First, Each portion of Soup should consist of one pint and a
quarter, which, if the Soup be rich, will afford a good meal to a
grown person.--Such a portion will in general weigh about one
pound and a quarter, or twenty ounces Avoirdupois.
Secondly, The basis of each portion of Soup should consist of one
ounce and a quarter of Barley-meal, boiled with ONE PINT AND A
QUARTER OF WATER till the whole be reduced to the uniform
consistency of a thick jelly.--All other additions to the Soup do
little else than to serve to make it more palatable; or by
rendering a long mastication necessary, to increase and prolong
the pleasure of eating;--both these objects are however of very
great importance, and too much attention cannot be paid to them;
but both of them may, with proper management, be attained without
much expence.
Were I asked to give a Receipt for the cheapest Food which
(in my opinion) it would be possible to provide in this country,
it would be the following:
Receipt for a very cheap Soup.
Take of water eight gallons, and mixing with it 5 lb. of Barley-meal,
boil it to the consistency of a thick jelly.--Season it with
salt, pepper, vinegar, sweet herbs, and four red herrings,
pounded in a mortar.--Instead of bread, add to it 5 lb. of Indian
Corn made into Samp, and stirring it together with a ladle, serve
it up immediately in portions of 20 ounces.
Samp, which is here recommended, is a dish said to have been
invented by the savages of North America, who have no Corn-mills.
--It is Indian Corn deprived of its external coat by soaking it
ten or twelve hours in a lixivium of water and wood-ashes.--
This coat, or husk, being separated from the kernel, rises to the
surface of the water, while the grain, which is specifically
heavier than water, remains at the bottom of the vessel; which
grain, thus deprived of its hard coat of armour, is boiled, or
rather simmered for a great length of time, two days for instance,
in a kettle of water placed near the fire.--When sufficiently
cooked, the kernels will be found to be swelled to a great size
and burst open, and this Food, which is uncommonly sweet and
nourishing, may be used in a great variety of ways; but the best
way of using it is to mix it with milk, and with soups, and broths,
as a substitute for bread. It is even better than bread for
these purposes, for besides being quite as palatable as the very
best bread, as it is less liable than bread to grow too soft when
mixed with these liquids, without being disagreeably hard, it
requires more mastication, and consequently tends more to increase
and prolong the pleasure of eating.
The Soup which may be prepared with the quantities of ingredients
mentioned in the foregoing Receipt will be sufficient for 64
portions, and the cost of these ingredients will be as follows:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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