basis of many of the fine relishes furnished by the cook. The older and
drier the onion, the stronger will be its flavour. Leeks, cucumber, or
burnet vinegar; celery or celery-seed pounded. The latter, though
equally strong, does not impart the delicate sweetness of the fresh
vegetable; and when used as a substitute, its flavour should be
corrected by the addition of a bit of sugar. Cress-seed, parsley, common
thyme, lemon thyme, orange thyme, knotted marjoram, sage, mint, winter
savoury, and basil. As fresh green basil is seldom to be procured, and
its fine flavour is soon lost, the best way of preserving the extract is
by pouring wine on the fresh leaves.

90. FOR THE SEASONING OF SOUPS, bay-leaves, tomato, tarragon, chervil,
burnet, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, mace, black and white
pepper, essence of anchovy, lemon-peel, and juice, and Seville
orange-juice, are all taken. The latter imparts a finer flavour than the
lemon, and the acid is much milder. These materials, with wine, mushroom
ketchup, Harvey's sauce, tomato sauce, combined in various proportions,
are, with other ingredients, manipulated into an almost endless variety
of excellent soups and gravies. Soups, which are intended to constitute
the principal part of a meal, certainly ought not to be flavoured like
sauces, which are only designed to give a relish to some particular
dish.


SOUP, BROTH AND BOUILLON.

91. IT HAS BEEN ASSERTED, that English cookery is, nationally speaking,
far from being the best in the world. More than this, we have been
frequently told by brilliant foreign writers, half philosophers, half
_chefs_, that we are the _worst_ cooks on the face of the earth, and