472 Of Food. 



CHAPTER VII. 



Receipts for preparing various Kinds of cheap Food. 

 — Of Maccaroni. — Of Potatoes. — Approved 

 Receipts for boiling Potatoes. — Of Potato Pud- 

 dings. — Of Potato Dumplings. — Of boiled Po- 

 tatoes with a Sauce. — Of Potato Salad. — Of 

 Barley ; is much more nutritious than Wheat. — 

 Barley Meal a good Substitute for Pearl Barley^ 

 for making Soups. — General Directions for pre- 

 paring cheap Soups. — Receipt for the cheapest Soup 

 that can be made. — Of Samp — Method of pre- 

 paring it. — Is an excellent Substitute for Bread. — 

 Of burnt Soup. — Of Rye Bread. 



WHEN I began writing the foregoing chapter of 

 this Essay, I had hopes of being able to pro- 

 cure satisfactory information respecting the manner in 

 which the maccaroni eaten by the poor in Italy, and 

 particularly in the kingdom of Naples, is prepared; 

 but, though I have taken much pains in making these 

 inquiries, my success in them has not been such as I 

 could have wished. The process, I have often been 

 told, is very simple ; and from the very low price at 

 which maccaroni is sold, ready cooked, to the lazza- 

 rojii in the streets of Naples, it cannot be expensive. 

 There is a better kind of maccaroni, which is prepared 

 and sold by the nuns in some of the convents in Italy, 

 which is much dearer ; but this sort would in any 

 country be too expensive to be used as food for the 

 poor. It is, however, not dearer than many kinds of 

 food used by the poor in this country ; and as it is very 



