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Oxtail Soup
1 large oxtail; 1 onion; 1 small slice fat salt pork or 1 tablespoonful beef drippings; 2 quarts water; 1 carrot; 1 stalk celery; 2 teaspoonfuls salt; 2 cloves; 2 peppercorns, 1/2 saltspoonful paprika; a sprig of parsley; a little thyme; a blade of mace.
Wash and cut up the oxtail, separating at each joint; divide the thick parts into four. Slice the onion and the saute in the hot pork or beef drippings. When the onion begins to brown, put in half of the oxtail and brown. Put this with the other in the soup-kettle, add the cold water, and when it comes to a boil add the carrot, celery, parsley, mace, and thyme, the cloves, peppers, and salt, and let it simmer until the oxtail is tender and begins to fall from the bones.
Lift out some of the nicest pieces of oxtail and remove the meat from the bones, cut it small, and set aside to be served in the soup. Strain the liquor, skim off the fat, add the pieces of meat, more salt if necessary, and a little paprika. Boil up and add half a glass madeira or port. Serve with soup sticks.
This soup, if made carefully, should be clear. If a thick soup is desired, brown a little of the fat in a saucepan, mix in very smoothly a tablespoon of flour, and stir in before putting in the piece of meat. It may also be varied by putting in the vegetables after the stock has been strained. They should then be diced and boiled in the stock until tender, but not broken.
A straightforward brown stock built on one oxtail, with the meat returned to the finished broth. The main adjustment for a modern cook is time: the recipe says only "until tender," which in practice means three to four hours.
- TimingOxtail needs 3 to 4 hours at a bare simmer before the meat loosens from the bone, and a pressure cooker will do it in about 50 minutes at high pressure. Two quarts of water will reduce noticeably over that span, so keep the pot barely trembling rather than bubbling and top up if the bones become exposed.
- ClarityThe recipe's claim that the soup "should be clear" rests largely on keeping the pot at a bare simmer rather than a hard boil, which emulsifies fat and drives fine particles through the strainer. Note that the recipe itself brings the liquid to a boil at the start and boils it up again before the wine goes in.
- A saltspoonfulAn old saltspoon holds roughly a quarter teaspoon, so half of one is a scant pinch of paprika. It is there for color in the finished bowl more than for heat.
- A blade of maceMace is the dried aril covering the nutmeg seed, and a "blade" is one dried piece, about the size of a fingernail. Ground mace can stand in, roughly an eighth to a half teaspoon depending on the size of the blade; its flavour is close to nutmeg but lighter.
- Fat salt porkSalt pork is still sold, usually near the bacon, but any unsmoked pork fat works. Smoked bacon will push the soup toward a different flavor entirely, so use the drippings option instead if that is all you have.
- Half a glass of madeiraA wineglass of the period is usually reckoned at about 2 fluid ounces, so half a glass is roughly two tablespoons. The recipe adds it at the end, after boiling up; long cooking flattens a fortified wine's character.
- Soup sticksThese were thin crisp bread sticks, essentially what is now sold as grissini. Any dry breadstick or a toasted baguette finger serves the same purpose.
- Yield and skimmingOne large oxtail and two quarts of water gives four to six modest servings. Oxtail is very fatty, so chilling the strained stock and lifting the solid cap off is far more effective than skimming it hot.