341. Sturgeon Soup A Langlaise

Prepare the sturgeon for this soup in the same way as for the preceding, with the exception that the sauce must be white. Having made a thin white Veloute sauce, in sufficient quantity for the purpose, and seasoned it with the same ingredients as before-named, add a ragout-spoonful of essence of turtle herbs, two glasses of sherry, a leason or binding of six yelks of eggs, a gill of cream, a little cayenne pepper and lemon-juice. When about to send the sou}) to table, pour it into the tureen containing the scollops of sturgeon cut into square pieces, three dozen small round pellets of yelks of eggs (prepared as for mock-turtle), and all the cartilaginous parts of the sturgeon cut into scollops also.

The pellets of yelks of eggs here alluded to are thus prepared: - Take the yelks of six eggs boiled hard, pound them in the mortar with a pat of fresh butter, a piece of bread-crumb twice the size of an egg, soaked in milk, and afterward squeezed in a napkin to extract all the moisture from it; to these add a little nutmeg, pepper, and salt, and one whole egg. Mix the whole well together by pounding, and then proceed to mould this paste into small round balls or pellets, the size of a nut, and poach them as you would any other quenelles.

341a. Sturgeon Soup A La Chinoise

Procure the head of a large sturgeon, saw it in halves from the back of the head down to the snout ; then saw the halves into pieces of the size of your fist, and place them in a large-sized pan with cold water to soak for several hours; taking care to wash them and change the water frequently. Next, put the pieces of sturgeon into a large stewpan in plenty of cold water, and set them on the lire to boil gently until the husk or shell is easily detached from the pieces of cartilage or gristle; place the latter, when thoroughly freed from the meaty and fatty substances, in a large stewpan ; moisten with good veal stock in sufficient quantity to make soup enough for the number of guests. Garnish with carrots, onions, celery, a fagot of parsley, green onions, marjoram, thyme, and sweet basil, three blades of mace, twelve cloves, and twenty peppercorns ; boil gently for about two hours. As soon as you find that the pieces of cartilage are become transparent and rather soft to the touch, they must be immediately drained upon a sieve, and the liquor placed in a clean stewpan and set beside a stove-fire, adding half a bottle of good sherry and a small pinch of cayenne. Allow the soup to boil gently by the side of the stove for about half an hour, taking care to remove all the scum and grease that rises to the surface; after which add the pieces of cartilage and the juice of a lemon, and serve. This soup is very strengthening; the wine, lemon-juice, and cayenne may be dispensed with for invalids. The head of the sturgeon forms an excellent substitute for turtle, and may be dressed after the same manner.

342. Sturgeon Soup A Llndienne

Prepare the sturgeon consomme as for the preceding soups, bearing in mind that it should have no more color than it acquires from the roasted hens. Having strained the stock when done into a large basin, and preserved all the cartilaginous parts of the sturgeon, get a carrot, one head of celery, and two onions, cut these into thin slices, and put them into a stewpan with a quarter of a pound of butter, and half a pound of raw ham cut into small square pieces ; fry the whole of a light brown color over a slow fire. When this is done, add to the fore-named ingredients some sifted flour, in sufficient quantity to thicken the soup, and stir it on the fire a few minutes longer; then take the stewpan off the stove and mix the sturgeon broth in carefully, so as to keep the sauce smooth. Add two table-spoonsful of Cook's or Bruce's Indian Curry Paste, and after allowing it to boil, lift it off the fire and set it by the side of the stove, there to throw up all the butter it contains, and to clarify itself in the usual way. When this is effected, rub the soup-sauce, including the vegetables, etc, through a tammy into a puree, which put into a soup-pot with the. scollops and the cartilaginous parts of the sturgeon; after boiling the whole together for a quarter of an hour, skim the surface, and finish by adding a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies and the juice of a lemon. Send to table with a plate of plain boiled Patna rice, to be handed round with the soup.