Veal Soup

Ingredients

• 3 quarts water
• 3 onions
• 1 spoonful black pepper
• 2 spoonfuls salt
• 2-3 slices lean ham
• 1 shin of veal
• 1 gill cream
• 2 table-spoonfuls flour
• 2 egg yolks
• parsley
• 12 ripe tomatoes

Instructions

1. Put three quarts of water into a pot with the three onions cut small, one spoonful of pounded black pepper, two spoonfuls of salt, and two or three slices of lean ham. Let it boil steadily for two hours, skimming occasionally.
2. Add the shin of veal and let it boil for two hours longer. Remove the ham slices and skim off any grease that rises to the surface.
3. Prepare the thickening: take a gill of good cream and mix it very nicely with two tablespoonfuls of flour and the well-beaten yolks of two eggs. Strain this mixture and add some chopped parsley.
4. Pour some of the soup gradually into the cream mixture, stirring well, then pour the entire mixture into the pot. Continue stirring until it has boiled for two or three minutes to remove the raw taste of the eggs.
5. Note: If the cream is not perfectly sweet and the eggs are not quite new, the thickening may curdle. If making the tomato variation, blanch the ripe tomatoes briefly in hot water until their skins come off easily, then add them to the soup. When made with tomatoes, thicken with flour only, omitting the egg and cream thickening. Any part of the veal may be used, though the shin or knuckle is considered the nicest.