prepared by covering it with ten times its volume of boiling water, and letting it remain till it becomes soft. When this is the case, some salt is thrown into the water, and the saucepan is held over the fire for a minute, till the liquid begins to bubble, when cold water is thrown in to stop the ebullition: the macaroni is then drained, and placed in a dish alternately with small bits of butter, pepper, and grated cheese; or, instead of butter, gravy of any kind may be used, or tomata sauce. The Italians use the same kind of soup as the French, but they always serve a dish of grated cheese to eat with it; and sometimes they add parsley chopped very small to the potage before serving it. The cheese used in Italy is either Parmesan or Gruyere, but any strong flavoured, dry cheese will do.

Sauer kraut is the national dish of Germany, and it is made from very large close cabbages, which are deprived of their outer leaves so as to leave only the hard white part, or head. The first process of preparing them is to scoop out the interior part of the stalk with an iron instrument or scoop; they are then cut into small shreds by a wooden machine, composed of a flat board or tray, which has a ledge on two sides, to steady a box or frame, into which the cabbages are put. In the middle of the board are four flat pieces of

H

steel, similar to the steel part of a spokeshave, placed in an oblique direction, and the near edge of each being a little raised up, with small spaces between each, to let the shreds fall down into a tub placed underneath to receive them. The cabbages are then put into the box before described, which is pushed backwards and forwards, when the cabbages, being cut by the steel, fall in small shreds into the tub placed below. A barrel stands ready to receive them when cut, the sides of which are first washed with vinegar. A man stands on a chair by the barrel, with clean wooden shoes on, whose business it is to salt and prepare them, which is done in the following manner: The man first takes as much of the cut cabbage as covers about four inches above the bottom; he next strews upon it two handfuls of salt, one handful of unground pepper, and a small quantity of salad oil; he then gets into the barrel, and treads it down with his wooden shoes till it is well mixed and compact. He next takes another layer of cabbage, and puts salt and pepper on it as before, and treads it again, and so goes on till the barrel is filled. A board is then placed on it, and upon the board some very heavy weights are put, and it remains so ten or fifteen days, when it partially ferments, and a great deal of water swims on the surface: it is then put into the cellar for use. The men who prepare sauer kraut are

Tyrolese, and carry their machine on their backs from house to house.

In the annexed sketch (fig. 6.), a is the cuttingtray, b the box into which the cabbages are put, e the scoop, and d the tub into which the shreds fall.

Fig. 6. Cabbage-cutter for Sauer kraut.

The Beet-root soup called Barszez or Barch is the national dish of Poland. It is made by putting the siftings of rye into a barrel, and filling it with warm water in the proportion of three quarts of siftings to four or five gallons of water. The barrel is set in a warm closet heated to about 70°, and soon begins to ferment. In twelve hours it is ready for use. The liquor is then strained off, and set near the fire, with any meat or poultry that may be required. When the meat is sufficiently stewed it is taken out of the soup, which,

after it has been well skimmed and strained, is mixed with a pint of cream in which four tablespoonfuls of flour have been beaten up, and into which a red beet-root has been grated. The soup is then set on the fire for a minute, and when quite hot it is served up. The meat is served on a separate dish, and it is garnished with another beet-root cut in slices, and dried mushrooms which have been previously boiled in a separate saucepan. Another much superior kind of barch, (which may be called a beet purée,) is made by boiling several roots of beet, taking care not to break the skin, so that they may preserve their bright red. When quite soft they are taken out of the water, peeled, and rubbed through a sieve. Half a pound of flour is mixed with a quart of thick sour cream, and added to five or six pounds' weight of pulp, and this is thinned with stock from any kind of meat previously boiled and strained. The whole is then suffered to simmer till the raw taste of the flour is gone off, and it is then served quite hot. It should be of the colour and consistency of raspberry cream, and, when properly made, it is delicious. Both these receipts were given to me by an English lady now residing in Poland, so that you may rely upon them as being genuine; and the following receipts for Spanish dishes were procured for me by a friend from a gentleman who is a native of Spain,

The Olla Podrida is decidedly the national dish of Spain, and, prepared according to the receipt I am going to give you, it is really excellent. It is composed of the following ingredients: a fowl, pieces of beef, mutton, veal, and bacon; half a Spanish sausage, and some garvanzos (Spanish peas). The garvanzos should be soaked all night in, warm water and a little salt. Next morning the whole of the above are to be slowly boiled together for three hours or more; add some onion, one or two cloves, salt, carrot, garlic, and open cabbages. Pour the soup upon very thin pieces of bread, not toasted. After the soup, the vegetables, bacon, and sausage are served on one dish, and the fowl and meat on another. Sometimes vermicelli or rice is put into the soup instead of the thin pieces of bread; but the bread appears to be most generally used.

To make a Puchero, put from two to six pounds of beef into a stew-pan, adding a quart of water for every pound of meat. Place the saucepan on a moderate fire, which should be gradually increased in force so that the scum may be carefully removed, which should be done as it rises to the surface until no more of it appears. The saucepan is then to be left on a fire, kept uniformly moderate, for the space of four hours. When it has boiled two hours, put into it three carrots of mo