The Jewish Manual/Chapter I
CHAPTER I.
Soups.
STOCK OR CONSOMMÉ.
Gravy beef with a knuckle of veal makes a fine and nutritious stock; the stock for white soups should be prepared with veal or white poultry. Very tolerable stock can be procured without purchasing meat expressly for the purpose, by boiling down bones and the trimmings of meat or poultry.
The liquor in which beef or mutton intended for the table has been boiled, will also, with small additions and skilful flavoring, make an excellent soup at a trifling expense.
To thicken soups, mix a little potatoe-flour, ground rice, or pounded vermicelli, in a little water, till perfectly smooth; add a little of the soup to it in a cup, until sufficiently thin, then pour it into the rest and boil it up, to prevent the raw taste it would otherwise have; the presence of the above ingredients should not be discovered, and judgment and care are therefore requisite.
If colouring is necessary, a crust of bread stewed in the stock will give a fine brown, or the common browning may be used; it is made in the following manner:
Put one pound of coarse brown sugar in a stew-pan with a lump of clarified suet; when it begins to froth, pour in a wine-glass of port wine, half an ounce of black pepper, a little mace, four spoonsful of ketchup or Harvey's sauce, a little salt, and the peel of a lemon grated; boil all together, let it grow cold, when it must be skimmed and bottled for use.
It may also be prepared as required, by putting a small piece of clarified fat with one ounce of coarse sugar, in an iron spoon, melting them together, and stirring in a little ketchup and pepper.
When good stock or consommé is prepared, it is very easy to form it into any kind of soup or sauce that may be required.
GRAVY SOUP.
Take about three quarts of any strong stock, seasoned with a bunch of sweet herbs, a carrot, turnip, and a head of celery, which must not be served in the soup. Vermicelli, maccaroni, or thin slices of carrot and small sippets of fried bread cut in fancy shapes, are usually served in this soup.
MOCK TURTLE.
Half boil a well-cleaned calf's head, then cut off all the meat in small square pieces, and break the bones; return it to the stew-pan, with some good stock made of beef and veal; dredge in flour, add fried shalot, pepper, parsley, tarragon, a little mushroom ketchup, and a pint of white wine; simmer gently until the meat is perfectly soft and tender. Balls of force-meat, and egg-balls, should be put in a short time before serving; the juice of a lemon is considered an improvement.
MULIGATAWNY SOUP.
Take two chickens, cut them up small, as if for fricassee, flour them well, put them in a saucepan with four onions shred, a piece of clarified fat, pepper, salt, and two table spoonsful of curry powder; let it simmer for an hour, then add three quarts of strong beef gravy, and let it continue simmering for another hour; before sent to table the juice of a lemon should be stirred in it; some persons approve of a little rice being boiled with the stock, and a pinch of saffron is also sometimes added.
ENGLISH MULIGATAWNY.
Take a knuckle of veal, stew it till half done, then cut off the greatest part of the meat, and continue to stew down the bone in the stock, the meat must be cut into small pieces and fried with six onions thinly sliced, and a table spoonful of curry powder, a desert spoonful of cayenne pepper and salt, add the stock and let the whole gently simmer for nearly an hour, flavouring it with a little Harvey's sauce and lemon pickle.
SOUP A LA JULIENNE.
Take a variety of vegetables: such as celery, carrots, turnips, leeks, cauliflower, lettuce, and onions, cut them in shreds of small size, place them in a stew-pan with a little fine salad oil, stew them gently over the fire, adding weak broth from time to time; toast a few slices of bread and cut them into pieces the size and shape of shillings and crowns, soak them in the remainder of the broth, and when the vegetables are well done add all together and let it simmer for a few minutes; a lump of white sugar, with pepper and salt are sufficient seasoning.
SOUPE A LA TURQUE.
Make a good gravy from shin of beef, and cut up very small various sorts of vegetables of whatever may be in season, add spices, pepper, and salt; when it is all stewed well down together, set it to cool and take off the fat, then place it again on the fire to boil, and add to two quarts of soup, one quarter of a pound of rice, beat two yolks of eggs with a little of the stock, and when the rice is quite tender, stir them into the soup, taking the precaution not to let the soup boil, and to stir always the same way.
PEPPER POT.
