This section is from the book "Apicius Redivivus; Or, The Cook's Oracle", by William Kitchiner. Also available from Amazon: The Cooks Oracle.
Put four ounces of oatmeal into a basin, and mix it well with three ounces of clean drippings of pork, beef, or mutton; mix this by degrees with a gallon of soft water, add to it a tablespoonful of the soup-herb powder*, No. 459, a teaspoonful of salt, and half a teaspoonful of ground black pepper, and same of allspice; let it simmer, and stir it together for a couple of minutes, and it is ready.
Those who have not tasted this, will not easily imagine what a delicious meal is produced by the combination of these cheap and homely ingredients.
Wash five ounces of barley, and put it on to boil on a slow fire in six quarts of water; skim it carefully, and when it is reduced to about five quarts, put on a head of celery, or half a drachm of celery seed, and a large onion, and let it boil another hour, till it is reduced to a gallon; put four ounces of oatmeal into a basin, mix it well with three ounces of clean drippings, and these by degrees with the above liquor, adding to it a tablespoonful of the soup-herb savoury powder, and a teaspoonful of ground black pepper, and two teaspoonsful of salt; let all boil up together for a few minutes till it is well incorporated.
*** Dripping intended for soup , should be taken out of the pan almost as soon as it has dropped from the meat; if it is not quite clean and nice, clarify it. See Receipt, No. 83. For various receipts for economical cookery, see Mrs. Mel-roc'sbook, a work of great ingenuity and originality.
* If you have no soup-herb powder, use two teaspoonsfiil of dried and pounded parsley, one of winter savory, one of lemon-thyme, and a quarter of a drachm of celery seed-
If the, generally received opinion be true, that animal and vegetable foods afford nourishment in proportion to the quantity of oil. jelly, mucilage, and sugar that can be extracted from them; these soups have strong claims to the attention of the rational economist.
 
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