ARTISTIC COOKERY.

In every household where reformed diet is adopted, effort should be made to prepare the meals in an artistic manner. If a dish is skilfully cooked and tastefully served it is not only more enjoyable but more easily digested.

A Cook. The general custom in English homes is to serve vegetables in a rather slovenly style. To see how nicely such things as legumes, vegetables, salads and fruits can be prepared, one requires to go to a good French or Italian restaurant. But it is quite easy for us to learn the ways of our friends abroad, and to make our dishes look tempting and appetising.

One of the first lessons to be learned by the vegetarian cook is how to fry rissoles, potatoes, etc., quite crisp, and free from any flavour of oil or fat. To do this a wire basket which will fit loosely into a stewpan is necessary, and it can be purchased at any good ironmonger's shop. Nutter (refined coconut butter) is a well prepared form of vegetable fat, and it is retailed at a moderate price; it keeps for a long period and is equally useful for making pastry—three quarters of a pound being equal to one pound of butter. Where nut-butters cannot be obtained, good olive oil should be used.

The temperature of the fat or oil must be past boiling point, and should reach about 380 degrees. When it is hot enough it will quickly turn a small piece of white bread quite brown, if a finger of it is dipped in the fat. Unless this temperature is reached the articles to be fried may turn out greasy and unbearable. If the fat is heated very much beyond 400 degrees it may take fire. Haricots, lentils, and many other legumes are more tasty if made into cutlets or rissoles and fried in this manner, after being mixed with breadcrumbs and seasoning, than if merely boiled or stewed in the usual crude style.

The Art of Flavouring. The art of flavouring is also one which should be studied by every housewife. By making tasty gravies and sauces many a dish which would otherwise be insipid can be rendered attractive. The recipes for "Gravies" will prove useful on this point.

Many valuable modern scientific food products are not fully appreciated because people do not know how to serve them. Take 'Protose,' 'Nuttoria' and 'Nuttose' for instance—very useful substitutes for flesh which are made from nuts (malted and therefore half digested). If slightly stewed, and eaten without any flavouring, some persons dislike the distinctive taste; if, however, they are well cooked, according to the recipes printed later on in this book, and served with such garnishings as are recommended, they are usually much enjoyed, even by those who are prejudiced against all vegetarian ideas.

Cooking by Gas saves Labour.Cooking by gas appliances is more easily controlled and regulated than when the old-fashioned fire is employed, and much labour for stoking and cleaning is avoided. Those who can do so, should obtain a gas hot-plate, consisting of two or three spiral burners, and a moderate-sized gas oven. If they cannot afford the ordinary gas cooking oven, a smaller substitute can be obtained, which can be placed upon any gas jet; this is very economical for cooking single dishes, and for warming plates, etc. A gas cooking jet can be obtained for eighteenpence, and two or three of these will take the place of a hot-plate if economy is necessary. In summer-time the kitchen range is quite a superfluity unless it is required for heating bath water.

A New Mission for Women.The ordinary public know very little of the variety and delicacy of a well chosen fruitarian dietary when thoughtfully prepared; ignorance and prejudice consequently cause thousands to turn a deaf ear to the evangel of Food-Reform. All women who desire to bring about the abolition of Butchery, and to hasten the Humane Era, should therefore educate themselves in artistic fruitarian cookery, and then help to instruct others.

To illustrate the truth of these remarks I may mention that at a banquet given by the Arcadian Lodge of Freemasons, at the Hotel Cecil, in London—the first Masonic Lodge which passed a resolution to banish animal-flesh from all its banquets—one of the Chief Officers of the Grand Lodge of England attended. He came filled with prejudice against the innovation and prepared to criticise the repast most unfavourably. In his after-dinner speech, however, he admitted that it was one of the best Masonic banquets he had ever attended, and said that if what if he had enjoyed was "vegetarian diet," he was prepared to adopt it if he found it possible to get it provided at home.

By practising the recipes which are given in the following pages, and by utilizing the hints which accompany them, readers of this book will find no difficulty in acquiring the skill which is requisite to win many from the flesh-pots, even when they cannot be induced to abandon them from any higher motives than self-interest or gustatory enjoyment.

