Simmer 1 lb shin of beef, skirt or ox cheek with a cow-heel or marrow bone in 5 pints of water and simmer for 3 hours. Add a good handful of Kale leaves, stripped from their tough stalks, cut into shreds, and leave to cook for 15 mins. Have ready, (toasted in a low oven, and not allowed to brown), a good handful of fine oatmeal. Place this in a bowl, stir in a ladleful of the soup and put the whole thing back in the pot.

Remove the bones and discard, saving any marrow. Cut up the meat and put back. Season, skim off the fat if you like-this was once the luxury of the soup for people whose diets were poor-but today we don't need it, and are better without it.


Nettles, spring onions, leeks can be substituted for kale.