Brown roux is simply flour fried brown in butter. Probably most cooks have heard of the ordinary method of thickening soups with flour. The result is that the soup has a gruelly taste. If, however, the flour is fried a light brown before it is used for thickening the soup, it produces quite a different effect. In fact, in one case the flour is cooked, and in the other case it is raw, and the difference in the flavour is as great as that between a dish of pastry before it is put in the oven to be baked, and afterwards. You all know what a nice thing a rich piece of pie-crust is, especially if it be made from puff paste. Of course before it was put in the oven to be baked it would be absolutely uneatable. So with our brown roux. If you wish to make it properly proceed as follows: Take, if possible, an enamelled stewpan, and place in it half a pound of butter and melt it. When the butter has run to oil you will find that there is a sediment at the bottom, which looks something like milk, as, indeed, it is, as also a frothy scum at the top; skim this off, and then pour off the oiled butter into a basin and throw away the sediment. Now add to this clarified butter, which should have the appearance of good salad oil, half a pound of dry flour. Remember that you cannot fry anything properly unless it be first thoroughly dry. The flour and butter will form a sort of pudding, and you must stir this pudding over the fire with a spoon until the pudding begins to turn a light brown. As soon as it is turned a light brown colour, take the stewpan off the fire, but go on stirring. As the stewpan keeps hot a long time the flour will go on cooking for quite a quarter of an hour after it has been taken off the fire. You can if you like slacken the heat by throwing in a piece of onion. Of course, the onion will very soon turn brown itself. When the brown flour or roux has got comparatively cool, put it into a basin or small jar, and put it by for use. You will find it most convenient to make this in sufficient quantity to last, say, for a month. It will keep good for almost any length of time. Every kind of thick soup sold in tins will be greatly improved by a good dessertspoonful of this brown roux being added to each pint of soup after the tin has been opened and the contents poured into a small saucepan. In addition to brown roux you must add a good-sized teaspoonful of extract of meat. Recollect the brown roux should be crumbled into the soup, and the soup should be allowed to boil for a few minutes in order that it may get thick.