After stock has been strained and while still warm, all the salt that will be needed in the soups or sauces to be prepared from it, can be added with advantage, as it becomes thoroughly incorporated with the stock and aids in its preservation.
COOKING VEGETABLES IN STOCK.
Many cook books recommend putting vegetables into the stock pot with the meat and cooking them the same length of time. But as vegetables that are cooked several hours with meat are apt to give the stock a rank taste, and also to cause it to ferment in a short time in warm weather, such a method is objectionable in making stock. Where economy is a prominent consideration, or where the stock is to be used immediately in soup, it is perhaps as well to simmer the meat and vegetables together a sufficient length of time to extract all their flavor and nutriment.
CLASSIFICATION OF SOUPS.
After the stock has been properly made there is comparatively little trouble attending the preparation of any kind of soup desired; and it may be proceeded with at once, by the addition of spices, vegetables and other articles, or may be postponed till another day, and for another occasion.
The variety of soups is illimitable and can be increased almost indefinitely, as it requires but a new combination of materials to entitle a soup to a distinctive name, and as grotesque a one as its originator may choose to bestow upon it.
All soups, however, can be classified and arranged under five heads, viz.:
1. Plain soup.
2. Clear soup.
3. Vegetable soup.
4. White soup.
5. Mixed soup.
To one or the other of these divisions everything in the nature of soup belongs; and a little intelligent thought will enable the cook to select the materials adapted to, and appropriate for use in each division.