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Soups

Colonel Newnham Davis, a true gastronome, has recently given it as his dictum, "I would not counsel anyone ever to eat a Snail." He made two attempts in the cause of gastronomy, and under the best possible conditions; yet," he says, "they are distinctly unappetizing: their appearance is greatly against them, and they taste like gravel cooked in mock turtle soup." 66 SORREL. (See HERBS).

SOUPS. (See BROTHS).

THE title "Restaurant," which is now applied to a high-class eating-house, was originally the name of a soup, as invented by a Frenchman, M. Palissy, in 1557. This soup consisted of fowl (finely minced), with broth (highly spiced), and containing cinnamon, coriander, etc. In 1765 a Tavern was opened in Paris under the above title "Restaurant" for the purpose of supplying the said famous soup of that designation; and hence the name has become handed down to an eating-house ever since. "Gerarde, the young Monk-student" (The Cloister and the Hearth, 1860), "when going to Rotterdam on his start in life, rescued by the wayside an exhausted old scholar with some soup which had been provided for himself by his thoughtful mother before he left home. Hippocrates, and Galen!' cried the resuscitated old man, ''tis a Soupe au vin, the restorative of restoratives ! blessed be the nation that invented it, and the woman that made it, and the young man that brings it to fainting folk. Now this divine elixir gives in one moment force to the limbs, and ardour to the spirits; and if it had been taken into Hector's body at the nick of time it would, by the aid of Phœbus, Venus, and the blessed Saints, have most likely procured the Greeks a defeat. For, note how faint, and weary, and heartsick I was a minute ago! Well, I suck this celestial cordial, through a straw, and now behold me brave as Achilles, and strong as an eagle.'" 6 It is quite a rational thing to begin dinner with soup, since the meat-extractives, and gelatin of a clear soup, are well calculated to promote a flow of gastric juice in the stomach, so as to further the complete digestion of the solid food which follows. As a French writer has said, "Soup should be to a dinner what the overture is to an orchestra, or what the porch is to a house." If a solid meal is intended, a light soup should precede it; but if the soup itself is to be the piece de resistance, then it should certainly be chosen "thick." But hot Soups in summer at the commencement of dinner are now becoming discouraged, and put out of favour; a small cupful of cold consommé, made from fine stock, is found to suit the digestion better; while thick Soup at this stage of the meal is almost entirely given up, the cold consommé instead being served in little cups, either of plain white ware, or of costly china. True consommé is strong broth obtained by boiling meat with vegetables, and concentrating the extract to the point of slight browning, or caramelization; it is then used for Soups, and sauces; the present habit of London cooks to call their dishwater Soups "Consommés " should be condemned by every lover of honest fare. There is distinct evidence in favour of taking a moderate quantity of plain Soup at the commencement of a meal, as shown by the experiments of Schiff, and others; which have proved that solutions of dextrine, and of infused meat, favour the secretion of pepsin as a digestive of the meal which ensues. Abroad the first course sometimes consists of beer, with spices, and rusks, or, in summer time of strawberries, and milk, to both of which substitutes the name Soup is given.

It is to be remembered that the water used in making a Soup not only dissolves certain salts, and tissues, of the meat-substance by the action of heat, but it also hydrates, or forms into watercombinations (with altered qualities) some of the constituent elements of the ingredients used. Foods are foods only by reason of their chemically-combined water in various proportions.

Par excellence Turtle Soup, as served at the Lord Mayor's Dinner in London, on the ninth of November, takes the lead amongst these concoctions. It consists of Green Turtle, with basil, marjoram, thyme, parsley, cloves, allspice, mace, nutmeg, and sherry. "Beautiful Soup, so rich, and green, Waiting in a hot tureen; Who for the dainty would not stoop ?

Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup!

Soup of the evening! beautiful Soup!

Beau-ootiful Soo-up!

Beau-ootiful Soo-up!

Beautiful Soup! who cares for fish, Game, or any other dish ?

Who would not give all else for two-p -ennyworth only of beautiful Soup ?

Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup?" (Refrain as before.) 66 Of all Soups that which is most highly esteemed, both for its supreme restorative qualities, and for its exquisitely luscious flavour, is that made from the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas), either when combined with costly adjuncts, and spicy condiments for the Aldermanic gourmet, or when delicately prepared, as a concentrated form of the most highly sustaining Invalid Turtle for a patient in desperate strait. "Grata testudo dapibus deorum," said the Roman poet Horace concerning this amphibious reptile, so beloved by epicures, - "Food fit for the gods!" Its dainty parts are the calipash, or large shield of the back, and the calipee, or shield of the belly (plastron); also Turtle steak, and Turtle fin. When plainly cooked Turtle flesh is easy of digestion. It was during the early part of the eighteenth century that Turtle Soup became a standing dish at civic banquets. Dr. Pereira has described Turtle flesh as an appetizing, and wholesome aliment, nutritive, and light of digestion, yielding by decoction highly restorative broths which are much to be valued in consumptive diseases, and in other illnesses requiring concentrated light support." The Green Turtle is plentiful about the Island of Ascension; it lives upon vegetable substances, mostly seaweeds, and furnishes a very pure limpid oil, which is employed for various purposes, one being for burning in lamps. The flesh contains less fat than would be supposed; it consists of three parts water, and in the remaining solids fat occurs only in the proportion of about one-half. The flesh when cooked is rich in gelatine, poor in fibrin, and yielding little, or no osmazome; the green fat is of a greenish-yellow colour, giving this Turtle its distinctive name. The softer parts of the shields, and fins, are cut into squares when cold, or into oblong pieces, these constituting the favourite morsels in Turtle Soup, and being often erroneously mistaken for the green fat by complacent eaters; the green fat will communicate a green colour to the urine. Mock Turtle Soup is made either with Sturgeon flesh, or with the glutinous scalp integuments of the calf's head. American cookery books order the addition thereto of as much curry powder as will lie on a shilling." Plain Turtle Soup is often concocted from dried Turtle after it has been sufficiently soaked, seasoning this with a little salt only. "The Tortoise" (says Clarke, 1678), "which they call Turtle, eats like veal." In May large numbers of the same come ashore to lay their eggs, which are much esteemed, and are eagerly sought for. The Turtle digs a hole in the sand, and deposits its eggs therein, then proceeding to cover them over. For ascertaining where the nest is located a sharp stick, or iron rod, is used to prod the ground. The edible Tortoise (Sculpetje) supplies restorative food for children who are atrophied, or wasting away; the juice of the boiled flesh to be taken when strained. It is remarkable, by correspondence, that the vitality of the Turtle is wonderful, and its strength prodigious. If you want to kill him he clings to life with a tenacity almost ridiculous. Redi, the well-known Zoologist, deprived a large Turtle of its head, and it insisted upon living for twenty-three days afterwards. Another Turtle, which had its head cut off in the evening by the cook, knocked him down the next morning with its fin. A quart of real Turtle Soup, with the same quantity of good stock, makes an excellent combination. Add a small piece of lump sugar. All Soups should have a little sugar added. "Take Dr. Haig admonishes that "Meat Soup contains one decimal our per cent of uric acid, or xanthin, which is objectionable for gouty persons. Soup Maigre is made without meat. a well-grown Savoy Cabbage, i.e., one possessing a good green heart; wash it thoroughly in salt, and water, and trim off the outer leaves, putting it in an earthen crock, and pouring on sufficient boiling water to entirely immerse it; cover, and stand it aside for a quarter of an hour, when it will be ready to be sliced with a sharp knife, and mixed with three onions, a couple of small turnips, and a large carrot, these having been previously chopped into dice. Melt two ounces of dripping in a stewpan, put in the various ingredients, and cook them through (without browning them in the least degree,) which process will extract the flavour. Next, wash, and drain a quarter of a pound of pearl barley, throw it into the pan, and pour in a quart of boiling water, simmering the whole slowly for two hours, or more, according to whether, or not, the barley becomes soft; and, at the end of that time, if, as will probably be the case, the Soup is too solid, liquefy it with another pint and a half of boiling water; no straining will be required; but flavour with salt, and pepper to taste, and serve with sippets of crisp, toasted bread." a Nevertheless, the extractives of meat have unquestionably marked effect on the digestive organs when conveyed thereto in the form of good animal Soup; they are the most powerful stimulators of gastric secretion that we possess, and thus they are eminently calculated to rouse the appetite, and aid the digestion of any food with which they may be taken. This is, indeed, their true rôle, both in health, and in disease; they are flavouring agents, and their proper place is in the kitchen, not by the bedside. Sydney Smith, writing about one of the Utilitarian School, said : "If everything is to be sacrificed to utility, why would you bury your grandmother? Why not cut her up into small pieces, and make portable Soup of her?" For a simple Potato Soup ("Potage parmentier"): "Wash, and peel six, or eight Potatoes, put them into a saucepan with two onions cut into quite small pieces, and three pints of cold water. Bring them to a boil, and when perfectly tender (in thirty-five, or forty minutes) pour the whole through a sieve. Return it to the fire, and season with pepper, and salt, a pinch of grated nutmeg, and a lump of butter the size of walnut; bring it again to the boil, stir in quickly a cup of new milk, and serve. Julienne Soup, a vegetable clear concoction, was first made by a cook named Jean Julien, in 1785. Olla Podrida was a Spanish Soup in the spring season, named from Olla, Soup of animal and vegetable matters stewed together, and Podrida, simmered.

With respect to strong, clear Soup for the invalid, or the aged person, "It may be a useful means," says Dr. Hutchison, "of rousing the appetite, and stimulating the digestive powers of the stomach, but it cannot be regarded as a serious contribution to nutrition in itself." Some light cereal food must be added at all events. Pope Leo the Thirteenth was dieted at ninetythree almost exclusively on chicken broth, with bread in it; two small glasses of Bordeaux were his daily allowance of wine. “Ah! si la jeunesse savait : si la veillesse pouvait." "There sat an old man on a rock, And unceasing bewailed him of fate (That concern where we all must take stock, Though our vote has no hearing, or weight !).

And the old man sang him an old, old song, For he sang the song 'Too late! too late!' He sang the song 'Too late!' While we send for the napkin the soup grows cold, While the bonnet is trimming the face grows old, When we've matched the buttons the pattern is sold, And everything comes too late, too late, And everything comes too late."

Ox-tail Soup, being made from what is really one of the most nutritive parts of the animal, is of wide reputation as the principal thick Soup for substantial repasts. To cook the tail it should be divided at the joints, and stewed with pieces of carrot, or other vegetable; some of the tail should be served in the Soup. At the beginning of last century the tail of an ox (which is now dearer than rump steak) cost only from sixpence to sevenpence; whereas an ox-tail of first quality will fetch at the present time half-a-crown, its amount of flesh being about a pound and a half.