The Prince of Condé devised this potage, and besides cooking the beans in broth, he used to put in one or two partridges also, to give, as he used to say, "a good taste to the beans."
With Cauliflowers.—Make a purée of cauliflowers, to which you add broth to taste, and serve with croutons.
With Chestnuts.—Add broth and croutons to a purée of chestnuts, and serve warm.
With Turnips.—It is made as with carrots.
With Wheat.—Cut ears of wheat when full, but not ripe, and put them away to dry. Shell the wheat; wash it in cold water, put it in a saucepan, cover it with broth and boil gently till done. Mash through a colander, put back on the fire with a little butter; add broth if too thick, stir now and then for about fifteen minutes; take from the fire, add two or three yolks of eggs beaten with a little cream and a pinch of sugar; mix them well with the rest, and serve warm.
With Sweet Corn.—Proceed as with wheat in every particular. It makes a healthy and excellent potage.
Water may be used instead of broth, but it is not as nutritive.
With Swallows' Nests, or Chinese Soup.—The nests are made a mucilaginous substance of, and built by the species of swallows called Hirundo esculenta; it would require several pages to describe them, together with their compound material, and would be out of place in a receipt book. Suffice it to say, that they sell for $100 a pound in London and Paris (gold of course), and the cheapest potage for one person costs about three dollars.
Soak about four ounces of it in cold water for ten hours, drain and clean. Put it in a saucepan, cover well with chicken-broth, place the saucepan in boiling water for about two hours, add salt to taste, and then drain again. Place the nests in the soup-dish, pour boiling consommé over them, and serve warm.
The Chinese are said to use very rich consommé of chicken to prepare them.