B. Meals and Pastes.
The so-called meals (farines) and pastes (pâtes) really consist of the flour of fatty vegetable substances which possess the property of forming an emulsion with water and are frequently used in washes. As they are free from alkali, they are the most delicate preparations of the kind and are especially suitable for washing the face or sensitive hands.
Simple Almond Paste (Pâte d’Amandes Simple).
| Bitter almonds | 6 lb. |
| Alcohol | 2 qts. |
| Rose water | 4 qts. |
| Oil of bergamot | 10½ oz. |
| Oil of lemon | 3½ oz. |
Put the bitter almonds in a sieve, dip them for a few seconds in boiling water, when they can be easily deprived of their brown skin; carefully bruise them in a mortar, and place them in a glazed pot set in another kept full with boiling water; pour over them two quarts of the rose water heated to near the boiling-point. Keep up the heat under continual stirring until the almond meal and rose water form a uniform mass free from granules; in other words, until the meal is changed into paste. The pot is now allowed to cool somewhat, when the rest of the rose water and the oils dissolved in alcohol are added. Almond paste should have a uniform, butter-like consistence if the first part of the operation has been carefully performed.
Almond and Honey Paste (Pâte d’Amandes au Miel).
| Bitter almonds | 2 lb. |
| Yolk of egg | 30 yolks. |
| Honey | 4 lb. |
| Expressed oil of almond | 4 lb. |
| Oil of bergamot | 1 oz. |
| Oil of lemon | ¾ oz. |
| Oil of clove | ¾ oz. |
Decorticate and bruise the bitter almonds and add them with the essential oils to the mixed yolks, honey, and almond oil.
Almond Meal (Farine d’Amandes).
| Almond meal | 4 lb. |
| Orris root, powdered | 5½ oz. |
| Oil of lemon | 1 oz. |
| Oil of bitter almond | 150 grains. |
| Oil of lemon grass | 75 grains. |
Almond meal here means the bran left after expressing the oil from sweet almonds. First mix the powdered orris root intimately with the essential oils and triturate the mass with the almond bran. Other essential oils may also be used for perfuming the mass.
Pistachio Meal (Farine de Pistaches).
| Pistachio nuts | 4 lb. |
| Orris root, powdered | 4 lb. |
| Oil of lemon | 1¾ oz. |
| Oil of neroli | 150 grains. |
| Oil of orange peel | 1 oz. |
The pistachio nuts are blanched in the same manner as almonds (see under Simple Almond Paste), and then reduced to a meal.