Cassell's dictionary of cookery

We now come to consider soups in general, and we will divide them into three classes — clear, thick, and purees. Clear soups are, of course, as the word implies, bright as well as thin ; thick soup is generally of the consistency of ordinary cream, or not quite so thick, and is, of course, not transparent. By a puree we do not necessarily mean a soup of a thicker consistency than ordinary thick soup, but we would distinguish between thick soups and purees as follows : — A thick soup owes its consistency to the addition of some artificial thickening, such as brown roux, arrowroot, &c. ; a puree owes its consistency to the fact that the ingredients have been rubbed through a tamis or a wii-e sieve. This latter distinction is of the utmost importance. Unfortunately, we have no English word that conveys exactly the same idea as the French word puree, and consequently we are often obliged to use the Avord soup where the word puree would convey a better meaning. For instance, pea-soup should really be called puree of peas ; Palestine soup, puree of artichokes. As we have already described how to make good strong stock, and also how to clear it, our remarks with regard to clear soup must be almost entirely confined to the ingredients that are added to the stock, and give rise to the various names by which soups are distinguished. For instance, vermicelli soup is simply vermicelli boiled in stock, maccaroni soup is maccaroni boiled in stock. The best method of preparing these and all soups will be found under the proper headings in another part of the present work ; but I would remind cooks of the general principle to be observed in adding these ingredients to stock, and that is, cleanliness. Whenever maccaroni, vermicelli, pearl-barley, &c., have to be added to soup, they should invariably be at any rate partially boiled in plain water first, in order that the outside dirty part may be washed off by being dissolved. To illustrate the importance of this point, I would mention that very common invalid beverage called barley-water. How many of my readers are there but can call to mind drinking barley-water from a tumbler by their bedside, and being disgusted with a dirty sediment at the bottom of the glass 1 Now, is the cook to blame for this 1 Undoubtedly. Had she been properly instructed, she would have partially boiled the barley, and thrown away the first water, and then have placed the clean- washed barley, with its dirty film removed by being dissolved, into fresh boiling water. It is of no use to wash vermicelli, maccaroni, barley, &c., in cold water to clean it, it must be boiled; and in the case of maccaroni of all kinds and vermicelli it is best to boil it in plain water till it is tender, and then add it to the stock. Of course, in the case of an ingredient like barley where it is added to broth to increase its nourishment, it should only be boiled sufficiently long to ensure all the outside being dissolved, so that perfect cleanliness may be obtained. How many cooks are there who can call to mind the following misadventure with the soup ! They have got the stock as ' bright as sherry, they have added the vermicelli, and it has turned, not thick, but cloudy — the reason being that they did not boil the vermicelli in water separately.