Chestnuts, 1 pound,

Celery, 6 stalks,

Milk, 1 quart,

Onion, 1,

Carrot, 1,

Butter, 2 tablespoons,

Cloves, 4,

Salt.

Chop the celery, onion, and carrot, and fry them in the butter until brown. Put with them a quart of milk and 4 cloves, and stew together for 1 hour.

Season with salt; strain, and divide the stock into 2 portions. Into one-half of it put the chestnuts which have been boiled 10 minutes, and shelled and blanched, and stew this gently for half an hour.

Set aside a few of the chestnuts to be later put into the soup plates, and chop the remainder fine and put them through a colander, together with that portion of the stock in which they have just been cooked.

Then add the other half of the stock, and cook for 10 minutes longer.

Put a few of the other chestnuts that have been reserved into each soup plate, and pour the soup over them.