Every woman should resolve to learn how to feed her children with pure and harmless food. Every mother should make her daughters study this art and thus educate them to worthily fulfil their domestic responsibilities. Here is a new profession for women—for teachers of high-class fruitarian and hygienic cookery will soon be greatly in demand.

WHAT TO DO WHEN TRAVELLING.

The difficulty of being properly catered for when staying at Hotels was formerly a very real one, but owing to the enlightenment concerning diet which is now taking place, and the rapid increase of foreign restaurants and cafés in English-speaking countries it is becoming lessened every day. The great variety of fleshless dishes now supplied in nearly all light-refreshment restaurants, in response to the public demand, is compelling even the largest Hotels to modify their cuisine accordingly.

For breakfast it is sometimes a good plan to order what one wants the previous night, if any specially cooked dishes are required, but it is not advisable to inform the waiter that one is a vegetarian. It is generally possible to obtain porridge, grilled tomatoes on toast, poached or fried eggs, stewed mushrooms, etc., without giving extra trouble or exciting comment. Where these cannot be obtained, a plain breakfast of brown bread or toast and butter, with eggs, preserves and fruit should be taken.

At large hotels in our chief cities a Restaurant and a Grill Room are provided. The food-reformer should go to one of these for his dinner, rather than to the dining room, as he will then be able to obtain various simple à la carte dishes. One 'portion' of any particular dish will often suffice for two persons, thus enabling those whose means are limited to obtain greater variety without increasing expenditure. Care has to be exercised, however, concerning certain dishes; for instance, if macaroni is required, it is well to ask the waiter to request the cook not to introduce any chopped ham. He should be told that you wish macaroni served with tomato sauce and cheese only, in the "Neapolitan" style.

In most Continental Hotels and Restaurants the simplest, cheapest, and best plan is to take 'table d'hôte'—telling the head waiter well beforehand that the lunch or dinner is required 'maigre' (that is without flesh, just as it is usually served during Lent). A varied, well selected, and ample repast will then be supplied at a moderate cost. The same plan is best in 'Pensions.'

The general rule to be adopted in small British hotels is to think beforehand what dishes the cook is in the habit of making which are free from flesh; these should be ordered in preference to those which are strange and not likely to be understood. At the same time it is well to insist upon being supplied with anything which it is reasonable to expect the proprietor to furnish, because such action tends to improve the catering of the hotels of the country, to make it easier for other food-reformers, and to sweep away the difficulty which at present exists in some towns, of obtaining anything fit to eat in the orthodox hotel coffee rooms, except beasts, birds, or fishes.

Railway Journeys. Those who are making railway journeys can easily provide themselves with a simple luncheon basket containing fruits, sandwiches made with flaked nuts, eggs, cheese or preserves, or with such delicacies as haricot or lentil potted meat (directions for making which will be found later on, in the section devoted to Luncheon Recipes.) Travellers may perhaps be reminded that cheese and nuts contain much more nutriment than lean meat.

Food-reformers who are about to pay a prolonged visit in a private house should inform the hostess, when accepting her invitation, that they are abstainers from flesh, but that their tastes are very simple and that they enjoy anything except flesh food. As she might have erroneous ideas about the requirements of vegetarians she might otherwise feel perplexed as to what to provide. If the visitor takes fish the fact should be stated.

No Faddism. Care should be taken not to involve the hostess in any needless trouble, and she should be shown, by the simplicity of one's requirements, that she is easily capable of affording complete satisfaction. When she realizes this, she will probably take pleasure in learning something about hygienic living, and will be ready to read a pamphlet or a guide-book upon the subject, and to produce some of the dishes contained in it.

The Humane Diet Cause has been much hindered by the 'fads' of persons who have adopted very extreme views about diet and who worry themselves and other people about trifling matters in connection with their food until they are almost regarded as being pests in a household. Instead of cheerfully partaking of anything that is provided, except flesh, they parade their scruples about almost everything on the table, and, consequently, those who entertain them vow that they will never become such nuisances themselves or entertain such again.

I have always found that by letting my friends clearly understand that I abstain from butchered flesh chiefly because of humane reasons and for the sake of principle, they respect my sentiment, and evince a desire to discuss the matter without prejudice. If fruitarianism is adopted merely as a 'fad,' discordant vibrations are often aroused because one's acquaintances consider that one is giving needless trouble by being unconventional without sufficient justification.

