progress in the delicacy of taste. High seasoning is a means of stimulating appetite, which in the end must prove injurious to health. The quality of good cookery does not depend upon hot seasoning, but upon a scientific combination, balance, and knowledge of the different ingredients used.

CHAPTER III.

POTAGES-SOUPS.

1. Pot-au-feu (Beef Soup).

To make this soup take two pounds of meat to a quart of water; you may use all the trimmings of beef or veal. Beat the meat properly, with a roller, fasten it up together, then put it into a stewpan or an earthen pot; fill up with cold water, salt it immediately, then set it on a moderate fire. Take care to have a hole in the lid, or to put a spoon under it, to prevent it from closing hermetically. Be careful to skim the soup before it boils, else it would not be clear. When skimmed and boiling, peel and cut down the middle two or three carrots (according to their size), two leeks, a turnip, half of a parsnip, and a very small branch of celery; tie them together, and put them into the soup with a large onion, four cloves, and a little garlic; add a little pepper. Put your pot on one side of the fire so as to let it boil very slowly and equally for six or seven hours. When ready to be served, colour it with a little burnt onion or caramel (see caramel, Index); toast some thin slices of bread, and lay them in the bottom of the souptureen. Take the meat out of the pot and pour the

soup upon the toasts through a fine sieve. Take off some of the fat.

This soup is much better when rice or Italian pastes are employed instead of bread. (See riz au gras and pâtes d'Italie au gras, Index.)

It is the custom in some French houses to have ready, in a separate dish, grated parmesan and gruyère cheese, that the guests may add to their soup if they choose; it is a great improvement.

In the north of France, chopped chervil is also presented to each guest with the soup.

If the soup were destined for invalids or infants, it would be better not to use either garlic or cloves. A calf's foot makes this soup better and more nutritious.

2. Bouillon hâtif (Soup quickly made).

Cut the meat into small dice and break the bones. Rub the bottom of the pan with a little butter; put meat and bones upon it; cover the pan and set it on a slow fire; after two or three minutes fill up the pan with tepid water; salt and skim when required. Add the vegetables indicated for No. 1, only cut them in thin slices, even the burnt onion; let the soup boil an hour and a half rather briskly, then pour it upon the bread.

This soup is not so delicate as No. 1, but it is still very good; it may be used like No. 1, in all sorts of sauces, instead of the costly velouté and suprême sauces indicated in the majority of cookery books.

3. Consommé (another Beef Soup).

Proceed exactly as you would for No. 1, only use a double quantity of meat to the same quantity of water, and let the broth reduce to a sufficient consistency; pass through a sieve and bottle when cold.

This soup may be kept for a fortnight in winter, four or five days in summer. It is particularly useful in travelling with children or invalids; two tablespoonfuls mixed in a gill of boiling water will give you a good, light, and still nutritious beverage; and it is always easy to get a gill of boiling water with a spirit-lamp.

4. Potage à la Marie-Louise.

Begin as you would for No. 1.

When the pot is on the fire, roast quickly a hen until very brown and only half-done, then put it into the pot and let it boil without interruption for eight hours.

5. Riz au gras (Rice Soup).

Wash carefully your rice in two or three waters, and use about a dessert-spoonful for every guest.

The best way is to have broth No. I or No. 4, and to set it on the fire until it boils; then to add the rice and let it boil for fifteen minutes or half an hour. If you do so, your rice will be very good, but your soup will be pale and not clear. If

be clear, boil first your rice in water.

you want it to Drain it in a

hair sieve, and put it into the broth when it boils.

Remove the pan to a corner of the fire and let the rice simmer for five minutes without boiling.

6. Vermicelle au gras (Vermicelli).

When your broth is boiling throw in your vermicelli, previously breaking it; then keep stirring with a wooden spoon for five minutes.

It is difficult to indicate the requisite quantity, for some kinds of vermicelli swell a great deal more than others, but a table-spoonful for each guest is generally sufficient.

Vermicelli with milk has to be boiled exactly in the same manner; using milk instead of broth, and adding a little sugar and essence of lemon-peel, vanilla, or any other flavour.

7. Semoule (Semolina).

Exactly like vermicelli, No. 6. A tea-spoonful of semolina is sufficient for each person.

8. Pâtes d'Italie (Italian Pastes).

See No. 6. Use Italian pastes instead of vermicelli.

9. Macaroni.

See No. 6. Use macaroni instead of vermicelli. Do not forget to serve grated parmesan with this soup.