"THE BUBBLING BOWL"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 58, 2 August 1940, Page 39

"THE BUBBLING BOWL"

HIS is the popular American way of "featuring" soup, according to my latest letters from Los Angeles. In fact, one of the smartest and yet conservative tearooms in New York City, I am told, makes a speciality of "Bubbling Bowl Luncheons" every day of the week, with a different soup each day. The soup is followed by a green salad, and what they call "dark bread"-I suppose a good wholemeal bread will do for us; and they finish with a bit of candy and the inevitable coffee. That tea-room is so popular that it is almost impossible to get a table during the lunch hour, Does it pay to make soup? Yes, certainly it does, for it is a real moneysaver, A substantial soup containing bits of meat or fish, and vegetables; and cereals such as rice or barley; and very often dumplings as well, may be used as the main dish for lunch or dinner. Unless you use a coal range which is kept going all day long, it is not practical to revive the old-fashioned stock-pot, which simmered for hours daily at the back of the stove; for the cost of gas or electric current would be too great. But the modern methods of making soup use very little fuel, and the results are fresh and appetising. Is there food value in soup? Why, of course, for it contains the stimulating essences of the meat, and the essential calcium from the bones; and also the minerals and vitamins and soluble proteins from the vegetables; besides the barley or any cereal which has been included. Then there are the "cream soups" which are made with a basis of milk; the fish soups, with all the valuable nutritive elements of fish; as well as the soups made with dried peas, beans, or lentils, which contain the full value of those foods. If you are fortunate enough to own a big old-fashioned soup tureen, get it down from the back of the cupboard and serve the soup at the table. A salad and some fruit may then be all you will need for the meal, beside the "Bubbling Bowl." Some of these soup recipes may be new to you. ‘They are all good and nourishing: Beet Broth This, with its twin, beet and onion soup, make two rather unusual and quite interesting soups. Four medium beets, 1 medium potato, 2 quarts of water or stock, 2 medium onions, 1 medium carrot, and a little pepper, salt and nutmeg. Scrub and peel the beets. Wash and slice the onions, but leave the skin on. Wash and slice the potato, also with the skin on. Add the water or stock, and simmer gently

for about 1144 hours, Then strain it, and add the seasoning. Serve with a little grated cheese or minced parsley in each plate. Put away in a cool place all the soup not used; and serve it next day as:Beet and Onion Soup You will now need about eight medium onions, some pieces of toast, and some cheese. Peel and slice the onions, and fry them in butter, Into each soup plate put a piece of hot dry toast and cover with the fried onions. Then put over the beet broth which you saved from yesterday; and sprinkle with grated cheese, Scotch Broth This is different from English broth, which is thin and light. Broths in Scotland are very substantial, and so good that everyone has two helpings. Even those Scotch broths which are made

without meat have such a variety of vegetables, pearl barley, or oatmeal in them, and are cooked so slowly and steadily for such a long time, that the broth is thick and appetising. Two pounds of neck mutton, 1 small cauliflower or cabbage, 2 carrots, l1lb. of green peas, if in season, 1 onion, 1 tablespoonful of parsley, 2 leeks, 40z. of pearl barley, 1 turnip, 3 quarts of water, and pepper and salt. Put the water and the barley into a saucepan. When hot, but not boiling, put in the meat, previously wiped with a damp cloth, When boiling skim, then add the vegetables cut into dice, and 1 carrot grated. Simmer with the lid on for about 24% hours. Just before serving, add the parsley, finely chopped, Send the meat to the table with the broth, Skink This extraordinary name is the Scottish one for a variation of the Scotch broth given above. Not a very inviting name, is it? But the actual soup is regarded as an ideal dish for a cold day.

It is made with 2lb. of shin of beef cut up into lin. lengths and stewed with plenty of. vegetables, barley, leeks and parsley. Like the other Scotch broth it is really a soup and a stew combined, Simple Hare Soup Hares are very easily obtained in many parts of the country, so I feel that I should include a method of using this useful animal. It might be as well not to let the family see the soup in process of being made, but the finished product is quite good and very nourishing. This also is a Scottish recipe. Skin a hare and hold it over a basin to catch the blood. Cut it up in pieces, and keep the thinnest parts for the soup, and place them with a quart of cold water in a pan, Add the blood, which should have been put through a sieve. Add a turnip, carrot, and 2 onions sliced. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 214 hours. Season generously. The fleshy parts of the hare, that is, the back and legs, may be stewed separately and served with vegetables, and brown gravy made from the liquor in which the hare was stewed.

Barley Cream Soup One quart of milk, 2 tablespoons of pearl barley, 2 small onions, 1 teaspoonful sugar, and salt and pepper. Rinse out the upper part of a double saucepan with cold water, pour in the milk, and bring to the boil. Add the onions cut in slices, and the barley, which has been washed and drained. If preferred, you could use unpolished rice instead of barley. Bring it to the boil, and allow it to cook steadily for about 3 hours. Season to taste, and when ready to serve pour into a hot tureen and stir in % cupful of cream. Oatcakes made hot in the oven are served with this soup. Quick Beef Soup Fry about 14Ib. of minced beef in a tablespoon of beef dripping. Add 1 peeled and chopped onion, and fry with the meat. Then add 144 cups of raw diced potato, 1 cup of diced raw carrot, 1/3rd cup of pearl barley, 2 quarts of cold water, and some pepper and salt. Simmer for about an hour, and serve in bowls. (Continued on next page)

(Continued from previous page) Baked Beef Soup One pound of lean, soup beef, 1 cup of split peas which have been soaking for two hours, 4 tablespoons of rice, 1 sliced onion, 34 cup sliced white -or yellow turnips, 1 sliced carrot, 1 cup tinned tomatoes, if fresh are not available, 42 cup diced celery, 2 quarts of cold water, about 2 teaspoons of salt, and same pepper. Place the meat in a large, heavy casserole. Add the peas, rice, and other ingredients. Cover the dish closely; bring to the boil, and cook in a rather slow over for about four hours. Skim, turn into a soup tureen, or into individual soup bowls. Serve with toast. Mussel Soup Scrub about 6 mussels, put them into a saucepan and just cover with water. Bring to the boil. You will then notice that the shells have opened and the water is a milky colour. Strain this liquid into another saucepan. Remove

the root and tongue from the mussels, and put them through the mincer. Then add this to the strained liquid with a knob of butter, pepper and salt to taste, and as much milk ae you like, thickening with cornflour, or arrowroot, or even wheatmeal. Rabbit Soup In spite of the fact that thousands of people at the moment are cheerfully singing "Run, Rabbit, Run, Don’t Give the Farmer His Fun," yet there is no doubt that many a little bunny will not be able to run fast enough. So here is a recipe for rabbit soup. Very nourishing and very tasty. Boil a rabbit with a carrot and onion, or spring onions and a turnip, if liked, till the meat leaves the bones. Then strain through muslin into a pan. Bring to the boil, add a pint of milk thickened with a spoonful of flour, a little salt and pepper, and bring this slowly to the boil, stirring all the time. Then serve. The meat of the rabbit should be cut into small pieces and put into the soup.