Peel and wash six large onions, two carrots, two turnips, and two parsnips, and a head of celery; cut them into thin slices, and put them into a large stewpan, with a quarter of a pound of butter; set the stewpan over a quick fire, stir in some flour, and let them fry till they have got well browned; pour to them a gallon of boiling water, a pint of split peas, some bread raspings, or stale crusts, and two blades of bruised mace, or three cloves, a teaspoonful of ground black pepper, and salt enough to season it; let it stew very gently for two hours, and strain through a tain-mis: by this method your soup will be as well coloured, and the flavour as good, as if it were made with gravy. The last thing, put in either small onions, turnips, or celery, which you will have ready boiled for the purpose; send up toasted bread cut into dice, in a dish, and any dried herbs you please in another dish.

Observations

The French sometimes add to this, (which much improves it,) a couple of the sea ducks called Macreuse, which feed upon muscles, and being of a fishy nature, may be eaten on fast days.

Fish Soup

You may make this with a cod's skull, or three pounds of eels, or three pounds of skate, or half a dozen flounders; cut them to pieces, put them on to stew in three quarts of water, season it with four blades of bruised mace, an onion with four cloves stuck in it, a head of celery, some pepper and salt, and a bunch of sweet herbs, or three drachms of soup herb powder: cover them down close, and after they have simmered gently for a couple of hours, pass the liquor through a hair sieve into a clean stewpan; while this is doing, beard a pint of oysters, and pound them in a mortar with the yolks of three hard eggs, and a little pepper and salt; let all boil up together till it is the thickness of cream, pour it into your tureen', and send it to table.

Onion Soup Maigre

Take half a dozen large onions*, two carrots, two'heads of celery, and one turnip; slice these very thin, and put a quarter of a pound of butter into a stewpan; when it boils, which you will know by its leaving off scolding, put in the above ingredients, and fry them till they are brown, but take care not to burn them; then add, by degrees, either three quarts of thin pease soup, or boiling water, two anchovies, four blades of mace, and some whole black pepper, and two penny rolls; boil up together till the bread is reduced to a pulp; work it through a coarse hair sieve, and set it again upon the fire; skim it well, thicken it with the yolks of four eggs, and pass it through a sieve again; send up with it fried bread cut into the form of dice, or a French roll cut into small bits and dried before the fire.

Brown Soup Maigre

Put a gallon of water into a soup-pot, with three quarters of a pint of bread-raspings to thicken it; throw in two or three onions sliced, two or three cloves, a teaspoonful of whole black pepper, the same of salt; boil up together for about half an hour, and rub it through a sieve. Take some carrots, and a head of celery cut into bits, and fry them in butter; put them to the soup, let it go on simmering till these are tender: if not brown enough, colour it with a little burnt sugar, for which you have a receipt, No. 322.

* Two or three dozen very small onions are sometimes used for a change, fried in the same manner, whole.

Soup-Herb Soap, in Twenty Minutes.

Brown Soup Maigre

To make a quart, put an ounce of butter into a two quart stewpan, with a middling sized onion chopped small, fry it till it is a little brown, then add two large tablespoonful of flour, and two tea-spoonsful of soup-herb powder, No. 459, or one of dried parsley, one of savory, and one of lemon-thyme, or basil, six berries of black, and the same quantity of Jamacia pepper pounded, and half a bay-leaf; stir them together, and pour to them by degrees a quart of boiling water; when it is well mixed, let it boil, for ten minutes; add a wineglass of table beer, and a large spoonful of catsup or browning, season with salt, and rub it through atammis, or fine hair sieve; toast a slice of bread, cut it into pieces three quarters of an inch square, and send up on a plate.

Observations

This has the advantage of being very quickly prepared at a very moderate expense.