A Good Mutton Soup

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861

Source: The Book of Household Management
Yield: 8.0 persons
Status: success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (10)

A neck of mutton about 5 or 6 lbs. ↝ Turkey, whole, neck, meat only, raw [Poultry Products]
3 carrots ↝ Carrots, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
3 turnips ↝ Turnips, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
2 onions ↝ Onions, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]
a large bunch of sweet herbs, including parsley
salt and pepper to taste ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]
salt and pepper to taste ↝ Spices, pepper, black [Spices and Herbs]
a little sherry, if liked
3 quarts of water ↝ Water, tap [Tap water]
a tablespoonful, or rather more, of arrowroot ↝ Arrowroot, raw [Vegetables and Vegetable Products]

Instructions (4)

Lay the ingredients in a covered pan before the fire, and let them remain there the whole day, stirring occasionally.
The next day put the whole into a stewpan, and place it on a brisk fire.
When it commences to boil, take the pan off the fire, and put it on one side to simmer until the meat is done.
When ready for use, take out the meat, dish it up with carrots and turnips, and send it to table; strain the soup, let it cool, skim off all the fat, season and thicken it with a tablespoonful, or rather more, of arrowroot; flavour with a little sherry, simmer for 5 minutes, and serve.

Original Text

A GOOD MUTTON SOUP.

175. INGREDIENTS.—A neck of mutton about 5 or 6 lbs., 3 carrots, 3 turnips, 2 onions, a large bunch of sweet herbs, including parsley; salt and pepper to taste; a little sherry, if liked; 3 quarts of water.

Mode.—Lay the ingredients in a covered pan before the fire, and let them remain there the whole day, stirring occasionally. The next day put the whole into a stewpan, and place it on a brisk fire. When it commences to boil, take the pan off the fire, and put it on one side to simmer until the meat is done. When ready for use, take out the meat, dish it up with carrots and turnips, and send it to table; strain the soup, let it cool, skim off all the fat, season and thicken it with a tablespoonful, or rather more, of arrowroot; flavour with a little sherry, simmer for 5 minutes, and serve.

Time.—15 hours. Average cost, including the meat, 1s. 3d. per quart.

Seasonable at any time.

Sufficient for 8 persons.

THE SHEEP.—This animal formed the principal riches of the patriarchs, in the days of old, and, no doubt, multiplied, until its species were spread over the greater part of Western Asia; but at what period it was introduced to Britain is not known. It is now found in almost every part of the globe, although, as a domestic animal, it depends almost entirely upon man for its support. Its value, however, amply repays him for whatever care and kindness he may bestow upon it; for, like the ox, there is scarcely a part of it that he cannot convert to some useful purpose. The fleece, which serves it for a covering, is appropriated by man, to serve the same end to himself, whilst its skin is also applied to various purposes in civilized life. Its entrails are used as strings for musical instruments, and its bones are calcined, and employed as tests in the trade of the refiner. Its milk, being thicker than that of the cow, yields a greater quantity of butter and cheese, and its flesh is among the most wholesome and nutritive that can be eaten. Thomson has beautifully described the appearance of the sheep, when bound to undergo the operation of being shorn of its wool.

      "Behold, where bound, and of its robe bereft       By needy man, that all-depending lord,       How meek, how patient, the mild creature lies!       What softness in his melancholy face,       What dumb complaining innocence appears!"

Notes

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