soups and gravies. Of these the principal are,--Scotch barley, pearl
barley, wheat flour, oatmeal, bread-raspings, pease, beans, rice,
vermicelli, macaroni, isinglass, potato-mucilage, mushroom or mushroom
ketchup, champignons, parsnips, carrots, beetroot, turnips, garlic,
shalots, and onions. Sliced onions, fried with butter and flour till
they are browned, and then rubbed through a sieve, are excellent to
heighten the colour and flavour of brown soups and sauces, and form the
basis of many of the fine relishes furnished by the cook. The older and
drier the onion, the stronger will be its flavour. Leeks, cucumber, or
burnet vinegar; celery or celery-seed pounded. The latter, though
equally strong, does not impart the delicate sweetness of the fresh
vegetable; and when used as a substitute, its flavour should be
corrected by the addition of a bit of sugar. Cress-seed, parsley, common
thyme, lemon thyme, orange thyme, knotted marjoram, sage, mint, winter
savoury, and basil. As fresh green basil is seldom to be procured, and
its fine flavour is soon lost, the best way of preserving the extract is
by pouring wine on the fresh leaves.