Purées.
99.—ALMOND SOUP. (Fr.—Potage d'Amandes à la Crême.)
Ingredients.—1 quart of milk, or half milk and half white stock, ¼ of a lb. of ground almonds, 2 hard-boiled eggs, 1 oz. of butter, 1 oz. of flour or cornflour, 1 onion, 2 strips of celery, salt and pepper.
Method.—Mince the onion and celery finely, put them into a stewpan with the ground almonds, cover with cold water and simmer gently for ½ an hour, then rub through a fine sieve: rub the yolks of the eggs through at the same time. In the meantime make the milk hot in the saucepan, add to it the purée of almonds, onion, celery, and egg, and boil up. Knead the butter and flour together, put these into the soup and stir until smoothly mixed with it, cut the whites of the eggs into dice, add them with the necessary seasoning to the soup, and serve.
Time.—1 to 1¼ hours. Average Cost, 10d. to 1s. Seasonable at any time. Sufficient for 6 persons.
Almond (Fr.: Amande).—This tree is indigenous to the northern parts of Asia and Africa, but it is also cultivated in Europe, especially in the south of France, Spain, and Italy. It grows to about twenty feet in height, and is allied to the peach, natural order Rosaceae. Its flowers, of a beautiful pink, appear before the leaves are produced; these are oval shaped, with serrated edges. The fruit is ovoid in form, and covered with down, encasing the almond in a wrinkled shell. There are two varieties of the almond-tree, one sweet and the other bitter. The chief kinds of sweet almonds are the Jordan or Syrian, which comes from Malaga, the Valencian, and the Italian. Bitter almonds are imported from Mogador, and in addition to a fixed oil, consisting chiefly of olein, which is common to both varieties, bitter almonds contain a substance called emulsin and a bitter crystallizable body named amygdalin; the latter by its action on the former produces by distillation the essential oil of almonds, the principal constituents of which are prussic acid, benzoic acid, and hydride of benzoyl. The essential oil is used for perfuming soap, for flavouring confectionery, and in cookery; but great care is necessary in its use owing to the presence, as mentioned above, of the highly poisonous substance prussic acid.
100.—APPLE SOUP. (Fr.—Purée de Pommes.)
Ingredients.—2 quarts of second stock, 2 lb. of cooking apples, 3 cloves, ¼ of an inch of root ginger, salt and pepper.
Method.—Peel, quarter, and core the apples, cut them into thick slices, and add them with the cloves and ginger to the boiling stock. Simmer gently until tender, then pass the whole through a fine sieve. Re-heat, season to taste, and serve.
Time.—About 1 hour. Average Cost, 6d. to 8d., exclusive of the stock. Sufficient for 6 or 8 persons. Seasonable at any time.
Apple (Fr.: Pomme).—The apple is the most widely distributed of all the fruit-trees, and belongs to the temperate regions, where it flourishes best; it also grows in India, Persia, Arabia, Australia and New Zealand. The original of all the varieties of the cultivated apple is the wild crab-tree (Pyrus malus), the fruit of which is small and very sour. The apple-tree is of moderate height, with oval leaves and pinkish white flowers. There are numerous varieties of the cultivated apple, and new ones are continually being added by cultivators. The various kinds are maintained and propagated by grafts, cuttings and budding. The wood of the apple-tree is hard and close-grained, and is used for cabinet work and turnery. The apple is of great antiquity, and was brought from the East by the Romans, who esteemed it highly, and by them was probably introduced into Britain. Large quantities of apples are imported into Great Britain from the Continent, the United States, Canada and Australia. From the fermented juice of the apple cider is produced. Apples dried in ovens are termed "biffins." The apple contains a large percentage of water, and also malic acid, which is used for medicinal purposes.
