Soup/Stew/Chowder Gourd Soup

gourd soup
(from The Cook's Own Book: Being a Complete Culinary Encyclopedia, by N. K. M. Lee, 1832)

Ingredients:

3 or 4 full grown soft skinned gourds​

2 or 3 onions​

butter​

2 oz. crust of bread​

2 quarts good consommé​

salt​

cayenne pepper​

​

serve with fried bread​

Instructions:

Should be made of full grown gourds, but not those that have hard skins; slice three or four, and put them in stewpan, with two or three onions, and a good bit of butter; set them over a slow fire till quite tender (be careful not to let them burn); then add two ounces of crust of bread, and two quarts of good consommé; season with salt and cayenne pepper; boil ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour; skim off all the fat, and press through a tamis; then make it quite hot, and serve up with fried bread.​

The gourds recommended are small squash or pumpkin. A tamis is a sleeve.