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White Soup, Family
Take four pounds of the knuckle of veal and one pound of lean ham, put them into a stewpan, pour over them three quarts of water, and add an onion stuck with a clove, a bunch of parsley, a small sprig of thyme, half a bay-leaf, a small blade of mace, the thin rind of a quarter of a small lemon, and eight peppercorns. Let the liquor boil, skim carefully, draw it to the side, and simmer gently till the meat is tender. Take up the veal, and serve it separately with parsley sauce. Strain the liquor, and when cold, free it entirely from fat. When it is wanted, put it into a stewpan and let it boil; mix two table-spoonfuls of arrowroot to a smooth paste with three table-spoonfuls of cream, add half a pint of new milk, and stir this into the soup. Let it simmer for ten minutes, season with pepper and salt, and serve immediately. Time, two hours to stew the veal. Probable cost of veal, 5d. or 6d. per pound. Sufficient soup for ten or twelve persons.
A thrifty two-in-one dish: the veal knuckle becomes a boiled joint with parsley sauce, and its broth is thickened into a white soup. The whole thing hinges on a clear, well-degreased stock, so plan to make it a day ahead.
- The key stepChill the strained stock overnight and lift off the solid fat cap completely. Any fat left behind will show as globules on the surface of the finished soup, which is meant to be smooth and opaque white rather than glossy.
- Simmer, never boil"Draw it to the side" means moving the pan off direct heat to hold a bare tremble. A rolling boil emulsifies fat and albumin into the liquid and you will not get it clear again.
- TimingThe recipe allows two hours to stew the veal; a knuckle of this size may need longer before it will carve neatly. The bone and connective tissue are also what give the stock its body, so do not rush it.
- ArrowrootTwo tablespoonfuls thicken this quantity of liquor only lightly, which seems to be the intention here — a velvety soup, not a sauce. Arrowroot thickens quickly with heat and can thin again if held long, so stir it in near the end and serve promptly. Cornflour is an easier substitute to find, though it gives a more opaque, slightly pastier result.
- Blade of maceA blade is a piece of the dried outer covering of nutmeg. About a quarter teaspoon of ground mace substitutes, though it will cloud the stock slightly; a whole nutmeg grated sparingly is nearer in flavour than none at all.
- New milkSimply fresh whole milk, as opposed to milk that had stood and been skimmed. Use whole milk and single cream (or half-and-half) for the three spoonfuls.
- HamA pound of raw lean gammon or a smoked hock, not cooked deli ham. It carries most of the salt in the dish, so season only at the end.
- Lemon rind"Thin rind" means the coloured zest with no white pith, pared with a peeler. Pith turns the stock bitter over a long simmer.
- YieldThe recipe gives ten to twelve persons for the soup, with the boiled veal served separately as a further dish. Halve the whole thing comfortably.
White soups belong to an older classification of English cookery that sorted soups by colour — brown soups built on browned meat and caramelised sugar or burnt onion, white soups on veal, chicken and a liaison of cream, almonds or eggs. The grand version, soupe à la reine, was thickened with pounded almonds and was associated with eighteenth-century ball suppers; in Pride and Prejudice Bingley will not send out his invitations until Nicholls "has made white soup enough", the soup standing as the mark of a proper dance. What Cassell's offers is the frugal descendant of that dish: the veal is not sacrificed to the pot but served as a second meal with parsley sauce, and arrowroot stands in for the expensive almonds. The costing in pence per pound is printed as a matter of course throughout the Dictionary.