MEANING AND USE OF STOCK.--In order that soup-making processes may be readily grasped by the housewife, she should be thoroughly familiar with what is meant by stock, which forms the foundation of many soups. In looking into the derivation of this term, it will be found that the word stock comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning to stick, and that while it has many different uses, the idea of fixedness is expressed in every one of them. As is generally known, a stock of anything means a reserve supply of that thing stored away for future use. When applied to soup, stock is similar in meaning, for it refers to material stored or prepared in such a way that it may be kept for use in the making of certain kinds of soup. In a more definite sense, soup stock may be regarded as a liquid containing the juices and soluble parts of meat, bone, and vegetables, which have been extracted by long, slow cooking and which can be utilized in the making of soups, sauces, and gravies.

Soups in which stock is utilized include all the varieties made from beef, veal, mutton, and poultry. If clear stock is desired for the making of soup, only fresh meat and bones should be used and all material that will discolor the liquid in any way carefully avoided. For ordinary, unclarified soups, the trimmings and bones of roast, steak, or chops and the carcass of fowl can generally be utilized. However, very strongly flavored meat, such as mutton, or the fat from mutton should be used sparingly, if at all, on account of the strong flavor that it imparts.

VARIETIES OF STOCK.--Several kinds of stock are utilized in the making of soup, and the kind to employ depends on the soup desired. In determining the kind of stock required for the foundation of a soup, the housewife may be guided by the following classification:

FIRST STOCK is made from meat and bones and then clarified and used for well-flavored, clear soups.

SECOND STOCK is made from the meat and the bones that remain after the first stock is strained off. More water is added to the remaining material, and this is then cooked with vegetables, which supply the needed flavor. Such stock serves very well for adding flavor to a nutritious soup made from vegetables or cereal foods.

HOUSEHOLD STOCK is made by cooking meat and bones, either fresh or cooked, with vegetables or other material that will impart flavor and add nutritive value. Stock of this kind is used for ordinary soups.

BONE STOCK is made from meat bones to which vegetables are added for flavor, and it is used for making any of the ordinary soups.

VEGETABLE STOCK is made from either dried or fresh vegetables or both. Such stock is employed in making vegetable soups.

GAME STOCK is made from the bones and trimmings of game to which vegetables are added for flavor. This kind of stock is used for making game soups.

FISH STOCK is made from fish or fish trimmings to which vegetables are added for flavor. Shell fish make especially good stock of this kind. Fish stock is employed for making chowders and fish soups.

ADDITIONAL USES OF STOCK.--As has already been shown, stock is used principally as a foundation for certain varieties of soup. This material, however, may be utilized in many other ways, being especially valuable in the use of left-over foods. Any bits of meat or fowl that are left over can be made into an appetizing dish by adding thickened stock to them and serving the combination over toast or rice. In fact, a large variety of made dishes can be devised if there is stock on hand to add for flavor. The convenience of a supply of stock will be apparent when it is realized that gravy or sauce for almost any purpose can be made from the contents of the stock pot.

SOUP EXTRACTS.--If a housewife does not have sufficient time to go through the various processes involved in making soup, her family need not be deprived of this article of diet, for there are a number of concentrated meat and vegetable extracts on the market for making soups quickly. The meat extracts are made of the same flavoring material as that which is drawn from meat in the making of stock. Almost all the liquid is evaporated and the result is a thick, dark substance that must be diluted greatly with water to obtain the basis for a soup or a broth. Some of the vegetable extracts, such as Japanese soy and English marmite, are so similar in appearance and taste to the meat extracts as to make it quite difficult to detect any difference. Both varieties of these extracts may be used for sauces and gravies, as well as for soups, but it should be remembered that they are not highly nutritious and are valuable merely for flavoring.