THINGS TO BE AVOIDED.
But to return to the subject of soups. Although we may soon succeed in mastering the difficulties of bouillon, or foundation of soup-making, we must not forget that our work may be spoiled by the introduction of some traditional yet erroneous adjunct. An idea prevails with some people that clear soups require to be assisted with gelatine, or isinglass, to give them a sort of glutinous consistency. A very pernicious sort of starch is recommended by some writers which is produced from a raw potato. This provides a species of thickening it is true, but it spoils the soup. The potato glue imparts a crude, inky flavour to the broth which is hard to describe on paper, but is fatal in its effect upon the palate. It kills all the flavour of the meat and vegetables. Once for all, let me observe that clear soups, of the class we are discussing, require no isinglass. A consommé cannot be too bright, light, and clear.
There is, however, often a slight gelatinous element perceptible in a certain class of clear soups which may be regarded as peculiar to themselves:—clear turtle, ox-tail, mock-turtle, giblet, &c., soups of a decidedly English character deriving their consistency from the gelatine contained in the turtle, calf’s head, calf’s feet, ox-tail, &c., used in their composition; while to clear soups maigres, made upon a vegetable or fish stock basis, a slight body is sometimes given by adding a little cornflour, in the proportion of a tablespoonful to a quart.
Some cooks cannot refrain from the use of spice, Worcester sauce, and sugar, to improve the flavour of their clear soups. The single clove already prescribed is quite enough for the small pot-au-feu I have described. The spice-box is a dangerous plaything, and as the old-fashioned practice of freely adding aromatic seasonings to everything is no longer admitted, its use must be tempered with the utmost discretion. If the proper proportions of meat, bone, and vegetables are allowed, no flavouring from sauces is needed, and sugar will hardly be wanted, for there is enough sweetness extracted from the vegetables and the colouring preparation. After the clarifying