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

This is only one of half a dozen traditional thick soups, celebrated in Andalusian song and story. It is so thick that it serves as a whole meal. The original version of this poor man's potage calls for lights and the "innards" of any animal, as well as pig's liver, according to Latin taste for all sorts of giblets that we disdain. When made with goose-giblets and rice it is called gondingo. ALMOND SOUP (Sopa de Almendras) 8 ounces almonds, blanched 1 clove and peeled 1 dash grated nutmeg 1 pint rich chicken broth 1 bit mace 1 pint rich veal broth 1 sprig thyme 1 tablespoon minced ham Salt (sparingly) Grind 6 ounces almonds to paste, adding a few drops cold water to prevent oiling. Shred remaining almonds. Mix broths, add remaining ingredients, and simmer l/2 hour; strain, add ground almonds and let boil up, stirring with a wooden spoon 10-15 minutes until well mixed. Add shredded almonds and serve. This soup is greatly improved by the addition of l/2 cup scalded cream at the moment of serving. CHESTNUT PUREE {Sopa de Castañas) 1 pound chestnuts 2 quarts water 1 celery stalk l/2 cup boiling milk Y2 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons butter 3 peppercorns, crushed Croutons Cut an X on the shell of each chestnut and put into boiling water for a few minutes. Peel and skin, cut in two, and place in a casserole with the celery, salt, and pepper. Cover with 2 quarts of water and cook slowly until tender; then pass all through a colander. Return to the casserole, and clear with the boiling milk. Add the butter and pour into a soup tureen, over croutons. RAGOUT (Guisado) Any game soup cooked with onions, tomatoes and garlic first browned in a sauce pan. RICE PAP {Papilla de Arroz) Made of rice-cream, and when chicken is added, called papilla de arroz con polio. PIQUANT SOUP (Sopa Picante) A vegetable soup of mixed sweet peppers and spices, originating in the West Indies and brought to Spain by early explorers. PEPPERY SOUP (Sopa Pimentado) Another importation from the Caribbean, mandioca root boiled with pimentos and lemon juice. BOILED DINNER (Puchero) Puchero, like the olio, or olla, is simply the name of the glazed earthenware pot in which the stew is cooked. Its main ingredient and adornment is a calf's head, whole, which is served in the center of the platter with the boiled dinner heaped around it and the broth in a separate tureen. Puchero has become the national dish of Argentina and is served at its best in the Petit Salon of Buenos Aires. MISCELLANEOUS POTAGES Southern Spain is celebrated for its beef broths, often sentimentalized by the use of meal from bulls that have put up losing fights in local arenas. Beef tea, aromatic with herbs and even spiced with nasturtium leaves and seeds. Batatulla, potatoes and beef broth. Giblet broths and potages beyond number, on the order of chanfaina (see recipe) and gondingo (see note to chanfaina). There are thick soups of Spanish partridge, quail and songbirds; vegetable purees aplenty, though chiefly individualized in celery, or turnip, chick peas or onion. The Andalusian sausage broth, caldo con chorizos, is made with snappy crimson sausages sometimes hotter than the brasero, a charcoal heating pan often set under the dining table, draped with petticoats beneath which chilly feet are thrust.