Part 11 (2/2)

_Note_.--This is a soup, the princ.i.p.al ingredients of which, sago and eggs, have always been deemed very beneficial to the chest and throat.

In various quant.i.ties, and in different preparations, these have been partaken of by the princ.i.p.al singers of the day, including the celebrated Swedish Nightingale, Jenny Lind, and, as they have always avowed, with considerable advantage to the voice, in singing.

CARROT SOUP.

I.

120. INGREDIENTS.--4 quarts of liquor in which a leg of mutton or beef has been boiled, a few beef-bones, 6 large carrots, 2 large onions, 1 turnip; seasoning of salt and pepper to taste; cayenne.

_Mode_.--Put the liquor, bones, onions, turnip, pepper, and salt, into a stewpan, and simmer for 3 hours. Sc.r.a.pe and cut the carrots thin, strain the soup on them, and stew them till soft enough to pulp through a hair sieve or coa.r.s.e cloth; then boil the pulp with the soup, which should be of the consistency of pea-soup. Add cayenne. Pulp only the red part of the carrot, and make this soup the day before it is wanted.

_Time_.--4-1/2 hours. _Average cost_ per quart, 1-1/2d.

_Seasonable_ from October to March.

_Sufficient_ for 10 persons.

II.

121. INGREDIENTS.--2 lbs. of carrots, 3 oz. of b.u.t.ter, seasoning to taste of salt and cayenne, 2 quarts of stock or gravy soup.

_Mode_.--Sc.r.a.pe and cut out all specks from the carrots, wash, and wipe them dry, and then reduce them into quarter-inch slices. Put the b.u.t.ter into a large stewpan, and when it is melted, add 2 lbs. of the sliced carrots, and let them stew gently for an hour without browning. Add to them the soup, and allow them to simmer till tender,--say for nearly an hour. Press them through a strainer with the soup, and add salt and cayenne if required. Boil the whole gently for 5 minutes, skim well, and serve as hot as possible.

_Time_.--1-1/4 hour. _Average cost_ per quart, 1s. 1d.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TAZZA AND CARROT LEAVES.]

THE CARROT.--There is a wild carrot which grows in England; but it is white and small, and not much esteemed. The garden carrot in general use, was introduced in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and was, at first, so highly esteemed, that the ladies wore leaves of it in their head-dresses. It is of great value in the culinary art, especially for soups and stews. It can be used also for beer instead of malt, and, in distillation, it yields a large quant.i.ty of spirit. The carrot is proportionably valuable as it has more of the red than the yellow part. There is a large red variety much used by the farmers for colouring b.u.t.ter. As a garden vegetable, it is what is called the orange-carrot that is usually cultivated. As a fattening food for cattle, it is excellent; but for man it is indigestible, on account of its fibrous matter. Of 1,000 parts, 95 consist of sugar, and 3 of starch.--The accompanying cut represents a pretty winter ornament, obtained by placing a cut from the top of the carrot-root in a shallow vessel of water, when the young leaves spring forth with a charming freshness and fullness.

CELERY SOUP.

122. INGREDIENTS.--9 heads of celery, 1 teaspoonful of salt, nutmeg to taste, 1 lump of sugar, 1/2 pint of strong stock, a pint of cream, and 2 quarts of boiling water.

_Mode_.--Cut the celery into small pieces; throw it into the water, seasoned with the nutmeg, salt, and sugar. Boil it till sufficiently tender; pa.s.s it through a sieve, add the stock, and simmer it for half an hour. Now put in the cream, bring it to the boiling point, and serve immediately.

_Time_.--1 hour. _Average cost_, 1s. per quart.

_Seasonable_ from September to March.

_Sufficient_ for 10 persons.

_Note_.--This soup can be made brown, instead of white, by omitting the cream, and colouring it a little. When celery cannot be procured, half a drachm of the seed, finely pounded, will give a flavour to the soup, if put in a quarter of an hour before it is done. A little of the essence of celery will answer the same purpose.

CELERY.--This plant is indigenous to Britain, and, in its wild state, grows by the side of ditches and along some parts of the seacoast. In this state it is called _smallaqe_, and, to some extent, is a dangerous narcotic. By cultivation, however, it has been brought to the fine flavour which the garden plant possesses. In the vicinity of Manchester it is raised to an enormous size. When our natural observation is a.s.sisted by the accurate results ascertained by the light of science, how infinitely does it enhance our delight in contemplating the products of nature! To know, for example, that the endless variety of colour which we see in plants is developed only by the rays of the sun, is to know a truism sublime by its very comprehensiveness. The cause of the whiteness of celery is nothing more than the want of light in its vegetation, and in order that this effect may be produced, the plant is almost wholly covered with earth; the tops of the leaves alone being suffered to appear above the ground.

CHANTILLY SOUP.

123. INGREDIENTS.--1 quart of young green peas, a small bunch of parsley, 2 young onions, 2 quarts of medium stock No. 105.

_Mode_.--Boil the peas till quite tender, with the parsley and onions; then rub them through a sieve, and pour the stock to them. Do not let it boil after the peas are added, or you will spoil the colour. Serve very hot.

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