The French term given to soups made of a thick puree principally of shellfish and game.

Bisque Of Crabs

Half a pound of rice boiled to each gallon of soup; when done add half a pound of crab meat to each gallon, (good crab meat is obtainable any time of the year in the form of "McMenamin's canned deviled crab meat"), then rub the whole through a fine sieve adding a little melted butter and a seasoning of nutmeg. Make the stock of thin veloute add the rice and crab puree, bring to a simmer, then add sliced okras, minced red and green peppers, sliced tomatoes, season with marjoram, thyme, red pepper and lemon juice, simmer slowly for one hour and serve.

Bisque Of Crayfish

Use all crayfish if you can get them; if not, get a dozen or two, which boil in a little water containing salt, whole peppers, parsley and onions, cook them twenty minutes, drain, cool, pick out meat from tails and claws, throw away the intestines, pound the rest, shells and head, also some boiled fish, lobster and yolks of hard boiled eggs to a paste, adding some melted butter; boil this paste with a little veal stock for an hour till dry, then rub it through a sieve, add to it the required amount of good white broth, bring to a boil, add the meat cut up from the tails and claws, a little lobster coral and serve with small toast.

Bisque Of Herring

Equal parts of fresh and smoked herrings are boned, skinned and boiled with fresh or canned lobster in seasoned fish stock; when done, it is rubbed through a sieve; the puree then added to a clarified fish broth; served with small quenelles of fish and small toast.

Bisque Of Prawns (Or Shrimps)

Made the same as "Bisque of crayfish" except using all prawns or shrimps.

Bisque Of Lobster

Meat of fresh boiled lobsters cut into small squares, the tough parts with the shells and claws boiled for twenty minutes longer, the coral dried in a slow oven, the stock made of Bechamel sauce thinned with the water the fish were boiled in, the coral then rubbed through a sieve and added to the soup giving it a pinkish appearance; finished by adding the squares of meat and some small quenelles of lobster.

Bisque Of Oysters

Scalded oysters and boiled rice in equal bulk rubbed through a sieve, added to a thin cream of oyster soup, flavored with mace and bay leaves.

Bisque Of Salmon

Cooked salmon rubbed through a sieve added to stock composed of equal parts of court-bouillon and veloute sauce, boiled up, seasoned, finished with chopped parsley and Sauterne wine.

Bisque Of Plovers

The plovers braised for an hour in madeira sauce, taken up and pounded, then rubbed through a sieve; boiled farina, enough to thicken the quantity of the soup, is rubbed through a sieve, the two purees then added to a game stock, boiled up, skimmed, seasoned, finished with port wine.

Bisque Of Partridge

Braised or roast partridge meat pounded and rubbed through a sieve with white bread crumbs and a puree of chestnuts, the whole then added to a game-flavored stock, boiled up, skimmed, seasoned, finished with port wine.

Bisque Of Terrapin

Terrapin shells, heads and trimmings simmered in consomme for four hours, strained, the meat rubbed through a sieve and put back into the strained stock with some parsley, thyme, cloves, mace, bay leaves, whole peppers and minced onions, all tied in a muslin bag, brought to a boil, skimmed, an equal quantity of veloute sauce added, simmered for a few minutes, finished by the addition of some boiling cream.

Bisque Of Jack Rabbit

The rabbit cut up and braised with spices and vegetables in consomme till tender, then pounded and rubbed through a sieve, the braise strained, the puree put back into it, boiled up, skimmed, equal volume of thin veloute sauce added to it, seasoned, finished with sherry wine, and served with some small quenelles of rabbit.