Soup

IN the modern English dictionary the meaning of the word "soup" is given as a kind of broth, but its composition is not defined.

Soup is like charity, in that it oft-times covers a multitude of sins. Frequently it is a conglomeration of scraps of meat and bones, etc., which should have been relegated to the waste bin, but which, with the addition of a little seasoning, are served under the title of soup.

To-day we shall deal with soups, without stock, but which are equally nutritious and in many ways superior to those made from meat and bones. In comparing the two we shall find that soups made from vegetables, grains, and legumes, are cleaner and healthier, and rank higher in food value than meat soups.

For the preparation of the latter 1 lb. of meat and bones in about equal proportion is required for each quart of soup. There is very little nourishment in the bone except for the gelatine it contains, and the meat portion furnishes little more than the flavour, which is far surpassed in any vegetable soup, not to mention the difference in the price of vegetable and meat soups.

Soup is easily made and when properly prepared from healthy, nutritious material, is a wholesome article of diet. A good pea soup contains three times as much nourishment as beef soup. When properly prepared, the solid matter which enters into the composition of vegetable soup is so broken up in the process of cooking that it is more easily digested than in any other form. Taken hot at the beginning of a meal, soup stimulates the flow of the digestive juices and on account of the bulk brings a sense of satiety before an excessive quantity of food has been taken.

People who are adverse to liquid, on account of stomach trouble, would find it advantageous to take soup in the form of puree.

Below are recipes for a variety of soups.

PEA SOUP.

Use the Scotch green peas. Look over carefully a pint of peas and put to cook in a quart of water. Cook very slowly for several hours, until perfectly tender, adding a little water—if necessary. Rub through a colander to remove the skins. Add to this pulp two cups of strained stewed tomato, salt to season, and enough water to make of the proper consistency. Reheat and serve. If the flavour is liked, a few pieces of celery or slices of onion may be put in just before reheating and removed before serving

CELERY SOUP.

Chop quite fine enough fresh, crisp celery to make a pint, and cook it until tender in a very little boiling water. When done, heat three cupfuls of rich milk, partly cream if it can be afforded, to boiling. Add the celery and sufficient salt to season, and thicken the whole with a tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk, or, before heating, add to the milk a cupful of mashed potato, turn through a colander to remove lumps, reheat, add the celery and salt, and serve.

POTATO SOUP.

For each quart of soup required cook a pint or pound of sliced potatoes in sufficient water to cover them. When tender, rub through a colander. Return to the fire and add enough rich, sweet milk, partly cream if it can be afforded, to make a quart in all, and a little salt. Let the soup come to the boil, and add a teaspoonful of flour or corn starch, rubbed to a paste with a little water; boil a few minutes and serve. A cup, and a half of cold mashed potato, or a pint oil sliced baked potato, can be used instead of fresh material, in which case add the milk and heat before rubbing through the colander. A slice of onion or a stalk of celery may be simmered in the soup for a few minutes to flavour it, and then removed with a skimmer or spoon. A good mixed potato soup is made by using one third sweet and two thirds Irish potatoes, in the same manner as above.

SCOTCH BROTH.

Soak over night two tablespoonfuls of pearl barley and one of coarse oatmeal, in water sufficient to cover them. In the morning put the grains, together with the water in which they were soaked, into two quarts of water and simmer for several hours, adding boiling water as needed. About an hour before the soup is required, add a turnip cut into small dice, a grated carrot, and one half cup of fine pieces of the brown portion of the crust of a loaf of whole-wheat bread. Rub all through a colander, and add salt to taste, a cup of milk, and a half cup of thin cream. This should make about three pints of soup.

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