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Cock-A-Leekie

I capon or old fowl 8 or 9 leeks 2 quarts (8 cups) cold water I tablespoonful chopped parsley 4 tablespoonfuls rice Salt and white pepper to taste Draw and truss the fowl as for boiling. Put it into a soup pot with the water. Add one teaspoonful of salt and the giblets carefully washed. Bring to boiling point and skim well. Then simmer for two hours, skimming occasionally. Take off the outside skins. Remove the roots and most of the green from the leeks, and split them in halves lengthways. Wash and rinse them well, cut in thin slices and wash again. Drain and add them to the soup with the rice. Simmer until the fowl is tender. To serve, lift out the bird and the giblets from the soup, remove all grease from the top and add the parsley and seasonings.

The fowl may either be served whole with parsley sauce poured over it, or half of it may be cut in neat pieces, then served in the soup, and the other half reserved for croquettes or some other dish. Sometimes this soup is thickened with fine oatmeal. A few stewed prunes are sometimes served in Cock-A-Leekie.

Frequently an old cock is used for making this soup which gives the recipe its name. This soup is an excellent stomachic, and is said to be capable of curing a severe cold. Mrs. Isabella Beeton states that Cock-A-Leekie was largely consumed at the Burns' Centenary Festival at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, 1859.