Jane Austen's White Soup

Photo: Kookie

Ingredients

6 cups pints/ 3.4 litres/ 15 water

1 medium-sized boiling fowl or chicken

8 lean bacon or gammon trimmings

4 cups white rice

6 black peppercorns

2 onions, peeled and halved

2 cans anchovy fillets

3 sprigs each thyme, marjoram and tarragon (or other sweet

6 stalks celery, chopped

4 cups /1 ground almonds

1 egg yolk

10 fl oz/275ml/one and a quarter cups single (light) cream

whipped cream and watercress leaves to garnish (optional)

Preparation

Pour the water into a large stew-pan. Rinse the chicken inside, then add it to the pan with any giblets (you can joint it first if you like). Add the bacon, rice, peppercorns, onions, anchovies, herbs and celery. Cover the pan, bring to the boil, and cook very gently until the chicken meat is fully cooked and the liquid is flavoursome.

Strain the stock into a bowl, cover it with a cloth and leave it in a cold place for several hours or overnight. Next day, skim off any fat and impurities and pour the stock into a clean pan. Add the ground almonds, bring slowly to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain it yet again, this time through cheesecloth. Whisk the egg yolk into the single cream and add to the soup, which should be slightly cooled by the straining. Reheat until very hot, but on no account let the soup boil again. You can 'improve' the soup by serving it with a teaspoon of whipped