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Prawn Soup

Mince finely two onions, a carrot, and half a dozen of the outer sticks of a head of celery, and put them into a stewpan with three ounces of fresh butter, a bay-leaf, a bunch of parsley, and a sprig of thyme, and let them steam gently for a quarter of an hour. Shake the saucepan every now and then to keep them from burning. Pour over them three pints of broth or water, and mix this gradually with four ounces of flour mixed to a smooth paste with a little cold water; stir the liquid over the fire till it boils, then draw it back, let it simmer gently for a quarter of an hour, and strain. Pick out the tails of fifty prawns, and put the bodies and shells into a stewpan with a little stock and a glassful of light wine. Let them stew for a quarter of an hour; then pass the liquid through a fine sieve, and mix it with the soup. Season with a little cayenne, and add a table-spoonful of mushroom ketchup, a dessert-spoonful of lemon-juice, and a tea-spoonful of anchovy sauce. Put in the picked prawns, let them boil for five or six minutes, and serve very hot. Time, an hour and a half. Probable cost, variable. Sufficient for six or seven persons.