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Puchero, Spanish

This is a Spanish soup. Like the "pot-aufeu" in France, it appears daily at the tables of families in Spain. Take two pounds of brisket of beef, place it in an earthen stock-pot with a pig's ear, the giblets of a chicken, half a pound of blanched ham or salted pork, and three handfuls of softened peas or beans. Moisten the meats with five or six quarts of water, put the stock-pot on the fire, skim, and when the liquid begins to boil, set it on one side. After two hours, add to the soup two leeks tied together, a bunch of chervil, a pinch of wild mint, a slice of good pumpkin from which the peel and seed have been removed, a large carrot, a head of cabbage-lettuce, and half a blanched savoy cabbage. After another hour add a few small sausages, and continue to boil moderately. Before serving, remove the stock-pot from the fire, pass the soup gently through a sieve into a stewpan, and from that pour it into a tureen. Add the leeks and lettuces cut up, and some slices of fried toast. Place the beef on a dish, surround it with the sausages, the vegetables, and the ham. The meats appear at table with the soup. To be thoroughly appreciated, puchero must be eaten in Spain. PUDDING-MOULDS. (See Illustration accompanying the article on Aunt Susie's Pudding.)