Sea Voyages. Those who are making a sea voyage will find that many of the large steamship companies are quite prepared to furnish substitutes for flesh-diet if an arrangement is made beforehand. In such cases there should be a clear stipulation that brown bread, dried and fresh fruit, nuts, farinaceous puddings, omelets, or dishes made with cheese, macaroni, lentils, haricots, tomatoes, etc., should be obtainable in some form and in sufficient variety. A list of a few 'specialities' (such as Protose, Nuttoria, &c.) should be furnished when a long voyage is contemplated, so that the steward may stock them.

ADVICE FOR BEGINNERS.

The following suggestions will prove helpful to those who are desirous of adopting the reformed dietary:—

1. Give up flesh meat at once and entirely—replacing it by dishes made with eggs, cheese, macaroni, peas, lentils, nuts, and nut-meats. Later on you will be able to do without fish also, but it is best to proceed slowly and surely.

2. Eat less rather than more. Fruitarian foods such as the above are more nourishing than butcher's meat.

3. Try to like simple foods, instead of elaborate dishes that require much preparation. Avoid 'frying-panitis.'

4. Eat dry foods rather than sloppy ones; they are more easily digested. Take toast or Granose biscuits with porridge to assist proper salivation. If porridge causes trouble, use wheat or rye flakes (Manhu or Kellogg brands), with hot milk or cream, instead.

5. Do not mix stewed acid fruits with vegetables and legumes; take the former with cereals, cheese, or eggs. Green vegetables should be taken very sparingly, and with savoury dishes alone. If eaten with sweets they are apt to disagree.

6. Persons of sedentary habits should let at least one meal a day consist of uncooked fruit only—or of fruit with brown bread and butter—the bread being well baked.

7. Dried fruits, such as figs, dates, prunes, raisins, sultanas, etc., are very easily digested; and if blended with nuts or almonds they make a perfect meal. Such fruits may be taken freely and with advantage by almost everyone.

8. Nuts should be flaked in a nut-mill to aid digestion; cheese can also be made more easily assimilable in this way (or by cooking). Many nut products are now sold which are malted and partially pre-digested.

9. Give a few hours' thought and study to the important subject of your diet; learn what to do, and what newly-invented scientific foods are obtainable.

10. Do not make the mistake of attempting to live on potatoes, white bread, cabbages, etc., or merely upon the ordinary conventional dietary with the meat left out. Obtain and use well made and well cooked wholemeal bread every day. Take sufficient proteid, 1½ to 2-ozs. per day, to avoid anæmia—indigestion often results from lack of vitality caused through chronic semi-starvation.

11. If you feel any symptoms of dyspepsia, and can trace it to excess in eating, or to dietetic errors, reduce your food, fast temporarily, and take more exercise. Consider what mistakes you have made, and avoid them in the future. Eat only when hungry, in such cases.

12. If you are not getting on, obtain advice from a Doctor who is a fruitarian or from an experienced Food-reformer.

Commercial Dietetic Inventions.

A large number of special proprietary substitutes for animal food can now be obtained to supplement the ordinary ones provided in the household. The latest particulars concerning these can always be known by reference to the advertisement pages of The Herald of the Golden Age, and full information as to their use is supplied by the various manufacturers. But although they are useful and convenient in many households, they are not absolutely essential. 'Home-made' dishes are often the best, being most economical, therefore it is advisable that all food-reformers should learn how to make nut-meats, &c., at home. Some of these substitutes are as follows:—

For Meat-Extracts: Marmite, Vegeton, Carnos, Nutril, Mapleton's Gravy Essence, Cayler's Extract, Wintox.

For Joints of Meat: Protose, Nuttose, Savrose, Fibrose, F.R. Nut-Meat, Vejola, Nuttoria, Shearn's Nut-Meat, Nutton, Brazose, Nuto-Cream Meat, Mapleton's Frittamix.

For Cold Meats: "Pitman" Nut-Meat Brawn, Ellis's Tomato and Nut Paste, Pasta-sol, Lentose, Nuska Viando, Savoury Paste, Potted Beans and Lentils.