Cut small pieces of any vegetables, and add pieces of smoked or salt beef, and also of any cold poultry, roast beef or mutton, stew all these together in two or three quarts of water, according to the quantity of meat, &c. It must be seasoned highly with whole peppers, allspice, mace, Jamaica pickles, and salt; it must be thoroughly stewed, and served, without straining, in a tureen.
POTATOE SOUP.
Grate a pound of fine potatoes in two quarts of water, add to it the trimmings of any meat, amounting to about a pound in quantity, a cup of rice, a few sweet herbs, and a head of celery, stew well till the liquor is considerably reduced, then strain it through a sieve; if, when strained, it is too thin and watery, add a little thickening; it should be flavoured only with white pepper and salt.
SOUP CRESSY.
Grate six carrots, and chop some onions with a lettuce, adding a few sweet herbs, put them all into a stewpan, with enough of good broth to moisten the whole, adding occasionally the remainder; when nearly done, put in the crumb of a French roll, and when soaked, strain the whole through a sieve, and serve hot in a tureen.
CARROT SOUP.
Take a dozen carrots scraped clean, rasp them, but do not use the core, two heads of celery, two onions thinly sliced, season to taste, and pour over a good stock, say about two quarts, boil it, then pass it through a sieve; it should be of the thickness of cream, return it to the saucepan, boil it up and squeeze in a little lemon juice, or add a little vinegar.
PALESTINE SOUP.
Stew a knuckle of veal, and a calf's foot, and one pound of chorissa, and a large fowl, in four quarts of water, add a piece of fresh lemon peel, six Jerusalem artichokes, a bunch of sweet herbs, a little salt and white pepper, and a little nutmeg,
and a blade of mace; when the fowl is thoroughly done, remove the white parts to prepare for thickening, and let the rest continue stewing till the stock is sufficiently strong, the white parts of the fowl must be pounded and sprinkled with flower or ground rice, and stirred in the soup after it has been strained, until it thickens.
A SIMPLE WHITE SOUP.
Break a knuckle of veal, place it in a stewpan,
also a piece of chorissa, a carrot two onions,
three or four turnips, and a blade of mace, pour
over two or three quarts of water or weak broth,
season with salt, a sprig of parsley, and whole
white pepper; when sufficiently boiled, skim and
strain it, and thicken with pounded vermicelli.
VERMICELLI SOUP.
Make a fine strong stock from the shin of
beef, or any other part preferred, and add, a short
time before serving, a handful of vermicelli,
which should be broken, so that it may be in
pieces of convenient length, the stock should
be more or less flavoured with vegetables, and
herbs, according to taste.
MATSO SOUP.
Boil down half a shin of beef, four pounds of gravy beef and a calf's foot may be added, if approved, in three or four quarts of water; season with celery, carrots, turnips, pepper and salt, and a bunch of sweet herbs; let the whole stew gently for eight hours, then strain and let it stand to get cold, when the fat must be removed, then return it to the saucepan to warm up. Ten minutes before serving, throw in the balls, from which the soup takes its name, and which are made in the following manner:
Take half a pound of matso flour, two ounces
of chopped suet, season with a little pepper,
salt, ginger, and nutmeg; mix with this, four
beaten eggs, and make it into a paste, a small
onion shred and browned in a desert spoonful
of oil is sometimes added; the paste should be
made into rather large balls, and care should
be taken to make them very light.
TOMATA SOUP.
Take a dozen unpealed tomatas, with a bit
of clarified suet, or a little sweet oil, and a
small Spanish onion; sprinkle with flour, and
season with salt and cayenne pepper, and boil
them in a little gravy or water; it must be
stirred to prevent burning, then pass it through
a sieve, and thin it with rich stock to the consistency
of winter pea-soup; flavour it with lemon juice, according to taste, after it has been warmed up and ready for serving.
ALMONDEGOS SOUP: A SUPERIOR WHITE SOUP.
Put a knuckle of veal and a calf's foot into two quarts of water, with a blade of mace and a bunch of sweet herbs, a turnip, a little white pepper, and salt; when sufficiently done, strain and skim it, and add balls of forced meat, and egg balls. A quarter of an hour before serving beat up the yolks of four eggs with a desert spoonful of lemon juice, and three ounces of sweet almonds blanched and beaten with a spoonful of powdered white sugar. This mixture is to be stirred into the soup till it thickens, taking care to prevent its curdling.
A FINE VEGETABLE OR FRENCH SOUP.
