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Plum Porridge or Broth

Plum porridge was a favourite dish two hundred years ago, but it is now almost obsolete. as it has been superseded by plum pudding. The following is a recipe of Queen Anne's time. Take ten pounds of the shin of beef, and two pounds of the neck, and boil these in three gallons of water for five hours. Strain the liquor, and skim carefully. Put it back into the saucepan, with three pounds of stoned raisins, three pounds of stewed prunes, and two pounds of currants, and let the fruit boil gently for an hour. Take the crumb of a twopenny loaf, dip it into the liquid, and beat it smoothly with a fork. Mix with it the pulped prunes, an ounce of powdered cinnamon, a quarter of an ounce of powdered cloves, half an ounce of grated nutmeg, and a quarter of an ounce of powdered mace. Put this mixture into the soup to thicken it, and boil for a quarter of an hour, stirring all the time to keep the soup from burning. Add sufficient sugar to suit the taste, a little salt, a quart of claret, and half a pint of sack. Cut some white bread into dice. Lay them in a soup tureen, put a piece of the meat over them, pour in the broth, and serve.