For Meat Fat: Nutter Suet, Vegsu, Nutter, Nucoline, and Nut Margarine.

Pine Kernels, which contain 10 ozs. of oil to the pound, and which when rolled and chopped exactly resemble suet, are also an excellent substitute.

Delicious Nut-Butters are also now obtainable for high-class cookery—such as Almond, Walnut, Cashew, and Table Nutter. Although superior, these are as cheap as ordinary cooking butters.

For Lard and Dripping: Nutter, Darlene, Albene, Nut-oil, "Pitman" Vegetable Lard.

For Meat proteid: Emprote, Hygiama, Horlick's Malted Milk, Casumen Dried Milk, Gluten Meal.

For Gelatine: Agar-Agar, or Cayler's Jellies.

For Animal Soups: Mapleton's Nut and proteid Soups, and "Pitman" Vegsal Soups.

Prepared Breakfast Cereals: Manhu flaked Wheat, Rye, Barley and Oats, Kellogg Wheat and Corn Flakes, Granose Flakes and Biscuits, Shredded Wheat, Archeva Rusks, Puffed Wheat, Power, Kornules, Toasted Wheat Flakes, Melarvi Crisps and Biscuits.

For Picnic Hampers: Savage's Nut Foods or Cream o' Nuts, Wallace Cakes and Scones, Mapleton's Nut Meats, Winter's Nut Cream Rolls, "Pitman" Fruit and Nut Cakes and Nut Meat Brawn, Wallace P. R. or Ixion or Artox or "Pitman" Biscuits.

Meat Stock is substituted by vegetable stock, produced by stewing haricots, peas, lentils, etc. The latter is far more nutritious, and is free from the uric acid and excrementitious matter that are present in meat decoctions. A tasty and meaty flavour can be at once given to soups or gravies by adding some vegetable meat-extract selected from one of the varieties already mentioned.

In the following pages recipes will be found for preparing dishes which closely resemble, in taste, appearance, and nutritive value, those to which the community have been accustomed, some of them being of such a nature that persons who are fond of flesh-food find it difficult to detect whether they are eating such or not.

RELATIVE VALUES OF FOODS.

How to Regulate our Diet.

Our food must contain certain elements, and in proper quantity, if the body is to be well sustained, renewed and nourished. These are mainly as follows:

1. Protein to form flesh, build muscle, and produce strength.

2. Fat and Carbohydrates, to provide heat and energy.

3. Salts and minerals (such as phosphates, lime, iron, citrates, etc.) to build bones and teeth, feed the brain and nerves, and purify the body.

No hard-and-fast table or rule can be laid down concerning the proper proportions in which these elements should be combined, because the amount needful for each individual varies according to his size, the sort of work he does, the amount of physical or mental energy he puts forth, and the temperature of the atmosphere surrounding him.

Until Professor Chittenden made his extensive and conclusive series of experiments in America, in 1903-4, to determine the real amount of Protein and other elements required to keep the body in perfect health, the average estimate for a person of average size, who does a moderate amount of physical labour, was about 4-ozs. of Protein per day.

But these official experiments, conducted with scientific precision, extending over a long period, and made with thirty-four typical and carefully graded representatives of physical and mental work, demonstrated that half this amount of Protein is sufficient, and that strength and health are increased when the quantity is thus reduced; also that a smaller amount of Carbohydrate food (bread, etc.), than was previously thought necessary, is enough.

One may therefore now safely reckon that men of average size and weight (say 10 to 12 stone) doing a moderate amount of physical and mental work, can thrive under ordinary circumstances on a daily ration containing about 800 grains of Protein (nearly 2 ozs).

The following food chart will enable the reader to calculate (approximately) how much food of any particular kind is necessary to provide the above amount. Adult persons below the average size and weight, and living sedentary rather than an active physical life, will naturally require less than this normal standard. The relative cost and economy of the different foods can also thus be ascertained.

If care is taken to secure a sufficient quantity of Protein the requisite amount of Carbohydrates is not likely to be omitted, and hunger will prove a reliable guide in most cases. It is advisable, however, to see that enough Fat is taken, especially in winter, and by persons lacking in nerve force.

