SPINACH SOUP (French Recipe).
155. INGREDIENTS.—As much spinach as, when boiled, will half fill a vegetable-dish, 2 quarts of very clear medium stock, No. 105.
Mode.—Make the cooked spinach into balls the size of an egg, and slip them into the soup-tureen. This is a very elegant soup, the green of the spinach forming a pretty contrast to the brown gravy.
Time.—1 hour. Average cost,1s. per quart.
Seasonable from October to June.
[Illustration: SPINACH.]
SPINACH.—This plant was unknown by the ancients, although it was cultivated in the monastic gardens of the continent in the middle of the 14th century. Some say, that it was originally brought from Spain; but there is a wild species growing in England, and cultivated in Lincolnshire, in preference to the other. There are three varieties in use; the round-leaved, the triangular-leaved, and Flanders spinach, known by its large leaves. They all form a useful ingredient in soup; but the leaves are sometimes boiled alone, mashed, and eaten as greens.