon minced parsley Nutmeg 2 teaspoons flour 4 small cucumber pickles 3 pints water Small squares fried bread