The table of food-values will easily enable the reader to ascertain the proportion of Fat in each kind of food.

The following indications of dietetic error may prove useful:—

Signs of Dietetic Mistakes. Excess of proteid matter causes a general sense of plethora and unbearableness, nervous prostration or drowsiness after meals, a tendency to congestion (often resulting in piles, etc.), headache, irritability, and bad temper. A continuous deficiency of it would tend to produce general weakness and anæmia.

Excess of carbohydrate matter (starch), especially if not sufficiently cooked and not well masticated, produces dyspepsia, flatulence, pain in the chest and abdomen, acidity (resulting in pimples and boils), and an inflammatory state of the system. Deficiency of it (or its equivalent, grape sugar) would produce lack of force and physical exhaustion.

Excess of fat tends to cause biliousness. Deficiency of it results in nervous weakness, neuralgia, and low temperature of the body.

Food for Brain Workers. It is important to remember that the more physical energy we put forth, the larger is the amount of proteid we require in our diet—and vice versa. Brain workers of sedentary habits require but little proteid, and quickly suffer from indigestion if this is taken too freely. For such, a very simple dietary consisting largely of dried and fresh fruits, nuts (flaked or ground), milk, eggs and cheese, and super-cooked cereals (such as wholemeal biscuits, and toast, Granose and Kellogg flakes, and well baked rice dishes) will be found to be the most suitable.

In order to supply the brain with phosphates it is very important that mental workers should take whole wheat bread instead of the emasculated white substitute which is provided almost everywhere. It is the outer part of the grain that provides brain-food (combined with an easily assimilable form of protein), and many of our urban bread winners break down because they are deprived of the essential food elements therein contained. To take 'standard' bread does not meet the case, and every food-reformer who wants to keep really fit should demand and obtain well baked and unadulterated wholemeal bread. I feel convinced that if every growing child and every mental toiler could always be supplied with bread of this type, the deterioration of our British race would soon be arrested and we should witness signs of physical regeneration. 'Artox' and 'Ixion' brands of pure whole wheatmeal are the most perfect I know of at the present time, and delicious bread can easily be made from them if the recipe printed on page 114 is followed.

FOOD CHART.

Showing how to obtain sufficient (1) Protein—for body building. (2) Carbohydrates and Fat—for providing heat and energy.

A man of average size and weight (10 to 12 stone) doing a moderate amount of physical labour requires about 800 grains of Protein per day (nearly 2 ozs.). Women and sedentary workers require about 1½ ozs. (655 grains), and hard physical labourers about 1000 grains.

TABLE OF FOOD VALUES.

Compiled from such authorities as Church, Payer, Letheby, Blyth, Hemmeter, Pavy, Holbrook, Oldfield, Miles, and Broadbent, etc.

VEGETARIAN SOUPS.

VEGETABLE STOCK.

The best stock for vegetable soups is made from haricot beans. Take a pound of these, pick and wash well, and soak for 10 or 12 hours in cold water. Put them in a saucepan with the water in which they were soaked, add a few of the coarser stalks of celery, 1 or 2 chopped Spanish onions, a blade of mace, and a few white peppercorns. If celery is not in season, use celery salt. Bring to a boil, skim, and cook gently for at least 2 hours. Then strain, and use as required.

1. Artichoke Soup.

Take 2-lbs. of white artichokes, 3-pts. of water, 3 large onions, a piece of celery (or some celery salt), ¼-pt. of raw cream or 1-pt. of milk. Boil together for 45 minutes, strain through a fine sieve and serve. If cream is used it should not be added until after the soup is cooked.

2. Chestnut Soup.

Take 1-lb. chestnuts, 1 or 2 onions, 1½-pints vegetable stock, 1-oz. nut-butter.

Boil the chestnuts for 15 minutes and peel them; put these with the onions (sliced) into a roomy stewpan, with the butter, and fry briskly for 5 minutes; now add the stock, with seasoning to taste, and bring to the boil. Simmer gently until onions and chestnuts are quite soft, and pass all through a hair sieve. Dilute with milk until the consistency of thin cream, and serve with croûtons.

