Select six large, bright-red beets and boil carefully in their skins, lest they bleed white. Scrape off the skins, chop finely and quickly and rub through a colander into a quart of white stock - veal, chicken, lamb, or mutton - and treat as you would other cream soups, adding a little more floured butter, or roux, as beets are naturally watery and thin-blooded. The soup should be of a delicate pink. Season with white pepper, or, better still, with paprica, and salt.