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
Italy, to which countries it is, by some, considered indigenous.
In the southern part of the European continent, it is eaten both
raw and roasted. The tree was introduced into Britain by the
Romans; but it only flourishes in the warmer parts of the
island, the fruit rarely arriving at maturity in Scotland. It
attains a great age, as well as an immense size. As a food, it
is the least oily and most farinaceous of all the nuts, and,
therefore, the easiest of digestion. The tree called the _horse
chestnut_ is very different, although its fruit very much
resembles that of the other. Its "nuts," though eaten by horses
and some other animals, are unsuitable for human food.

COCOA-NUT SOUP.

125. INGREDIENTS.--6 oz. of grated cocoa-nut, 6 oz. of rice flour, 1/2 a
teaspoonful of mace; seasoning to taste of cayenne and salt; 1/4 of a
pint of boiling cream, 3 quarts of medium stock No. 105.

_Mode_.--Take the dark rind from the cocoa-nut, and grate it down small
on a clean grater; weigh it, and allow, for each quart of stock, 2 oz.
of the cocoa-nut. Simmer it gently for 1 hour in the stock, which should
then be strained closely from it, and thickened for table.

_Time_.--2-1/4 hours. _Average cost_ per quart, 1s. 3d.

_Seasonable_ in Autumn.

_Sufficient_ for 10 persons.

[Illustration: COCOA-NUT PALM.]

[Illustration: NUT & B