Required: Two pounds of tomatoes. Two ounces of lean ham. One ounce of butter or good dripping. One small onion. Two sticks of celery. Two pints of stock. Salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Cut the ham in large dice, peel and chop the onion, also the celery. Melt the butter in saucepan, put in the ham and vegetables, and fry them slowly for ten minutes, turning them about frequently. Next add the sliced tomatoes, let these cook for five minutes, then add the stock, and let all cook gently until the vegetables are soft. Rub the soup through a sieve, rinse out the saucepan, put back the soup, and let it boil for about five minutes. Season it carefully; if it is thinner than good cream, let it boil quickly for a minute or two, without a lid on the pan, to reduce it, or add a thickening of flour, etc.

Serve it in a hot tureen with neatly cut dice of toast or fried bread.

N.B. - Tinned tomatoes can be used in the place of fresh, but it will probably be necessary to thicken the soup with a little corn-flour or flour or crushed tapioca.