Source: Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861)
Cut the root vegetables into knife-skills|julienne — matchstick strips roughly 3 cm long and 3 mm thick. Uniformity here is non-negotiable; it ensures even cooking and prevents some pieces dissolving into mush whilst others remain fibrous. Cut the onions, leeks, and celery to the same dimension. The leafy vegetables — lettuce, sorrel, and chervil — stay whole or torn into large pieces; they'll wilt into the broth in the final minutes and need no advance prep.
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pot over moderate heat and add the carrots and turnips first. Let them soften and begin to colour slightly, about 4–5 minutes. This isn't a hard sear, but the brief contact with the fat carries flavour forward and prevents the vegetables from leaching all their colour into the stock immediately. Pour the hot stock over — it should just cover the root vegetables. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15–20 minutes until the carrots have begun to soften but still hold their shape.
Add the onions, leeks, and celery now. These vegetables are denser than lettuce but cook faster than carrots, so staggering them prevents overcooking. Maintain a simmering|gentle simmer — a tremor at the surface, not a vigorous boil, which would turn the broth cloudy and break down the delicate vegetables into pulp. Continue for another 20 minutes. In the final 2–3 minutes, introduce the leafy vegetables; they need only heat through.
Taste and season. The broth will have drawn mineral sweetness from the vegetables and stock. If fat has pooled visibly on the surface, skim it away with a spoon — a clean broth shows the vegetables' colours clearly. Pour the soup into bowls containing thin rounds of dried bread (the stock will soften them instantly), and serve at a rolling boil. The bread gives body to the broth and absorbs the vegetable-infused liquid, a technique far more elegant than it sounds.
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