Cut an ox-tail into pieces, about an inch long, with a small, fine, meat-saw. Stew these pieces of tail in some Stock No 1. (see No 10) before the stock is cleared. Cut up a carrot and turnip into small square pieces the size of dice. When the pieces of tail are nearly tender, add the vegetables, simmer till the tail and vegetables are quite tender, strain off the pieces of tail and vegetables. Clear the stock (see No 18), add a dessertspoonful of extract of meat to every three pints of soup, put in the tail and vegetables, and serve. If the tail is very large, the pieces near the root must be cut into two, or even four. A small tail will make three pints of soup, and a large tail three quarts. Be careful to remove all the grease before clearing the soup.

Thick Ox-Tail Soup

Cut up the tail as before, stew it in Stock No 3 (see No 10), add the vegetables, cut up as for clear ox-tail. Boil a table-spoonful of sweet mixed herbs, in a little stock, in a stewpan, and strain the liquor through a strainer into the soup. Thicken with some brown thickening (see No 12), till the soup is of the consistency of thin cream. Add a dessertspoonful of extract of meat to every three pints, and a wine-glassful of sherry to the same quantity. A small tail will make three pints, and a large tail three quarts. Skim off all fat and grease very carefully after thickening the soup.

Stewed Ox-Tail

Stewed ox-tail is really thick ox-tail soup, with very little soup, and that little richer than ordinary soup. To stew the tail, cut up into inch pieces in some good brown gravy, with a carrot and turnip, cut up in small pieces the size of dice. Let the gravy get cold when the tail is tender. Remove the fat, warm up the tail in the gravy, and serve.