3. Rich Gravy Soup.

To 3-pts. of haricot stock add 1 onion and 1 carrot (fried with butter until brown), 1 stick of celery, 2 turnips and 6 peppercorns, and thicken with cornflour. Boil all together for 1 hour, strain, return to saucepan, and add 3 small teaspoons of Marmite. Warm it up, but not to boiling point. Serve with fried bread dice. This soup, if well made, is equal to anything that a French chef can produce.

4. Mock Turtle Soup.

Fry 6 good-sized onions in 1-oz. of butter till nicely browned, then add 2 breakfastcups of German lentils, a good handful of spinach leaves, a few capers, about 6 chillies, and 3 pints of water. Let this simmer for 2 or 3 hours, then strain off, add 2 tablespoons of tapioca which has been soaked for an hour or two. Boil till perfectly clear. When ready for serving add salt to taste and 1 teaspoonful of Nutril. Some small custard quenelles should be put in the tureen—made by beating 1 egg in 2-ozs. flour and adding ¼-pt. milk. Bake until firm and cut into dice.

5. Brown Haricot Soup.

Boil ½-lb. beans in 2-qts. of water. When the beans crack, add a few tomatoes, 1 leek sliced, or a Spanish onion, and a bunch of herbs. Boil until the vegetables are tender, adding a little more water if necessary. Rub all through a sieve, and return to pan, adding seasoning, a good lump of butter, and the juice of half a small lemon after the soup has boiled. If a richer soup is required add two teaspoonfuls of Nuto-Cream or Marmite just before serving.

6. Tomato Soup.

Take a pound of tomatoes, a sliced onion, and 2-ozs. of tapioca (previously soaked for some hours). Boil for an hour, then add salt, pepper, and a little butter. Mix ½-pt. of milk with a teaspoonful of flour; add this to the soup, stir and boil for 5 minutes.

7. Egyptian Lentil Soup.

Wash and pick ½-lb. Egyptian lentils and put on to boil in about 1-qt. of water. Add 1 sliced onion, 1 carrot, 1 turnip, a small bunch of herbs, and celery salt, and boil gently about 1 hour. Rub through a sieve, return to pan, add 1-oz. butter and a cupful of milk. Bring to boil and serve.

8. Brazil Nut Soup.

Pass 1 pint of shelled Brazil nuts through a nut mill, fry these with one or two chopped onions in 1-oz. of nut-butter, keeping them a pale yellow colour; add 1-oz. flour, and gradually 1½-pts. of white stock; bring slowly to the boil and simmer gently until the onions are soft. Pass through a hair sieve, and dilute with milk.

9. Julienne Soup.

Cut some carrots, turnips, onions, celery, and leeks into thin strips, using double quantity of carrots and turnips. Dry them and then fry slowly in 2-ozs. of butter until brown. Add 2-qts. of clear vegetable stock and simmer until tender. Season with salt and a teaspoonful of castor sugar. Chop some chervil or parsley finely, add and serve. The addition of some green peas is an improvement—and also quenelles (see 4).

10. Green Lentil Soup.

Fry 5 onions in a large saucepan until brown. Add ¾-lb. of green lentils, 1-qt. water, and 2 sticks of celery. Stew for 2 hours, and pass through a strainer. Add ¼-lb. of cream and ½-pt. of milk, bring to the boil, flavour with salt, and serve.

11. White Soubise Soup.

(A French Recipe).

Take 2-ozs. butter, 4 good-sized onions, about 1-pt. cauliflower water, and 1-pt. of milk, sufficient bread (no crust) to very nearly absorb the liquor. Cut up the onions, put into the saucepan with the butter, and cook slowly till tender—it must not be brown. Now add the bread, the cauliflower water, and half the milk, and boil slowly for an hour. Take it off the fire, pass it through a sieve, add the rest of the milk, and heat it again, taking care it does not actually boil, as it may curdle. Serve.

12. Green Pea Soup.

One quart shelled peas; 3 pints water; 1 quart milk; 1 onion; 2 tablespoonfuls butter; 1 tablespoonful flour. Salt and pepper to taste.

Put the peas in a stewpan with the boiling water and onion and cook until tender (about half an hour). Pour off water, saving for use later. Mash peas fine, add water in which they were boiled, and rub through purée sieve. Return to saucepan, add flour and butter, beaten together, and the salt and pepper. Gradually add milk, which must be boiling hot. Beat well and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently. This recipe is useful when green peas are getting old and are not tender enough to be enjoyable if served in the usual way.

