Cassell's Vegetarian Cookery: A Manual of Cheap and Wholesome Diet

by A. G. Payne

Macaroni Soup (clear).—Take some macaroni and break it up into pieces about two inches long. Boil them till they are tender in some salted water, drain them off and add them to some clear soup. (See [CLEAR SOUP].)

Macaroni Soup (thick).—Take an onion, carrot, a small head of celery and a very small quantity of turnip; cut them up and boil them in a very small quantity of water for about an hour. Then rub the whole through a wire sieve, add a quart or more of boiling milk, throw in the macaroni, after breaking it up into pieces two inches long, and let the macaroni simmer in this till it is perfectly tender. The soup should be thickened with a very little [white roux], a bay-leaf can be boiled in the soup; a small quantity of cream is a great improvement. Fried or toasted bread should be served with it.

Milk Soup.—Milk soup, as it is sometimes called in Germany, very much resembles English custard. It is made by putting a quart of milk on the fire and thickening it with two yolks of eggs and a little flour, and sweetening it with sugar. The soup is flavoured with either vanilla, lemon, laurel leaves, pounded almonds, cinnamon, chocolate, &c. As a soup, however, it is not suited to the English palate.

Mock Turtle, Imitation.—Take an onion, carrot, small head of celery, and some turnip, and boil them till they are tender in some [stock]. The water in which some rice has been boiled is very well suited for the purpose. Add also to every quart a brimming tablespoonful of mixed savoury herbs. Rub the whole through a wire sieve, thicken it with [brown roux] till it is as thick as cream; add a few drops of Parisian essence—(sold in bottles by all grocers)—to give it a dark colour. Add a wineglassful of sherry or Madeira, or, if the use of wine be objected to, the juice of a hard lemon. Flavour the soup with a little cayenne pepper, and serve some [egg forcemeat balls] in it, about the size of small marbles.

Mulligatawny Soup.—Take four large onions, cut them up and fry them brown, with a little butter, in a frying-pan, with a carrot cut up into small pieces; add to this a quart of [stock] or water, and boil till the vegetables and onions are tender; then rub the whole through a wire sieve and add a brimming teaspoonful of Captain White’s Curry Paste and a dessertspoonful of curry powder, previously mixed smooth in a little cold water; thicken the soup with a little [brown roux]. Some persons would consider this soup too hot; if so, less curry powder can be used or more water added. If you have no curry paste, cut up a sour apple and add it to the vegetables in the frying-pan. If you have no sour apples, a few green gooseberries are a very good substitute. [Boiled rice] should be served on a separate dish with this soup, and should not be boiled in the soup at starting.

Onion Soup.—Cut up half a dozen onions and throw them for a few minutes into boiling water. This takes off the rankness. Drain off the onions, and chop them up and boil them till they are tender in some milk that has been seasoned with pepper and salt and a pinch of savoury herbs. Take a small quantity of celery, carrot and turnip, or carrot and turnip and a little bruised celery seed, and boil till they are tender in a very little water; rub through a wire sieve, and add the pulp to the soup. The soup can be thickened with [white roux], ground rice, or one or two eggs beaten up. The soup must be added to the eggs gradually or they will curdle.

Onion Soup, Brown.—Take an onion, carrot, celery, and turnip, and let them boil till quite tender in some water or [stock]. In the meantime slice up half a dozen large onions and fry them brown in a little butter, in a frying-pan, taking care that the onions are browned and not burnt black; add the contents of the frying-pan to the vegetables and stock, and after it has boiled some time, till the onions are tender, rub the whole through a wire sieve, thicken with a little [brown roux], adding, of course, pepper and salt to taste.

Ox-tail Soup, Imitation.—Slice off the outside red part of two or three large carrots, and cut them up into small dice not bigger than a quarter of an inch square. Cut up also into similar size a young turnip, and the white, hard part of a head of celery. Fry these very gently in a little butter, taking care that the vegetables do not turn colour. Make some soup exactly in every respect similar to that described in Imitation Mock Turtle. Throw in these fried vegetables, and let the soup simmer gently by the side of the fire, in order for it to throw up its butter, which should be skimmed off. In flavouring the soup, add only half the quantity of wine or lemon juice that you would use were you making [Mock Turtle].

Palestine Soup.—(See [ARTICHOKE SOUP].)

Parsnip Soup.—Prepare half a dozen parsnips, and boil them with an onion and half a head of celery in some [stock] till they are quite tender. Then rub the whole through a wire sieve, boil it up again, and serve. Sufficient parsnips must be boiled to make the soup as thick as [pea soup], so the quantity of stock must be regulated accordingly. This soup is generally rather sweet, owing to the parsnips, and an extra quantity of salt must be added in consequence, as well as pepper. In Belgium and Germany this sweetness is corrected by the addition of vinegar. This, of course, is a matter of taste.