Take two quarts of strong stock made of gravy beef, add to this, carrots, turnips, leek, celery, brocoli, peas and French beans, all cut as small as possible, add a few lumps of white sugar, pepper, and salt, let it simmer till the vegetables are perfectly soft, and throw in a few force-meat balls.
ASPARAGUS SOUP.
Take eight pounds of gravy beef, with five
pints of water, a few sweet herbs, and an onion
shred, with a little pepper and salt; when the
strength of the meat is sufficiently extracted,
strain off the soup, and add to it a bundle of
asparagus, cut small, with a little chopped parsley
and mint; the asparagus should be thoroughly
done. A few minutes before serving,
throw in some fried bread cut up the size of dice;
pound a little spinach to a pulp, and squeeze
it through a cloth, stir about a tea-cup full of
this essence into the soup, let it boil up after
to prevent a raw taste.
SOUP MAIGRE.
Chop three lettuces, a large handful of spinach,
a little chervil, a head of celery, two or
three carrots, and four onions, put them on the
fire with half a pound of butter, and let them
fry till slightly browned, season with a little salt, sifted white sugar, and white pepper, stew
all gently in five pints of boiling water for
about two hours and a half, and just before
serving the soup, thicken it with the beaten yolks
of four eggs, mixed first with a little of the soup,
and then stirred into the remainder.
SUMMER PEA SOUP.
Take a peck of peas, separate the old from
the young, boil the former till they are quite
tender in good stock, then pass them through
a sieve, and return them to the stock, add the
young peas, a little chopped lettuce, small pieces
of cucumber fried to a light brown, a little
bit of mint, pepper, and salt; two or three
lumps of sugar give a fine flavor.
WINTER PEA SOUP.
Soak a quart of white peas in water, boil
them till soft, in as much water as will cover
them, pass them through a sieve, and add them
to any broth that may be ready, a little piece
of chorissa or smoked beef will improve the flavour; this soup should be served with mint and
fried bread.
GIBLET SOUP.
Add to a fine strong well-seasoned beef stock,
of about three quarts, two sets of giblets, which
should be previously stewed separately in one
quart of water (the gizzards require scalding for
some time before they are put in with the rest);
white pepper, salt, and the rind of lemon should
season them; when they are tender, add them
with their gravy to the stock, and boil for about
ten minutes together, then stir in a glass of white
wine, a table spoonful of mushroom ketchup, and
the juice of half a lemon; it will require to be
thickened with a little flour browned; the giblets
are served in the soup.
BARLEY SOUP.
Put in a stew-pan, a knuckle of mutton, or
four pounds of the neck, with three quarts of
water, boil it gently and keep it well skimmed;
a sprig of parsley, a couple of sliced turnips, a
carrot, an onion or more, if approved, with a little white pepper and salt, are sufficient seasonings
a breakfast cup full of barley should be scalded
and put in the stew-pan with the meat, if when
done, the soup is thin and watery, a little
prepared barley, mixed smoothly, should be
stirred in.
SOUP DE POISSON, OR FISH SOUP.
Make a good stock, by simmering a cod's-head
in water, enough to cover the fish; season it
with pepper and salt, mace, celery, parsley, and
a few sweet herbs, with two or three onions,
when sufficiently done, strain it, and add cutlets
of fish prepared in the following manner: cut
very small, well-trimmed cutlets from any fish,
sole or brill are perhaps best suited; stew them
in equal quantities of water and wine, but not
more than will cover them, with a large lump of
butter, and the juice of a lemon; when they have
stewed gently for about fifteen or twenty minutes,
add them to the soup, which thicken with
cream and flour, serve the soup with the cutlets
in a tureen; force-meat balls of cod's liver are
sometimes added.
OX TAIL SOUP.
Have two well cleaned tails and a neat's foot, cut them in small joints and soak them in water, put them in a stew-pan with a large piece of clarified suet or fat, and let them simmer for ten minutes, then put to them between three and four quarts of cold water, four onions, a bunch of sweet herbs, a carrot, a turnip, a head of celery, and season with whole pepper, allspice, two or three cloves, and salt; let it stew till the meat is tender enough to leave the bones, then remove it from them, as the bones are unsightly in the soup; thicken if necessary with browned flour, and just before serving, add a glass or more of port wine, and a little mushroom ketchup.