ABC OF SOUP MAKING
Lean, juicy beef, lamb and veal, form the basis of all good soups, therefore, it is advisable to purchase the parts to pay the rich juiciness, and the one that killed fresh. Rancid meat makes them evil, and the fat is not so well adapted to make them. The main art in the composition good rich soup, so that the proportion of different ingredients that the flavor of a not predominate over another, and that all items that compose it, form a pleasing whole. To accomplish this, care must be taken that the roots and herbs are perfectly clean, and the water is proportional to the amount of meat and other ingredients. In general, a liter of water can allow a pound of meat for soups, and half of the amount of sauce. In making soups or gravies, gentle simmer and is incomparably better.
It can also be seen, however, that a good soup can not be done, but in a tightly closed, although, perhaps, greater wholesomeness is obtained occasional exposure to air. Soups generally take three to six hours doing, and are much better prepared the day before wanted. When the soup is cold, the fat can also be much more easily and completely removed, and when drained, be careful not to disturb the settlements in the bottom of the ship, which are so fine that they will escape through a sieve. A tamis is the best filter, and if the soup is affected when it is hot, let the tamis or cloth moistened in cold water. Clear soups must be perfectly clear soups, and thickening of the consistency of cream. To thicken and give body to soups and gravies, potato-mucilage, arrow-root, bread-raspings, isinglass, flour and butter, barley, rice or oatmeal, a little water rubbed well together, are often used. A piece of boiled beef reduced to a pulp, with a bit of butter and flour, and rubbed through a sieve, and gradually incorporated into the soup, is an excellent addition. When the soup seems too thin or too weak, the lid of the boiler must be removed, and the contents simmer until some of the aqueous parts have evaporated, or some of the thickening materials, above, must be added. When soups and sauces are held daily in hot weather, which must be heated every day, and put into fresh scalded pans or tureens, and placed in a cold basement. In mild weather, every other day may be sufficient.
Using various herbs and vegetables are needed for the purpose of making soups and sauces. Of these the principal are, Scotch barley, pearl barley, wheat flour, oatmeal, bread raspings, peas, beans, rice, macaroni, isinglass, potato-mucilage, mushroom or mushroom ketchup, mushrooms, turnips, carrots, beets, turnips, garlic, onions and shalots. Sliced onions, fried with butter and flour until golden, then rub through a sieve, are excellent to enhance the color and flavor soups and sauces, coffee, and form the basis of many of the fine sauces provided by the cook. The older and drier the onion, the stronger its flavor. Leeks, cucumbers, or Burnet vinegar, celery or celery seed hit. The latter, though equally strong, does not impart the delicate sweetness of the vegetables, and when you are planing to use them as a substitute, the taste must be corrected by adding a little sugar. Cress seeds, parsley, common thyme, thyme, orange thyme, knotted marjoram, sage, mint, savory winter, and basil. As fresh green basil is seldom to be procured, and its delicate flavor is lost early, the best way of preserving the extract is by pouring wine into fresh leaves.
For the seasoning of soups, bay-leaves, tomato, tarragon, chervil, burnet, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, mace, black and white pepper, essence of anchovy, lemon-peel, and juice, and Seville orange-juice, are all taken. The latter imparts a finer flavour than the lemon, and the acid is much milder. These materials, with wine, mushroom ketchup, Harvey’s sauce, tomato sauce, combined in various proportions, are, with other ingredients, manipulated into an almost endless variety of excellent soups and gravies. Soups, which are intended to constitute the principal part of a meal, certainly ought not to be flavoured like sauces, which are only designed to give a relish to some particular dish.
Learn more about Olla a Presion. Stop by Carla Camacho’s site where you can find out all about cacerolas and what it can do for you.