13. White Haricot Soup.

Stew ½-lb. of beans in 2-qts. of water, adding 5 chopped onions, some chopped celery and a carrot which have been fried in some butter until well cooked; stew until the beans are tender, and strain if clear soup is required, or pass through a sieve for thick soup; add some cream and milk, bring to the boil, flavour with salt, and serve.

14. Marmite Vegetarian Soup.

Take a dessertspoonful of Marmite, 1-pt. of water or vegetable stock, a tablespoonful of fine sago or tapioca, a slice or two of any vegetables, with a sprig of parsley and a little salt. Boil the vegetables for a few minutes in the water, skim well, add the sago or tapioca, and boil for an hour or over, then strain; stir the Marmite in and serve hot. A delicious and cheap soup. A gill of milk or cream boiled and added at the end—omit the same measure of water—is an improvement in some cases.

15. Almond Soup.

(A nice Summer Soup).

One pint of white stock, 1 pint milk, 1 small breakfastcup of ground almonds, 1-oz. butter, 3-ozs. minced onions, 1-oz. flour. Fry the onion in the butter in a stewpan till a pale yellow colour, stir in the flour, and when well blended, moisten with some of the stock, adding the almonds, broth and milk by degrees till all are exhausted, bring to the boil, skim, and simmer gently for half an hour, pass through a hair sieve. Serve with nicely cooked green peas.

16. Celery Soup.

Six heads of celery, 1 teaspoon of salt, a little nutmeg, 1 lump sugar, 1 gill of stock, ½-pint of milk, and two quarts of boiling water.

Cut the celery into small pieces and throw it into the boiling water seasoned with nutmeg, salt and sugar, boil until sufficiently tender, pass it through a sieve, add the stock, and simmer for half-an-hour, then add the milk, bring it up to the boil and serve.

17. Potato Soup.

Four middle sized potatoes, a thick slice of bread, 3 leeks peeled and cut into slices, a teacup of rice, salt and pepper to taste, 2 qts. of water.

Bring the water up to boil, then put in all the ingredients except the rice, pepper and salt, cover and let them come to a brisk boil, add the rice and boil slowly for one hour.

18. Pea Soup.

Take 1½ pints of split peas and 3 onions. Put the peas to soak overnight, then cook with the onions until quite soft—pass through a sieve, add 1 gill of milk, bring to the boil. Serve with squares of fried bread or toast. Celery, salt, pepper and chopped mint may be added to taste.

19. Mock Hare Soup.

Soak some haricot beans over night in boiling water, then stew them for 2 hours in water with 2 onions, salt and pepper. When quite tender pass them through the sieve, add 1-oz. ground walnuts, boil again for 5 minutes, add forced meat balls, and serve.

20. Carrot Soup.

Two lbs. carrots, 3-ozs. butter, seasoning to taste, 2 quarts of bean stock or water.

Scrape the carrots, wash and wipe them quite dry, and cut in thick slices; put the butter in a large stewpan and when melted put the carrots in and stew gently for one hour without browning, then add the stock or water and simmer until tender (about an hour). Pass them through the sieve, add the seasoning and boil for 5 minutes; skim well and serve.

21. Onion Soup.

Put about 2 doz. small onions in a stewpan with 1-oz. butter, cover and let them stew for about 20 minutes, then add sufficient boiling water to cover them, boil till quite tender, pass through a sieve, boil up again, add the savoury seasoning and 1 gill of milk. A little boiled macaroni chopped up fine may be added before serving.

22. Carnos Soup.

Two tablespoons of Carnos in a pint of boiling water makes a very nourishing soup; it may be thickened with rice, vermicelli, spaghetti, etc., if required, and served with fingers of toast.

23. White Windsor Soup.

Take 4 breakfastcups of white stock, then add 6 tablespoons of mashed potatoes, and 1-oz. of sago. Stir over the fire till clear, then add 1 breakfastcupful of milk, and a little minced parsley. Let it come to boiling point, but no more. Serve in a very hot tureen.