will be found to be water gruel, or something
like it. But dissolve the same quantity of the fat of meat in a gallon
of water, thicken it over the fire with oatmeal, and the result will be
a very pleasant broth, possessing the identical taste of the meat in a
considerable degree, whether of beef or mutton. If some of the
gelatinous parts of meat be added, the broth is then of a rich and
nutritious quality, and can be made very cheap. For example: take from
four to six ounces of barley, oatmeal two ounces, onions or leeks a
small quantity; beef fat, suet, or drippings, from two to four ounces;
celery seed half a spoonful, pepper and salt to give the soup a relish,
and water sufficient to make a gallon. Boil the barley, previously
washed, in six quarts of water, which when boiled sufficiently soft will
be reduced to a gallon. It will be necessary to skim it clean in the
course of the boiling, and to stir it well from the bottom of the
boiler. The celery seed should be bruised, and added with the leeks and
onions, towards the end of the process. The oatmeal is to be mixed in a
little cold water, and put in about an hour before the soup is done. In
the last place add the fat, melted before the fire, if not in a state of
drippings, and season with pepper and salt. A few grains of cayenne
would give the soup a higher relish. Wheat flour may be used instead of
oatmeal, but in a smaller proportion. The addition of turnips, carrots,
and cabbages, will be a considerable improvement. The intention of the
oatmeal or flour is, by the mucilage they contain, assisted with barley
broth, to unite the fat with the liquid, so as to form one uniform
mass. Where the fat is suspended in the soup, and not seen floating on
the top, by which it is rendered easier of digestion, and more readily
convertible into good chyle, it is evident that it must be more
palatable, as well as abundantly more nutritious. Some may think this
kind of soup unwholesome, from the quantity of fat it contains; but a
little reflection will shew the contrary. Suet puddings and dumplins are
not unwholesome, neither are mutton drippings with potatoes or other
vegetables. In short, fat is eaten daily by all ranks of people, in some
way or other, in much larger quantities than is prescribed for soup. A
labouring man would find no difficulty in eating as much suet at one
meal, in a flour pudding, or as much drippings as is necessary for a
gallon of soup, in a mass of potatoes