"Give zest and flavor to a mess of pottage"

Oyster Or Clam Bisque

3 dozen clams.

1 onion.

1 carrot.

1 bay leaf.

2 sprigs parsley.

1 quart (4 cups) fish stock.

Salt and pepper.

Some cream.

1 tablespoonful butter.

1 tablespoonful flour.

1 gill (1/2 cup) Madeira wine.

Put the clams into a casserole, slice the onion and the carrot, and add them with the bay leaf, parsley, and stock.

Simmer for one and a half hours, then strain; return to the casserole and add the needed salt and pepper.

Blend the butter and flour together and add them with enough cream to make two pints. Simmer for five minutes and add the wine when serving.

Cream Of Barley Soup

2 ozs. (1/4 cup) fine barley 2 sliced onions 2 sliced carrots.

1 small bay leaf Few sprigs parsley.

2 quarts (8 cups) veal or chicken stock.

1/2 pint (1 cup) hot milk.

2 egg yolks.

1 glass sherry wine.

1/2 pint (1 cup) boiled green peas Salt and pepper to taste.

Put the stock into a fireproof pot, add the barley, onions, carrots, bay leaf and parsley and simmer for three hours.

When almost ready, add the yolks of the eggs mixed with the milk, wine, and seasonings. Press through a sieve and re-heat.

Divide the hot peas into earthenware handled cups, pour over the soup, and serve very hot.

Cream Of Salsify Soup

4 roots salsify 2 pints (4 cups) milk 1 teaspoonful onion juice 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley 1 oz. (1 heaping table-spoonful) butter.

1 oz. (1 heaping tablespoonful) flour.

2 eggs.

Salt and pepper to taste.

A few chopped pistachio nuts.

Water.

1/2 pint (1 cup) cream.

Clean the salsify, throwing at once into cold water to prevent their turning dark. Put them into an earthenware dish with water to well cover and cook till very tender, then rub through a sieve.

Return to the casserole and add to the pulp two cupfuls of the milk, onion juice, chopped parsley, salt and pepper to season.

Have ready the remaining milk, thickened with the butter and the flour rubbed together, add to the salsify, and heat thoroughly.

Just before serving stir in the beaten yolks of the eggs mixed with the cream.

Pour into hot marmites. Have ready the stiftly beaten whites of the eggs, put a spoonful of the egg on the top of each marmite, and sprinkle over the chopped pistachio nuts. Serve hot.

Fish Soup

1 lb. haddock or flounder Some fish bones or skin 2 stalks celery 2 heaping tablespoonfuls.

(2 ozs.) flour 1/2 pint (1 cup) milk 1 bay leaf 1 large onion.

2 quarts (8 cups) water or stock 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley Salt and pepper to taste.

Skin and fillet the fish. Put the fish bones, skin, and any other fish trimmings into an earthenware pot with the stock or water and the salt; bring to the boil and skim well, add the bay leaf, the onion, and celery cut into small pieces; simmer for one and a half hours; then strain. Melt the butter in the pan, add the flour, stir till smooth, then add the milk; allow this to boil for four minutes, add the soup, the parsley, and the fish cut into small pieces; season nicely, simmer for fifteen minutes, and serve hot.