Garbure

Tonight I had but a small piece of smoked meat for supper so I made garbure, a delicious soup of greens, either cabbage or lettuce, carrots and onions. First I sliced a small cabbage into eigths and placed these on the bottom of the marmite. Next came two medium onions quartered followed by four carrots sliced. I threw in a clove of garlic, well minced, and placed the piece of meat on top. Broth was then added to just barely cover the vegetables.

On went the lid and the marmite was set into the ashes at the edge of the fire. As the garbure bubbled merrily away in the marmite, I turned it several times, but did not lift the lid which had been sealed with a flour paste mixture.

Just before the garbure was done, I fried some slices of bread in butter on the spider. I placed fried bread (or a few crusts) in the bottom of the bowl and spooned the vegetables onto the bread and ladled on some broth. When I have more than a dab of meat to flavor the garbure, I save it to use in a forcemeat for stuffing poultry.