Sometimes the feet of poultry are used in soups. There are two ways to clean them : one is to hold them in tongs over clear coals until the skin cracks and curls, when it SOUPS. Ill can be rubbed off easily ; and the other mode is to cover them with boiling water for a few minutes and then scrape off the skin and nails. Being gelatinous, they give body to the soup. Other Meats for Stock. Mutton does not enter largely into soup-making. When it is used it should be freed as much as possible of fat, which would give a strong flavor to the stock. The neck, shoulder, and feet are the parts most in demand for soups. The feet, like those of the calf, are very gelati- nous, and are sometimes used with other meats, like beef, to increase the gelatinous element of the stock. Almost all kinds of game may be used for stock. In most cases it is too expensive, but the remnants left from roasts and broils improve any stock greatly. Where there is game in abundance, it may be treated in soups the same as other meats. Young meat, such as lamb and chicken, rarely is used in stock. The bones or trimmings from roasts or broils may be added to stock, but nothing else should be. Osmazone, which gives flavor and odor to meat, is found in larger quantities in old animals than in young ones ; therefore the meat of matured animals is the best for stock. ~ Veal combined with beef gives a smoothness to soup which is lacking when only beef is used. The best parts of veal to use are the shin, head, and feet. They contain the most gelatine, and are less useful for other modes of cooking; but the stock made from them has very little flavor, and is usually combined with stock made from other meats or with milk or cream. Thickening for Soups. In thickening soups one aims first to get consistency, next color, and finally flavor. Sometimes a soup is wanted rather thick and yet perfectly clear. There are 11 J MISS PARLOA'S KITCHEN COMPANION. three substances which will give this effect, — arrowroot, ooru-starch, and tapioca ground fine. Arrowroot is by far the best of the three if one be particular to avoid leaving any trace of the thickening ingredient in the soup. One table-spoonful mixed with a cupful of cold stock until smooth, and then stirred into one quart of boiling stock, — the whole being simmered for half an hour, — will give a soup considerable body aud yet leave it perfectly transparent. Corn-starch is used in the same manner as arrowroot, but there is always a little cloudiness in the soup. Fine tapioca — "Tapioca Exotique," a French prepara- tion — will give a clear, gelatinous soup, but the grains will be faintly perceptible. One table-spoonful of this preparation may be sprinkled into one quart of boiling stock. The soup must be stirred for the first three or four minutes ; then it can be pushed back where it will simmer for half an hour. If there be no objection to the distinct grains in the soup, ten minutes' cooking of the tapioca will be sufficient This preparation is very nice for any kind of soup, thick or clear. It may be added to any kind of stock, and in ten minutes the stock will be ready for use. Host first-class grocers keep this article, which may be had in half-pound packages.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Sometimes the feet of poultry are used in soups. There are two ways to clean them : one is to hold them in tongs over clear coals until the skin cracks and curls, when it SOUPS. Ill can be rubbed off easily ; and the other mode is to cover them with boiling water for a few minutes and then scrape off the skin and nails. Being gelatinous, they give body to the soup. Other Meats for Stock. Mutton does not enter largely into soup-making. When it is used it should be freed as much as possible of fat, which would give a strong flavor to the stock. The neck, shoulder, and feet are the parts most in demand for soups. The feet, like those of the calf, are very gelatinous, and are sometimes used with other meats, like beef, to increase the gelatinous element of the stock. Almost all kinds of game may be used for stock. In most cases it is too expensive, but the remnants left from roasts and broils improve any stock greatly. Where there is game in abundance, it may be treated in soups the same as other meats. Young meat, such as lamb and chicken, rarely is used in stock. The bones or trimmings from roasts or broils may be added to stock, but nothing else should be. Osmazone, which gives flavor and odor to meat, is found in larger quantities in old animals than in young ones ; therefore the meat of matured animals is the best for stock. ~ Veal combined with beef gives a smoothness to soup which is lacking when only beef is used. The best parts of veal to use are the shin, head, and feet. They contain the most gelatine, and are less useful for other modes of cooking; but the stock made from them has very little flavor, and is usually combined with stock made from other meats or with milk or cream. Thickening for Soups. In thickening soups one aims first to get consistency, next color, and finally flavor. Sometimes a soup is wanted rather thick and yet perfectly clear. There are three substances which will give this effect, — arrowroot, corn-starch, and tapioca ground fine. Arrowroot is by far the best of the three if one be particular to avoid leaving any trace of the thickening ingredient in the soup. One table-spoonful mixed with a cupful of cold stock until smooth, and then stirred into one quart of boiling stock, — the whole being simmered for half an hour, — will give a soup considerable body aud yet leave it perfectly transparent. Corn-starch is used in the same manner as arrowroot, but there is always a little cloudiness in the soup. Fine tapioca — "Tapioca Exotique," a French preparation — will give a clear, gelatinous soup, but the grains will be faintly perceptible. One table-spoonful of this preparation may be sprinkled into one quart of boiling stock. The soup must be stirred for the first three or four minutes ; then it can be pushed back where it will simmer for half an hour. If there be no objection to the distinct grains in the soup, ten minutes' cooking of the tapioca will be sufficient This preparation is very nice for any kind of soup, thick or clear. It may be added to any kind of stock, and in ten minutes the stock will be ready for use. Most first-class grocers keep this article, which may be had in half-pound packages.

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