a quantity of
salt must be added in consequence, as well as pepper. In Belgium and
Germany this sweetness is corrected by the addition of vinegar. This, of
course, is a matter of taste.


PEAR SOUP.--Pare, core, and slice six or eight large pears. Put them into
a stew-pan with a penny roll cut into thin slices, half a dozen cloves, and
three pints of water. Let them simmer until they are quite tender, then
pass them through a coarse sieve, and return the puree to the saucepan,
with two ounces of sugar, the strained juice of a fresh lemon, and half a
tumblerful of light wine. Let the soup boil five or ten minutes, when it
will be ready for serving. Send some sponge-cake to table with this dish.


PEA SOUP, FROM SPLIT DRIED PEAS.--Take a pint of split peas and put them in
soak overnight in some cold water, and throw away those that float, as this
shows that there is a hole in them which would be mildewy. Take two
onions, a carrot, a small head of celery, and boil them with the peas in
from three pints to two quarts of water till they are tender. This will be
from four to five hours. When the peas are old and stale even longer time
should be allowed. Then rub the whole through a wire sieve, put the soup
back into the saucepan, and stir it while you make it hot or it will burn.
In ordinary cookery, pea soup is invariably made from some kind of greasy
stock, more especially the water in which pickled pork has been boiled. In
the present instance we have no kind of fat to counteract the natural
dryness of the pea-flour. We must therefore add, before sending to table,
two or three ounces of butter. It will be found best to dissolve the
butter in the saucepan before adding the soup to be warmed up, as it is
then much less likely to stick to the bottom of the saucepan and burn.
Fried or toasted bread should be served with the soup separately, as well
as dried and powdered mint. The general mistake people make is, they do
not have sufficient mint.


PEA SOUP, FROM DRIED GREEN PEAS.--Proce