Banquets of the nations

Cut four pounds of the neck and back ribs of mutton or lamb (the latter for preference) into pieces, and put on to boil in four or five quarts of well-salted water. Be careful to skim as it comes through the boil, adding a cupful of cold water at two different times to accelerate the rising of the scum. Boil slowly for an hour, remove the back ribs, and cut into pieces about an inch square, and lay to the one side. Add the white of three large leeks, one large onion chopped small, a large carrot and half a turnip sliced, and boil for another hour, being careful to skim as occasion requires. Remove the carrot and turnip ; add half a dozen small young white turnips, the same quantity of young carrots (both cut in small dice), a cauliflower broken into small branches, two pints of shelled green peas, a third of the quantity of shelled and skinned broad beans, a good handful of French beans cut into inch lengths, and pepper and salt to taste. When all the vegetables are cooked, take out the large pieces of meat, heat in the soup the small pieces, pour the whole into a tureen, strew a handful of finely chopped parsley on top, and serve. If by any chance the old vegetables have given a bitter or hard taste, add a pinch of sugar. Fish and Sauce. Put a good quantity of fish trimmings, such as haddock heads, bones, skins, points of the tails, and fins, in a pot of salted water along with some green onions, parsley, chives, and some whole pepper. When all the substance is obtained, strain and clear the stock into another pot, and put in a good piece of butter slightly kneaded in Indian corn flour ; bring slowly to the boil (stirring all the time), and then put in small skinned or filleted haddocks cut in three or divided (according to the size), also a large handful of chopped parsley. Boil for ten minutes, and serve the fish and sauce together in a soup tureen. The soup ought to be thin in consistency and transparent in colour, Partan Bree. Boil two good-sized crabs in salted water. When cold, remove the meat from the insides, and place in a basin. Boil in milk five ounces of rice till soft ; drain, and pass it with the crab meat through a sieve, and pound till perfectly smooth. Mix in gradually two quarts of clear fish stock — made without vegetables — adding salt and pepper to taste. Put in a pot; heat up, stirring all the time. Now add the meat from the large claws cut into pieces ; remove from the fire and stir in a large cupful of cream. If on the thin side, put a whipped egg in the tureen before pouring in the soup. The liquid should be of a consistency between a clear soup and a thick one. Teased Skate.