For those who have the chance of procuring a few potatoes once a week, they may be used with advantage in the following manner:—
Having prepared the soup according to Receipt No. 2, when nearly done, wash a pound of potatoes, pick out the black spots, if any, and cut them in very small dice; put them into the soup to boil for twenty minutes, or a little longer, until done, and the soup is ready, and will strongly taste of potato; the short time of ebullition preserving all the aroma of that inconstant root.
Having promised to make my receipts public, for the benefit of the laborious classes of society, as well as for the poor, I think that if a man could treat his family once a week with a food called potato soup, each member of it, who had previously fed on that root, and who are now nearly deprived of that food, would worship the day of the week when such a luxury should be displayed on their humble table.
Receipt No. 4.
| Quarter of a pound of bacon | 1½ | |
| One ounce of dripping | 0¼ | |
| Quarter of a pound of onions | } | 1 |
| Quarter of a pound of turnips or carrots | ||
| Two ounces of leeks and celery | ||
| Quarter ounce of mint, shred fine | ||
| Pound and a quarter of yellow peas | 3½ | |
| Half-pound of common flour | 1 | |
| Two ounces and a half of salt | } | 0¼ |
| Half ounce of sugar | ||
| 7½ |
Have a quarter of a pound of fat bacon[44] cut into dice, peel and slice two good-sized onions, or three small ones, and put both into a stewpan, with one ounce of dripping; fry them gently until lightly brown, then add two ounces of turnips, two ounces of carrots, and one ounce of leeks, and one ounce of celery; cut them thin and slanting (but, as I have before observed, any kind of vegetable will answer the purpose, if the same proportion is used); fry for ten minutes, and fill up with seven quarts of water, and, when boiling, add a pound and a quarter of split peas, and let them simmer for two or three hours, until reduced to a pulp, which depends on the quality of the pea; then add two ounces of salt, half an ounce of sugar, quarter of an ounce of mint, mix one half pound of flour in twelve ounces of water, to a thin batter, pour into the soup, stir it well, boil one quarter of an hour, and serve.
No. 5.—Meagre Pea Soup.
This is the same as the former, with the exception that the bacon and dripping are omitted, and oil or butter used in their stead. Buttermilk could with advantage be used; in which case, add three ounces of salt. Although this food is entirely deprived of animal substance, yet the farinaceous ingredients will act generously on the digestive organs, particularly to a stomach which has suffered from want of food.
No. 6.—The Fisherman’s Food for the Coast.