Scrape and slice enough Jerusalem artichokes to make 2 cups, and cover them with cold water. Let them stand for fifteen or twenty minutes, and put them in a saucepan with 2 quarts of cold water or milk, or 1 quart of each, and let them cook for an hour or until thoroughly soft. Now rub them through a sieve with 2 cups of the stock in which they cooked, and return to the fire. When boiling add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 of flour, rubbed together, and 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 saltspoon of pepper, and cook about ten minutes before adding 2 cups of hot milk, or 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of cream. Stir well and let boil up once before serving. A teaspoon of chopped parsley or chives improves the appearance and taste of almost any cream soup. CREAM OF ARTICHOKE WITH NASTURTIUMS Make the plain cream of artichoke soup as in preceding recipe, and add before straining 1 handful of nasturtium leaves and blossoms; or, instead, add 1 tablespoon of these, finely minced, to the soup before serving. ASPARAGUS SOUP Use 1 can of asparagus, cut off the tips, and lay them aside. Cut up the stalks, cover with 4 cups of cold milk (or use half water and half milk), and let cook slowly in a double boiler for half an hour; then strain, pressing the asparagus well to extract the flavour. Return to the saucepan, add 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of butter, into which 1 teaspoon of flour has been made smooth, season generously with salt and pepper, add the asparagus tips, 1 cup of milk, and, just before serving, 1 tablespoon of whipped cream. A tablespoon of minced onion fried for ten minutes in butter is sometimes added to the stalks while cooking. BARLEY AND TOMATO SOUP Cook 1 can of tomatoes and 1 chopped Spanish onion together for fifteen minutes, then rub through a wire sieve; add 3 tablespoons of pearl barley, 1 tablespoon of butter, some pepper and salt, and cook for one hour, until the barley is soft. Re-season before serving. BLACK BEAN SOUP Soak 2 cups of beans for twelve hours or more, and then drain them and put into 8 cups of cold water; add 3 whole cloves, 3 whole allspice, and 3 whole peppers, salt well and boil gently for two hours, rub through sieve, and reheat. Mix 1 tablespoon of thickening flour, and 1 tablespoon of butter and water, and stir into the soup at boiling point; season afresh and pour into a tureen in which are placed, neatly sliced, 1 hard-boiled egg and half a dozen seeded slices of lemon. This soup is improved by adding 1 wineglass of sherry, or one may substitute for it a few drops of Tomato Chutney or Worcestershire sauce. BELGIAN SOUP Take 4 cups of diced turnips and put them in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of butter, and stir for ten minutes over a slow fire; then stir in 2 cups of water, 2 teaspoons of brown sugar, and plenty of pepper and salt, and let simmer for another ten minutes; add 2 cups of milk thickened with 1 tablespoon of flour, let boil up, stirring constantly, and serve with croutons.