78 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA. 



stock mixed with flour; a flavour of herbs may be 

 given if liked, and bits of meat added to it. 



Mussel Soup. — Take the liquor that flows from the 

 mussels when open on the fire, and strain it through a 

 fine napkin ; put it into some good broth ; add the 

 yolks of six eggs beat up with it, thicken it over the 

 fire, and put it into your soup when ready to serve, 

 arranging the mussels round the dish.* 



Mussel Soup with Crawfish. — Take a hundred mus- 

 sels, wash them very clean, put them into a stew-pan, 

 cover them close. Let them stew till open, then take 

 them out of their shells, strain the liquor through a 

 fine sieve over the mussels. Take a dozen crawfish, 

 pound them up with a dozen of almonds blanched and 

 beat fine ; then take a small parsnip, and a carrot 

 scraped and cut into thin slices ; fry them brown, 

 with a little butter. Take two pounds of any fresh 

 fish, and boil in a gallon of water, with a bundle of 

 sweet herbs, a large onion stuck with cloves, whole 

 pepper, black and white, a little parsley, a small piece 

 of horseradish, and salt the mussel liquor, the crawfish 

 and the almonds. Let this boil till half is wasted, 

 then strain it through a sieve, put the soup into a 

 saucepan, with twenty of the mussels, a few mushrooms 

 and truffles cut small, and a leek cut very small. Take 

 two French rolls, take out the crumb and fry it brown, 

 cut it into little pieces, put it into the soup, and let 

 it boil altogether for a quarter of an hour, with the 

 fried carrot and parsnip. In the meantime take the 

 crust of the rolls fried crisp, half a hundred of the 

 mussels, a quarter of a pound of butter, a spoonful of 

 water, and shake in a little flour, then set this on the 



* ' French Family Cook.' 



