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Macaroni Au Maigre
Place in a saucepan two pounds fresh fish bones or heads, one sliced carrot, a sliced onion, two sliced branches celery, two branches parsley, one branch chervil, sprig thyme, a bay leaf and a clove. Moisten with two quarts water, season with one and a half teaspoons salt and half teaspoon pepper, let slowly boil for one hour, then strain broth through a double cheesecloth into another saucepan. Boil four ounces macaroni in a quart water with a teaspoon salt for forty minutes, drain on a sieve, then cut in half-inch pieces and add to the broth, with two gills hot milk; lightly mix, boil for five minutes, pour soup into a soup tureen and serve with six slices toasted French bread separately.
A meatless fish-broth soup with pasta, built on a stock made from scratch. Two instructions in the original are worth ignoring outright: the length of the stock simmer and the length of the macaroni boil.
- Macaroni: 40 minutes is far too longMacaroni: 40 minutes is far too long by modern standards -- older dried macaroni was slower-cooking, and here it only has to be soft enough to cut into half-inch pieces. Modern dried macaroni is done in 8 to 10 minutes; cook it just short of tender, since it gets five more minutes in the broth.
- Fish stock: cut the hour to 25 minutesFish frames give up their gelatin and flavour quickly, and longer simmering is generally held to make the stock bitter and gluey. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes at a bare tremble, never a rolling boil, and skim the grey foam that rises early.
- Which bonesUse frames and heads from lean white fish -- sole, flounder, halibut, cod, snapper, bass. Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel or bluefish make a rank stock. Ask a fish counter for frames; rinse away all blood and remove the gills, which are the main source of muddiness.
- Two gills of milkA gill is half a cup, so this is one cup of hot milk. Add it warm and off the hard boil so it does not curdle in the salty broth.
- "One clove"This means a single whole clove, the spice, not a clove of garlic. One is plenty for two quarts; two will dominate the pot.
- ChervilRarely stocked fresh. Substitute a few sprigs of tarragon and extra parsley, or leave it out -- the soup does not depend on it.
- Seasoning orderThe salt goes in at the start here, but the broth reduces as it simmers and again after the macaroni is added. Season lightly at the outset and correct at the end.
- Yield and serviceTwo quarts of broth with four ounces of pasta serves six as a first course, which matches the six slices of toast. The toast is passed separately rather than floated, so it stays crisp.