Put a knuckle of veal into six quarts of water, with a large fowl, and a pound of lean bacon; half a pound of rice, two anchovies, a few peppercorns,a bundle of sweet herbs, two or three onion, and three or four heads of celery cut in slices. Stew them all together, till the soup be as strong as you would have it, and strain it through a hair sieve into a clean earthen pot. Having let it stand all night, the next day take off the scum, and pour it clear off into a tossing-pan. Put in half a pound of Jordan almonds beat fine, boil it a little, and run it through a lawn sieve. Then put in a pint of cream, and the yolk of an egg, and send it up hot. John Farley, The London Art of Cookery, 1783. A boiling fowl (with giblets) 6oz/170g lean ham Heaping 1⁄3 cup/55g rice 2 anchovy fillets, rinsed of salt Black peppercorns Bouquet garni (or a bundle of sweet herbs - as many as possible of thyme, winter savory, parsley, bay leaf, marjoram) 1 large onion, chopped Half head of celery, chopped (you might also want to add a couple of roughly chopped carrots and leeks to the stock, although the author - John Farley, doesn't) 2 ½ quarts/2.35 litres water ¾ cup/85g ground almonds Sea salt ¼-½ cup/60-120ml cream (or to taste) Put the veal bones into a large pan, rest the chicken, breast down on top of them and add the remaining stock ingredients (including the chicken giblets) around. Add the water and bring to a boil, skimming off the froth and scum. Simmer slowly for 2-3 hours. Take out the chicken and reserve. When the soup has cooled, strain it through a sieve and let it stand a few hours or overnight. When it is quite cold, skim off the fat from the jelly, return the jelly to a saucepan, and warm it, add the ground almonds and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add salt to taste. Cool a little and strain again. To serve: The original soup would be quite smooth and thin, in which case use the chicken meat for another meal, add the cream and heat to just below boiling. Alternatively, shred some or all of the chicken meat, and return it to the saucepan to heat through with the soup, adding the cream at the last minute. If you wanted a heartier (and less wasteful) version, discard the bones, giblets, and herbs, and blend rather than strain the white mixture.