Of vegetables the principal ones are carrots, tomatoes, asparagus,
green peas, okra, macaroni, green corn, beans, rice, vermicelli,
Scotch barley, pearl barley, wheat flour, mushroom, or mushroom
catsup, parsnips, beetroot, turnips, leeks, garlic, shallots and
onions; sliced onions fried with butter and flour until they are
browned, then rubbed through a sieve, are excellent to heighten the
color and flavor of brown sauces and soups. The herbs usually used in
soups are parsley, common thyme, summer savory, knotted marjoram, and
other seasonings, such as bay-leaves, tarragon, allspice, cinnamon,
nutmeg, cloves, mace, black and white pepper, red pepper, lemon peel
and juice, orange peel and juice. The latter imparts a finer flavor
and the acid much milder. These materials, with wine, and the various
catsups, combined in various proportions, are, with other ingredients,
made into almost an endless variety of excellent soups and gravies.
Soups that are intended for the principal part of a meal certainly
ought not to be flavored like sauces, which are only intended to give
relish to some particular dish.