CHESTNUT (SPANISH) SOUP.

124. INGREDIENTS.--3/4 lb. of Spanish chestnuts, 1/4 pint of cream;
seasoning to taste of salt, cayenne, and mace; 1 quart of stock No. 105.

_Mode_.--Take the outer rind from the chestnuts, and put them into a
large pan of warm water. As soon as this becomes too hot for the fingers
to remain in it, take out the chestnuts, peel them quickly, and immerse
them in cold water, and wipe and weigh them. Now cover them with good
stock, and stew them gently for rather more than 3/4 of an hour, or
until they break when touched with a fork; then drain, pound, and rub
them through a fine sieve reversed; add sufficient stock, mace, cayenne,
and salt, and stir it often until it boils, and put in the cream. The
stock in which the chestnuts are boiled can be used for the soup, when
its sweetness is not objected to, or it may, in part, be added to it;
and the rule is, that 3/4 lb. of chestnuts should be given to each quart
of soup.

_Time_.--rather more than 1 hour. _Average cost_ per quart, 1s. 6d.

_Seasonable_ from October to February.

_Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

[Illustration: CHESTNUT.]

THE CHESTNUT.--This fruit is said, by some, to have originally
come from Sardis, in Lydia; and by others, from Castanea, a city
of Thessaly, from which it takes its name. By the ancients it
was much used as a food, and is still common in France and