it
yields a quantity of scum, which must be taken off as soon as it
appears. After the meat has had a good infusion for half an hour, the
fire may be improved to make the pot boil, and the vegetables be put in
with a little salt. These will cause more scum to rise, which must be
taken off immediately. Then cover the boiler very closely, and place it
at a proper distance from the fire, where it is to boil very gently and
equally, but not fast. Soups will generally take from three to six hours
doing. The better way is to prepare them the evening before, as that
will give more time to attend to the dinner the next day. When the soup
is cold, the fat may much more easily and completely be removed; and
when it is decanted, take care not to disturb the settlings at the
bottom of the vessel, which are so fine that they will escape through a
sieve. A tammis is the best strainer, the soup appears smoother and
finer, and the cloth is easier cleaned than any sieve. If you strain it
while it is hot, let the tammis or napkin be previously soaked in cold
water; the coldness of the strainer will tend to coagulate the fat, and
only suffer the pure broth to pass through. The full flavour of the
ingredients can only be extracted by long and slow simmering, during
which the boiler must be kept close covered, to prevent evaporation.
Clear soups must be perfectly transparent, thickened soups about the
consistence of cream; the latter will require nearly double the quantity
of seasoning, but too much spice makes it unwholesome. To thicken and
give body to soups and sauces, the following materials are used. Bread
raspings, potatoe mucilage, isinglass, flour and butter, barley, rice,
or oatmeal and water rubbed well together. Any of these are to be mixed
gradually with the soup, till thoroughly incorporated, and it should
afterwards have at least half an hour's gentle simmering. If it appears
lumpy, it must be passed through a tammis or fine sieve. A piece of
boiled beef pounded to a pulp, with a bit of butter and flour, and
rubbed through a sieve, and gradually incorporated with the soup, will
be found an excellent addition. If the soup is too thin or too weak,
take off the cover of the boiler, and let it boil till some of the
watery part of it has evaporated; or add some of the thickening
materials before mentioned. When soups and gravies are kept from day to
day, in hot weather, they should be warmed up every day, and put into
fresh scalded