An old English cookbook carries this recipe for cream of nettle soup: \"Boil sto
ID: 1572264 • Letter: A
Question
An old English cookbook carries this recipe for cream of nettle soup: "Boil stock of the following amount: 1 breakfastcup plus 1 teacup plus 6 tablespoons plus 1 dessertspoon. Using gloves, separate nettle tops until you have 0.5 quart; add the tops to the boiling stock. Add 1 tablespoon of cooked rice and 1 saltspoon of salt. Simmer for 15 min." The following table gives some of the conversions among old (premetric) British measures and among common (still premetric) U.S. measures. (These measures scream for metrication.) For liquid measures, 1 British teaspoon = 1 U.S. teaspoon. For dry measures, 1 British teaspoon = 2 U.S. teaspoons and 1 British quart = 1 U.S. quart. For both, 1 quart = 4 cups. In U.S. measures, how much stock (in cups), nettle tops (in cups), rice (in teaspoons), and salt (in teaspoons) are required in the recipe?Explanation / Answer
The stock contains (2 + 1 + 6/8 + 2/8 ) = 4 cups (US)
nettle top measures (4 cups - 0.5 quart) = (4-2) = 2 cups
rice measures 1 table spoon = 2 dessert spoon = 2*2 = 4 teaspoon (British) = 2*4 = 8 teaspoon (US)
salt measures 1 saltspoon = 0.5 teaspoon (British) = 2*0.5 = 1 teaspoon (US)