Take a small chicken; clean and prepare it. Take a slice of ham fat four fingers wide and one finger long (or one tablespoon of good lard). Chop up very fine with a chopping knife, and put into a good-sized saucepan. Take one-half an onion, a small carrot, a piece of celery, and cut all into very small pieces and add them all to the fat. Then put in the chicken, the salt, pepper, and a pinch of allspice, and cover the saucepan. Cook until the chicken is covered, basting with the grease, and turning the chicken until it is brown on all sides; then add one-third of a glass of red or white wine. When the wine has become absorbed, add one tablespoon of the tomato paste, dissolved in a cup of hot water (or a cup of tomato sauce not too thick). Cook for a few moments more – until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Prepare the polenta, and serve the chicken surrounded by the polenta, with the sauce poured over all and grated cheese sprinkled over the polenta.

Pigeon may be prepared in the same way as the chicken and served with the polenta; or either one may be served with rice instead of polenta.

Boil the beef, bones, and vegetables in two quarts of water over a slow fire–adding pepper and salt. Skim occasionally, and after two hours add two tablespoons of sherry; then strain through fine soup strainer or cheesecloth. This is the basis of all the following soups, except when otherwise stated.

To make this stock richer, add a turkey leg to above recipe; boil one and a half hours, then add one-half a pound (225 g) of finely chopped beef. Cook for half an hour longer, then strain.

To make meat jelly, add a little gelatine to the soup stock five minutes before straining.

To give a good dark color to the stock, add a few drops of “caramel,” which is prepared in the following manner:

Put three tablespoons of granulated sugar into a saucepan with a little water, and until the sugar has become dark and reddish; then add a little more water and boil again until the sugar is melted. Strain and pour into a bottle when the caramel will keep perfectly for several weeks.

Take ten fresh tomatoes, remove the skins, cut them up; put them into a saucepan and boil them until soft. Then pass them through a sieve. Put their juice into a saucepan with one heaping tablespoon of butter or one-half tablespoon of good lard, salt and pepper, and boil again, adding water if the sauce becomes too thick. This sauce can be kept in a bottle for several days. It can be used for macaroni, or other pasta, in place of the tomato paste.

Mix three tablespoons of butter and three of flour to a smooth paste. Put some peppercorns, one-half an onion, one-half a carrot sliced, a small piece of mace, two teacups of white stock, a pinch of salt and of grated nutmeg, in a stew-pan. Simmer for one-half an hour, stirring often, then add one teacup of cream; boil at once, and strain and serve.

Cut into small pieces one cold boiled beet and half an onion. Add some cold boiled string beans, some cold boiled asparagus tips, two tablespoons of cold cooked peas, one cold boiled carrot, and some celery. Mix them together, and pour a mayonnaise sauce over all. Add the juice of a lemon and serve.

Chop up six lettuce leaves and three stalks of celery, cut up the remains of a cold fowl in small pieces, and mix with one tablespoon of vinegar and salt and pepper in a salad bowl. Pour a cup of mayonnaise sauce over, and garnish with quarters of hard-boiled egg, one tablespoon of capers, six stoned olives, and some small, tender lettuce leaves.

Put into a saucepan one pound (225 g) of beef and one-half an onion chopped up with three ounces (85 g) of lard, some parsley, salt, pepper, one clove, and a very small slice of ham. Fry these over a hot fire for a few moments, moving them continually, and when the onion is browned add four tablespoons of red wine, and four tablespoons of tomato sauce (or tomato paste). When this sauce begins to sputter, add, little by little, some boiling water. Stick a fork into the meat from time to time to allow the juices to escape. Take a little of the sauce in a spoon, and when it looks a good golden color, and there is a sufficient quantity to cover the meat, put the covered saucepan at the back of the stove and allow it to simmer until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Then take out the meat, slice it, prepare macaroni, or any pasta you desire, and serve it with the meat, and the sauce poured over all, and the addition of butter and grated cheese.

Melt one-half a pound (225 g) of butter, add a little flour, salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Stir until thick, then add one pint (475 ml) of cream, a little chopped parsley, and heat for five minutes.

Put two ounces (60 g) of butter and two tablespoons of flour into a saucepan and stir for five minutes. Pour one and one-half pints (710 ml) of boiling milk gradually in, beating well with a whisk. Add some nutmeg, a few peppercorns, a pinch of salt, and some chopped mushrooms. Cook for one-quarter of an hour, and rub through a fine sieve.

Take two tablespoons of sugar (brown or white), one-half a cup of currants, a quarter of a bar of grated chocolate, one tablespoon of chopped candied orange, one of lemon peel, one of capers, and one cup of vinegar. Mix well together and let soak for two hours; pour it over venison or veal, and simmer for ten minutes.