then add the remainder of
the stock, with the crumb of the French rolls, and boil for another
hour. Now boil the spinach, and squeeze it very dry. Rub the soup
through a sieve, and the spinach with it, to colour it. Have ready a
pint of _young_ peas boiled; add them to the soup, put in the sugar,
give one boil, and serve. If necessary, add salt.

_Time_.--2-1/2 hours. _Average cost_, 1s. 9d. per quart.

_Seasonable_ from June to the end of August.

_Sufficient_ for 10 persons.

_Note_.--It will be well to add, if the peas are not quite young, a
little sugar. Where economy is essential, water may be used instead of
stock for this soup, boiling in it likewise the pea-shells; but use a
double quantity of vegetables.

WINTER PEA SOUP (YELLOW).

143. INGREDIENTS.--1 quart of split peas, 2 lbs. of shin of beef,
trimmings of meat or poultry, a slice of bacon, 2 large carrots, 2
turnips, 5 large onions, 1 head of celery, seasoning to taste, 2 quarts
of soft water, any bones left from roast meat, 2 quarts of common stock,
or liquor in which a joint of meat has been boiled.

_Mode_.--Put the peas to soak over-night in soft water, and float off
such as rise to the top. Boil them in the water till tender enough to
pulp; then add the ingredients mentioned above, and simmer for 2 hours,
stirring it occasionally. Pass the whole through a sieve, skim well,
season, and serve with toasted bread cut in dice.

_Time_.--4 hours. _Average cost_, 6d. per quart. _Seasonable_ all the
year round, but more suitable for cold weather. _Sufficient_ for 12
persons.

[Illustration: PEA.]

THE PEA.--It is supposed that the common gray pea, found wild in
Greece, and other parts of the Levant, is the original of the
common garden pea, and of all the domestic varieties belonging
to it. The gray, or field pea, called _bisallie_ by the French,
is less subject to run into varieties than the garden kinds, and
is considered by some, perhaps on that account, to be the wild
plant, retaining still a large proportion of its original habit.
From the tendency of all other varieties "to run away" and
become different to what they originally were, it is very
difficult to determine the races to which they belong. The pea
was well known to the Romans, and, probably, was introduced to
Britain at an early period; for we find peas mentioned by
Lydgate, a poet of the 15th century, as being hawked in London.