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Tomato Puree
1/2 teaspoonful of extract of beef; 1 onion; 1 bay leaf; 1 sprig of parsley; 4 cupfuls of tomatoes; 2 cupfuls of hot water; 2 teaspoonfuls of sugar; 2 teaspoonfuls butter; 1/4 teaspoonful cloves; 1/4 teaspoon of allspice; 3 tablespoonfuls of flour; 2 or 3 drops of onion extract; salt and pepper to taste.
Brown the onion (sliced) in the butter, add the flour, and brown. Add the tomatoes, parsley, spices, bay leaf, and sugar; simmer fifteen minutes. Add the extract dissolved in hot water, strain the soup through a puree sieve, and return to the kettle. Heat and serve.
A straightforward brown-roux tomato soup that depends on two commercial concentrates common in 1900 kitchens and less so now. Everything else is standard practice.
- Extract of beefThis means a dark, salty meat concentrate of the Liebig or Bovril type. Half a teaspoonful of beef bouillon paste or concentrated stock base, dissolved in the hot water as directed, does the same job. If you use ordinary beef stock instead, use 2 cupfuls of it in place of the water and skip the extract.
- Onion extractA bottled flavouring that has largely disappeared from grocery shelves. Two or three drops is a trace, and the soup is not harmed by leaving it out; a pinch of onion powder is the nearest equivalent.
- The tomatoesFour cupfuls most likely means canned tomatoes with their juice, roughly a 28 to 32 oz can, though the recipe does not say. Fresh, peeled and chopped, works equally well, but ripe fruit is needed or the soup will taste thin and sharp despite the sugar.
- Brown the flour properlyThis is the hinge. The flour must go golden-brown in the butter before the tomatoes go in, which is what gives the soup its colour and its nutty depth. Two teaspoonfuls of butter to three tablespoonfuls of flour is a dry, sandy mixture -- stir it constantly over moderate heat and add a little more butter if it refuses to move.
- SpicesGround cloves and allspice are intended. A quarter teaspoon of each is assertive in a soup this size; start with half that if you dislike a spiced tomato flavour.
- Puree sieveA conical sieve or a food mill with the medium plate. A modern alternative is to blend the soup and then pass it through a fine strainer to catch skins and seeds -- blending alone leaves it gritty.
- YieldAbout 6 cupfuls before straining, so four modest servings. Check the salt only after the beef extract has gone in, since these concentrates are heavily salted.