ut
small, pepper and salt to taste, oatmeal to thicken.

_Mode_.--Prepare the head, either by skinning or cleaning the skin very
nicely; split it in two; take out the brains, and put it into boiling
water; add the leeks and seasoning, and simmer very gently for 4 hours.
Mix smoothly, with cold water, as much oatmeal as will make the soup
tolerably thick; pour it into the soup; continue stirring till the whole
is blended and well done, and serve.

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

_Seasonable_ in winter.

_Sufficient_ for 10 persons.

II.

COMMONLY CALLED COCK-A-LEEKIE.

134. INGREDIENTS.--A capon or large fowl (sometimes an old cock, from
which the recipe takes its name, is used), which should be trussed as
for boiling; 2 or 3 bunches of fine leeks, 5 quarts of stock No. 105,
pepper and salt to taste.

_Mode_.--Well wash the leeks (and, if old, scald them in boiling water
for a few minutes), taking off the roots and part of the heads, and cut
them into lengths of about an inch. Put the fowl into the stock, with,
at first, one half of the leeks, and allow it to simmer gently. In half
an hour add the remaining leeks, and then it may simmer for 3 or 4 hours
longer. It should be carefully skimmed, and can be seasoned to taste. In
serving, take out the fowl, and carve it neatly, placing the pieces in a
tureen, and pouring over them the soup, which should be very thick of
leeks (a _puree_ of leeks the French would call it).

_Time_.--4 hours. _Average cost_, 1s. 6d. per quart; or, with stock No.
106, 1s.

_Seasonable_ in winter.

_Sufficient_ for 10 persons.

_Note_.--Without the fowl, the above, which would then be merely called
leek soup, is very good, and also economical. Cock-a-leekie was largely
consumed at the Burns Centenary Festival at the Crystal Palace,
Sydenham, in 1859.

[Illustration: LEEKS.]

THE LEEK.--As in the case of the cucumber, this vegetable was
bewailed by the Israelites in their journey through the desert.
It is one of the alliaceous tribe, which consists of the onion,
garlic, chive, shallot, and leek. These, as articles of food,
are perhaps more widely diffused over the face of the earth than
any other _genus_ of edible plants. It is the national badge of
the Welsh, and tradition ascribes to St. David its introduction
to that part of Britain. The origin of the wearing of the leek
on St. David's day, among that people, is thu