No. 92 — Fresh Cucumber Purée Soup

Make stock from chicken with veal shank, skim the fat and strain.

Peel one Russian pound of cucumbers, scoop out their seedy centers and cut into slices. Cook in salted boiling water, drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. When dry, put them into the soup tureen as garnish.

Peel another two Russian pounds of good-tasting cucumbers, quarter them and remove their seedy centers. Put in a saucepan with ¼ Russian pound of boiled ham, one onion and one or two cloves. Add a spoonful of flour fried in half a spoonful of butter and boiled with one glass of strained stock; cook the mixture.

Before serving remove the ham, rub all the remaining contents through a sieve and thin with stock. Add a purée of cooked pearl barley, two egg yolks mixed with half a glass of thick cream, another half-spoonful of butter and salt. Heat while stirring from top to bottom until very hot, but do not boil. Serve with fresh dill and pepper.

To provide

• 1 chicken; 1 Russian pound of veal shank
• 3 Russian pounds of cucumbers and ¼ pound of boiled ham
• 1 onion, 1–2 cloves; ½ spoonful of butter and 1 spoonful of flour
• ¼ glass of pearl barley, prepared as in No. 94
• 2 egg yolks with ½ glass of cream; another ½ spoonful of butter; dill and pepper