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Says Savarin, one of the greatest authorities on dining: “A soup and a salad and the dinner is complete.” Heavy, rich foods taken into an empty stomach often produce nervous indigestion. “The laboring man as well as brain workers, should, at the beginning of a heavy dinner, sip a little very hot soup, sprinkled generously with red pepper. This at once starts the gastric secretions and prepares the stomach for the food that is to follow. Soup should only be served hot (not luke-warm), and in small quantities, and should always be an important factor in the dietary of every household. For poor appetites the clear soups are decidedly stimulating and easily assimilated by both young and old.

The cream soups and purees are more nutritious soups are grouped into two main classes—soups male from meats, and soups made without meat.

Always make meat soups with cold water, to which salt has been added, and gradually heat to boiling point but never boil. Allow one quart of cold water to every pound of meat, and one teaspoon of salt to every quart of water. Heat gradually to boiling point and cook at a low temperature for several hours; strain soup and coal quickly to avoid fermentation. The cake of fat which forms on top should not be removed until stock is ready for use. Run a knife around edges of fat and lift cake