This section is from the book "Simple Italian Cookery", by Antonia Isola. Also available from Amazon: Simple Italian Cookery.
1 pound of round of beef.
2 quarts of water.
2 small, new carrots, or 1/2 of an old carrot.
1/2 pound of beef bones 2 small potatoes 1 onion.
1 tomato, fresh or canned Parsley.
Boil the beef, bones, and vegetables in two quarts of water over a slow fire—adding pepper and salt. Skim occasionally, and after two hours add two tablespoons of sherry; then strain through fine soup-strainer or cheese-cloth. This is the basis of all the following soups, except when otherwise stated.
To make this stock richer, add a turkey leg to above receipt; boil one and a half hours, then add one-half a pound of finely chopped beef. Cook for half an hour longer, then strain.
To make meat jelly, add a little gelatine to the soup stock five minutes before straining.
To give a good dark color to the stock, add a few drops of "caramel," which is prepared in the following manner:
Put three tablespoons of granulated sugar into a saucepan with a little water, and until the sugar has become dark and reddish; then add a little more water and boil again until the sugar is melted. Strain and pour into a bottle when the caramel will keep perfectly for several weeks.
 
Continue to: