The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual

by William Kitchiner

BOILING.

[Read the [first chapter] of the Rudiments of Cookery.]

Leg of Mutton.—(No. 1.)

Cut off the shank bone, and trim the knuckle, put it into lukewarm water for ten minutes, wash it clean, cover it with cold water, and let it simmer very gently, and skim it carefully. A leg of nine pounds will take two and a half or three hours, if you like it thoroughly done, especially in very cold weather.

For the accompaniments, see the following receipt.

N.B. The tit-bits with an epicure are the “knuckle,” the kernel, called the “pope’s eye,” and the “gentleman’s” or “cramp bone,” or, as it is called in Kent, the “CAW CAW,” four of these and a bounder furnish the little masters and mistresses of Kent with their most favourite set of playthings.

A leg of mutton stewed very slowly, as we have directed the beef to be ([No. 493]), will be as agreeable to an English appetite as the famous “gigot[108-*] de sept heures” of the French kitchen is to a Parisian palate.

When mutton is very large, you may divide it, and roast the fillet, i. e. the large end, and boil the knuckle end; you may also cut some fine cutlets off the thick end of the leg, and so have two or three good hot dinners. See Mrs. Makeitdo’s receipt how to make a leg of mutton last a week, in “the housekeeper’s leger,” printed for Whittaker, Ave-Maria Lane.

The liquor the mutton is boiled in, you may convert into good soup in five minutes, (see [N.B.] to [No. 218],) and Scotch barley broth ([No. 204]). Thus managed, a leg of mutton is a most economical joint.

Neck of Mutton.—(No. 2.)

Put four or five pounds of the best end of a neck (that has been kept a few days) into as much cold soft water as will cover it, and about two inches over; let it simmer very slowly for two hours: it will look most delicate if you do not take off the skin till it has been boiled.

For sauce, that elegant and innocent relish, parsley and butter ([No. 261]), or eschalot ([No. 294] or [5]), or caper sauce ([No. 274]), mock caper sauce ([No. 275]), and onion sauce ([No. 298]), turnips ([No. 130]), or spinage ([No. 121]), are the usual accompaniments to boiled mutton.

Lamb.—(No. 3.)

A leg of five pounds should simmer very gently for about two hours, from the time it is put on, in cold water. After the general rules for boiling, in the [first chapter] of the Rudiments of Cookery, we have nothing to add, only to send up with it spinage ([No. 122]), broccoli ([No. 126]), cauliflower ([No. 125]), &c., and for sauce, [No. 261].

Veal.—(No. 4.)

This is expected to come to table looking delicately clean; and it is so easily discoloured, that you must be careful to have clean water, a clean vessel, and constantly catch the scum as soon and as long as it rises, and attend to the directions before given in the [first chapter] of the Rudiments of Cookery. Send up bacon ([No. 13]), fried sausages ([No. 87]), or pickled pork, greens, ([No. 118] and following Nos.) and parsley and butter ([No. 261]), onion sauce ([No. 298]).

N.B. For receipts to cook veal, see from [No. 512] to [No. 521].

Beef bouilli,—(No. 5.)

In plain English, is understood to mean boiled beef; but its culinary acceptation, in the French kitchen, is fresh beef dressed without boiling, and only very gently simmered by a slow fire.

Cooks have seldom any notion, that good soup can be made without destroying a great deal of meat; however, by a judicious regulation of the fire, and a vigilant attendance on the soup-kettle, this may be accomplished. You shall have a tureen of such soup as will satisfy the most fastidious palate, and the meat make its appearance at table, at the same time, in possession of a full portion of nutritious succulence.

This requires nothing more than to stew the meat very slowly (instead of keeping the pot boiling a gallop, as common cooks too commonly do), and to take it up as soon as it is done enough. See “Soup and bouilli” ([No. 238]), “Shin of beef stewed” ([No. 493]), “Scotch barley broth” ([No. 204]).

Meat cooked in this manner affords much more nourishment than it does dressed in the common way, is easy of digestion in proportion as it is tender, and an invigorating, substantial diet, especially valuable to the poor, whose laborious employments require support.

If they could get good eating put within their reach, they would often go to the butcher’s shop, when they now run to the public-house.

Among the variety of schemes that have been suggested for bettering the condition of the poor, a more useful or extensive charity cannot be devised, than that of instructing them in economical and comfortable cookery, except providing them with spectacles.

“The poor in Scotland, and on the Continent, manage much better. Oatmeal porridge (Nos. [205] and [572]) and milk, constitute the breakfast and supper of those patterns of industry, frugality, and temperance, the Scottish peasantry.

“When they can afford meat, they form with it a large quantity of barley broth ([No. 204]), with a variety of vegetables, by boiling the whole a long time, enough to serve the family for several days.

“When they cannot afford meat, they make broth of barley and other vegetables, with a lump of butter (see [No. 229]), all of which they boil for many hours, and this with oat cakes forms their dinner.” Cochrane’s Seaman’s Guide, p. 34.

The cheapest method of making a nourishing soup is least known to those who have most need of it. (See [No. 229].)

Our neighbours the French are so justly famous for their skill in the affairs of the kitchen, that the adage says, “as many Frenchmen as many cooks:” surrounded as they are by a profusion of the most delicious wines and most seducing liqueurs, offering every temptation and facility to render drunkenness delightful: yet a tippling Frenchman is a “rara avis;” they know how so easily and completely to keep life in repair by good eating, that they require little or no adjustment from drinking.

This accounts for that “toujours gai,” and happy equilibrium of spirits, which they enjoy with more regularity than any people. Their stomach, being unimpaired by spirituous liquors, embrace and digest vigorously the food they sagaciously prepare for it, and render easily assimilable by cooking it sufficiently, wisely contriving to get the difficult part of the work of the stomach done by fire and water.

To salt Meat.—(No. 6.)

In the summer season, especially, meat is frequently spoiled by the cook forgetting to take out the kernels; one in the udder of a round of beef, in the fat in the middle of the round, those about the thick end of the flank, &c.: if these are not taken out, all the salt in the world will not keep the meat.

The art of salting meat is to rub in the salt thoroughly and evenly into every part, and to fill all the holes full of salt where the kernels were taken out, and where the butcher’s skewers were.

A round of beef of 25 pounds will take a pound and a half of salt to be rubbed in all at first, and requires to be turned and rubbed every day with the brine; it will be ready for dressing in four or five days,[111-*] if you do not wish it very salt.

In summer, the sooner meat is salted after it is killed the better; and care must be taken to defend it from the flies.

In winter, it will eat the shorter and tenderer, if kept a few days (according to the temperature of the weather) until its fibre has become short and tender, as these changes do not take place after it has been acted upon by the salt.

In frosty weather, take care the meat is not frozen, and warm the salt in a frying-pan. The extremes of heat[111-†] and cold are equally unfavourable for the process of salting. In the former, the meat changes before the salt can affect it: in the latter, it is so hardened, and its juices are so congealed, that the salt cannot penetrate it.

If you wish it red, rub it first with saltpetre, in the proportion of half an ounce, and the like quantity of moist sugar, to a pound of common salt. (See Savoury salt beef, [No. 496].)

You may impregnate meat with a very agreeable vegetable flavour, by pounding some sweet herbs ([No. 459],) and an onion with the salt. You may make it still more relishing by adding a little ZEST ([No. 255]), or savoury spice ([No. 457]).

To pickle Meat.

“Six pounds of salt, one pound of sugar, and four ounces of saltpetre, boiled with four gallons of water, skimmed, and allowed to cool, forms a very strong pickle, which will preserve any meat completely immersed in it. To effect this, which is essential, either a heavy board or a flat stone must be laid upon the meat. The same pickle may be used repeatedly, provided it be boiled up occasionally with additional salt to restore its strength, diminished by the combination of part of the salt with the meat, and by the dilution of the pickle by the juices of the meat extracted. By boiling, the albumen, which would cause the pickle to spoil, is coagulated, and rises in the form of scum, which must be carefully removed.”—See Supplement to Encyclop. Britan. vol. iv. p. 340.

Meat kept immersed in pickle gains weight. In one experiment by Messrs. Donkin and Gamble, there was a gain of three per cent., and in another of two and a half; but in the common way of salting, when the meat is not immersed in pickle, there is a loss of about one pound, or one and a half, in sixteen. See Dr. Wilkinson’s account of the preserving power of PYRO-LIGNEOUS ACID, &c. in the Philosophical Magazine for 1821, No. 273, p. 12.

An H-bone of 10 or 12 pounds weight will require about three-quarters of a pound of salt, and an ounce of moist sugar, to be well rubbed into it. It will be ready in four or five days, if turned and rubbed every day.

The time meat requires salting depends upon the weight of it, and how much salt is used: and if it be rubbed in with a heavy hand, it will be ready much sooner than if only lightly rubbed.

N. B. Dry the salt, and rub it with the sugar in a mortar.

Pork requires a longer time to cure (in proportion to its weight) than beef. A leg of pork should be in salt eight or ten days; turn it and rub it every day.

Salt meat should be well washed before it is boiled, especially if it has been in salt long, that the liquor in which the meat is boiled, may not be too salt to make soup of. ([No. 218], &c. and [No. 555].)

If it has been in salt a long time, and you fear that it will be too salt, wash it well in cold water, and soak it in lukewarm water for a couple of hours. If it is very salt, lay it in water the night before you intend to dress it.

A Round of salted Beef.—(No. 7.)

As this is too large for a moderate family, we shall write directions for the dressing half a round. Get the tongue side.

Skewer it up tight and round, and tie a fillet of broad tape round it, to keep the skewers in their places.

Put it into plenty of cold water, and carefully catch the scum as soon as it rises: let it boil till all the scum is removed, and then put the boiler on one side of the fire, to keep simmering slowly till it is done.

Half a round of 15lbs. will take about three hours: if it weighs more, give it more time.

When you take it up, if any stray scum, &c. sticks to it that has escaped the vigilance of your skimmer, wash it off with a paste-brush: garnish the dishes with carrots and turnips. Send up carrots ([No. 129]), turnips ([No. 130]), and parsnips, or greens ([No. 118]), &c. on separate dishes. Pease pudding ([No. 555]), and MY PUDDING ([No. 551]), are all very proper accompaniments.

N.B. The outside slices, which are generally too much salted and too much boiled, will make a very good relish as potted beef ([No. 503]). For using up the remains of a joint of boiled beef, see also Bubble and Squeak ([No. 505]).

H-Bone of Beef,—(No. 8.)

Is to be managed in exactly the same manner as the round, but will be sooner boiled, as it is not so solid. An H-bone of 20lbs. will be done enough in about four hours; of 10lbs. in three hours, more or less, as the weather is hotter or colder. Be sure the boiler is big enough to allow it plenty of water-room: let it be well covered with water: set the pot on one side of the fire to boil gently: if it boils quick at first, no art can make it tender after. The slower it boils, the better it will look, and the tenderer it will be. The same accompanying vegetables as in the preceding receipt. Dress plenty of carrots, as cold carrots are a general favourite with cold beef.

Mem.—Epicures say, that the soft, fat-like marrow, which lies on the back, is delicious when hot, and the hard fat about the upper corner is best when cold.

To make PERFECTLY GOOD PEASE SOUP in ten minutes, of the liquor in which the beef has been boiled, see [N.B.] to [No. 218].

Obs.—In “Mrs. Mason’s Ladies’ Assistant,” this joint is called haunch-bone; in “Henderson’s Cookery,” edge-bone; in “Domestic Management,” aitch-bone; in “Reynold’s Cookery,” ische-bone; in “Mrs. Lydia Fisher’s Prudent Housewife,” ach-bone; in “Mrs. M’Iver’s Cookery,” hook-bone. We have also seen it spelled each-bone and ridge-bone; and we have also heard it called natch-bone.

N.B. Read the [note] under [No. 7]; and to make perfectly good pease soup of the pot-liquor, in ten minutes, see [Obs.] to [No. 218], [No. 229], and [No. 555].

Ribs of Beef salted and rolled.—(No. 9.)

Briskets, and the various other pieces, are dressed in the same way. “Wow-wow” sauce ([No. 328],) is an agreeable companion.

Half a Calf’s Head.—(No. 10.)

Cut it in two, and take out the brains: wash the head well in several waters, and soak it in warm water for a quarter of an hour before you dress it. Put the head into a saucepan, with plenty of cold water: when it is coming to a boil, and the scum rises, carefully remove it.

Half a calf’s head (without the skin) will take from an hour and a half to two hours and a quarter, according to its size; with the skin on, about an hour longer. It must be stewed very gently till it is tender: it is then extremely nutritive, and easy of digestion.

Put eight or ten sage leaves (some cooks use parsley instead, or equal parts of each) into a small sauce-pan: boil them tender (about half an hour); then chop them very fine, and set them ready on a plate.

Wash the brains well in two waters; put them into a large basin of cold water, with a little salt in it, and let them soak for an hour; then pour away the cold, and cover them with hot water; and when you have cleaned and skinned them, put them into a stew-pan with plenty of cold water: when it boils, take the scum off very carefully, and boil gently for 10 or 15 minutes: now chop them (not very fine); put them into a sauce-pan with the sage leaves and a couple of table-spoonfuls of thin melted butter, and a little salt (to this some cooks add a little lemon-juice), and stir them well together; and as soon as they are well warmed (take care they don’t burn), skin the tongue,[115-*] trim off the roots, and put it in the middle of a dish, and the brains round it: or, chop the brains with an eschalot, a little parsley, and four hard-boiled eggs, and put them into a quarter of a pint of bechamel, or white sauce ([No. 2 of 364]). A calf’s cheek is usually attended by a pig’s cheek, a knuckle of ham or bacon ([No. 13], or [No. 526]), or pickled pork ([No. 11]), and greens, broccoli, cauliflowers, or pease; and always by parsley and butter (see [No. 261], [No. 311], or [No. 343]).

If you like it full dressed, score it superficially, beat up the yelk of an egg, and rub it over the head with a feather; powder it with a seasoning of finely minced (or dried and powdered) winter savoury or lemon-thyme (or sage), parsley, pepper, and salt, and bread crumbs, and give it a brown with a salamander, or in a tin Dutch oven: when it begins to dry, sprinkle a little melted butter over it with a paste-brush.

You may garnish the dish with broiled rashers of bacon ([No. 526] or [527]).

Obs.—Calf’s head is one of the most delicate and favourite dishes in the list of boiled meats; but nothing is more insipid when cold, and nothing makes so nice a hash; therefore don’t forget to save a quart of the liquor it was boiled in to make sauce, &c. for the hash (see also [No. 520]). Cut the head and tongue into slices, trim them neatly, and leave out the gristles and fat; and slice some of the bacon that was dressed to eat with the head, and warm them in the hash.

Take the bones and the trimmings of the head, a bundle of sweet herbs, an onion, a roll of lemon-peel, and a blade of bruised mace: put these into a sauce-pan with the quart of liquor you have saved, and let it boil gently for an hour; pour it through a sieve into a basin, wash out your stew-pan, add a table-spoonful of flour to the brains and parsley and butter you have left, and pour it into the gravy you have made with the bones and trimmings; let it boil up for ten minutes, and then strain it through a hair-sieve; season it with a table-spoonful of white wine, or of catchup ([No. 439]), or sauce superlative ([No. 429]): give it a boil up, skim it, and then put in the brains and the slices of head and bacon; as soon as they are thoroughly warm (it must not boil) the hash is ready. Some cooks egg, bread-crumb, and fry the finest pieces of the head, and lay them round the hash.

N.B. You may garnish the edges of the dish with slices of bacon toasted in a Dutch oven (see Nos. [526] and [527]), slices of lemon and fried bread.

To make gravy for hashes, &c. see [No. 360].

Pickled Pork,—(No. 11.)

Takes more time than any other meat. If you buy your pork ready salted, ask how many days it has been in salt; if many, it will require to be soaked in water for six hours before you dress it. When you cook it, wash and scrape it as clean as possible; when delicately dressed, it is a favourite dish with almost every body. Take care it does not boil fast; if it does, the knuckle will break to pieces, before the thick part of the meat is warm through; a leg of seven pounds takes three hours and a half very slow simmering. Skim your pot very carefully, and when you take the meat out of the boiler, scrape it clean.

Some sagacious cooks (who remember to how many more nature has given eyes than she has given tongues and brains), when pork is boiled, score it in diamonds, and take out every other square; and thus present a retainer to the eye to plead for them to the palate; but this is pleasing the eye at the expense of the palate. A leg of nice pork, nicely salted, and nicely boiled, is as nice a cold relish as cold ham; especially if, instead of cutting into the middle when hot, and so letting out its juices, you cut it at the knuckle: slices broiled, as [No. 487], are a good luncheon, or supper. To make pease pudding, and pease soup extempore, see [N.B.] to Nos. [218] and [555].

Mem.—Some persons who sell pork ready salted have a silly trick of cutting the knuckle in two; we suppose that this is done to save their salt; but it lets all the gravy out of the leg; and unless you boil your pork merely for the sake of the pot-liquor, which in this case receives all the goodness and strength of the meat, friendly reader, your oracle cautions you to buy no leg of pork which is slit at the knuckle.

If pork is not done enough, nothing is more disagreeable; if too much, it not only loses its colour and flavour, but its substance becomes soft like a jelly.

It must never appear at table without a good pease pudding (see [No. 555]), and, if you please, parsnips ([No. 128]); they are an excellent vegetable, and deserve to be much more popular; or carrots ([No. 129]), turnips, and greens, or mashed potatoes, &c. ([No. 106].)

Obs.—Remember not to forget the mustard-pot ([No. 369], [No. 370], and [No. 427]).

Pettitoes, or Sucking-Pig’s Feet.—(No. 12.)

Put a thin slice of bacon at the bottom of a stew-pan with some broth, a blade of mace, a few pepper-corns, and a bit of thyme; boil the feet till they are quite tender; this will take full twenty minutes; but the heart, liver, and lights will be done enough in ten, when they are to be taken out, and minced fine.

Put them all together into a stew-pan with some gravy; thicken it with a little butter rolled in flour; season it with a little pepper and salt, and set it over a gentle fire to simmer for five minutes, frequently shaking them about.

While this is doing, have a thin slice of bread toasted very lightly; divide it into sippets, and lay them round the dish: pour the mince and sauce into the middle of it, and split the feet, and lay them round it.

N.B. Pettitoes are sometimes boiled and dipped in batter, and fried a light brown.

Obs.—If you have no gravy, put into the water you stew the pettitoes in an onion, a sprig of lemon thyme, or sweet marjoram, with a blade of bruised mace, a few black peppers, and a large tea-spoonful of mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), and you will have a very tolerable substitute for gravy. A bit of [No. 252] will be a very great improvement to it.

Bacon.—(No. 13.)

Cover a pound of nice streaked bacon (as the Hampshire housewives say, that “has been starved one day, and fed another”) with cold water, let it boil gently for three-quarters of an hour; take it up, scrape the under-side well, and cut off the rind: grate a crust of bread not only on the top, but all over it, as directed for the ham in the following receipt, and put it before the fire for a few minutes: it must not be there too long, or it will dry it and spoil it.

Two pounds will require about an hour and a half, according to its thickness; the hock or gammon being very thick, will take more.

Obs.—See Nos. [526] and [527]: when only a little bacon is wanted, these are the best ways of dressing it.

The boiling of bacon is a very simple subject to comment, upon; but our main object is to teach common cooks the art of dressing common food in the best manner.

Bacon is sometimes as salt as salt can make it, therefore before it is boiled it must be soaked in warm water for an hour or two, changing the water once; then pare off the rusty and smoked part, trim it nicely on the under side, and scrape the rind as clean as possible.

Mem.—Bacon is an extravagant article in housekeeping; there is often twice as much dressed as need be: when it is sent to table as an accompaniment to boiled poultry or veal, a pound and a half is plenty for a dozen people. A good German sausage is a very economical substitute for bacon; or fried pork sausages ([No. 87]).

Ham,—(No. 14.)

Though of the bacon kind, has been so altered and hardened in the curing, that it requires still more care.

Ham is generally not half-soaked; as salt as brine, and hard as flint; and it would puzzle the stomach of an ostrich to digest it.

Mem.—The salt, seasoning, and smoke, which preserve it before it is eaten, prevent its solution after; and unless it be very long and very gently stewed, the strongest stomach will have a tough job to extract any nourishment from it. If it is a very dry Westphalia ham, it must be soaked, according to its age and thickness, from 12 to 24 hours; for a green Yorkshire or Westmoreland ham, from four to eight hours will be sufficient. Lukewarm water will soften it much sooner than cold, when sufficiently soaked, trim it nicely on the underside, and pare off all the rusty and smoked parts till it looks delicately clean.

	lb.	oz.
A ham weighed before it was soaked	13
After	12	4
Boiled	13	4
Trimmed for table	10	12

Give it plenty of water-room, and put it in while the water is cold; let it heat very gradually, and let it be on the fire an hour and a half before it comes to a boil; let it be well skimmed, and keep it simmering very gently: a middling-sized ham of fifteen pounds will be done enough in about four or five hours, according to its thickness.

If not to be cut till cold, it will cut the shorter and tenderer for being boiled about half an hour longer. In a very small family, where a ham will last a week or ten days, it is best economy not to cut it till it is cold, it will be infinitely more juicy.

Pull off the skin carefully, and preserve it as whole as possible; it will form an excellent covering to keep the ham moist; when you have removed the skin, rub some bread raspings through a hair-sieve, or grate a crust of bread; put it into the perforated cover of the dredging-box, and shake it over it, or glaze it; trim the knuckle with a fringe of cut writing-paper. You may garnish with spinage or turnips, &c.

Obs. To pot ham ([No. 509]), is a much more useful and economical way of disposing of the remains of the joint, than making essence of it ([No. 352]). To make soup of the liquor it is boiled in, see [N.B.] to [No. 555].

Tongue.—(No. 15.)

A tongue is so hard, whether prepared by drying or pickling, that it requires much more cooking than a ham; nothing of its weight takes so long to dress it properly.

A tongue that has been salted and dried should be put to soak (if it is old and very hard, 24 hours before it is wanted) in plenty of water; a green one fresh from the pickle requires soaking only a few hours: put your tongue into plenty of cold water; let it be an hour gradually warming; and give it from three and a half to four hours’ very slow simmering, according to the size, &c.

Obs. When you choose a tongue, endeavour to learn how long it has been dried or pickled, pick out the plumpest, and that which has the smoothest skin, which denotes its being young and tender.

The roots, &c. make an excellent relish potted, like [No. 509], or pease soup ([No. 218]).

N.B. Our correspondent, who wished us, in this edition, to give a receipt to roast a tongue, will find an answer in [No. 82].

Turkeys, Capons, Fowls, Chickens, &c.—(No. 16.)

Are all boiled exactly in the same manner, only allowing time, according to their size. For the stuffing, &c. (Nos. [374], [375], and [377]), some of it made into balls, and boiled or fried, make a nice garnish, and are handy to help; and you can then reserve some of the inside stuffing to eat with the cold fowl, or enrich the hash (Nos. [530] and [533]).

A chicken will take about	20 minutes.
A fowl	40
A fine five-toed fowl or a capon, about an hour.
A small turkey, an hour and a half.
A large one, two hours or more.

Chickens or fowls should be killed at least one or two days before they are to be dressed.

Turkeys (especially large ones) should not be dressed till they have been killed three or four days at least, in cold weather six or eight, or they will neither look white nor eat tender.[120-*]

Turkeys, and large fowls, should have the strings or sinews of the thighs drawn out.

Truss them with the legs outward, they are much easier carved.

Fowls for boiling should be chosen as white as possible; if their complexion is not so fair as you wish, veil them in [No. 2 of No. 364]; those which have black legs should be roasted. The best use of the liver is to make sauce ([No. 287]).

Poultry must be well washed in warm water; if very dirty from the singeing, &c. rub them with a little white soap; but thoroughly rinse it off, before you put them into the pot.

Make a good and clear fire; set on a clean pot, with pure and clean water, enough to well cover the turkey, &c.; the slower it boils, the whiter and plumper it will be. When there rises any scum, remove it; the common method of some (who are more nice than wise) is to wrap them up in a cloth, to prevent the scum attaching to them; which, if it does, by your neglecting to skim the pot, there is no getting it off afterward, and the poulterer is blamed for the fault of the cook.

If there be water enough, and it is attentively skimmed, the fowl will both look and eat much better this way than when it has been covered up in the cleanest cloth, and the colour and flavour of your poultry will be preserved in the most delicate perfection.

Obs. Turkey deserves to be accompanied by tongue ([No. 15]), or ham ([No. 14]); if these are not come-at-able, don’t forget pickled pork ([No. 11]), or bacon and greens (Nos. [83], [526], and [527]), or pork sausages ([No. 87]), parsley and butter ([No. 261]); don’t pour it over, but send it up in a boat; liver ([No. 287]), egg ([No. 267]), or oyster sauce ([No. 278]). To warm cold turkey, &c. see [No. 533], and following.

To grill the gizzard and rump, [No. 538]. Save a quart of the liquor the turkey was boiled in; this, with the bones and trimmings, &c. will make good gravy for a hash, &c.

Rabbits.—(No. 17.)

Truss your rabbits short, lay them in a basin of warm water for ten minutes, then put them into plenty of water, and boil them about half an hour; if large ones, three quarters; if very old, an hour: smother them with plenty of white onion sauce ([No. 298]), mince the liver, and lay it round the dish, or make liver sauce ([No. 287]), and send it up in a boat.

Obs. Ask those you are going to make liver sauce for, if they like plain liver sauce, or liver and parsley, or liver and lemon sauce (Nos. [287] and [288]).

N.B. It will save much trouble to the carver, if the rabbits be cut up in the kitchen into pieces fit to help at table, and the head divided, one-half laid at each end, and slices of lemon and the liver, chopped very finely, laid on the sides of the dish.

At all events, cut off the head before you send it to table, we hardly remember that the thing ever lived if we don’t see the head, while it may excite ugly ideas to see it cut up in an attitude imitative of life; besides, for the preservation of the head, the poor animal sometimes suffers a slower death.

Tripe.—(No. 18.)

Take care to have fresh tripe; cleanse it well from the fat, and cut it into pieces about two inches broad and four long; put it into a stew-pan, and cover it with milk and water, and let it boil gently till it is tender.

If the tripe has been prepared as it usually is at the tripe shops, it will be enough in about an hour, (this depends upon how long it has been previously boiled at the tripe shop); if entirely undressed, it will require two or three hours, according to the age and quality of it.

Make some onion sauce in the same manner as you do for rabbits ([No. 298]), or boil (slowly by themselves) some Spanish or the whitest common onions you can get; peel them before you boil them; when they are tender, which a middling-sized onion will be in about three-quarters of an hour, drain them in a hair-sieve, take off the top skins till they look nice and white, and put them with the tripe into a tureen or soup-dish, and take off the fat if any floats on the surface.

Obs. Rashers of bacon (Nos. [526] and [527]), or fried sausages ([No. 87]), are a very good accompaniment to boiled tripe, cow-heels ([No. 198]), or calf’s feet, see Mr. Mich. Kelly’s sauce ([No. 311*]), or parsley and butter ([No. 261]), or caper sauce ([No. 274]), with a little vinegar and mustard added to them, or salad mixture ([No. 372] or [453]).

Tripe holds the same rank among solids, that water-gruel does among soups, and the former is desirable at dinner, when the latter is welcome at supper. Read [No. 572].

Cow-Heel,—(No. 18.*)

In the hands of a skilful cook, will furnish several good meals; when boiled tender ([No. 198]), cut it into handsome pieces, egg and bread-crumb them, and fry them a light brown; lay them round a dish, and put in the middle of it sliced onions fried, or the accompaniments ordered for tripe. The liquor they were boiled in will make soups ([No. 229], [240*], or [No. 555]).

N.B. We give no receipts to boil venison, geese, ducks, pheasants, woodcocks, and peacocks, &c. as our aim has been to make a useful book, not a big one (see [No. 82]).

[108-*] The gigot is the leg with part of the loin.

[111-*] If not to be cut till cold, two days longer salting will not only improve its flavour, but the meat will keep better.

[111-†] In the West Indies they can scarcely cure beef with pickle, but easily preserve it by cutting it into thin slices and dipping them in sea-water, and then drying them quickly in the sun; to which they give the name of jerked beef.—Brownrigg on Salt, 8vo. p. 762.

[115-*] This, salted, makes a very pretty supper-dish.

[120-*] Baker, in his Chronicle, tells us the turkey did not reach England till A. D. 1524, about the 15th of Henry the 8th; he says,

“Turkies, carps, hoppes, piccarell, and beere,
Came into England all in one year.”

---

ROASTING.

N.B.—If the time we have allowed for roasting appears rather longer than what is stated in former works, we can only say, we have written from actual experiments, and that the difference may be accounted for, by common cooks generally being fond of too fierce a fire, and of putting things too near to it.

Our calculations are made for a temperature of about fifty degrees of Fahrenheit.

Slow roasting is as advantageous to the tenderness and favour of meat as slow boiling, of which every body understands the importance. See the account of Count Rumford’s shoulder of mutton.

The warmer the weather, and the staler killed the meat is, the less time it will require to roast it.

Meat that is very fat, requires more time than we have stated.

Beef is in proper season throughout the whole year.

Sirloin of Beef.—(No. 19.)

The noble sirloin[122-*] of about fifteen pounds (if much thicker, the outside will be done too much before the inside is enough), will require to be before the fire about three and a half or four hours; take care to spit it evenly, that it may not be heavier on one side than the other; put a little clean dripping into the dripping-pan, (tie a sheet of paper over it to preserve the fat,[123-*]) baste it well as soon as it is put down, and every quarter of an hour all the time it is roasting, till the last half hour; then take off the paper, and make some gravy for it ([No. 326]); stir the fire and make it clear: to brown and froth it, sprinkle a little salt over it, baste it with butter, and dredge it with flour; let it go a few minutes longer, till the froth rises, take it up, put it on the dish, &c.

Garnish it with hillocks of horseradish, scraped as fine as possible with a very sharp knife, (Nos. [458] and [399*]). A Yorkshire pudding is an excellent accompaniment ([No. 595], or [No. 554]).

Obs. The inside of the sirloin must never be cut[123-†] hot, but reserved entire for the hash, or a mock hare ([No. 66*]). (For various ways of dressing the inside of the sirloin, [No. 483]; for the receipt to hash or broil beef, [No. 484], and Nos. [486] and [487]; and for other ways of employing the remains of a joint of cold beef, Nos. [503], [4], [5], [6]).

Ribs of Beef.—(No. 20).

The first three ribs, of fifteen or twenty pounds, will take three hours, or three and a half: the fourth and fifth ribs will lake as long, managed in the same way as the sirloin. Paper the fat, and the thin part, or it will be done too much, before the thick part is done enough.

N.B. A pig-iron placed before it on the bars of the grate answers every purpose of keeping the thin part from being too much done.

Obs. Many persons prefer the ribs to the sirloin.

Ribs of Beef boned and rolled.—(No. 21.)

When you have kept two or three ribs of beef till quite tender, take out the bones, and skewer it as round as possible (like a fillet of veal): before they roll it, some cooks egg it, and sprinkle it with veal stuffing ([No. 374]). As the meat is more in a solid mass, it will require more time at the fire than in the preceding receipt; a piece of ten or twelve pounds weight will not be well and thoroughly roasted in less than four and a half or five hours.

For the first half hour, it should not be less than twelve inches from the fire, that it may get gradually warm to the centre: the last half hour before it will be finished, sprinkle a little salt over it; and if you wish to froth it, flour it, &c.

MUTTON.[124-*]—(No. 23.)

As beef requires a large, sound fire, mutton must have a brisk and sharp one. If you wish to have mutton tender, it should be hung almost as long as it will keep;[124-†] and then good eight-tooth, i. e. four years old mutton, is as good eating as venison, if it is accompanied by Nos. [329] and [346].

The leg, haunch, and saddle will be the better for being hung up in a cool airy place for four or five days at least; in temperate weather, a week; in cold weather, ten days.

If you think your mutton will not be tender enough to do honour to the spit, dress it as a “gigot de sept heures.” See [N.B.] to [No. 1] and [No. 493].

A Leg,—(No. 24.)

Of eight pounds, will take about two hours: let it be well basted, and frothed in the same manner as directed in [No. 19]. To hash mutton, [No. 484]. To broil it, [No. 487], &c.

A Chine or Saddle,—(No. 26.)

(i. e. the two loins) of ten or eleven pounds, two hours and a half: it is the business of the butcher to take off the skin and skewer it on again, to defend the meat from extreme heat, and preserve its succulence; if this is neglected, tie a sheet of paper over it (baste the strings you tie it on with directly, or they will burn): about a quarter of an hour before you think it will be done, take off the skin or paper, that it may get a pale brown colour, then baste it and flour it lightly to froth it. We like [No. 346] for sauce.

N.B. Desire the butcher to cut off the flaps and the tail and chump end, and trim away every part that has not indisputable pretensions to be eaten. This will reduce a saddle of eleven pounds weight to about six or seven pounds.

A Shoulder,—(No. 27.)

Of seven pounds, an hour and a half. Put the spit in close to the shank-bone, and run it along the blade-bone.

N.B. The blade-bone is a favourite luncheon or supper relish, scored, peppered and salted, and broiled, or done in a Dutch oven.

A Loin,[125-*]—(No. 28.)

Of mutton, from an hour and a half to an hour and three quarters. The most elegant way of carving this, is to cut it lengthwise, as you do a saddle: read [No. 26].

N.B. Spit it on a skewer or lark spit, and tie that on the common spit, and do not spoil the meat by running the spit through the prime part of it.

A Neck,—(No. 29.)

About the same time as a loin. It must be carefully jointed, or it is very difficult to carve. The neck and breast are, in small families, commonly roasted together; the cook will then crack the bones across the middle before they are put down to roast: if this is not done carefully, they are very troublesome to carve. Tell the cook, when she takes it from the spit, to separate them before she sends them to table.

Obs.—If there is more fat than you think will be eaten with the lean, cut it off, and it will make an excellent suet pudding ([No. 551], or [No. 554]).

N.B. The best way to spit this is to run iron skewers across it, and put the spit between them.

A Breast,—(No. 30.)

An hour and a quarter.

To grill a breast of mutton, see [Obs.] to [No. 38].

A Haunch,—(No. 31.)

(i. e. the leg and part of the loin) of mutton: send up two sauce-boats with it; one of rich mutton gravy, made without spice or herbs ([No. 347]), and the other of sweet sauce ([No. 346]). It generally weighs about 15 pounds, and requires about three hours and a half to roast it.

Mutton, venison fashion.—(No. 32.)

Take a neck of good four or five years old Southdown wether mutton, cut long in the bones; let it hang (in temperate weather) at least a week: two days before you dress it, take allspice and black pepper, ground and pounded fine, a quarter of an ounce each; rub them together, and then rub your mutton well with this mixture twice a day. When you dress it, wash off the spice with warm water, and roast in paste, as we have ordered the haunch of venison. ([No. 63]).

Obs.—Persevering and ingenious epicures have invented many methods to give mutton the flavour of venison. Some say that mutton, prepared as above, may be mistaken for venison; others, that it is full as good. The refined palate of a grand gourmand (in spite of the spice and wine the meat has been fuddled and rubbed with) will perhaps still protest against “Welch venison;” and indeed we do not understand by what conjuration allspice and claret can communicate the flavour of venison to mutton. We confess our fears that the flavour of venison (especially of its fat) is inimitable; but believe you may procure prime eight-toothed wether mutton, keep it the proper time, and send it to table with the accompaniments (Nos. [346] and [347], &c.) usually given to venison, and a rational epicure will eat it with as much satisfaction as he would “feed on the king’s fallow deer.”

VEAL.—(No. 33.)

Veal requires particular care to roast it a nice brown. Let the fire be the same as for beef; a sound large fire for a large joint, and a brisker for a smaller; put it at some distance from the fire to soak thoroughly, and then draw it near to finish it brown.

When first laid down, it is to be basted; baste it again occasionally. When the veal is on the dish, pour over it half a pint of melted butter ([No. 256]): if you have a little brown gravy by you, add that to the butter ([No. 326]). With those joints which are not stuffed, send up forcemeat ([No. 374], or [No. 375]) in balls, or rolled into sausages, as garnish to the dish, or fried pork sausages ([No. 87]); bacon ([No. 13], or [No. 526], or [No. 527]), and greens, are also always expected with veal.

Fillet of Veal,—(No. 34.)

Of from twelve to sixteen pounds, will require from four to five hours at a good fire; make some stuffing or forcemeat ([No. 374] or [5]), and put it in under the flap, that there may be some left to eat cold, or to season a hash;[127-*] brown it, and pour good melted butter ([No. 266]) over it, as directed in [No. 33].

Garnish with thin slices of lemon and cakes or balls of stuffing, or [No. 374], or [No. 375], or duck stuffing ([No. 61]), or fried pork sausages ([No. 87]), curry sauce ([No. 348]), bacon ([No. 13]), and greens, &c.

N.B. Potted veal ([No. 533]).

Obs.—A bit of the brown outside is a favourite with the epicure in roasts. The kidney, cut out, sliced, and broiled ([No. 358]), is a high relish, which some bons vivants are fond of.

A Loin,—(No. 35.)

Is the best part of the calf, and will take about three hours roasting. Paper the kidney fat, and the back: some cooks send it up on a toast, which is eaten with the kidney and the fat of this part, which is as delicate as any marrow. If there is more of it than you think will be eaten with the veal, before you roast it cut it out; it will make an excellent suet pudding: take care to have your fire long enough to brown the ends; same accompaniments as [No. 34].

A Shoulder,—(No. 36.)

From three hours to three hours and a half; stuff it with the forcemeat ordered for the fillet of veal, in the under side, or balls made of [No. 374].

Neck, best end,—(No. 37.)

Will take two hours; same accompaniments as [No. 34]. The scrag part is best made into a pie, or broth.

Breast,—(No. 38.)

From an hour and a half to two hours. Let the caul remain till it is almost done, then take it off to brown it; baste, flour, and froth it.

Obs.—This makes a savoury relish for a luncheon or supper: or, instead of roasting, boil it enough; put it in a cloth between two pewter dishes, with a weight on the upper one, and let it remain so till cold; then pare and trim, egg, and crumb it, and broil, or warm it in a Dutch oven; serve with it capers ([No. 274]), or wow wow sauce ([No. 328]). Breast of mutton may be dressed the same way.

Veal Sweetbread.—(No. 39.)

Trim a fine sweetbread (it cannot be too fresh); parboil it for five minutes, and throw it into a basin of cold water. Roast it plain, or

Beat up the yelk of an egg, and prepare some fine bread-crumbs: when the sweetbread is cold, dry it thoroughly in a cloth; run a lark-spit or a skewer through it, and tie it on the ordinary spit; egg it with a paste-brush; powder it well with bread-crumbs, and roast it.

For sauce, fried bread-crumbs round it, and melted butter, with a little mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), and lemon-juice (Nos. [307], [354], or [356]), or serve them on buttered toast, garnished with egg sauce ([No. 267]), or with gravy ([No. 329]).

Obs.—Instead of spitting them, you may put them into a tin Dutch oven, or fry them (Nos. [88], [89], or [513]).

LAMB,—(No. 40.)

Is a delicate, and commonly considered tender meat; but those who talk of tender lamb, while they are thinking of the age of the animal, forget that even a chicken must be kept a proper time after it has been killed, or it will be tough picking.

Woful experience has warned us to beware of accepting an invitation to dinner on Easter Sunday, unless commanded by a thorough-bred gourmand; our incisores, molares, and principal viscera have protested against the imprudence of encountering young, tough, stringy mutton, under the misnomen of grass lamb. The proper name for “Easter grass lamb” is “hay mutton.”

To the usual accompaniments of roasted meat, green mint sauce ([No. 303]), a salad (Nos. [372] and [138*]), is commonly added; and some cooks, about five minutes before it is done, sprinkle it with a little fresh gathered and finely minced parsley, or [No. 318]: lamb, and all young meats, ought to be thoroughly done; therefore do not take either lamb or veal off the spit till you see it drop white gravy.

Grass lamb is in season from Easter to Michaelmas.

House lamb from Christmas to Lady-day.

Sham lamb, see [Obs.] to following receipt.

N.B. When green mint cannot be got, mint vinegar ([No. 398]) is an acceptable substitute for it; and crisp parsley ([No. 318]), on a side plate, is an admirable accompaniment.

Hind-Quarter,—(No. 41).

Of eight pounds, will take from an hour and three-quarters to two hours: baste and froth it in the same way as directed in [No. 19].

Obs.—A quarter of a porkling is sometimes skinned, cut, and dressed lamb-fashion, and sent up as a substitute for it. The leg and the loin of lamb, when little, should be roasted together; the former being lean, the latter fat, and the gravy is better preserved.

Fore-Quarter,—(No. 42.)

Of ten pounds, about two hours.

N.B. It is a pretty general custom, when you take off the shoulder from the ribs, to squeeze a Seville orange over them, and sprinkle them with a little pepper and salt.

Obs.—This may as well be done by the cook before it comes to table; some people are not remarkably expert at dividing these joints nicely.

Leg,—(No. 43.)

Of five pounds, from an hour to an hour and a half.

Shoulder,—(No. 44.)

With a quick fire, an hour.

See [Obs.] to [No. 27].

Ribs,—(No. 45.)

About an hour to an hour and a quarter: joint it nicely, crack the ribs across, and divide them from the brisket after it is roasted.

Loin,—(No. 46.)

An hour and a quarter.

Neck,—(No. 47.)

An hour.

Breast,—(No. 48.)

Three-quarters of an hour.

PORK.—(No. 49.)

The prime season for pork is from Michaelmas to March.

Take particular care it be done enough: other meats under-done are unpleasant, but pork is absolutely uneatable; the sight of it is enough to appal the sharpest appetite, if its gravy has the least tint of redness.

Be careful of the crackling; if this be not crisp, or if it be burned, you will be scolded.

For sauces, [No. 300], [No. 304], and [No. 342].

Obs.—Pease pudding ([No. 555]) is as good an accompaniment to roasted, as it is to boiled pork; and most palates are pleased with the savoury powder set down in [No. 51], or bread-crumbs, mixed with sage and onion, minced very fine, or zest ([No. 255]) sprinkled over it.

N.B. “The western pigs, from Berks, Oxford, and Bucks, possess a decided superiority over the eastern, of Essex, Sussex, and Norfolk; not to forget another qualification of the former, at which some readers may smile, a thickness of the skin; whence the crackling of the roasted pork is a fine gelatinous substance, which may be easily masticated; while the crackling of the thin-skinned breeds is roasted into good block tin, the reduction of which would almost require teeth of iron.”—Moubray on Poultry, 1816, page 242.

A Leg,—(No. 50.)

Of eight pounds, will require about three hours: score the skin across in narrow stripes (some score it in diamonds), about a quarter of an inch apart; stuff the knuckle with sage and onion, minced fine, and a little grated bread, seasoned with pepper, salt, and the yelk of an egg. See Duck Stuffing, ([No. 61].)

Do not put it too near the fire: rub a little sweet oil on the skin with a paste-brush, or a goose-feather: this makes the crackling crisper and browner than basting it with dripping; and it will be a better colour than all the art of cookery can make it in any other way; and this is the best way of preventing the skin from blistering, which is principally occasioned by its being put too near the fire.

Leg of Pork roasted without the Skin, commonly called Mock Goose.[131-*]—(No. 51.)

Parboil it; take off the skin, and then put it down to roast; baste it with butter, and make a savoury powder of finely minced, or dried and powdered sage, ground black pepper, salt, and some bread-crumbs, rubbed together through a colander; you may add to this a little very finely minced onion: sprinkle it with this when it is almost roasted. Put half a pint of made gravy into the dish, and goose stuffing ([No. 378]) under the knuckle skin; or garnish the dish with balls of it fried or boiled.

The Griskin,—(No. 52.)

Of seven or eight pounds, may be dressed in the same manner. It will take an hour and a half roasting.

A Bacon Spare-Rib,—(No. 53.)

Usually weighs about eight or nine pounds, and will take from two to three hours to roast it thoroughly; not exactly according to its weight, but the thickness of the meat upon it, which varies very much. Lay the thick end nearest to the fire.

A proper bald spare-rib of eight pounds weight (so called because almost all the meat is pared off), with a steady fire, will be done in an hour and a quarter. There is so little meat on a bald spare-rib, that if you have a large, fierce fire, it will be burned before it is warm through. Joint it nicely, and crack the ribs across as you do ribs of lamb.

When you put it down to roast, dust on some flour, and baste it with a little butter; dry a dozen sage leaves, and rub them through a hair-sieve, and put them into the top of a pepper-box; and about a quarter of an hour before the meat is done, baste it with butter; dust the pulverized sage, or the savoury powder in [No. 51]; or sprinkle with duck stuffing ([No. 61]).

Obs.—Make it a general rule never to pour gravy over any thing that is roasted; by so doing, the dredging, &c. is washed off, and it eats insipid.

Some people carve a spare-rib by cutting out in slices the thick part at the bottom of the bones. When this meat is cut away, the bones may be easily separated, and are esteemed very sweet picking.

Apple sauce ([No. 304]), mashed potatoes ([No. 106]), and good mustard ([No. 370],) are indispensable.

Loin,—(No. 54.)

Of five pounds, must be kept at a good distance from the fire on account of the crackling, and will take about two hours; if very fat, half an hour longer.

Stuff it with duck stuffing ([No. 378]). Score the skin in stripes, about a quarter of an inch apart, and rub it with salad oil, as directed in [No. 50]. You may sprinkle over it some of the savoury powder recommended for the mock goose ([No. 51]).

A Chine.—(No. 55.)

If parted down the back-bone so as to have but one side, a good fire will roast it in two hours; if not parted, three hours.

N.B. Chines are generally salted and boiled.

A Sucking-Pig,[133-*]—(No. 56.)

Is in prime order for the spit when about three weeks old.

It loses part of its goodness every hour after it is killed; if not quite fresh, no art can make the crackling crisp.

To be in perfection, it should be killed in the morning to be eaten at dinner: it requires very careful roasting. A sucking-pig, like a young child, must not be left for an instant.

The ends must have much more fire than the middle: for this purpose is contrived an iron to hang before the middle part, called a pig-iron. If you have not this, use a common flat iron, or keep the fire fiercest at the two ends.

For the stuffing, take of the crumb of a stale loaf about five ounces; rub it through a colander; mince fine a handful of sage (i. e. about two ounces), and a large onion (about an ounce and a half[133-†]). Mix these together with an egg, some pepper and salt, and a bit of butter as big as an egg. Fill the belly of the pig with this, and sew it up: lay it to the fire, and baste it with salad oil till it is quite done. Do not leave it a moment: it requires the most vigilant attendance.

Roast it at a clear, brisk fire at some distance. To gain the praise of epicurean pig-eaters, the crackling must be nicely crisped and delicately lightly browned, without being either blistered or burnt.

A small, three weeks old pig will be done enough[133-‡] in about an hour and a half.

Before you take it from the fire, cut off the head, and part that and the body down the middle: chop the brains very fine, with some boiled sage leaves, and mix them with good veal gravy, made as directed in [No. 192], or beef gravy ([No. 329]), or what runs from the pig when you cut its head off. Send up a tureenful of gravy ([No. 329]) besides. Currant sauce is still a favourite with some of the old school.

Lay your pig back to back in the dish, with one half of the head on each side, and the ears one at each end, which you must take care to make nice and crisp; or you will get scolded, and deservedly, as the silly fellow was who bought his wife a pig with only one ear.

When you cut off the pettitoes, leave the skin long round the ends of the legs. When you first lay the pig before the fire, rub it all over with fresh butter or salad oil: ten minutes after, and the skin looks dry; dredge it well with flour all over, let it remain on an hour, then rub it off with a soft cloth.

N. B. A pig is a very troublesome subject to roast; most persons have them baked. Send a quarter of a pound of butter, and beg the baker to baste it well.

Turkey, Turkey Poults, and other Poultry.—(No. 57.)

A fowl and a turkey require the same management at the fire, only the latter will take longer time.

Many a Christmas dinner has been spoiled by the turkey having been hung up in a cold larder, and becoming thoroughly frozen; Jack Frost has ruined the reputation of many a turkey-roaster: therefore, in very cold weather, remember the note in the 5th page of the [3d chapter] of the Rudiments of Cookery.

Let them be carefully picked, &c. and break the breast-bone (to make them look plump), twist up a sheet of clean writing-paper, light it, and thoroughly singe the turkey all over, turning it about over the flame.

Turkeys, fowls, and capons have a much better appearance, if, instead of trussing them with the legs close together, and the feet cut off, the legs are extended on each side of the bird, and the toes only cut off with a skewer through each foot, to keep them at a proper distance.

Be careful, when you draw it, to preserve the liver, and not to break the gall-bag, as no washing will take off the bitter taste it gives, where it once touches.

Prepare a nice, clear, brisk fire for it.

Make stuffing according to [No. 374], or [376]; stuff it under the breast, where the craw was taken out, and make some into balls, and boil or fry them, and lay them round the dish; they are handy to help, and you can then reserve some of the inside stuffing to eat with the cold turkey, or to enrich a hash ([No. 533]).

Score the gizzard, dip it into the yelk of an egg or melted butter, and sprinkle it with salt and a few grains of Cayenne; put it under one pinion and the liver under the other; cover the liver with buttered paper, to prevent it from getting hardened or burnt.

When you first put a turkey down to roast, dredge it with flour; then put about an ounce of butter into a basting-ladle, and as it melts, baste the bird therewith.

Keep it at a distance from the fire for the first half hour, that it may warm gradually; then put it nearer, and when it is plumped up, and the steam draws in towards the fire, it is nearly enough; then dredge it lightly with flour, and put a bit of butter into your basting-ladle, and as it melts, baste the turkey with it; this will raise a finer froth than can be produced by using the fat out of the pan.

A very large turkey will require about three hours to roast it thoroughly; a middling-sized one, of eight or ten pounds (which is far nicer eating than the very large one), about two hours; a small one may be done in an hour and a half.

Turkey poults are of various sizes, and will take about an hour and a half; they should be trussed, with their legs twisted under like a duck, and the head under the wing like a pheasant.

Fried pork sausages ([No. 87]) are a very savoury and favourite accompaniment to either roasted or boiled poultry. A turkey thus garnished is called “an alderman in chains.”

Sausage-meat is sometimes used as stuffing, instead of the ordinary forcemeat. ([No. 376], &c.)

Mem. If you wish a turkey, especially a very large one, to be tender, never dress it till at least four or five days (in cold weather, eight or ten) after it has been killed. “No man who understands good living will say, on such a day I will eat that turkey; but will hang it up by four of the large tail-feathers, and when, on paying his morning visit to the larder, he finds it lying upon a cloth prepared to receive it when it falls, that day let it be cooked.”

Hen turkeys are preferable to cocks for whiteness and tenderness, and the small fleshy ones with black legs are most esteemed.

Send up with them oyster ([No. 278]), egg ([No. 267]), bread ([No. 221]), and plenty of gravy sauce ([No. 329]). To hash turkey, [No. 533].

Mem. Some epicures are very fond of the gizzard and rump, peppered and salted, and broiled. (See [No. 538], “how to dress a devil with véritable sauce d’enfer!!”)

Capons or Fowls,—(No. 58.)

Must be killed a couple of days in moderate, and more in cold weather, before they are dressed, or they will eat tough: a good criterion of the ripeness of poultry for the spit, is the ease with which you can then pull out the feathers; when a fowl is plucked, leave a few to help you to ascertain this.

They are managed exactly in the same manner, and sent up with the same sauces as a turkey, only they require proportionably less time at the fire.

A full-grown five-toed fowl, about an hour and a quarter.

A moderate-sized one, an hour.

A chicken, from thirty to forty minutes.

Here, also, pork sausages fried ([No. 87]) are in general a favourite accompaniment, or turkey stuffing; see forcemeats (Nos. [374], [5], [6], and [7]); put in plenty of it, so as to plump out the fowl, which must be tied closely (both at the neck and rump), to keep in the stuffing.

Some cooks put the liver of the fowl into this forcemeat, and others mince it and pound it, and rub it up with flour and melted butter ([No. 287]).

When the bird is stuffed and trussed, score the gizzard nicely, dip it into melted butter, let it drain, and then season it with Cayenne and salt; put it under one pinion, and the liver under the other; to prevent their getting hardened or scorched, cover them with double paper buttered.

Take care that your roasted poultry be well browned; it is as indispensable that roasted poultry should have a rich brown complexion, as boiled poultry should have a delicate white one.

Obs. “The art of fattening poultry for the market is a considerable branch of rural economy in some convenient situations, and consists in supplying them with plenty of healthy food, and confining them; and ducks and geese must be prevented from going into water, which prevents them from becoming fat, and they also thereby acquire a rancid, fishy taste. They are put into a dark place, and crammed with a paste made of barley meal, mutton-suet, and some treacle or coarse sugar mixed with milk, and are found to be completely ripe in a fortnight. If kept longer, the fever that is induced by this continued state of repletion renders them red and unsaleable, and frequently kills them.” But exercise is as indispensable to the health of poultry as other creatures; without it, the fat will be all accumulated in the cellular membrane, instead of being dispersed through its system. See Moubray on breeding and fattening domestic Poultry, 12mo. 1819.

Fowls which are fattened artificially are by some epicures preferred to those called barn-door fowls; whom we have heard say, that they should as soon think of ordering a barn-door for dinner as a barn-door fowl.

The age of poultry makes all the difference: nothing is tenderer than a young chicken; few things are tougher than an old cock or hen, which is only fit to make broth. The meridian of perfection of poultry is just before they have come to their full growth, before they have begun to harden.

For sauces, see [No. 305], or liver and parsley, [No. 287], and those ordered in the last receipt. To hash it, [No. 533].

Goose.—(No. 59.)

When a goose is well picked, singed, and cleaned, make the stuffing with about two ounces of onion,[137-*] and half as much green sage, chop them very fine, adding four ounces, i. e. about a large breakfast-cupful of stale bread-crumbs, a bit of butter about as big as a walnut, and a very little pepper and salt (to this some cooks add half the liver,[137-†] parboiling it first), the yelk of an egg or two, and incorporating the whole well together, stuff the goose; do not quite fill it, but leave a little room for the stuffing to swell; spit it, tie it on the spit at both ends, to prevent its swinging round, and to keep the stuffing from coming out. From an hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters, will roast a fine full-grown goose. Send up gravy and apple sauce with it (see Nos. [300], [304], [329], and [341]). To hash it, see [No. 530].

For another stuffing for geese, see [No. 378].

Obs. “Goose-feeding in the vicinity of the metropolis is so large a concern, that one person annually feeds for market upwards of 5000.” “A goose on a farm in Scotland, two years since, of the clearly ascertained age of 89 years, healthy and vigorous, was killed by a sow while sitting over her eggs; it was supposed she might have lived many years, and her fecundity appeared to be permanent. Other geese have been proved to reach the age of 70 years.” Moubray on Poultry, p. 40.

It appears in Dr. Stark’s Experiments on Diet, p. 110, that “when he fed upon roasted goose, he was more vigorous both in body and mind than with any other diet.”

The goose at Michaelmas is as famous in the mouths of the million, as the minced-pie at Christmas; but for those who eat with delicacy, it is by that time too full-grown.

The true period when the goose is in its highest perfection, is when it has just acquired its full growth, and not begun to harden. If the March goose is insipid, the Michaelmas goose is rank; the fine time is between both, from the second week in June to the first in September: the leg is not the most tender part of a goose. See Mock Goose ([No. 51]).

Green Goose.—(No. 60.)

Geese are called green till they are about four months old.

The only difference between roasting these and a full-grown goose, consists in seasoning it with pepper and salt instead of sage and onion, and roasting it for forty or fifty minutes only.

Obs. This is one of the least desirable of those insipid premature productions, which are esteemed dainties.

Duck.—(No. 61.)

Mind your duck is well cleaned, and wiped out with a clean cloth: for the stuffing, take an ounce of onion and half an ounce of green sage; chop them very fine, and mix them with two ounces, i. e. about a breakfast-cupful, of bread-crumbs, a bit of butter about as big as a walnut, a very little black pepper and salt, (some obtuse palates may require warming with a little Cayenne, [No. 404],) and the yelk of an egg to bind it; mix these thoroughly together, and put into the duck. For another stuffing, see [No. 378]. From half to three-quarters of an hour will be enough to roast it, according to the size: contrive to have the feet delicately crisp, as some people are very fond of them; to do this nicely you must have a sharp fire. For sauce, green pease ([No. 134]), bonne bouche ([No. 341]), gravy sauce ([No. 329]), and sage and onion sauce ([No. 300]).

To hash or stew ducks, see [No. 530].

N.B. If you think the raw onion will make too strong an impression upon the palate, parboil it. Read [Obs.] to [No. 59].

To ensure ducks being tender, in moderate weather kill them a few days before you dress them.

Haunch of Venison.—(No. 63.)

To preserve the fat, make a paste of flour and water, as much as will cover the haunch; wipe it with a dry cloth in every part; rub a large sheet of paper all over with butter, and cover the venison with it; then roll out the paste about three-quarters of an inch thick; lay this all over the fat side, and cover it well with three or four sheets of strong white paper, and tie it securely on with packthread: have a strong, close fire, and baste your venison as soon as you lay it down to roast (to prevent the paper and string from burning); it must be well basted all the time.

A buck haunch generally weighs from 20 to 25 pounds; will take about four hours and a half roasting in warm, and longer in cold weather: a haunch of from 19 to 18 pounds will be done in about three or three and a half.

A quarter of an hour before it is done, the string must be cut, and the paste carefully taken off; now baste it with butter, dredge it lightly with flour, and when the froth rises, and it has got a very light brown colour, garnish the knuckle-bone with a ruffle of cut writing-paper, and send it up, with good, strong (but unseasoned) gravy ([No. 347]) in one boat, and currant-jelly sauce in the other, or currant-jelly in a side plate (not melted): see for sauces, Nos. [344], [5], [6], and [7]. Mem. “the alderman’s walk” is the favourite part.

Obs. Buck venison is in greatest perfection from midsummer to Michaelmas, and doe from November to January.

Neck and Shoulder of Venison,—(No. 64.)

Are to be managed in the same way as the haunch; only they do not require the coat or paste, and will not take so much time.

The best way to spit a neck is to put three skewers through it, and put the spit between the skewers and the bones.

A Fawn,—(No. 65.)

Like a sucking-pig, should be dressed almost as soon as killed. When very young, it is trussed, stuffed, and spitted the same way as a hare: but they are better eating when of the size of a house lamb, and are then roasted in quarters; the hind-quarter is most esteemed.

They must be put down to a very quick fire, and either basted all the time they are roasting, or be covered with sheets of fat bacon; when done, baste it with butter, and dredge it with a little salt and flour, till you make a nice froth on it.

N.B. We advise our friends to half roast a fawn as soon as they receive it, and then make a hash of it like [No. 528].

Send up venison sauce with it. See the preceding receipt, or [No. 344], &c.

A Kid.—(No. 65*.)

A young sucking-kid is very good eating; to have it in prime condition, the dam should be kept up, and well fed, &c.

Roast it like a fawn or hare.

Hare.—(No. 66.)

“Inter quadrupedes gloria prima lepus.”—Martial.

The first points of consideration are, how old is the hare? and how long has it been killed? When young, it is easy of digestion, and very nourishing; when old, the contrary in every respect.

To ascertain the age, examine the first joint of the forefoot; you will find a small knob, if it is a leveret, which disappears as it grows older; then examine the ears, if they tear easily, it will eat tender; if they are tough, so will be the hare, which we advise you to make into soup ([No. 241]), or stew or jug it ([No. 523]).

When newly killed, the body is stiff; as it grows stale, it becomes limp.

As soon as you receive a hare, take out the liver, parboil it, and keep it for the stuffing; some are very fond of it. Do not use it if it be not quite fresh and good. Some mince it, and send it up as a garnish in little hillocks round the dish. Wipe the hare quite dry, rub the inside with pepper, and hang it up in a dry, cool place.

Paunch and skin[141-*] your hare, wash it, and lay it in a large pan of cold water four or five hours, changing the water two or three times; lay it in a clean cloth, and dry it well, then truss it.

To make the stuffing, see [No. 379]. Do not make it too thin; it should be of cohesive consistence: if it is not sufficiently stiff, it is good for nothing. Put this into the belly, and sew it up tight.

Cut the neck-skin to let the blood out, or it will never appear to be done enough; spit it, and baste it with drippings,[141-†] (or the juices of the back will be dried up before the upper joints of the legs are half done,) till you think it is nearly done, which a middling-sized hare will be in about an hour and a quarter. When it is almost roasted enough, put a little bit of butter into your basting-ladle, and baste it with this, and flour it, and froth it nicely.

Serve it with good gravy ([No. 329], or [No. 347]), and currant-jelly. For another stuffing, see receipt [No. 379]. Some cooks cut off the head and divide it, and lay one half on each side the hare.

Cold roast hare will make excellent soup ([No. 241]), chopped to pieces, and stewed in three quarts of water for a couple of hours; the stuffing will be a very agreeable substitute for sweet herbs and seasoning. See receipt for hare soup ([No. 241]), hashed hare ([No. 529]), and mock hare, next receipt.

Mock Hare.—(No. 66.*)

Cut out the fillet (i. e. the inside lean) of a sirloin of beef, leaving the fat to roast with the joint. Prepare some nice stuffing, as directed for a hare in [No. 66], or [379]; put this on the beef, and roll it up with tape, put a skewer through it, and tie that on a spit.

Obs. If the beef is of prime quality, has been kept till thoroughly tender, and you serve with it the accompaniments that usually attend roast hare (Nos. [329], [344], &c.), or stew it, and serve it with a rich thickened sauce garnished with forcemeat balls ([No. 379]), the most fastidious palate will have no reason to regret that the game season is over.

To make this into hare soup, see [No. 241].

Rabbit.—(No. 67.)

If your fire is clear and sharp, thirty minutes will roast a young, and forty a full-grown rabbit.

When you lay it down, baste it with butter, and dredge it lightly and carefully with flour, that you may have it frothy, and of a fine light brown. While the rabbit is roasting, boil its liver[142-*] with some parsley; when tender, chop them together, and put half the mixture into some melted butter, reserving the other half for garnish, divided into little hillocks. Cut off the head, and lay half on each side of the dish.

Obs. A fine, well-grown (but young) warren rabbit, kept some time after it has been killed, and roasted with a stuffing in its belly, eats very like a hare, to the nature of which it approaches. It is nice, nourishing food when young, but hard and unwholesome when old. For sauces, Nos. [287], [298], and [329].

Pheasant.—(No. 68.)

Requires a smart fire, but not a fierce one. Thirty minutes will roast a young bird, and forty or fifty a full-grown pheasant. Pick and draw it, cut a slit in the back of the neck, and take out the craw, but don’t cut the head off; wipe the inside of the bird with a clean cloth, twist the legs close to the body, leave the feet on, but cut the toes off; don’t turn the head under the wing, but truss it like a fowl, it is much easier to carve; baste it, butter and froth it, and prepare sauce for it (Nos. [321] and [329]). See the instructions in receipts to roast fowls and turkeys, Nos. [57] and [58].

Obs. We believe the rarity of this bird is its best recommendation; and the character given it by an ingenious French author is just as good as it deserves. “Its flesh is naturally tough, and owes all its tenderness and succulence to the long time it is kept before it is cooked;” until it is “bien mortifiée,” it is uneatable[142-†]. Therefore, instead of “sus per col,” suspend it by one of the long tail-feathers, and the pheasant’s falling from it is the criterion of its ripeness and readiness for the spit.

Our president of the committee of taste (who is indefatigable in his endeavours to improve the health, as well as promote the enjoyment, of his fellow-students in the school of good living, and to whom the epicure, the economist, and the valetudinarian are equally indebted for his careful revision of this work, and especially for introducing that salutary maxim into the kitchen, that “the salubrious is ever a superior consideration to the savoury,” and indeed, the rational epicure only relishes the latter when entirely subordinate to the former), has suggested to us, that the detachment of the feather cannot take place until the body of the bird has advanced more than one degree beyond the state of wholesome haut-goût, and become “trop mortifiée;” and that to enjoy this game in perfection, you must have a brace of birds killed the same day; these are to be put in suspense as above directed, and when one of them drops, the hour is come that the spit should be introduced to his companion:—

“Ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum.”

Mock Pheasant.—(No. 69.)

If you have only one pheasant, and wish for a companion for it, get a fine young fowl, of as near as may be the same size as the bird to be matched, and make game of it by trussing it like a pheasant, and dressing it according to the above directions. Few persons will discover the pheasant from the fowl, especially if the latter has been kept four or five days.

The peculiar flavour of the pheasant (like that of other game) is principally acquired by long keeping.

Guinea and Pea Fowls,—(No. 69*.)

Are dressed in the same way as pheasants.

Partridges,—(No. 70.)

Are cleaned and trussed in the same manner as a pheasant (but the ridiculous custom of tucking the legs into each other makes them very troublesome to carve); the breast is so plump, it will require almost as much roasting; send up with them rich sauce ([No. 321*]), or bread sauce ([No. 321]), and good gravy ([No. 329]).

^*_*^* If you wish to preserve them longer than you think they will keep good undressed, half roast them, they will then keep two or three days longer; or make a pie of them.

Black Cock (No. 71), Moor Game (No. 72), and Grouse, (No. 73.)

Are all to be dressed like partridges; the black cock will take as much as a pheasant, and moor game and grouse as the partridge. Send up with them currant-jelly and fried bread-crumbs ([No. 320]).

Wild Ducks.—(No. 74.)

For roasting a wild duck, you must have a clear, brisk fire, and a hot spit; it must be browned upon the outside, without being sodden within. To have it well frothed and full of gravy is the nicety. Prepare the fire by stirring and raking it just before the bird is laid down, and fifteen or twenty minutes will do it in the fashionable way; but if you like it a little more done, allow it a few minutes longer; if it is too much, it will lose its flavour.

For the sauce, see [No. 338] and [No. 62].

Widgeons and Teal,—(No. 75.)

Are dressed exactly as the wild duck; only that less time is requisite for a widgeon, and still less for a teal.

Woodcock.—(No. 76.)

Woodcocks should not be drawn, as the trail is by the lovers of “haut goût” considered a “bonne bouche;” truss their legs close to the body, and run an iron skewer through each thigh, close to the body, and tie them on a small bird spit; put them to roast at a clear fire; cut as many slices of bread as you have birds, toast or fry them a delicate brown, and lay them in the dripping-pan under the birds to catch the trail;[144-*] baste them with butter, and froth them with flour; lay the toast on a hot dish, and the birds on the toast; pour some good beef gravy into the dish, and send some up in a boat, see [Obs.] to [No. 329]: twenty or thirty minutes will roast them. Garnish with slices of lemon.

Obs.—Some epicures like this bird very much under-done, and direct that a woodcock should be just introduced to the cook, for her to show it the fire, and then send it up to table.

Snipes,—(No. 77.)

Differ little from woodcocks, unless in size; they are to be dressed in the same way, but require about five minutes less time to roast them.

For sauce, see [No. 338].

Pigeons.—(No. 78.)

When the pigeons are ready for roasting, if you are desired to stuff them, chop some green parsley very fine, the liver, and a bit of butter together, with a little pepper and salt, or with the stuffing ordered for a fillet of veal ([No. 374] or [No. 375]), and fill the belly of each bird with it. They will be done enough in about twenty or thirty minutes; send up parsley and butter ([No. 261],) in the dish under them, and some in a boat, and garnish with crisp parsley ([No. 318]), or fried bread crumbs ([No. 320]), or bread sauce ([No. 321]), or gravy ([No. 329]).

Obs.—When pigeons are fresh they have their full relish; but it goes entirely off with a very little keeping; nor is it in any way so well preserved as by roasting them: when they are put into a pie they are generally baked to rags, and taste more of pepper and salt than of any thing else.

A little melted butter may be put into the dish with them, and the gravy that runs from them will mix with it into fine sauce. Pigeons are in the greatest perfection from midsummer to Michaelmas; there is then the most plentiful and best food for them; and their finest growth is just when they are full feathered. When they are in the pen-feathers, they are flabby; when they are full grown, and have flown some time, they are tough. Game and poultry are best when they have just done growing, i. e. as soon as nature has perfected her work.

This was the secret of Solomon, the famous pigeon-feeder of Turnham Green, who is celebrated by the poet Gay, when he says,

“That Turnham Green, which dainty pigeons fed,
But feeds no more, for Solomon is dead.”

Larks and other small Birds.—(No. 80.)

These delicate little birds are in high season in November. When they are picked, gutted, and cleaned, truss them; brush them with the yelk of an egg, and then roll them in bread-crumbs: spit them on a lark-spit, and tie that on to a larger spit; ten or fifteen minutes at a quick fire will do them enough; baste them with fresh butter while they are roasting, and sprinkle them with bread-crumbs till they are well covered with them.

For the sauce, fry some grated bread in clarified butter, see [No. 259], and set it to drain before the fire, that it may harden: serve the crumbs under the larks when you dish them, and garnish them with slices of lemon.

Wheatears,—(No. 81.)

Are dressed in the same way as larks.

Lobster.—(No. 82.)

See receipt for boiling ([No. 176]).

We give no receipt for roasting lobster, tongue, &c. being of opinion with Dr. King, who says,

“By roasting that which our forefathers boiled,
And boiling what they roasted, much is spoiled.”

[122-*] This joint is said to owe its name to king Charles the Second, who, dining upon a loin of beef, and being particularly pleased with it, asked the name of the joint; said for its merit it should be knighted, and henceforth called Sir-Loin.

[123-*] “In the present fashion of FATTENING CATTLE, it is more desirable to roast away the fat than to preserve it. If the honourable societies of agriculturists, at the time they consulted a learned professor about the composition of manures, had consulted some competent authority on the nature of animal substances, the public might have escaped the overgrown corpulency of the animal flesh, which every where fills the markets.”—Domestic Management, 12mo. 1813, p. 182.

“Game, and other wild animals proper for food, are of very superior qualities to the tame, from the total contrast of the circumstances attending them. They have a free range of exercise in the open air, and choose their own food, the good effects of which are very evident in a short, delicate texture of flesh, found only in them. Their juices and flavour are more pure, and their fat, when it is in any degree, as in venison, and some other instances, differs as much from that of our fatted animals, as silver and gold from the grosser metals. The superiority of Welch mutton and Scotch Beef is owing to a similar cause.”—Ibid., p. 150.

If there is more FAT than you think will be eaten with the meat; cut it off; it will make an excellent PUDDING ([No. 554]); or clarify it, ([No. 84]) and use it for frying: for those who like their meat done thoroughly, and use a moderate fire for roasting, the fat need not be covered with paper.

If your beef is large, and your family small, cut off the thin end and salt it, and cut out and dress the fillet (i. e. commonly called the inside) next day as MOCK HARE ([No. 66*]): thus you get three good hot dinners. See also [No. 483], on made dishes. For SAUCE for cold beef, see [No. 359], cucumber vinegar, [No. 399], and horseradish vinegar, Nos. [399*] and [458].

[123-†] “This joint is often spoiled for the next day’s use, by an injudicious mode of carving. If you object to the outside, take the brown off, and help the next: by the cutting it only on one side, you preserve the gravy in the meat, and the goodly appearance also; by cutting it, on the contrary, down the middle of this joint, all the gravy runs out, it becomes dry, and exhibits a most unseemly aspect when brought to table a second time.”—From Ude’s Cookery, 8vo. 1818, p. 109.

[124-*] Dean Swift’s receipt to roast mutton.

To Geminiani’s beautiful air—“Gently touch the warbling lyre.”

“Gently stir and blow the fire,
Lay the mutton down to roast,
Dress it quickly, I desire,
In the dripping put a toast,
That I hunger may remove;—
Mutton is the meat I love.

“On the dresser see it lie;
Oh! the charming white and red!
Finer meat ne’er met the eye,
On the sweetest grass it fed;
Let the jack go swiftly round,
Let me have it nicely brown’d.

“On the table spread the cloth,
Let the knives be sharp and clean,
Pickles get and salad both,
Let them each be fresh and green.
With small beer, good ale, and wine,
O, ye gods! how I shall dine!”

[124-†] See the [chapter] of ADVICE TO COOKS.

[125-*] Common cooks very seldom brown the ends of necks and loins; to have this done nicely, let the fire be a few inches longer at each end than the joint that is roasting, and occasionally place the spit slanting, so that each end may get sufficient fire; otherwise, after the meat is done, you must take it up, and put the ends before the fire.

[127-*] To MINCE or HASH VEAL see [No. 511], or [511*], and to make a RAGOUT of cold veal, [No. 512].

[131-*] Priscilla Haslehurst, in her Housekeeper’s Instructor, 8vo. Sheffield, 1819, p. 19, gives us a receipt “to goosify a shoulder of lamb.” “Un grand Cuisinier,” informed me that “to lambify” the leg of a porkling is a favourite metamorphosis in the French kitchen, when house lamb is very dear.

[133-*] Mons. Grimod designates this “Animal modeste, ennemi du faste, et le roi des animaux immondes.” Maitland, in p. 758, of vol. ii. of his History of London, reckons that the number of sucking-pigs consumed in the city of London in the year 1725, amounted to 52,000.

[133-†] Some delicately sensitive palates desire the cook to parboil the sage and onions (before they are cut), to soften and take off the rawness of their flavour; the older and drier the onion, the stronger will be its flavour; and the learned Evelyn orders these to be edulcorated by gentle maceration.

[133-‡] An ancient culinary sage says, “When you see a pig’s eyes drop out, you may be satisfied he has had enough of the fire!” This is no criterion that the body of the pig is done enough, but arises merely from the briskness of the fire before the head of it.

[137-*] If you think the flavour of raw onions too strong, cut them in slices, and lay them in cold water for a couple of hours, or add as much apple or potato as you have of onion.

[137-†] Although the whole is rather too luscious for the lingual nerves of the good folks of Great Britain, the livers of poultry are considered a very high relish by our continental neighbours; and the following directions how to procure them in perfection, we copy from the recipe of “un Vieil Amateur de Bonne Chère.”

“The liver of a duck, or a goose, which has submitted to the rules and orders that men of taste have invented for the amusement of his sebaceous glands, is a superlative exquisite to the palate of a Parisian epicure; but, alas! the poor goose, to produce this darling dainty, must endure sad torments. He must be crammed with meat, deprived of drink, and kept constantly before a hot fire: a miserable martyrdom indeed! and would be truly intolerable if his reflections on the consequences of his sufferings did not afford him some consolation; but the glorious prospect of the delightful growth of his liver gives him courage and support; and when he thinks how speedily it will become almost as big as his body, how high it will rank on the list of double relishes, and with what ecstasies it will be eaten by the fanciers “des Foies gras,” he submits to his destiny without a sigh. The famous Strasburg pies are made with livers thus prepared, and sell for an enormous price.”

However incredible this ordonnance for the obesitation of a goose’s liver may appear at first sight, will it not seem equally so to after-ages, that in this enlightened country, in 1821, we encouraged a folly as much greater, as its operation was more universal? Will it be believed, that it was then considered the acme of perfection in beef and mutton, that it should be so over-fattened, that a poor man, to obtain one pound of meat that he could eat, must purchase another which he could not, unless converted into a suet pudding: moreover, that the highest premiums were annually awarded to those who produced sheep and oxen in the most extreme stale of morbid obesity?!!

——“expensive plans
For deluging of dripping-pans.”

[141-*] This, in culinary technicals, is called casing it upon the same principle that “eating, drinking, and sleeping,” are termed non-naturals.

[141-†] Mrs. Charlotte Mason, in her “Complete System of Cookery,” page 283, says, she has “tried all the different things recommended to baste a hare with, and never found any thing so good as small beer;” others order milk; drippings we believe is better than any thing. To roast a hare nicely, so as to preserve the meat on the back, &c. juicy and nutritive, requires as much attention as a sucking-pig.

Instead of washing, a “grand Cuisinier” says, it is much better to wipe a hare with a thin, dry cloth, as so much washing, or indeed washing at all, takes away the flavour.

[142-*] Liver sauce, Nos. [287] and [288].

[142-†] “They are only fit to be eaten when the blood runs from the bill, which is commonly about 6 or 7 days after they have been killed, otherwise it will have no more savour than a common fowl.”—Ude’s Cookery, 8vo. 1819, page 216.

“Gastronomers, who have any sort of aversion to a peculiar taste in game, properly kept, had better abstain from this bird, since it is worse than a common fowl, if not waited for till it acquires the fumet it ought to have. Whole republics of maggots have often been found rioting under the wings of pheasants; but being radically dispersed, and the birds properly washed with vinegar, every thing went right, and every guest, unconscious of the culinary ablutions, enjoyed the excellent flavour of the Phasian birds.”—Tabella Cibaria, p. 55.

[144-*] “This bird has so insinuated itself into the favour of refined gourmands, that they pay it the same honours as the grand Lama, making a ragoût of its excrements, and devouring them with ecstasy.”—Vide Almanach des Gourmands, vol. i. p. 56.

That exercise produces strength and firmness of fibre is excellently well exemplified in the woodcock and the partridge. The former flies most—the latter walks; the wing of the woodcock is always very tough,—of the partridge very tender hence the old doggerel distich,—

“If the partridge had but the woodcock’s thigh,
He’d be the best bird that e’er doth fly.”

The breast of all birds is the most juicy and nutritious part.

---

FRYING.

To clarify Drippings.—(No. 83.)

Put your dripping into a clean sauce-pan over a stove or slow fire; when it is just going to boil, skim it well, let it boil, and then let it stand till it is a little cooled; then pour it through a sieve into a pan.

Obs.—Well-cleansed drippings,[147-*] and the fat skimmings[147-†] of the broth-pot, when fresh and sweet, will baste every thing as well as butter, except game and poultry, and should supply the place of butter for common fries, &c.; for which they are equal to lard, especially if you repeat the clarifying twice over.

N.B. If you keep it in a cool place, you may preserve it a fortnight in summer, and longer in winter. When you have done frying, let the dripping stand a few minutes to settle, and then pour it through a sieve into a clean basin or stone pan, and it will do a second and a third time as well as it did the first; only the fat you have fried fish in must not be used for any other purpose.

To clarify Suet to fry with.—(No. 84.)

Cut beef or mutton suet into thin slices, pick out all the veins and skins, &c., put it into a thick and well-tinned sauce-pan, and set it over a very slow stove, or in an oven, till it is melted; you must not hurry it; if not done very slowly it will acquire a burnt taste, which you cannot get rid of; then strain it through a hair-sieve into a clean brown pan: when quite cold, tie a paper over it, and keep it for use. Hog’s lard is prepared in the same way.

Obs.—The waste occasioned by the present absurd fashion of over-feeding cattle till the fat is nearly equal to the lean, may, by good management, be in some measure prevented, by cutting off the superfluous part, and preparing it as above, or by making it into puddings; see Nos. [551] and [554], or soup, [No. 229].

Steaks.—(No. 85.)

Cut the steaks rather thinner than for broiling. Put some butter, or [No. 83], into an iron frying-pan, and when it is hot, lay in the steaks, and keep turning them till they are done enough. For sauce, see [No. 356], and for the accompaniments, [No. 94].

Obs. Unless the fire be prepared on purpose, we like this way of cooking them; the gravy is preserved, and the meat is more equally dressed, and more evenly browned; which makes it more relishing, and invites the eye to encourage the appetite.

Beef-steaks and Onions.—(No. 86. See also [No. 501].)

Fry the steaks according to the directions given in the preceding receipt; and have ready for them some onions prepared as directed in [No. 299].

For stewed rump-steaks, see Nos. [500] and [501].

Sausages,—(No. 87.)

Are best when quite fresh made. Put a bit of butter, or dripping ([No. 83]), into a clean frying-pan; as soon as it is melted (before it gets hot) put in the sausages, and shake the pan for a minute, and keep turning them (be careful not to break or prick them in so doing); fry them over a very slow fire till they are nicely browned on all sides; when they are done, lay them on a hair-sieve, placed before the fire for a couple of minutes to drain the fat from them. The secret of frying sausages is, to let them get hot very gradually; they then will not burst, if they are not stale.

The common practice to prevent their bursting, is to prick them with a fork; but this lets the gravy out.

You may froth them by rubbing them with cold fresh butter, and lightly dredge them with flour, and put them in a cheese-toaster or Dutch oven for a minute.

Some over-economical cooks insist that no butter or lard, &c. is required, their own fat being sufficient to fry them: we have tried it; the sausages were partially scorched, and had that piebald appearance that all fried things have when sufficient fat is not allowed.

Obs. Poached eggs ([No. 548]), pease-pudding ([No. 555]), and mashed potatoes ([No. 106]) are agreeable accompaniments to sausages; and sausages are as welcome with boiled or roasted poultry or veal, or boiled tripe ([No. 18]); so are ready-dressed German sausages (see [Mem.] to [No. 13]); and a convenient, easily digestible, and invigorating food for the aged, and those whose teeth are defective; as is also [No. 503]. For sauce [No. 356]; to make mustard, Nos. [369] and [370].

N.B. Sausages, when finely chopped, are a delicate “bonne bouche;” and require very little assistance from the teeth to render them quite ready for the stomach.

Sweetbreads full-dressed.—(No. 88.)

Parboil them, and let them get cold; then cut them in pieces, about three-quarters of an inch thick; dip them in the yelk of an egg, then in fine bread-crumbs (some add spice, lemon-peel, and sweet herbs); put some clean dripping ([No. 83]) into a frying-pan: when it boils, put in the sweetbreads, and fry them a fine brown. For garnish, crisp parsley; and for sauce, mushroom catchup and melted butter, or anchovy sauce, or Nos. [356], [343], or [343*], or bacon or ham, as Nos. [526] and [527].

Sweetbreads plain.—(No. 89.)

Parboil and slice them as before, dry them on a clean cloth, flour them, and fry them a delicate brown; take care to drain the fat well from them, and garnish them with slices of lemon, and sprigs of chervil or parsley, or crisp parsley ([No. 318]). For sauce, [No. 356], or [No. 307], and slices of ham or bacon, as [No. 526], or [No. 527], or forcemeat balls made as Nos. [375] and [378].

^*_*^* Take care to have a fresh sweetbread; it spoils sooner than almost any thing, therefore should be parboiled as soon as it comes in. This is called blanching, or setting it; mutton kidneys ([No. 95]) are sometimes broiled and sent up with sweetbreads.

Veal Cutlets.—(No. 90 and [No. 521].)

Let your cutlets be about half an inch thick; trim them, and flatten them with a cleaver; you may fry them in fresh butter, or good drippings ([No. 83]); when brown on one side, turn them and do the other; if the fire is very fierce, they must change sides oftener. The time they will take depends on the thickness of the cutlet and the heat of the fire; half an inch thick will take about fifteen minutes. Make some gravy, by putting the trimmings into a stew-pan with a little soft water, an onion, a roll of lemon-peel, a blade of mace, a sprig of thyme and parsley, and a bay leaf; stew over a slow fire an hour, then strain it; put an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; as soon as it is melted, mix with it as much flour as will dry it up, stir it over the fire for a few minutes, then add the gravy by degrees till it is all mixed, boil it for five minutes, and strain it through a tamis sieve, and put it to the cutlets; you may add some browning ([No. 322]), mushroom ([No. 439]), or walnut catchup, or lemon pickle, &c.: see also sauces, Nos. [343] and [348]. Or,

Cut the veal into pieces about as big as a crown-piece, beat them with a cleaver, dip them in eggs beat up with a little salt, and then in fine bread-crumbs; fry them a light brown in boiling lard; serve under them some good gravy or mushroom sauce ([No. 307]), which may be made in five minutes. Garnish with slices of ham or rashers of bacon (Nos. [526] and [527]), or pork sausages ([No. 87]).

Obs. Veal forcemeat or stuffing (Nos. [374], [375], and [378]), pork sausages ([No. 87]), rashers of bacon (Nos. [526] and [527]), are very relishing accompaniments, fried and sent up in the form of balls or cakes, and laid round as a garnish.

Lamb, or Mutton Chops,—(No. 92.)

Are dressed in the same way, and garnished with crisp parsley ([No. 318]) and slices of lemon.

If they are bread-crumbed and covered with buttered writing-paper, and then broiled, they are called “maintenon cutlets.”

Pork Chops.—(No. 93.)

Cut the chops about half an inch thick; trim them neatly (few cooks have any idea how much credit they get by this); put a frying-pan on the fire, with a bit of butter; as soon as it is hot, put in your chops, turning them often till brown all over, they will be done enough in about fifteen minutes; take one upon a plate and try it; if done, season it with a little finely-minced onion, powdered sage, and pepper and salt. For gravy and sauce, see Nos. [300], [304], [341], and [356].

Obs. A little powdered sage, &c. strewed over them, will give them a nice relish, or the savoury powder in [No. 51], or forcemeat sausages like [No. 378].

Do not have them cut too thick, about three chops to an inch and a quarter; trim them neatly, beat them flat, have ready some sweet herbs, or sage and onion chopped fine, put them in a stew-pan with a bit of butter about as big as a walnut, let them have one fry, beat two eggs on a plate with a little salt, add to them the herbs, mix it all well together, dip the chops in one at a time all over, and then with bread-crumbs fry them in hot lard or drippings till they are a light brown.

Obs. Veal, lamb, or mutton chops, are very good dressed in like manner.

To fry fish, see [No. 145].

N.B. To fry eggs and omelets, and other things, see [No. 545], and the [Index].

[147-*] Mrs. Melroe, in her Economical Cookery, page 7, tells us, she has ascertained from actual experiments, that “the drippings of roast meat, combined with wheat flour, oatmeal, barley, pease, or potato-starch, will make delicious soup, agreeable and savoury to the palate, and nutritive and serviceable to the stomach; and that while a joint is roasting, good soup may be made from the drippings of the FAT, which is the essence of meat, as seeds are of vegetables, and impregnates SOUP with the identical taste of meat.”

“Writers on cookery give strict directions to carefully skim off the fat, and in the next sentence order butter (a much more expensive article) to be added: instead of this, when any fat appears at the top of your soup or stew, do not skim it off, but unite it with the broth by means of the vegetable mucilages, flour, oatmeal, ground barley, or potato-starch; when suspended the soup is equally agreeable to the palate nutritive to the stomach,” &c.

“Cooks bestow a great deal of pains to make gravies; they stew and boil lean meat for hours, and, after all, their cookery tastes more of pepper and salt than any thing else. If they would add the bulk of a chesnut of solid fat to a common-sized sauce-boatful of gravy, it will give it more sapidity than twenty hours’ stewing lean meat would, unless a larger quantity was used than is warranted by the rules of frugality.” See Nos. [205] and [229].

“The experiments of Dr. Stark on the nourishing powers of different substances, go very far to prove that three ounces of the fat of boiled beef are equal to a pound of the lean. Dr. Pages, the traveller, confirms this opinion: ‘Being obliged,’ says he, ‘during the journey from North to South America by land, to live solely on animal food, I experienced the truth of what is observed by hunters, who live solely on animal food, viz. that besides their receiving little nourishment from the leaner parts of it, it soon becomes offensive to the taste; whereas the fat is both more nutritive, and continues to be agreeable to the palate. To many stomachs fat is unpleasant and indigestible, especially when converted into oil by heat; this may be easily prevented, by the simple process of combining the fat completely with water, by the intervention of vegetable mucilage, as in melting butter, by means of flour, the butter and water are united into a homogeneous fluid.’”—From Practical Economy, by a Physician. Callow, 1801.

[147-†] See note at the foot of [No. 201].

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BROILING.

Chops or Steaks.[151-*]—(No. 94.)

To stew them, see [No. 500], ditto with onions, [No. 501].

Those who are nice about steaks, never attempt to have them, except in weather which permits the meat to be hung till it is tender, and give the butcher some days’ notice of their wish for them.

If, friendly reader, you wish to entertain your mouth with a superlative beef-steak, you must have the inside of the sirloin cut into steaks. The next best steaks are those cut from the middle of a rump, that has been killed at least four days in moderate weather, and much longer in cold weather, when they can be cut about six inches long, four inches wide, and half an inch thick: do not beat them, which vulgar trick breaks the cells in which the gravy of the meat is contained, and it becomes dry and tasteless.

N.B. If your butcher sends steaks which are not tender, we do not insist that you should object to let him be beaten.

Desire the butcher to cut them of even thickness; if he does not, divide the thicker from the thinner pieces, and give them time accordingly.

Take care to have a very clear, brisk fire; throw a little salt on it; make the gridiron hot, and set it slanting, to prevent the fat from dropping into the fire, and making a smoke. It requires more practice and care than is generally supposed to do steaks to a nicety; and for want of these little attentions, this very common dish, which every body is supposed capable of dressing, seldom comes to table in perfection.

Ask those you cook for, if they like it under, or thoroughly done; and what accompaniments they like best; it is usual to put a table-spoonful of catchup ([No. 439]), or a little minced eschalot, or [No. 402], into a dish before the fire; while you are broiling, turn the steak, &c. with a pair of steak-tongs, it will be done in about ten or fifteen minutes; rub a bit of butter over it, and send it up garnished with pickles and finely-scraped horse-radish. Nos. [135], [278], [299], [255], [402], [423], [439], and [356], are the sauces usually composed for chops and steaks.

N.B. Macbeth’s receipt for beef-steaks is the best—

——“when ’t is done, ’t were well
If ’t were done quickly.”

Obs. “Le véritable BIFTECK, comme il se fait en Angleterre,” as Mons. Beauvilliers calls (in his l’Art du Cuisinier, tom. i. 8vo. Paris, 1814, p. 122) what he says we call “romesteck,” is as highly esteemed by our French neighbours, as their “ragoûts” are by our countrymen, who

——“post to Paris go,
Merely to taste their soups, and mushrooms know.”
King’s Art of Cookery, p. 79.

These lines were written before the establishment of Albion house, Aldersgate Street, where every luxury that nature and art produce is served of the primest quality, and in the most scientific manner, in a style of princely magnificence and perfect comfort: the wines, liqueurs, &c. are superlative, and every department of the business of the banquet is conducted in the most liberal manner.

The French author whom we have before so often quoted, assures les amateurs de bonne chère on the other side of the water, it is well worth their while to cross the channel to taste this favourite English dish, which, when “mortifiée à son point” and well dressed, he says, is superior to most of the subtle double relishes of the Parisian kitchen. Almanach des Gourmands, vol. i. p. 27.

Beef is justly accounted the most nutritious animal food, and is entitled to the same rank among solid, that brandy is among liquid stimuli.

The celebrated Trainer, Sir Thomas Parkyns, of Bunny Park, Bart., in his book on Wrestling, 4to. 3d edit. 1727, p. 10, &c., greatly prefers beef-eaters to sheep-biters, as he called those who ate mutton.

When Humphries the pugilist was trained by Ripsham, the keeper of Ipswich jail, he was at first fed on beef, but got so much flesh, it was changed for mutton, roasted or broiled: when broiled, great part of the nutritive juices of the meat is extracted.

The principles upon which training[153-*] is conducted, resolve themselves into temperance without abstemiousness, and exercise without fatigue.

Kidneys.—(No. 95.)

Cut them through the long way, score them, sprinkle a little pepper and salt on them, and run a wire skewer through them to keep them from curling on the gridiron, so that they may be evenly broiled.

Broil them over a very clear fire, turning them often till they are done; they will take about ten or twelve minutes, if the fire is brisk: or fry them in butter, and make gravy for them in the pan (after you have taken out the kidneys), by putting in a tea-spoonful of flour; as soon as it looks brown, put in as much water as will make gravy; they will take five minutes more to fry than to broil. For sauce, Nos. [318], [355], and [356].

Obs. Some cooks chop a few parsley-leaves very fine, and mix them with a bit of fresh butter and a little pepper and salt, and put a little of this mixture on each kidney.

A Fowl or Rabbit, &c.—(No. 97.)

We can only recommend this method of dressing when the fire is not good enough for roasting.

Pick and truss it the same as for boiling, cut it open down the back, wipe the inside clean with a cloth, season it with a little pepper and salt, have a clear fire, and set the gridiron at a good distance over it, lay the chicken on with the inside towards the fire (you may egg it and strew some grated bread over it), and broil it till it is a fine brown: take care the fleshy side is not burned. Lay it on a hot dish; pickled mushrooms, or mushroom sauce ([No. 305]), thrown over it, or parsley and butter ([No. 261]), or melted butter flavoured with mushroom catchup ([No. 307]).

Garnish it with slices of lemon; and the liver and gizzard slit and notched, seasoned with pepper and salt, and broiled nicely brown, with some slices of lemon. For grill sauce, see [No. 355].

N.B. “It was a great mode, and taken up by the court party in Oliver Cromwell’s time, to roast half capons, pretending they had a more exquisite taste and nutriment than when dressed whole.” See Joan Cromwell’s Kitchen, London, 1664, page 39.

Pigeons,—(No. 98.)

To be worth the trouble of picking, must be well grown, and well fed.

Clean them well, and pepper and salt them; broil them over a clear, slow fire; turn them often, and put a little butter on them: when they are done, pour over them, either stewed ([No. 305]) or pickled mushrooms, or catchup and melted butter ([No. 307], or [No. 348] or [355]).

Garnish with fried bread-crumbs or sippets ([No. 319]): or, when the pigeons are trussed as for boiling, flat them with a cleaver, taking care not to break the skin of the backs or breasts. Season them with pepper and salt, a little bit of butter, and a tea-spoonful of water, and tie them close at both ends; so that when they are brought to table, they bring their sauce with them. Egg and dredge them well with grated bread (mixed with spice and sweet herbs, if you please); then lay them on the gridiron, and turn them frequently: if your fire is not very clear, lay them on a sheet of paper well buttered, to keep them from getting smoked. They are much better broiled whole.

The same sauce as in the preceding receipt, or [No. 343] or [348].

Veal Cutlets ([No. 521] and [No. 90]). Pork Chops ([No. 93]).

[151-*] The season for these is from the 29th of September to the 25th of March; to ensure their being tender when out of season, STEW THEM as in receipt [No. 500].

TO WARM UP COLD RUMP-STEAKS.

Lay them in a stew-pan, with one large onion cut in quarters, six berries of allspice, the same of black pepper, cover the steaks with boiling water, let them stew gently one hour, thicken the liquor with flour and butter rubbed together on a plate; if a pint of gravy, about one ounce of flour, and the like weight of butter, will do; put it into the stew-pan, shake it well over the fire for five minutes, and it is ready; lay the steaks and onions on a dish and pour the gravy through a sieve over them.

[153-*] See “The Art of Invigorating and Prolonging Life,” by the editor of “The Cook’s Oracle.” Published by G. B. Whittaker, No. 13, Ave-Maria Lane.

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VEGETABLES.

Sixteen Ways of dressing Potatoes.[155-*]—(No. 102.)

The vegetable kingdom affords no food more wholesome, more easily procured, easily prepared, or less expensive, than the potato: yet, although this most useful vegetable is dressed almost every day, in almost every family, for one plate of potatoes that comes to table as it should, ten are spoiled.

Be careful in your choice of potatoes: no vegetable varies so much in colour, size, shape, consistence, and flavour.

The reddish-coloured are better than the white, but the yellowish-looking ones are the best. Choose those of a moderate size, free from blemishes, and fresh, and buy them in the mould. They must not be wetted till they are cleaned to be cooked. Protect them from the air and frost, by laying them in heaps in a cellar, covering them with mats, or burying them in sand or in earth. The action of frost is most destructive: if it be considerable, the life of the vegetable is destroyed, and the potato speedily rots.

Wash them, but do not pare or cut them, unless they are very large. Fill a sauce-pan half full of potatoes of equal size[155-†] (or make them so by dividing the larger ones), put to them as much cold water as will cover them about an inch: they are sooner boiled, and more savoury, than when drowned in water. Most boiled things are spoiled by having too little water, but potatoes are often spoiled by too much: they must merely be covered, and a little allowed for waste in boiling, so that they may be just covered at the finish.

Set them on a moderate fire till they boil; then take them off, and put them by the side of the fire to simmer slowly till they are soft enough to admit a fork (place no dependence on the usual test of their skins’ cracking, which, if they are boiled fast, will happen to some potatoes when they are not half done, and the insides quite hard). Then pour the water off (if you let the potatoes remain in the water a moment after they are done enough, they will become waxy and watery), uncover the sauce-pan, and set it at such a distance from the fire as will secure it from burning; their superfluous moisture will evaporate, and the potatoes will be perfectly dry and mealy.

You may afterward place a napkin, folded up to the size of the sauce-pan’s diameter, over the potatoes, to keep them hot and mealy till wanted.

Obs.—This method of managing potatoes is in every respect equal to steaming them; and they are dressed in half the time.

There is such an infinite variety of sorts and sizes of potatoes, that it is impossible to say how long they will take doing: the best way is to try them with a fork. Moderate-sized potatoes will generally be done enough in fifteen or twenty minutes. See [Obs.] to [No. 106].

Cold Potatoes fried.—(No. 102*.)

Put a bit of clean dripping into a frying-pan: when it is melted, slice in your potatoes with a little pepper and salt; put them on the fire; keep stirring them: when they are quite hot, they are ready.

Obs.—This is a very good way of re-dressing potatoes, or see [No. 106].

Potatoes boiled and broiled.—(No. 103.)

Dress your potatoes as before directed, and put them on a gridiron over a very clear and brisk fire: turn them till they are brown all over, and send them up dry, with melted butter in a cup.

Potatoes fried in Slices or Shavings.—(No. 104.)

Peel large potatoes; slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or cut them in shavings round and round, as you would peel a lemon; dry them well in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping. Take care that your fat and frying-pan are quite clean; put it on a quick fire, watch it, and as soon as the lard boils, and is still, put in the slices of potato, and keep moving them till they are crisp. Take them up, and lay them to drain on a sieve: send them up with a very little salt sprinkled over them.

Potatoes fried whole.—(No. 105.)

When nearly boiled enough, as directed in [No. 102], put them into a stew-pan with a bit of butter, or some nice clean beef-drippings; shake them about often (for fear of burning them), till they are brown and crisp; drain them from the fat.

Obs.—It will be an elegant improvement to the last three receipts, previous to frying or broiling the potatoes, to flour them and dip them in the yelk of an egg, and then roll them in fine-sifted bread-crumbs; they will then deserve to be called POTATOES FULL DRESSED.

Potatoes mashed.—(No. 106. See also [No. 112].)

When your potatoes are thoroughly boiled, drain them quite dry, pick out every speck, &c., and while hot, rub them through a colander into a clean stew-pan. To a pound of potatoes put about half an ounce of butter, and a table-spoonful of milk: do not make them too moist; mix them well together.

Obs.—After Lady-day, when the potatoes are getting old and specky, and in frosty weather, this is the best way of dressing them. You may put them into shapes or small tea-cups; egg them with yelk of egg, and brown them very slightly before a slow fire. See [No. 108].

Potatoes mashed with Onions.—(No. 107.)

Prepare some boiled onions by putting them through a sieve, and mix them with potatoes. In proportioning the onions to the potatoes, you will be guided by your wish to have more or less of their flavour.

Obs.—See [note] under [No. 555].

Potatoes escalloped.—(No. 108.)

Mash potatoes as directed in [No. 106]; then butter some nice clean scollop-shells, patty-pans, or tea-cups or saucers; put in your potatoes; make them smooth at the top; cross a knife over them; strew a few fine bread-crumbs on them; sprinkle them with a paste-brush with a few drops of melted butter, and then set them in a Dutch oven; when they are browned on the top, take them carefully out of the shells and brown the other side.

Colcannon.—(No. 108*.)

Boil potatoes and greens, or spinage, separately; mash the potatoes; squeeze the greens dry; chop them quite fine, and mix them with the potatoes, with a little butter, pepper, and salt; put it into a mould, buttering it well first; let it stand in a hot oven for ten minutes.

Potatoes roasted.—(No. 109.)

Wash and dry your potatoes (all of a size), and put them in a tin Dutch oven, or cheese-toaster: take care not to put them too near the fire, or they will get burned on the outside before they are warmed through.

Large potatoes will require two hours to roast them.

N.B. To save time and trouble, some cooks half boil them first.

This is one of the best opportunities the BAKER has to rival the cook.

Potatoes roasted under Meat.—(No. 110.)

Half boil large potatoes, drain the water from them, and put them into an earthen dish, or small tin pan, under meat that is roasting, and baste them with some of the dripping: when they are browned on one side, turn them and brown the other; send them up round the meat, or in a small dish.

Potato Balls.—(No. 111.)

Mix mashed potatoes with the yelk of an egg; roll them into balls; flour them, or egg and bread-crumb them; and fry them in clean drippings, or brown them in a Dutch oven.

Potato Balls Ragoût,—(No. 112.)

Are made by adding to a pound of potatoes a quarter of a pound of grated ham, or some sweet herbs, or chopped parsley, an onion or eschalot, salt, pepper, and a little grated nutmeg, or other spice, with the yelk of a couple of eggs: they are then to be dressed as [No. 111].

Obs.—An agreeable vegetable relish, and a good supper-dish.

Potato Snow.—(No. 114.)

The potatoes must be free from spots, and the whitest you can pick out; put them on in cold water; when they begin to crack strain the water from them, and put them into a clean stew-pan by the side of the fire till they are quite dry, and fall to pieces; rub them through a wire sieve on the dish they are to be sent up in, and do not disturb them afterward.

Potato Pie.—(No. 115.)

Peel and slice your potatoes very thin into a pie-dish; between each layer of potatoes put a little chopped onion (three-quarters of an ounce of onion is sufficient for a pound of potatoes); between each layer sprinkle a little pepper and salt; put in a little water, and cut about two ounces of fresh butter into little bits, and lay them on the top: cover it close with puff paste. It will take about an hour and a half to bake it.

N.B. The yelks of four eggs (boiled hard) may be added; and when baked, a table-spoonful of good mushroom catchup poured in through a funnel.

Obs.—Cauliflowers divided into mouthfuls, and button onions, seasoned with curry powder, &c. make a favourite vegetable pie.

New Potatoes.—(No. 116.)

The best way to clean new potatoes is to rub them with a coarse cloth or flannel, a or scrubbing-brush, and proceed as in [No. 102].

N.B. New potatoes are poor, watery, and insipid, till they are full two inches in diameter: they are not worth the trouble of boiling before midsummer day.

Obs.—Some cooks prepare sauces to pour over potatoes, made with butter, salt, and pepper, or gravy, or melted butter and catchup; or stew the potatoes in ale, or water seasoned with pepper and salt; or bake them with herrings or sprats, mixed with layers of potatoes, seasoned with pepper, salt, sweet herbs, vinegar, and water; or cut mutton or beef into slices, and lay them in a stew-pan, and on them potatoes and spices, then another layer of the meat alternately, pouring in a little water, covering it up very close, and slewing slowly.

Potato mucilage (a good substitute for arrow-root), [No. 448].[159-*]

Jerusalem Artichokes,—(No. 117.)

Are boiled and dressed in the various ways we have just before directed for potatoes.

N.B. They should be covered with thick melted butter, or a nice white or brown sauce.

Cabbage.—(No. 118.)

Pick cabbages very clean, and wash them thoroughly; then look them over carefully again; quarter them if they are very large. Put them into a sauce-pan with plenty of boiling water; if any scum rises, take it off; put a large spoonful of salt into the sauce-pan, and boil them till the stalks feel tender. A young cabbage will take about twenty minutes or half an hour; when full grown, near an hour: see that they are well covered with water all the time, and that no smoke or dirt arises from stirring the fire. With careful management, they will look as beautiful when dressed as they did when growing.

Obs.—Some cooks say, that it will much ameliorate the flavour of strong old cabbages to boil them in two waters; i. e. when they are half done, to take them out, and put them directly into another sauce-pan of boiling water, instead of continuing them in the water into which they were first put.

Boiled Cabbage fried.—(No. 119.)

See receipt for [Bubble and Squeak].

Savoys,—(No. 120.)

Are boiled in the same manner; quarter them when you send them to table.

Sprouts and young Greens.—(No. 121.)

The receipt we have written for cabbages will answer as well for sprouts, only they will be boiled enough in fifteen or twenty minutes.

Spinage.—(No. 122.)

Spinage should be picked a leaf at a time, and washed in three or four waters; when perfectly clean, lay it on a sieve or colander, to drain the water from it.

Put a sauce-pan on the fire three parts filled with water, and large enough for the spinage to float in it; put a small handful of salt in it; let it boil; skim it, and then put in the spinage; make it boil as quick as possible till quite tender, pressing the spinage down frequently that it may be done equally; it will be done enough in about ten minutes, if boiled in plenty of water: if the spinage is a little old, give it a few minutes longer. When done, strain it on the back of a sieve; squeeze it dry with a plate, or between two trenchers; chop it fine, and put it into a stew-pan with a bit of butter and a little salt: a little cream is a great improvement, or instead of either some rich gravy. Spread it in a dish, and score it into squares of proper size to help at table.

Obs.—Grated nutmeg, or mace, and a little lemon-juice, is a favourite addition with some cooks, and is added when you stir it up in the stew-pan with the butter garnished. Spinage is frequently served with poached eggs and fried bread.

Asparagus.—(No. 123.)

Set a stew-pan with plenty of water in it on the fire; sprinkle a handful of salt in it; let it boil, and skim it; then put in your asparagus, prepared thus: scrape all the stalks till they are perfectly clean; throw them into a pan of cold water as you scrape them; when they are all done, tie them up in little bundles, of about a quarter of a hundred each, with bass, if you can get it, or tape (string cuts them to pieces); cut off the stalks at the bottom that they may be all of a length, leaving only just enough to serve as a handle for the green part; when they are tender at the stalk, which will be in from twenty to thirty minutes, they are done enough. Great care must be taken to watch the exact time of their becoming tender; take them up just at that instant, and they will have their true flavour and colour: a minute or two more boiling destroys both.

While the asparagus is boiling, toast a round of a quartern loaf, about half an inch thick; brown it delicately on both sides; dip it lightly in the liquor the asparagus was boiled in, and lay it in the middle of a dish: melt some butter ([No. 256]); then lay in the asparagus upon the toast, which must project beyond the asparagus, that the company may see there is a toast.

Pour no butter over them, but send some up in a boat, or white sauce ([No. 2 of No. 364]).

Sea Kale,—(No. 124.)

Is tied up in bundles, and dressed in the same way as asparagus.

Cauliflower.—(No. 125.)

Choose those that are close and white, and of the middle size; trim off the outside leaves; cut the stalk off flat at the bottom; let them lie in salt and water an hour before you boil them.

Put them into boiling water with a handful of salt in it; skim it well, and let it boil slowly till done, which a small one will be in fifteen, a large one in about twenty minutes; take it up the moment it is enough, a minute or two longer boiling will spoil it.

N.B. Cold cauliflowers and French beans, carrots and turnips, boiled so as to eat rather crisp, are sometimes dressed as a salad ([No. 372] or [453]).

Broccoli.—(No. 126.)

Set a pan of clean cold water on the table, and a saucepan on the fire with plenty of water, and a handful of salt in it.

Broccoli is prepared by stripping off all the side shoots, leaving the top; peel off the skin of the stalk with a knife; cut it close off at the bottom, and put it into the pan of cold water.

When the water in the stew-pan boils, and the broccoli is ready, put it in; let it boil briskly till the stalks feel tender, from ten to twenty minutes; take it up with a slice, that you may not break it; let it drain, and serve up.

If some of the heads of broccoli are much bigger than the others, put them on to boil first, so that they may get all done together.

Obs.—It makes a nice supper-dish served upon a toast, like asparagus. It is a very delicate vegetable, and you must take it up the moment it is done, and send it to table hot.

Red Beet-roots,—(No. 127.)

Are not so much used as they deserve; they are dressed in the same way as parsnips, only neither scraped nor cut till after they are boiled; they will take from an hour and a half to three hours in boiling, according to their size: to be sent to table with salt fish, boiled beef, &c. When young, large, and juicy, it is a very good variety, an excellent garnish, and easily converted into a very cheap and pleasant pickle.

Parsnips,—(No. 128.)

Are to be cooked just in the same manner as carrots. They require more or less time according to their size; therefore match them in size: and you must try them by thrusting a fork into them as they are in the water; when that goes easily through, they are done enough. Boil them from an hour to two hours, according to their size and freshness.

Obs. Parsnips are sometimes sent up mashed in the same way as turnips, and some cooks quarter them before they boil them.[163-*]

Carrots.—(No. 129.)

Let them be well washed and brushed, not scraped. An hour is enough for young spring carrots; grown carrots must be cut in half, and will take from an hour and a half to two hours and a half. When done, rub off the peels with a clean coarse cloth, and slice them in two or four, according to their size. The best way to try if they are done enough, is to pierce them with a fork.

Obs. Many people are fond of cold carrot with cold beef; ask if you shall cook enough for some to be left to send up with the cold meat.

Turnips.—(No. 130.)

Peel off half an inch of the stringy outside. Full-grown turnips will take about an hour and a half gentle boiling; if you slice them, which most people do, they will be done sooner; try them with a fork; when tender, take them up, and lay them on a sieve till the water is thoroughly drained from them. Send them up whole; do not slice them.

N.B. To very young turnips leave about two inches of the green top. See [No. 132].

To mash Turnips.—(No. 131.)

When they are boiled quite tender, squeeze them as dry as possible between two trenchers; put them into a saucepan; mash them with a wooden spoon, and rub them through a colander; add a little bit of butter; keep stirring them till the butter is melted and well mixed with them, and they are ready for table.

Turnip-tops,—(No. 132.)

Are the shoots which grow out (in the spring) of the old turnip-roots. Put them into cold water an hour before they are to be dressed; the more water they are boiled in, the better they will look; if boiled in a small quantity of water they will taste bitter: when the water boils, put in a small handful of salt, and then your vegetables; if fresh and young, they will be done in about twenty minutes; drain them on the back of a sieve.

French Beans.—(No. 133.)

Cut off the stalk end first, and then turn to the point and strip off the strings. If not quite fresh, have a bowl of spring-water, with a little salt dissolved in it, standing before you, and as the beans are cleaned and stringed, throw them in. When all are done, put them on the fire in boiling water, with some salt in it; after they have boiled fifteen or twenty minutes, take one out and taste it; as soon as they are tender take them up; throw them into a colander or sieve to drain.

To send up the beans whole is much the best method when they are thus young, and their delicate flavour and colour are much better preserved. When a little more grown, they must be cut across in two after stringing; and for common tables they are split, and divided across; cut them all the same length; but those who are nice never have them at such a growth as to require splitting.

When they are very large they look pretty cut into lozenges.

Obs. See [N.B.] to [No. 125].

Green Pease.[164-*]—(No. 134.)

Young green pease, well dressed, are among the most delicious delicacies of the vegetable kingdom. They must be young; it is equally indispensable that they be fresh gathered, and cooked as soon as they are shelled for they soon lose both their colour and sweetness.

If you wish to feast upon pease in perfection, you must have them gathered the same day they are dressed, and put on to boil within half an hour after they are shelled.

Pass them through a riddle, i. e. a coarse sieve, which is made for the purpose of separating them. This precaution is necessary, for large and small pease cannot be boiled together, as the former will take more time than the latter.

For a peck of pease, set on a sauce-pan with a gallon of water in it; when it boils, put in your pease, with a table-spoonful of salt; skim it well, keep them boiling quick from twenty to thirty minutes, according to their age and size. The best way to judge of their being done enough, and indeed the only way to make sure of cooking them to, and not beyond, the point of perfection, or, as pea-eaters say, of “boiling them to a bubble,” is to take them out with a spoon and taste them.

When they are done enough, drain them on a hair-sieve. If you like them buttered, put them into a pie-dish, divide some butter into small bits, and lay them on the pease; put another dish over them, and turn them over and over; this will melt the butter through them; but as all people do not like buttered pease, you had better send them to table plain, as they come out of the sauce-pan, with melted butter ([No. 256]) in a sauce-tureen. It is usual to boil some mint with the pease; but if you wish to garnish the pease with mint, boil a few sprigs in a sauce-pan by themselves. See Sage and Onion Sauce ([No. 300]), and Pea Powder ([No. 458]); to boil Bacon ([No. 13]), Slices of Ham and Bacon ([No. 526]), and Relishing Rashers of Bacon ([No. 527]).

N.B. A peck of young pease will not yield more than enough for a couple of hearty pea-eaters; when the pods are full, it may serve for three.

Mem. Never think of purchasing pease ready-shelled, for the cogent reasons assigned in the first part of this receipt.

Cucumbers stewed.—(No. 135.)

Peel and cut cucumbers in quarters, take out the seeds, and lay them on a cloth to drain off the water: when they are dry, flour and fry them in fresh butter; let the butter be quite hot before you put in the cucumbers; fry them till they are brown, then take them out with an egg-slice, and lay them on a sieve to drain the fat from them (some cooks fry sliced onions, or some small button onions, with them, till they are a delicate light-brown colour, drain them from the fat, and then put them into a stew-pan with as much gravy as will cover them): stew slowly till they are tender; take out the cucumbers with a slice, thicken the gravy with flour and butter, give it a boil up, season it with pepper and salt, and put in the cucumbers; as soon as they are warm, they are ready.

The above, rubbed through a tamis, or fine sieve, will be entitled to be called “cucumber sauce.” See [No. 399], Cucumber Vinegar. This is a very favourite sauce with lamb or mutton-cutlets, stewed rump-steaks, &c. &c.: when made for the latter, a third part of sliced onion is sometimes fried with the cucumber.[166-*]

Artichokes.—(No. 136.)

Soak them in cold water, wash them well, then put them into plenty of boiling water, with a handful of salt, and let them boil gently till they are tender, which will take an hour and a half, or two hours: the surest way to know when they are done enough, is to draw out a leaf; trim them and drain them on a sieve; and send up melted butter with them, which some put into small cups, so that each guest may have one.

Stewed Onions.—(No. 137.)

The large Portugal onions are the best: take off the top-coats of half a dozen of these (taking care not to cut off the tops or tails too near, or the onions will go to pieces), and put them into a stew-pan broad enough to hold them without laying them atop of one another, and just cover them with good broth.

Put them over a slow fire, and let them simmer about two hours; when you dish them, turn them upside down, and pour the sauce over.

Young onions stewed, see [No. 296].

Salads.—(No. 138*, also [No. 372]).

Those who desire to see this subject elaborately illustrated, we refer to “Evelyn’s Acetaria,” a discourse of Sallets, a 12mo. of 240 pages. London, 1699.

Mr. E. gives us “an account of seventy-two herbs proper and fit to make sallet with;” and a table of thirty-five, telling their seasons and proportions. “In the composure of a sallet, every plant should come in to bear its part, like the notes in music: thus the comical Master Cook introduced by Damoxenus, when asked, ‘what harmony there was in meats?’ ‘the very same,’ says he, ‘as the 3d, 5th, and 8th have to one another in music: the main skill lies in this, not to mingle’ (‘sapores minimè consentientes’). ‘Tastes not well joined, inelegant,’ as our Paradisian bard directs Eve, when dressing a sallet for her angelical guest, in Milton’s Paradise Lost.”

He gives the following receipt for the oxoleon:—

“Take of clear and perfectly good oyl-olive three parts; of sharpest vinegar (sweetest of all condiments, for it incites appetite, and causes hunger, which is the best sauce), limon, or juice of orange, one part; and therein let steep some slices of horseradish, with a little salt. Some, in a separate vinegar, gently bruise a pod of Ginny pepper, and strain it to the other; then add as much mustard as will lie upon a half-crown piece. Beat and mingle these well together with the yelk of two new-laid eggs boiled hard, and pour it over your sallet, stirring it well together. The super-curious insist that the knife with which sallet herb is cut must be of silver. Some who are husbands of their oyl, pour at first the oyl alone, as more apt to communicate and diffuse its slipperiness, than when it is mingled and beaten with the acids, which they pour on last of all; and it is incredible how small a quantity of oyl thus applied is sufficient to imbue a very plentiful assembly of sallet herbs.”

Obs. Our own directions to prepare and dress salads will be found under [No. 372].

[155-*] “Next to bread, there is no vegetable article, the preparation of which, as food, deserves to be more attended to, than the potato.”—Sir John Sinclair’s Code of Health, vol. i. p. 354.

“By the analysis of potato, it appears that 16 ounces contained 11 1/2 ounces of water, and the 4 1/2 ounces of solid parts remaining, afforded scarce a drachm of earth.”—Parmentier’s Obs. on Nutritive Vegetables, 8vo. 1783, p. 112.

[155-†] Or the small ones will be done to pieces before the large ones are boiled enough.

[159-*] Sweet potatoes, otherwise called Carolina potatoes, are the roots of the Convolvulus batatas, a plant peculiar to and principally cultivated in America. It delights in a warm climate, but is raised in Connecticut, New-York, and all the states of the Union south of New-York. It is an excellent vegetable for the dinner-table, and is brought on boiled. It has an advantage over common potatoes, as it may be eaten cold; and it is sometimes cut into thin slices and brought to the tea-table, as a delicate relish, owing to its agreeable nutritious sweetness. A.

[163-*] After parsnips are boiled, they should be put into the frying-pan and browned a little. Some people do not admire this vegetable, on account of its sickish sweetness. It is, however, a wholesome, cheap, and nourishing vegetable, best calculated for the table in winter and spring. Its sweetness may be modified by mashing with a few potatoes. A.

[164-*] These, and all other fruits and vegetables, &c., by Mr. Appert’s plan, it is said, may be preserved for twelve months. See Appert’s Book, 12mo. 1812. We have eaten of several specimens of preserved pease, which looked pretty enough,—but flavour they had none at all.

[166-*] Cucumbers may be cut into quarters and boiled like asparagus, and served up with toasted bread and melted butter. This is a most delicate way of preparing cucumbers for the dinner-table, and they are a most luscious article, and so rich and savoury that a small quantity will suffice.

The ordinary method of cutting cucumbers into slices with raw onions, served up in vinegar, and seasoned with salt and pepper, is most vulgar and most unwholesome. In their season they are cheap and plenty; and as they are crude and unripe they require the stomach of an ostrich to digest them. They cause much sickness in their season, creating choleras, cramps, and dysenteries. If stewed or boiled as above directed, they would be more nutritious and wholesome. A.

---

FISH.

See [Obs.] on Codfish after [No. 149].

Turbot to boil.—(No. 140).

This excellent fish is in season the greatest part of the summer; when good, it is at once firm and tender, and abounds with rich gelatinous nutriment.

Being drawn, and washed clean, if it be quite fresh, by rubbing it lightly with salt, and keeping it in a cold place, you may in moderate weather preserve it for a couple of days.[168-*]

An hour or two before you dress it, soak it in spring-water with some salt in it, then score the skin across the thickest part of the back, to prevent its breaking on the breast, which will happen from the fish swelling, and cracking the skin, if this precaution be not used. Put a large handful of salt into a fish-kettle with cold water, lay your fish on a fish-strainer, put it in, and when it is coming to a boil, skim it well; then set the kettle on the side of the fire, to boil as gently as possible for about fifteen or twenty minutes (if it boils fast, the fish will break to pieces); supposing it a middling-sized turbot, and to weigh eight or nine pounds.

Rub a little of the inside red coral spawn of the lobster through a hair sieve, without butter; and when the turbot is dished, sprinkle the spawn over it. Garnish the dish with sprigs of curled parsley, sliced lemon, and finely-scraped horseradish.

If you like to send it to table in full dress, surround it with nicely-fried smelts ([No. 173]), gudgeons are often used for this purpose, and may be bought very cheap when smelts are very dear; lay the largest opposite the broadest part of the turbot, so that they may form a well-proportioned fringe for it; or oysters ([No. 183*]); or cut a sole in strips, crossways, about the size of a smelt; fry them as directed in [No. 145], and lay them round. Send up lobster sauce ([No. 284]); two boats of it, if it is for a large party.

N.B. Cold turbot, with [No. 372] for sauce; or take off the fillets that are left as soon as the turbot returns from table, and they will make a side dish for your next dinner, warmed in [No. 364—2].

Obs. The thickest part is the favourite; and the carver of this fish must remember to ask his friends if they are fin-fanciers. It will save a troublesome job to the carver, if the cook, when the fish is boiled, cuts the spine-bone across the middle.

A Brill,—(No. 143.)

Is dressed the same way as a turbot.

Soles to boil.—(No. 144.)

A fine, fresh, thick sole is almost as good eating as a turbot.

Wash and clean it nicely; put it into a fish-kettle with a handful of salt, and as much cold water as will cover it; set it on the side of the fire, take off the scum as it rises, and let it boil gently; about five minutes (according to its size) will be long enough, unless it be very large. Send it up on a fish-drainer, garnished with slices of lemon and sprigs of curled parsley, or nicely-fried smelts ([No. 173]), or oysters ([No. 183]).

Obs. Slices of lemon are a universally acceptable garnish with either fried or broiled fish: a few sprigs of crisp parsley may be added, if you wish to make it look very smart; and parsley, or fennel and butter, are excellent sauces (see Nos. [261] and [265]), or chervil sauce ([No. 264]), anchovy ([No. 270]).

N.B. Boiled soles are very good warmed up like eels, Wiggy’s way ([No. 164]), or covered with white sauce ([No. 364—2]; and see [No. 158]).

Soles, or other Fish, to fry.—(No. 145.)

Soles are generally to be procured good from some part of the coast, as some are going out of season, and some coming in, both at the same time; a great many are brought in well-boats alive, that are caught off Dover and Folkstone, and some are brought from the same places by land-carriage. The finest soles are caught off Plymouth, near the Eddystone, and all the way up the channel, and to Torbay; and frequently weigh eight or ten pounds per pair: they are generally brought by water to Portsmouth, and thence by land; but the greatest quantity are caught off Yarmouth and the Knole, and off the Forelands.

Be sure they are quite fresh, or the cleverest cook cannot make them either look or eat well.

An hour before you intend to dress them, wash them thoroughly, and wrap them in a clean cloth, to make them perfectly dry, or the bread-crumbs will not stick to them.

Prepare some bread-crumbs,[170-*] by rubbing some stale bread through a colander; or, if you wish the fish to appear very delicate and highly-finished, through a hair-sieve; or use biscuit powder.

Beat the yelk and white of an egg well together, on a plate, with a fork; flour your fish, to absorb any moisture that may remain, and wipe it off with a clean cloth; dip them in the egg on both sides all over, or, what is better, egg them with a paste-brush; put the egg on in an even degree over the whole fish, or the bread-crumbs will not stick to it even, and the uneven part will burn to the pan. Strew the bread-crumbs all over the fish, so that they cover every part, take up the fish by the head, and shake off the loose crumbs. The fish is now ready for the frying-pan.

Put a quart or more of fresh sweet olive-oil, or clarified butter ([No. 259]), dripping ([No. 83]), lard,[170-†] or clarified drippings ([No. 83]); be sure they are quite sweet and perfectly clean (the fat ought to cover the fish): what we here order is for soles about ten inches long; if larger, cut them into pieces the proper size to help at table; this will save much time and trouble to the carver: when you send them to table, lay them in the same form they were before they were cut, and you may strew a little curled parsley over them: they are much easier managed in the frying-pan, and require less fat: fry the thick part a few minutes before you put in the thin, you can by this means only fry the thick part enough, without frying the thin too much. Very large soles should be boiled ([No. 144]), or fried in fillets ([No. 147]). Soles cut in pieces, crossways, about the size of a smelt, make a very pretty garnish for stewed fish and boiled fish.

Set the frying-pan over a sharp and clear fire; watch it, skim it with an egg-slice, and when it boils,[170-‡] i. e. when it has done bubbling, and the smoke just begins to rise from the surface, put in the fish: if the fat is not extremely hot, it is impossible to fry fish of a good colour, or to keep them firm and crisp. (Read the [3d chapter] of the Rudiments of Cookery.)

The best way to ascertain the heat of the fat, is to try it with a bit of bread as big as a nut; if it is quite hot enough, the bread will brown immediately. Put in the fish, and it will be crisp and brown on the side next the fire, in about four or five minutes; to turn it, stick a two-pronged fork near the head, and support the tail with a fish-slice, and fry the other side nearly the same length of time.

Fry one sole at a time, except the pan is very large, and you have plenty of fat.

When the fish are fried, lay them on a soft cloth (old tablecloths are best), near enough the fire to keep them warm; turn them every two or three minutes, till they are quite dry on both sides; this common cooks commonly neglect. It will take ten or fifteen minutes,[171-*] if the fat you fried them in was not hot enough; when it is, they want very little drying. When soles are fried, they will keep very good in a dry place for three or four days; warm them by hanging them on the hooks in a Dutch oven, letting them heat very gradually, by putting it some distance from the fire for about twenty minutes, or in good gravy, as eels, Wiggy’s way (Nos. [164], [299], [337], or [356]).

Obs. There are several general rules in this receipt which apply to all fried fish: we have been very particular and minute in our directions; for, although a fried sole is so frequent and favourite a dish, it is very seldom brought to table in perfection.[171-†]

Soles to stew.—(No. 146.)

These are half fried, and then done the same as eels, Wiggy’s way. See [No. 164].

Fillets of Soles, brown or white.—(No. 147.)

Take off the fillets very nicely, trim them neatly, and press them dry between a soft cloth; egg, crumb, and fry them, &c. as directed in [No. 145], or boil them, and serve them with [No. 364—2].

N.B. This is one of the best ways of dressing very large soles. See also [No. 164].

Skate,[172-*]—(No. 148.)

Is very good when in good season, but no fish so bad when it is otherwise: those persons that like it firm and dry, should have it crimped; but those that like it tender, should have it plain, and eat it not earlier than the second day, and if cold weather, three or four days old it is better: it cannot be kept too long, if perfectly sweet. Young skate eats very fine crimped and fried. See [No. 154].

Cod boiled.—(No. 149.)

Wash and clean the fish, and rub a little salt in the inside of it (if the weather is very cold, a large cod is the better for being kept a day): put plenty of water in your fish-kettle, so that the fish may be well covered; put in a large handful of salt; and when it is dissolved, put in your fish; a very small fish will require from fifteen to twenty minutes after the water boils, a large one about half an hour; drain it on the fish-plate; dish it with a garnish of the roe, liver, chitterlings, &c. or large native oysters, fried a light brown (see [No. 183*]), or smelts ([No. 173]), whitings ([No. 153]), the tail[172-†] of the cod cut in slices, or bits the size and shape of oysters, or split it, and fry it. Scolloped oysters ([No. 182]), oyster sauce ([No. 278]), slices of cod cut about half an inch thick, and fried as soles ([No. 145]), are very nice.

Mem.—The SOUNDS (the jelly parts about the jowl), the palate, and the tongue are esteemed exquisites by piscivorous epicures, whose longing eyes will keep a sharp look-out for a share of their favourite “bonne bouche:” the carver’s reputation depends much on his equitable distribution of them.[173-*]

Salt Fish boiled.—(No. 150.)

Salt fish requires soaking, according to the time it has been in salt; trust not to those you buy it of, but taste a bit of one of the flakes; that which is hard and dry requires two nights’ soaking, changing the water two or three times; the intermediate day, lay it on a stone floor: for barrelled cod less time will do; and for the best Dogger-bank split fish, which has not been more than a fortnight or three weeks in salt, still less will be needful.

Put it into plenty of cold water, and let it simmer very gently till it is enough; if the water boils, the fish will be tough and thready.[173-†] For egg sauce, see [No. 267]; and to boil red beet-root, [No. 127]; parsnips, [No. 128]; Carrots, [No. 129]. Garnish salt fish with the yelks of eggs cut into quarters.

Obs.—Our favourite vegetable accompaniment is a dish of equal parts of red beet-root and parsnips.

N.B. Salted fish differs in quality quite as much as it does in price.

Slices of Cod boiled.—(No. 151.)

Half an hour before you dress them, put them into cold spring-water with some salt in it.

Lay them at the bottom of a fish-kettle, with as much cold spring-water as will cover them, and some salt; set it on a quick fire, and when it boils, skim it, and set it on one side of the fire to boil very gently, for about ten minutes, according to its size and thickness. Garnish with scraped horseradish, slices of lemon, and a slice of the liver on one side, and chitterling on the other. Oyster sauce ([No. 278]), and plain butter.

Obs.—Slices of cod (especially the tail, split) are very good, fried like soles ([No. 145]), or stewed in gravy like eels ([No. 164], or [No. 364—2]).[174-*]

Fresh Sturgeon.—(No. 152.)

The best mode of dressing this, is to have it cut in thin slices like veal cutlets, and broiled, and rubbed over with a bit of butter and a little pepper, and served very hot, and eaten with a squeeze of lemon-juice. Great care, however, must be taken to cut off the skin before it is broiled, as the oil in the skin, if burned, imparts a disgusting flavour to the fish. The flesh is very fine, and comes nearer to veal, perhaps, than even turtle.

Sturgeon is frequently plentiful and reasonable in the London shops. We prefer this mode of dressing it to the more savoury one of stewing it in rich gravy, like carp, &c. which overpowers the peculiar flavour of the fish.[174-†]

Whitings fried.—(No. 153.)

Skin[174-‡] them, preserve the liver (see [No. 228]), and fasten their tails to their mouths; dip them in egg, then in bread-crumbs, and fry them in hot lard (read [No. 145]), or split them, and fry them like fillets of soles ([No. 147]).

A three-quart stew-pan, half full of fat, is the best utensil to fry whitings. They will be done enough in about five minutes; but it will sometimes require a quarter of an hour to drain the fat from them and dry them (if the fat you put them into was not hot enough), turning them now and then with a fish-slice.

Obs.—When whitings are scarce, the fishmongers can skin and truss young codlings, so that you can hardly tell the difference, except that a codling wears a beard, and a whiting does not: this distinguishing mark is sometimes cut off; however, if you turn up his jowl, you may see the mark where the beard was, and thus discover whether he be a real whiting, or a shaved codling.

Skate fried.—(No. 154.)

After you have cleaned the fish, divide it into fillets; dry them on a clean cloth; beat the yelk and white of an egg thoroughly together, dip the fish in this, and then in fine bread-crumbs; fry it in hot lard or drippings till it is of a delicate brown colour; lay it on a hair-sieve to drain; garnish with crisp parsley ([No. 318]), and some like caper sauce, with an anchovy in it.

Plaice or Flounders, fried or boiled.—(No. 155.)

Flounders are perhaps the most difficult fish to fry very nicely. Clean them well, flour them, and wipe them with a dry cloth to absorb all the water from them; flour or egg and bread-crumb them, &c. as directed in [No. 145].

To boil Flounders.

Wash and clean them well, cut the black side of them the same as you do turbot, then put them into a fish-kettle, with plenty of cold water and a handful of salt; when they come to a boil, skim them clean, and let them stand by the side of the fire for five minutes, and they are ready.

Obs.—Eaten with plain melted butter and a little salt, you have the sweet delicate flavour of the flounder, which is overpowered by any sauce.

Water Souchy,[175-*]—(No. 156.)

Is made with flounders, whitings, gudgeons, or eels. These must be quite fresh, and very nicely cleaned; for what they are boiled in, is the sauce for them.

Wash, gut, and trim your fish, cut them into handsome pieces, and put them into a stew-pan with just as much water as will cover them, with some parsley, or parsley-roots sliced, an onion minced fine, and a little pepper and salt (to this some cooks add some scraped horseradish and a bay leaf); skim it carefully when it boils; when your fish is done enough (which it will be in a few minutes), send it up in a deep dish, lined with bread sippets, and some slices of bread and butter on a plate.

Obs.—Some cooks thicken the liquor the fish has been stewing in with flour and butter, and flavour it with white wine, lemon-juice, essence of anchovy, and catchup; and boil down two or three flounders, &c. to make a fish broth to boil the other fish in, observing, that the broth cannot be good unless the fish are boiled too much.

Haddock boiled.—(No. 157.)

Wash it well, and put it on to boil, as directed in [No. 149]; a haddock of three pounds will take about ten minutes after the kettle boils.

Haddocks, salted a day or two, are eaten with egg sauce, or cut in fillets, and fried. Or, if small, very well broiled, or baked, with a pudding in their belly, and some good gravy.

Obs. A piscivorous epicure protests that “Haddock is the poorest fish that swims, and has neither the delicacy of the whiting, nor the juicyness of the cod.”[176-*]

Findhorn Haddocks.—(No. 157*.)

Let the fish be well cleaned, and laid in salt for two hours; let the water drain from them, and then wet them with the pyroligneous acid; they may be split or not: they are then to be hung in a dry situation for a day or two, or a week or two, if you please; when broiled, they have all the flavour of the Findhorn haddock, and will keep sweet for a long time.

The pyroligneous acid, applied in the same way to beef or mutton, gives the fine smoke flavour, and may be kept for a considerable length of time.

Scotch way of dressing haddocks.—A haddock is quite like a different fish in London and in Edinburgh, which arises chiefly from the manner in which they are treated: a haddock should never appear at table with its head and skin on. For boiling, they are all the better for lying a night in salt; of course they do not take so long to boil without the skin, and require to be well skimmed to preserve the colour. After lying in salt for a night, if you hang them up for a day or two, they are very good broiled and served with cold butter. For frying, they should be split and boned very carefully, and divided into convenient pieces, if too large to halve merely; egg and crumb them, and fry in a good deal of lard; they resemble soles when dressed in this manner. There is another very delicate mode of dressing them; you split the fish, rub it well with butter, and do it before the fire in a Dutch oven.

To stew Cod’s Skull, Sole, Carp, Trout, Perch, Eel, or Flounder.—No. 158. (See also [No. 164].)

When the fish has been properly washed, lay it in a stew-pan, with half a pint of claret or port wine, and a quart of good gravy ([No. 329]); a large onion, a dozen berries of black pepper, the same of allspice, and a few cloves, or a bit of mace: cover the fish-kettle close, and let it stew gently for ten or twenty minutes, according to the thickness of the fish: take the fish up, lay it on a hot dish, cover it up, and thicken the liquor it was stewed in with a little flour, and season it with pepper, salt, essence of anchovy, mushroom catchup, and a little Chili vinegar; when it has boiled ten minutes, strain it through a tamis, and pour it over the fish: if there is more sauce than the dish will hold, send the rest up in a boat.

The river trout comes into season in April, and continues till July; it is a delicious fish; those caught near Uxbridge come to town quite alive.

The eels and perch from the same water are very fine.

Obs.—These fish are very nice plain boiled, with [No. 261], or [No. 264], for sauce; some cooks dredge them with flour, and fry them a light brown before they put them on to stew, and stuff them with [No. 374], or some of the stuffings following.

To dress them maigre.

Put the fish into a stew-pan, with a large onion, four cloves, fifteen berries of allspice, and the same of black pepper; just cover them with boiling water, set it where they will simmer gently for ten or twenty minutes, according to the size of the fish; strain off the liquor in another stew-pan, leaving the fish to keep warm till the sauce is ready.

Rub together on a plate as much flour and butter as will make the sauce as thick as a double cream. Each pint of sauce season with a glass of wine, half as much mushroom catchup, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy, and a few grains of Cayenne; let it boil a few minutes, put the fish on a deep dish, strain the gravy over it; garnish it with sippets of bread toasted or fried ([No. 319]).

N.B. The editor has paid particular attention to the above receipt, and also to [No. 224], which Catholics, and those whose religious tenets do not allow them to eat meat on maigre days, will find a very satisfactory substitute for the meat gravy soup ([No. 200]).

For sauce for maigre dishes, see Nos. [225], [305], and [364—2].

Obs. Mushroom catchup ([No. 439]) and onions ([No. 402]) supply the place of meat better than any thing; if you have not these, wine, spice ([No. 457]), curry powder ([No. 455]), aromatic roots and herbs, anchovy and soy, or oyster catchup ([No. 441]), variously combined, and thickened with flour and butter, are convenient substitutes.

Maigre Fish Pies.

Salt-fish pie. The thickest part must be chosen, and put in cold water to soak the night before wanted; then boil it well, take it up, take away the bones and skin, and if it is good fish it will be in fine layers; set it on a fish-drainer to get cold: in the mean time, boil four eggs hard, peel and slice them very thin, the same quantity of onion sliced thin; line the bottom of a pie-dish with fish forcemeat ([No. 383]), or a layer of potatoes sliced thin, then a layer of onions, then of fish, and of eggs, and so on till the dish is full; season each layer with a little pepper, then mix a tea-spoonful of made mustard, the same of essence of anchovy, a little mushroom catchup, in a gill of water, put it in the dish, then put on the top an ounce of fresh butter broke in bits; cover it with puff paste, and bake it one hour.

Fresh cod may be done in the same way, by adding a little salt.

All fish for making pies, whether soles, flounders, herrings, salmon, lobster, eels, trout, tench, &c. should be dressed first; this is the most economical way for Catholic families, as what is boiled one day will make excellent pies or patties the next.

If you intend it for pies, take the skin off, and the bones out; lay your salmon, soles, turbot, or codfish, in layers, and season each layer with equal quantities of pepper, allspice, mace, and salt, till the dish is full. Save a little of the liquor that the fish was boiled in; set it on the fire with the bones and skin of the fish, boil it a quarter of an hour, then strain it through a sieve, let it settle, and pour it in the dish; cover it with puff-paste; bake it about an hour and a quarter. Shrimps, prawns, or oysters added, will improve the above; if for patties, they must be cut in small pieces, and dressed in a bechamel sauce ([No. 364]).

Cod-sounds for a pie should be soaked at least twenty-four hours, then well washed, and put on a cloth to dry. Put in a stew-pan two ounces of fresh butter, with four ounces of sliced onions; fry them of a nice brown, then put in a small table-spoonful of flour, and add half a pint of boiling water; when smooth, put in about ten cod-sounds, and season them with a little pepper, a glass of white wine, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy, the juice of half a lemon; stir it well together, put it in a pie-dish, cover it with paste, and bake it one hour.

Perch, Roach, Dace, Gudgeons, &c. fried.—(No. 159.)

Wash the fish well, wipe them on a dry cloth, flour them lightly all over, and fry them ten minutes ([No. 145]) in hot lard or drippings; lay them on a hair-sieve to drain; send them up on a hot dish, garnished with sprigs of green parsley. Anchovy sauce, Nos. [270] and [433].

Perch boiled.[179-*]—(No. 160.)

Clean them carefully, and put them in a fish-kettle, with as much cold spring-water as will cover them, with a handful of salt; set them on a quick fire till they boil; when they boil, set them on one side to boil gently for about ten minutes, according to their size.

Salmon, Herrings, Sprats, Mackerel, &c. pickled.—(No. 161.)

Cut the fish into proper pieces; do not take off the scales; make a brine strong enough to bear an egg, in which boil the fish; it must be boiled in only just liquor enough to cover it; do not overboil it. When the fish is boiled, lay it slantingly to drain off all the liquor; when cold, pack it close in the kits, and fill them up with equal parts of the liquor the salmon was boiled in (having first well skimmed it), and best vinegar ([No. 24]); let them rest for a day; fill up again, striking the sides of the kit with a cooper’s adze, until the kit will receive no more; then head them down as close as possible.

Obs. This is in the finest condition when fresh. Salmon is most plentiful about midsummer; the season for it is from February to September. Some sprigs of fresh-gathered young fennel are the accompaniments.

N.B. The three indispensable marks of the goodness of pickled salmon are, 1st, The brightness of the scales, and their sticking fast to the skin; 2dly, The firmness of the flesh; and, 3dly, Its fine, pale-red rose colour. Without these it is not fit to eat, and was either stale before it was pickled, or has been kept too long after.

The above was given us as the actual practice of those who pickle it for the London market.

N.B. Pickled salmon warmed by steam, or in its pickle liquor, is a favourite dish at Newcastle.

Salmon[180-*] boiled.—(No. 162.)

Put on a fish-kettle, with spring-water enough to well cover the salmon you are going to dress, or the salmon will neither look nor taste well: (boil the liver in a separate saucepan.) When the water boils, put in a handful of salt: take off the scum as soon as it rises; have the fish well washed; put it in, and if it is thick, let it boil very gently. Salmon requires almost as much boiling as meat; about a quarter of an hour to a pound of fish: but practice only can perfect the cook in dressing salmon. A quarter of a salmon will take almost as long boiling as half a one: you must consider the thickness, not the weight: ten pounds of fine full-grown salmon will be done in an hour and a quarter. Lobster Sauce, [No. 284].

Obs. The thinnest part of the fish is the fattest; and if you have a “grand gourmand” at table, ask him if he is for thick or thin.

The Thames salmon is preferred in the London market; and some epicures pretend to be able to distinguish by the taste, in which reach of the river it was caught!!!

N.B. If you have any left, put it into a pie-dish, and cover it with an equal portion of vinegar and pump-water, and a little salt: it will be ready in three days.

Fresh Salmon broiled.—(No. 163.)

Clean the salmon well, and cut it into slices about an inch and a half thick; dry it thoroughly in a clean cloth; rub it over with sweet oil, or thick melted butter, and sprinkle a little salt over it: put your gridiron over a clear fire, at some distance; when it is hot wipe it clean; rub it with sweet oil or lard; lay the salmon on, and when it is done on one side, turn it gently and broil the other. Anchovy sauce, &c.

Obs. An oven does them best.

Soles or Eels,[181-*] &c. &c. stewed Wiggy’s way.—(No. 164.)

Take two pounds of fine silver[181-†] eels: the best are those that are rather more than a half-crown piece in circumference, quite fresh, full of life, and “as brisk as an eel:” such as have been kept out of water till they can scarce stir, are good for nothing: gut them, rub them with salt till the slime is cleaned from them, wash them in several different waters, and divide them into pieces about four inches long.

Some cooks, after skinning them, dredge them with a little flour, wipe them dry, and then egg and crumb them, and fry them in drippings till they are brown, and lay them to dry on a hair sieve.

Have ready a quart of good beef gravy ([No. 329]); it must be cold when you put the eels into it: set them on a slow fire to simmer very gently for about a quarter of an hour, according to the size of the eels; watch them, that they are not done too much; take them carefully out of the stew-pan with a fish-slice, so as not to tear their coats, and lay them on a dish about two inches deep.

Or, if for maigre days, when you have skinned your eels, throw the skins into salt and water; wash them well; then put them into a stew-pan with a quart of water, two onions, with two cloves stuck in each, and one blade of mace; let it boil twenty minutes, and strain it through a sieve into a basin.

Make the sauce about as thick as cream, by mixing a little flour with it; put in also two table-spoonfuls of port wine, and one of mushroom catchup, or cavice: stir it into the sauce by degrees, give it a boil, and strain it to the fish through a sieve.

N.B. If mushroom sauce (Nos. [225], [305], or [333]), or white sauce ([No. 364—2]), be used instead of beef gravy, this will be one of the most relishing maigre dishes we know.

Obs. To kill eels instantly, without the horrid torture of cutting and skinning them alive, pierce the spinal marrow, close to the back part of the skull, with a sharp-pointed skewer: if this be done in the right place, all motion will instantly cease. The humane executioner does certain criminals the favour to hang them before he breaks them on the wheel.

To fry Eels.—(No. 165.)

Skin and gut them, and wash them well in cold water, cut them in pieces four inches long, season them with pepper and salt; beat an egg well on a plate, dip them in the egg, and then in fine bread-crumbs; fry them in fresh, clean lard; drain them well from the fat; garnish with crisp parsley. For sauce, plain and melted butter, sharpened with lemon-juice, or parsley and butter.

Spitchocked Eels.—(No. 166.)

This the French cooks call the English way of dressing eels.

Take two middling-sized silver eels, leave the skin on, scour them with salt, and wash them, cut off the heads, slit them on the belly side, and take out the bones and guts, and wash and wipe them nicely; then cut them into pieces about three inches long, and wipe them quite dry; put two ounces of butter into a stew-pan with a little minced parsley, thyme, sage, pepper, and salt, and a very little chopped eschalot; set the stew-pan over the fire; when the butter is melted, stir the ingredients together, and take it off the fire, mix the yelks of two eggs with them, and dip the eel in, a piece at a time, and then roll them in bread-crumbs, making as much stick to them as you can; then rub the gridiron with a bit of suet, set it high over a very clear fire, and broil your eels of a fine crisp brown. Dish them with crisp parsley, and send up with plain butter in a boat, and anchovy and butter.

Obs. We like them better with the skin off; it is very apt to offend delicate stomachs.

Mackerel boiled.[183-*]—(No. 167.)

This fish loses its life as soon as it leaves the sea, and the fresher it is the better.

Wash and clean them thoroughly (the fishmongers seldom do this sufficiently), put them into cold water with a handful of salt in it; let them rather simmer than boil; a small mackerel will be done enough in about a quarter of an hour; when the eye starts and the tail splits, they are done; do not let them stand in the water a moment after; they are so delicate that the heat of the water will break them.

This fish, in London, is rarely fresh enough to appear at table in perfection; and either the mackerel is boiled too much, or the roe[183-†] too little. The best way is to open a slit opposite the middle of the roe, you can then clean it properly; this will allow the water access, and the roe will then be done as soon as the fish, which it seldom is otherwise; some sagacious gourmands insist upon it they must be taken out and boiled separately. For sauce, see Nos. [263], [265], and [266]; and you may garnish them with pats of minced fennel.

N.B. The common notion is, that mackerel are in best condition when fullest of roe; however, the fish at that time is only valuable for its roe, the meat of it has scarcely any flavour.

Mackerel generally make their appearance off the Land’s End about the beginning of April; and as the weather gets warm they gradually come round the coast, and generally arrive off Brighton about May, and continue for some months, until they begin to shoot their spawn.

After they have let go their roes, they are called shotten mackerel, and are not worth catching; the roe, which was all that was good of them, being gone.

It is in the early season, when they have least roe, that the flesh of this fish is in highest perfection. There is also an after-season, when a few fine large mackerel are taken, (i. e. during the herring season, about October,) which some piscivorous epicures are very partial to; these fish having had time to fatten and recover their health, are full of high flavour, and their flesh is firm and juicy: they are commonly called silver mackerel, from their beautiful appearance, their colour being almost as bright when boiled as it was the moment they were caught.

Mackerel broiled.—(No. 169.)

Clean a fine large mackerel, wipe it on a dry cloth, and cut a long slit down the back; lay it on a clean gridiron, over a very clear, slow fire; when it is done on one side, turn it; be careful that it does not burn; send it up with fennel sauce ([No. 265]); mix well together a little finely minced fennel and parsley, seasoned with a little pepper and salt, a bit of fresh butter, and when the mackerel are ready for the table, put some of this into each fish.

Mackerel baked.[184-*]—(No. 170.)

Cut off their heads, open them, and take out the roes and clean them thoroughly; rub them on the inside with a little pepper and salt, put the roes in again, season them (with a mixture of powdered allspice, black pepper, and salt, well rubbed together), and lay them close in a baking-pan, cover them with equal quantities of cold vinegar and water, tie them down with strong white paper doubled, and bake them for an hour in a slow oven. They will keep for a fortnight.

Pickled Mackerel, Herrings, or Sprats.—(No. 171.)

Procure them as fresh as possible, split them, take off the heads, and trim off the thin part of the belly, put them into salt and water for one hour, drain and wipe your fish, and put them into jars or casks, with the following preparation, which is enough for three dozen mackerel. Take salt and bay-salt, one pound each, saltpetre and lump-sugar, two ounces each; grind and pound the salt, &c. well together, put the fish into jars or casks, with a layer of the preparation at the bottom, then a layer of mackerel with the skin-side downwards, so continue alternately till the cask or jar is full; press it down and cover it close. In about three months they will be fit for use.

Sprats broiled.—(No. 170*—Fried, see [No. 173].)

If you have not a sprat gridiron, get a piece of pointed iron wire as thick as packthread, and as long as your gridiron is broad; run this through the heads of your sprats, sprinkle a little flour and salt over them, put your gridiron over a clear, quick fire, turn them in about a couple of minutes; when the other side is brown, draw out the wire, and send up the fish with melted butter in a cup.

Obs. That sprats are young herrings, is evident by their anatomy, in which there is no perceptible difference. They appear very soon after the herrings are gone, and seem to be the spawn just vivified.

Sprats stewed.—(No. 170**.)

Wash and dry your sprats, and lay them as level as you can in a stew-pan, and between every layer of sprats put three peppercorns, and as many allspice, with a few grains of salt; barely cover them with vinegar, and stew them one hour over a slow fire; they must not boil: a bay-leaf is sometimes added. Herrings or mackerel may be stewed the same way.

To fry sprats, see [No. 173].

Herrings broiled.—(No. 171*.)

Wash them well, then dry them with a cloth, dust them with flour, and broil them over a slow fire till they are well done. Send up melted butter in a boat.

Obs. For a particular account of herrings, see Solas Dodd’s Natural Hist. of Herrings, in 178 pages, 8vo. 1752.

Red Herrings, and other dried Fish,—(No. 172.)

“Should be cooked in the same manner as now practised by the poor in Scotland. They soak them in water until they become pretty fresh; they are then hung up in the sun and wind, on a stick through their eyes, to dry; and then boiled or broiled. In this way they eat almost as well as if they were new caught.” See the Hon. John Cochrane’s Seaman’s Guide, 8vo. 1797, p. 34.

“Scotch haddocks should be soaked all night. You may boil or broil them; if you broil, split them in two.

“All the different sorts of dried fish, except stock fish, are salted, dried in the sun in prepared kilns, or by the smoke of wood fires, and require to be softened and freshened, in proportion to their bulk, nature, or dryness; the very dry sort, as cod, whiting, &c. should be steeped in lukewarm water, kept as near as possible to an equal degree of heat. The larger fish should be steeped twelve hours, the smaller about two; after which they should be taken out and hung up by the tails until they are dressed. The reason for hanging them up is, that they soften equally as in the steeping, without extracting too much of the relish, which would render them insipid. When thus prepared, the small fish, as whiting, tusks, &c. should be floured and laid on the gridiron; and when a little hardened on one side, must be turned and basted with sweet oil upon a feather; and when basted on both sides, and well heated through, taken up. A clear charcoal fire is the best for cooking them, and the fish should be kept at a good distance, to broil gradually. When they are done enough they will swell a little in the basting, and you must not let them fall again. If boiled, as the larger fish generally are, they should be kept just simmering over an equal fire, in which way half an hour will do the largest fish, and five minutes the smallest.

“Dried salmon, though a large fish, does not require more steeping than a whiting; and when laid on the gridiron should be moderately peppered. To herring and to all kinds of broiled salt fish, sweet oil is the best basting.”

The above is from Macdonald’s London Family Cook, 8vo. 1808, p. 139.

Obs. Dr. Harte, in his Essay on Diet, 1633, fol. p. 91, protests, “a red herring doth nourish little, and is hard of concoction, but very good to make a cup of good drink relish well, and may be well called ‘the drunkard’s delight.’”

Smelts, Gudgeons, Sprats, or other small Fish, fried.—(No. 173.)

Clean and dry them thoroughly in a cloth, fry them plain, or beat an egg on a plate, dip them in it, and then in very fine bread-crumbs that have been rubbed through a sieve; the smaller the fish, the finer should be the bread-crumbs—biscuit powder is still better; fry them in plenty of clean lard or drippings; as soon as the lard boils and is still, put in the fish; when they are delicately browned, they are done; this will hardly take two minutes. Drain them on a hair-sieve, placed before the fire, turning them till quite dry. Obs. Read [No. 145].

“Smelts are allowed to be caught in the Thames, on the first of November, and continue till May. The Thames smelts are the best and sweetest, for two reasons; they are fresher and richer than any other you can get: they catch them much more plentiful and larger in Lancashire and Norfolk, but not so good: a great many are brought to town from Norfolk, but barely come good, as they are a fish which should always be eaten fresh; indeed, all river fish should be eaten fresh, except salmon, which, unless crimped, eats better the second or third day: but all Thames fish, particularly, should be eaten very fresh; no fish eats so bad kept.”

Potted Prawns, Shrimps, or Cray-fish.—(No. 175.)

Boil them in water with plenty of salt in it. When you have picked them, powder them with a little beaten mace, or grated nutmeg, or allspice, and pepper and salt; add a little cold butter, and pound all well together in a marble mortar till of the consistence of paste. Put it into pots covered with clarified butter, and cover them over with wetted bladder.

Lobster.[187-*]—(No. 176.)

Buy these alive; the lobster merchants sometimes keep them till they are starved, before they boil them; they are then watery, have not half their flavour, and like other persons that die of a consumption, have lost the calf of their legs.

Choose those that (as an old cook says, are “heavy and lively,” and) are full of motion, which is the index of their freshness.

Those of the middle size are the best. Never take them when the shell is incrusted, which is a sign they are old. The male lobster is preferred to eat, and the female (on account of the eggs) to make sauce of. The hen lobster is distinguished by having a broader tail than the male, and less claws.

Set on a pot, with water salted in the proportion of a table-spoonful of salt to a quart of water; when the water boils, put it in, and keep it boiling briskly from half an hour to an hour, according to its size; wipe all the scum off it, and rub the shell with a very little butter or sweet oil; break off the great claws, crack them carefully in each joint, so that they may not be shattered, and yet come to pieces easily; cut the tail down the middle, and send up the body whole. For sauce, [No. 285]. To pot lobster, [No. 178].

^*_*^* These fish come in about April, and continue plentiful till the oyster season returns; after that time they begin to spawn, and seldom open solid.

Crab.—(No. 177.)

The above observations apply to crabs, which should neither be too small nor too large. The best size are those which measure about eight inches across the shoulders.

^*_*^* Crabs appear and disappear about the same time as lobsters. The cromer crabs are most esteemed; but numbers are brought from the Isle of Wight.

Potted Lobster or Crab.[188-*]—(No. 178).

This must be made with fine hen lobsters, when full of spawn: boil them thoroughly ([No. 176]); when cold, pick out all the solid meat, and pound it in a mortar: it is usual to add, by degrees, (a very little) finely-pounded mace, black or Cayenne pepper, salt, and, while pounding, a little butter. When the whole is well mixed, and beat to the consistence of paste, press it down hard in a preserving-pot, pour clarified butter over it, and cover it with wetted bladder.

Obs.—Some put lobster without pounding it, and only cut it or pull it into such pieces as if it was prepared for sauce, and mince it with the spawn and soft parts and seasoning, and press it together as close as possible; in packing it, place the coral and spawn, &c. in layers, so that it may look regular and handsome when cut out. If you intend it as store (see [N.B.] to [No. 284], to make sauce with), this is the best way to do it; but if for sandwiches, &c. the first is the best, and will keep much longer.

Dressed or buttered lobsters and crabs, are favourite ornamental dishes with those who deck their table merely to please the eye. Our apology for not giving such receipts will be found in [Obs.] to [No. 322].

OYSTERS.[189-*]—(No. 181.)

The common[189-†] Colchester and Feversham oysters are brought to market on the 5th of August; the Milton, or, as they are commonly called, the melting natives,[189-‡] do not come in till the beginning of October, continue in season till the 12th of May, and approach the meridian of their perfection about Christmas.

Some piscivorous gourmands think that oysters are not best when quite fresh from their beds, and that their flavour is too brackish and harsh, and is much ameliorated by giving them a feed.

To FEED[189-§] oysters.—Cover them with clean water, with a pint of salt to about two gallons (nothing else, no oatmeal, flour, nor any other trumpery); this will cleanse them from the mud and sand, &c. of the bed; after they have lain in it twelve hours, change it for fresh salt and water, and in twelve hours more they will be in prime order for the mouth, and remain so two or three days: at the time of high water you may see them open their shells, in expectation of receiving their usual food. This process of feeding oysters is only employed when a great many come up together.

The real Colchester, or Pyfleet barrelled oysters, that are packed at the beds, are better without being put in water: they are carefully and tightly packed, and must not be disturbed till wanted for table. These, in moderate weather, will keep good for a week or ten days.

If an oyster opens his mouth in the barrel, he dies immediately.

To preserve the lives of barrelled oysters, put a heavy weight on the wooden top of the barrel, which is to be placed on the surface of the oysters. This is to be effected by removing the first hoop; the staves will then spread and stand erect, making a wide opening for the head of the barrel to fall down closely on the remaining fish, keeping them close together.

Mem.—The oysters which are commonly sold as barrelled oysters, are merely the smallest natives, selected from the stock, and put into the tub when ordered; and, instead of being of superior quality, are often very inferior. To immature animals there is the same objection as to unripe vegetables.

Obs.—Common people are indifferent about the manner of opening oysters, and the time of eating them after they are opened; nothing, however, is more important in the enlightened eyes of the experienced oyster-eater.

Those who wish to enjoy this delicious restorative in its utmost perfection, must eat it the moment it is opened, with its own gravy in the under shell; if not eaten while absolutely alive, its flavour and spirit are lost.

The true lover of an oyster will have some regard for the feelings of his little favourite, and will never abandon it to the mercy of a bungling operator, but will open it himself, and contrive to detach the fish from the shell so dexterously, that the oyster is hardly conscious he has been ejected from his lodging, till he feels the teeth of the piscivorous gourmand tickling him to death.

N.B. Fish is less nutritious than flesh: as a proof, when the trainer of Newmarket wishes to waste a jockey, he is not allowed meat, nor even pudding, if fish can be had. The white kinds of fish, turbots, soles, whiting, cod, haddock, flounders, smelts, &c. are less nutritious than the oily, fat fish, such as eels, salmon, herrings, sprats, &c.: the latter, however, are more difficult to digest, and often disturb weak stomachs, so that they are obliged to call in the assistance of Cayenne, Cognac, &c.

Shell-fish have long held a high rank in the catalogue of easily digestible and speedily restorative foods; of these the oyster certainly deserves the best character, but we think it has acquired not a little more reputation for these qualities than it deserves; a well-dressed chop[191-*] or steak, see [No. 94], will invigorate the heart in a much higher ratio; to recruit the animal spirits, and support strength, there is nothing equal to animal food; when kept till properly tender, none will give so little trouble to the digestive organs, and so much substantial excitement to the constitution. See [note] under [No. 185].

See Dr. Wallis and Mr. Tyson’s Papers on men’s feeding on flesh, in Phil. Trans. vol. xxii. p. 769 to 774; and Porphyry on Abstinence from Animal Food, translated by Thomas Taylor, 8vo. 1823.

We could easily say as much in praise of mutton as Mr. Ritson has against it, in his “Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food, as a Moral Duty,” 8vo. London, 1802, p. 102. He says, “The Pagan priests were the first eaters of animal food; it corrupted their taste, and so excited them to gluttony, that when they had eaten the same thing repeatedly, their luxurious appetites called for variety. He who had devoured the sheep, longed to masticate the shepherd!!!

“Nature seems to have provided other animals for the food of man, from the astonishing increase of those which instinct points out to him as peculiarly desirable for that purpose. For instance; so quick is the produce of pigeons, that, in the space of four years, 14,760 may come from a single pair; and in the like period, 1,274,840 from a couple of rabbits, this is nothing to the millions of eggs in the milt of a codfish.”

Scolloped Oysters.—(No. 182.) A good way to warm up any cold fish.

Stew the oysters slowly in their own liquor for two or three minutes, take them out with a spoon, beard them, and skim the liquor, put a bit of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, add as much fine bread-crumbs as will dry it up, then put to it the oyster liquor, and give it a boil up, put the oysters into scollop-shells that you have buttered, and strewed with bread-crumbs, then a layer of oysters, then of bread-crumbs, and then some more oysters; moisten it with the oyster liquor, cover them with bread-crumbs, put about half a dozen little bits of butter on the top of each, and brown them in a Dutch oven.

Obs. Essence of anchovy, catchup, Cayenne, grated lemon-peel, mace, and other spices, &c. are added by those who prefer piquance to the genuine flavour of the oyster.

Cold fish may be re-dressed the same way.

N.B. Small scollop-shells, or saucers that hold about half a dozen oysters, are the most convenient.

Stewed Oysters.—(No. 182*.)

Large oysters will do for stewing, and by some are preferred; but we love the plump, juicy natives. Stew a couple of dozen of these in their own liquor; when they are coming to a boil, skim well, take them up and beard them; strain the liquor through a tamis-sieve, and lay the oysters on a dish. Put an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, put to it as much flour as will dry it up, the liquor of the oysters, and three table-spoonfuls of milk or cream, and a little white pepper and salt; to this some cooks add a little catchup, or finely-chopped parsley, grated lemon-peel, and juice; let it boil up for a couple of minutes, till it is smooth, then take it off the fire, put in the oysters, and let them get warm (they must not themselves be boiled, or they will become hard); line the bottom and sides of a hash-dish with bread-sippets, and pour your oysters and sauce into it. See [Obs.] to receipt [No. 278].

Oysters fried.[192-*]—(No. 183.)

The largest and finest oysters are to be chosen for this purpose; simmer them in their own liquor for a couple of minutes, take them out and lay them on a cloth to drain, beard them and then flour them, egg and bread-crumb them, put them into boiling fat, and fry them a delicate brown.

Obs. An elegant garnish for made dishes, stewed rump-steaks, boiled or fried fish, &c.; but they are too hard and dry to be eaten.

[168-*] “I have ascertained, by many years’ observation, that a turbot kept two or three days is much better eating than a very fresh one.”—Ude’s Cookery, p. 238.

“Turbots. The finest brought to the London market are caught off the Dutch coast, or German Ocean, and are brought in well-boats alive. The commencement of the season is generally about March and April, and continues all the summer. Turbots, like other fish, do not spawn all at the same time; therefore, there is always good and bad nearly all the year round. For this year or two past, there has been an immense quantity brought to London, from all parts, and of all qualities: a great many from a new fishery off Hartlepool, which are very handsome-looking turbot, but by no means equal to what are caught off the Dutch coast. Many excellent turbots are caught off Dover and Dungeness; and a large quantity brought from Scotland, packed in ice, which are of a very inferior quality, and are generally to be bought for about one-fourth the price of good turbots.

“Brills are generally caught at the same place as turbots, and are generally of the same quality as the turbot, from the different parts.”

[170-*] A large pair of soles will take the fourth part of a quartern loaf, which now costs twopence halfpenny. Oatmeal is a good substitute for bread-crumbs, and costs comparatively nothing!!

[170-†] The FAT will do two or three times, if strained through a hair-sieve, and put by; if you do not find it enough, put a little fresh to it. Read [No. 83], and the [3d chapter] of the Rudiments of Cookery.

[170-‡] This requires a heat of upwards of 600 degrees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer:—FRYING is, in fact, boiling in fat.

[171-*] If you are in haste, lay the sole on a clean, soft cloth, cover it with it, and gently press it upon the fish, to suck up the fat from its surface.

[171-†] The very indifferent manner in which the operation of frying fish is usually performed, we suppose, produced the following jeu d’esprit, which appeared in The Morning Chronicle:—

“The King’s bench reports have cook’d up an odd dish,
An action for damages, fry versus fish.
But, sure, if for damages action could lie,
It certainly must have been fish against fry.”

The author of The Cook’s Cookery, 8vo. page 116, does not seem to think this fish can be too fresh; for he commences his directions with, “If you can, get a cod hot out of the sea,” &c.

[172-*] The skate comes to the New-York market in the spring, but is not esteemed, as we have many better fish. The part about the flap or side-fin is best. A.

[172-†] The TAIL is so much thinner than the thick part of the body, that, if boiled together, the former will be boiled too much, before the latter is done enough; therefore it should be dressed separate; and the best way of cooking it is to fry it in slices or fillets. See [No. 151].

“Cod generally comes into good season in October, when, if the weather is cold, it eats as fine as at any time in the year; towards the latter end of January and February, and part of March, they are mostly poor; but the latter end of March, April, and May, they are generally particularly fine; having shot their spawn, they come in fine order. The Dogger-bank cod are the most esteemed, as they generally cut in large, fine flakes; the north-country cod, which are caught off the Orkney Isles, are generally very stringy, or what is commonly called woolly, and sell at a very inferior price, but are caught in much greater abundance than the Dogger cod. The cod are all caught with hook, and brought alive in well-boats to the London markets. The cod cured on the Dogger-bank is remarkably fine, and seldom cured above two or three weeks before brought to market; the barrel cod is commonly cured on the coast of Scotland and Yorkshire. There is a great deal of inferior cured salt-fish brought from Newfoundland and Iceland.

“The SKULL of a Dogger-bank cod is one of those concatenations of tit-bits which some epicures are fond of, either baked or boiled: it is composed of lots of pretty playthings or such finery, but will not do for those who want a good meal: it may be bought for about 2s.: either boil it whole, or cut it into pieces, flour and dry them, and then egg and crumb, and fry them, or stew it ([No. 158]).

“The TAIL of a cod cut in fillets or slices, and fried, makes a good dish, and is generally to be bought at a very reasonable rate; if boiled, it is soft and watery. The skull and tail of a cod is a favourite and excellent Scotch dish, stewed, and served up with anchovy or oyster sauce, with the liquor it is boiled in, in a tureen.

“Ling is brought to the London market in the same manner as cod, but is very inferior to it, either fresh or salt.”

[173-*] There are several species of codfish sold alive in the New-York markets: of these, the common cod is the best, and is in season from November till spring. The price varies from three to six cents the pound, as the market is well or scantily supplied. The head and shoulders of a large cod, boiled, is the best part to grace the dinner-table. It is full of rich gelatinous matter, which is savoury and easy of digestion. Cod’s sounds and tongues are found on the stalls of the fishmongers in the winter season. They are rich and nourishing, and may be prepared to garnish the dish, or served up separately boiled. A.

[173-†] “In the sea-port towns of the New-England states in North America, it has been a custom, time immemorial, among people of fashion, to dine one day in the week (Saturday) on salt fish; and a long habit of preparing the same dish has, as might have been expected, led to very considerable improvements in the art of cooking it. I have often heard foreigners declare, that they never tasted salt fish dressed in such perfection: the secret of cooking it, is to keep it for several hours in water that is just scalding hot, but which is never made actually to boil.”—Count Rumford’s 10th Essay, p. 18.

[174-*] That part of a cod which is near the tail, is considered, in America, as the poorest part of the fish. A.

[174-†] Sturgeons, though sea-fish, ascend the fresh water rivers, and in the Hudson are taken 80 miles above the salt water. They were formerly called Albany beef, having been in plenty and cheap in the market of that city. They are not, however, esteemed even there; and since the running of the steamboats, and the quickness of their passages, all the valuable fish of the sea-coast are found in that inland city. A.

[174-‡] The French do not flay them, but split them, dip them in flour, and fry them in hot dripping.

[175-*] One of my culinary counsellors says, the heading of this receipt should be, “How to dress a good dish of fish while the cloth is laying.” If the articles are ready, twelve minutes will do it, with very little trouble or expense. For richer stewed fish, see [No. 164].

[176-*] Our experience goes to substantiate the same point. A.

[179-*] The perch of New-York are a small fresh-water fish, and seldom boiled, being better calculated for frying or broiling, as a relish at breakfast. A.

[180-*] Salmon. The earliest that comes in season to the London market is brought from the Severn, and begins to come into season the beginning of November, but very few so early, perhaps not above one in fifty, as many of them will not shoot their spawn till January, or after, and then continue in season till October, when they begin to get very thin and poor. The principal supply of salmon is from different parts of Scotland, packed in ice, and brought by water: if the vessels have a fair wind, they will be in London in three days; but it frequently happens that they are at sea perhaps a fortnight, when the greater part of the fish is perished, and has, for a year or two past, sold as low as twopence per pound, and up to as much as eighteen pence per pound at the same time, owing to its different degrees of goodness. This accounts for the very low prices at which the itinerant fishmongers cry their “delicate salmon,” “dainty fresh salmon,” and “live cod,” “new mackerel,” &c. &c.

“Salmon gwilts, or salmon peel, are the small salmon which run from about five or six pounds to ten pounds, are very good fish, and make handsome dishes of fish, sent to table crooked in the form of an S.

“Berwick trout are a distinct fish from the gwilts, and are caught in the river Tweed, and dressed in the same manner as the gwilt.

“Calvered salmon is the salmon caught in the Thames, and cut into slices alive; and some few salmon are brought from Oxford to London alive, and cut. A few slices make a handsome, genteel dish, but it is generally very expensive; sometimes 15s. per pound.”

[Fresh salmon comes to the New-York market from the eastern states, and mostly from Maine. It is also occasionally brought from the lakes and rivers of the northern part of New-York in winter. A.]

[181-*] Small fish and fillets of whiting, turbots, brills, &c. and slices of cod, or the head or tail of it, are excellent dressed the same way.

[181-†] The yellow eels taste muddy; the whiteness of the belly of the fish is not the only mark to know the best; the right colour of the back is a very bright coppery hue: the olive-coloured are inferior; and those tending to a green are worse.

[183-*] There are several species of mackerel in their season in the New-York market. That which arrives in the spring is most esteemed, and in greatest plenty. Spring mackerel is a migrating fish, and succeeds the shad, or commences its run along the coast of New-Jersey and Long Island, just before the shad disappears. It does not ascend the rivers, but continues its course north-eastward in immense shoals, and is taken by the fishermen with the hook and line, while sailing in smacks along the coast, from the mouth of the Delaware to Nova Scotia. These fish are kept in cars, and sold alive in the markets. They are mostly broiled, and brought to the breakfast-table. The larger ones sometimes grace the dining-table. They may be boiled, but are best when stuffed and baked in an oven. A.

[183-†] The roe of the male fish is soft, like the brains of a calf; that of the female is full of small eggs, and called hard roe.

[184-*] Mackerel of large size may be stuffed like a fowl, leaving the head on, and baked in an oven. A.

[187-*] Lobsters are in great plenty and perfection in the New-York markets. They are taken in Long Island Sound, and along the rocky shores of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. A.

[188-*] Crabs are not esteemed as a delicacy by epicures unless they are soft, when they are fried whole. In July and August they shed their coats, and in this state may be cooked and eaten without being incommoded with their shells. A.

[189-*] Oyster sauce, [No. 278]; preserved oysters, [No. 280].

[189-†] Those are called common oysters, which are picked up on the French coast, and laid in the Colchester beds.

These are never so fine and fat as the natives, and seldom recover the shock their feelings receive from being transported from their native place: delicate little creatures, they are as exquisite in their own taste as they are to the taste of others!

[189-‡] Oysters are thus called, that are born, as well as bred and fed, in this country, and are mostly spit in the Burnham and Mersey rivers: they do not come to their finest condition till they are near four years old.

[189-§] Will Rabisha, in his receipt to “broil oysters,” (see his Cookery, page 144,) directs, that while they are undergoing this operation, they should be fed with white wine and grated bread.

In Boyle’s Works, 4to. 1772, vol. ii. p. 450, there is a very curious chapter on the eating of oysters.

[191-*] “Animal food being composed of the most nutritious parts of the food on which the animal lived, and having already been digested by the proper organs of an animal, requires only solution and mixture; whereas vegetable food must be converted into a substance of an animal nature, by the proper action of our own viscera, and consequently requires more labour of the stomach, and other digestive organs.”—Burton on the Non-naturals, page 213.

[192-*] New-York and other places on the sea-coast of the United States, afford oysters in great plenty and perfection, and the various methods of preparing them are well known. A.

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BROTHS, GRAVIES, AND SOUPS.

Beef Broth.[193-*]—(No. 185.)

Wash a leg or shin of beef very clean, crack the bone in two or three places (this you should desire the butcher to do for you), add thereto any trimmings you have of meat, game, or poultry (i. e. heads, necks, gizzards, feet, &c.), and cover them with cold water; watch and stir it up well from the bottom, and the moment it begins to simmer, skim it carefully; your broth must be perfectly clear and limpid, on this depends the goodness of the soups, sauces, and gravies, of which it is the basis: then add some cold water to make the remaining scum rise, and skim it again; when the scum is done rising, and the surface of the broth is quite clear, put in one moderate-sized carrot, a head of celery, two turnips, and two onions, it should not have any taste of sweet herbs, spice, or garlic, &c.; either of these flavours can easily be added immediately after, if desired, by Nos. [420], [421], [422], &c. cover it close, set it by the side of the fire, and let it simmer very gently (so as not to waste the broth) for four or five hours, or more, according to the weight of the meat; strain it through a sieve into a clean and dry stone pan, and set it in the coldest place you have.

Obs. This is the foundation for all sorts of soups and sauce, brown or white.

Stew no longer than the meat is thoroughly done to eat, and you will obtain excellent broth, without depriving the meat of its nutritious succulence: to boil it to rags, as is the common practice, will not enrich your broths, but make them thick and grouty.

The meat,[193-†] when gently stewed for only four or five hours till it is just tender, remains abundantly sapid and nourishing, and will afford a relishing and wholesome meal for half a dozen people; or make potted beef ([No. 503]): or when you have strained off the broth, cover the meat again with water, and let it go on boiling for four hours longer, and make what some cooks call “second stock;” it will produce some very good glaze, or portable soup; see [No. 252], and the [Obs.] thereon.

Beef Gravy.[194-*]—(No. 186.)

Cover the bottom of a stew-pan that is well tinned and quite clean, with a slice of good ham, or lean bacon, four or five pounds of gravy beef cut into half-pound pieces, a carrot, an onion with two cloves stuck in it, and a head of celery; put a pint of broth or water to it, cover it close, and set it over a moderate fire till the water is reduced to as little as will just save the ingredients from burning; then turn it all about, and let it brown slightly and equally all over; then put in three quarts of boiling water;[194-†] when it boils up, skim it carefully, and wipe off with a clean cloth what sticks round the edge and inside of the stew-pan, that your gravy may be delicately clean and clear. Set it by the side of a fire, where it will stew gently (to keep it clear, and that it may not be reduced too much) for about four hours: if it has not boiled too fast, there should be two quarts of good gravy; strain through a silk, or tamis-sieve; take very particular care to skim it well, and set it in a cold place.

Strong savoury Gravy (No. 188), alias “Brown Sauce,” alias “Grand Espagnol.”

Take a stew-pan that will hold four quarts, lay a slice or two of ham or bacon (about a quarter of an inch thick) at the bottom (undressed is the best), and two pounds of beef or veal, a carrot, a large onion with four cloves stuck in it, one head of celery, a bundle of parsley, lemon-thyme, and savoury, about as big round as your little finger, when tied close, a few leaves of sweet basil (one bay-leaf, and an eschalot, if you like it), a piece of lemon-peel, and a dozen corns of allspice;[195-*] pour on this half a pint of water, cover it close, and let it simmer gently on a slow fire for half an hour, in which time it will be almost dry; watch it very carefully, and let it catch a nice brown colour; turn the meat, &c. let it brown on all sides; add three pints of boiling water,[195-†] and boil for a couple of hours. It is now rich gravy. To convert it into

Cullis, or thickened Gravy.—(No. 189.)

To a quart of gravy, put a table-spoonful of thickening ([No. 257]), or from one to two table-spoonfuls of flour, according to the thickness you wish the gravy to be, into a basin, with a ladleful of the gravy; stir it quick; add the rest by degrees, till it is all well mixed; then pour it back into a stew-pan, and leave it by the side of the fire to simmer for half an hour longer, that the thickening may thoroughly incorporate with the gravy, the stew-pan being only half covered, stirring it every now and then; a sort of scum will gather on the top, which it is best not to take off till you are ready to strain it through a tamis.[195-‡]

Take care it is neither of too pale nor too dark a colour; if it is not thick enough, let it stew longer, till it is reduced to the desired thickness; or add a bit of glaze, or portable soup to it, see [No. 252]: if it is too thick, you can easily thin it with a spoonful or two of warm broth, or water. When your sauce is done, stir it in the basin you put it into once or twice, while it is cooling.

Veal Broth.—(No. 191.)

A knuckle of veal is best; manage it as directed in the receipt for beef broth ([No. 185]), only take care not to let it catch any colour, as this and the following and richer preparation of veal, are chiefly used for white soups, sauces, &c.

To make white sauce, see [No. 364].

Veal Gravy.—(No. 192.)

About three pounds of the nut of the leg of veal, cut into half-pound slices, with a quarter of a pound of ham in small dice; proceed as directed for the beef gravy ([No. 186]), but watch the time of putting in the water; if this is poured in too soon, the gravy will not have its true flavour, if it be let alone till the meat sticks too much to the pan, it will catch too brown a colour.

Knuckle of Veal, or Shin or Leg of Beef, Soup.—(No. 193.)

A knuckle of veal of six pounds weight will make a large tureen of excellent soup, and is thus easily prepared: cut half a pound of bacon into slices about half an inch thick, lay it at the bottom of a soup-kettle, or deep stew-pan, and on this place the knuckle of veal, having first chopped the bone in two or three places; furnish it with two carrots, two turnips, a head of celery, two large onions, with two or three cloves stuck in one of them, a dozen corns of black, and the same of Jamaica pepper, and a good bundle of lemon-thyme, winter savoury, and parsley. Just cover the meat with cold water, and set it over a quick fire till it boils; having skimmed it well, remove your soup-kettle to the side of the fire; let it stew very gently till it is quite tender, i. e. about four hours; then take out the bacon and veal, strain the soup, and set it by in a cool place till you want it, when you must take off the fat from the surface of your liquor, and decant it (keeping back the settlings at the bottom) into a clean pan.

If you like a thickened soup, put three table-spoonfuls of the fat you have taken off the soup into a small stew-pan, and mix it with four table-spoonfuls of flour, pour a ladleful of soup to it, and mix it with the rest by degrees, and boil it up till it is smooth.

Cut the meat and gristle of the knuckle and the bacon into mouthfuls, and put them into the soup, and let them get warm.

Obs. You may make this more savoury by adding catchup ([No. 439]), &c. Shin of beef may be dressed in the same way; see Knuckle of Veal stewed with Rice ([No. 523]).

Mutton Broth.—(No. 194.)

Take two pounds of scrag of mutton; to take the blood out, put it into a stew-pan, and cover it with cold water; when the water becomes milk-warm, pour it off; then put it in four or five pints of water, with a tea-spoonful of salt, a table-spoonful of best grits, and an onion; set it on a slow fire, and when you have taken all the scum off, put in two or three turnips; let it simmer very slowly for two hours, and strain it through a clean sieve.

This usual method of making mutton broth with the scrag, is by no means the most economical method of obtaining it; for which see Nos. [490] and [564].

Obs. You may thicken broth by boiling with it a little oatmeal, rice, Scotch or pearl barley; when you make it for a sick person, read the Obs. on Broths, &c. in the last page of the [7th chapter] of the Rudiments of Cookery, and [No. 564].

Mock Mutton Broth, without Meat, in five minutes.—(No. 195.)

Boil a few leaves of parsley with two tea-spoonfuls of mushroom catchup, in three-quarters of a pint of very thin gruel[197-*] ([No. 572]). Season with a little salt.

Obs. This is improved by a few drops of eschalot wine ([No. 402]), and the same of essence of sweet herbs ([No. 419]). See also Portable Soup ([No. 252]).

The Queen’s Morning “Bouillon de Santé,”—(No. 196.)

Sir Kenelm Digby, in his “Closet of Cookery,” p. 149, London, 1669, informs us, was made with “a brawny hen, or young cock, a handful of parsley, one sprig of thyme, three of spearmint, a little balm, half a great onion, a little pepper and salt, and a clove, with as much water as will cover them; and this boiled to less than a pint for one good porringerful.”

Ox-heel Jelly.—(No. 198.)

Slit them in two, and take away the fat between the claws. The proportion of water to each heel is about a quart: let it simmer gently for eight hours (keeping it clean skimmed); it will make a pint and a half of strong jelly, which is frequently used to make calves’ feet jelly ([No. 481]), or to add to mock turtle and other soups. See [No. 240*]. This jelly evaporated, as directed in [No. 252], will give about three ounces and a half of strong glaze. An unboiled heel costs one shilling and threepence: so this glaze, which is very inferior in flavour to [No. 252], is quite as expensive as that is.

N.B. To dress the heels, see [No. 18].

Obs. Get a heel that has only been scalded, not one of those usually sold at the tripe-shops, which have been boiled till almost all the gelatine is extracted.

Clear Gravy Soups.—(No. 200.)

Cut half a pound of ham into slices, and lay them at the bottom of a large stew-pan or stock-pot, with two or three pounds of lean beef, and as much veal; break the bones, and lay them on the meat; take off the outer skin of two large onions and two turnips; wash, clean, and cut into pieces a couple of large carrots, and two heads of celery; and put in three cloves and a large blade of mace. Cover the stew-pan close, and set it over a smart fire. When the meat begins to stick to the bottom of the stew-pan, turn it; and when there is a nice brown glaze at the bottom of the stew-pan, cover the meat with hot water: watch it, and when it is coming to boil put in half a pint of cold water; take off the scum; then put in half a pint more cold water, and skim it again, and continue to do so till no more scum rises. Now set it on one side of the fire to boil gently for about four hours; strain it through a clean tamis or napkin (do not squeeze it, or the soup will be thick) into a clean stone pan; let it remain till it is cold, and then remove all the fat. When you decant it, be careful not to disturb the settlings at the bottom of the pan.

The broth should be of a fine amber colour, and as clear as rock water. If it is not quite so bright as you wish it, put it into a stew-pan; break two whites and shells of eggs into a basin; beat them well together; put them into the soup: set it on a quick fire, and stir it with a whisk till it boils; then set it on one side of the fire to settle for ten minutes; run it through a fine napkin into a basin, and it is ready.

However, if your broth is carefully skimmed, &c. according to the directions above given, it will be clear enough without clarifying; which process impairs the flavour of it in a higher proportion than it improves its appearance.

Obs.—This is the basis of almost all gravy soups, which are called by the name of the vegetables that are put into them.

Carrots, turnips, onions, celery, and a few leaves of chervil, make what is called spring soup, or soup santé; to this a pint of green pease, or asparagus pease, or French beans cut into pieces, or a cabbage lettuce, are an improvement.

With rice or Scotch barley, with macaroni or vermicelli, or celery, cut into lengths, it will be the soup usually called by those names.

Or turnips scooped round, or young onions, will give you a clear turnip or onion soup; and all these vegetables mixed together, soup GRESSI.

The gravy for all these soups may be produced extempore with [No. 252].

The roots and vegetables you use must be boiled first, or they will impregnate the soup with too strong a flavour.

The seasoning for all these soups is the same, viz. salt and a very little Cayenne pepper.

N.B. To make excellent vegetable gravy soup for 4 1/2d. a quart, see [No. 224].

Scotch Barley Broth;—a good and substantial dinner for fivepence per head.—(No. 204.)

Wash three-quarters of a pound of Scotch barley in a little cold water; put it in a soup-pot with a shin or leg of beef, of about ten pounds weight, sawed into four pieces (tell the butcher to do this for you); cover it well with cold water; set it on the fire: when it boils skim it very clean, and put in two onions of about three ounces weight each; set it by the side of the fire to simmer very gently about two hours; then skim all the fat clean off, and put in two heads of celery, and a large turnip cut into small squares; season it with salt, and let it boil an hour and a half longer, and it is ready: take out the meat (carefully with a slice, and cover it up, and set it by the fire to keep warm), and skim the broth well before you put it in the tureen.

	s.	d.
Shin of beef of 10lbs	2	0
3/4 pound of barley	0	4 1/2
2 onions, of about 3 oz. weight each	0	0 1/2
Celery	0	1
Large turnip	0	1
	2	7

Thus you get four quarts of good soup at 8d. per quart, besides another quart to make sauce for the meat, in the following manner:

Put a quart of the soup into a basin; put about an ounce of flour into a stew-pan, and pour the broth to it by degrees, stirring it well together; set it on the fire, and stir it till it boils; then (some put in a glass of port wine, or mushroom catchup, [No. 439]) let it boil up, and it is ready.

Put the meat in a ragoût dish, and strain the sauce through a sieve over the meat; you may put to it some capers, or minced gherkins or walnuts, &c.

If the beef has been stewed with proper care in a very gentle manner, and be taken up at “the critical moment when it is just tender,” you will obtain an excellent and savoury meal for eight people for fivepence; i. e. for only the cost of the glass of port wine.

If you use veal, cover the meat with [No. 364—2].

Obs.—This is a most frugal, agreeable, and nutritive meal; it will neither lighten the purse, nor lie heavy on the stomach, and will furnish a plentiful and pleasant soup and meat for eight persons. So you may give a good dinner for 5d. per head!!! See also Nos. [229] and [239].

N.B. If you will draw your purse-strings a little wider, and allow 1d. per mouth more, prepare a pint of young onions as directed in [No. 296], and garnish the dish with them, or some carrots or turnips cut into squares; and for 6d. per head you will have as good a RAGOUT as “le Cuisinier Impérial de France” can give you for as many shillings. Read [Obs.] to [No. 493].

You may vary the flavour by adding a little curry powder ([No. 455]), ragoût ([No. 457], &c.), or any of the store sauces and flavouring essences between Nos. [396] and [463]; you may garnish the dish with split pickled mangoes, walnuts, gherkins, onions, &c. See Wow wow Sauce, [No. 328].

If it is made the evening before the soup is wanted, and suffered to stand till it is cold, much fat[200-*] may be removed from the surface of the soup, which is, when clarified ([No. 83]), useful for all the purposes that drippings are applied to.

Scotch Soups.—(No. 205.)

The three following receipts are the contribution of a friend at Edinburgh.

Winter Hotch-potch.

Take the best end of a neck or loin of mutton; cut it into neat chops; cut four carrots, and as many turnips into slices; put on four quarts of water, with half the carrots and turnips, and a whole one of each, with a pound of dried green pease, which must be put to soak the night before; let it boil two hours, then take out the whole carrot and turnip; bruise and return them; put in the meat, and the rest of the carrot and turnip, some pepper and salt, and boil slowly three-quarters of an hour; a short time before serving, add an onion cut small and a head of celery.

Cocky-leeky Soup.

Take a scrag of mutton, or shank of veal, three quarts of water (or liquor in which meat has been boiled), and a good-sized fowl, with two or three leeks cut in pieces about an inch long, pepper and salt; boil slowly about an hour: then put in as many more leeks, and give it three-quarters of an hour longer: this is very good, made of good beef-stock, and leeks put in it twice.

Lamb Stove, or Lamb Stew.

Take a lamb’s head and lights; open the jaws of the head, and wash them thoroughly; put them in a pot with some beef-stock, made with three quarts of water, and two pounds of shin of beef, strained; boil very slowly for an hour; wash and string two or three good handfuls of spinach (or spinage); put it in twenty minutes before serving; add a little parsley, and one or two onions, a short time before it comes off the fire; season with pepper and salt, and serve all together in a tureen.

Scotch Brose.—(No. 205*.)

“This favourite Scotch dish is generally made with the liquor meat has been boiled in.

“Put half a pint of oatmeal into a porringer with a little salt, if there be not enough in the broth, of which add as much as will mix it to the consistence of hasty-pudding, or a little thicker; lastly, take a little of the fat that swims on the broth, and put it on the crowdie, and eat it in the same way as hasty-pudding.”

Obs.—This Scotsman’s dish is easily prepared at very little expense, and is pleasant-tasted and nutritious. To dress a haggies, see [No. 488*], and Minced Collops, following it.

N.B. For various methods of making and flavouring oatmeal gruel, see [No. 572].

Carrot Soup.—(No. 212.)

Scrape and wash half a dozen large carrots; peel off the red outside (which is the only part used for this soup); put it into a gallon stew-pan, with one head of celery, and an onion, cut into thin pieces; take two quarts of beef, veal, or mutton broth, or if you have any cold roast-beef bones (or liquor, in which mutton or beef has been boiled), you may make very good broth for this soup: when you have put the broth to the roots, cover the stew-pan close, and set it on a slow stove for two hours and a half, when the carrots will be soft enough (some cooks put in a tea-cupful of bread-crumbs); boil for two or three minutes; rub it through a tamis, or hair-sieve, with a wooden spoon, and add as much broth as will make it a proper thickness, i. e. almost as thick as pease soup: put it into a clean stew-pan; make it hot; season it with a little salt, and send it up with some toasted bread, cut into pieces half an inch square. Some put it into the soup; but the best way is to send it up on a plate, as a side-dish.

Obs. This is neither expensive nor troublesome to prepare. In the kitchens of some opulent epicures, to make this soup make a little stronger impression on the gustatory organs of “grands gourmands,” the celery and onions are sliced, and fried in butter of a light brown, the soup is poured into the stew-pan to them, and all is boiled up together. But this must be done very carefully with butter, or very nicely clarified fat; and the “grand cuisinier” adds spices, &c. “ad libitum.”

Turnip and Parsnip Soups,—(No. 213.)

Are made in the same manner as the carrot soup ([No. 212].)

Celery Soup.—(No. 214.)

Split half a dozen heads of celery into slips about two inches long; wash them well; lay them on a hair-sieve to drain, and put them into three quarts of [No. 200] in a gallon soup-pot; set it by the side of the fire to stew very gently till the celery is tender (this will take about an hour). If any scum rises, take it off; season with a little salt.

Obs. When celery cannot be procured, half a drachm of the seed, pounded fine, which may be considered as the essence of celery (costs only one-third of a farthing, and can be had at any season), put in a quarter of an hour before the soup is done, and a little sugar, will give as much flavour to half a gallon of soup as two heads of celery weighing seven ounces, and costing 2d.; or add a little essence of celery, [No. 409].

Green Pease Soup.—(No. 216.)

A peck of pease will make you a good tureen of soup. In shelling them, put the old ones in one basin, and the young ones in another, and keep out a pint of them, and boil them separately to put into your soup when it is finished: put a large saucepan on the fire half full of water; when it boils, put the pease in, with a handful of salt; let them boil till they are done enough, i. e. from twenty to thirty minutes, according to their age and size; then drain them in a colander, and put them into a clean gallon stew-pan, and three quarts of plain veal or mutton broth (drawn from meat without any spices or herbs, &c. which would overpower the flavour of the soup); cover the stew-pan close, and set it over a slow fire to stew gently for an hour; add a tea-cupful of bread-crumbs, and then rub it through a tamis into another stew-pan; stir it with a wooden spoon, and if it is too thick, add a little more broth: have ready boiled as for eating, a pint of young pease, and put them into the soup; season with a little salt and sugar.

N.B. Some cooks, while this soup is going on, slice a couple of cucumbers (as you would for eating); take out the seeds; lay them on a cloth to drain, and then flour them, and fry them a light brown in a little butter; put them into the soup the last thing before it goes to table.

Obs. If the soup is not green enough, pound a handful of pea-hulls or spinage, and squeeze the juice through a cloth into the soup: some leaves of mint may be added, if approved.

Plain green Pease Soup without Meat.—(No. 217.)

Take a quart of green pease (keep out half a pint of the youngest; boil them separately, and put them in the soup when it is finished); put them on in boiling water; boil them tender, and then pour off the water, and set it by to make the soup with: put the pease into a mortar, and pound them to a mash; then put them into two quarts of the water you boiled the pease in; stir all well together; let it boil up for about five minutes, and then rub it through a hair-sieve or tamis. If the pease are good, it will be as thick and fine a vegetable soup as need be sent to table.

Pease Soup.—(No. 218.)

The common way of making pease soup[203-*] is—to a quart of split pease put three quarts of cold soft water, not more, (or it will be what “Jack Ros-bif” calls “soup maigre,”) notwithstanding Mother Glasse orders a gallon (and her ladyship’s directions have been copied by almost every cookery-book maker who has strung receipts together since), with half a pound of bacon (not very fat), or roast-beef bones, or four anchovies: or, instead of the water, three quarts of the liquor in which beef, mutton, pork, or poultry has been boiled, tasting it first, to make sure it is not too salt.[204-*]

Wash two heads of celery;[204-†] cut it, and put it in, with two onions peeled, and a sprig of savoury, or sweet marjoram, or lemon-thyme; set it on the trivet, and let it simmer very gently over a slow fire, stirring it every quarter of an hour (to keep the pease from sticking to, and burning at, the bottom of the soup-pot) till the pease are tender, which will be in about three hours. Some cooks now slice a head of celery, and half an ounce of onions, and fry them in a little butter, and put them into the soup till they are lightly browned; then work the whole through a coarse hair-sieve, and then through a fine sieve, or (what is better) through a tamis, with the back of a wooden spoon: put it into a clean stew-pan, with half a tea-spoonful of ground black pepper;[204-‡] let it boil again for ten minutes, and if any fat arises, skim it off.

Send up on a plate, toasted bread cut into little pieces a quarter of an inch square, or cut a slice of bread (that has been baked two days) into dice, not more than half an inch square; put half a pound of perfectly clean drippings or lard into an iron frying-pan; when it is hot, fry the bread; take care and turn it about with a slice, or by shaking of the pan as it is frying, that it may be on each side of a delicate light brown, ([No. 319];) take it up with a fish-slice, and lay it on a sheet of paper to drain the fat: be careful that this is done nicely: send these up in one side-dish, and dried and powdered mint or savoury, or sweet marjoram, &c. in another.

Those who are for a double relish, and are true lovers of “haut goût,” may have some bacon cut into small squares like the bread, and fried till it is crisp, or some little lumps of boiled pickled pork; or put cucumber fried into this soup, as you have directions in [No. 216].

Obs. The most economical method of making pease soup, is to save the bones of a joint of roast beef, and put them into the liquor in which mutton, or beef, or pork, or poultry, has been boiled, and proceed as in the above receipt. A hock, or shank-bone of ham, a ham-bone, the root of a tongue, or a red or pickled herring, are favourite additions with some cooks; others send up rice or vermicelli with pease soup.[205-*]

N.B. To make pease soup extempore, see [No. 555].

If you wish to make soup the same day you boil meat or poultry, prepare the pease the same as for pease pudding ([No. 555]), to which you may add an onion and a head of celery, when you rub the pease through the sieve; instead of putting eggs and butter, add some of the liquor from the pot to make it a proper thickness; put it on to boil for five minutes, and it is ready.

Obs. This latter is by far the easiest and the best way of making pease soup.

Pease soup may be made savoury and agreeable to the palate, without any meat, by incorporating two ounces of fresh and nicely-clarified beef, mutton, or pork drippings (see [No. 83]), with two ounces of oatmeal, and mixing this well into the gallon of soup, made as above directed: see also [No. 229].

Pease Soup and pickled Pork.—(No. 220.)

A couple of pounds of the belly part of pickled pork will make very good broth for pease soup, if the pork be not too salt; if it has been in salt more than two days, it must be laid in water the night before it is used.

Put on the ingredients mentioned in [No. 218], in three quarts of water; boil gently for two hours, then put in the pork, and boil very gently till it is done enough to eat; this will take about an hour and a half, or two hours longer, according to its thickness; when done, wash the pork clean in hot water, send it up in a dish, or cut it into mouthfuls, and put it into the soup in the tureen, with the accompaniments ordered in [No. 218].

Obs. The meat being boiled no longer than to be done enough to be eaten, you get excellent soup, without any expense of meat destroyed.

“In Canada, the inhabitants live three-fourths of the year on pease soup, prepared with salt pork, which is boiled till the fat is entirely dissolved among the soup, giving it a rich flavour.”—The Hon. J. Cochrane’s Seaman’s Guide, 8vo. 1797, p. 31.

Plain Pease Soup.—(No. 221.)

To a quart of split pease, and two heads of celery, (and most cooks would put a large onion,) put three quarts of broth or soft water; let them simmer gently on a trivet over a slow fire for three hours, stirring up every quarter of an hour to prevent the pease burning at the bottom of the soup-kettle (if the water boils away, and the soup gets too thick, add some boiling water to it); when they are well softened, work them through a coarse sieve, and then through a fine sieve or a tamis; wash out your stew-pan, and then return the soup into it, and give it a boil up; take off any scum that comes up, and it is ready. Prepare fried bread, and dried mint, as directed in [No. 218], and send them up with it on two side dishes.

Obs. This is an excellent family soup, produced with very little trouble or expense.

Most of the receipts for pease soup are crowded with ingredients which entirely overpower the flavour of the pease. See [No. 555].

Asparagus Soup.—(No. 222.)

This is made with the points of asparagus, in the same manner as the green pease soup ([No. 216] or [17]) is with pease: let half the asparagus be rubbed through a sieve, and the other cut in pieces about an inch long, and boiled till done enough, and sent up in the soup: to make two quarts, there must be a pint of heads to thicken it, and half a pint cut in; take care to preserve these green and a little crisp. This soup is sometimes made by adding the asparagus heads to common pease soup.

Obs. Some cooks fry half an ounce of onion in a little butter, and rub it through a sieve, and add it with the other ingredients; the haut goût of the onion will entirely overcome the delicate flavour of the asparagus, and we protest against all such combinations.

Maigre, or Vegetable Gravy Soup.[207-*]—(No. 224.)

Put into a gallon stew-pan three ounces of butter; set it over a slow fire; while it is melting, slice four ounces of onion; cut in small pieces one turnip, one carrot, and a head of celery; put them in the stewpan, cover it close, let it fry till they are lightly browned; this will take about twenty-five minutes: have ready, in a sauce-pan, a pint of pease, with four quarts of water; when the roots in the stew-pan are quite brown, and the pease come to a boil, put the pease and water to them; put it on the fire; when it boils, skim it clean, and put in a crust of bread about as big as the top of a twopenny loaf, twenty-four berries of allspice, the same of black pepper, and two blades of mace; cover it close, let it simmer gently for one hour and a half; then set it from the fire for ten minutes; then pour it off very gently (so as not to disturb the sediment at the bottom of the stew-pan) into a large basin; let it stand (about two hours) till it is quite clear: while this is doing, shred one large turnip, the red part of a large carrot, three ounces of onion minced, and one large head of celery cut into small bits; put the turnips and carrots on the fire in cold water, let them boil five minutes, then drain them on a sieve, then pour off the soup clear into a stew-pan, put in the roots, put the soup on the fire, let it simmer gently till the herbs are tender (from thirty to forty minutes), season it with salt and a little Cayenne, and it is ready.

You may add a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup ([No. 439]).

Obs. You will have three quarts of soup, as well coloured, and almost as well flavoured, as if made with gravy meat.

N.B. To make this it requires nearly five hours. To fry the herbs requires twenty-five minutes; to boil all together, one hour and a half; to settle, at the least, two hours; when clear, and put on the fire again, half an hour more.

FISH SOUPS.—(No. 225.)

Eel Soup.

To make a tureenful, take a couple of middling-sized onions, cut them in half, and cross your knife over them two or three times; put two ounces of butter into a stew-pan when it is melted, put in the onions, stir them about till they are lightly browned; cut into pieces three pounds of unskinned eels, put them into your stew-pan, and shake them over the fire for five minutes; then add three quarts of boiling water, and when they come to a boil, take the scum off very clean; then put in a quarter of an ounce of the green leaves (not dried) of winter savoury, the same of lemon thyme, and twice the quantity of parsley, two drachms of allspice, the same of black pepper; cover it close, and let it boil gently for two hours; then strain it off, and skim it very clean. To thicken it, put three ounces of butter into a clean stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in as much flour as will make it of a stiff paste, then add the liquor by degrees; let it simmer for ten minutes, and pass it through a sieve; then put your soup on in a clean stew-pan, and have ready some little square pieces of fish fried of a nice light brown, either eels, soles, plaice, or skate will do; the fried fish should be added about ten minutes before the soup is served up. Forcemeat balls (Nos. [375], [378], &c.) are sometimes added.

Obs. Excellent fish soups may be made with a cod’s skull, or skate, or flounders, &c. boiled in no more water than will just cover them, and the liquor thickened with oatmeal, &c.

Cheap Soups.—(No. 229.)

Among the variety of schemes that have been suggested for “bettering the condition of the poor,” a more useful or extensive charity cannot be devised, than that of instructing them in economical cookery: it is one of the most-important objects to which the attention of any real well-wisher to the public interest can possibly be directed.

The best and cheapest method of making a nourishing soup, is least known to those who have most need of it; it will enable those who have small incomes and large families to make the most of the little they possess, without pinching their children of that wholesome nourishment which is necessary for the purpose of rearing them up to maturity in health and strength.

The labouring classes seldom purchase what are called the coarser pieces of meat, because they do not know how to dress them, but lay out their money in pieces for roasting, &c., of which the bones, &c. enhance the price of the actual meat to nearly a shilling per pound, and the diminution of weight by roasting amounts to 32 per cent. This, for the sake of saving time, trouble, and fire, is generally sent to an oven to be baked; the nourishing parts are evaporated and dried up, its weight is diminished nearly one-third, and all that a poor man can afford to purchase with his week’s earnings, perhaps does not half satisfy the appetites of himself and family for a couple of days.

If a hard-working man cannot get a comfortable meal at home, he soon finds his way to the public-house, the poor wife contents herself with tea and bread and butter, and the children are half starved.

Dr. Kitchiner’s receipt to make a cheap, nutritive, and palatable soup, fully adequate to satisfy appetite and support strength, will open a new source to those benevolent housekeepers who are disposed to relieve the poor; will show the industrious classes how much they have it in their power to assist themselves; and rescue them from being dependent on the precarious bounty of others, by teaching them how they may obtain an abundant, salubrious, and agreeable aliment for themselves and families, for one penny per quart. See [page 210].

For various economical soups, see Nos. [204], [239], [240], [224], [221], and [Obs.] to Nos. [244] and [252], and Nos. [493] and [502].

Obs. Dripping intended for soup should be taken out of the pan almost as soon as it has dropped from the meat; if it is not quite clean, clarify it. See receipt, [No. 83].

Dripping thus prepared is a very different thing from that which has remained in the dripping-pan all the time the meat has been roasting, and perhaps live coals have dropped into it.[209-*]

Distributing soup does not answer half so well as teaching people how to make it, and improve their comfort at home: the time lost in waiting at the soup-house is seldom less than three hours; in which time, by any industrious occupation, however poorly paid, they could earn more money than the quart of soup is worth.

Dr. Kitchiner’s Receipt to make a Gallon of Barley Broth for a Groat. See also [No. 204].

Put four ounces of Scotch barley (previously washed in cold water), and four ounces of sliced onions, into five quarts of water; boil gently for one hour, and pour it into a pan; then put into the saucepan from one to two ounces of clean beef or mutton drippings, or melted suet, (to clarify these, see [No. 83]) or two or three ounces of fat bacon minced; when melted, stir into it four ounces of oatmeal; rub these together till you make a paste (if this be properly managed, the whole of the fat will combine with the barley broth, and not a particle appear on the surface to offend the most delicate stomach); now add the barley broth, at first a spoonful at a time, then the rest by degrees, stirring it well together till it boils. To season it, put a drachm of finely-pounded celery, or cress-seed, or half a drachm of each, and a quarter of a drachm of finely-pounded Cayenne ([No. 404]), or a drachm and a half of ground black pepper, or allspice, into a tea-cup, and mix it up with a little of the soup, and then pour it into the rest; stir it thoroughly together; let it simmer gently a quarter of an hour longer, season it with salt, and it is ready.

The flavour may be varied by doubling the portion of onions, or adding a clove of garlic or eschalot, and leaving out the celery-seed ([No. 572]), or put in shredded roots as in [No. 224]; or, instead of oatmeal, thicken it with ground rice, or pease, &c., and make it savoury with fried onions.

This preparation, excellent as it is, would, without variety, soon become less agreeable.

Nothing so completely disarms poverty of its sting, as the means of rendering a scanty pittance capable of yielding a comfortable variety.

Change of flavour is absolutely necessary, not merely as a matter of pleasure and comfort, but of health; toujours perdrix is a true proverb.

This soup will be much improved, if, instead of water, it be made with the liquor meat has been boiled in; at tripe, cow-heel, and cook-shops, this may be had for little or nothing.

This soup has the advantage of being very soon and easily made, with no more fuel than is necessary to warm a room; those who have not tasted it, cannot imagine what a savoury and satisfying meal is produced by the combination of these cheap and homely ingredients.

If the generally-received opinion be true, that animal and vegetable foods afford nourishment in proportion to the quantity of oil, jelly, and mucilage, that can be extracted from them, this soup has strong claims to the attention of rational economists.

Craw-fish Soup.—(No. 235.)

This soup is sometimes made with beef, or veal broth, or with fish, in the following manner:

Take flounders, eels, gudgeons, &c., and set them on to boil in cold water; when it is pretty nigh boiling, skim it well; and to three quarts put in a couple of onions, and as many carrots cut to pieces, some parsley, a dozen berries of black and Jamaica pepper, and about half a hundred craw-fish; take off the small claws and shells of the tails; pound them fine, and boil them with the broth about an hour; strain off, and break in some crusts of bread to thicken it, and, if you can get it, the spawn of a lobster; pound it, and put it to the soup; let it simmer very gently for a couple of minutes; put in your craw-fish to get hot, and the soup is ready.

Obs.—One of my predecessors recommends craw-fish pounded alive, to sweeten the sharpness of the blood. Vide Clermont’s Cookery, p. 5, London, 1776.

“Un des grands hommes de bouche de France” says, “Un bon coulis d’ecrevisses est le paradis sur la terre, et digne de la table des dieux; and of all the tribe of shell-fish, which our industry and our sensuality bring from the bottom of the sea, the river, or the pond, the craw-fish is incomparably the most useful and the most delicious.”

Lobster Soup.—(No. 237.)

You must have three fine lively[211-*] young hen lobsters, and boil them, see [No. 176]; when cold, split the tails; take out the fish, crack the claws, and cut the meat into mouthfuls: take out the coral, and soft part of the body; bruise part of the coral in a mortar; pick out the fish from the chines; beat part of it with the coral, and with this make forcemeat balls, finely-flavoured with mace or nutmeg, a little grated lemon-peel, anchovy, and Cayenne; pound these with the yelk of an egg.

Have three quarts of veal broth; bruise the small legs and the chine, and put them into it, to boil for twenty minutes, then strain it; and then to thicken it, take the live spawn and bruise it in a mortar with a little butter and flour; rub it through a sieve, and add it to the soup with the meat of the lobsters, and the remaining coral; let it simmer very gently for ten minutes; do not let it boil, or its fine red colour will immediately fade; turn it into a tureen; add the juice of a good lemon, and a little essence of anchovy.

Soup and Bouilli.—(No. 238. See also [No. 5].)

The best parts for this purpose are the leg or shin, or a piece of the middle of a brisket of beef, of about seven or eight pounds weight; lay it on a fish-drainer, or when you take it up put a slice under it, which will enable you to place it on the dish entire; put it into a soup-pot or deep stew-pan, with cold water enough to cover it, and a quart over; set it on a quick fire to get the scum up, which remove as it rises; then put in two carrots, two turnips, two leeks, or two large onions, two heads of celery, two or three cloves, and a fagot of parsley and sweet herbs; set the pot by the side of the fire to simmer very gently, till the meat is just tender enough to eat: this will require about four or five hours.

Put a large carrot, a turnip, a large onion, and a head or two of celery, into the soup whole; take them out as soon as they are done enough; lay them on a dish till they are cold; then cut them into small squares: when the beef is done, take it out carefully: to dish it up, see [No. 204], or [No. 493]: strain the soup through a hair-sieve into a clean stew-pan; take off the fat, and put the vegetables that are cut into the soup, the flavour of which you may heighten by adding a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup.

If a thickened soup is preferred, take four large table-spoonfuls of the clear fat from the top of the pot, and four spoonfuls of flour; mix it smooth together; then by degrees stir it well into the soup, which simmer for ten minutes longer at least; skim it well, and pass it through a tamis, or fine sieve, and add the vegetables and seasoning the same as directed in the clear soup.

Keep the beef hot, and send it up (as a remove to the soup) with finely-chopped parsley sprinkled on the top, and a sauce-boat of [No. 328].

Ox-head Soup,—(No. 239.)

Should be prepared the day before it is to be eaten, as you cannot cut the meat off the head into neat mouthfuls unless it is cold: therefore, the day before you want this soup, put half an ox-cheek into a tub of cold water to soak for a couple of hours; then break the bones that have not been broken at the butcher’s, and wash it very well in warm water; put it into a pot, and cover it with cold water; when it boils, skim it very clean, and then put in one head of celery, a couple of carrots, a turnip, two large onions, two dozen berries of black pepper, same of allspice, and a bundle of sweet herbs, such as marjoram, lemon-thyme, savoury, and a handful of parsley; cover the soup-pot close, and set it on a slow fire; take off the scum, which will rise when it is coming to a boil, and set it by the fireside to stew very gently for about three hours; take out the head, lay it on a dish, pour the soup through a fine sieve into a stone-ware pan, and set it and the head by in a cool place till the next day: then cut the meat into neat mouthfuls, skim and strain off the broth, put two quarts of it and the meat into a clean stew-pan, let it simmer very gently for half an hour longer, and it is ready. If you wish it thickened (which we do not recommend, for the reasons given in the [7th chapter] of the Rudiments of Cookery), put two ounces of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, throw in as much flour as will dry it up; when they are all well mixed together, and browned by degrees, pour to this your soup, and stir it well together; let it simmer for half an hour longer; strain it through a hair-sieve into a clean stew-pan, and put to it the meat of the head; let it stew half an hour longer, and season it with Cayenne pepper, salt, and a glass of good wine, or a table-spoonful of brandy. See Ox-cheek stewed, [No. 507].

Obs.—Those who wish this soup still more savoury, &c. for the means of making it so, we refer to [No. 247].

N.B. This is an excellent and economical soup. See also Nos. [204] and [229].

If you serve it as soup for a dozen people, thicken one tureen, and send up the meat in that; and send up the other as a clear gravy soup, with some of the carrots and turnips shredded, or cut into shapes.

Ox-tail Soup.—(No. 240.)

Three tails, costing about 7d. each, will make a tureen of soup (desire the butcher to divide them at the joints); lay them to soak in warm water, while you get ready the vegetables.

Put into a gallon stew-pan eight cloves, two or three onions, half a drachm of allspice, and the same of black pepper, and the tails;[214-*] cover them with cold water; skim it carefully, when and as long as you see any scum rise; then cover the pot as close as possible, and set it on the side of the fire to keep gently simmering till the meat becomes tender and will leave the bones easily, because it is to be eaten with a spoon, without the assistance of a knife or fork; see [N.B.] to [No. 244]; this will require about two hours: mind it is not done too much: when perfectly tender, take out the meat and cut it off the bones, in neat mouthfuls; skim the broth, and strain it through a sieve; if you prefer a thickened soup, put flour and butter, as directed in the preceding receipt; or put two table-spoonfuls of the fat you have taken off the broth into a clean stew-pan, with as much flour as will make it into a paste; set this over the fire, and stir them well together; then pour in the broth by degrees, stirring it, and mixing it with the thickening; let it simmer for another half hour, and when you have well skimmed it, and it is quite smooth, then strain it through a tamis into a clean stew-pan, put in the meat, with a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), a glass of wine, and season it with salt.

For increasing the piquance of this soup, read [No. 247].

Obs.—See [N.B.] to [No. 244]; if the meat is cut off the bones, you must have three tails for a tureen, see [N.B.] to [No. 244]: some put an ox-cheek or tails in an earthen pan, with all the ingredients as above, and send them to a slow oven for five or six hours.

To stew ox-tails, see [No. 531].

Ox-heel Soup,—(No. 240*.)

Must be made the day before it is to be eaten. Procure an ox-heel undressed, or only scalded (not one that has been already boiled, as they are at the tripe-shops, till almost all the gelatinous parts are extracted), and two that have been boiled as they usually are at the tripe-shops.

Cut the meat off the boiled heels into neat mouthfuls, and set it by on a plate; put the trimmings and bones into a stew-pan, with three quarts of water, and the unboiled heel cut into quarters; furnish a stew-pan with two onions, and two turnips pared and sliced; pare off the red part of a couple of large carrots, add a couple of eschalots cut in half, a bunch of savoury or lemon-thyme, and double the quantity of parsley; set this over, or by the side of a slow, steady fire, and keep it closely covered and simmering very gently (or the soup liquor will evaporate) for at least seven hours: during which, take care to remove the fat and scum that will rise to the surface of the soup, which must be kept as clean as possible.

Now strain the liquor through a sieve, and put two ounces of butter into a clean stew-pan; when it is melted, stir into it as much flour as will make it a stiff paste; add to it by degrees the soup liquor; give it a boil up; strain it through a sieve, and put in the peel of a lemon pared as thin as possible, and a couple of bay-leaves, and the meat of the boiled heels; let it go on simmering for half an hour longer, i. e. till the meat is tender. Put in the juice of a lemon, a glass of wine, and a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, and the soup is ready for the tureen.

Obs. Those who are disposed to make this a more substantial dish, may introduce a couple of sets of goose or duck giblets, or ox-tails, or a pound of veal cutlets, cut into mouthfuls.

Hare, Rabbit, or Partridge Soup.—(No. 241.)

An old hare, or birds, when so tough as to defy the teeth in any other form, will make very good soup.

Cut off the legs and shoulders; divide the body crossways, and stew them very gently in three quarts of water, with one carrot, about one ounce of onion, with four cloves, two blades of pounded mace, twenty-four black peppers, and a bundle of sweet herbs, till the hare is tender (most cooks add to the above a couple of slices of ham or bacon, and a bay leaf, &c., but my palate and purse both plead against such extravagance; the hare makes sufficiently savoury soup without them): the time this will take depends very much upon its age, and how long it has been kept before it is dressed: as a general rule, about three hours: in the mean time, make a dozen and a half of nice forcemeat balls (as big as nutmegs) of [No. 379]; when the hare is quite tender, take the meat off the back, and the upper joint of the legs; cut it into neat mouthfuls, and lay it aside; cut the rest of the meat off the legs, shoulders, &c., mince it and pound it in a mortar, with an ounce of butter, and two or three table-spoonfuls of flour moistened with a little soup; rub this through a hair-sieve, and put it into the soup to thicken it; let it simmer slowly half an hour longer, skimming it well; put it through the tamis into the pan again; and put in the meat with a glass of claret or port wine, and a table-spoonful of currant jelly to each quart of soup; season it with salt, put in the forcemeat balls, and when all is well warmed, the soup is ready.

Obs. Cold roast hare will make excellent soup. Chop it in pieces, and stew it in water (according to the quantity of hare) for about an hour, and manage it as in the above receipt: the stuffing of the hare will be a substitute for sweet herbs and seasoning.

N.B. This soup may be made with mock hare, see [No. 66].

Game Soup.—(No. 242.)

In the game season, it is easy for a cook to give her master a very good soup at a very little expense, by taking all the meat off the breasts of any cold birds which have been left the preceding day, and pounding it in a mortar, and beating to pieces the legs and bones, and boiling them in some broth for an hour. Boil six turnips; mash them, and strain them through a tamis-cloth with the meat that has been pounded in a mortar; strain your broth, and put a little of it at a time into the tamis to help you to strain all of it through. Put your soup-kettle near the fire, but do not let it boil: when ready to dish your dinner, have six yelks of eggs mixed with half a pint of cream; strain through a sieve; put your soup on the fire, and as it is coming to boil, put in the eggs, and stir well with a wooden spoon: do not let it boil, or it will curdle.

Goose or Duck Giblet Soup.[216-*]—(No. 244.)

Scald and pick very clean a couple sets of goose, or four of duck giblets (the fresher the better); wash them well in warm water, in two or three waters; cut off the noses and split the heads; divide the gizzards and necks into mouthfuls. If the gizzards are not cut into pieces before they are done enough, the rest of the meat, &c. will be done too much; and knives and forks have no business in a soup-plate. Crack the bones of the legs, and put them into a stew-pan; cover them with cold water: when they boil, take off the scum as it rises; then put in a bundle of herbs, such as lemon-thyme, winter savoury, or marjoram, about three sprigs of each, and double the quantity of parsley, an onion, twenty berries of allspice, the same of black pepper; tie them all up in a muslin bag, and set them to stew very gently till the gizzards are tender: this will take from an hour and a half to two hours, according to the size and age of the giblets: take them up with a skimmer, or a spoon full of holes, put them into the tureen, and cover down close to keep warm till the soup is ready.

To thicken the soup. Melt an ounce and a half of butter in a clean stew-pan; stir in as much flour as will make it into a paste; then pour to it by degrees a ladleful of the giblet liquor; add the remainder by degrees; let it boil about half an hour, stirring it all the while for fear it should burn; skim it, and strain it through a fine sieve into a basin; wash out the stew-pan; then return the soup into it, and season it with a glass of wine, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, and a little salt; let it have one boil up; and then put the giblets in to get hot, and the soup is ready.

Obs. Thus managed, one set of goose, or two of duck giblets (which latter may sometimes be had for 3d.), will make a quart of healthful, nourishing soup: if you think the giblets alone will not make the gravy savoury enough, add a pound of beef or mutton, or bone of a knuckle of veal, and heighten its “piquance” by adding a few leaves of sweet basil, the juice of half a Seville orange or lemon, and half a glass of wine, and a little of [No. 343*] to each quart of soup.

Those who are fond of forcemeat may slip the skin off the neck, and fill it with [No. 378]; tie up the other end tight; put it into the soup about half an hour before you take it up, or make some nice savoury balls of the duck stuffing, [No. 61].

Obs. Bespeak the giblets a couple of days before you desire to have them: this is a favourite soup when the giblets are done till nicely tender, but yet not overboiled. Giblets may be had from July to January; the fresher they are the better.

N.B. This is rather a family-dish than a company one; the bones cannot be well picked without the help of alive pincers.

Since Tom Coryat introduced forks, A. D. 1642, it has not been the fashion to put “pickers and stealers” into soup.

Mock Mock Turtle,—(No. 245.)

As made by Elizabeth Lister (late cook to Dr. Kitchiner), bread and biscuit baker, No. 6 Salcombe Place, York Terrace, Regent’s Park. Goes out to dress dinners on reasonable terms.

Line the bottom of a stew-pan that will hold five pints, with an ounce of nice lean bacon or ham, a pound and a half of lean gravy beef, a cow-heel, the inner rind of a carrot, a sprig of lemons-thyme, winter savoury, three times the quantity of parsley, a few green leaves of sweet basil,[218-*] and two eschalots; put in a large onion, with four cloves stuck in it, eighteen corns of allspice, the same of black pepper; pour on these a quarter of a pint of cold water, cover the stew-pan, and set it on a slow fire, to boil gently for a quarter of an hour; then, for fear the meat should catch, take off the cover, and watch it; and when it has got a good brown colour, fill up the stew-pan with boiling water, and let it simmer very gently for two hours: if you wish to have the full benefit of the meat, only stew it till it is just tender, cut it into mouthfuls, and put it into the soup. To thicken it, pour two or three table-spoonfuls of flour, a ladleful of the gravy, and stir it quick till it is well mixed; pour it back into the stew-pan where the gravy is, and let it simmer gently for half an hour longer; skim it, and then strain it through a tamis into the stew-pan: cut the cow-heel into pieces about an inch square, squeeze through a sieve the juice of a lemon, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, a tea-spoonful of salt, half a tea-spoonful of ground black pepper, as much grated nutmeg as will lie on a sixpence, and a glass of Madeira or sherry wine; let it all simmer together for five minutes longer.

Forcemeat or egg balls may be added if you please; you will find a receipt for these, [No. 380], &c.

^*_*^* A pound of veal cutlets, or the belly part of pickled pork, or nice double tripe cut into pieces about an inch square, and half an inch thick, and rounded and trimmed neatly from all skin, gristle, &c. and stewed till they are tender, will be a great addition.

Mock Turtle,—(No. 247.)

Is the “bonne bouche” which “the officers of the mouth” of old England[219-*] prepare, when they choose to rival “les grands cuisiniers de France” in a “ragoût sans pareil.”

The following receipt is an attempt (and the committee of taste pronounced it a successful one), to imitate the excellent and generally approved mock turtle made by Messrs. Birch, Cornhill.

Endeavour to have the head and the broth ready for the soup,[219-†] the day before it is to be eaten.

It will take eight hours to prepare it properly.

	hours.
Cleaning and soaking the head	1
To parboil it to cut up	1
Cooling, nearly	1
Making the broth and finishing the soup	5
	8

Get a calf’s head with the skin on (the fresher the better); take out the brains, wash the head several times in cold water, let it soak for about an hour in spring-water, then lay it in a stew-pan, and cover it with cold water, and half a gallon over; as it becomes warm, a great deal of scum will rise, which must be immediately removed; let it boil gently for one hour, take it up, and when almost cold, cut the head into pieces about an inch and a half by an inch and a quarter, and the tongue into mouthfuls, or rather make a side-dish of the tongue and brains, as in [No. 10].

When the head is taken out, put in the stock meat,[219-‡] about five pounds of knuckle of veal, and as much beef; add to the stock all the trimmings and bones of the head, skim it well, and then cover it close, and let it boil five hours (reserve a couple of quarts of this to make gravy sauces, &c. see [No. 307]); then strain it off, and let it stand till the next morning; then take off the fat, set a large stew-pan on the fire with half a pound of good fresh butter, twelve ounces of onions sliced, and four ounces of green sage; chop it a little; let these fry one hour; then rub in half a pound of flour, and by degrees add your broth till it is the thickness of cream; season it with a quarter of an ounce of ground allspice and half an ounce of black pepper ground very fine, salt to your taste, and the rind of one lemon peeled very thin; let it simmer very gently for one hour and a half, then strain it through a hair-sieve; do not rub your soup to get it through the sieve, or it will make it grouty; if it does not run through easily, knock your wooden-spoon against the side of your sieve; put it in a clean stew-pan with the head, and season it by adding to each gallon of soup half a pint of wine; this should be Madeira, or, if you wish to darken the colour of your soup, claret, and two table-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, see [No. 407*]; let it simmer gently till the meat is tender; this may take from half an hour to an hour: take care it is not over-done; stir it frequently to prevent the meat sticking to the bottom of the stew-pan, and when the meat is quite tender the soup is ready.

A head weighing twenty pounds, and ten pounds of stock meat, will make ten quarts of excellent soup, besides the two quarts of stock you have put by for made dishes, &c.

Obs. If there is more meat on the head than you wish to put in the soup, prepare it for a pie, and, with the addition of a calf’s foot boiled tender, it will make an excellent ragoût pie; season it with zest, and a little minced onion, put in half a tea-cupful of stock, cover it with puff paste, and bake it one hour: when the soup comes from table, if there is a deal of meat and no soup, put it into a pie-dish, season it a little, and add some little stock to it; then cover it with paste, bake it one hour, and you have a good mock turtle pie.

This soup was eaten by the committee of taste with unanimous applause, and they pronounced it a very satisfactory substitute[220-*] for “the far-fetch’d and dear-bought” turtle; which is entirely indebted for its title of “sovereign of savouriness,” to the rich soup with which it is surrounded.

Without its paraphernalia of subtle double relishes, a “starved turtle,” has not more intrinsic sapidity than a “fatted calf.” Friendly reader, it is really neither half so wholesome, nor half so toothsome. See Essence of Turtle, [No. 343*], and [Obs.] to [No. 493]. To warm this soup, see [No. 485].

To season it, to each gallon of soup put two table-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, see [No. 407*], same of mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), and one of essence of anchovy ([No. 433]), half a pint of wine (this should be Madeira, or, if you wish to darken the colour of your soup, claret), a tea-spoonful of curry powder ([No. 455]), or a quarter of a drachm of Cayenne, and the peel of a lemon pared as thin as possible; let it simmer five minutes more, take out the lemon-peel, and the soup is ready for the tureen.

While the soup is doing, prepare for each tureen a dozen and a half of mock turtle forcemeat balls (to make these, see [No. 375] or [No. 376], [No. 390] to [No. 396]); we prefer the stuffing ordered in [No. 61], and a dozen egg balls; and put them into the tureen. Brain balls, or cakes, are a very elegant addition, and are made by boiling the brains for ten minutes, then putting them in cold water, and cutting them into pieces about as big as a large nutmeg; take savoury, or lemon-thyme dried and finely-powdered, nutmeg grated, and pepper and salt, and pound them all together; beat up an egg, dip the brains in it, and then roll them in this mixture, and make as much of it as possible stick to them; dip them in the egg again, and then in finely-grated and sifted bread-crumbs; fry them in hot fat, and send them up as a side-dish.

A veal sweetbread, prepared as in [No. 89], not too much done or it will break, cut into pieces the same size as you cut the calf’s head, and put in the soup, just to get warm before it goes to table, is a superb “bonne bouche;” and pickled tongue, stewed till very tender, and cut into mouthfuls, is a favourite addition. We order the meat to be cut into mouthfuls, that it may be eaten with a spoon: the knife and fork have no business in a soup-plate.

^*_*^* Some of our culinary contemporaries order the haut goût of this (as above directed, sufficiently relishing) soup to be combustibled and bedevilled with a copious addition of anchovies, mushrooms, truffles, morelles, curry-powder, artichoke bottoms, salmon’s head and liver, or the soft part of oysters or lobsters, soles cut in mouthfuls, a bottle of Madeira, a pint of brandy, &c.; and to complete their surfeiting and burn-gullet olio, they put in such a tremendous quantity of Cayenne pepper, that only a fire-proof palate, lined with asbestos, or indurated by Indian diet, can endure it. See [note] under [No. 493].

N.B. In helping this soup, the distributer of it should serve out the meat, forcemeat, and gravy, in equal parts; however trifling or needless this remark may appear, the writer has often suffered from the want of such a hint being given to the soup-server, who has sometimes sent a plate of mere gravy without meat, at others, of meat without gravy, and sometimes scarcely any thing but forcemeat balls.

Obs. This is a delicious soup, within the reach of those who “eat to live;” but if it had been composed expressly for those who only “live to eat,” I do not know how it could have been made more agreeable: as it is, the lover of good eating will “wish his throat a mile long, and every inch of it palate.”

N.B. Cucumber in a side-plate is a laudable vegetable accompaniment.

English Turtle.—(No. 248.)

See [No. 502]. “A-la-mode beef.”

Curry, or Mullaga-tawny[222-*] Soup.—(No. 249.)

Cut four pounds of a breast of veal into pieces, about two inches by one; put the trimmings into a stew-pan with two quarts of water, with twelve corns of black pepper, and the same of allspice; when it boils, skim it clean, and let it boil an hour and a half, then strain it off; while it is boiling, fry of a nice brown in butter the bits of veal and four onions; when they are done, put the broth to them; put it on the fire; when it boils, skim it clean; let it simmer half an hour; then mix two spoonfuls of curry, and the same of flour, with a little cold water and a tea-spoonful of salt; add these to the soup, and simmer it gently till the veal is quite tender, and it is ready; or bone a couple of fowls or rabbits, and stew them in the manner directed above for the veal, and you may put in a bruised eschalot, and some mace and ginger, instead of black pepper and allspice.

Obs. Read [No. 497].

Turtle[223-*] Soup.—(No. 250.)

As it is our wish that this work should be given to the public at the lowest possible price, the receipt for dressing a turtle is taken out, as a professed cook is always hired for the purpose of dressing it. The space this long receipt occupied is now filled with directions for making useful pickles. See [No. 462].

Portable[223-†] Soup, or Glaze.—(No. 252.)

Desire the butcher to break the bones of a leg or a shin of beef, of ten pounds weight (the fresher killed the better); put it into a soup-pot (a digester[223-‡] is the best utensil for this purpose) that will well hold it; just cover it with cold water, and set it on the fire to heat gradually till it nearly boils (this should be at least an hour); skim it attentively while any scum rises; pour in a little cold water, to throw up the scum that may remain; let it come to a boil again, and again skim it carefully: when no more scum rises, and the broth appears clear (put in neither roots, nor herbs, nor salt), let it boil for eight or ten hours, and then strain it through a hair-sieve into a brown stone pan; set the broth where it will cool quickly; put the meat into a sieve, let it drain, make potted beef ([No. 503]), or it will be very acceptable to many poor families. Next day remove every particle of fat from the top of it, and pour it through a tamis, or fine sieve, as quietly as possible, into a stew-pan, taking care not to let any of the settlings at the bottom of the stone pan go into the stew-pan, which should be of thick copper, perfectly well tinned; add a quarter of an ounce of whole black pepper to it; let it boil briskly, with the stew-pan uncovered, on a quick fire; if any scum rises, take it off with a skimmer: when it begins to thicken, and is reduced to about a quart, put it into a smaller stew-pan; set it over a gentler fire, till it is reduced to the thickness of a very thick syrup; take care that it does not burn, a moment’s inattention now will lose you all your labour, and the soup will be spoiled: take a little of it out in a spoon and let it cool; if it sets into a strong jelly, it is done enough; if it does not, boil it a little longer till it does; have ready some little pots, such as are used for potted meats, about an inch and a half deep, taking care that they are quite dry; we recommend it to be kept in these pots, if it is for home consumption (the less it is reduced, the better is the flavour of the soup), if it be sufficiently concentrated to keep for six months; if you wish to preserve it longer, put it into such bladders as are used for German sausages, or if you prefer it in the form of cakes, pour it into a dish about a quarter of an inch deep; when it is cold, turn it out and weigh the cake, and divide it with a paste-cutter into pieces of half an ounce and an ounce each; place them in a warm room, and turn them frequently till they are thoroughly dried; this will take a week or ten days; turn them twice a day; when well hardened, and kept in a dry place, they may be preserved for several years in any climate.

This extract of meat makes excellent “tablettes de Bouillon,” for those who are obliged to endure long fasting.

If the surface becomes mouldy, wipe it with a little warm water; the mouldy taste does not penetrate the mass.

If, after several days’ drying, it does not become so hard as you wish, put it into a bainmarie stew-pan, or milk-boiler, till it is evaporated to the consistence you wish; or, set the pots in a cool oven, or in a cheese-toaster, at a considerable distance from the fire: this is the only safe way of reducing it very much, without the risk of its burning, and acquiring an extremely disagreeable, acrid flavour, &c.

Obs. The uses of this concentrated essence of meat are numerous. It is equally economical and convenient for making extempore broths enumerated in the [Obs.] to [No. 200], sauces and gravies for hashed or stewed meat, game, or poultry, &c.

You may thicken it and flavour it as directed in [No. 329]; to make gravy, sauces, &c. take double the quantity ordered for broth.

If you have time and opportunity, as there is no seasoning in the soup, either of roots, herbs, or spice, boil an onion with or without a bit of parsley and sweet herbs, and a few corns of allspice, or other spice, in the water you melt the soup in, which may be flavoured with mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), or eschalot wine ([No. 402]), essence of sweet herbs ([No. 417]), savoury spice ([No. 421], or [No. 457]), essence of celery ([No. 409]), &c. or zest ([No. 255]); these may be combined in the proportions most agreeable to the palate of the eater, and are as portable as portable soup, for a very small portion will flavour a pint.

The editor adds nothing to the solution of this soup, but a very little ground black pepper and some salt.

N.B. If you are a careful manager, you need not always purchase meat on purpose to make this; when you dress a large dinner, you can make glaze at very small cost, by taking care of the trimmings and parings of the meat, game, and poultry, you use: wash them well, put them into a stew-pan, cover them with the liquor you have boiled meat in, and proceed as in the above receipt; and see [Obs.] on [No. 185].

Mem. This portable soup is a most convenient article in cookery; especially in small families, where it will save a great deal of time and trouble. It is also economical, for no more will be melted than is wanted; so there is no waste.

Nine pounds of neck of beef, costing 2s. 7 1/2d. produced nine ounces of very nice soup; the bones, when boiled, weighed ten ounces.

Half an ox-cheek, costing 1s. 9d. and weighing 14 3/4 pounds, produced thirteen ounces; but not so firm or clear, and far inferior in flavour to that obtained from a shin of beef.

A sheep’s head, costing 9d., produced three ounces and a half.

Two pounds of lean meat, from the blade-bone of beef, produced hardly an ounce.

The addition of an ounce of gum arabic, and two ounces of isinglass, to four ounces of the extract from a leg of beef, considerably diminished the consistence of the mass, without adding to its bulk.

It has been thought that the portable soup which is manufactured for sale, is partly made with ox-heels; but the experiment ([No. 198]) proves this cannot be, as an ounce of the jelly from ox-heel costs 5d. For the cheapest method of procuring a hard jelly, see [N.B.] to [No. 481]; nineteen bones, costing 4 1/2d. produced three ounces: almost as cheap as Salisbury glue.

A knuckle of veal, weighing 4 3/4 pounds, and costing 2s. 4d. produced five ounces.

A shin of beef, weighing nine pounds, and costing 1s. 10 1/2d. produced nine ounces of concentrated soup, sufficiently reduced to keep for several months. After the boiling, the bones in this joint weighed two pounds and a quarter, and the meat two pounds and a quarter.

The result of these experiments is, that the product from legs and shins of beef was almost as large in quantity, and of much superior quality and flavour, as that obtained from any of the other materials; the flavour of the product from mutton, veal, &c. is comparatively insipid.

As it is difficult to obtain this ready-made of good quality, and we could not find any proper and circumstantial directions for making it, which, on trial, answered the purpose, and it is really a great acquisition to the army and navy, to travellers, invalids, &c. the editor has bestowed some time, &c. in endeavouring to learn, and to teach, how it may be prepared in the easiest, most economical, and perfect manner.

The ordinary selling price is from 10s. to 12s., but you may make it according to the above receipt for 3s. 6d. per pound, i. e. for 2 1/2d. per ounce, which will make you a pint of broth.

Those who do not regard the expense, and like the flavour, may add the lean of ham, in the proportion of a pound to eight pounds of leg of beef.

It may also be flavoured, by adding to it, at the time you put the broth into the smaller stew-pan, mushroom catchup, eschalot wine, essences of spice or herbs, &c.; we prefer it quite plain; it is then ready to be converted, in an instant, into a basin of beef tea, for an invalid, and any flavour may be immediately communicated to it by the magazine of taste ([No. 462]).

To clarify Broth or Gravy.—(No. 252*.)

Put on the broth in a clean stew-pan; break the white and shell of an egg, beat them together, put them into the broth, stir it with a whisk; when it has boiled a few minutes, strain it through a tamis or a napkin.

Obs. A careful cook will seldom have occasion to clarify her broths, &c. if prepared according to the directions given in [No. 200].

[193-*] In culinary technicals, is called FIRST STOCK, or long broth; in the French kitchen, “le grand bouillon.”

[193-†] A dog was fed on the richest broth, yet could not be kept alive; while another, which had only the meat boiled to a chip (and water), throve very well. This shows the folly of attempting to nourish men by concentrated soups, jellies, &c.—Sinclair, Code of Health, p. 356.

If this experiment be accurate, what becomes of the theoretic visions of those who have written about nourishing broths, &c.? The best test of the restorative quality of food, is a small quantity of it satisfying hunger, the strength of the pulse after it, and the length of time which elapses before appetite returns again. According to this rule, we give our verdict in favour of [No. 19] or [24]. See [N.B.] to [No. 181].

This subject is fully discussed in The Art of Invigorating and Prolonging Life, by Diet, &c. published by G. B. Whittaker, 13 Ave-Maria lane.

[194-*] Called, in some cookery books, “SECOND STOCK;” in the French kitchen, “jus de bœuf.”

[194-†] A great deal of care is to be taken to watch the time of putting in the water: if it is poured in too soon, the gravy will not have its true flavour and colour: and if it be let alone till the meat sticks to the pan, it will get a burnt taste.

[195-*] Truffles, morells, and mushrooms, catchups and wines, &c. are added by those who are for the extreme of haut goût.

[195-†] The general rule is to put in about a pint of water to a pound of meat, if it only simmers very gently.

[195-‡] A tamis is a worsted cloth, sold at the oil shops, made on purpose for straining sauces: the best way for using it is for two people to twist it contrary ways. This is a better way of straining sauce than through a sieve, and refines it much more completely.

[197-*] By this method, it is said, an ingenious cook long deceived a large family, who were all fond of weak mutton broth. Mushroom gravy, or catchup ([No. 439]), approaches the nature and flavour of meat gravy, more than any vegetable juice, and is the best substitute for it in maigre soups and extempore sauces, that culinary chemistry has yet produced.

[200-*] See “L’Art de Cuisinier,” par A. Beauvillier, Paris, 1814, p. 68. “I have learned by experience, that of all the fats that are used for frying, the pot top which is taken from the surface of the broth and stock-pot is by far the best.”

[203-*] To make pease pottage, double the quantity. Those who often make pease soup should have a mill, and grind the pease just before they dress them; a less quantity will suffice, and the soup will be much sooner made.

[204-*] If the liquor is very salt, the pease will never boil tender. Therefore, when you make pease soup with the liquor in which salted pork or beef has been boiled, tie up the pease in a cloth, and boil them first for an hour in soft water.

[204-†] Half a drachm of celery-seed, pounded fine, and put into the soup a quarter of an hour before it is finished, will flavour three quarts.

[204-‡] Some put in dried mint rubbed to fine powder; but as every body does not like mint, it is best to send it up on a plate. See pease powder, [No. 458], essence of celery, [No. 409], and Nos. [457] and [459].

[205-*] My witty predecessor, Dr. Hunter (see Culina, page 97), says, “If a proper quantity of curry-powder ([No. 455]) be added to pease soup, a good soup might be made, under the title of curry pease soup. Heliogabalus offered rewards for the discovery of a new dish, and the British Parliament have given notoriety to inventions of much less importance than ‘curry pease soup.’”

N.B. Celery, or carrots, or turnips, shredded, or cut in squares (or Scotch barley,—in the latter case the soup must be rather thinner), or cut into bits about an inch long, and boiled separately, and thrown into the tureen when the soup is going to table, will give another agreeable variety, and may be called celery and pease soup. Read [Obs.] to [No. 214]

[207-*] The French call this “soup maigre;” the English acceptation of which is “poor and watery,” and does not at all accord with the French, which is, soups, &c. made without meat: thus, turtle, the richest dish that comes to an English table (if dressed without meat gravy), is a maigre dish.

[209-*] We copied the following receipt from The Morning Post, Jan. 1820.

Winter Soup.—(No. 227.)

• 210 lbs of beef, fore-quarters,
• 90 lbs. of legs of beef,
• 3 bushels of best split pease,
• 1 bushel of flour,
• 12 bundles of leeks,
• 6 bundles of celery,
• 12 lbs. of salt,
• 11 lbs. of black pepper.

These good ingredients will make 1000 quarts of nourishing and agreeable soup, at an expense (establishment avoided) of little less than 2 1/2d. per quart.

Of this, 2600 quarts a day have been delivered during the late inclement weather, and the cessation of ordinary employment, at two stations in the parish of Bermondsey, at one penny per quart, by which 600 families have been daily assisted, and it thankfully received. Such a nourishment and comfort could not have been provided by themselves separately for fourpence a quart, if at all, and reckoning little for their fire, nothing for their time.

[211-*] Read [No. 176].

[214-*] Some lovers of haut goût fry the tails before they put them into the soup-pot.

[216-*] Fowls’ or turkeys’ heads make good and cheap soup in the same manner.

[218-*] To this fine aromatic herb, turtle soup is much indebted for its spicy flavour, and the high esteem it is held in by the good citizens of London, who, I believe, are pretty generally of the same opinion as Dr. Salmon. See his “Household Dictionary and Essay on Cookery,” 8vo. London, 1710, page 34, article ‘Basil.’ “This comforts the heart, expels melancholy, and cleanses the lungs.” See [No. 307]. “This plant gave the peculiar flavour to the original Fetter-lane sausages.”—Gray’s Supplement to the Pharmacopœia, 8vo. 1821 p. 52.

[219-*] “Tout le monde sait que tous les ragoûts qui portent le nom de TORTUE, sont d’origine Anglaise.”—Manuel des Amphitryons, 8vo. 1808, p. 229.

[219-†] Those who do not like the trouble, &c. of making mock turtle, may be supplied with it ready made, in high perfection, at Birch’s, in Cornhill. It is not poisoned with Cayenne pepper, which the turtle and mock turtle soup of most pastry cooks and tavern cooks is, and to that degree, that it acts like a blister on the coats of the stomach. This prevents our mentioning any other maker of this soup, which is often made with cow-heel, or the mere scalp of the calf’s head, instead of the head itself.

The following are Mr. Birch’s directions for warming this soup:—Empty the turtle into a broad earthen vessel, to keep cool: when wanted for table, to two quarts of soup add one gill of boiling water or veal broth, put it over a good, clear fire, keeping it gently stirred (that it may not burn); when it has boiled about three minutes, skim it, and put it in the tureen.

N.B. The broth or water, and the wine, to be put into the stew-pan before you put in the turtle.

[219-‡] The reader may have remarked, that mock turtle and potted beef always come in season together.

See [Obs.] to [No. 503*]. This gravy meat will make an excellent savoury potted relish, as it will be impregnated with the flavour of the herbs and spice that are boiled with it.

[220-*] “Many gourmets and gastrologers prefer the copy to the original: we confess that when done as it ought to be, the mock turtle is exceedingly interesting.”—Tabella Cibaria, 1820, p. 30.

“Turtles often become emaciated and sickly before they reach this country, in which case the soup would be incomparably improved by leaving out the turtle, and substituting a good calf’s head.”—Supplement to Encyc. Brit. Edinburgh, vol. iv. p. 331.

[Very fine fat turtles are brought to New-York from the West Indies; and, during the warm weather, kept in crawls till wanted: of these they make soup, which surpasses any mock turtle ever made. A.]

[222-*] Mullaga-tawny signifies pepper water. The progress of inexperienced peripatetic palaticians has lately been arrested by these outlandish words being pasted on the windows of our coffee-houses. It has, we believe, answered the “restaurateur’s” purpose, and often excited John Bull to walk in and taste: the more familiar name of curry soup would, perhaps, not have had sufficient of the charms of novelty to seduce him from his much-loved mock turtle.

It is a fashionable soup, and a great favourite with our East Indian friends, and we give the best receipt we could procure for it.

[223-*] “The usual allowance at a turtle feast is six pounds live weight per head: at the Spanish dinner, at the City of London Tavern, in August, 1808, 400 guests attended, and 2500 pounds of turtle were consumed.”—See Bell’s Weekly Messenger for August 7th, 1808.

Epicure Quin used to say, it was “not safe to sit down to a turtle feast at one of the City Halls, without a basket-hilted knife and fork.”

We recommend our friends, before encountering such a temptation, to read our peptic precepts. Nothing is more difficult of digestion, or oftener requires the aid of peristaltic persuaders, than the glutinous callipash which is considered the “bonne bouche” of this soup. Turtle is generally spoiled by being over-dressed.

[In Philadelphia, an excellent turtle soup is made of a small native tortoise, called a terrapin, and the article terrapin soup. A.]

[223-†] “A pound of meat contains about an ounce of gelatinous matter; it thence follows, that 1500 pounds of the same meat, which is the whole weight of a bullock, would give only 94 pounds, which might be easily contained in an earthen jar.”—Dr. Hutton’s Rational Recreations, vol. iv. p. 194.

In what degree portable or other soup be nutritious, we know not, but refer the reader to our [note] under [No. 185].

[223-‡] This machine was invented by Dr. Denys Papin, F.R.S., about the year 1631, as appears by his essay on “The New Digester, or Engine for Softening Bones;” “by the help of which (he says) the oldest and hardest cow-beef may be made as tender and as savoury as young and choice meat.”

Although we have not yet found that they do what Dr. Papin says, “make old and tough meat young and tender,” they are, however, excellent things to make broths and soups in. Among a multitude of other admirable excellencies obtainable by his digester, Dr. Papin, in his 9th chapter, page 54, on the profit that a good engine may come to, says, “I have found that an old hat, very bad and loosely made, having imbibed the jelly of bones became very firm and stiff.”

---

GRAVIES AND SAUCES.

Melted Butter,

Is so simple and easy to prepare, that it is a matter of general surprise, that what is done so often in every English kitchen, is so seldom done right: foreigners may well say, that although we have only one sauce for vegetables, fish, flesh, fowl, &c. we hardly ever make that good.

It is spoiled nine times out of ten, more from idleness than from ignorance, and rather because the cook won’t than because she can’t do it; which can only be the case when housekeepers will not allow butter to do it with.

Good melted butter cannot be made with mere flour and water; there must be a full and proper proportion of butter. As it must be always on the table, and is the foundation of almost all our English sauces, we have,

• Melted butter and oysters,
• —— —— —— parsley,
• —— —— —— anchovies,
• —— —— —— eggs,
• —— —— —— shrimps,
• —— —— —— lobsters,
• —— —— —— capers, &c. &c. &c.

I have tried every way of making it; and I trust, at last, that I have written a receipt, which, if the cook will carefully observe, she will constantly succeed in giving satisfaction.

In the quantities of the various sauces I have ordered, I have had in view the providing for a family of half-a-dozen moderate people.

Never pour sauce over meat, or even put it into the dish, however well made, some of the company may have an antipathy to it; tastes are as different as faces: moreover, if it is sent up separate in a boat, it will keep hot longer, and what is left may be put by for another time, or used for another purpose.

Lastly. Observe, that in ordering the proportions of meat, butter, wine, spice, &c. in the following receipts, the proper quantity is set down, and that a less quantity will not do; and in some instances those palates which have been used to the extreme of piquance, will require additional excitement.[228-*] If we have erred, it has been on the right side, from an anxious wish to combine economy with elegance, and the wholesome with the toothsome.

Melted Butter.

Keep a pint stew-pan[228-†] for this purpose only.

Cut two ounces of butter into little bits, that it may melt more easily, and mix more readily; put it into the stew-pan with a large tea-spoonful (i. e. about three drachms) of flour, (some prefer arrow-root, or potato starch, [No. 448]), and two table-spoonfuls of milk.

When thoroughly mixed, add six table-spoonfuls of water; hold it over the fire, and shake it round every minute (all the while the same way), till it just begins to simmer; then let it stand quietly and boil up. It should be of the thickness of good cream.

N.B. Two table-spoonfuls of [No. 439], instead of the milk, will make as good mushroom sauce as need be, and is a superlative accompaniment to either fish, flesh, or fowl.

Obs. This is the best way of preparing melted butter; milk mixes with the butter much more easily and more intimately than water alone can be made to do. This is of proper thickness to be mixed at table with flavouring essences, anchovy, mushroom, or cavice, &c. If made merely to pour over vegetables, add a little more milk to it.

N.B. If the butter oils, put a spoonful of cold water to it, and stir it with a spoon; if it is very much oiled, it must be poured backwards and forwards from the stew-pan to the sauce-boat till it is right again.

Mem. Melted butter made to be mixed with flavouring essences, catchups, &c. should be of the thickness of light batter, that it may adhere to the fish, &c.

Thickening.—(No. 257.)

Clarified butter is best for this purpose; but if you have none ready, put some fresh butter into a stew-pan over a slow, clear fire; when it is melted, add fine flour sufficient to make it the thickness of paste; stir it well together with a wooden spoon for fifteen or twenty minutes, till it is quite smooth, and the colour of a guinea: this must be done very gradually and patiently; if you put it over too fierce a fire to hurry it, it will become bitter and empyreumatic: pour it into an earthen pan, and keep it for use. It will keep good a fortnight in summer, and longer in winter.

A large spoonful will generally be enough to thicken a quart of gravy.

Obs. This, in the French kitchen, is called roux. Be particularly attentive in making it; if it gets any burnt smell or taste, it will spoil every thing it is put into, see [Obs.] to [No. 322]. When cold, it should be thick enough to cut out with a knife, like a solid paste.

It is a very essential article in the kitchen, and is the basis of consistency in most made-dishes, soups, sauces, and ragoûts; if the gravies, &c. are too thin, add this thickening, more or less, according to the consistence you would wish them to have.

Mem. In making thickening, the less butter, and the more flour you use, the better; they must be thoroughly worked together, and the broth, or soup, &c. you put them to, added by degrees: take especial care to incorporate them well together, or your sauces, &c. will taste floury, and have a disgusting, greasy appearance: therefore, after you have thickened your sauce, add to it some broth, or warm water, in the proportion of two table-spoonfuls to a pint, and set it by the side of the fire, to raise any fat, &c. that is not thoroughly incorporated with the gravy, which you must carefully remove as it comes to the top. This is called cleansing, or finishing the sauce.

^*_*^* Half an ounce of butter, and a table-spoonful of flour, are about the proportion for a pint of sauce to make it as thick as cream.

N.B. The fat skimmings off the top of the broth pot are sometimes substituted for butter (see [No. 240]); some cooks merely thicken their soups and sauces with flour, as we have directed in [No. 245], or potato farina, [No. 448].

Clarified Butter.—(No. 259.)

Put the butter in a nice, clean stew-pan, over a very clear, slow fire; watch it, and when it is melted, carefully skim off the buttermilk, &c. which will swim on the top; let it stand a minute or two for the impurities to sink to the bottom; then pour the clear butter through a sieve into a clean basin, leaving the sediment at the bottom of the stew-pan.

Obs. Butter thus purified will be as sweet as marrow, a very useful covering for potted meats, &c., and for frying fish equal to the finest Florence oil; for which purpose it is commonly used by Catholics, and those whose religious tenets will not allow them to eat viands fried in animal oil.

Burnt Butter.—(No. 260.)

Put two ounces of fresh butter into a small frying-pan; when it becomes a dark brown colour, add to it a table-spoonful and a half of good vinegar, and a little pepper and salt.

Obs. This is used as sauce for boiled fish, or poached eggs.

Oiled Butter.—(No. 260*.)

Put two ounces of fresh butter into a saucepan; set it at a distance from the fire, so that it may melt gradually, till it comes to an oil; and pour it off quietly from the dregs.

Obs. This will supply the place of olive oil; and by some is preferred to it either for salads or frying.

Parsley and Butter.—(No. 261.)

Wash some parsley very clean, and pick it carefully leaf by leaf; put a tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water: boil the parsley about ten minutes; drain it on a sieve; mince it quite fine, and then bruise it to a pulp.

The delicacy and excellence of this elegant and innocent relish depends upon the parsley being minced very fine: put it into a sauce-boat, and mix with it, by degrees, about half a pint of good melted butter ([No. 256]); only do not put so much flour to it, as the parsley will add to its thickness: never pour parsley and butter over boiled things, but send it up in a boat.

Obs. In French cookery-books this is called “melted butter, English fashion;” and, with the addition of a slice of lemon cut into dice, a little allspice and vinegar, “Dutch sauce.”

N.B. To preserve parsley through the winter: in May, June, or July, take fine fresh-gathered sprigs; pick, and wash them clean; set on a stew-pan half full of water; put a little salt in it; boil, and skim it clean, and then put in the parsley, and let it boil for a couple of minutes; take it out, and lay it on a sieve before the fire, that it may be dried as quick as possible; put it by in a tin box, and keep it in a dry place: when you want it, lay it in a basin, and cover it with warm water a few minutes before you use it.

Gooseberry Sauce.—(No. 263.)

Top and tail them close with a pair of scissors, and scald half a pint of green gooseberries; drain them on a hair-sieve, and put them into half a pint of melted butter, [No. 256].

Some add grated ginger and lemon-peel, and the French, minced fennel; others send up the gooseberries whole or mashed, without any butter, &c.

Chervil, Basil, Tarragon, Burnet, Cress, and Butter.—(No. 264.)

This is the first time that chervil, which has so long been a favourite with the sagacious French cook, has been introduced into an English book. Its flavour is a strong concentration of the combined taste of parsley and fennel, but more aromatic and agreeable than either; and is an excellent sauce with boiled poultry or fish. Prepare it, &c. as we have directed for parsley and butter, [No. 261].

Fennel and Butter for Mackerel, &c.—(No. 265.)

Is prepared in the same manner as we have just described in [No. 261].

Obs. For mackerel sauce, or boiled soles, &c., some people take equal parts of fennel and parsley; others add a sprig of mint, or a couple of young onions minced very fine.

Mackerel-roe Sauce.—(No. 266.)

Boil the roes of mackerel (soft roes are best); bruise them with a spoon with the yelk of an egg, beat up with a very little pepper and salt, and some fennel and parsley boiled and chopped very fine, mixed with almost half a pint of thin melted butter. See [No. 256].

Mushroom catchup, walnut pickle, or soy may be added.

Egg Sauce.—(No. 267.)

This agreeable accompaniment to roasted poultry, or salted fish, is made by putting three eggs into boiling water, and boiling them for about twelve minutes, when they will be hard; put them into cold water till you want them. This will make the yelks firmer, and prevent their surface turning black, and you can cut them much neater: use only two of the whites; cut the whites into small dice, the yelks into bits about a quarter of an inch square; put them into a sauce-boat; pour to them half a pint of melted butter, and stir them together.

Obs. The melted butter for egg sauce need not be made quite so thick as [No. 256]. If you are for superlative egg sauce, pound the yelks of a couple of eggs, and rub them with the melted butter to thicken it.

N.B. Some cooks garnish salt fish with hard-boiled eggs cut in half.

Plum-pudding Sauce.—(No. 269.)

A glass of sherry, half a glass of brandy (or “cherry-bounce”), or Curaçoa ([No. 474]), or essence of punch (Nos. [471] and [479]), and two tea-spoonfuls of pounded lump sugar (a very little grated lemon-peel is sometimes added), in a quarter of a pint of thick melted butter: grate nutmeg on the top.

See Pudding Catchup, [No. 446].

Anchovy Sauce.—(No. 270.)

Pound three anchovies in a mortar with a little bit of butter; rub it through a double hair-sieve with the back of a wooden spoon, and stir it into almost half a pint of melted butter ([No. 256]); or stir in a table-spoonful of essence of anchovy, [No. 433]. To the above, many cooks add lemon-juice and Cayenne.

Obs. Foreigners make this sauce with good brown sauce ([No. 329]), or white sauce ([No. 364]); instead of melted butter, add to it catchup, soy, and some of their flavoured vinegars, (as elder or tarragon), pepper and fine spice, sweet herbs, capers, eschalots, &c. They serve it with most roasted meats.

N.B. Keep your anchovies well covered; first tie down your jar with bladder moistened with vinegar, and then wiped dry; tie leather over that: when you open a jar, moisten the bladder, and it will come off easily; as soon as you have taken out the fish, replace the coverings; the air soon rusts and spoils anchovies. See [No. 433], &c.

Garlic Sauce.—(No. 272.)

Pound two cloves of garlic with a piece of fresh butter, about as big as a nutmeg; rub it through a double hair-sieve, and stir it into half a pint of melted butter, or beef gravy or make it with garlic vinegar, Nos. [400], [401], and [402].

Lemon Sauce.—(No. 273.)

Pare a lemon, and cut it into slices twice as thick as a half-crown piece; divide these into dice, and put them into a quarter of a pint of melted butter, [No. 256].

Obs.—Some cooks mince a bit of the lemon-peel (pared very thin) very fine, and add it to the above.

Caper Sauce.—(No. 274. See also [No. 295].)

To make a quarter of a pint, take a table-spoonful of capers, and two tea-spoonfuls of vinegar.

The present fashion of cutting capers is to mince one-third of them very fine, and divide the others in half; put them into a quarter of a pint of melted butter, or good thickened gravy ([No. 329]); stir them the same way as you did the melted butter, or it will oil.

Obs.—Some boil, and mince fine a few leaves of parsley, or chervil, or tarragon, and add these to the sauce; others the juice of half a Seville orange, or lemon.

Mem.—Keep the caper bottle very closely corked, and do not use any of the caper liquor: if the capers are not well covered with it, they will immediately spoil; and it is an excellent ingredient in hashes, &c. The Dutch use it as a fish sauce, mixing it with melted butter.

Mock Caper Sauce.—(No. 275, or [No. 295].)

Cut some pickled green pease, French beans, gherkins, or nasturtiums, into bits the size of capers; put them into half a pint of melted butter, with two tea-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, or nice vinegar.

Oyster Sauce.—(No. 278.)

Choose plump and juicy natives for this purpose: don’t take them out of their shell till you put them into the stew-pan, see [Obs.] to [No. 181].

To make good oyster sauce for half a dozen hearty fish-eaters, you cannot have less than three or four dozen oysters. Save their liquor; strain it, and put it and them into a stew-pan: as soon as they boil, and the fish plump, take them off the fire, and pour the contents of the stew-pan into a sieve over a clean basin; wash the stew-pan out with hot water, and put into it the strained liquor, with about an equal quantity of milk, and about two ounces and a half of butter, with which you have well rubbed a large table-spoonful of flour; give it a boil up, and pour it through a sieve into a basin (that the sauce may be quite smooth), and then back again into the saucepan; now shave the oysters, and (if you have the honour of making sauce for “a committee of taste,” take away the gristly part also) put in only the soft part of them: if they are very large, cut them in half, and set them by the fire to keep hot: “if they boil after, they will become hard.”

If you have not liquor enough, add a little melted butter, or cream (see [No. 388]), or milk beat up with the yelk of an egg (this must not be put in till the sauce is done). Some barbarous cooks add pepper, or mace, the juice or peel of a lemon, horseradish, essence of anchovy, Cayenne, &c.: plain sauces are only to taste of the ingredient from which they derive their name.

Obs.—It will very much heighten the flavour of this sauce to pound the soft part of half a dozen (unboiled) oysters; rub it through a hair-sieve, and then stir it into the sauce: this essence of oyster (and for some palates a few grains of Cayenne) is the only addition we recommend. See [No. 441].

Preserved Oysters.[234-*]—(No. 280.)

Open the oysters carefully, so as not to cut them except in dividing the gristle which attaches the shells; put them into a mortar, and when you have got as many as you can conveniently pound at once, add about two drachms of salt to a dozen oysters; pound them, and rub them through the back of a hair-sieve, and put them into a mortar again, with as much flour (which has been previously thoroughly dried) as will make them into a paste; roll it out several times, and, lastly, flour it, and roll it out the thickness of a half-crown, and divide it into pieces about an inch square; lay them in a Dutch oven, where they will dry so gently as not to get burnt: turn them every half hour, and when they begin to dry, crumble them; they will take about four hours to dry; then pound them fine, sift them, and put them into bottles, and seal them over.

N.B. Three dozen of natives required 7 1/2 ounces of dried flour to make them into a paste, which then weighed 11 ounces; when dried and powdered, 6 1/4 ounces.

To make half a pint of sauce, put one ounce of butter into a stew-pan with three drachms of oyster powder, and six table-spoonfuls of milk; set it on a slow fire; stir it till it boils, and season it with salt.

This powder, if made with plump, juicy natives, will abound with the flavour of the fish; and if closely corked, and kept in a dry place, will remain good for some time.

Obs.—This extract is a welcome succedaneum while oysters are out of season, and in such inland parts as seldom have any, is a valuable addition to the list of fish sauces: it is equally good with boiled fowl, or rump steak, and sprinkled on bread and butter makes a very good sandwich, and is especially worthy the notice of country housekeepers, and as a store sauce for the army and navy. See Anchovy Powder, [No. 435].

Shrimp Sauce.—(No. 283.)

Shell a pint of shrimps; pick them clean, wash them, and put them into half a pint of good melted butter. A pint of unshelled shrimps is about enough for four persons.

Obs.—Some stew the heads and shells of the shrimps, (with or without a blade of bruised mace,) for a quarter of an hour, and strain off the liquor to melt the butter with, and add a little lemon-juice, Cayenne, and essence of anchovy, or soy, cavice, &c.; but the flavour of the shrimp is so delicate, that it will be overcome by any such additions.

Mem.—If your shrimps are not quite fresh, they will eat tough and thready, as other stale fish do. See [Obs.] to [No. 140].

Lobster Sauce.—(No. 284.)

Choose a fine spawny hen lobster;[236-*] be sure it is fresh, so get a live one if you can, (one of my culinary predecessors says, “let it be heavy and lively,”) and boil it as [No. 176]; pick out the spawn and the red coral into a mortar, add to it half an ounce of butter, pound it quite smooth, and rub it through a hair-sieve with the back of a wooden spoon; cut the meat of the lobster into small squares, or pull it to pieces with a fork; put the pounded spawn into as much melted butter ([No. 256]) as you think will do, and stir it together till it is thoroughly mixed; now put to it the meat of the lobster, and warm it on the fire; take care it does not boil, which will spoil its complexion, and its brilliant red colour will immediately fade.

The above is a very easy and excellent manner of making this sauce.

Some use strong beef or veal gravy instead of melted butter, adding anchovy, Cayenne, catchup, cavice, lemon-juice, or pickle, or wine, &c.

Obs.—Save a little of the inside red coral spawn, and rub it through a sieve (without butter): it is a very ornamental garnish to sprinkle over fish; and if the skin is broken, (which will sometimes happen to the most careful cook, when there is a large dinner to dress, and many other things to attend to,) you will find it a convenient and elegant veil, to conceal your misfortune from the prying eyes of piscivorous gourmands.

N.B. Various methods have been tried to preserve lobsters, see [No. 178], and lobster spawn, for a store sauce. The live spawn may be kept some time in strong salt and water, or in an ice-house.

The following process might, perhaps, preserve it longer. Put it into a saucepan of boiling water, with a large spoonful of salt in it, and let it boil quick for five minutes; then drain it on a hair-sieve; spread it out thin on a plate, and set it in a Dutch oven till it is thoroughly dried; grind it in a clean mill, and pack it closely in well-stopped bottles. See also Potted Lobsters, [No. 178].

Sauce for Lobster, &c.—(No. 285. See also [No. 372].)

Bruise the yelks of two hard-boiled eggs with the back of a wooden spoon, or rather pound them in a mortar, with a tea-spoonful of water, and the soft inside and the spawn of the lobster; rub them quite smooth, with a tea-spoonful of made mustard, two table-spoonfuls of salad oil, and five of vinegar; season it with a very little Cayenne pepper, and some salt.

Obs.—To this, elder or tarragon vinegar ([No. 396]), or anchovy essence ([No. 433]), is occasionally added.

Liver and Parsley Sauce,—(No. 287.) or Liver and Lemon Sauce.

Wash the liver (it must be perfectly fresh) of a fowl or rabbit, and boil it five minutes in five table-spoonfuls of water; chop it fine, or pound or bruise it in a small quantity of the liquor it was boiled in, and rub it through a sieve: wash about one-third the bulk of parsley leaves, put them on to boil in a little boiling water, with a tea-spoonful of salt in it; lay it on a hair-sieve to drain, and mince it very fine; mix it with the liver, and put it into a quarter pint of melted butter, and warm it up; do not let it boil. Or,

To make Lemon and Liver Sauce.

Pare off the rind of a lemon, or of a Seville orange, as thin as possible, so as not to cut off any of the white with it; now cut off all the white, and cut the lemon into slices, about as thick as a couple of half-crowns; pick out the pips, and divide the slices into small squares: add these, and a little of the peel minced very fine to the liver, prepared as directed above, and put them into the melted butter, and warm them together; but do not let them boil.

N.B. The poulterers can always let you have fresh livers, if that of the fowl or rabbit is not good, or not large enough to make as much sauce as you wish.

Obs.—Some cooks, instead of pounding, mince the liver very fine (with half as much bacon), and leave out the parsley; others add the juice of half a lemon, and some of the peel grated, or a tea-spoonful of tarragon or Chili vinegar, a table-spoonful of white wine, or a little beaten mace, or nutmeg, or allspice: if you wish it a little more lively on the palate, pound an eschalot, or a few leaves of tarragon or basil, with anchovy, or catchup, or Cayenne.

Liver Sauce for Fish.—(No. 288.)

Boil the liver of the fish, and pound it in a mortar with a little flour; stir it into some broth, or some of the liquor the fish was boiled in, or melted butter, parsley, and a few grains of Cayenne, a little essence of anchovy ([No. 433]), or soy, or catchup ([No. 439]); give it a boil up, and rub it through a sieve: you may add a little lemon-juice, or lemon cut in dice.

Celery Sauce, white.—(No. 289.)

Pick and wash two heads of nice white celery; cut it into pieces about an inch long; stew it in a pint of water, and a tea-spoonful of salt, till the celery is tender;[238-*] roll an ounce of butter with a table-spoonful of flour; add this to half a pint of cream, and give it a boil up.

N.B. See [No. 409].

Celery Sauce Purée, for boiled Turkey, Veal, Fowls, &c. (No. 290.)

Cut small half a dozen heads of nice white celery that is quite clean, and two onions sliced; put in a two-quart stew-pan, with a small lump of butter; sweat them over a slow fire till quite tender, then put in two spoonfuls of flour, half a pint of water (or beef or veal broth), salt and pepper, and a little cream or milk; boil it a quarter of an hour, and pass through a fine hair-sieve with the back of a spoon.

If you wish for celery sauce when celery is not in season, a quarter of a drachm of celery-seed, or a little essence of celery ([No. 409]), will impregnate half a pint of sauce with a sufficient portion of the flavour of the vegetable.

See [Obs.] to [No. 214].

Green or Sorrel Sauce.—(No. 291.)

Wash and clean a large ponnet of sorrel; put it into a stew-pan that will just hold it, with a bit of butter the size of an egg; cover it close, set it over a slow fire for a quarter of an hour, pass the sorrel with the back of a wooden spoon through a hair-sieve, season with pepper, salt, and a small pinch of powdered sugar, make it hot, and serve up under lamb, veal, sweetbreads, &c. &c. Cayenne, nutmeg, and lemon-juice are sometimes added.

Tomata, or Love-apple Sauce.—(No. 292. See also [No. 443].)

Have twelve or fifteen tomatas, ripe and red; take off the stalk; cut them in half; squeeze them just enough to get all the water and seeds out; put them in a stew-pan with a capsicum, and two or three table-spoonfuls of beef gravy; set them on a slow stove for an hour, or till properly melted; then rub them through a tamis into a clean stew-pan, with a little white pepper and salt, and let them simmer together a few minutes.

[Love-apple Sauce according to Ude.

Melt in a stew-pan a dozen or two of love-apples (which, before putting in the stew-pan, cut in two, and squeeze the juice and the seeds out); then put two eschalots, one onion, with a few bits of ham, a clove, a little thyme, a bay-leaf, a few leaves of mace, and when melted, rub them through a tamis. Mix a few spoonfuls of good Espagnole or Spanish sauce, and a little salt and pepper, with this purée. Boil it for twenty minutes, and serve up. A.]

Mock Tomata Sauce.—(No. 293.)

The only difference between this and genuine love-apple sauce, is the substituting the pulp of apple for that of tomata, colouring it with turmeric, and communicating an acid flavour to it by vinegar.

Eschalot Sauce.—(No. 294.)

Take four eschalots, and make it in the same manner as garlic sauce ([No. 272]). Or,

You may make this sauce more extemporaneously by putting two table-spoonfuls of eschalot wine ([No. 403]), and a sprinkling of pepper and salt, into (almost) half a pint of thick melted butter.

Obs.—This is an excellent sauce for chops or steaks; many are very fond of it with roasted or boiled meat, poultry, &c.

Eschalot Sauce for boiled Mutton.—(No. 295.)

This is a very frequent and satisfactory substitute for “caper sauce.”

Mince four eschalots very fine, and put them into a small saucepan, with almost half a pint of the liquor the mutton was boiled in: let them boil up for five minutes; then put in a table-spoonful of vinegar, a quarter tea-spoonful of pepper, a little salt, and a bit of butter (as big as a walnut) rolled in flour; shake together till it boils. See ([No. 402]) Eschalot Wine.

Obs.—We like a little lemon-peel with eschalot; the haut goût of the latter is much ameliorated by the delicate aroma of the former.

Some cooks add a little finely-chopped parsley.

Young Onion Sauce.—(No. 296.)

Peel a pint of button onions, and put them in water till you want to put them on to boil; put them into a stew-pan, with a quart of cold water; let them boil till tender; they will take (according to their size and age) from half an hour to an hour. You may put them into half a pint of [No. 307]. See also [No. 137].

Onion Sauce.—(No. 297.)

Those who like the full flavour of onions only cut off the strings and tops (without peeling off any of the skins), put them into salt and water, and let them lie an hour; then wash them, put them into a kettle with plenty of water, and boil them till they are tender: now skin them, pass them through a colander, and mix a little melted butter with them.

N.B. Some mix the pulp of apples, or turnips, with the onions, others add mustard to them.

White Onion Sauce.—(No. 298.)

The following is a more mild and delicate[240-*] preparation: Take half a dozen of the largest and whitest onions (the Spanish are the mildest, but these can only be had from August to December); peel them and cut them in half, and lay them in a pan of spring-water for a quarter of an hour, and then boil for a quarter of an hour; and then, if you wish them to taste very mild, pour off that water, and cover them with fresh boiling water, and let them boil till they are tender, which will sometimes take three-quarters of an hour longer; drain them well on a hair-sieve; lay them on the chopping-board, and chop and bruise them; put them into a clean saucepan, with some butter and flour, half a tea-spoonful of salt, and some cream, or good milk; stir it till it boils; then rub the whole through a tamis, or sieve, adding cream or milk, to make it the consistence you wish.

Obs.—This is the usual sauce for boiled rabbits, mutton, or tripe. There must be plenty of it; the usual expression signifies as much, for we say, smother them with it.

Brown Onion Sauces, or Onion Gravy.—(No. 299.)

Peel and slice the onions (some put in an equal quantity of cucumber or celery) into a quart stew-pan, with an ounce of butter; set it on a slow fire, and turn the onion about till it is very lightly browned; now gradually stir in half an ounce of flour; add a little broth, and a little pepper and salt; boil up for a few minutes; add a table-spoonful of claret, or port wine, and same of mushroom catchup, (you may sharpen it with a little lemon-juice or vinegar,) and rub it through a tamis or fine sieve.

Curry powder ([No. 348]) will convert this into excellent curry sauce.

N.B. If this sauce is for steaks, shred an ounce of onions, fry them a nice brown, and put them to the sauce you have rubbed through a tamis; or some very small, round, young silver button onions (see [No. 296]), peeled and boiled tender, and put in whole when your sauce is done, will be an acceptable addition.

Obs.—If you have no broth, put in half a pint of water, and see [No. 252]; just before you give it the last boil up, add to it another table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or the same quantity of port wine or good ale.

The flavour of this sauce may be varied by adding tarragon or burnet vinegar (Nos. [396] and [399]).

Sage and Onion, or Goose-stuffing Sauce.—(No. 300.)

Chop very fine an ounce of onion and half an ounce of green sage leaves; put them into a stew-pan with four spoonfuls of water; simmer gently for ten minutes; then put in a tea-spoonful of pepper and salt, and one ounce of fine bread-crumbs; mix well together; then pour to it a quarter of a pint of (broth, or gravy, or) melted butter, stir well together, and simmer it a few minutes longer.

Obs. This is a very relishing sauce for roast pork, poultry, geese, or ducks; or green pease on maigre days.

See also Bonne Bouche for the above, [No. 341].

Green Mint Sauce.—(No. 303.)

Wash half a handful of nice, young, fresh-gathered green mint (to this some add one-third the quantity of parsley); pick the leaves from the stalks, mince them very fine, and put them into a sauce-boat, with a tea-spoonful of moist sugar, and four table-spoonfuls of vinegar.

Obs.—This is the usual accompaniment to hot lamb; and an equally agreeable relish with cold lamb.

If green mint cannot be procured, this sauce may be made with mint vinegar ([No. 398]).

Apple Sauce.—(No. 304.)

Pare and core three good-sized baking apples; put them into a well-tinned pint saucepan, with two table-spoonfuls of cold water; cover the saucepan close, and set it on a trivet over a slow fire a couple of hours before dinner (some apples will take a long time stewing, others will be ready in a quarter of an hour): when the apples are done enough, pour off the water, let them stand a few minutes to get dry; then beat them up with a fork, with a bit of butter about as big as a nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful of powdered sugar.

N.B. Some add lemon-peel, grated, or minced fine, or boil a bit with the apples. Some are fond of apple sauce with cold pork: ask those you serve if they desire it.

Mushroom Sauce.—(No. 305.)

Pick and peel half a pint of mushrooms (the smaller the better); wash them very clean, and put them into a saucepan, with half a pint of veal gravy or milk, a little pepper and salt, and an ounce of butter rubbed with a table-spoonful of flour; stir them together, and set them over a gentle fire, to stew slowly till tender; skim and strain it.

Obs.—It will be a great improvement to this, and the two following sauces, to add to them the juice of half a dozen mushrooms, prepared the day before, by sprinkling them with salt, the same as when you make catchup; or add a large spoonful of good double mushroom catchup ([No. 439]).

See Quintessence of Mushrooms, [No. 440].

N.B. Much as we love the flavour of mushrooms, we must enter our protest against their being eaten in substance, when the morbid effects they produce too often prove them worthy of the appellations Seneca gave them, “voluptuous poison,” “lethal luxury,” &c.; and we caution those who cannot refrain from indulging their palate with the seducing relish of this deceitful fungus, to masticate it diligently.

We do not believe that mushrooms are nutritive; every one knows they are often dangerously indigestible; therefore the rational epicure will be content with extracting the flavour from them, which is obtained in the utmost perfection by the process directed in [No. 439].

Mushroom Sauce, brown.—(No. 306.)

Put the mushrooms into half a pint of beef gravy ([No. 186], or [No. 329]); thicken with flour and butter, and proceed as above.

Mushroom Sauce, extempore.—(No. 307.)

Proceed as directed in [No. 256] to melt butter, only, instead of two table-spoonfuls of milk, put in two of mushroom catchup ([No. 439] or [No. 440]); or add it to thickened broth, gravy, or mock turtle soup, &c. or put in [No. 296].

Obs. This is a welcome relish with fish, poultry, or chops and steaks, &c. A couple of quarts of good catchup ([No. 439],) will make more good sauce than ten times its cost of meat, &c.

Walnut catchup will give you another variety; and Ball’s cavice, which is excellent.

Poor Man’s Sauce.—(No. 310.)

Pick a handful of parsley leaves from the stalks, mince them very fine, strew over a little salt; shred fine half a dozen young green onions, add these to the parsley, and put them into a sauce-boat, with three table-spoonfuls of oil, and five of vinegar; add some ground black pepper and salt; stir together and send it up.

Pickled French beans or gherkins, cut fine, may be added, or a little grated horseradish.

Obs.—This sauce is in much esteem in France, where people of taste, weary of rich dishes, to obtain the charm of variety, occasionally order the fare of the peasant.

The Spaniard’s Garlic Gravy.—(No. 311. See also [No. 272].)

Slice a pound and a half of veal or beef, pepper and salt it, lay it in a stew-pan with a couple of carrots split, and four cloves of garlic sliced, a quarter pound of sliced ham, and a large spoonful of water; set the stew-pan over a gentle fire, and watch when the meat begins to stick to the pan; when it does, turn it, and let it be very well browned (but take care it is not at all burned); then dredge it with flour, and pour in a quart of broth, a bunch of sweet herbs, a couple of cloves bruised, and slice in a lemon; set it on again, and let it simmer gently for an hour and a half longer; then take off the fat, and strain the gravy from the ingredients, by pouring it through a napkin, straining, and pressing it very hard.

Obs.—This, it is said, was the secret of the old Spaniard, who kept the house called by that name on Hampstead Heath.

Those who love garlic, will find it an extremely rich relish.

Mr. Michael Kelly’s[244-*] Sauce for boiled Tripe, Calf-head, or Cow-heel.—(No. 311*.)

Garlic vinegar, a table-spoonful; of mustard, brown sugar, and black pepper, a tea-spoonful each; stirred into half a pint of oiled melted butter.

Mr. Kelly’s Sauce piquante.

Pound a table-spoonful of capers, and one of minced parsley, as fine as possible; then add the yelks of three hard eggs, rub them well together with a table-spoonful of mustard; bone six anchovies, and pound them, rub them through a hair-sieve, and mix with two table-spoonfuls of oil, one of vinegar, one of eschalot ditto, and a few grains of Cayenne pepper; rub all these well together in a mortar, till thoroughly incorporated; then stir them into half a pint of good gravy, or melted butter, and put the whole through a sieve.

Fried Parsley.—(No. 317.)

Let it be nicely picked and washed, then put into a cloth, and swung backwards and forwards till it is perfectly dry; put it into a pan of hot fat, fry it quick, and have a slice ready to take it out the moment it is crisp (in another moment it will be spoiled); put it on a sieve, or coarse cloth, before the fire to drain.

Crisp Parsley.—(No. 318.)

Pick and wash young parsley, shake it in a dry cloth to drain the water from it; spread it on a sheet of clean paper in a Dutch oven before the fire, and turn it frequently until it is quite crisp. This is a much more easy way of preparing it than frying it, which is not seldom ill done.

Obs. A very pretty garnish for lamb chops, fish, &c.

Fried Bread Sippets.—(No. 319.)

Cut a slice of bread about a quarter of an inch thick; divide it with a sharp knife into pieces two inches square; shape these into triangles or crosses; put some very clean fat into an iron frying-pan: when it is hot, put in the sippets, and fry them a delicate light brown; take them up with a fish slice, and drain them well from fat, turning them occasionally; this will take a quarter of an hour. Keep the pan at such a distance from the fire that the fat may be hot enough to brown without burning the bread; this is a requisite precaution in frying delicate thin things.

Obs. These are a pretty garnish, and very welcome accompaniment and improvement to the finest made dishes: they may also be sent up with pease and other soups; but when intended for soups, the bread must be cut into bits, about half an inch square.

N.B. If these are not done very delicately clean and dry, they are uneatable.

Fried Bread-crumbs.—(No. 320.)

Rub bread (which has been baked two days) through a wire sieve, or colander; or you may rub them in a cloth till they are as fine as if they had been grated and sifted; put them into a stew-pan, with a couple of ounces of butter; place it over a moderate fire, and stir them about with a wooden spoon till they are the colour of a guinea; spread them on a sieve, and let them stand ten minutes to drain, turning them frequently.

Obs. Fried crumbs are sent up with roasted sweetbreads, or larks, pheasants, partridges, woodcocks, and grouse, or moor game; especially if they have been kept long enough,

Bread Sauce.—(No. 321.)

Put a small tea-cupful of bread-crumbs into a stew-pan, pour on it as much milk as it will soak up, and a little more; or, instead of the milk, take the giblets, head, neck, and legs, &c. of the poultry, &c. and stew them, and moisten the bread with this liquor; put it on the fire with a middling-sized onion, and a dozen berries of pepper or allspice, or a little mace; let it boil, then stir it well, and let it simmer till it is quite stiff, and then put to it about two table-spoonfuls of cream or melted butter, or a little good broth; take out the onion and pepper, and it is ready.

Obs. This is an excellent accompaniment to game and poultry, &c., and a good vehicle for receiving various flavours from the Magazine of Taste ([No. 462]).

Rice Sauce.—(No. 321*.)

Steep a quarter of a pound of rice in a pint of milk, with onion, pepper, &c. as in the last receipt; when the rice is quite tender (take out the spice), rub it through a sieve into a clean stew-pan: if too thick, put a little milk or cream to it.

Obs. This is a very delicate white sauce; and at elegant tables is frequently served instead of bread sauce.

Browning,—(No. 322.)

Is a convenient article to colour those soups or sauces of which it is supposed their deep brown complexion denotes the strength and savouriness of the composition.

Burned sugar is also a favourite ingredient with the brewers, who use it under the name of “essentia bina” to colour their beer: it is also employed by the brandy-makers, in considerable quantity, to colour brandy; to which, besides enriching its complexion, it gives that sweetish taste, and fulness in the mouth, which custom has taught brandy drinkers to admire, and prefer to the finest Cognac in its genuine state.

When employed for culinary purposes, this is sometimes made with strong gravy, or walnut catchup. Those who like a goût of acid may add a little walnut pickle.

It will hardly be told from what is commonly called “genuine Japanese soy”[246-*] (for which it is a very good substitute). Burned treacle or sugar, the peels of walnut, Cayenne pepper, or capsicums, or Chilies, vinegar, garlic, and pickled herrings (especially the Dutch), Sardinias, or sprats, appear to be the bases of almost all the sauces which now (to use the maker’s phrase) stand unrivalled.

Although indefatigable research and experiment have put us in possession of these compositions, it would not be quite fair to enrich the cook at the expense of the oilman, &c.; we hope we have said enough on these subjects to satisfy “the rational epicure.”

Put half a pound of pounded lump-sugar, and a table-spoonful of water, into a clean iron saucepan, set it over a slow fire, and keep stirring it with a wooden spoon till it becomes a bright brown colour, and begins to smoke; then add to it an ounce of salt, and dilute it by degrees with water, till it is the thickness of soy; let it boil, take off the scum, and strain the liquor into bottles, which must be well stopped: if you have not any of this by you, and you wish to darken the colour of your sauces, pound a tea-spoonful of lump-sugar, and put it into an iron spoon, with as much water as will dissolve it; hold it over a quick fire till it becomes of a very dark brown colour; mix it with the soup, &c. while it is hot.

Obs. Most of the preparations under this title are a medley of burned butter, spices, catchup, wine, &c. We recommend the rational epicure to be content with the natural colour of soups and sauces, which, to a well-educated palate, are much more agreeable, without any of these empyreumatic additions; however they may please the eye, they plague the stomach most grievously; so “open your mouth and shut your eyes.”

For the sake of producing a pretty colour, “cheese,” “Cayenne” ([No. 404]), “essence of anchovy” ([No. 433]), &c. are frequently adulterated with a colouring matter containing red lead!! See Accum on the Adulteration of Food, 2d edit. 12mo. 1820.

A scientific “homme de bouche de France” observes: “The generality of cooks calcine bones, till they are as black as a coal, and throw them hissing hot into the stew-pan, to give a brown colour to their broths. These ingredients, under the appearance of a nourishing gravy, envelope our food with stimulating acid and corrosive poison.

“Roux, or thickening ([No. 257]), if not made very carefully, produces exactly the same effect; and the juices of beef or veal, burned over a hot fire, to give a rich colour to soup or sauces, grievously offend the stomach, and create the most distressing indigestions.

“The judicious cook will refuse the help of these incendiary articles, which ignorance or quackery only employ; not only at the expense of the credit of the cook, but the health of her employers.”

N.B. The best browning is good home-made glaze ([No. 252]), mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), or claret, or port wine. See also [No. 257]; or cut meat into slices, and broil them brown, and then stew them.

Gravy for roast Meat.—(No. 326.)

Most joints will afford sufficient trimmings, &c. to make half a pint of plain gravy, which you may colour with a few drops of [No. 322]: for those that do not, about half an hour before you think the meat will be done, mix a salt-spoonful of salt, with a full quarter pint of boiling water; drop this by degrees on the brown parts of the joint; set a dish under to catch it (the meat will soon brown again); set it by; as it cools, the fat will float on the surface; when the meat is ready, carefully remove the fat, and warm up the gravy, and pour it into the dish.

The common method is, when the meat is in the dish you intend to send it up in, to mix half a tea-spoonful of salt in a quarter pint of boiling water, and to drop some of this over the corners and underside of the meat, and to pour the rest through the hole the spit came out of: some pierce the inferior parts of the joints with a sharp skewer.

The following receipt was given us by a very good cook: You may make good browning for roast meat and poultry, by saving the brown bits of roast meat or broiled; cut them small, put them into a basin, cover them with boiling water, and put them away till next day; then put it into a saucepan, let it boil two or three minutes, strain it through a sieve into a basin, and put it away for use. When you want gravy for roast meat, put two table-spoonfuls into half a pint of boiling water with a little salt: if for roasted veal, put three table-spoonfuls into half a pint of thin melted butter.

N.B. The gravy which comes down in the dish, the cook (if she is a good housewife) will preserve to enrich hashes or little made dishes, &c.

Obs. Some culinary professors, who think nothing can be excellent that is not extravagant, call this “Scots’ gravy;” not, I believe, intending it, as it certainly is, a compliment to the laudable and rational frugality of that intelligent and sober-minded people.

N.B. This gravy should be brought to table in a sauce-boat; preserve the intrinsic gravy which flows from the meat in the Argyll.

Gravy for boiled Meat,—(No. 327.)

May be made with parings and trimmings; or pour from a quarter to half a pint of the liquor in which the meat was boiled, into the dish with it, and pierce the inferior part of the joint with a sharp skewer.

Wow wow Sauce for stewed or bouilli Beef.—(No. 328.)

Chop some parsley-leaves very fine; quarter two or three pickled cucumbers, or walnuts, and divide them into small squares, and set them by ready: put into a saucepan a bit of butter as big as an egg; when it is melted, stir to it a table-spoonful of fine flour, and about half a pint of the broth in which the beef was boiled; add a table-spoonful of vinegar, the like quantity of mushroom catchup, or port wine, or both, and a tea-spoonful of made mustard; let it simmer together till it is as thick as you wish it; put in the parsley and pickles to get warm, and pour it over the beef; or rather send it up in a sauce-tureen.

Obs. If you think the above not sufficiently piquante, add to it some capers, or a minced eschalot, or one or two tea-spoonfuls of eschalot wine ([No. 402]), or essence of anchovy, or basil ([No. 397]), elder, or tarragon ([No. 396]), or horseradish ([No. 399*]), or burnet vinegar; or strew over the meat carrots and turnips cut into dice, minced capers, walnuts, red cabbage, pickled cucumbers, or French beans, &c.

Beef-gravy Sauce—(No. 329), or Brown Sauce for Ragoût, Game, Poultry, Fish, &c.

If you want gravy immediately, see [No. 307], or [No. 252]. If you have time enough, furnish a thick and well-tinned stew-pan with a thin slice of fat ham or bacon, or an ounce of butter, and a middling-sized onion; on this lay a pound of nice, juicy gravy beef, (as the object in making gravy is to extract the nutritious succulence of the meat, it must be beaten to comminute the containing vessels, and scored to augment the surface to the action of the water); cover the stew-pan, and set it on a slow fire; when the meat begins to brown, turn it about, and let it get slightly browned (but take care it is not at all burned): then pour in a pint and a half of boiling water; set the pan on the fire; when it boils, carefully catch the scum, and then put in a crust of bread toasted brown (don’t burn it), a sprig of winter savoury, or lemon-thyme and parsley, a roll of thin-cut lemon-peel, a dozen berries of allspice, and a dozen of black pepper; cover the stew-pan close, let it stew very gently for about two hours, then strain it through a sieve into a basin.

If you wish to thicken it, set a clean stew-pan over a slow fire, with about an ounce of butter in it; when it is melted, dredge to it (by degrees) as much flour as will dry it up, stirring them well together; when thoroughly mixed, pour in a little of the gravy; stir it well together, and add the remainder by degrees; set it over the fire, let it simmer gently for fifteen or twenty minutes longer, and skim off the fat, &c. as it rises; when it is about as thick as cream, squeeze it through a tamis, or fine sieve, and you will have a fine, rich brown sauce, at a very moderate expense, and without much trouble.

Obs. If you wish to make it still more relishing, if it is for poultry, you may pound the liver with a bit of butter, rub it through a sieve, and stir it into the sauce when you put in the thickening.

For a ragoût or game, add at the same time a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or [No. 343],[250-*] or [No. 429], or a few drops of [422], the juice of half a lemon, and a roll of the rind pared thin, a table-spoonful of port, or other wine (claret is best), and a few grains of Cayenne pepper; or use double the quantity of meat; or add a bit of glaze, or portable soup ([No. 252]), to it.

You may vary the flavour, by sometimes adding a little basil, or burnet wine ([No. 397]), tarragon vinegar ([No. 396]), or a wine-glass of quintessence of mushrooms ([No. 450]).

See the Magazine of Taste ([No. 462]).

N.B. This is an excellent gravy; and at a large dinner, a pint of it should be placed at each end of the table; you may make it equal to the most costly consommé of the Parisian kitchen.

Those families who are frequently in want of gravy, sauces, &c. (without plenty of which no cook can support the credit of her kitchen), should keep a stock of portable soup or glaze ([No. 252]): this will make gravy immediately.

Game Gravy.—(No. 337.)

See [Obs.] to [No. 329].

Orange-gravy Sauce, for wild Ducks, Woodcocks, Snipes, Widgeon, and Teal, &c.—(No. 338.)

Set on a saucepan with half a pint of veal gravy ([No. 192]), add to it half a dozen leaves of basil, a small onion, and a roll of orange or lemon-peel, and let it boil up for a few minutes, and strain it off. Put to the clear gravy the juice of a Seville orange, or lemon, half a tea-spoonful of salt, the same of pepper, and a glass of red wine; send it up hot. Eschalot and Cayenne may be added.

Obs.—This is an excellent sauce for all kinds of wild water-fowl.

The common way of gashing the breast and squeezing in an orange, cools and hardens the flesh, and compels every one to eat duck that way: some people like wild fowl very little done, and without any sauce.

Gravies should always be sent up in a covered boat: they keep hot longer; and it leaves it to the choice of the company to partake of them or not,

Bonne Bouche for Goose, Duck, or roast Pork.—(No. 341.)

Mix a tea-spoonful of made mustard, a salt-spoonful of salt, and a few grains of Cayenne, in a large wine-glassful of claret or port wine;[251-*] pour it into the goose by a slit in the apron just before serving up;[251-†] or, as all the company may not like it, stir it into a quarter of a pint of thick melted butter, or thickened gravy, and send it up in a boat. See also Sage and Onion Sauce, [No. 300]. Or,

A favourite relish for roast pork or geese, &c. is, two ounces of leaves of green sage, an ounce of fresh lemon-peel pared thin, same of salt, minced eschalot, and half a drachm of Cayenne pepper, ditto of citric acid, steeped for a fortnight in a pint of claret; shake it up well every day; let it stand a day to settle, and decant the clear liquor; bottle it, and cork it close; a table-spoonful or more in a quarter pint of gravy, or melted butter.

Robert Sauce for roast Pork, or Geese, &c.—(No. 342.)

Put an ounce of butter into a pint stew-pan: when it is melted, add to it half an ounce of onion minced very fine; turn it with a wooden spoon till it takes a light brown colour; then stir in a table-spoonful of flour, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup (with or without the like quantity of port wine), half a pint of broth or water, and a quarter of a tea-spoonful of pepper, the same of salt; give them a boil; then add a tea-spoonful of mustard, and the juice of half a lemon, or one or two tea-spoonfuls of vinegar or basil ([No. 397]), or tarragon ([No. 396]), or burnet vinegar ([No. 399]).

Obs.—The French call this “Sauce Robert” (from the name of the cook who invented it), and are very fond of it with many things, which Mary Smith, in the “Complete Housekeeper,” 8vo. 1772, p. 105, translates ROE-BOAT-SAUCE. See [Obs.] to [No. 529].

Turtle Sauce.—(No. 343.)

Put into your stew-pan a pint of beef gravy thickened ([No. 329]); add to this some of the following—essence of turtle, ([No. 343*]), or a wine-glassful of Madeira, the juice and peel of half a lemon, a few leaves of basil,[252-*] an eschalot quartered, a few grains of Cayenne pepper, or curry powder, and a little essence of anchovy; let them simmer together for five minutes, and strain through a tamis: you may introduce a dozen turtle forcemeat balls. See receipt, [No. 380], &c.

Obs.—This is the sauce for boiled or hashed calf’s head, stewed veal, or any dish you dress turtle fashion.

The far-fetched and dear-bought turtle owes its high rank on the list of savoury bonne bouches to the relishing and piquante sauce that is made for it; without, it would be as insipid as any other fish is without sauce. See [Obs.] to [No. 493].

Essence of Turtle.—(No. 343*.)

• Essence of anchovy ([No. 433]), one wine-glassful.
• Eschalot wine ([No. 402]), one and a half ditto.
• Basil wine ([No. 397]), four ditto.
• Mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), two ditto.
• Concrete lemon acid, one drachm, or some artificial lemon-juice ([No. 407*]).
• Lemon-peel, very thinly pared, three-quarters of an ounce.
• Curry powder ([No. 455]), a quarter of an ounce.

Steep for a week, to get the flavour of the lemon-peel, &c.

Obs.—This is very convenient to extemporaneously turtlefy soup, sauce, or potted meats, ragoûts, savoury patties, pies, &c. &c.

Wine Sauce for Venison or Hare.—(No. 344.)

A quarter of a pint of claret or port wine, the same quantity of plain, unflavoured mutton gravy ([No. 347]), and a table-spoonful of currant jelly: let it just boil up, and send it to table in a sauce-boat.

Sharp Sauce for Venison.—(No. 345.)

Put into a silver, or very clean and well-tinned saucepan, half a pint of the best white wine vinegar, and a quarter of a pound of loaf-sugar pounded: set it over the fire, and let it simmer gently; skim it carefully; pour it through a tamis or fine sieve, and send it up in a basin.

Obs.—Some people like this better than the sweet wine sauces.

Sweet Sauce for Venison or Hare.—(No. 346.)

Put some currant-jelly into a stew-pan; when it is melted, pour it into a sauce-boat.

N.B. Many send it to table without melting. To make currant-jelly, see [No. 479*].

This is a more salubrious relish than either spice or salt, when the palate protests against animal food unless its flavour be masked. Currant-jelly is a good accompaniment to roasted or hashed meats.

Mutton Gravy for Venison or Hare.—(No. 347.)

The best gravy for venison is that made with the trimmings of the joint: if this is all used, and you have no undressed venison, cut a scrag of mutton in pieces; broil it a little brown; then put it into a clean stew-pan, with a quart of boiling water; cover it close, and let it simmer gently for an hour: now uncover the stew-pan, and let it reduce to three-quarters of a pint; pour it through a hair-sieve; take the fat off, and send it up in a boat. It is only to be seasoned with a little salt, that it may not overpower the natural flavour of the meat. You may colour it with a very little of [No. 322].

N.B. Some prefer the unseasoned beef gravy, [No. 186], which you may make in five minutes with [No. 252].

The queen’s gravy of mutton, as made by her Majesty’s “Escuyer de Cuisine,” Monsieur La Montagne. “Roast a juicy leg of mutton three-quarters; then gash it in several places, and press out the juice by a screw-press.”—From Sir Kenelm Digby’s Cookery, 18mo. London, 1669.

Curry Sauce,—(No. 348.)

Is made by stirring a sufficient quantity of curry stuff, ([No. 455]) into gravy or melted butter, or onion sauce (Nos. [297], [298]), or onion gravy ([No. 299], or [No. 339]).

The compositions of curry powder, and the palates of those who eat it, vary so much, that we cannot recommend any specific quantity. The cook must add it by degrees, tasting as she proceeds, and take care not to put in too much.

Obs.—The curry powder ([No. 455]) approximates more nearly to the best Indian curry stuff, and is an agreeable and well-blended mixture of this class of aromatics.

N.B. To dress curries, see [No. 497].

Essence of Ham.—(No. 351.)

Essence of ham and of beef may be purchased at the eating-houses which cut up those joints; the former for half a crown or three shillings a quart: it is therefore a most economical relish for made-dishes, and to give piquance to sauces, &c.

Grill Sauce.—(No. 355.)

To half a pint of gravy ([No. 329]), add an ounce of fresh butter, and a table-spoonful of flour, previously well rubbed together, the same of mushroom or walnut catchup, two tea-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, one of made mustard, one of minced capers, half a one of black pepper, a quarter of a rind of a lemon grated very thin, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovies, and a little eschalot wine ([No. 402]), or a very small piece of minced eschalot, and a little Chili vinegar ([No. 405]), or a few grains of Cayenne; simmer together for a few minutes; pour a little of it over the grill, and send up the rest in a sauce-tureen. For anchovy toasts, [No. 573], or [No. 538]. Or,

Sauce à la Tartare.

Pound in a mortar three hard yelks of eggs; put them into a basin, and add half a table-spoonful of made mustard, and a little pepper and salt; pour to it by degrees, stirring it fast all the while, about two wine-glassfuls of salad oil; stir it together till it comes to a good thickness.

N.B. A little tarragon or chervil minced very fine, and a little vinegar, may be added; or some of the ingredients enumerated in [No. 372].

Obs.—This from the French artist who wrote the receipt for dressing a turtle.

Mem.—These are piquante relishes for anchovy toasts ([No. 573], or [No. 538]); for BROILED DEVILS, &c. “Véritable sauce d’enfer,” see [No. 538]; and a refreshing excitement for those idle palates, who are as incessantly mumbling out “piquante, piquante,” as parrots do “pretty Poll, pretty Poll.”

“For palates grown callous almost to disease,
Who peppers the highest is surest to please.”
Goldsmith.

Sauce for Steaks, or Chops, Cutlets, &c.—(No. 356. See also [No. 331].)

Take your chops out of the frying-pan; for a pound of meat keep a table-spoonful of the fat in the pan, or put in about an ounce of butter; put to it as much flour as will make it a paste; rub it well together over the fire till they are a little brown; then add as much boiling water as will reduce it to the thickness of good cream, and a table-spoonful of mushroom or walnut catchup, or pickle, or browning ([No. 322], or [No. 449]); let it boil together a few minutes, and pour it through a sieve to the steaks, &c.

Obs.—To the above is sometimes added a sliced onion, or a minced eschalot, with a table-spoonful of port wine, or a little eschalot wine (Nos. [402], [423], or [135]). Garnish with finely-scraped horseradish, or pickled walnuts, gherkins, &c. Some beef-eaters like chopped eschalots in one saucer, and horseradish grated in vinegar, in another. Broiled mushrooms are favourite relishes to beef-steaks.

Sauce Piquante for cold Meat, Game, Poultry, Fish, &c. or Salads.—(No. 359. See also [No. 372], and Cucumber Vinegar, Nos. [399] and [453].)

Pound in a mortar the yelks of two eggs that have been boiled hard ([No. 547]), with a mustard-spoonful of made mustard, and a little pepper and salt; add two table-spoonfuls of salad oil; mix well, and then add three table-spoonfuls of vinegar; rub it up well till it is quite smooth, and pass it through a tamis or sieve.

Obs.—To the above, some add an anchovy, or a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or walnut pickle, some finely-chopped parsley, grated horseradish, or young onions minced, or burnet ([No. 399]), horseradish ([No. 399*], or [No. 402]), or tarragon, or elder vinegar ([No. 396]), &c., and Cayenne or minced pickles, capers, &c. This is a piquante relish for lobsters, crabs, cold fish, &c.

Sauce for Hashes of Mutton or Beef.—(No. 360. See also Nos. [451], [485], and to make Plain Hash, [No. 486].)

Unless you are quite sure you perfectly understand the palate of those you are working for, show those who are to eat the hash this receipt, and beg of them to direct you how they wish it seasoned.

Half the number of the ingredients enumerated will be more than enough: but as it is a receipt so often wanted we have given variety. See also [No. 486].

To prepare the meat, see [No. 484].

Chop the bones and fragments of the joint, &c., and put them into a stew-pan; cover them with boiling water, six berries of black pepper, the same of allspice, a small bundle of parsley, half a head of celery cut in pieces, and a small sprig of savoury, or lemon-thyme, or sweet marjoram; cover up, and let it simmer gently for half an hour.

Slice half an ounce of onion, and put it into a stew-pan with an ounce of butter; fry it over a sharp fire for about a couple of minutes, till it takes a little colour; then stir in as much flour as will make it a stiff paste, and by degrees mix with it the gravy you have made from the bones, &c.; let it boil very gently for about a quarter of an hour, till it is the consistence of cream; strain it through a tamis or sieve into a basin; put it back into the stew-pan: to season it, see [No. 451], or cut in a few pickled onions, or walnuts, or a couple of gherkins, and a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or walnut or other pickle liquor; or some capers, and caper liquor; or a table-spoonful of ale; or a little eschalot, or tarragon vinegar; cover the bottom of the dish with sippets of bread (that they may become savoury reservoirs of gravy), which some toast and cut into triangles. You may garnish it with fried bread sippets ([No. 319]).

N.B. To hash meat in perfection, it should be laid in this gravy only just long enough to get properly warm through.

Obs. If any of the gravy that was sent up with, or ran from the joint when it was roasted, be left, it will be a great improvement to the hash.

If you wish to make mock venison, instead of the onion, put in two or three cloves, a table-spoonful of currant jelly, and the same quantity of claret or port wine, instead of the catchup.

You may make a curry hash by adding some of [No. 455].

N.B. A pint of [No. 329] is an excellent gravy to warm up either meat or poultry.

Sauce for hashed or minced Veal.—(No. 361. See [No. 511].)

Take the bones of cold roast or boiled veal, dredge them well with flour, and put them into a stew-pan with a pint and a half of broth or water, a small onion, a little grated or finely-minced lemon-peel, or the peel of a quarter of a small lemon, pared as thin as possible, half a tea-spoonful of salt, and a blade of pounded mace; to thicken it, rub a table-spoonful of flour into half an ounce of butter; stir it into the broth, and set it on the fire, and let it boil very gently for about half an hour; strain through a tamis or sieve, and it is ready to put to the veal to warm up; which is to be done by placing the stew-pan by the side of the fire. Squeeze in half a lemon, and cover the bottom of the dish with toasted bread sippets cut into triangles, and garnish the dish with slices of ham or bacon. See Nos. [526] and [527].

Bechamel, by English Cooks commonly called White Sauce. (No. 364.)

Cut in square pieces, half an inch thick, two pounds of lean veal, half a pound of lean ham; melt in a stew-pan two ounces of butter; when melted, let the whole simmer until it is ready to catch at the bottom (it requires great attention, as, if it happen to catch at the bottom of the stew-pan, it will spoil the look of your sauce); then add to it three table-spoonfuls of flour; when well mixed, add to it three pints of broth or water (pour a little at a time, that the thickening be smooth); stir it until it boil; put the stew-pan on the corner of the stove to boil gently for two hours; season it with four cloves, one onion, twelve pepper-corns, a blade of mace, a few mushrooms and a fagot made of parsley, a sprig of thyme, and a bay-leaf. Let the sauce reduce to a quart, skim the fat off, and strain it through a tamis cloth.

To make a bechamel sauce, add to a quart of the above a pint of good cream; stir it until it is reduced to a good thickness; a few mushrooms give a good flavour to that sauce; strain it through a tamis cloth.

Obs. The above was given us by a French artist.

A more economical Method of making a Pint of White Sauce.—(No. 364—2.)

Put equal parts of broth and milk into a stew-pan with an onion and a blade of mace; set it on the fire to boil ten minutes; have ready and rub together on a plate an ounce of flour and butter; put it into the stew-pan; stir it well till it boils up; then stand it near the fire or stove, stirring it every now and then till it becomes quite smooth; then strain it through a sieve into a basin; put it back into the stew-pan; season it with salt and the juice of a small lemon; beat up the yelks of two eggs well with about three table-spoonfuls of milk, strain it through a sieve into your sauce, stir it well and keep it near the fire, but be sure and do not let it boil, for it will curdle.

Obs. A convenient veil for boiled fowls, &c. whose complexions are not inviting.

Mem. With the assistance of the Magazine of Taste ([No. 462]) you may give this sauce a variety of flavours.

Obs. Bechamel implies a thick white sauce, approaching to a batter, and takes its name from a wealthy French Marquis, maître d’hôtel de Louis XIV., and famous for his patronage of “les Officiers de Bouche,” who have immortalized him, by calling by his name this delicate composition.

Most of the French sauces take their name from the person whose palate they first pleased, as “à la Maintenon;” or from some famous cook who invented them, as “Sauce Robert,” “à la Montizeur,” &c.

We have in the English kitchen, our “Argyll” for gravy, and the little “Sandwich,” “monumentum ære perennius.”

——“And thus Monteith
Has, by one vessel, saved his name from death.”
King’s Art of Cookery.

Poivrade Sauce.—(No. 365.)

This, as its title tells us, is a sauce of French extraction. The following receipt is from “La Cuisinière Bourgeoise,” page 408.

“Put a bit of butter as big as an egg into a stew-pan with two or three bits of onion, carrot, and turnip, cut in slices, two eschalots, two cloves, a bay-leaf, thyme, and basil; keep turning them in the pan till they get a little colour; shake in some flour, and add a glass of red wine, a glass of water, a spoonful of vinegar, and a little pepper and salt; boil half an hour; skim and strain it.”

Mustard in a minute.—(No. 369.)

Mix very gradually, and rub together in a mortar, an ounce of flour of mustard, with three table-spoonfuls of milk (cream is better), half a tea-spoonful of salt, and the same of sugar; rub them well together till quite smooth.

Obs. Mustard made in this manner is not at all bitter, and is therefore instantly ready for the table.

N.B. It has been said that flour of mustard is sometimes adulterated with common flour, &c. &c.

Mustard.—(No. 370.)

Mix (by degrees, by rubbing together in a mortar) the best Durham flour of mustard, with vinegar, white wine, or cold water, in which scraped horseradish has been boiled; rub it well together for at least ten minutes, till it is perfectly smooth; it will keep in a stone jar closely stopped, for a fortnight: only put as much into the mustard-pot as will be used in a day or two.

The ready-made mustard prepared at the oil shops is mixed with about one-fourth part salt: this is done to preserve it, if it is to be kept long; otherwise, by all means, omit it. The best way of eating salt is in substance.

^*_*^* See also recipe [No. 427].

Obs. Mustard is the best of all the stimulants that are employed to give energy to the digestive organs. It was in high favour with our forefathers; in the Northumberland Household Book for 1512, p. 18, is an order for an annual supply of 160 gallons of mustard.

Some opulent epicures mix it with sherry or Madeira wine, or distilled or flavoured vinegar, instead of horseradish water.

The French flavour their mustard with Champaigne and other wines, or with vinegar flavoured with capers, anchovies, tarragon, elder, basil, burnet, garlic, eschalot, or celery, see [No. 395] to [No. 402]: warming it with Cayenne, or the various spices; sweet, savoury, fine herbs, truffles, catchup, &c. &c., and seem to consider mustard merely as a vehicle of flavours.

N.B. In Mons. Maille et Aclocque’s catalogue of Parisian “Bono Bons,” there is a list of twenty-eight differently flavoured mustards.

Salt,—(No. 371.)

Is (“aliorum condimentorum condimentum,” as Plutarch calls it,) sauce for sauce.

Common salt is more relishing than basket salt; it should be prepared for the table by drying it in a Dutch oven before the fire; then put it on a clean paper, and roll it with a rolling pin; if you pound it in a mortar till it is quite fine, it will look as well as basket salt. Malden salt is still more piquante.

^*_*^* Select for table-use the lumps of salt.

Obs. Your salt-box must have a close cover, and be kept in a dry place.

Salad mixture.—(No. 372. See also Nos. [138*] and [453].)

Endeavour to have your salad herbs as fresh as possible; if you suspect they are not “morning gathered,” they will be much refreshed by lying an hour or two in spring-water; then carefully wash and pick them, and trim off all the worm-eaten, slimy, cankered, dry leaves; and, after washing, let them remain a while in the colander to drain: lastly, swing them gently in a clean napkin: when properly picked and cut, arrange them in the salad dish, mix the sauce in a soup plate, and put it into an ingredient bottle,[260-*] or pour it down the side of the salad dish, and don’t stir it up till the mouths are ready for it.

If the herbs be young, fresh gathered, trimmed neatly, and drained dry, and the sauce-maker ponders patiently over the following directions, he cannot fail obtaining the fame of being a very accomplished salad-dresser.

Boil a couple of eggs for twelve minutes, and put them in a basin of cold water for a few minutes; the yelks must be quite cold and hard, or they will not incorporate with the ingredients. Rub them through a sieve with a wooden spoon, and mix them with a table-spoonful of water, or fine double cream; then add two table-spoonfuls of oil or melted butter; when these are well mixed, add, by degrees, a tea-spoonful of salt, or powdered lump sugar, and the same of made mustard: when these are smoothly united, add very gradually three table-spoonfuls of vinegar; rub it with the other ingredients till thoroughly incorporated with them; cut up the white of the egg, and garnish the top of the salad with it. Let the sauce remain at the bottom of the bowl, and do not stir up the salad till it is to be eaten: we recommend the eaters to be mindful of the duty of mastication, without the due performance of which, all undressed vegetables are troublesome company for the principal viscera, and some are even dangerously indigestible.

Boiled Salad.

This is best compounded of boiled or baked onions (if Portugal the better), some baked beet-root, cauliflower, or broccoli, and boiled celery and French beans, or any of these articles, with the common salad dressing; added to this, to give it an enticing appearance, and to give some of the crispness and freshness so pleasant in salad, a small quantity of raw endive, or lettuce and chervil, or burnet, strewed on the top: this is by far more wholesome than the raw salad, and is much eaten when put on the table.

N.B. The above sauce is equally good with cold meat, cold fish, or for cucumbers, celery, radishes, &c. and all the other vegetables that are sent to table undressed: to the above, a little minced onion is generally an acceptable addition.

Obs. Salad is a very compound dish with our neighbours the French, who always add to the mixture above, black pepper, and sometimes savoury spice.

The Italians mince the white meat of chickens into this sauce.

The Dutch, cold boiled turbot or lobster; or add to it a spoonful of grated parmesan or old Cheshire cheese, or mince very fine a little tarragon, or chervil, burnet, or young onion, celery, or pickled gherkins, &c.

Joan Cromwell’s grand salad was composed of equal parts of almonds, raisins, capers, pickled cucumbers, shrimps, and boiled turnips.

This mixture is sometimes made with cream, oiled butter (see [No. 260*]), or some good jelly of meat (which many prefer to the finest Florence oil), and flavoured with salad mixture ([No. 453]), basil ([No. 397]), or cress or celery vinegar ([No. 397*]), horseradish vinegar ([No. 399*]), cucumber vinegar ([No. 399]), and [Obs.] to [No. 116] of the Appendix; tarragon, or elder vinegar, essence of celery ([No. 409]), walnut or lemon pickle, or a slice of lemon cut into dice, and essence of anchovy ([No. 433]).

Forcemeat Stuffings.—(No. 373.)

Forcemeat is now considered an indispensable accompaniment to most made dishes, and when composed with good taste, gives additional spirit and relish to even that “sovereign of savouriness,” turtle soup.

It is also sent up in patties, and for stuffing of veal, game, poultry, &c.

The ingredients should be so proportioned, that no one flavour predominates.

To give the same stuffing for veal, hare, &c. argues a poverty of invention; with a little contrivance, you may make as great a variety as you have dishes.

I have given receipts for some of the most favourite compositions, and a table of materials, a glance at which will enable the ingenious cook to make an infinite variety of combinations: the first column containing the spirit, the second the substance of them.

The poignancy of forcemeat should be proportioned to the savouriness of the viands, to which it is intended to give an additional zest. Some dishes require a very delicately flavoured forcemeat, for others, it must be full and high seasoned. What would be piquante in a turkey, would be insipid with turtle.

Tastes are so different, and the praise the cook receives will depend so much on her pleasing the palate of those she works for, that all her sagacity must be on the alert, to produce the flavours to which her employers are partial. See pages [45] and [46].

Most people have an acquired and peculiar taste in stuffings, &c., and what exactly pleases one, seldom is precisely what another considers the most agreeable: and after all the contrivance of a pains-taking palatician, to combine her “hauts goûts” in the most harmonious proportions,

“The very dish one likes the best,
Is acid, or insipid, to the rest.”

Custom is all in all in matters of taste: it is not that one person is naturally fond of this or that, and another naturally averse to it; but that one is used to it, and another is not.

The consistency of forcemeats is rather a difficult thing to manage; they are almost always either too light or too heavy.

Take care to pound it till perfectly smooth, and that all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.

Forcemeat-balls must not be larger than a small nutmeg. If they are for brown sauce, flour and fry them; if for white, put them into boiling water, and boil them for three minutes: the latter are by far the most delicate.

N.B. If not of sufficient stiffness, it falls to pieces, and makes soup, &c. grouty and very unsightly.

Sweetbreads and tongues are the favourite materials for forcemeat.

MATERIALS USED FOR FORCEMEAT, STUFFINGS, &C.

Spirit.

Common thyme. Fresh and green, or in dried powder ([No. 461]). Lemon-thyme. Orange-thyme. Sweet marjoram. Summer and Winter savoury. Sage. Tarragon ([No. 396]). Chervil. Burnet ([No. 399]). Basil ([No. 397]). Bay-leaf. Truffles and Morells.

Mushroom powder ([No. 439]).

Leeks.

Onions.

Eschalot ([No. 402]).

Garlic.

Lemon-peel (see Nos. [407] and [408]).

Shrimps ([No. 175])

Prawns.

Crabs.

Lobsters (Nos. [176] and [178]).

Oysters.

Anchovy ([No. 433]).

Dressed TONGUE (see [N.B.] to [No. 373]).

Ham.

Bacon.

Black or white pepper.

Allspice.

Mace.

Cinnamon

Ginger.

Nutmegs.

Cloves.

Capers and pickles (minced or pounded)

Savoury powder ([No. 465]).

Soup herb powder ([No. 467]).

Curry powder ([No. 455]).

Cayenne ([No. 404]).

Zest ([No. 255]).

Substances.

Flour.

Crumbs of bread.

Parsley (see [N.B.] to [No. 261]).

Spinage.

Boiled onion.

Mashed potatoes ([No. 106]).

Yelks of hard eggs ([No. 574]).

Mutton.

Beef.

Veal suet,[263-*] or marrow.

Calf’s udder, or brains.

Parboiled sweetbread.

Veal, minced and pounded, and

Potted meats, &c. ([No. 503].)

For liquids, you have meat gravy, lemon-juice, syrup of lemons (Nos. [391] and [477]), essence of anchovy ([No. 433]), the various vegetable essences ([No. 407]), mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), and the whites and yelks of eggs, wines, and the essence of spices.

Stuffing for Veal, roast Turkey, Fowl, &c.—(No. 374.)

Mince a quarter of a pound of beef suet (beef marrow is better), the same weight of bread-crumbs, two drachms of parsley-leaves, a drachm and a half of sweet marjoram or lemon-thyme, and the same of grated lemon-peel and onion chopped as fine as possible, a little pepper and salt; pound thoroughly together with the yelk and white of two eggs, and secure it in the veal with a skewer, or sew it in with a bit of thread.

Make some of it into balls or sausages; flour them, and boil, or fry them, and send them up as a garnish, or in a side dish, with roast poultry, veal, or cutlets, &c.

N.B. This is about the quantity for a turkey poult: a very large turkey will take nearly twice as much. To the above may be added an ounce of dressed ham; or use equal parts of the above stuffing and pork sausage meat ([No. 87].) pounded well together.

Obs. Good stuffing has always been considered a chef-d’œuvre in cookery: it has given immortality to

“Poor Roger Fowler, who’d a generous mind,
Nor would submit to have his hand confin’d,
But aimed at all,—yet never could excel
In any thing but stuffing of his veal.”
King’s Art of Cookery, p. 113.

Veal Forcemeat.—(No. 375.)

Of undressed lean veal (after you have scraped it quite fine, and free from skin and sinews), two ounces, the same quantity of beef or veal suet, and the same of bread-crumbs; chop fine two drachms of parsley, one of lemon-peel, one of sweet herbs, one of onion, and half a drachm of mace, or allspice, beaten to fine powder; pound all together in a mortar; break into it the yelk and white of an egg; rub it all up well together, and season it with a little pepper and salt.

Obs.—This may be made more savoury by the addition of cold boiled pickled tongue, anchovy, eschalot, Cayenne or curry powder, &c.

Stuffing for Turkeys or Fowls, &c.—(No. 377.)

Take the foregoing composition for the roast turkey, or add the soft part of a dozen oysters to it: an anchovy, or a little grated ham, or tongue, if you like it, is still more relishing. Fill the craw of the fowl, &c.; but do not cram it so as to disfigure its shape.

Pork sausage meat is sometimes used to stuff turkeys and fowls; or fried, and sent up as a garnish.

Goose or Duck Stuffing.—(No. 378.)

Chop very fine about two ounces of onion, of green sage-leaves about an ounce (both unboiled), four ounces of bread-crumbs, a bit of butter about as big as a walnut, &c., the yelk and white of an egg, and a little pepper and salt: some add to this a minced apple.

For another, see roasted goose and duck (Nos. [59] and [61]), which latter we like as forcemeat-balls for mock turtle; then add a little lemon-peel, and warm it with Cayenne.

Stuffing for Hare.—(No. 379.)

Two ounces of beef suet chopped fine; three ounces of fine bread-crumbs; parsley, a drachm; eschalot, half a drachm; a drachm of marjoram, lemon-thyme, or winter savoury; a drachm of grated lemon-peel, and the same of pepper and salt: mix these with the white and yelk of an egg; do not make it thin—it must be of cohesive consistence: if your stuffing is not stiff enough, it will be good for nothing: put it in the hare, and sew it up.

^*_*^* If the liver is quite sound, you may parboil it, and mince it very fine, and add it to the above.

Forcemeat-Balls for Turtle, Mock Turtle, or Made Dishes. (No. 380. See also [No. 375].)

Pound some veal in a marble mortar; rub it through a sieve with as much of the udder as you have veal, or about a third of the quantity of butter: put some bread-crumbs into a stew-pan, moisten them with milk, add a little chopped parsley and eschalot, rub them well together in a mortar till they form a smooth paste; put it through a sieve, and, when cold, pound, and mix all together, with the yelks of three eggs boiled hard; season it with salt, pepper, and curry powder, or Cayenne; add to it the yelks of two raw eggs; rub it well together, and make small balls: ten minutes before your soup is ready, put them in.

Egg Balls.—(No. 381.)

Boil four eggs for ten minutes, and put them into cold water; when they are quite cold, put the yelks into a mortar with the yelk of a raw egg, a tea-spoonful of flour, same of chopped parsley, as much salt as will lie on a shilling, and a little black pepper, or Cayenne; rub them well together, roll them into small balls (as they swell in boiling); boil them a couple of minutes.

Brain Balls.

See [No. 247], or beat up the brains of a calf in the way we have above directed the egg.

Curry Balls for Mock Turtle, Veal, Poultry, Made Dishes, &c. (No. 382.)

Are made with bread-crumbs, the yelk of an egg boiled hard, and a bit of fresh butter about half as big, beaten together in a mortar, and seasoned with curry powder ([No. 455]): make and prepare small balls, as directed in [No. 381].

Fish Forcemeat.—(No. 383.)

Take two ounces of either turbot, sole, lobster, shrimps, or oysters; free from skin, put it in a mortar with two ounces of fresh butter, one ounce of bread-crumbs, the yelk of two eggs boiled-hard, and a little eschalot, grated lemon-peel, and parsley, minced very fine; then pound it well till it is thoroughly mixed and quite smooth; season it with salt and Cayenne to your taste; break in the yelk and white of one egg, rub it well together, and it is ready for use. Oysters parboiled and minced fine, and an anchovy, may be added.

Zest Balls.—(No. 386. See [No. 255].)

Prepared in the same way as [No. 381].

Orange or Lemon-peel, to mix with Stuffing.—(No. 387.)

Peel a Seville orange, or lemon, very thin, taking off only the fine yellow rind (without any of the white); pound it in a mortar with a bit of lump sugar; rub it well with the peel; by degrees add a little of the forcemeat it is to be mixed with: when it is well ground and blended with this, mix it with the whole: there is no other way of incorporating it so well.

Forcemeats, &c. are frequently spoiled by the insufficient mixing of the ingredients.

Clouted or Clotted Cream.—(No. 388.)

The milk which is put into the pans one morning stands till the next; then set the pan on a hot hearth, or in a copper tray[267-*] half full of water; put this over a stove; in from ten to twenty minutes, according to the quantity of the milk and the size of the pan, it will be done enough; the sign of which is, that bladders rise on its surface; this denotes that it is near boiling, which it must by no means do; and it must be instantly removed from the fire, and placed in the dairy till the next morning, when the fine cream is thrown up, and is ready for the table, or for butter, into which it is soon converted by stirring it with the hand.

N.B. This receipt we have not proved.

Raspberry Vinegar.—(No. 390.)

The best way to make this, is to pour three pints of the best white wine vinegar on a pint and a half of fresh-gathered red raspberries in a stone jar, or China bowl (neither glazed earthenware, nor any metallic vessel, must be used); the next day strain the liquor over a like quantity of fresh raspberries; and the day following do the same. Then drain off the liquor without pressing, and pass it through a jelly bag (previously wetted with plain vinegar) into a stone jar, with a pound of pounded lump sugar to each pint. When the sugar is dissolved, stir it up, cover down the jar, and set it in a saucepan of water, and keep it boiling for an hour, taking off the scum; add to each pint a glass of brandy, and bottle it: mixed in about eight parts of water, it is a very refreshing and delightful summer drink. An excellent cooling beverage to assuage thirst in ardent fevers, colds, and inflammatory complaints, &c. and is agreeable to most palates.

See [No. 479*].

N.B. We have not proved this receipt.

Syrup of Lemons.—(No. 391.)

The best season for lemons is from November to March. Put a pint of fresh lemon-juice to a pound and three-quarters of lump sugar; dissolve it by a gentle heat; skim it till the surface is quite clear; add an ounce of thin-cut lemon-peel; let them simmer (very gently) together for a few minutes, and run it through a flannel. When cold, bottle and cork it closely, and keep it in a cool place. Or,

Dissolve a quarter of an ounce (avoirdupois) of citric, i. e. crystallized lemon acid, in a pint of clarified syrup ([No. 475]); flavour it with the peel, with [No. 408], or dissolve the acid in equal parts of simple syrup ([No. 475]), and syrup of lemon-peel, as made [No. 393].

The Justice’s Orange Syrup for Punch or Puddings.—(No. 392.)

Squeeze the oranges, and strain the juice from the pulp into a large pot; boil it up with a pound and a half of fine sugar to each point of juice; skim it well; let it stand till cold; then bottle it, and cork it well.

Obs.—This makes a fine, soft, mellow-flavoured punch; and, added to melted butter, is a good relish to puddings.

Syrup of Orange or Lemon-peel.—(No. 393.)

Of fresh outer rind of Seville orange or lemon-peel, three ounces, apothecaries’ weight; boiling water a pint and a half; infuse them for a night in a close vessel; then strain the liquor: let it stand to settle; and having poured it off clear from the sediment, dissolve in it two pounds of double-refined loaf sugar, and make it into a syrup with a gentle heat.

Obs.—In making this syrup, if the sugar be dissolved in the infusion with as gentle a heat as possible, to prevent the exhalation of the volatile parts of the peel, this syrup will possess a great share of the fine flavour of the orange, or lemon-peel.

Vinegar for Salads.—(No. 395.)

“Take of tarragon, savoury, chives, eschalots, three ounces each; a handful of the tops of mint and balm, all dry and pounded; put into a wide-mouthed bottle, with a gallon of best vinegar; cork it close, set it in the sun, and in a fortnight strain off, and squeeze the herbs; let it stand a day to settle, and then strain it through a filtering bag.” From Parmentier’s Art de faire les Vinaigres, 8vo. 1805, p. 205.

Tarragon Vinegar.—(No. 396.)

This is a very agreeable addition to soups, salad sauce ([No. 455]), and to mix mustard ([No. 370]). Fill a wide-mouthed bottle with fresh-gathered tarragon-leaves, i. e. between midsummer and Michaelmas (which should be gathered on a dry day, just before it flowers), and pick the leaves off the stalks, and dry them a little before the fire; cover them with the best vinegar; let them steep fourteen days; then strain through a flannel jelly bag till it is fine; then pour it into half-pint bottles; cork them carefully, and keep them in a dry place.

Obs. You may prepare elder-flowers and herbs in the same manner; elder and tarragon are those in most general use in this country.

Our neighbours, the French, prepare vinegars flavoured with celery, cucumbers, capsicums, garlic, eschalot, onion, capers, chervil, cress-seed, burnet, truffles, Seville orange-peel, ginger, &c.; in short, they impregnate them with almost every herb, fruit, flower, and spice, separately, and in innumerable combinations.

Messrs. Maille et Aclocque, Vinaigriers à Paris, sell sixty-five sorts of variously flavoured vinegar, and twenty-eight different sorts of mustard.

Basil Vinegar or Wine.—(No. 397.)

Sweet basil is in full perfection about the middle of August. Fill a wide-mouthed bottle with the fresh green leaves of basil (these give much finer and more flavour than the dried), and cover them with vinegar, or wine, and let them steep for ten days: if you wish a very strong essence, strain the liquor, put it on some fresh leaves, and let them steep fourteen days more.

Obs. This is a very agreeable addition to sauces, soups, and to the mixture usually made for salads. See Nos. [372] and [453].

It is a secret the makers of mock turtle may thank us for telling; a table-spoonful put in when the soup is finished will impregnate a tureen of soup with the basil and acid flavours, at very small cost, when fresh basil and lemons are extravagantly dear.

The flavour of the other sweet and savoury herbs, celery, &c. may be procured, and preserved in the same manner ([No. 409], or [No. 417]), by infusing them in wine or vinegar.

Cress Vinegar.—(No. 397*.)

Dry and pound half an ounce of cress-seed (such as is sown in the garden with mustard), pour upon it a quart of the best vinegar, let it steep ten days, shaking it up every day.

Obs. This is very strongly flavoured with cress; and for salads and cold meats, &c. it is a great favourite with many: the quart of sauce costs only a half-penny more than the vinegar.

Celery vinegar is made in the same manner.

The crystal vinegar ([No. 407*]), which is, we believe, the pyroligneous acid, is the best for receiving flavours, having scarcely any of its own.

Green Mint Vinegar,—(No. 398.)

Is made precisely in the same manner, and with the same proportions as in [No. 397].

Obs.—In the early season of housed lamb, green mint is sometimes not to be got; the above is then a welcome substitute.

Burnet or Cucumber Vinegar.—(No. 399.)

This is made in precisely the same manner as directed in [No. 397]. The flavour of burnet resembles cucumber so exactly, that when infused in vinegar, the nicest palate would pronounce it to be cucumber.

Obs.—This is a very favourite relish with cold meat, salads, &c.

Burnet is in best season from midsummer to Michaelmas.

Horseradish Vinegar.—(No. 399*.)

Horseradish is in highest perfection about November.

Pour a quart of best vinegar on three ounces of scraped horseradish, an ounce of minced eschalot, and one drachm of Cayenne; let it stand a week, and you will have an excellent relish for cold beef, salads, &c. costing scarcely any thing.

N.B. A portion of black pepper and mustard, celery or cress-seed, may be added to the above.

Obs.—Horseradish powder ([No. 458*]).

Garlic Vinegar.—(No. 400.)

Garlic is ready for this purpose from midsummer to Michaelmas.

Peel and chop two ounces of garlic, pour on them a quart of white wine vinegar, stop the jar close, and let it steep ten days, shaking it well every day; then pour off the clear liquor into small bottles.

Obs.—The cook must be careful not to use too much of this; a few drops of it will give a pint of gravy a sufficient smack of the garlic, the flavour of which, when slight and well blended, is one of the finest we have; when used in excess, it is the most offensive.

The best way to use garlic, is to send up some of this vinegar in a cruet, and let the company flavour their own sauce as they like.

N.B. The most elegant preparation of the onion tribe is the eschalot wine, [No. 402].

Eschalot Vinegar,—(No. 401.)

Is made in the same manner, and the cook should never be without one of these useful auxiliaries; they cost scarcely any thing but the little trouble of making, and will save a great deal of trouble in flavouring soups and sauces with a taste of onion.

N.B. Eschalots are in high perfection during July, August, and September.

Eschalot Wine.—(No. 402.)

Peel, mince, and pound in a mortar, three ounces of eschalots, and infuse them in a pint of sherry for ten days; then pour off the clear liquor on three ounces more eschalots, and let the wine stand on them ten days longer.

Obs.—This is rather the most expensive, but infinitely the most elegant preparation of eschalot, and imparts the onion flavour to soups and sauces, for chops, steaks, or boiled meats, hashes, &c. more agreeably than any: it does not leave any unpleasant taste in the mouth, or to the breath; nor repeat, as almost all other preparations of garlic, onion, &c. do.

N.B. An ounce of scraped horseradish may be added to the above, and a little thin-cut lemon-peel, or a few drops of [No. 408].

Camp Vinegar.—(No. 403.)

• Cayenne pepper, one drachm, avoirdupois weight.
• Soy, two table-spoonfuls.
• Walnut catchup, four ditto.
• Six anchovies chopped.
• A small clove of garlic, minced fine.

Steep all for a month in a pint of the best vinegar, frequently shaking the bottle: strain through a tamis, and keep it in small bottles, corked as tightly as possible.

Cayenne Pepper.—(No. 404.)

Mr. Accum has informed the public (see his book on Adulterations) that from some specimens that came direct to him from India, and others obtained from respectable oil shops in London, he has extracted lead!

“Foreign Cayenne pepper is an indiscriminate mixture of the powder of the dried pods of many species of capsicums, especially of the bird pepper, which is the hottest of all. As it comes to us from the West Indies, it changes the infusion of turnsole to a beautiful green, probably owing to the salt, which is always added to it, and the red oxide of lead, with which it is said to be adulterated.” Duncan’s New Edinburgh Dispensary, 1819, Article Capsicum, p. 81.

The Indian Cayenne is prepared in a very careless manner, and often looks as if the pods had lain till they were decayed, before they were dried: this accounts for the dirty brown appearance it commonly has. If properly dried as soon as gathered, it will be of a clear red colour: to give it the complexion of that made with good fresh-gathered capsicums or Chilies, some annatto, or other vegetable red colouring matter, is pounded with it: this, Mr. A. assures us, is frequently adulterated with Indian red, i. e. “red lead!”

When Cayenne is pounded, it is mixed with a considerable portion of salt, to prevent its flying up and hurting the eyes: this might be avoided by grinding it in a mill, which may easily be made close enough, especially if it be passed through a second time, and then sifted through a fine drum-headed sieve, to produce as fine a powder as can be obtained by pounding; however, our English chilies may be pounded in a deep mortar without any danger.

The flavour of the Chilies is very superior to that of the capsicums, and will be good in proportion as they are dried as soon as possible, taking care they are not burned.

Take away the stalks, and put the pods into a colander; set it before the fire; they will take full twelve hours to dry, then put them into a mortar, with one-fourth their weight of salt, and pound them, and rub them till they are fine as possible, and put them into a well-stopped bottle.

N.B. We advise those who are fond of Cayenne not to think it too much trouble to make it of English Chilies; there is no other way of being sure it is genuine, and they will obtain a pepper of much finer flavour, without half the heat of the foreign.

A hundred large Chilies, costing only two shillings, will produce you about two ounces of Cayenne, so it is as cheap as the commonest Cayenne.

Four hundred Chilies, when the stems were taken off, weighed half a pound; and when dried, produced a quarter of a pound of Cayenne pepper.

Essence of Cayenne.—(No. 405.)

Put half an ounce of Cayenne pepper ([No. 404]) into half a pint of brandy or wine; let it steep for a fortnight, and then pour off the clear liquor.

This is nearly equal to fresh Chili juice.

Obs.—This or the Chili vinegar ([No. 405*],) is extremely convenient for the extempore seasoning and finishing of soups, sauces, &c., its flavour being instantly and equally diffused. Cayenne pepper varies so much in strength, that it is impossible to season soup any other way to the precise point of piquance.

Chili Vinegar.—(No. 405*.)

This is commonly made with the foreign bird pepper; but you will obtain a much finer flavour from infusing fifty fresh red English Chilies (cut in half, or pounded) in a pint of the best vinegar for a fortnight, or a quarter of an ounce of Cayenne pepper, [No. 404].

Obs.—Many people cannot eat fish without the addition of an acid, and Cayenne pepper: to such palates this will be an agreeable relish.

Chili, or Cayenne Wine.—(No. 406.)

Pound and steep fifty fresh red Chilies, or a quarter of an ounce of Cayenne pepper, in half a pint of brandy, white wine, or claret, for fourteen days.

Obs.—This is a “bonne bouche” for the lovers of Cayenne, of which it takes up a larger proportion of its flavour than of its fire; which being instantly diffused, it is a very useful auxiliary to warm and finish soups and sauces, &c.

Essence of Lemon-peel.—(No. 407.)

Wash and brush clean the lemons; let them get perfectly dry: take a lump of loaf sugar, and rub them till all the yellow rind is taken up by the sugar: scrape off the surface of the sugar into a preserving pot, and press it hard down; cover it very close, and it will keep for some time.

In the same way you may get the essence of Seville orange-peel.

Obs. This method of procuring and preserving the flavour of lemon-peel, by making an oleo-saccharum, is far superior to the common practice of paring off the rind, or grating it, and pounding, or mixing that with sugar: by this process you obtain the whole of the fine, fragrant, essential oil, in which is contained the flavour.

Artificial Lemon-juice.—(No. 407*.)

If you add a drachm of lump sugar, pounded, and six drops of [No. 408], to three ounces of crystal vinegar, which is the name given to the pyroligneous vinegar, you will have an excellent substitute for lemon-juice—for fish sauces and soups, and many other culinary purposes. The flavour of the lemon may also be communicated to the vinegar by infusing some lemon-peel in it.

N.B. The pyroligneous vinegar is perfectly free from all flavour, save that of the pure acid; therefore, it is a very valuable menstruum for receiving impregnations from various flavouring materials.

The pyroligneous acid seems likely to produce quite a revolution in the process of curing hams, herrings, &c. &c. See Tilloch’s Philosophical Magazine, 1821, No. 173, p. 12.

Quintessence of Lemon-peel.—(No. 408.)

Best oil of lemon, one drachm, strongest rectified spirit, two ounces, introduced by degrees till the spirit kills, and completely mixes with the oil. This elegant preparation possesses all the delightful fragrance and flavour of the freshest lemon-peel.

Obs. A few drops on the sugar you make punch with will instantly impregnate it with as much flavour as the troublesome and tedious method of grating the rind, or rubbing the sugar on it.

It will be found a superlative substitute for fresh lemon-peel for every purpose that it is used for: blanc mange, jellies, custards, ice, negus, lemonade, and pies and puddings, stuffings, soups, sauces, ragoûts, &c.

See also [No. 393].

Tincture of Lemon-peel.—(No. 408*.)

A very easy and economical way of obtaining, and preserving the flavour of lemon-peel, is to fill a wide-mouthed pint bottle half full of brandy, or proof spirit; and when you use a lemon, pare the rind off very thin, and put it into the brandy, &c.: in a fortnight it will impregnate the spirit with the flavour very strongly.

Essence of Celery.—(No. 409.)

• Brandy, or proof spirit, a quarter of a pint.
• Celery-seed bruised, half an ounce, avoirdupois weight.

Let it steep for a fortnight.

Obs.—A few drops will immediately flavour a pint of broth, and are an excellent addition to pease, and other soups, and the salad mixture of oil, vinegar, &c. ([No. 392].)

N.B. To make celery sauce, see [No. 289].

Aromatic Essence of Ginger.—(No. 411.)

Three ounces of fresh-grated[275-*] ginger, and two ounces of thin-cut lemon-peel, into a quart of brandy, or proof spirit (apothecaries’ measure); let it stand for ten days, shaking it up each day.

Obs.—The proper title for this would be “tincture of ginger:” however, as it has obtained the name of “essence,” so let it be called.

N.B. If ginger is taken to produce an immediate effect, to warm the stomach, or dispel flatulence, this is the best preparation.

Essence of Allspice for mulling of Wine.—(No. 412.)

Oil of pimento, a drachm, apothecaries’ measure, strong spirit of wine, two ounces, mixed by degrees: a few drops will give the flavour of allspice to a pint of gravy, or mulled wine, or to make a bishop. Mulled wine made with Burgundy is called bishop; with old Rhenish wine, cardinal; and with Tokay, Pope. Ritter‘s Weinlehres, p. 200.

Tincture[275-†] of Allspice.—(No. 413.)

• Of allspice bruised, three ounces, apothecaries’ weight.
• Brandy, a quart.

Let it steep a fortnight, occasionally shaking it up; then pour off the clear liquor: it is a most grateful addition in all cases where allspice is used, for making a bishop, or to mulled wine extempore, or in gravies, &c., or to flavour and preserve potted meats ([No. 503]). See Sir Hans Sloane‘s Obs. on Allspice, p. 96.

Tincture of Nutmeg.—(No. 413*.)

Is made with the same proportions of nutmeg and brandy, as ordered for allspice. See [Obs.] to [No. 415].

Essence of Clove and Mace.—(No. 414.)

• Strongest spirit of wine, two ounces, apothecaries’ measure.
• Oil of nutmeg, or clove, or mace, a drachm, apothecaries’ measure.

Tincture of Clove.—(No. 415.)

• Cloves bruised, three ounces, apothecaries’ weight.
• Brandy, one quart.

Let it steep ten days: strain it through a flannel sieve.

Obs.—Excellent to flavour “bishop,” or “mulled wine.”

Essence of Cinnamon.—(No. 416.)

• Strongest rectified spirit of wine, two ounces.
• Oil of Cinnamon, one drachm, apothecaries’ measure.

Tincture of Cinnamon.—(No. 416*.)

This exhilarating cordial is made by pouring a bottle of genuine cognac ([No. 471],) on three ounces of bruised cinnamon (cassia will not do).

This restorative was more in vogue formerly than it is now: a tea-spoonful of it, and a lump of sugar, in a glass of good sherry or Madeira, with the yelk of an egg beat up in it, was called “balsamum vitæ.”

“Cur moriatur homo, qui sumit de cinnamomo?”—“Cinnamon is verie comfortable to the stomacke, and the principall partes of the bodie.”

“Ventriculum, jecur, lienem, cerebrum, nervosque juvat et roborat.”—“I reckon it a great treasure for a student to have by him in his closet, to take now and then a spoonful.”—Cogan’s Haven of Health, 4to. 1584, p. 111.

Obs.—Two tea-spoonfuls in a wine-glass of water, are a present and pleasant remedy in nervous languors, and in relaxations of the bowels: in the latter case, five drops of laudanum may be added to each dose.

Essence of Marjoram.—(No. 417.)

• Strongest rectified spirit, two ounces.
• Oil of origanum, one drachm, apothecaries’ measure.

Vegetable Essences.—(No. 417*.)

The flavour of the various sweet and savoury herbs may be obtained by combining their essential oils with rectified spirit of wine, in the proportion of one drachm of the former to two ounces of the latter, or by picking the leaves, and laying them for a couple of hours in a warm place to dry, and then filling a large-mouthed bottle with them, and pouring on them wine, brandy, proof spirit, or vinegar, and letting them steep for fourteen days.

Soup-herb[277-*] Spirit.—(No. 420.)

• Of lemon-thyme,
• Winter savoury,
• Sweet marjoram,
• Sweet basil,—half an ounce of each.
• Lemon-peel grated, two drachms.
• Eschalots, the same.
• Celery-seed, a drachm, avoirdupois weight.

Prepare them as directed in [No. 461]; and infuse them in a pint of brandy, or proof spirit, for ten days: they may also be infused in wine or vinegar, but neither extract the flavour of the ingredients half so well as the spirit.

Spirit of Savoury Spice.—(No. 421.)

• Black pepper, an ounce; allspice, half an ounce, pounded fine.
• Nutmeg grated, a quarter of an ounce, avoirdupois weight.

Infuse in a pint of brandy, or proof spirit, for ten days; or, infuse the ingredients enumerated in [No. 457], in a quart of brandy, or proof spirit, for the like time.

Soup-herb and Savoury Spice Spirit.—(No. 422.)

Mix half a pint of soup-herb spirit with a quarter of a pint of spirit of savoury spice.

Obs.—These preparations are valuable auxiliaries to immediately heighten the flavour, and finish soups, sauces, ragoûts, &c., will save much time and trouble to the cook, and keep for twenty years.

Relish for Chops, &c.—(No. 423.)

Pound fine an ounce of black pepper, and half an ounce of allspice, with an ounce of salt, and half an ounce of scraped horseradish, and the same of eschalots, peeled and quartered; put these ingredients into a pint of mushroom catchup, or walnut pickle, and let them steep for a fortnight, and then strain it.

Obs.—A tea-spoonful or two of this is generally an acceptable addition, mixed with the gravy usually sent up for chops and steaks (see [No. 356]); or added to thick melted butter.

Fish Sauce.—(No. 425.)

Two wine-glasses of port, and two of walnut pickle, four of mushroom catchup, half a dozen anchovies, pounded, the like number of eschalots sliced and pounded, a table-spoonful of soy, and half a drachm of Cayenne pepper; let them simmer gently for ten minutes; strain it, and when cold, put it into bottles; well corked, and sealed over, it will keep for a considerable time.

Obs.—This is commonly called Quin’s sauce, and was given to me by a very sagacious sauce-maker.

Keeping Mustard.—(No. 427.)

Dissolve three ounces of salt in a quart of boiling water, or rather vinegar, and pour it hot upon two ounces of scraped horseradish; closely cover down the jar, and let it stand twenty-four hours: strain, and mix it by degrees with the best Durham flour of mustard, beat well together till quite smooth, and of the proper thickness; put into a wide-mouthed bottle, and stop it closely. For the various ways to flavour mustard, see [No. 370].

Sauce Superlative.[278-*]—(No. 429.)

• Claret, or port wine, and mushroom catchup (see [No. 439]), a pint of each.
• Half a pint of walnut or other pickle liquor.
• Pounded anchovies, four ounces.
• Fresh lemon-peel, pared very thin, an ounce.
• Peeled and sliced eschalots, the same.
• Scraped horseradish, ditto.
• Allspice, and
• Black pepper powdered, half an ounce each.
• Cayenne, one drachm, or curry-powder, three drachms.
• Celery-seed bruised, a drachm. All avoirdupois weight.

Put these into a wide-mouthed bottle, stop it close, shake it up every day for a fortnight, and strain it (when some think it improved by the addition of a quarter of a pint of soy, or thick browning, see [No. 322]), and you will have a “delicious double relish.”

^*_*^* This composition is one of the “chefs d’œuvre” of many experiments I have made, for the purpose of enabling the good housewives of Great Britain to prepare their own sauces: it is equally agreeable with fish, game, poultry, or ragoûts, &c., and as a fair lady may make it herself, its relish will be not a little augmented, by the certainty that all the ingredients are good and wholesome.

Obs.—Under an infinity of circumstances, a cook may be in want of the substances necessary to make sauce: the above composition of the several articles from which the various gravies derive their flavour, will be found a very admirable extemporaneous substitute. By mixing a large table-spoonful with a quarter of a pint of thickened melted butter, broth, or [No. 252], five minutes will finish a boat of very relishing sauce, nearly equal to drawn gravy, and as likely to put your lingual nerves into good humour as any thing I know.

To make a boat of sauce for poultry, &c. put a piece of butter about as big as an egg into a stew-pan, set it on the fire; when it is melted, put to it a table-spoonful of flour; stir it thoroughly together, and add to it two table-spoonfuls of sauce, and by degrees about half a pint of broth, or boiling water, let it simmer gently over a slow fire for a few minutes, skim it and strain it through a sieve, and it is ready.

Quintessence of Anchovy.—(No. 433.)

The goodness of this preparation depends almost entirely on having fine mellow fish, that have been in pickle long enough (i. e. about twelve months) to dissolve easily, yet are not at all rusty.

Choose those that are in the state they come over in, not such as have been put into fresh pickle, mixed with red paint,[280-*] which some add to improve the complexion of the fish; it has been said, that others have a trick of putting anchovy liquor on pickled sprats;[280-†] you will easily discover this by washing one of them, and tasting the flesh of it, which in the fine anchovy is mellow, red, and high-flavoured, and the bone moist and oily. Make only as much as will soon be used, the fresher it is the better.

Put ten or twelve anchovies into a mortar, and pound them to a pulp; put this into a very clean iron, or silver, or very well tinned saucepan; then put a large table-spoonful of cold spring-water (we prefer good vinegar) into the mortar; shake it round, and pour it to the pounded anchovies, set them by the side of a slow fire, very frequently stirring them together till they are melted, which they will be in the course of five minutes. Now stir in a quarter of a drachm of good Cayenne pepper ([No. 404]). and let it remain by the side of the fire for a few minutes longer; then, while it is warm, rub it through a hair-sieve,[280-‡] with the back of a wooden spoon.

The essence of anchovy, which is prepared for the committee of taste, is made with double the above quantity of water, as they are of opinion that it ought to be so thin as not to hang about the sides of the bottle; when it does, the large surface of it is soon acted upon by the air, and becomes rancid and spoils all the rest of it.

A roll of thin-cut lemon-peel infused with the anchovy, imparts a fine, fresh, delicate, aromatic flavour, which is very grateful; this is only recommended when you make sauce for immediate use; it will keep much better without: if you wish to acidulate it, instead of water make it with artificial lemon-juice ([No. 407*]), or add a little of Coxwell’s concrete acid to it.

Obs.—The above is the proper way to perfectly dissolve anchovy,[281-*] and to incorporate it with the water; which, if completely saturated, will continue suspended.

To prevent the separation of essence of anchovy, and give it the appearance of being fully saturated with fish, various other expedients have been tried, such as dissolving the fish in thin water gruel, or barley-water, or thickening it with mucilage, flour, &c.: when any of these things are added, it does not keep half so well as it does without them; and to preserve it, they overload it with Cayenne pepper.

Mem.—You cannot make essence of anchovy half so cheap as you can buy it. Thirty prime fish, weighing a pound and a quarter, and costing 4s. 6d., and two table-spoonfuls of water, made me only half a pint of essence; you may commonly buy that quantity ready-made for 2s., and we have seen an advertisement offering it for sale as low as 2s. 6d. per quart.

It must be kept very closely stopped; when you tap a bottle of sauce, throw away the old perforated cork, and put in a new taper velvet cork; if the air gets to it, the fish takes the rust,[281-†] and it is spoiled directly.

Essence of anchovy is sometimes coloured[281-‡] with bole armeniac, Venice red, &c.; but all these additions deteriorate the flavour of the sauce, and the palate and stomach suffer for the gratification of the eye, which, in culinary concerns, will never be indulged by the sagacious gourmand at the expense of these two primum mobiles of his pursuits.

^*_*^* Essence of anchovy is sometimes made with sherry or Madeira wine, or good mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), instead of water. If you like the acid flavour, add a little citric acid, or dissolve them in good vinegar.

N.B. This is infinitely the most convenient way of using anchovy, as each guest may mix sauce for himself, and make it strong or weak, according to his own taste.

It is also much more economical, as plain melted butter ([No. 256]) serves for other purposes at table.

Anchovy Paste, or le Beurre d’Anchois.—(No. 434.)

Pound them in a mortar; then rub it through a fine sieve; pot it, cover it with clarified butter, and keep it in a cool place.

N.B. If you have essence of anchovy, you may make anchovy paste extempore, by rubbing the essence with as much flour as will make a paste. Mem.—This is merely mentioned as the means of making it immediately; it will not keep.

Obs.—This is sometimes made stiffer and hotter by the addition of a little flour of mustard, a pickled walnut, spice ([No. 460]), curry powder ([No. 455]), or Cayenne; and it then becomes a rival to “la véritable sauce d’enfer” ([No. 528]), or pâté à la diable for deviling biscuits ([No. 574]), grills ([No. 538]), &c. It is an excellent garnish for fish, put in pats round the edge of the dish, or will make anchovy toast ([No. 573]), or devil a biscuit ([No. 574]), &c. in high style.

Anchovy Powder.—(No. 435.)

Pound the fish in a mortar, rub them through a sieve, and make them into a paste with dried flour, roll it into thin cakes, and dry them in a Dutch oven before a slow fire; pounded to a fine powder, and put into a well-stopped bottle, it will keep for years; it is a very savoury relish, sprinkled on bread and butter for a sandwich, &c. See Oyster Powder ([No. 280]).

Obs.—To this may be added a small portion of Cayenne pepper, grated lemon-peel, and citric acid.

Walnut Catchup.—(No. 438.)

Take six half-sieves of green walnut-shells, put them into a tub, mix them up well with common salt, (from two to three pounds,) let them stand for six days, frequently beating and mashing them; by this time the shells become soft and pulpy; then by banking it up on one side of the tub, and at the same time by raising the tub on that side, the liquor will drain clear off to the other; then take that liquor out: the mashing and banking-up may be repeated as often as liquor is found. The quantity will be about six quarts. When done, let it be simmered in an iron boiler as long as any scum arises; then bruise a quarter of a pound of ginger, a quarter of a pound of allspice, two ounces of long pepper, two ounces of cloves, with the above ingredients; let it slowly boil for half an hour; when bottled, let an equal quantity of the spice go into each bottle; when corked, let the bottles be filled quite up: cork them tight, seal them over, and put them into a cool and dry place for one year before they are used.

N.B. For the above we are indebted to a respectable oilman, who has many years proved the receipt.

Mushroom Catchup.—(No. 439.)

If you love good catchup, gentle reader, make it yourself,[283-*] after the following directions, and you will have a delicious relish for made-dishes, ragoûts, soups, sauces, or hashes.

Mushroom gravy approaches the nature and flavour of meat gravy, more than any vegetable juice, and is the superlative substitute for it: in meagre soups and extempore gravies, the chemistry of the kitchen has yet contrived to agreeably awaken the palate, and encourage the appetite.

A couple of quarts of double catchup, made according to the following receipt, will save you some score pounds of meat, besides a vast deal of time and trouble; as it will furnish, in a few minutes, as good sauce as can be made for either fish, flesh, or fowl. See [No. 307].

I believe the following is the best way of extracting and preparing the essence of mushrooms, so as to procure and preserve their flavour for a considerable length of time.

Look out for mushrooms from the beginning of September.

Take care they are the right sort, and fresh gathered. Full-grown flaps are to be preferred: put a layer of these at the bottom of a deep earthen pan, and sprinkle them with salt; then another layer of mushrooms, and some more salt on them; and so on alternately, salt and mushrooms: let them remain two or three hours, by which time the salt will have penetrated the mushrooms, and rendered them easy to break; then pound them in a mortar, or mash them well with your hands, and let them remain for a couple of days, not longer, stirring them up and mashing them well each day; then pour them into a stone jar, and to each quart add an ounce and a half of whole black pepper, and half an ounce of allspice; stop the jar very close, and set it in a stew-pan of boiling water, and keep it boiling for two hours at least. Take out the jar, and pour the juice clear from the settlings through a hair-sieve (without squeezing[284-*] the mushrooms) into a clean stew-pan; let it boil very gently for half an hour: those who are for superlative catchup, will continue the boiling till the mushroom-juice is reduced to half the quantity; it may then be called double cat-sup or dog-sup.

There are several advantages attending this concentration; it will keep much better, and only half the quantity be required; so you can flavour sauce, &c. without thinning it: neither is this an extravagant way of making it, for merely the aqueous part is evaporated; skim it well, and pour it into a clean dry jar, or jug; cover it close, and let it stand in a cool place till next day; then pour it off as gently as possible (so as not to disturb the settlings at the bottom of the jug,) through a tamis, or thick flannel bag, till it is perfectly clear; add a table-spoonful of good brandy to each pint of catchup, and let it stand as before; a fresh sediment will be deposited, from which the catchup is to be quietly poured off, and bottled in pints or half pints (which have been washed with brandy or spirit): it is best to keep it in such quantities as are soon used.

Take especial care that it is closely corked, and sealed down, or dipped in bottle cement.

If kept in a cool, dry place, it may be preserved for a long time; but if it be badly corked, and kept in a damp place, it will soon spoil.

Examine it from time to time, by placing a strong light behind the neck of the bottle, and if any pellicle appears about it, boil it up again with a few peppercorns.

We have ordered no more spice, &c. than is absolutely necessary to feed the catchup, and keep it from fermenting, &c.

The compound, commonly called catchup, is generally an injudicious combination of so many different tastes, that the flavour of the mushroom is overpowered by a farrago of garlic, eschalot, anchovy, mustard, horseradish, lemon-peel, beer, wine, spice, &c.

Obs.—A table-spoonful of double catchup will impregnate half a pint of sauce with the full flavour of mushroom, in much greater perfection than either pickled or powder of mushrooms.

Quintessence of Mushrooms.—(No. 440.)

This delicate relish is made by sprinkling a little salt over either flap or button mushrooms; three hours after, mash them; next day, strain off the liquor that will flow from them; put it into a stew-pan, and boil it till it is reduced to half.

It will not keep long, but is preferable to any of the catchups, which, in order to preserve them, must have spice, &c., which overpowers the flavour of the mushrooms.

An artificial mushroom bed will supply this all the year round.

To make sauce with this, see [No. 307].

Oyster Catchup.—(No. 441.)

Take fine fresh Milton oysters; wash them in their own liquor; skim it; pound them in a marble mortar; to a pint of oysters add a pint of sherry; boil them up, and add an ounce of salt, two drachms of pounded mace, and one of Cayenne; let it just boil up again; skim it, and rub it through a sieve, and when cold, bottle it, cork it well, and seal it down.

Obs.—See also [No. 280], and [Obs.] to [No. 278].

N.B. It is the best way to pound the salt and spices, &c. with the oysters.

Obs.—This composition very agreeably heightens the flavour of white sauces, and white made-dishes; and if you add a glass of brandy to it, it will keep good for a considerable time longer than oysters are out of season in England.

Cockle and Muscle Catchup,—(No. 442.)

May be made by treating them in the same way as the oysters in the preceding receipt.

Pudding Catchup.—(No. 446.)

Half a pint of brandy, “essence of punch” ([No. 479]), or “Curaçoa” ([No. 474]), or “Noyeau,” a pint of sherry, an ounce of thin-pared lemon-peel, half an ounce of mace, and steep them for fourteen days, then strain it, and add a quarter of a pint of capillaire, or [No. 476]. This will keep for years, and, mixed with melted butter, is a delicious relish to puddings and sweet dishes. See Pudding Sauce, [No. 269], and the Justice’s Orange Syrup, [No. 392].

Potato[286-*] Starch.—(No. 448.)

Peel and wash a pound of full-grown potatoes, grate them on a bread-grater into a deep dish, containing a quart of clear water; stir it well up, and then pour it through a hair-sieve, and leave it ten minutes to settle, till the water is quite clear: then pour off the water, and put a quart of fresh water to it; stir it up, let it settle, and repeat this till the water is quite clear; you will at last find a fine white powder at the bottom of the vessel. (The criterion of this process being completed, is the purity of the water that comes from it after stirring it up.) Lay this on a sheet of paper in a hair-sieve to dry, either in the sun or before the fire, and it is ready for use, and in a well-stopped bottle will keep good for many months.

If this be well made, half an ounce (i. e. a table-spoonful) of it mixed with two table-spoonfuls of cold water, and stirred into a soup or sauce, just before you take it up, will thicken a pint of it to the consistence of cream.

Obs.—This preparation much resembles the “Indian arrow root,” and is a good substitute for it; it gives a fulness on the palate to gravies and sauces at hardly any expense, and by some is used to thicken melted butter instead of flour.

As it is perfectly tasteless, it will not alter the flavour of the most delicate broth, &c.

Of the Flour of Potatoes.

“A patent has been recently obtained at Paris, a gold medal bestowed, and other honorary distinctions granted, for the discovery and practice, on a large scale, of preparing from potatoes a fine flour; a sago, a flour equal to ground rice; and a semolina or paste, of which 1lb. is equal to 1 1/2lbs. of rice, 1 3/4lbs. of vermicelli, or, it is asserted, 8lbs. of raw potatoes.

“These preparations are found valuable to mix with wheaten flour for bread, to make biscuits, pastry, pie-crusts, and for all soups, gruels, and panada.

“Large engagements have been made for these preparations with the French marine, and military and other hospitals, with the approbation of the faculty.

“An excellent bread, it is said, can be made of this flour, at half the cost of wheaten bread.

“Heat having been applied in these preparations, the articles will keep unchanged for years, and on board ship, to China and back; rats, mice, worms, and insects do not infect or destroy this flour.

“Simply mixed with cold water, they are in ten minutes fit for food, when fire and all other resource may be wanted; and twelve ounces are sufficient for a day’s sustenance, in case of necessity.

“The physicians and surgeons in the hospitals, in cases of great debility of the stomach, have employed these preparations with advantage.

“The point of this discovery is, the cheapness of preparation, and the conversion of a surplus growth of potatoes into a keeping stock, in an elegant, portable, and salubrious form.”

Salad or piquante Sauce for cold Meat, Fish, &c.—(No. 453.) See also [No. 372].

Pound together

• An ounce of scraped horseradish,
• Half an ounce of salt,
• A table-spoonful of made mustard, [No. 370],
• Four drachms of minced eschalots, [No. 409],
• Half a drachm of celery-seed, [No. 409],
• And half ditto of Cayenne, [No. 404],

Adding gradually a pint of burnet ([No. 399]), or tarragon vinegar ([No. 396]), and let it stand in a jar a week, and then pass it through a sieve.

Curry Powder.—(No. 455.)

Put the following ingredients in a cool oven all night, and the next morning pound them in a marble mortar, and rub them through a fine sieve.

	d.
Coriander-seed, three ounces	3
Turmeric, three ounces	6
Black pepper, mustard, and ginger, one ounce of each	8
Allspice and less cardamoms, half an ounce of each	5
Cumin-seed, a quarter of an ounce	1

Thoroughly pound and mix together, and keep them in a well-stopped bottle.

Those who are fond of curry sauces, may steep three ounces of the powder in a quart of vinegar or white wine for ten days, and will get a liquor impregnated with all the flavour of the powder.

Obs.—This receipt was an attempt to imitate some of the best Indian curry powder, selected for me by a friend at the India house: the flavour approximates to the Indian powder so exactly, the most profound palaticians have pronounced it a perfect copy of the original curry stuff.

The following remark was sent to the editor by an East Indian friend.

“The ingredients which you have selected to form the curry powder, are the same as are used in India, with this difference only, that some of them are in a raw green state, and are mashed together, and afterward dried, powdered, and sifted.” For Curry Sauce, see [No. 348].

N.B. Chickens, rabbits, sweetbreads, breasts of veal, veal cutlets, mutton, lamb, or pork chops, lobster, turbot, soles, eels, oysters, &c. are dressed curry fashion, see [No. 497]; or stew them in [No. 329] or [No. 348], and flavour with [No. 455].

Obs.—The common fault of curry powder is the too great proportion of Cayenne (to the milder aromatics from which its agreeable flavour is derived), preventing a sufficient quantity of the curry powder being used.

Savoury ragoût Powder.—(No. 457.)

• Salt, an ounce,
• Mustard, half an ounce,
• Allspice,[288-*] a quarter of an ounce,
• Black pepper ground, and lemon-peel grated, or of [No. 407], pounded and sifted fine, half an ounce each,
• Ginger, and
• Nutmeg grated, a quarter of an ounce each,
• Cayenne pepper, two drachms.

Pound them patiently, and pass them through a fine hair-sieve; bottle them for use. The above articles will pound easier and finer, if they are dried first in a Dutch oven[288-†] before a very gentle fire, at a good distance from it; if you give them much heat, the fine flavour of them will be presently evaporated, and they will soon get a strong, rank, empyreumatic taste.

N.B. Infused in a quart of vinegar or wine, they make a savoury relish for soups, sauces, &c.

Obs. The spices in a ragoût are indispensable to give it a flavour, but not a predominant one; their presence should be rather supposed than perceived; they are the invisible spirit of good cookery: indeed, a cook without spice would be as much at a loss as a confectioner without sugar: a happy mixture of them, and proportion to each other and the other ingredients, is the “chef-d’œuvre” of a first-rate cook.

The art of combining spices, &c., which may be termed the “harmony of flavours,” no one hitherto has attempted to teach: and “the rule of thumb” is the only guide that experienced cooks have heretofore given for the assistance of the novice in the (till now, in these pages explained, and rendered, we hope, perfectly intelligible to the humblest capacity) occult art of cookery. This is the first time receipts in cookery have been given accurately by weight or measure!!!

(See Obs. on “the education of a cook’s tongue,” pages [52] and [53].)

Pease Powder.—(No. 458.)

Pound together in a marble mortar half an ounce each of dried mint and sage, a drachm of celery-seed, and a quarter of a drachm of Cayenne pepper; rub them through a fine sieve. This gives a very savoury relish to pease soup, and to water gruel, which, by its help, if the eater of it has not the most lively imagination, he may fancy he is sipping good pease soup.

Obs.—A drachm of allspice, or black pepper, may be pounded with the above as an addition, or instead of, the Cayenne.

Horseradish Powder.—(No. 458*.)

The time to make this is during November and December; slice it the thickness of a shilling, and lay it to dry very gradually in a Dutch oven (a strong heat soon evaporates its flavour); when dry enough, pound it and bottle it.

Obs. See Horseradish Vinegar ([No. 399*]).

Soup-herb Powder, or Vegetable Relish.—(No. 459.)

• Dried parsley,
• Winter savoury,
• Sweet marjoram,
• Lemon-thyme, of each two ounces;
• Lemon-peel, cut very thin, and dried, and
• Sweet basil, an ounce of each.

^*_*^* Some add to the above bay-leaves and celery-seed, a drachm each.

Dry them in a warm, but not too hot Dutch oven: when quite dried, pound them in a mortar, and pass them through a double hair-sieve; put them in a bottle closely stopped, they will retain their fragrance and flavour for several months.

N.B. These herbs are in full perfection in July and August (see [No. 461*]). An infusion of the above in vinegar or wine makes a good relishing sauce, but the flavour is best when made with fresh-gathered herbs, as directed in [No. 397].

Obs. This composition of the fine aromatic herbs is an invaluable acquisition to the cook in those seasons or situations when fresh herbs cannot be had; and we prefer it to the ragoût powder, [No. 457]: it impregnates sauce, soup, &c. with as much relish, and renders it agreeable to the palate, and refreshes the gustatory nerves, without so much risk of offending the stomach, &c.

Soup-herb and Savoury Powder, or Quintessence of Ragoût.—(No. 460.)

Take three parts of soup-herb powder ([No. 459]) to one part of savoury powder, [No. 457].

Obs. This agreeable combination of the aromatic spices and herbs should be kept ready prepared: it will save a great deal of time in cooking ragoûts, stuffings, forcemeat-balls, soups, sauces, &c.; kept dry, and tightly corked down, its fragrance and strength may be preserved undiminished for some time.

N.B. Three ounces of the above will impregnate a quart of vinegar or wine with a very agreeable relish.

To Dry sweet and savoury Herbs.—(No. 461.)

For the following accurate and valuable information, the reader is indebted to Mr. Butler, herbalist and seedsman (opposite Henrietta Street), Covent Garden market.

“It is very important to those who are not in the constant habit of attending the markets to know when the various seasons commence for purchasing sweet herbs.

“All vegetables are in the highest state of perfection, and fullest of juice and flavour, just before they begin to flower: the first and last crop have neither the fine flavour, nor the perfume of those which are gathered in the height of the season; that is, when the greater part of the crop of each species is ripe.

“Take care they are gathered on a dry day, by which means they will have a better colour when dried. Cleanse your herbs well from dirt and dust;[291-*] cut off the roots; separate the bunches into smaller ones, and dry them by the heat of a stove, or in a Dutch oven before a common fire, in such quantities at a time, that the process may be speedily finished; i. e. ‘Kill ’em quick,’ says a great botanist; by this means their flavour will be best preserved: there can be no doubt of the propriety of drying herbs, &c. hastily by the aid of artificial heat, rather than by the heat of the sun. In the application of artificial heat, the only caution requisite is to avoid burning; and of this a sufficient test is afforded by the preservation of the colour.” The common custom is, when they are perfectly dried to put them in bags, and lay them in a dry place; but the best way to preserve the flavour of aromatic plants is to pick off the leaves as soon as they are dried, and to pound them, and put them through a hair-sieve, and keep them in well-stopped bottles.[291-†] See [No. 459].

Basil is in the best state for drying from the middle of August, and three weeks after, see [No. 397].

Knotted marjoram, from the beginning of July, and during the same.

Winter savoury, the latter end of July, and throughout August, see [Obs.] to [No. 397].

Summer savoury, the latter end of July, and throughout August.

Thyme, lemon-thyme, orange-thyme,[291-‡] during June and July.

Mint, latter end of June, and during July, see [No. 398].

Sage, August and September.

Tarragon, June, July, and August, see [No. 396].

Chervil, May, June, and July, see [No. 264].

Burnet, June, July, and August, see [No. 399].

Parsley, May, June, and July, see [N.B.] to [No. 261].

Fennel, May, June, and July.

Elder flowers, May, June, and July.

Orange flowers, May, June, and July.

N.B. Herbs nicely dried are a very acceptable substitute when fresh ones cannot be got; but, however carefully dried, the flavour and fragrance of the fresh herbs are incomparably finer.

THE MAGAZINE OF TASTE.—(No. 462.)

This is a convenient auxiliary to the cook: it may be arranged as a pyramidical epergne for a dormant in the centre of the table, or as a travelling store-chest.

The following sketch will enable any one to fit up an assortment of flavouring materials according to their own fancy and palate; and, we presume, will furnish sufficient variety for the amusement of the gustatory nerves of a thorough-bred grand gourmand of the first magnitude (if Cayenne and garlic have not completely consumed the sensibility of his palate), and consists of a “Sauce-box,” containing four eight-ounce bottles,[292-*] sixteen four ounce, and eight two-ounce bottles:—

• 1. Pickles.
• 2. Brandy.
• 3. Curaçoa ([No. 474]).
• 4. Syrup ([No. 475]).
• 5. Salad sauce (Nos. [372] and [453]).
• 6. Pudding catchup ([No. 446]).
• 7. Sauce superlative, or double relish ([No. 429]).
• 8. Walnut pickle.
• 9. Mushroom catchup ([No. 439]).
• 10. Vinegar.
• 11. Oil.
• 12. Mustard (see Nos. [370] and [427]).
• 13. Salt (see [No. 371]).
• 14. Curry powder ([No. 455]).
• 15. Soy ([No. 436]).
• 16. Lemon-juice.
• 17. Essence of anchovy ([No. 433]).
• 18. Pepper.
• 19. Cayenne ([No. 405], or [No. 406]).
• 20. Soup-herb powder ([No. 459]).
• 21. Ragoût powder ([No. 457]).
• 22. Pease powder ([No. 458]).
• 23. Zest ([No. 255]).
• 24. Essence of celery ([No. 409]).
• 25. Sweet herbs ([No. 419]).
• 26. Lemon-peel ([No. 408]).
• 27. Eschalot wine ([No. 402]).
• 28. Powdered mint.

In a drawer under.

• Half a dozen one ounce bottles.
• Weights and scales.
• A graduated glass measure, divided into tea- and table-spoons.
• Corkscrew.
• Nutmeg-grater.
• Table and tea-spoon.
• Knife and fork.
• A steel, and a
• Small mortar.

1	5	13	21
	6	14	22
2	7	15	23
	8	16	24
3	9	17	25
	10	18	26
4	11	19	27
	12	20	28

N.B. The portable magazine of taste, alluded to in [page 44], may be furnished with a four-ounce bottle for Cognac ([No. 471]), a ditto for Curaçoa ([No. 474]), an ounce bottle for essence of anchovy ([No. 433]), and one of like size for mushroom catchup.

Toast and Water.—(No. 463.)

Cut a crust of bread off a stale loaf, about twice the thickness toast is usually cut: toast it carefully until it be completely browned all over, but not at all blackened or burnt; pour as much boiling water as you wish to make into drink, into the jug; put the toast into it, and let it stand till it is quite cold: the fresher it is the better.

Obs.—A roll of thin fresh-cut lemon, or dried orange-peel, or some currant-jelly ([No. 475*]), apples sliced or roasted, &c. infused with the bread, are grateful additions. N.B. If the boiling water be poured on the bread it will break it, and make the drink grouty.

N.B. This is a refreshing summer drink; and when the proportion of the fluids is destroyed by profuse perspiration, may be drunk plentifully. Let a large jug be made early in the day, it will then become warmed by the heat of the air, and may be drunk without danger; which water, cold as it comes from the well, cannot in hot weather. Or,

To make it more expeditiously, put the bread into a mug, and just cover it with boiling water; let it stand till cold, then fill it up with cold spring-water, and pour it through a fine sieve.

Obs.—The above is a pleasant and excellent beverage, grateful to the stomach, and deserves a constant place by the bed-side.

Cool Tankard, or Beer Cup.—(No. 464.)

A quart of mild ale, a glass of white wine, one of brandy, one of capillaire, the juice of a lemon, a roll of the peel pared thin, nutmeg grated at the top (a sprig of borrage[294-*] or balm), and a bit of toasted bread.

Cider Cup,—(No. 465.)

Is the same, only substituting cider for beer.

Flip.—(No. 466.)

Keep grated ginger and nutmeg with a little fine dried lemon-peel, rubbed together in a mortar.

To make a quart of flip:—Put the ale on the fire to warm, and beat up three or four eggs, with four ounces of moist sugar, a tea-spoonful of grated nutmeg or ginger, and a quartern of good old rum or brandy. When the ale is near to boil, put it into one pitcher, and the rum and eggs, &c. into another; turn it from one pitcher to another till it is as smooth as cream.

N.B. This quantity I styled one yard of flannel.

Obs.—The above is set down in the words of the publican who gave us the receipt.

Tewahdiddle.—(No. 467.)

A pint of table beer (or ale, if you intend it for a supplement to your “night cap”), a table-spoonful of brandy, and a tea-spoonful of brown sugar, or clarified syrup ([No. 475]); a little grated nutmeg or ginger may be added, and a roll of very thin-cut lemon-peel.

Obs.—Before our readers make any remarks on this composition, we beg of them to taste it: if the materials are good, and their palate vibrates in unison with our own, they will find it one of the pleasantest beverages they ever put to their lips; and, as Lord Ruthven says, “this is a right gossip’s cup that far exceeds all the ale that ever Mother Bunch made in her life-time.” See his Lordship’s Experiments in Cookery, &c. 18mo. London, 1654, p. 215.

Sir Fleetwood Shepherd’s Sack Posset.—(No. 467*.)

“From famed Barbadoes, on the western main,
Fetch sugar, ounces four—fetch sack from Spain,
A pint,—and from the eastern Indian coast
Nutmeg, the glory of our northern toast;
O’er flaming coals let them together heat,
Till the all-conquering sack dissolve the sweet;
O’er such another fire put eggs just ten,
New-born from tread of cock and rump of hen:
Stir them with steady hand and conscience pricking
To see the untimely end of ten fine chicken:
From shining shelf take down the brazen skillet,—
A quart of milk from gentle cow will fill it.
When boiled and cold, put milk and sack to eggs,
Unite them firmly like the triple league,
And on the fire let them together dwell
Till Miss sing twice—you must not kiss and tell—
Each lad and lass take up a silver spoon,
And fall on fiercely like a starved dragoon.”

To bottle Beer.—(No. 468.)

When the briskness and liveliness of malt liquors in the cask fail, and they become dead and vapid, which they generally do soon after they are tilted; let them be bottled.

Be careful to use clean and dried bottles; leave them unstopped for twelve hours, and then cork them as closely as possible with good and sound new corks; put a bit of lump sugar as big as a nutmeg into each bottle: the beer will be ripe, i. e. fine and sparkling, in about four or five weeks: if the weather is cold, to put it up the day before it is drunk, place it in a room where there is a fire.

Remember there is a sediment, &c. at the bottom of the bottles, which you must carefully avoid disturbing; so pour it off at once, leaving a wine-glassful at the bottom.

^*_*^* If beer becomes hard or stale, a few grains of carbonate of potash added to it at the time it is drunk will correct it, and make draught beer as brisk as bottled ale.

Rich Raspberry Wine or Brandy.—(No. 469.)

Bruise the finest ripe raspberries with the back of a spoon; strain them through a flannel bag into a stone jar, allowing a pound of fine powdered loaf sugar to each quart of juice; stir it well together, and cover it down; let it stand for three days, stirring it up each day; pour off the clear, and put two quarts of sherry, or one of Cognac brandy, to each quart of juice; bottle it off: it will be fit for the glass in a fortnight.

N.B. Or make it with the jelly, [No. 479].

Liqueurs.—(No. 471.)

We have very little to tell from our own experience, and refer our reader to “Nouvelle Chimie du Goût et de l’Odorat, ou l’Art du Distillateur, du Confiseur, et du Parfumeur, mis à la portée de tout le Monde.” Paris, 2 tom. 8vo. 1819.

Next to teaching how to make good things at home, is the information where those things may be procured ready made of the best quality.

It is in vain to attempt to imitate the best foreign liqueurs, unless we can obtain the pure vinous spirit with which they are made.

Johnson and Co., foreign liqueur and brandy merchants to his majesty and the royal family, No. 2, Colonnade, Pall Mall, are justly famous for importing of the best quality, and selling in a genuine state, seventy-one varieties of foreign liqueurs, &c.

Curaçoa.—(No. 474.)

Put five ounces of thin-cut Seville orange-peel, that has been dried and pounded, or, which is still better, of the fresh peel of a fresh shaddock, which may be bought at the orange and lemon shops in the beginning of March, into a quart of the finest and cleanest rectified spirit; after it has been infused a fortnight, strain it, and add a quart of syrup ([No. 475]), and filter. See the following receipt:

To make a Quart of Curaçoa.

To a pint of the cleanest and strongest rectified spirit, add two drachms and a half of the sweet oil of orange-peel; shake it up: dissolve a pound of good lump sugar in a pint of cold water; make this into a clarified syrup ([No. 475]): which add to the spirit: shake it up, and let it stand till the following day: then line a funnel with a piece of muslin, and that with filtering-paper, and filter it two or three times till it is quite bright. This liqueur is an admirable cordial; and a tea-spoonful in a tumbler of water is a very refreshing summer drink, and a great improvement to punch.

Clarified Syrup.—(No. 475.)

Break into bits two pounds (avoirdupois) of double refined lump sugar, and put it into a clean stew-pan (that is well tinned), with a pint of cold spring-water; when the sugar is dissolved, set it over a moderate fire: beat about half the white of an egg, put it to the sugar before it gets warm, and stir it well together. Watch it; and when it boils take off the scum; keep it boiling till no scum rises, and it is perfectly clear; then run it through a clean napkin: put it into a close stopped bottle; it will keep for months, and is an elegant article on the sideboard for sweetening.

Obs.—The proportion of sugar ordered in the above syrup is a quarter pound more than that directed in the Pharmacopœia of the London College of Physicians. The quantity of sugar must be as much as the liquor is capable of keeping dissolved when cold, or it will ferment, and quickly spoil: if kept in a temperate degree of heat, the above proportion of sugar may be considered the basis of all syrups.

Capillaire.—(No. 476.)

To a pint of clarified syrup add a wine-glass of Curaçoa ([No. 474]); or dissolve a drachm of oil of Neroli in two ounces of rectified spirit, and add a few drops of it to clarified syrup.

Lemonade in a Minute.—(No. 477.)

Pound a quarter of an ounce (avoirdupois) of citric, i. e. crystallized lemon acid,[297-*] with a few drops of quintessence of lemon-peel ([No. 408]), and mix it by degrees with a pint of clarified syrup ([No. 475]), or capillaire.

For superlative syrup of lemons, see [No. 391].

Obs.—The proportion of acid to the syrup, was that selected (from several specimens) by the committee of taste. We advise those who are disposed to verify our receipt, to mix only three quarters of a pint of syrup first, and add the other quarter if they find it too acid.

If you have none of [No. 408], flavour your syrup with thin-cut lemon-peel, or use syrup of lemon-peel ([No. 393]).

A table-spoonful of this in a pint of water will immediately produce a very agreeable sherbet; the addition of rum or brandy will convert this into

Punch directly.—(No. 478.)

Shrub, or Essence of Punch.—(No. 479.)

Brandy or rum, flavoured with [No. 477], will give you very good extempore “essence of punch.”

Obs.—The addition of a quart of Sherry or Madeira makes “punch royal;” if, instead of wine, the above quantity of water be added, it will make “punch for chambermaids,” according to Salmon’s Cookery, 8vo. London, 1710. See page 405; and No. 268 in Nott’s Cook’s Dictionary, 8vo. 1724.

White, Red, or Black Currant, Grape, Raspberry, &c. Jelly.[298-*]—(No. 479*.)

Are all made precisely in the same manner. When the fruit is full ripe, gather it on a dry day: as soon as it is nicely picked, put it into a jar, and cover it down very close.

Set the jar in a saucepan about three parts filled with cold water; put it on a gentle fire, and let it simmer for about half an hour. Take the pan from the fire, and pour the contents of the jar into a jelly-bag: pass the juice through a second time; do not squeeze the bag.

To each pint of juice add a pound and a half of very good lump sugar pounded; when it is dissolved, put it into a preserving-pan; set it on the fire, and boil gently; stirring and skimming it the whole time (about thirty or forty minutes), i. e. till no more scum rises, and it is perfectly clear and fine: pour it while warm into pots; and when cold, cover them with paper wetted in brandy.

Half a pint of this jelly, dissolved in a pint of brandy or vinegar, will give you excellent currant or raspberry brandy or vinegar. To make sweet sauce, see [No. 346].

Obs.—Jellies from other fruits are made in the same way, and cannot be preserved in perfection without plenty of good sugar.

Those who wish jelly to turn out very stiff, dissolve isinglass in a little water, strain through a sieve, and add it in the proportion of half an ounce to a pint of juice, and put it in with the sugar.

The best way is the cheapest. Jellies made with too small a proportion of sugar, require boiling so long; there is much more waste of juice and flavour by evaporation than the due quantity of sugar costs; and they neither look nor taste half so delicate, as when made with a proper proportion of sugar, and moderate boiling.

Mock Arrack.—(No. 480.)

Dissolve two scruples of flowers of benjamin in a quart of good rum, and it will immediately impart to it the inviting fragrance of “Vauxhall nectar.”

Calves’-Feet Jelly.—(No. 481.)

Take four calves’ feet (not those which are sold at tripe-shops, which have been boiled till almost all the gelatine is extracted; but buy them at the butcher’s), slit them in two, take away the fat from between the claws, wash them well in lukewarm water; then put them in a large stew-pan, and cover them with water: when the liquor boils, skim it well, and let it boil gently six or seven hours, that it may be reduced to about two quarts; then strain it through a sieve, and skim off all the oily substance which is on the surface of the liquor.

If you are not in a hurry, it is better to boil the calves’ feet the day before you make the jelly; as when the liquor is cold, the oily part being at the top, and the other being firm, with pieces of kitchen paper applied to it, you may remove every particle of the oily substance, without wasting any of the liquor.

Put the liquor in a stew-pan to melt, with a pound of lump sugar, the peel of two lemons, the juice of six, six whites and shells of eggs beat together, and a bottle of sherry or Madeira; whisk the whole together until it is on the boil; then put it by the side of the stove, and let it simmer a quarter of an hour; strain it through a jelly-bag: what is strained first must be poured into the bag again, until it is as bright and as clear as rock-water; then put the jelly in moulds, to be cold and firm: if the weather is too warm, it requires some ice.

Obs.—When it is wished to be very stiff, half an ounce of isinglass may be added when the wine is put in.

It may be flavoured by the juice of various fruits, and spices, &c. and coloured with saffron, cochineal, red beet juice, spinage juice, claret, &c.; and it is sometimes made with cherry brandy, or noyeau rouge, or Curaçoa ([No. 474]), or essence of punch ([No. 479]), instead of wine.

N.B. Ten shank bones of mutton, which may be bought for 2 1/2d., will give as much jelly as a calf’s foot, which costs a shilling. See pages [225], [226] of this work.

[228-*] This may be easily accomplished by the aid of that whip and spur, which students of long standing in the school of good living are generally so fond of enlivening their palates with, i. e. Cayenne and garlic.

Parsley ([No. 261]), chervil ([No. 264]), celery ([No. 289]), cress ([No. 397*]), tarragon ([No. 396]), burnet ([No. 399]), basil ([No. 397]), eschalot (Nos. [295] and [403]), caper (Nos. [274] and [295]), fennel ([No. 265]), liver (Nos. [287] and [288]), curry (Nos. [348] and [455]), egg, ([No. 267],) mushroom ([No. 403]), anchovy (Nos. [270] and [433]), ragoût (Nos. [421] and [457]), shrimp ([No. 283]), bonne bouche ([No. 341],) superlative ([No. 429]), and various flavouring essences. See from [No. 396] to [463].

Any of the above vegetables, &c. may be minced very finely, and sent to table on a little plate, and those who like their flavour may mix them with melted butter, &c. This is a hint for economists, which will save them many pounds of butter, &c. See [Mem.] to [No. 256].

[228-†] A silver saucepan is infinitely the best: you may have one big enough to melt butter for a moderate family, for four or five pounds.

[234-*] Oysters which come to the New-York market, are too large and fine to be mangled according to this receipt. They are generally cooked by being fried or stewed. When they are intended to be kept a length of time, they are pickled in vinegar, with spices. A.

[236-*] You must have a hen lobster, on account of the live spawn. Some fishmongers have a cruel custom of tearing this from the fish before they are boiled. Lift up the tail of the lobster, and see that it has not been robbed of its eggs: the goodness of your sauce depends upon its having a full share of the spawn in it, to which it owes not merely its brilliant red colour, but the finest part of its flavour.

[238-*] So much depends upon the age of the celery, that we cannot give any precise time for this, young, fresh-gathered celery will be done enough in three-quarters of an hour; old will sometimes take twice as long.

[240-*] If you wish to have them very mild, cut them in quarters, boil them for five minutes in plenty of water, and then drain them, and cook them in fresh water.

[244-*] Composer and Director of the Music of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and the Italian Opera.

[246-*] “By the best accounts I can find, soy is a preparation from the seeds of a species of the Dolichos, prepared by a fermentation of the farina of this seed in a strong lixivium of common salt.”—Cullen’s Mat. Med. vol. i. p. 430.

[250-*] One of “les bonnes hommes de bouche de France” orders the following addition for game gravy:—“For a pint, par-roast a partridge or a pigeon; cut off the meat of it, pound it in a mortar, and put it into the stew-pan when you thicken the sauce.” We do not recommend either soup or sauce to be thickened, because it requires (to give it the same quickness on the palate it had before it was thickened) double the quantity of piquante materials; which are thus smuggled down the red lane, without affording any amusement to the mouth, and at the risk of highly offending the stomach.

[251-*] To this some add a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), and instead of the salt-spoonful of salt, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy ([No. 433]). If the above articles are rubbed together in a mortar, and put into a close-stopped bottle, they will keep for some time.

[251-†] Thus far the above is from Dr. Hunter’s “Culina,” who says it is a secret worth knowing: we agree with him, and so tell it here, with a little addition, which we think renders it a still more gratifying communication.

[252-*] See Basil Wine ([No. 397]).

[260-*] These are sold at the glass-shops under the name of INCORPORATORS: we recommend the sauce to be mixed in these, and the company can then take it or leave it, as they like.

[263-*] If you have no suet, the best substitute for it is about one-third part the quantity of butter.

[267-*] A baine-marie. See [note] to [No. 485].

[275-*] The fragrant aroma of ginger is so extremely volatile, that it evaporates almost as soon as it is powdered; and the fine lemon-peel goût flies off presently.

[275-†] Tinctures are much finer flavoured than essences.

[277-*] For the season, &c. when these herbs, &c. come in perfection, and how to dry them, see [No. 461].

[278-*] We hope this title will not offend those who may quote against it the old adage, “that good appetite is the best sauce.”—Allowing this to be generally true (which is a more candid confession than could be expected from a cook), we dare say, the majority of our readers will vote with us, that there are many good things (fish especially) that would be rather insipid without a little sauce of another kind.

“Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth,
With such a full and unwithdrawing hand,
Covering the earth with odours, fruits, and flocks,
Thronging the sea with spawn innumerable;
But all to please and sate the curious taste?”
Milton.

[280-*] “Several samples which we examined of this fish sauce, have been found contaminated with lead.”—See Accum on Adulteration, page 328.

[280-†] They may do very well for common palates; but to imitate the fine flavour of the Gorgona fish, so as to impose upon a well-educated gourmand, still remains in the catalogue of the sauce-maker’s desiderata.

[280-‡] The economist may take the thick remains that wont pass through the sieve, and pound it with some flour, and make anchovy paste, or powder. See Nos. [434] and [435].

[281-*] Epicure Quin used to say, “Of all the banns of marriage I ever heard, none gave me half such pleasure as the union of delicate Ann-chovy with good John-dory.”

[281-†]

“Rust in anchovies, if I’m not mistaken,
Is as bad as rust in steel, or rust in bacon.”
Young’s Epicure, page 14.

[281-‡] If you are not contented with the natural colour, break some lobsters’ eggs into it, and you will not only heighten the complexion of your sauce, but improve its flavour. This is the only rouge we can recommend. See [note] to [No. 284].

[283-*] “The mushrooms employed for preparing ready-made catchup, are generally those which are in a putrefactive state. In a few days after those fungi have been gathered, they become the habitations of myriads of insects.”—Accum on Culinary Poisons, 12mo. 1820, p. 350.

[284-*] The squeezings are the perquisite of the cook, to make sauce for the second table: do not deprive her of it; it is the most profitable save-all you can give her, and will enable her to make up a good family dinner, with what would otherwise be wasted. After the mushrooms have been squeezed, dry them in the Dutch oven, and make mushroom powder.

[286-*] “Potatoes, in whatever condition, whether spoiled by frost, germination, &c., provided they are raw, constantly afford starch, differing only in quality, the round gray ones the most; a pound producing about two ounces.”—Parmentier on Nutritive Vegetables, 8vo. p. 31.

“100lb. of potatoes yield 10lb. of starch.”—S. Gray’s Supplement to the Pharmacopœia, 8vo. 1821, p. 198.

[288-*] If you like the flavour, and do not dislike the expense, instead of allspice, put in mace and cloves. The above is very similar to the powder-fort used in King Richard the Second’s kitchen, A. D. 1390. See “Pegge Forme of Cury” p. xxx.

[288-†] The back part of these ovens is so much hotter than that which is next the fire, that to dry things equally, their situation must be frequently changed, or those at the back of the oven will be done too much, before those in the front are done enough.

[291-*] This is sadly neglected by those who dry herbs for sale. If you buy them ready dried, before you pound them, cleanse them from dirt and dust by stripping the leaves from the stalks, and rub them between your hands over a hair-sieve; put them into the sieve, and shake them well, and the dust will go through.

[291-†] The common custom is to put them into paper bags, and lay them on a shelf in the kitchen, exposed to all the fumes, steam, and smoke, &c.: thus they soon lose their flavour.

[291-‡] A delicious herb, that deserves to be better known.

[292-*] If the bottles are square, and marked to quarter ounces, as Lyne’s graduated measures are, it will save trouble in compounding.

[294-*] “Borrage is one of the four cordial flowers;” it comforts the heart, cheers melancholy, and revives the fainting spirits, says Salmon, in the 45th page of his “Household Companion” London, 1710. And Evelyn, in page 13 of his Acetaria, says, “The sprigs in wine are of known virtue to revive the hypochondriac, and cheer the hard student.”—Combined with the ingredients in the above receipt, we have frequently observed it produce all the cardiac and exhilarating effects ascribed to it.

[297-*] Tartaric is only half the price of citric acid; but it is very inferior in flavour, &c.; and those who prepare this syrup for home consumption, will always use the citric.

[298-*] The native blackberry of this country makes a very fine jelly, and is medicinal in bowel complaints of children. A.

---

MADE DISHES, &C.

Receipts for economical Made Dishes, written for the Cook’s Oracle, by an accomplished English Lady.—(No. 483.)

These experiments have arisen from my aversion to cold meat, and my preference for what are termed French dishes; with which, by a certain management, I think I can furnish my table at far less expense than is generally incurred in getting up a plain dinner.

Gravy or soup meats I never buy; and yet am seldom without a good provision of what is technically denominated stock.

When, as it frequently happens, we have ham dressed; if the joint be above the weight of seven pounds, I have it cut in half, and prepared in the following manner: first, ensure that it has been properly soaked, scraped, and cleaned to a nicety; then put it into an earthen vessel, as near its own size as possible, with just as much water as will cover it; to which add four onions, a clove of garlic, half a dozen eschalots, a bay-leaf, a bunch of sweet herbs, half a dozen cloves, a few peppercorns and allspice: this should be well closed, and kept simmering about three hours. It is then served with raspings or with glazing, the rind having first been taken off neatly. The liquor is strained, and kept till poultry of any sort, or meat, is boiled; when the liquor in which they have been dressed should be added to it, and boiled down fast till reduced to about three pints; when cold, it will be a highly flavoured, well-coloured jelly,[300-*] and ready for sauce for all kinds of ragoûts and hashes, &c. &c.

A fillet of veal I divide into three parts; the meat before it is skewered, will of itself indicate where the partition is natural, and will pull asunder as you would quarter an orange; the largest piece should be stuffed with [No. 374] or [No. 375], and rolled up, compactly skewered, &c., and makes a very pretty small fillet: the square flat piece will either cut into cutlets ([No. 90], or [No. 521]), or slice for a pie; and the thick piece must be well larded and dressed as a fricandeau; which I do in the following-manner: put the larded veal into a stew-pan just big enough to contain it, with as much water as will cover it; when it has simmered till delicately white, and so tender as to be cut with a spoon, it must be taken out of the water and set apart; and it will be ready to serve up either with sorrel, tomata, mushrooms ([No. 305], or [No. 439]), or some of the above-mentioned stock, the fricandeau being previously coloured with glazing; if with mushrooms, they should be first parboiled in salt and vinegar, and water, which gives them flavour, and keeps them of a good colour.

The sirloin of beef I likewise divide into three parts; I first have it nicely boned.

The under part, or fillet, as the French call it, will dress (when cut into slices) excellently, either as plain steaks ([No. 94]), curry ([No. 197]), or it may be larded whole, and gently stewed in two quarts of water (a bay-leaf, two onions, their skins roasted brown, four cloves, allspice, &c. &c.) till tender, when it should be taken out, drained quite dry, and put away; it is then ready to be used at any time in the following manner: season and dredge it well, then put it into a stewpan in which a piece of butter has been previously fried to a fine froth; when the meat is sufficiently brown, take it out, and throw into the pan half a dozen middle-sized onions, to do a fine gold colour; that accomplished, (during which the dredger should be in constant use,) add half a pint of stock, and a tea-spoonful of tarragon vinegar ([No. 396]), and let the onions stew gently till nearly tender: the beef should then be returned to the stew-pan, and the whole suffered to simmer till the meat is warm through: care must be taken that the onions do not break, and they should be served round the beef with as much sauce as will look graceful in the dish. The fillet is likewise very good without the fried onions; in that case you should chop and mix up together an eschalot, some parsley, a few capers, and the yelk of a hard egg, and strew them lightly over the surface of the beef.

The fat end of the sirloin and bones should be put to simmer in the liquor in which the fillet was first stewed, and done till the beef looks loose; it should then be put away into a deep vessel, and the soup strained over it, which cooling with the fat upon the top (thereby excluding the air), will keep as long as may be required: when the soup is to be used, the fat must be cleared from it; a carrot, parsnip, a head of celery, a leek, and three turnips, cleaned and scalded, should be added to it, and the whole suffered to simmer gently till the vegetables are quite done, when they must be strained from the liquor, and the soup served up with large square thick pieces of toasted bread.

Those who like a plain bouilli warm the beef in the soup, and serve it up with the turnips and carrots which had been strained before from the soup. A white cabbage quartered is no bad addition to the garnish of the bouilli, or to the flavour of the soup. If it is a dressed bouilli, sliced carrots and button onions should be stewed in thickened stock, and poured over the meat.

A neck of mutton boned, sprinkled with dried sage, powdered fine, or ([No. 378]) seasoned, rolled, and roasted, is very good. The bones and scrag make excellent gravy stewed down, and if done very gently, the meat is not bad eating. The same herbs should be put to it as to other stocks, with the addition of a carrot; this will make very good mutton broth. In short, wherever there are bones or trimmings to be got out of any meat that is dressed in my kitchen, they are made to contribute towards soup or gravy, or [No. 252].

Instead of roasting a hare, (which at best is but dry food), stew it, if young, plain; if an old one, lard it. The shoulders and legs should be taken off, and the back cut into three pieces; these, with a bay-leaf, half a dozen eschalots, one onion pierced with four cloves, should be laid with as much good vinegar as will cover them, for twenty-four hours, in a deep dish. In the mean time, the head, neck, ribs, liver, heart, &c. &c. should be browned in frothed butter well seasoned; add half a pound of lean bacon, cut into small pieces, a large bunch of herbs, a carrot, and a few allspice; simmer these in a quart of water till it be reduced to about half the quantity, when it should be strained, and those parts of the hare which have been infused in the vinegar, should (with the whole contents of the dish) be added to it, and stewed till quite done. Those who like onions may brown half a dozen, stew them in a part of the gravy, and dish them round the hare.

When it comes from the table, supposing some to be left, the meat should be taken from the bones, and with a few forcemeat balls, the remains of the gravy, about a quarter of a pint of red wine, and a proportionable quantity of water, it will make a very pretty soup; to those who have no objection to catchup ([No. 439],) a spoonful in the original gravy is an improvement, as indeed it is in every made dish, where the mushroom itself is not at command.

Every ragoût, in my opinion, should be dressed the day before it is wanted, that any fat which has escaped the skimming spoon, may with ease be taken off when cold.

Calf’s head.—Take the half of one, with the skin on; put it into a large stew-pan, with, as much water as will cover it, a knuckle of ham, and the usual accompaniments of onions, herbs, &c. &c., and let it simmer till the flesh may be separated from the bone with a spoon; do so, and while still hot, cut it into as large a sized square as the piece will admit of; the trimmings and half the liquor put by in a tureen; to the remaining half add a gill of white wine, and reduce the whole of that by quick boiling till it is again half consumed, when it should be poured over the large square piece in an earthen vessel, surrounded with mushrooms, white button onions, small pieces of pickled pork, half an inch in breadth, and one and a half in length, and the tongue in slices, and simmered till the whole is fit to serve up; some browned forcemeat balls are a pretty addition. After this comes from the table, the remains should be cut into small pieces, and mixed up with the trimmings and liquor, which (with a little more wine), properly thickened, will make a very good mock turtle soup for a future occasion.

To hash Mutton, &c.—(No. 484.)

Cut the meat into slices, about the thickness of two shillings, trim off all the sinews, skin, gristle, &c.; put in nothing but what is to be eaten, lay them on a plate, ready; prepare your sauce to warm it in, as receipt ([No. 360], or [No. 451], or [No. 486]), put in the meat, and let it simmer gently till it is thoroughly warm: do not let it boil, as that will make the meat tough and hard,[303-*] and it will be, as Joan Cromwell[303-†] has it, a harsh.

Obs.—Select for your hash those parts of the joint that are least done.

Mem.—Hashing is a mode of cookery by no means suited to delicate stomachs: unless the meat, &c. be considerably under-done the first time, a second dressing must spoil it, for what is done enough the first time, must be done too much the second.

To warm Hashes,[304-*] Made Dishes, Stews, Ragoûts, Soups, &c.—(No. 485.)

Put what you have left into a deep hash-dish or tureen; when you want it, set this in a stew-pan of boiling water: let it stand till the contents are quite warm.

To hash Beef, &c.—(No. 486.)

Put a pint and a half of broth, or water, with an ounce of [No. 252], or a large table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, into a stew-pan with the gravy you have saved that was left from the beef, and put in a quarter ounce of onion sliced very fine, and boil it about ten minutes; put a large table-spoonful of flour into a basin, just wet it with a little water, mix it well together, and then stir it into the broth, and give it a boil for five or ten minutes; rub it through a sieve, and it is ready to receive the beef, &c.; let it stand by the side of the fire till the meat is warm.

N.B. A tea-spoonful of parsley chopped as fine as possible and put in five minutes before it is served up, is a great addition; others like half a wine-glass of port wine, and a dessert-spoonful of currant jelly.

See also [No. 360], which will show you every variety of manner of making and flavouring the most highly finished hash sauce, and Nos. [484], [485], and [506].

Cold Meat broiled, with Poached Eggs.—(No. 487.)

The inside of a sirloin of beef is best for this dish, or a leg of mutton. Cut the slices of even and equal thickness, and broil and brown them carefully and slightly over a clear smart fire, or in a Dutch oven; give those slices most fire that are least done; lay them in a dish before the fire to keep hot, while you poach the eggs, as directed in [No. 546], and mashed potatoes ([No. 106]).

Obs.—This makes a savoury luncheon or supper, but is more relishing than nourishing, unless the meat was under-done the first time it was dressed.

[No. 307] for sauce, to which some add a few drops of eschalot wine or vinegar. See [No. 402], or [No. 439], or [No. 359], warmed; or Grill Sauce ([No. 355].)

Mrs. Phillips’s Irish Stew.—(No. 488.)

Take five thick mutton chops, or two pounds off the neck or loin; two pounds of potatoes; peel them, and cut them in halves; six onions, or half a pound of onions; peel and slice them also: first put a layer of potatoes at the bottom of your stew-pan, then a couple of chops and some of the onions; then again potatoes, and so on, till the pan is quite full; a small spoonful of white pepper, and about one and a half of salt, and three gills of broth or gravy, and two tea-spoonfuls of mushroom catchup; cover all very close in, so as to prevent the steam from getting out, and let them stew for an hour and a half on a very slow fire. A small slice of ham is a great addition to this dish. The cook will be the best judge when it is done, as a great deal depends on the fire you have.

N.B. Great care must be taken not to let it burn, and that it does not do too fast.

To make an Irish Stew, or Hunter’s Pie.

Take part of a neck of mutton, cut it into chops, season it well, put it into a stew-pan, let it brase for half an hour, take two dozen of potatoes, boil them, mash them, and season them, butter your mould, and line it with the potatoes, put in the mutton, bake it for half an hour, then it will be done, cut a hole in the top, and add some good gravy to it.

N.B. The above is the contribution of Mr. Morrison, of the Leinster hotel, Dublin.

A good Scotch Haggis.—(No. 488*.)

Make the haggis-bag perfectly clean; parboil the draught; boil the liver very well, so as it will grate; dry the meal before the fire; mince the draught and a pretty large piece of beef very small; grate about half of the liver; mince plenty of the suet and some onions small; mix all these materials very well together, with a handful or two of the dried meal; spread them on the table, and season them properly with salt and mixed spices; take any of the scraps of beef that are left from mincing, and some of the water that boiled the draught, and make about a choppin (i. e. a quart) of good stock of it; then put all the haggis meat into the bag, and that broth in it; then sew up the bag; but be sure to put out all the wind before you sew it quite close. If you think the bag is thin, you may put it in a cloth. If it is a large haggis, it will take at least two hours boiling.

N.B. The above we copied verbatim from Mrs. Maciver. a celebrated Caledonian professor of the culinary art, who taught, and published a book of cookery, at Edinburgh, A. D. 1787.

Minced Collops.

“This is a favourite Scotch dish; few families are without it: it keeps well, and is always ready to make an extra dish.

“Take beef, and chop and mince it very small; to which add some salt and pepper. Put this, in its raw state, into small jars, and pour on the top some clarified butter. When intended for use, put the clarified butter into a frying-pan, and slice some onions into the pan, and fry them. Add a little water to it, and then put in the minced meat. Stew it well, and in a few minutes it will be fit to serve up.”—The Hon. John Cochrane’s Seaman’s Guide, 8vo. 1797, page 42.

Haricot[306-*] Mutton.—(No. 489.)

Cut the best end of a neck or loin of mutton, that has been kept till tender, into chops of equal thickness, one rib to each (“les bons hommes de bouche de Paris” cut two chops to one bone, but it is more convenient to help when there is only one; two at a time is too large a dose for John Bull), trim off some of the fat, and the lower end of the chine bone, and scrape it clean, and lay them in a stew-pan, with an ounce of butter; set it over a smart fire; if your fire is not sharp, the chops will be done before they are coloured: the intention of frying them is merely to give them a very light browning.

While the chops are browning, peel and boil a couple of dozen of young button onions in about three pints of water for about fifteen or twenty minutes, set them by, and pour off the liquor they were boiled in into the stew-pan with the chops: if that is not sufficient to cover them, add as much boiling water as will; remove the scum as it rises, and be careful they are not stewed too fast or too much; so take out one of them with a fish-slice, and try it: when they are tender, which will be in about an hour and a half, then pass the gravy through a sieve into a basin, set it in the open air that it may get cold, you may then easily and completely skim off the fat; in the mean time set the meat and vegetables by the fire to keep hot, and pour some boiling water over the button onions to warm them. Have about six ounces of carrots, and eight ounces of turnips, peeled and cut into slices, or shaped into balls about as big as a nutmeg; boil the carrots about half an hour, the turnips about a quarter of an hour, and put them on a sieve to drain, and then put them round the dish, the last thing.

Thicken the gravy by putting an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in as much flour as will stiffen it; pour the gravy to it by degrees, stir together till it boils; strain it through a fine sieve or tamis into a stew-pan, put in the carrots and turnips to get warm, and let it simmer gently while you dish up the meat; lay the chops round a dish; put the vegetables in the middle, and pour the thickened gravy over. Some put in capers, &c. minced gherkins, &c.

Obs.—Rump-steaks, veal-cutlets, and beef-tails, make excellent dishes dressed in the like manner.

Mutton-Chops delicately stewed, and good Mutton Broth,—(No. 490.)

Put the chops into a stew-pan with cold water enough to cover them, and an onion: when it is coming to a boil, skim it, cover the pan close, and set it over a very slow fire till the chops are tender: if they have been kept a proper time, they will take about three quarters of an hour’s very gentle simmering. Send up turnips with them ([No. 130]); they may be boiled with the chops; skim well, and then send all up in a deep dish, with the broth they were stewed in.

N. B. The broth will make an economist one, and the meat another, wholesome and comfortable meal.

Shoulder of Lamb grilled.—(No. 491.)

Boil it; score it in checkers about an inch square, rub it over with the yelk of an egg, pepper and salt it, strew it with bread-crumbs and dried parsley, or sweet herbs, or [No. 457], or [No. 459], and Carbonado, i. e. grill, i. e. broil it over a clear fire, or put it in a Dutch oven till it is a nice light brown; send up some gravy with it, or make a sauce for it of flour and water well mixed together with an ounce of fresh butter, a table-spoonful of mushroom or walnut catchup, and the juice of half a lemon. See also grill sauce ([No. 355]).

N.B. Breasts of lamb are often done in the same way, and with mushroom or mutton sauce ([No. 307]).

Lamb’s Fry.—(No. 492.)

Fry it plain, or dip it in an egg well beaten on a plate, and strew some fine stale bread-crumbs over it; garnish with crisp parsley ([No. 389]). For sauce, [No. 355], or [No. 356].

Shin of Beef[308-*] stewed.—(No. 493.)

Desire the butcher to saw the bone into three or four pieces, put it into a stew-pan, and just cover it with cold water; when it simmers, skim it clean; then put in a bundle of sweet herbs, a large onion, a head of celery, a dozen berries of black pepper, and the same of allspice: stew very gently over a slow fire till the meat is tender; this will take from about three hours and a half, to four and a half.

Take three carrots, peel and cut them into small squares; peel and cut ready in small squares a couple of turnips, with a couple of dozen of small young round silver button onions; boil them, till tender; the turnips and onions will be enough in about fifteen minutes; the carrots will require about twice as long: drain them dry.

When the beef is quite tender, take it out carefully with a slice, and put it on a dish while you thicken a pint and a half of the gravy: to do this, mix three table-spoonfuls of flour with a tea-cupful of the beef liquor; to make soup of the rest of it, see [No. 238]; stir this thoroughly together till it boils, skim off the fat, strain it through a sieve, and put your vegetables in to warm; season with pepper, salt, and a wine-glass of mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), or port wine, or both, and pour it over the beef.

Send up Wow-wow sauce ([No. 328]) in a boat.

N.B. Or, instead of sending up the beef whole, cut the meat into handsome pieces fit to help at table, and lay it in the middle of the dish, with the vegetables and sauce (which, if you flavour with [No. 455], you may call “beef curry”) round it. A leg of mutton is excellent dressed in the same way; equal to “le gigot de sept heures,” so famous in the French kitchen.

Obs.—This stew has every claim to the attention of the rational epicure, being one of those in which “frugality,” “nourishment,” and “palatableness,” are most happily combined; and you get half a gallon of excellent broth into the bargain.

We advise the mistress of the table to call it “ragoût beef:” this will ensure its being eaten with unanimous applause; the homely appellation of “shin of beef stewed,” is enough to give your genteel eater the locked jaw.

“Remember, when the judgment’s weak, the prejudice is strong.”

Our modern epicures resemble the ancient,[309-*] who thought the dearest dish must be the most delicious:

——“And think all wisdom lies
In being impertinently nice.”

Thus, they reckon turtle and punch to be “sheventy-foive per shent” more inviting than mock turtle and good malt liquor: however bad the former may be, and however good the latter, we wish these folks could be made to understand, that the soup for each, and all the accompaniments, are precisely the same: there is this only difference, the former is commonly made with a “starved turtle” (see [Notes] at the foot of [page 220]), the latter with a “fatted calf.” See Nos. [247], [343], and [343*].

The scarcity of tolerably good cooks ceases to be surprising, when we reflect how much more astonishing is the ignorance of most of those who assume the character of scientific gourmands,[309-†] so extremely ignorant of “the affairs of the mouth,” they seem hardly to “know a sheep’s head from a carrot;” and their real pretensions to be profound palaticians, are as moderate as the wine-merchant’s customer, whose sagacity in the selection of liquors was only so exquisite, that he knew that Port wine was black, and that if he drank enough of it, it would make him drunk.

Brisket of Beef stewed.—(No. 494.)

This is prepared in exactly the same way as “soup and bouilli.” See Nos. [5], [238], or [493].

Haricot of Beef.—(No. 495.)

A stewed brisket cut in slices, and sent up with the same sauce of roots, &c., as we have directed for haricot of mutton ([No. 489]), is a most excellent dish, of very moderate expense.

Savoury Salt Beef baked.—(No. 496.)

The tongue side of a round of beef is the best bit for this purpose: if it weighs fifteen pounds, let it hang two or three days; then take three ounces of saltpetre, one ounce of coarse sugar, a quarter of an ounce of black pepper, and the same of allspice (some add a quarter of an ounce of ginger, or [No. 457]), and some minced sweet and savoury herbs ([No. 459]), and three quarters of a pound of common salt; incorporate these ingredients by pounding them together in a mortar; then take the bone out, and rub the meat well with the above mixture, turning it and rubbing it every day for a fortnight.

When you dress it, put it into a pan with a quart of water; cover the meat with about three pounds of mutton suet[310-*] shredded rather thick, and an onion or two minced small; cover the whole with a flour crust to the top or brim of the pan, and let it be baked in a moderate-heated oven for about six hours: (or, just cover it with water, and let it stew very gently for about five hours, and when you send it to table, cover the top of it with finely chopped parsley.) If the beef weighs more, put a proportional addition of all the ingredients.

The gravy you will find a strong consommé, excellent for sauce or soup; or making soy, or browning, see [No. 322], and being impregnated with salt, will keep several days.

This joint should not be cut till it is cold: and then, with a sharp knife, to prevent waste, and keep it even and comely to the eye.

Obs.—This is a most excellent way of preparing and dressing beef ([No. 503]), and a savoury dish for sandwiches, &c. In moderate weather it will keep good for a fortnight after it is dressed: it is one of the most economical and elegant articles of ready-dressed keeping provisions; deserving the particular attention of those families who frequently have accidental customers dropping in at luncheon or supper.

Curries.—(No. 497; see also [No. 249].)

Cut fowls or rabbits into joints, and wash them clean: put two ounces of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, put in the meat, and two middling-sized onions sliced, let them be over a smart fire till they are of a light brown, then put in half a pint of broth; let it simmer twenty minutes.

Put in a basin one or two table-spoonfuls of curry powder ([No. 455]), a tea-spoonful of flour, and a tea-spoonful of salt; mix it smooth with a little cold water, put it into the stew-pan, and shake it well about till it boils: let it simmer twenty minutes longer; then take out the meat, and rub the sauce through a tamis or sieve: add to it two table spoonfuls of cream or milk; give it a boil up; then pour it into a dish, lay the meat over it: send up the rice in a separate dish.

Obs.—Curry is made also with sweetbreads, breast of veal, veal cutlets, lamb, mutton or pork chops, lobster, turbot, soles, eels, oysters, &c.: prepared as above, or enveloped in [No. 348].

Obs.—This is a very savoury and economical dish, and a valuable variety at a moderate table. See Wow-wow sauce ([No. 328]).

Stewed Rump-Steaks.—(No. 500.)

The steaks must be a little thicker than for broiling: let them be all the same thickness, or some will be done too little, and others too much.

Put an ounce of butter into a stew-pan, with two onions; when the butter is melted, lay in the rump-steaks, let them stand over a slow fire for five minutes, then turn them and let the other side of them fry for five minutes longer. Have ready boiled a pint of button onions; they will take from half an hour to an hour; put the liquor they were boiled in to the steaks; if there is not enough of it to cover them, add broth or boiling water, to make up enough for that purpose, with a dozen corns of black pepper, and a little salt, and let them simmer very gently for about an hour and a half, and then strain off as much of the liquor (about a pint and a half) as you think will make the sauce.

Put two ounces of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in as much flour as will make it into a stiff paste; some add thereto a table-spoonful of claret, or Port wine, the same of mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), half a tea-spoonful of salt, and a quarter of a tea-spoonful of ground black pepper: add the liquor by degrees; let it boil up for fifteen minutes; skim it, and strain it; serve up the steaks with the onions round the dish, and pour the gravy over.

Veal-cutlets or mutton-chops may be done the same way, or as veal-olives ([No. 518]).

This is generally a second-course dish, and is usually made too rich, and only fit to re-excite an appetite already satiated. Our endeavour is to combine agreeable savouriness with substantial nourishment; those who wish to enrich our receipt, may easily add mushrooms, wine, anchovy, Cayenne, bay-leaves, &c.

Obs. Rump-steaks are in best condition from Michaelmas to lady-day. To ensure their being tender, give the butcher three or four days’ notice of your wish for them.

Broiled Rump-Steak with Onion Gravy.—(No. 501.) See also [No. 299].

Peel and slice two large onions, put them into a quart stew-pan, with two table-spoonfuls of water; cover the stew-pan close, and set it on a slow fire till the water has boiled away, and the onions have got a little browned; then add half a pint of good broth,[312-*] and boil the onions till they are tender; strain the broth from them, and chop them very fine, and season it with mushroom catchup, pepper, and salt: put the onion into it, and let it boil gently for five minutes; pour it into the dish, and lay over it a broiled rump-steak. If instead of broth you use good beef gravy, it will be superlative.

^*_*^* Stewed cucumber ([No. 135]) is another agreeable accompaniment to rump-steaks.

Alamode Beef, or Veal.—(No. 502.)

In the 180 volumes on Cookery, we patiently pioneered through, before we encountered the tremendous labour and expense of proving the receipts of our predecessors, and set about recording these results of our own experiments, we could not find one receipt that approximated to any thing like an accurate description of the way in which this excellent dish is actually dressed in the best alamode beef shops; from whence, of course, it was impossible to obtain any information: however, after all, the whole of the secret seems to be the thickening of the gravy of beef that has been very slowly[313-*] stewed, and flavouring it with bay-leaves and allspice.

Take about eleven pounds of the mouse buttock, or clod of beef, or a blade-bone, or the sticking-piece, or the like weight of the breast of veal; cut it into pieces of three or four ounces each; put three or four ounces of beef drippings, and mince a couple of large onions, and put them into a large deep stew-pan; as soon as it is quite hot, flour the meat, put it into the stew-pan, keep stirring it with a wooden spoon; when it has been on about ten minutes, dredge it with flour, and keep doing so till you have stirred in as much as you think will thicken it; then cover it with boiling water (it will take about a gallon), adding it by degrees, and stirring it together; skim it when it boils, and then put in one drachm of ground black pepper, two of allspice, and two bay-leaves; set the pan by the side of the fire, or at a distance over it, and let it stew very slowly for about three hours; when you find the meat sufficiently tender, put it into a tureen, and it is ready for table.

It is customary to send up with it a nice salad; see [No. 372].

^*_*^* To the above many cooks add champignons; but as these are almost always decayed, and often of deleterious quality, they are better left out, and indeed the bay-leaves deserve the same prohibition.

Obs. Here is a savoury and substantial meal, almost as cheap as the egg-broth of the miser, who fed his valet with the water in which his egg was boiled, or as the “Potage à la Pierre, à la Soldat,”[313-†] mentioned by Giles Rose, in the 4th page of his dedication of the “perfect school of instruction for the officers of the mouth,” 18mo. London, 1682. “Two soldiers were minded to have a soup; the first of them coming into a house, and asking for all things necessary for the making of one, was as soon told that he could have none of those things there, whereupon he went away; the other, coming in with a stone in his knapsack, asked only for a pot to boil his stone in, that he might make a dish of broth of it for his supper, which was quickly granted him; when the stone had boiled a little while, he asked for a small piece of meat or bacon, and a few herbs and roots, &c. just merely to give it a bit of a flavour; till, by little and little, he got all things requisite, and so made an excellent pottage of his stone.” See [Obs.] to [No. 493].

	s.	d.
Onions, pepper, allspice, and bay-leaves	0	3
11 pounds of beef	3	8
Made eight quarts	3	11

i. e. sixpence per quart.

To pot Beef, Veal, Game, or Poultry, &c.—(No. 503.)

Take three pounds of lean gravy beef, rub it well with an ounce of saltpetre, and then a handful of common salt; let it lie in salt for a couple of days, rubbing it well each day; then put it into an earthen pan or stone jar that will just hold it; cover it with the skin and fat that you cut off, and pour in half a pint of water; cover it close with paste, and set it in a very slow oven for about four hours; or prepare it as directed in [No. 496].

When it comes from the oven, drain the gravy from it into a basin; pick out the gristles and the skins; mince it fine; moisten it with a little of the gravy you poured from the meat, which is a very strong consommé (but rather salt), and it will make excellent pease soup, or browning (see [No. 322]); pound the meat patiently and thoroughly in a mortar with some fresh butter,[314-*] till it is a fine paste (to make potted meat smooth there is nothing equal to plenty of elbow-grease); seasoning it (by degrees, as you are beating it,) with a little black pepper and allspice, or cloves pounded, or mace, or grated nutmeg.

Put it in pots, press it down as close as possible, and cover it a quarter of an inch thick with clarified butter; to prepare which, see receipt [No. 259], and if you wish to preserve it a long time, over that tie a bladder. Keep it in a dry place.

Obs. You may mince a little ham or bacon, or an anchovy, sweet or savoury herbs, or an eschalot, and a little tarragon, chervil, or burnet, &c., and pound them with the meat, with a glass of wine, or some mustard, or forcemeat ([No. 376], or Nos. [378] and [399*], &c.); if you wish to have it devilish savoury, add ragoût powder ([No. 457]), curry powder ([No. 455]), or zest ([No. 255]), and moisten it with mushroom catchup ([No. 439]), or essence of anchovy ([No. 433]), or tincture of allspice ([No. 413]), or essence of turtle ([No. 343*]), or, ([No. 503*]).

It is a very agreeable and economical way of using the remains of game or poultry, or a large joint of either roasted or boiled beef, veal, ham, or tongue, &c. to mince it with some of the fat, (or moisten it with a little butter, or [No. 439], &c.) and beat it in a mortar with the seasoning, &c., as in the former receipt.

When either the teeth or stomach are extremely feeble, especial care must be taken to keep meat till it is tender before it is cooked; or call in the aid of those excellent helps to bad teeth, the pestle and mortar. And see Nos. [10], [18], [87], [89], [175], [178]; from [185] to [250], [502], [542], and especially [503]. Or dress in the usual way whatever is best liked, mince it, put it into a mortar, and pound it with a little broth or melted butter, vegetable, herb, spice, zest ([No. 255]), &c. according to the taste, &c. of the eater. The business of the stomach is thus very materially facilitated.

“Flesh in small quantities, bruised to a pulp, may be very advantageously used in fevers attended with debility.”—Darwin’s Zoonomia, vol. ii. p. 400.

“Mincing or pounding meat saveth the grinding of the teeth; and therefore (no doubt) is more nourishing, especially in age, or to them that have weak teeth; but butter is not proper for weak bodies, and therefore moisten it in pounding with a little claret wine, and a very little cinnamon or nutmeg.”—Lord Bacon; Natural History, Century 1. 54.

Obs.—Meat that has been boiled down for gravies, &c. see Nos. [185] and [252], (which has heretofore been considered the perquisite of the cat) and is completely drained of all its succulence, beat in a mortar with salt and a little ground black pepper and allspice, as directed in the foregoing receipt, and it will make as good potted beef as meat that has been baked till its moisture is entirely extracted, which it must be, or it will not keep two days.

Mem.—Meat that has not been previously salted, will not keep so long as that which has.

Sandwiches,—(No. 504.)

Properly prepared, are an elegant and convenient luncheon or supper, but have got out of fashion, from the bad manner in which they are commonly made: to cut the bread neatly with a sharp knife seems to be considered the only essential, and the lining is composed of any offal odds and ends, that cannot be sent to table in any other form.

Whatever is used must be carefully trimmed from every bit of skin, gristle, &c. and nothing introduced but what you are absolutely certain will be acceptable to the mouth.

MATERIALS FOR MAKING SANDWICHES.

• Cold meat, or poultry.
• Potted ditto ([No. 503]).
• Savoury ditto ([No. 496]).
• Potted lobster ([No. 178]), or shrimp ([No. 175]).
• Potted cheese ([No. 542]).
• Ditto, or grated tongue.
• Potted, or grated ham ([No. 509]).
• Anchovy (Nos. [434] and [435]).
• German sausage
• Cold pork ditto ([No. 87]).
• Hard eggs, pounded with a little butter and cheese.
• Grated ham, or beef.
• Various forcemeats, &c. ([No. 373]), &c.
• Curry-powder, zest, mustard, pepper, and salt are added occasionally.

Meat Cakes.—(No. 504*.)

If you have any cold meat, game, or poultry (if under-done, all the better), mince it fine, with a little fat bacon or ham, or an anchovy; season it with a little pepper and salt; mix well, and make it into small cakes three inches long, half as wide, and half an inch thick: fry these a light brown, and serve them with good gravy, or put it into a mould and boil or bake it.

N.B. Bread-crumbs, hard yelks of eggs, onions, sweet herbs, savoury spices, zest, or curry-powder, or any of the forcemeats. See Nos. [373] to [382].

Fish cakes for maigre days, may be made in like manner.

Bubble and Squeak, or fried Beef or Mutton and Cabbage.—(No. 505.)

“When ’midst the frying pan, in accents savage,
The beef, so surly, quarrels with the cabbage.”

For this, as for a hash, select those parts of the joint that have been least done; it is generally made with slices of cold boiled salted-beef, sprinkled with a little pepper, and just lightly browned with a bit of butter in a frying-pan: if it is fried too much it will be hard.

Boil a cabbage, squeeze it quite dry, and chop it small; take the beef out of the frying-pan, and lay the cabbage in it; sprinkle a little pepper and salt over it; keep the pan moving over the fire for a few minutes; lay the cabbage in the middle of a dish, and the meat round it.

For sauce, see [No. 356], or [No. 328].

Hashed Beef, and roast Beef bones boiled.—(No. 506.)

To hash beef, see receipt, Nos. [484], [5], [6], and Nos. [360], [484], and [486].

The best part to hash is the fillet or inside of the sirloin, and the good housewife will always endeavour to preserve it entire for this purpose. See [Obs.] to [No. 19], and mock hare, [No. 66*].

Roast beef bones furnish a very relishing luncheon or supper, prepared in the following manner, with poached eggs ([No. 546]), or fried eggs ([No. 545]), or mashed potatoes ([No. 106]), as accompaniments.

Divide the bones, leaving good pickings of meat on each; score them in squares, pour a little melted butter on them, and sprinkle them with pepper and salt: put them in a dish; set them in a Dutch oven for half or three quarters of an hour, according to the thickness of the meat; keep turning them till they are quite hot and brown; or broil them on the gridiron. Brown them, but don’t burn them black. For sauce, Nos. [355], or [356].

Ox-Cheek stewed.—(No. 507.)

Prepare this the day before it is to be eaten; clean it, and put it into soft water just warm; let it lie three or four hours, then put it into cold water, and let it soak all night; next day wipe it clean, put it into a stew-pan, and just cover it with water; skim it well when it is coming to a boil, then put two whole onions, stick two or three cloves into each, three turnips quartered, a couple of carrots sliced, two bay-leaves, and twenty-four corns of allspice, a head of celery, and a bundle of sweet herbs, pepper, and salt; to these, those who are for a “haut goût” may add Cayenne and garlic, in such proportions as the palate that requires them may desire.

Let it stew gently till perfectly tender, i. e. about three hours; then take out the cheek, divide it into handsome pieces, fit to help at table; skim, and strain the gravy; melt an ounce and a half of butter in a stew-pan; stir into it as much flour as it will take up; mix with it by degrees a pint and a half of the gravy; add to it a table-spoonful of basil, tarragon, or elder vinegar, or the like quantity of mushroom or walnut catchup, or cavice, or port wine, and give it a boil.

Serve up in a soup or ragoût-dish; or make it into barley broth, [No. 204].

Obs.—This is a very economical, nourishing, and savoury meal. See ox-cheek soup, [No. 239], and calf’s head hashed, [No. 520].

Ox-Tails stewed.—(No. 508.)

Divide them into joints; wash them; parboil them; set them on to stew in just water enough to cover them,—and dress them in the same manner as we have directed in [No. 531], Stewed Giblets, for which they are an excellent substitute.

N.B.—See Ox-Tail Soup, [No. 240].

Potted Ham, or Tongue.—(No. 509.)

Cut a pound of the lean of cold boiled Ham or Tongue, and pound it in a mortar with a quarter of a pound of the fat, or with fresh butter (in the proportion of about two ounces to a pound), till it is a fine paste (some season it by degrees with a little pounded mace or allspice): put it close down in pots for that purpose, and cover it with Clarified Butter, [No. 259], a quarter of an inch thick; let it stand one night in a cool place. Send it up in the pot, or cut out in thin slices. See [Obs.] on [No. 503].

Hashed Veal.—(No. 511.)

Prepare it as directed in [No. 484]; and to make sauce to warm Veal, see [No. 361].

Hashed or minced Veal.—(No. 511*.)

To make a hash[318-*] cut the meat into slices;—to prepare minced veal, mince it as fine as possible (do not chop it); put it into a stew-pan with a few spoonfuls of veal or mutton broth, or make some with the bones and trimmings, as ordered for veal cutlets (see [No. 80], or [No. 361]), a little lemon-peel minced fine, a spoonful of milk or cream; thicken with butter and flour, and season it with salt, a table-spoonful of lemon pickle, or Basil wine, [No. 397], &c., or a pinch of curry powder.

^*_*^* If you have no cream, beat up the yelks of a couple of eggs with a little milk: line the dish with sippets of lightly toasted bread.

Obs.—Minced veal makes a very pretty dish put into scollop shells, and bread crumbed over, and sprinkled with a little butter, and browned in a Dutch oven, or a cheese-toaster.

To make an excellent Ragoût of Cold Veal.—(No. 512.)

Either a neck, loin, or fillet of veal, will furnish this excellent ragoût with a very little expense or trouble.

Cut the veal into handsome cutlets; put a piece of butter or clean dripping into a frying-pan; as soon as it is hot, flour and fry the veal of a light brown: take it out, and if you have no gravy ready, make some as directed in the [note] to [No. 517]; or put a pint of boiling water into the frying-pan, give it a boil up for a minute, and strain it into a basin while you make some thickening in the following manner: put about an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; as soon as it melts, mix with it as much flour as will dry it up; stir it over the fire for a few minutes, and gradually add to it the gravy you made in the frying-pan; let them simmer together for ten minutes (till thoroughly incorporated); season it with pepper, salt, a little mace, and a wine-glassful of mushroom catchup or wine; strain it through a tamis to the meat, and stew very gently till the meat is thoroughly warmed. If you have any ready-boiled bacon, cut it in slices, and put it in to warm with the meat, or [No. 526] or [527].

Veal cutlets, see [No. 90], &c.

Breast of Veal stewed.—(No. 515.)

A breast of veal stewed till quite tender, and smothered with onion sauce, is an excellent dish; or in the gravy ordered in the [note] to [No. 517].

Breast of Veal Ragoût.—(No. 517.)

Take off the under bone, and cut the breast in half lengthways; divide it into pieces, about four inches long, by two inches wide, i. e. in handsome pieces, not too large to help at once: put about two ounces of butter into a frying-pan, and fry the veal till it is a light brown,[320-*] then put it into a stew-pan with veal broth, or as much boiling water as will cover it, a bundle of sweet marjoram, common or lemon-thyme, and parsley, with four cloves, or a couple of blades of pounded mace, three young onions, or one old one, a roll of lemon-peel, a dozen corns of allspice bruised, and a tea-spoonful of salt; cover it close, and let it all simmer very gently till the veal is tender, i. e. for about an hour and a half, if it is very thick, two hours; then strain off as much (about a quart) of the gravy, as you think you will want, into a basin; set the stew-pan, with the meat, &c. in it by the fire to keep hot. To thicken the gravy you have taken out, put an ounce and a half of butter into a clean stew-pan; when it is melted, stir in as much flour as it will take; add the gravy by degrees; season it with salt; let it boil ten minutes; skim it well, and season it with two table-spoonfuls of white wine, one of mushroom catchup, and same of lemon-juice; give it a boil up, and it is ready: now put the veal into a ragoût dish, and strain the gravy through a fine sieve to it. Or,

By keeping the meat whole, you will better preserve the succulence of it.

Put the veal into a stew-pan, with two ounces of butter and two whole onions (such as weigh about two ounces each); put it on the fire, and fry it about five minutes; then cover it with boiling water; when it boils, skim it; then put in two small blades of mace, a dozen blades of allspice, the same of black pepper; cover it close, and let it simmer gently for an hour and a half; then strain as much of the gravy as you think you will want into a basin; put the stew-pan by the fire to keep hot. To thicken it, put an ounce and a half of butter into a clean stew-pan: when it is melted, stir in as much flour as it will take; add the gravy by degrees; season it with salt, and when it boils it is ready. Put the veal on a dish, and strain the gravy through a fine sieve over it.

Obs.—Forcemeat balls, see [No. 375], &c.; truffles, morells, mushrooms, and curry powder, &c. are sometimes added; and rashers of bacon or ham, Nos. [526] and [527], or fried pork sausages, [No. 83].

N.B. These are nice dishes in the pease season.

Scotch Collops.—(No. 517*.)

The veal must be cut the same as for cutlets, in pieces about as big as a crown-piece; flour them well, and fry them of a light brown in fresh butter; lay them in a stew-pan; dredge them over with flour, and then put in as much boiling water as will well cover the veal; pour this in by degrees, shaking the stew-pan, and set it on the fire; when it comes to a boil, take off the scum, put in one onion, a blade of mace, and let it simmer very gently for three quarters of an hour; lay them on a dish, and pour the gravy through a sieve over them.

N.B. Lemon-juice and peel, wine, catchup, &c., are sometimes added; add curry powder, [No. 455], and you have curry collops.

Veal Olives.—(No. 518.)

Cut half a dozen slices off a fillet of veal, half an inch thick, and as long and square as you can; flat them with a chopper, and rub them over with an egg that has been beat on a plate; cut some fat bacon as thin as possible, the same size as the veal; lay it on the veal, and rub it with a little of the egg; make a little veal forcemeat, see receipt, [No. 375], and spread it very thin over the bacon; roll up the olives tight, rub them with the egg, and then roll them in fine bread-crumbs; put them on a lark-spit, and roast them at a brisk fire: they will take three quarters of an hour.

Rump-steaks are sometimes dressed this way.

Mushroom sauce, brown (Nos. [305] or [306]), or beef gravy ([No. 329]). Vide [chapter] on sauces, &c.

Cold Calf’s Head hashed.—(No. 519.)

See [Obs.] to boiled calf’s head, [No. 10].

Calf’s Head hashed, or Ragoût.—(No. 520.) See [No. 247].

Wash a calf’s head, which, to make this dish in the best style, should have the skin on, and boil it, see [No. 10]; boil one half all but enough, so that it may be soon quite done when put into the hash to warm, the other quite tender: from this half take out the bones: score it superficially; beat up an egg; put it over the head with a paste-brush, and strew over it a little grated bread and lemon-peel, and thyme and parsley, chopped very fine, or in powder, then bread-crumbs, and put it in the Dutch oven to brown.

Cut the other half-head into handsome slices, and put it into a stew-pan with a quart of gravy ([No. 329]), or turtle sauce ([No. 343]), with forcemeat balls (Nos. [376], [380]), egg-balls, a wine-glass of white wine, and some catchup, &c.; put in the meat; let it warm together, and skim off the fat.

Peel the tongue, and send it up with the brains round it as a side dish, as directed in [No. 10]; or beat them up in a basin with a spoonful of flour, two eggs, some grated lemon-peel, thyme, parsley, and a few leaves of very finely-minced sage; rub them well together in a mortar, with pepper, salt, and a scrape of nutmeg; fry them (in little cakes) a very light brown; dish up the hash with the half-head you browned in the middle; and garnish with crisp, or curled rashers of bacon, fried bread sippets (Nos. [319], [526], and [527]), and the brain cakes.

N.B. It is by far the best way to make a side dish of the tongue and brains, if you do send up a piece of bacon as a companion for it, or garnish the tongue and brains with the rashers of bacon and the forcemeat balls, both of which are much better kept dry than when immersed in the gravy of the ragoût.

Obs.—In order to make what common cooks, who merely cook for the eye, call a fine, large, handsome dishful, they put in not only the eatable parts, but all the knots of gristle, and lumps of fat, offal, &c.; and when the grand gourmand fancies he is helped as plentifully as he could wish, he often finds one solitary morsel of meat among a large lot of lumps of gristle, fat, &c.

We have seen a very elegant dish of the scalp only, sent to table rolled up; it looks like a sucking pig.

Veal Cutlets broiled plain, or full-dressed.—(No. 521.)

Divide the best end of a neck of veal into cutlets, one rib to each; broil them plain, or make some fine bread-crumbs; mince a little parsley, and a very little eschalot, as small as possible; put it into a clean stew-pan, with two ounces of butter, and fry it for a minute; then put on a plate the yelks of a couple of eggs; mix the herbs, &c. with it, and season it with pepper and salt: dip the cutlets into this mixture, and then into the bread; lay them on a gridiron over a clear slow fire, till they are nicely browned on both sides; they will take about an hour: send up with them a few slices of ham or bacon fried, or done in the Dutch oven. See Nos. [526] and [527], and half a pint of [No. 343], or [No. 356].

Knuckle of Veal, to ragoût.—(No. 522.)

Cut a knuckle of veal into slices about half an inch thick; pepper, salt, and flour them; fry them a light brown; put the trimmings into a stew-pan, with the bone broke in several places; an onion sliced, a head of celery, a bunch of sweet herbs, and two blades of bruised mace: pour in warm water enough to cover them about an inch; cover the pot close, and let it stew very gently for a couple of hours; strain it, and then thicken it with flour and butter; put in a spoonful of catchup, a glass of wine, and juice of half a lemon; give it a boil up, and strain into a clean stew-pan; put in the meat, make it hot, and serve up.

Obs.—If celery is not to be had, use a carrot instead or flavour it with celery-seed, or [No. 409].

Knuckle of Veal stewed with Rice.—(No. 523.)

As boiled knuckle of veal cold is not a very favourite relish with the generality, cut off some steaks from it, which you may dress as in the foregoing receipt, or [No. 521], and leave the knuckle no larger than will be eaten the day it is dressed. Break the shank-bone, wash it clean, and put it in a large stew-pan with two quarts of water, an onion, two blades of mace, and a tea-spoonful of salt: set it on a quick fire; when it boils, take off all the scum.

Wash and pick a quarter of a pound of rice; put it into the stew-pan with the meat, and let it stew very gently for about two hours: put the meat, &c. in a deep dish, and the rice round it.

Send up bacon with it, parsnips, or greens, and finely minced parsley and butter, [No. 261].

Mr. Gay’s Receipt to stew a Knuckle of Veal.—(No. 524.)

Take a knuckle of veal;
You may buy it or steal;
In a few pieces cut it,
In a stewing-pan put it;
Salt, pepper, and mace,
Must season this knuckle,
Then, what’s joined to a place[323-*]
With other herbs muckle;
That which kill’d King Will,[324-*]
And what never stands still[324-†]
Some sprigs of that bed,[324-‡]
Where children are bred.
Which much you will mend, if
Both spinach and endive,
And lettuce and beet,
With marigold meet.
Put no water at all,
For it maketh things small,
Which lest it should happen,
A close cover clap on;
Put this pot of Wood’s metal[324-§]
In a boiling hot kettle;
And there let it be,
(Mark the doctrine I teach,)
About, let me see,
Thrice as long as you preach.[324-‖]
So skimming the fat off,
Say grace with your hat off,
O! then with what rapture
Will it fill Dean and Chapter!

Slices of Ham or Bacon.—(No. 526.)

Ham, or bacon, may be fried, or broiled on a gridiron over a clear fire, or toasted with a fork: take care to slice it of the same thickness in every part.

If you wish it curled, cut it in slices about two inches long (if longer, the outside will be done too much before the inside is done enough); roll it up, and put a little wooden skewer through it: put it in a cheese-toaster, or Dutch oven, for eight or ten minutes, turning it as it gets crisp.

This is considered the handsomest way of dressing bacon; but we like it best uncurled, because it is crisper, and more equally done.

Obs.—Slices of ham or bacon should not be more than half a quarter of an inch thick, and will eat much more mellow if soaked in hot water for a quarter of an hour, and then dried in a cloth before they are broiled, &c.

Relishing Rashers of Bacon.—(No. 527.)

If you have any cold bacon, you may make a very nice dish of it by cutting it into slices about a quarter of an inch thick; grate some crust of bread, as directed for ham (see [No. 14]), and powder them well with it on both sides; lay the rashers in a cheese-toaster, they will be browned on one side in about three minutes, turn them and do the other.

Obs.—These are a delicious accompaniment to poached or fried Eggs: the bacon having been boiled[325-*] first, is tender and mellow. They are an excellent garnish round veal cutlets, or sweet-breads, or calf’s-head hash, or green pease, or beans, &c.

Hashed Venison.—(No. 528.)

If you have enough of its own gravy left, it is preferable to any to warm it up in: if not, take some of the mutton gravy ([No. 347]), or the bones and trimmings of the joint (after you have cut off all the handsome slices you can to make the hash); put these into some water, and stew them gently for an hour; then put some butter into a stew-pan; when melted, put to it as much flour as will dry up the butter, and stir it well together; add to it by degrees the gravy you have been making of the trimmings, and some red currant jelly; give it a boil up; skim it; strain it through a sieve, and it is ready to receive the venison: put it in, and let it just get warm: if you let it boil, it will make the meat hard.

Hashed Hare.—(No. 529.)

Cut up the hare into pieces fit to help at table, and divide the joints of the legs and shoulders, and set them by ready.

Put the trimmings and gravy you have left, with half a pint of water (there should be a pint of liquor), and a table-spoonful of currant jelly, into a clean stew-pan, and let it boil gently for a quarter of an hour: then strain it through a sieve into a basin, and pour it back into the stew-pan; now flour the hare, put it into the gravy, and let it simmer very gently till the hare is warm (about twenty minutes); cut the stuffing into slices, and put it into the hash to get warm, about five minutes before you serve it; divide the head, and lay one half on each side the dish.

For hare soup, see [No. 241], mock hare, [No. 66.*]

Jugged Hare.—(No. 529*.)

Wash it very nicely; cut it up into pieces proper to help at table, and put them into a jugging-pot, or into a stone jar,[325-†] just sufficiently large to hold it well; put in some sweet herbs, a roll or two of rind of a lemon, or a Seville orange, and a fine large onion with five cloves stuck in it,—and if you wish to preserve the flavour of the hare, a quarter of a pint of water; if you are for a ragoût, a quarter of a pint of claret, or port wine, and the juice of a Seville orange, or lemon: tie the jar down closely with a bladder, so that no steam can escape; put a little hay in the bottom of the saucepan, in which place the jar, and pour in water till it reaches within four inches of the top of the jar; let the water boil for about three hours, according to the age and size of the hare (take care it is not over-done, which is the general fault in all made dishes, especially this), keeping it boiling all the time, and fill up the pot as it boils away. When quite tender, strain off the gravy clear from fat; thicken it with flour, and give it a boil up: lay the hare in a soup-dish, and pour the gravy to it.

Obs.—You may make a pudding the same as for roast hare (see [No. 397]), and boil it in a cloth; and when you dish up your hare, cut it in slices, or make forcemeat balls of it, for garnish.

For sauce, [No. 346]. Or,

A much easier and quicker, and more certain way of proceeding, is the following:

Prepare the hare the same as for jugging; put it into a stew-pan with a few sweet herbs, half a dozen cloves, the same of allspice and black pepper, two large onions, and a roll of lemon-peel: cover it with water; when it boils, skim it clean, and let it simmer gently till tender (about two hours); then take it up with a slice, and set it by the fire to keep hot while you thicken the gravy; take three ounces of butter, and some flour; rub together; put in the gravy; stir it well, and let it boil about ten minutes; strain it through a sieve over the hare, and it is ready.

Dressed Ducks, or Geese hashed.—(No. 530.)

Cut an onion into small dice; put it into a stew-pan with a bit of butter; fry it, but do not let it get any colour; put as much boiling water into the stew-pan as will make sauce for the hash; thicken it with a little flour; cut up the duck, and put it into the sauce to warm; do not let it boil; season it with pepper and salt, and catchup.

N.B. The legs of geese, &c. broiled, and laid on a bed of apple sauce, are sent up for luncheon or supper. Or,

Divide the duck into joints; lay it by ready; put the trimmings and stuffing into a stew-pan, with a pint and a half of broth or water; let it boil half an hour, and then rub it through a sieve; put half an ounce of butter into a stew-pan; as it melts, mix a table-spoonful of flour with it; stir it over the fire a few minutes, then mix the gravy with it by degrees; as soon as it boils, take off the scum, and strain through a sieve into a stew-pan; put in the duck, and let it stew very gently for ten or fifteen minutes, if the duck is rather under-roasted: if there is any fat, skim it off: line the dish you serve it up in with sippets of bread either fried or toasted.

Ragoûts of Poultry, Game, Pigeons, Rabbits, &c.—(No. 530*.)

Half roast it, then stew it whole, or divide it into joints and pieces proper to help at table, and put it into a stew-pan, with a pint and a half of broth, or as much water, with any trimmings or parings of meat you have, one large onion with cloves stuck in it, twelve berries of allspice, the same of black pepper, and a roll of lemon-peel; when it boils, skim it very clean; let it simmer very gently for about an hour and a quarter, if a duck or fowl—longer if a larger bird; then strain off the liquor, and leave the ducks by the fire to keep hot; skim the fat off; put into a clean stew-pan two ounces of butter; when it is hot stir in as much flour as will make it of a stiff paste; add the liquor by degrees; let it boil up; put in a glass of port wine, and a little lemon-juice, and simmer it ten minutes; put the ducks, &c. into the dish, and strain the sauce through a fine sieve over them.

Garnish with sippets of toasted, or fried bread, [No. 319].

Obs.—If the poultry is only half roasted, and stewed only till just nicely tender, this will be an acceptable bonne bouche to those who are fond of made dishes. The flavour may be varied by adding catchup, curry powder, or any of the flavoured vinegars.

This is an easily prepared side dish, especially when you have a large dinner to dress; and coming to table ready carved saves a deal of time and trouble; it is therefore an excellent way of serving poultry, &c. for a large party. Or,

Roast or boil the poultry in the usual way; then cut it up, and pour over it a sufficient quantity of [No. 305], or [No. 329], or [No. 364], or [No. 2].

Stewed Giblets.—(No. 531.)

Clean two sets of giblets (see receipt for giblet soup, [No. 244]); put them into a saucepan, just cover them with cold water, and set them on the fire; when they boil, take off the scum, and put in an onion, three cloves, or two blades of mace, a few berries of black pepper, the same of allspice, and half a tea-spoonful of salt; cover the stew-pan close, and let it simmer very gently till the giblets are quite tender: this will take from one hour and a half to two and a half, according to the age of the giblets; the pinions will be done first, and must then be taken out, and put in again to warm when the gizzards are done: watch them that they do not get too much done: take them out and thicken the sauce with flour and butter; let it boil half an hour, or till there is just enough to eat with the giblets, and then strain it through a tamis into a clean stew-pan; cut the giblets into mouthfuls; put them into the sauce with the juice of half a lemon, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup; pour the whole into a soup-dish, with sippets of bread at the bottom.

Obs.—Ox-tails prepared in the same way are excellent eating.

Hashed Poultry, Game, or Rabbit.—(No. 533.)

Cut them into joints, put the trimmings into a stew-pan with a quart of the broth they were boiled in, and a large onion cut in four; let it boil half an hour; strain it through a sieve: then put two table-spoonfuls of flour in a basin, and mix it well by degrees with the hot broth; set it on the fire to boil up, then strain it through a fine sieve: wash out the stew-pan, lay the poultry in it, and pour the gravy on it (through a sieve); set it by the side of the fire to simmer very gently (it must not boil) for fifteen minutes; five minutes before you serve it up, cut the stuffing in slices, and put it in to warm, then take it out, and lay it round the edge of the dish, and put the poultry in the middle; carefully skim the fat off the gravy, then shake it round well in the stew-pan, and pour it to the hash.

N.B. You may garnish the dish with bread sippets lightly toasted.

Pulled Turkey, Fowl, or Chicken.—(No. 534.)

Skin a cold chicken, fowl, or turkey; take off the fillets from the breasts, and put them into a stew-pan with the rest of the white meat and wings, side-bones, and merry-thought, with a pint of broth, a large blade of mace pounded, an eschalot minced fine, the juice of half a lemon, and a roll of the peel, some salt, and a few grains of Cayenne; thicken it with flour and butter, and let it simmer for two or three minutes, till the meat is warm. In the mean time score the legs and rump, powder them with pepper and salt, broil them nicely brown, and lay them on, or round your pulled chicken.

Obs.—Three table-spoonfuls of good cream, or the yelks of as many eggs, will be a great improvement to it.

To dress Dressed Turkey, Goose, Fowl, Duck, Pigeon, or Rabbit.—(No. 535.)

Cut them in quarters, beat up an egg or two (according to the quantity you dress) with a little grated nutmeg, and pepper and salt, some parsley minced fine, and a few crumbs of bread; mix these well together, and cover the fowl, &c. with this batter; broil them, or put them in a Dutch oven, or have ready some dripping hot in a pan, in which fry them a light brown colour; thicken a little gravy with some flour, put a large spoonful of catchup to it, lay the fry in a dish, and pour the sauce round it. You may garnish with slices of lemon and toasted bread. See [No. 355].

Devil.—(No. 538.)

The gizzard and rump, or legs, &c. of a dressed turkey, capon, or goose, or mutton or veal kidney, scored, peppered, salted, and broiled, sent up for a relish, being made very hot, has obtained the name of a “devil.”

Obs.—This is sometimes surrounded with [No. 356], or a sauce of thick melted butter or gravy, flavoured with catchup ([No. 439]), essence of anchovy, or [No. 434], eschalot wine ([No. 402]), curry stuff. ([No. 455], &c.) See turtle sauce ([No. 343]), or grill sauce ([No. 355]), which, as the palates of the present day are adjusted, will perhaps please grands gourmands as well as “véritable sauce d’Enfer.”—Vide School for the Officers of the Mouth, p. 368, 18mo. London, 1682.

“Every man must have experienced, that when he has got deep into his third bottle, his palate acquires a degree of torpidity, and his stomach is seized with a certain craving, which seem to demand a stimulant to the powers of both. The provocatives used on such occasions, an ungrateful world has combined to term devils.

“The diables au feu d’enfer, or dry devils, are usually composed of the broiled legs and gizzards of poultry, fish-bones, or biscuits; and, if pungency alone can justify their appellation, never was title better deserved, for they are usually prepared without any other intention than to make them ‘hot as their native element,’ and any one who can swallow them without tears in his eyes, need be under no apprehension of the pains of futurity. It is true, they answer the purpose of exciting thirst; but they excoriate the palate, vitiate its nicer powers of discrimination, and pall the relish for the high flavour of good wine: in short, no man should venture upon them whose throat is not paved with mosaic, unless they be seasoned by a cook who can poise the pepper-box with as even a hand as a judge should the scales of justice.

“It would be an insult to the understanding of our readers, to suppose them ignorant of the usual mode of treating common devils; but we shall make no apology for giving the most minute instructions for the preparation of a gentler stimulant, which, besides, possesses this advantage—that it may be all done at the table, either by yourself, or at least under your own immediate inspection.

“Mix equal parts of fine salt, Cayenne pepper, and curry powder, with double the quantity of powder of truffles: dissect, secundum artem, a brace of woodcocks rather under-roasted, split the heads, subdivide the wings, &c. &c. and powder the whole gently over with the mixture; crush the trail and brains along with the yelk of a hard-boiled egg, a small portion of pounded mace, the grated peel of half a lemon, and half a spoonful of soy, until the ingredients be brought to the consistence of a fine paste: then add a table-spoonful of catchup, a full wine-glass of Madeira, and the juice of two Seville oranges: throw this sauce, along with the birds, into a silver stew-dish, to be heated with spirits of wine: cover close up, light the lamp, and keep gently simmering, and occasionally stirring, until the flesh has imbibed the greater part of the liquid. When you have reason to suppose it is completely saturated, pour in a small quantity of salad oil, stir all once more well together, ‘put out the light, and then!’—serve it round instantly; for it is scarcely necessary to say, that a devil should not only be hot in itself, but eaten hot.

“There is, however, one precaution to be used in eating it, to which we most earnestly recommend the most particular attention; and for want of which, more than one accident has occurred. It is not, as some people might suppose, to avoid eating too much of it (for that your neighbours will take good care to prevent); but it is this: in order to pick the bones, you must necessarily take some portion of it with your fingers; and, as they thereby become impregnated with its flavour, if you afterward chance to let them touch your tongue, you will infallibly lick them to the bone, if you do not swallow them entire.”—See page 124, &c. of the entertaining “Essays on Good Living.”

Crusts of Bread for Cheese, &c.—(No. 538.)

It is not uncommon to see both in private families and at taverns a loaf entirely spoiled, by furious epicures paring off the crust to eat with cheese: to supply this, and to eat with soups, &c. pull lightly into small pieces the crumb of a new loaf; put them on a tin plate, or in a baking dish; set it in a tolerably brisk oven till they are crisp, and nicely browned, or do them in a Dutch oven.

Toast and Cheese.—(No. 539.)

“Happy the man that has each fortune tried,
To whom she much has giv’n, and much denied;
With abstinence all delicates he sees,
And can regale himself on toast and cheese.”
King’s Art of Cookery.

Cut a slice of bread about half an inch thick; pare off the crust, and toast it very slightly on one side so as just to brown it, without making it hard or burning it.

Cut a slice of cheese (good fat mellow Cheshire cheese, or double Gloster, is better than poor, thin, single Gloster) a quarter of an inch thick, not so big as the bread by half an inch on each side: pare off the rind, cut out all the specks and rotten parts,[331-*] and lay it on the toasted bread in a cheese-toaster; carefully watch it that it does not burn, and stir it with a spoon to prevent a pellicle forming on the surface. Have ready good mustard, pepper and salt.

If you observe the directions here given, the cheese will eat mellow, and will be uniformly done, and the bread crisp and soft, and will well deserve its ancient appellation of a “rare bit.”

Obs.—One would think nothing could be easier than to prepare a Welsh rabbit; yet, not only in private families, but at taverns, it is very seldom sent to table in perfection. We have attempted to account for this in the last paragraph of [Obs.] to [No. 493].

Toasted Cheese, No. 2.—(No. 540.)

We have nothing to add to the directions given for toasting the cheese in the last receipt, except that in sending it up, it will save much time in portioning it out at table, if you have half a dozen small silver or tin pans to fit into the cheese-toaster, and do the cheese in these: each person may then be helped to a separate pan, and it will keep the cheese much hotter than the usual way of eating it on a cold plate.

Mem. Send up with it as many cobblers[331-†] as you have pans of cheese.

Obs.—Ceremony seldom triumphs more completely over comfort than in the serving out of this dish; which, to be presented to the palate in perfection, it is imperatively indispensable that it be introduced to the mouth as soon as it appears on the table.

Buttered Toast and Cheese.—(No. 541.)

Prepare a round of toast; butter it; grate over it good Cheshire cheese about half the thickness of the toast, and give it a brown.

Pounded Cheese.—(No. 542.)

Cut a pound of good mellow Chedder, Cheshire, or North Wiltshire cheese into thin bits; add to it two, and if the cheese is dry, three ounces of fresh butter; pound, and rub them well together in a mortar till it is quite smooth.

Obs.—When cheese is dry, and for those whose digestion is feeble, this is the best way of eating it; and spread on bread, it makes an excellent luncheon or supper.

N.B. The piquance of this is sometimes increased by pounding with it curry powder ([No. 455]), ground spice, black pepper, cayenne, and a little made mustard; and some moisten it with a glass of sherry. If pressed down hard in a jar, and covered with clarified butter, it will keep for several days in cool weather.

Macaroni.—(No. 543.) See [Macaroni Pudding] for the Boiling of it.

The usual mode of dressing it in this country is by adding a white sauce, and parmesan or Cheshire cheese, and burning it; but this makes a dish which is proverbially unwholesome: its bad qualities arise from the oiled and burnt cheese, and the half-dressed flour and butter put into the white sauce.

Macaroni plain boiled, and some rich stock or portable soup added to it quite hot, will be found a delicious dish and very wholesome. Or, boil macaroni as directed in the receipt for the pudding, and serve it quite hot in a deep tureen, and let each guest add grated parmesan and cold butter, or oiled butter served hot, and it is excellent; this is the most common Italian mode of dressing it. Macaroni with cream, sugar, and cinnamon, or a little varicelli added to the cream, makes a very nice sweet dish.

English way of dressing Macaroni.

Put a quarter of a pound of riband macaroni into a stew-pan, with a pint of boiling milk, or broth, or water; let it boil gently till it is tender, this will take about a quarter of an hour; then put in an ounce of grated cheese, and a tea-spoonful of salt; mix it well together, and put it on a dish, and stew over it two ounces of grated Parmesan or Cheshire cheese, and give it a light brown in a Dutch oven. Or put all the cheese into the macaroni, and put bread-crumbs over the top.

Macaroni is very good put into a thick sauce with some shreds of dressed ham, or in a curry sauce. Riband macaroni is best for these dishes, and should not be done so much.

Macaroni Pudding.

One of the most excellent preparations of macaroni is the Timbale de Macaroni. Simmer half a pound of macaroni in plenty of water, and a table-spoonful of salt, till it is tender; but take care not to have it too soft; though tender, it should be firm, and the form entirely preserved, and no part beginning to melt (this caution will serve for the preparation of all macaroni). Strain the water from it; beat up five yelks and the white of two eggs; take half a pint of the best cream, and the breast of a fowl, and some thin slices of ham. Mince the breast of the fowl with the ham; add them with from two to three table-spoonfuls of finely-grated parmesan cheese, and season with pepper and salt. Mix all these with the macaroni, and put into a pudding-mould well buttered, and then let it steam in a stew-pan of boiling water for about an hour, and serve quite hot, with rich gravy (as in Omelette). See [No. 543*].

Obs.—This, we have been informed, is considered by a grand gourmand as the most important recipe which was added to the collection of his cook during a gastronomic tour through Europe; it is not an uncommon mode of preparing macaroni on the continent.

Omelettes and various ways of dressing Eggs.—(No. 543*.)

There is no dish which in this country may be considered as coming under the denomination of a made dish of the second order, which is so generally eaten, if good, as an omelette; and no one is so often badly dressed: it is a very faithful assistant in the construction of a dinner.

When you are taken by surprise, and wish to make an appearance beyond what is provided for the every-day dinner, a little portable soup melted down, and some zest ([No. 255]), and a few vegetables, will make a good broth; a pot of the stewed veal of Morrison’s, warmed up; an omelette; and some apple or lemon fritters, can all be got ready at ten minutes’ notice, and with the original foundation of a leg of mutton, or a piece of beef, will make up a very good dinner when company unexpectedly arrives, in the country.

The great merit of an omelette is, that it should not be greasy, burnt, nor too much done: if too much of the white of the eggs is left in, no art can prevent its being hard, if it is done: to dress the omelette, the fire should not be too hot, as it is an object to have the whole substance heated, without much browning the outside.

One of the great errors in cooking an omelette is, that it is too thin; consequently, instead of feeling full and moist in the mouth, the substance presented is little better than a piece of fried leather: to get the omelette thick is one of the great objects. With respect to the flavours to be introduced, these are infinite; that which is most common, however, is the best, viz. finely chopped parsley, and chives or onions, or eschalots: however, one made of a mixture of tarragon, chervil, and parsley, is a very delicate variety, omitting or adding the onion or chives. Of the meat flavours, the veal kidney is the most delicate, and is the most admired by our neighbours the French: this should be cut in dice, and should be dressed (boiled) before it is added; in the same manner, ham and anchovies, shred small, or tongue, will make a very delicately flavoured dish.

The objection to an omelette is, that it is too rich, which makes it advisable to eat but a small quantity. An addition of some finely mashed potatoes, about two table-spoonfuls, to an omelette of six eggs, will much lighten it.

Omelettes are often served with rich gravy; but, as a general principle, no substance which has been fried should be served in gravy, but accompanied by it, or what ought to eat dry and crisp, becomes soddened and flat.

In the compounding the gravy, great care should be taken that the flavour does not overcome that of the omelette, a thing too little attended to: a fine gravy, with a flavouring of sweet herbs and onions, we think the best; some add a few drops of tarragon vinegar; but this is to be done only with great care: gravies to Omelettes are in general thickened: this should never be done with flour; potato starch, or arrow root, is the best.

Omelettes should be fried in a small frying-pan made for that purpose, with a small quantity of butter. The omelette’s great merit is to be thick, so as not to taste of the outside; therefore use only half the number of whites that you do yelks of eggs: every care must be taken in frying, even at the risk of not having it quite set in the middle: an omelette, which has so much vogue abroad, is here, in general, a thin doubled-up piece of leather, and harder than soft leather sometimes. The fact is, that as much care must be bestowed on the frying, as should be taken in poaching an egg. A salamander is necessary to those who will have the top brown; but the kitchen shovel may be substituted for it.

The following receipt is the basis of all omelettes, of which you may make an endless variety, by taking, instead of the parsley and eschalot, a portion of sweet herbs, or any of the articles enumerated in the table of materials used for making forcemeats, see [No. 373]; or any of the forcemeats between Nos. [373] and [386].

Omelettes are called by the name of what is added to flavour them: a ham or tongue omelette; an anchovy, or veal kidney omelette, &c.: these are prepared exactly in the same way as in the first receipt, leaving out the parsley and eschalot, and mincing the ham or kidney very fine, &c., and adding that in the place of them, and then pour over them all sorts of thickened gravies, sauces, &c.

Receipt for the common Omelette.

Five or six eggs will make a good-sized omelette; break them into a basin, and beat them well with a fork; and add a salt-spoonful of salt; have ready chopped two drachms of onion, or three drachms of parsley, a good clove of eschalot minced very fine; beat it well up with the eggs; then take four ounces of fresh butter, and break half of it into little bits, and put it into the omelette, and the other half into a very clean frying-pan; when it is melted, pour in the omelette, and stir it with a spoon till it begins to set, then turn it up all round the edges, and when it is of a nice brown it is done: the safest way to take it out is to put a plate on the omelette, and turn the pan upside-down: serve it on a hot dish; it should never be done till just wanted. If maigre, grated cheese, shrimps, or oysters. If oysters, boil them four minutes, and take away the beard and gristly part; they may either be put in whole, or cut in bits. Or,

Take eggs ready boiled hard, and either fry them whole, or cut them in half; when they are boiled (they will take five minutes), let them lie in cold water till you want to use them; then roll them lightly with your hand on a table, and they will peel without breaking; put them on a cloth to dry, and dredge them lightly with flour; beat two eggs in a basin, dip the eggs in, one at a time, and then roll them in fine bread-crumbs, or in duck ([No. 378]) or veal stuffing ([No. 374]); set them away ready for frying; fry them in hot oil or clarified butter, serve them up with mushroom sauce, or any other thickened sauce you please; crisp parsley is a pretty garnish. Or,

Do not boil the eggs till wanted; boil them ten minutes, peel them as above, cut them in half, put them on a dish, and have ready a sauce made of two ounces of butter and flour well rubbed together on a plate, and put it in a stew-pan with three quarters of a pint of good milk; set it on the fire, and stir it till it boils; if it is not quite smooth, strain it through a sieve, chop some parsley and a clove of eschalot as fine as possible, and put in your sauce: season it with salt to your taste: a little mace and lemon-peel boiled with the sauce, will improve it: if you like it still richer, you may add a little cream, or the yelks of two eggs, beat up with two table-spoonfuls of milk, and stir it in the last thing: do not let it boil after; place the half eggs on a dish with the yelks upward, and pour the sauce over them.

N.B. Any cold fish cut in pieces may be warmed in the above sauce for a sent dinner. Or,

Slice very thin two onions weighing about two ounces each; put them into a stew-pan with three ounces of butter; keep them covered till they are just done; stir them every now and then, and when they are of a nice brown, stir in as much flour as will make them of a stiff paste; then by degrees add as much water or milk as will make it the thickness of good cream; season it with, pepper and salt to your taste; have ready boiled hard four or five eggs—you may either shred them, or cut them in halves or quarters; then put them in the sauce: when they are hot they are ready: garnish them with sippets of bread.

Or, have ready a plain omelette, cut into bits, and put them into the sauce.

Or, cut off a little bit of one end of the eggs, so that they may stand up; and take out the yelks whole of some of them, and cut the whites in half, or in quarters.

Obs.—This is called in the Parisian kitchen, “eggs à la trip, with a roux.”

Marrow-Bones.—(No. 544.)

Saw the bones even, so that they will stand steady; put a piece of paste into the ends: set them upright in a saucepan, and boil till they are done enough: a beef marrow-bone will require from an hour and a half to two hours; serve fresh-toasted bread with them.

Eggs fried with Bacon.—(No. 545.)

Lay some slices of fine streaked bacon (not more than a quarter of an inch thick) in a clean dish, and toast them before the fire in a cheese-toaster, turning them when the upper side is browned; first ask those who are to eat the bacon, if they wish it much or little done, i. e. curled and crisped, see [No. 526], or mellow and soft ([No. 527]): if the latter, parboil it first.

Well-cleansed (see [No. 83]) dripping, or lard, or fresh butter, are the best fats for frying eggs.

Be sure the frying-pan is quite clean; when the fat is hot, break two or three eggs into it; do not turn them, but, while they are frying, keep pouring some of the fat over them with a spoon; when the yelk just begins to look white, which it will in about a couple of minutes, they are done enough; the white must not lose its transparency, but the yelk be seen blushing through it: if they are done nicely, they will look as white and delicate as if they had been poached; take them up with a tin slice, drain the fat from them, trim them neatly, and send them up with the bacon round them.

Ragoût of Eggs and Bacon.—(No. 545*.)

Boil half a dozen eggs for ten minutes; throw them into cold water; peel them and cut them into halves; pound the yelks in a marble mortar, with about an equal quantity of the white meat of dressed fowl, or veal, a little chopped parsley, an anchovy, an eschalot, a quarter of an ounce of butter, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, a little Cayenne, some bread-crumbs, and a very little beaten mace, or allspice; incorporate them well together, and fill the halves of the whites with this mixture; do them over with the yelk of an egg, and brown them in a Dutch oven, and serve them on relishing rashers of bacon or ham, see [No. 527].

For sauce, melted butter, flavoured to the fancy of the eaters, with mushroom catchup, anchovy, curry-powder ([No. 455]), or zest ([No. 255]).

To poach Eggs.—(No. 546.)

The cook who wishes to display her skill in poaching, must endeavour to procure eggs that have been laid a couple of days—those that are quite new-laid are so milky that, take all the care you can, your cooking of them will seldom procure you the praise of being a prime poacher; you must have fresh eggs, or it is equally impossible.

The beauty of a poached egg is for the yelk to be seen blushing through the white, which should only be just sufficiently hardened, to form a transparent veil for the egg.

Have some boiling water[337-*] in a tea-kettle; pass as much of it through a clean cloth as will half fill a stew-pan; break the egg into a cup, and when the water boils, remove the stew-pan from the stove, and gently slip the egg into it; it must stand till the white is set; then put it over a very moderate fire, and as soon as the water boils, the egg is ready; take it up with a slice, and neatly round off the ragged edges of the white; send them up on bread toasted on one side only,[338-*] with or without butter; or without a toast, garnished with streaked bacon (Nos. [526] or [527]), nicely fried, or as done in [No. 545], or slices of broiled beef or mutton ([No. 487]), anchovies (Nos. [434] and [435]), pork sausages ([No. 87]), or spinage ([No. 122]).

Obs.—The bread should be a little larger than the egg, and about a quarter of an inch thick; only just give it a yellow colour: if you toast it brown, it will get a bitter flavour; or moisten it by pouring a little hot water upon it: some sprinkle it with a few drops of vinegar, or of essence of anchovy ([No. 433]).

To boil Eggs to eat in the Shell, or for Salads.—(No. 547.)

The fresher laid the better: put them into boiling water; if you like the white just set,[338-†] about two minutes boiling is enough; a new-laid egg will take a little more; if you wish the yelk to be set, it will take three, and to boil it hard for a salad, ten minutes. See [No. 372].

Obs.—A new-laid egg will require boiling longer than a stale one, by half a minute.

Tin machines for boiling eggs on the breakfast table are sold by the ironmongers, which perform the process very regularly: in four minutes the white is just set.

N.B. “Eggs may be preserved for twelve months, in a sweet and palatable state for eating in the shell, or using for salads, by boiling them for one minute; and when wanted for use let them be boiled in the usual manner: the white may be a little tougher than a new-laid egg, but the yelk will show no difference.”—See Hunter’s Culina, page 257.

Eggs poached with Sauce of minced Ham.—(No. 548.)

Poach the eggs as before directed, and take two or three slices of boiled ham; mince it fine with a gherkin, a morsel of onion, a little parsley, and pepper and salt; stew all together a quarter of an hour; serve up your sauce about half boiling; put the eggs in a dish, squeeze over the juice of half a Seville orange, or lemon, and pour the sauce over them.

Fried Eggs and minced Ham or Bacon.—(No. 549.)

Choose some very fine bacon streaked with a good deal of lean; cut this into very thin slices, and afterward into small square pieces; throw them into a stew-pan, and set it over a gentle fire, that they may lose some of their fat. When as much as will freely come is thus melted from them, lay them on a warm dish. Put into a stew-pan a ladle-full of melted bacon or lard; set it on a stove; put in about a dozen of the small pieces of bacon, then stoop the stew-pan and break in an egg. Manage this carefully, and the egg will presently be done: it will be very round, and the little dice of bacon will stick to it all over, so that it will make a very pretty appearance. Take care the yelks do not harden; when the egg is thus done, lay it carefully in a warm dish, and do the others.

^*_*^* They reckon 685 ways of dressing eggs in the French kitchen: we hope our half dozen receipts give sufficient variety for the English kitchen.

Tea.[339-*]—(No. 550.)

“The Jesuit that came from China, A.D. 1664, told Mr. Waller, that to a drachm of tea they put a pint of water, and frequently take the yelks of two new-laid eggs, and beat them up with as much fine sugar as is sufficient for the tea, and stir all well together. He also informed him, that we let the hot water remain too long soaking upon the tea, which makes it extract into itself the earthy parts of the herb; the water must remain upon it no longer than while you can say the ‘Miserere’ psalm very leisurely; you have then only the spiritual part of the tea, the proportion of which to the water must be about a drachm to a pint.”—Sir Kenelm Digby’s Cookery, London, 1669, page 176.

Obs.—The addition of an egg makes the “Chinese Soup,” a more nutritious and substantial meal for a traveller.

Coffee.[340-*]

Coffee, as used on the Continent, serves the double purpose of an agreeable tonic, and an exhilarating beverage, without the unpleasant effects of wine.

Coffee, as drunk in England, debilitates the stomach, and produces a slight nausea. In France and in Italy it is made strong from the best coffee, and is poured out hot and transparent.

In England it is usually made from bad coffee, served out tepid and muddy, and drowned in a deluge of water, and sometimes deserves the title given it in “the Petition against Coffee,” 4to. 1674, page 4, “a base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking puddle water.”

To make Coffee fit for use, you must employ the German filter,—pay at least 4s. the pound for it,—and take at least an ounce for two breakfast-cups.

No coffee will bear drinking with what is called milk in London.

London people should either take their coffee pure, or put a couple of tea-spoonfuls of cream to each cup.

N.B. The above is a contribution from an intelligent traveller, who has passed some years on the Continent.

Suet Pudding, Wiggy’s way.—(No. 551.)

Suet, a quarter of a pound; flour, three table-spoonfuls; eggs, two; and a little grated ginger; milk, half a pint. Mince the suet as fine as possible, roll it with the rolling-pin so as to mix it well with the flour; beat up the eggs, mix them with the milk, and then mix all together; wet your cloth well in boiling water, flour it, tie it loose, put it into boiling water, and boil it an hour and a quarter.

Mrs. Glasse has it, “when you have made your water boil, then put your pudding into your pot.”

Yorkshire Pudding under roast Meat, the Gipsies’ way.—(No. 552.)

This pudding is an especially excellent accompaniment to a sir-loin of beef,—loin of veal,—or any fat and juicy joint.

Six table-spoonfuls of flour, three eggs, a tea-spoonful of salt, and a pint of milk, so as to make a middling stiff batter, a little stiffer than you would for pancakes; beat it up well, and take care it is not lumpy; put a dish under the meat, and let the drippings drop into it till it is quite hot and well greased; then pour in the batter;—when the upper surface is brown and set, turn it, that both sides may be brown alike: if you wish it to cut firm, and the pudding an inch thick, it will take two hours at a good fire.

N.B. The true Yorkshire pudding is about half an inch thick when done; but it is the fashion in London to make them full twice that thickness.

Plum Pudding.—(No. 553.)

Suet, chopped fine, six ounces; Malaga raisins, stoned, six ounces; currants, nicely washed and picked, eight ounces; bread-crumbs, three ounces; flour, three ounces; eggs, three; sixth of a nutmeg; small blade of mace; same quantity of cinnamon, pounded as fine as possible; half a tea-spoonful of salt; half a pint of milk, or rather less; sugar, four ounces: to which may be added, candied lemon, one ounce; citron, half an ounce. Beat the eggs and spice well together; mix the milk with them by degrees, then the rest of the ingredients; dip a fine close linen cloth into boiling water, and put it in a hair-sieve; flour it a little, and tie it up close; put it into a saucepan containing six quarts of boiling water: keep a kettle of boiling water along side of it, and fill up your pot as it wastes; be sure to keep it boiling six hours at least.

My Pudding.—(No. 554.)

Beat up the yelks and whites of three eggs; strain them through a sieve (to keep out the treddles), and gradually add to them about a quarter of a pint of milk,—stir these well together; rub together in a mortar two ounces of moist sugar, and as much grated nutmeg as will lie on a sixpence,—stir these into the eggs and milk; then put in four ounces of flour, and beat it into a smooth batter; by degrees stir into it seven ounces of suet (minced as fine as possible), and three ounces of bread-crumbs; mix all thoroughly together at least half an hour before you put the pudding into the pot; put it into an earthenware pudding-mould that you have well buttered; tie a pudding-cloth over it very tight; put it into boiling water, and boil it three hours.

Put one good plum into it, and Moost-Aye says, you may then tell the economist that you have made a good plum pudding—without plums: this would be what schoolboys call “mile-stone pudding,” i. e. “a mile between one plum and another.”

N.B. Half a pound of Muscatel raisins cut in half, and added to the above, will make a most admirable plum pudding: a little grated lemon-peel may be added.

Obs.—If the water ceases to boil, the pudding will become heavy, and be spoiled; if properly managed, this and the following will be as fine puddings of the kind as art can produce.

Puddings are best when mixed an hour or two before they are boiled; the ingredients by that means amalgamate, and the whole becomes richer and fuller of flavour, especially if the various articles be thoroughly well stirred together.

A table-spoonful of treacle will give it a rich brown colour. See pudding sauce, [No. 269], and pudding catchup, [No. 446].

N.B. This pudding may be baked in an oven, or under meat, the same as Yorkshire pudding ([No. 552]); make it the same, only add half a pint of milk more: should it be above an inch and a quarter in thickness, it will take full two hours: it requires careful watching, for if the top gets burned, an empyreumatic flavour will pervade the whole of the pudding. Or, butter some tin mince-pie patty-pans, or saucers, and fill them with pudding, and set them in a Dutch oven; they will take about an hour.

Maigre Plum Pudding.

Simmer half a pint of milk with two blades of mace, and a roll of lemon-peel, for ten minutes; then strain it into a basin; set it away to get cold: in the mean time beat three eggs in a basin with three ounces of loaf-sugar, and the third of a nutmeg: then add three ounces of flour; beat it well together, and add the milk by degrees: then put in three ounces of fresh butter broken into small pieces, and three ounces of bread-crumbs; three ounces of currants washed and picked clean, three ounces of raisins stoned and chopped: stir it all well together. Butter a mould; put it in, and tie a cloth tight over it. Boil it two hours and a half. Serve it up with melted butter, two table-spoonfuls of brandy, and a little loaf-sugar.

A Fat Pudding.

Break five eggs in a basin; beat them up with a tea-spoonful of sugar and a table-spoonful of flour; beat it quite smooth; then put to it a pound of raisins, and a pound of suet; it must not be chopped very fine; butter a mould well; put in the pudding; tie a cloth over it tight, and boil it five hours.

N.B. This is very rich, and is commonly called a marrow pudding.

Pease Pudding.—(No. 555.)

Put a quart of split pease into a clean cloth; do not tie them up too close, but leave a little room for them to swell; put them on in cold water, to boil slowly till they are tender: if they are good pease they will be boiled enough in about two hours and a half; rub them through a sieve into a deep dish, adding[343-*] to them an egg or two, an ounce of butter, and some pepper and salt; beat them well together for about ten minutes, when these ingredients are well incorporated together; then flour the cloth well, put the pudding in, and tie it up as tight as possible, and boil it an hour longer. It is as good with boiled beef as it is with boiled pork; and why not with roasted pork?

Obs.—This is a very good accompaniment to cold pork or cold beef.

N.B. Stir this pudding into two quarts of the liquor meat or poultry has been boiled in; give it a boil up, and in five minutes it will make excellent extempore pease soup, especially if the pudding has been boiled in the same pot as the meat (see [No. 218], &c.) Season it with pease powder, [No. 458].

Plain Bread Pudding.—(No. 556.)

Make five ounces of bread-crumbs; put them in a basin; pour three quarters of a pint of boiling milk over them; put a plate over the top to keep in the steam; let it stand twenty minutes, then beat it up quite smooth with two ounces of sugar and a salt-spoonful of nutmeg. Break four eggs on a plate, leaving out one white; beat them well, and add them to the pudding. Stir it all well together, and put it in a mould that has been well buttered and floured; tie a cloth over it, and boil it one hour.

Bread and butter Pudding.—(No. 557.)

You must have a dish that will hold a quart: wash and pick two ounces of currants; strew a few at the bottom of the dish; cut about four layers of very thin bread and butter, and between each layer of bread and butter strew some currants; then break four eggs in a basin, leaving out one white; beat them well, and add four ounces of sugar and a drachm of nutmeg; stir it well together with a pint of new milk; pour it over about ten minutes before you put it in the oven; it will take three quarters of an hour to bake.

Pancakes and Fritters.—(No. 558.)

Break three eggs in a basin; beat them up with a little nutmeg and salt; then put to them four ounces and a half of flour, and a little milk; beat it of a smooth batter; then add by degrees as much milk as will make it of the thickness of good cream: the frying-pan must be about the size of a pudding plate, and very clean, or they will stick; make it hot, and to each pancake put in a bit of butter about as big as a walnut: when it is melted, pour in the batter to cover the bottom of the pan; make them the thickness of half a crown; fry them of a light brown on both sides.

The above will do for apple fritters, by adding one spoonful more of flour; peel your apples, and cut them in thick slices; take out the core, dip them in the batter, and fry them in hot lard; put them on a sieve to drain; dish them neatly, and grate some loaf-sugar over them.

Tansy Pancakes.

The batter for the preceding may be made into tansy pancakes by cutting fine a handful of young green tansy, and beating it into the batter. It gives the cakes a pleasant aromatic flavour, and an agreeable, mild bitter taste. A.

No. 560

The following receipts are from Mr. Henry Osborne, cook to Sir Joseph Banks, the late president of the Royal Society:

Soho Square, April 20, 1820.

Sir,—I send you herewith the last part of the Cook’s Oracle. I have attentively looked over each receipt, and hope they are now correct, and easy to be understood. If you think any need further explanation, Sir Joseph has desired me to wait on you again. I also send the receipts for my ten puddings, and my method of using spring fruit and gourds.

I am, Sir,
Your humble servant,
Henry Osborne.

Boston Apple Pudding.

Peel one dozen and a half of good apples; take out the cores, cut them small, put into a stew-pan that will just hold them, with a little water, a little cinnamon, two cloves, and the peel of a lemon; stew over a slow fire till quite soft, then sweeten with moist sugar, and pass it through a hair sieve; add to it the yelks of four eggs and one white, a quarter of a pound of good butter, half a nutmeg, the peel of a lemon grated, and the juice of one lemon: beat all well together; line the inside of a pie-dish with good puff paste; put in the pudding, and bake half an hour.

Spring Fruit Pudding.

Peel, and well wash four dozen sticks of rhubarb: put into a stew-pan with the pudding a lemon, a little cinnamon, and as much moist sugar as will make it quite sweet; set it over a fire, and reduce it to a marmalade; pass through a hair-sieve, and proceed as directed for the Boston pudding, leaving out the lemon-juice, as the rhubarb will be found sufficiently acid of itself.

Nottingham Pudding.

Peel six good apples; take out the core with the point of a small knife, or an apple corer, if you have one; but be sure to leave the apples whole; fill up where you took the core from with sugar; place them in a pie-dish, and pour over them a nice light batter, prepared as for batter pudding, and bake an hour in a moderate oven.

Butter Pudding.

Take six ounces of fine flour, a little salt, and three eggs; beat up well with a little milk, added by degrees till the batter is quite smooth; make it the thickness of cream; put into a buttered pie-dish, and bake three quarters of an hour; or into a buttered and floured basin, tied over tight with a cloth: boil one and a half hour, or two hours.

Newmarket Pudding.

Put on to boil a pint of good milk, with half a lemon-peel, a little cinnamon, and a bay-leaf; boil gently for five or ten minutes; sweeten with loaf sugar; break the yelks of five, and the whites of three eggs, into a basin; beat them well, and add the milk: beat all well together, and strain through a fine hair-sieve, or tamis: have some bread and butter cut very thin; lay a layer of it in a pie-dish, and then a layer of currants, and so on till the dish is nearly full; then pour the custard over it, and bake half an hour.

Newcastle, or Cabinet Pudding.

Butter a half melon mould, or quart basin, and stick all round with dried cherries, or fine raisins, and fill up with bread and butter, &c. as in the above; and steam it an hour and a half.

Vermicelli Pudding.

Boil a pint of milk, with lemon-peel and cinnamon; sweeten with loaf-sugar; strain through a sieve, and add a quarter of a pound of vermicelli; boil ten minutes; then put in the yelks of five, and the whites of three eggs; mix well together, and steam it one hour and a quarter: the same may be baked half an hour.

Bread Pudding.

Make a pint of bread-crumbs; put them in a stew-pan with as much milk as will cover them, the peel of a lemon, a little nutmeg grated, and a small piece of cinnamon; boil about ten minutes; sweeten with powdered loaf-sugar; take out the cinnamon, and put in four eggs; beat all well together, and bake half an hour, or boil rather more than an hour.

Custard Pudding.

Boil a pint of milk, and a quarter of a pint of good cream; thicken with flour and water made perfectly smooth, till it is stiff enough to bear an egg on it; break in the yelks of five eggs; sweeten with powdered loaf-sugar; grate in a little nutmeg and the peel of a lemon: add half a glass of good brandy; then whip the whites of the five eggs till quite stiff, and mix gently all together: line a pie-dish with good puff paste, and bake half an hour.

N.B. Ground rice, potato flour, panada, and all puddings made from powders, are, or may be, prepared in the same way.

Boiled Custards.

Put a quart of new milk into a stew-pan, with the peel of a lemon cut very thin, a little grated nutmeg, a bay or laurel-leaf, and a small stick of cinnamon; set it over a quick fire, but be careful it does not boil over: when it boils, set it beside the fire, and simmer ten minutes; break the yelks of eight, and the whites of four eggs into a basin; beat them well; then pour in the milk a little at a time, stirring it as quick as possible to prevent the eggs curdling; set it on the fire again, and stir it well with a wooden spoon; let it have just one boil; pass it through a tamis, or fine sieve: when cold, add a little brandy, or white wine, as may be most agreeable to the eater’s palate. Serve up in glasses, or cups.

Custards for baking are prepared as above, passed through a fine sieve; put them into cups; grate a little nutmeg over each: bake them about 15 or 20 minutes.

TO DRESS SPRING FRUIT.

Spring Fruit Soup.

Peel and well wash four dozen sticks of rhubarb; blanch it in water three or four minutes; drain it on a sieve, and put it into a stew-pan, with two onions sliced, a carrot, an ounce of lean ham, and a good bit of butter; let it stew gently over a slow fire till tender; then put in two quarts of good consommé, to which add two or three ounces of bread-crumbs; boil about fifteen minutes; skim off all the fat; season with salt and Cayenne pepper; pass it through a tamis, and serve up with fried bread.

Spring Fruit Pudding.

Clean as above three or four dozen sticks of rhubarb; put it in a stew-pan, with the peel of a lemon, a bit of cinnamon, two cloves, and as much moist sugar as will sweeten it; set it over a fire, and reduce it to a marmalade; pass it through a hair-sieve; then add the peel of a lemon, and half a nutmeg grated, a quarter of a pound of good butter, and the yelks of four eggs and one white, and mix all well together; line a pie-dish, that will just contain it, with good puff paste; put the mixture in, and bake it half an hour.

Spring Fruit—A Mock Gooseberry Sauce for Mackerel, &c.

Make a marmalade of three dozen sticks of rhubarb, sweetened with moist sugar; pass it through a hair-sieve, and serve up in a sauce-boat.

Spring Fruit Tart.

Prepare rhubarb as above: cut it into small pieces into a tart-dish; sweeten with loaf-sugar pounded; cover it with a good short crust paste; sift a little sugar over the top, and bake half an hour in a rather hot oven: serve up cold.

Spring Cream, or mock Gooseberry Fool.

Prepare a marmalade as directed for the pudding: to which add a pint of good thick cream; serve up in glasses, or in a deep dish. If wanted in a shape, dissolve two ounces of isinglass in a little water; strain it through a tamis, and when nearly cold put it to the cream; pour it into a jelly mould, and when set, turn out into a dish, and serve up plain.

Spring Fruit Sherbet.

Boil six or eight sticks of rhubarb (quite clean) ten minutes in a quart of water; strain the liquor through a tamis into a jug, with the peel of a lemon cut very thin, and two table-spoonfuls of clarified sugar; let it stand five or six hours, and it is fit to drink.

Gourds (now called vegetable Marrow) stewed.

Take off all the skin of six or eight gourds, put them into a stew-pan, with water, salt, lemon-juice, and a bit of butter, or fat bacon, and let them stew gently till quite tender, and serve up with a rich Dutch sauce, or any other sauce you please that is piquante.

Gourd Soup,

Should be made of full-grown gourds, but not those that have hard skins; slice three or four, and put them in a stew-pan, 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 pass it through a tamis; then make it quite hot, and serve up with fried bread.

Fried Gourds.

Cut five or six gourds in quarters; take off the skin and pulp; stew them in the same manner as for table: when done, drain them quite dry; beat up an egg, and dip the gourds in it, and cover them well over with bread-crumbs; make some hog’s-lard hot, and fry them a nice light colour; throw a little salt and pepper over them, and serve up quite dry.

Another Way.

Take six or eight small gourds, as near of a size as possible; slice them with a cucumber-slice; dry them in a cloth, and then fry them in very hot lard; throw over a little pepper and salt, and serve up on a napkin. Great attention is requisite to do these well; if the fat is quite hot they are done in a minute, and will soon spoil; if not hot enough, they will eat greasy and tough.

To make Beef, Mutton, or Veal Tea.—(No. 563.)

Cut a pound of lean gravy meat into thin slices; put it into a quart and half a pint of cold water; set it over a very gentle fire, where it will become gradually warm; when the scum rises, let it continue simmering gently for about an hour; then strain it through a fine sieve or a napkin; let it stand ten minutes to settle, and then pour off the clear tea.

N.B. An onion, and a few grains of black pepper, are sometimes added.

If the meat is boiled till it is thoroughly tender, you may mince it and pound it as directed in [No. 503], and make potted beef.

To make half a pint of beef tea in five minutes for three halfpence, see [No. 252].

Mutton Broth for the Sick.—(No. 564.)

Have a pound and a half of a neck or loin of mutton; take off the skin and the fat, and put it into a saucepan; cover it with cold water, (it will take about a quart to a pound of meat,) let it simmer very gently, and skim it well; cover it up, and set it over a moderate fire, where it may stand gently stewing for about an hour; then strain it off. It should be allowed to become cold, when all the greasy particles will float on the surface, and becoming hard, can be easily taken off, and the settlings will remain at the bottom.

See also Nos. [490] and [252].

N.B. We direct the meat to be done no more than just sufficiently to be eaten; so a sick man may have plenty of good broth for nothing; as by this manner of producing it, the meat furnishes also a good family meal.

Obs.—This is an inoffensive nourishment for sick persons, and the only mutton broth that should be given to convalescents, whose constitutions require replenishing with restorative aliment of easy digestion. The common way of making it with roots, onions, sweet herbs, &c. &c. is too strong for weak stomachs. Plain broth will agree with a delicate stomach, when the least addition of other ingredients would immediately offend it.

For the various ways of flavouring broth, see [No. 527].

Few know how much good may be done by such broth, taken in sufficient quantity at the beginning and decline of bowel complaints and fevers; half a pint taken at a time. See the last two pages of the [7th chapter] of the Rudiments of Cookery.

Barley Water.[350-*]—(No. 565.)

Take a couple of ounces of pearl barley, wash it clean with cold water, put it into half a pint of boiling water, and let it boil for five minutes; pour off this water, and add to it two quarts of boiling water: boil it to two pints, and strain it.

The above is simple barley water. To a quart of this is frequently added

• Two ounces of figs, sliced;
• The same of raisins, stoned;
• Half an ounce of liquorice, sliced and bruised;
• And a pint of water.

Boil it till it is reduced to a quart, and strain.

Obs.—These drinks are intended to assuage thirst in ardent fevers and inflammatory disorders, for which plenty of mild diluting liquor is one of the principal remedies: and if not suggested by the medical attendant, is frequently demanded by honest instinct, in terms too plain to be misunderstood: the stomach sympathizes with every fibre of the human frame, and no part of it can be distressed without in some degree offending the stomach: therefore it is of the utmost importance to sooth this grand organ, by rendering every thing we offer to it as elegant and agreeable as the nature of the case will admit of: the barley drink prepared according to the second receipt, will be received with pleasure by the most delicate palate.

Whey.—(No. 566.)

Make a pint of milk boil; put to it a glass or two of white wine; put it on the fire till it just boils again; then set it on one side till the curd has settled; pour off the clear whey, and sweeten it as you like.

Cider is often substituted for wine, or half the quantity of vinegar that we have ordered wine.

Obs.—When there is no fire in the sick room, this may be put hot into a bottle, and laid between the bed and mattress; it will keep warm several hours.

Toothache and anti-rheumatic Embrocation.—(No. 567.)

In no branch of the practice of physic is there more dangerous quackery, than in the dental department.

To all people the toothache is an intolerable torment; not even a philosopher can endure it patiently; what an overcoming agony then must it be to a grand gourmand! besides the mortification of being deprived of the means of enjoying that consolation which he looks to as the grand solace for all sublunary cares.

When this affliction befalls him, we recommend the following specific for it;—

℞ Sal volatile, three parts.
Laudanum, one part.

Mix, and rub the part affected frequently, or if the tooth which aches be hollow, drop some of this on a bit of cotton, and put it into the tooth. For a general faceache, or sore throat, moisten a bit of flannel with it, and put it at night to the part affected.

Stomachic Tincture—(No. 569.)—is

• Peruvian bark, bruised, one ounce and a half.
• Orange-peel, do. one ounce.
• Brandy, or proof spirit, one pint.

Let these ingredients steep for ten days, shaking the bottle every day; let it remain quiet two days, and then decant the clear liquor.

Dose—a tea-spoonful in a wineglass of water, twice a day, when you feel languid, i. e. when the stomach is empty, about an hour before dinner, and in the evening.

This agreeable aromatic tonic is an effective help to concoction; and we are under personal obligations to it, for frequently restoring our stomach to good temper, and procuring us good appetite and good digestion.

In low nervous affections arising from a languid circulation, and when the stomach is in a state of debility from age, intemperance, or other causes, this is a most acceptable restorative.

N.B. Tea made with dried and bruised Seville orange-peel, in the same way as common tea, and drank with milk and sugar, has been taken by nervous and dyspeptic persons with great benefit.

Sucking a bit of dried orange-peel about an hour before dinner, when the stomach is empty, is very grateful and strengthening to it.

Paregoric Elixir.—(No. 570.)

A drachm of purified opium, same of flowers of benjamin, same of oil of aniseed, camphor, two scruples; steep all in a pint of brandy or proof spirit; let it stand ten days, occasionally shaking it up: strain.

A tea-spoonful in half a pint of White wine whey ([No. 562]), tewahdiddle ([No. 467]), or gruel ([No. 572]), taken the last thing at night, is an agreeable and effectual medicine for coughs and colds. It is also excellent for children who have the hooping-cough, in doses of from five to twenty drops in a little water, or on a little bit of sugar.

Dr. Kitchiner’s Receipt to make Gruel.—(No. 572.)

Ask those who are to eat it, if they like it thick or thin; if the latter, mix well together by degrees, in a pint basin, one table-spoonful of oatmeal, with three of cold water; if the former, use two spoonfuls.

Have ready in a stew-pan, a pint of boiling water or milk; pour this by degrees to the oatmeal you have mixed; return it into the stew-pan; set it on the fire, and let it boil for five minutes; stirring it all the time to prevent the oatmeal from burning at the bottom of the stew-pan; skim and strain it through a hair-sieve.

2d. To convert this into caudle, add a little ale, wine, or brandy, with sugar; and if the bowels are disordered, a little nutmeg or ginger, grated.

Obs. Gruel may be made with broth ([No. 490], or [No. 252], or [No. 564]), instead of water; (to make crowdie, see [No. 205*]); and may be flavoured with sweet herbs, soup roots, and savoury spices, by boiling them for a few minutes in the water you are going to make the gruel with; or zest ([No. 255]), pease powder ([No. 458]), or dried mint, mushroom catchup ([No. 409]); or a few grains of curry powder ([No. 455]); or savoury ragoût powder ([No. 457]); or Cayenne ([No. 404]); or celery-seed bruised, or soup herb powder ([No. 459]); or an onion minced very fine and bruised in with the oatmeal; or a little eschalot wine ([No. 402]); or essence of celery (Nos. [409], [413], [417], or [No. 420]), &c.

Plain gruel, such as is directed in the first part of this receipt, is one of the best breakfasts and suppers that we can recommend to the rational epicure; is the most comforting soother of an irritable stomach that we know; and particularly acceptable to it after a hard day’s work of intemperate feasting: when the addition of half an ounce of butter, and a tea-spoonful of Epsom salt, will give it an aperient quality, which will assist the principal viscera to get rid of their burden.

“Water gruel,” says Tryon in his Obs. on Health, 16mo. 1688, p. 42, is “the king of spoon meats,” and “the queen of soups,” and gratifies nature beyond all others.

In the “Art of Thriving,” 1697, p. 8, are directions for preparing fourscore noble and wholesome dishes, upon most of which a man may live excellently well for two-pence a day; the author’s Obs. on water gruel is, that “essence of oatmeal makes a noble and exhilarating meal!”

Dr. Franklin’s favourite breakfast was a good basin of warm gruel, in which there was a small slice of butter, with toasted bread and nutmeg; the expense of this he reckoned at three halfpence.

Scotch Burgoo.—(No. 572*.)

“This humble dish of our northern brethren forms no contemptible article of food. It possesses the grand qualities of salubrity, pleasantness, and cheapness. It is, in fact, a sort of oatmeal hasty pudding without milk; much used by those patterns of combined industry, frugality, and temperance, the Scottish peasantry; and this, among other examples of the economical Scotch, is well worthy of being occasionally adopted by all who have large families and small incomes.”

It is made in the following easy and expeditious manner:—

“To a quart of oatmeal add gradually two quarts of water, so that the whole may smoothly mix: then stirring it continually over the fire, boil it together for a quarter of an hour; after which, take it up, and stir in a little salt and butter, with or without pepper. This quantity will serve a family of five or six persons for a moderate meal.”—Oddy’s Family Receipt Book, p. 204.

Anchovy Toast.—(No. 573.)

Bone and wash the anchovies, pound them in a mortar with a little fresh butter; rub them through a sieve, and spread them on a toast, see Nos. [434] and [435], and [No. 355].

Obs. You may add, while pounding the anchovies, a little made mustard and curry powder ([No. 455]) or a few grains of Cayenne, or a little mace or other spice. It may be made still more savoury, by frying the toast in clarified butter.

Deviled Biscuit,—(No. 574.)

Is the above composition spread on a biscuit warmed before the fire in a Dutch oven, with a sufficient quantity of salt and savoury spice ([No. 457]), zest ([No. 255]), curry powder ([No. 455]), or Cayenne pepper sprinkled over it.

Obs. This ne plus ultra of high spiced relishes, and [No. 538], frequently make their appearance at tavern dinners, when the votaries of Bacchus are determined to vie with each other in sacrificing to the jolly god.

[300-*] This may be still longer preserved by the process directed in [No. 252].

[303-*] Hashes and meats dressed a second time, should only simmer gently till just warm through; it is supposed they have been done very nearly, if not quite enough, already; select those parts of the joint that have been least done.

In making a hash from a leg of mutton, do not destroy the marrow-bone to help the gravy of your hash, to which it will make no perceptible addition; but saw it in two, twist writing-paper round the ends, and send it up on a plate as a side dish, garnished with sprigs of parsley: if it is a roast leg, preserve the end bone, and send it up between the marrow-bones. This is a very pretty luncheon, or supper dish.

[303-†] See “The Court and Kitchen of Elizabeth, commonly called Joan Cromwell,” 16mo. London, 1664, page 106.

[304-*] The “bain-marie,” or water-bath (see [note] to [No. 529*]), is the best utensil to warm up made dishes, and things that have been already sufficiently dressed, as it neither consumes the sauce, nor hardens the meat. If you have not a water-bath a Dutch oven will sometimes supply the place of it.

“Bain-marie is a flat vessel containing boiling water; you put all your stew-pans into the water, and keep that water always very hot, but it must not boil: the effect of this bain-marie is to keep every thing warm without altering either the quantity or the quality, particularly the quality. When I had the honour of serving a nobleman, who kept a very extensive hunting establishment, and the hour of dinner was consequently uncertain, I was in the habit of using bain-marie, as a certain means of preserving the flavour of all my dishes. If you keep your sauce, or broth, or soup, by the fireside, the soup reduces, and becomes too strong, and the sauce thickens as well as reduces. This is the best way of warming turtle, or mock turtle soup, as the thick part is always at the bottom, and this method prevents it from burning, and keeps it always good.”—Ude’s Cookery, page 18.

[306-*] Probably a contraction of “haut ragoût.”

[308-*] The proverb says, “Of all the fowls of the air, commend me to the shin of beef; for there’s marrow for the master, meat for the mistress, gristles for the servants, and bones for the dogs.”

[309-*] The remotest parts of the world were visited, and earth, air, and ocean ransacked, to furnish the complicated delicacies of a Roman supper.

“Suidas tells us, that Pityllus, who had a hot tongue and a cold stomach, in order to gratify the latter without offending the former, made a sheath for his tongue, so that he could swallow his pottage scalding hot; yea, I myself have known a Shropshire gentleman of the like quality!!”—See Dr. Moffat on Food, 4to. 1655.

“In the refined extravagance of the tables of the great, where the culinary arts are pushed to excess, luxury becomes false to itself, and things are valued, not as they are nutritious, or agreeable to the appetite, but in proportion as they are rare, out of season, or costly.”—Cadogan on Gout, 8vo. 1771, p. 48.

[309-†] “Cookery is an art, appreciated by only a very few individuals, and which requires, in addition to a most studious and diligent application, no small share of intellect, and the strictest sobriety and punctuality.”—Preface to Ude’s Cookery, p. 6.

[310-*] This suet is not to be wasted: when it comes from the oven, take out the beef, and strain the contents of the pan through a sieve; let it stand till it is cold; then clarify the fat as directed in [No. 83], and it will do for frying, &c.

[312-*] If you have no broth, put in half a pint of water, thicken it as in the above receipt, and just before you give it the last boil up, add to it a large spoonful of mushroom catchup, and, if you like, the same quantity of port wine.

[313-*] “It must be allowed to muse gently for several hours, inaccessible to the ambient air, and on the even and persevering heat of charcoal in the furnace or stove. After having lulled itself in its own exudations, and the dissolution of its auxiliaries, it may appear at table with a powerful claim to approbation.”—Tabella Cibaria, p. 47.

[313-†] “‘C’est la soupe,’ says one of the best of proverbs, ‘qui fait le soldat.’ ‘It is the soup that makes the soldier.’ Excellent as our troops are in the field, there cannot be a more unquestionable fact, than their immense inferiority to the French in the business of cookery. The English soldier lays his piece of ration beef at once on the coals, by which means the one and the better half is lost, and the other burned to a cinder. Whereas, six French troopers fling their messes into the same pot, and extract a delicious soup, ten times more nutritious than the simple rôti could ever be.”—Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, vol. vii. p. 668.

[314-*] The less gravy or butter, and the more beating, the better will be your potted beef, if you wish it to keep: if for immediate eating, you may put in a larger proportion of gravy or butter, as the meat will pound easier and look and taste more mellow.

[318-*] See receipt to hash mutton, Nos. [360] and [361], and [No. 484].

[320-*] Some cooks make the gravy, &c. in the following manner:—Slice a large onion; fry it brown; drain all fat from it, and put it into a stew-pan with a bunch of sweet herbs, a couple of dozen berries of allspice, same of black pepper, three blades of mace, and a pint and a half of water; cover down close, and boil gently, for half an hour; then strain it through a sieve over the veal, and let it simmer gently for about three hours: about half an hour before it is done, mix two table-spoonfuls of flour in a tea-cupful of cold water; mix some of the gravy with it, and then put it into the stew-pan.

N.B. Three pints of full-grown green pease are sometimes added when the veal is put in.

[323-*] Vulgo, salary.

[324-*] Supposed sorrel.

[324-†] This is by Dr. Bentley thought to be time, or thyme.

[324-‡] Parsley. Vide Chamberlayne.

[324-§] Of this composition, see the works of the copper-farthing dean.

[324-‖] Which we suppose to be near four hours.

[325-*] To boil bacon, see [No. 13].

[325-†] Meat dressed by the heat of boiling water, without being immediately exposed to it, is a mode of cookery that deserves to be more generally employed: it becomes delicately tender, without being over-done, and the whole of the nourishment and gravy is preserved. This, in chemical technicals, is called balneum maris, a water-bath; in culinary, bain-marie; which A. Chapelle, in his “Modern Cook,” 8vo. page 25, London, 1744, translates “Mary’s bath.” See [note] to [No. 485].

Mary Smith, in her “Complete Housekeeper,” 1772, 8vo. pages 105 and 247, translates “Sauce Robert,” ROE-BOAT-SAUCE; an “omelette,” a Hamlet; and gives you a receipt how to make “Soupe à la RAIN!”

[331-*] Rotten cheese toasted is the ne plus ultra of haut goût, and only eatable by the thorough-bred gourmand in the most inverted state of his jaded appetite.

[331-†] The nursery name for bread toasted on one side only.

[337-*] Straining the water is an indispensable precaution, unless you use spring-water.

[338-*] “A couple of poached eggs, with a few fine, dry, fried collops of pure bacon, are not bad for breakfast, or to begin a meal,” says Sir Kenelm Digby, M.D. in his Closet of Cookery, London, 1669, page 167.

[338-†] “The lightest mode of preparing eggs for the table, is to boil them only as long as is necessary to coagulate slightly the greater part of the white, without depriving the yelk of its fluidity.”—Dr. Pearson’s Mat. Alim. 8vo. 1808, p. 36.

[339-*]

VARIOUS WAYS OF MAKING TEA.

1.

“The Japanese reduce their tea to a fine powder by pounding it; they put certain portions of this into a tea-cup, pour boiling water upon it, stir it up, and drink it as soon as it is cool enough.”

2.
“DUBUISSON’S MANNER OF MAKING TEA.

“Put the tea into a kettle with cold water; cover it close, set it on the fire, and make it all but boil; when you see a sort of white scum on the surface, take it from the fire; when the leaves sink it is ready.”

3.

“The night before you wish to have tea ready for drinking, pour on it as much cold water as you wish to make tea; next morning pour off the clear liquor, and when you wish to drink it, make it warm.”

The above are from “L’Art du Limonadier” de Dubuisson, Paris, p. 267, 268. Or,

4.

“A great saving may be made by making a tincture of tea, thus: pour boiling water upon it, and let it stand twenty minutes, putting into each cup no more than is necessary to fill it about one-third full: fill each cup up with hot water from an urn or kettle; thus the tea will be always hot and equally strong to the end, and one tea-spoonful will be found enough for three cups for each person: according to the present mode of making it, three times the quantity is often used.”—See Dr. Trusler’s Way to be Rich and Respectable, 8vo. 1796, page 27.

[Tea should only be made as an infusion,—that is, pouring boiling hot water upon it, and letting it stand a few minutes to draw. A.]

[340-*] See Dr. Houghton on Coffee, in vol. xxi. of the Phil. Trans. page 311.

[The best of coffee is imported into this country, and can be had cheap and good. A.]

[343-*] To increase the bulk and diminish the expense of this pudding, the economical housekeeper, who has a large family to feed, may now add two pounds of potatoes that have been boiled and well mashed. To many this mixture is more agreeable than pease pudding alone. See also [No. 107].

[350-*] Ground barley, or barley-meal, is sold in this city; with which barley-water gruel or a panada may be readily made, for the sick, or for soups. A.

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