Chopped Shallots.—Clean the shallots, and, by means of a very sharp knife, cut them lengthwise into thin slices; let these cling together by not allowing the knife to cut quite through them, and, this done, turn them half round and proceed in the same way at right angles to the other cuts.
Finally, cut them laterally, and this will be found to produce very fine and regular, small cubes.
Ciseled Shallots.—The name “[ciseled] shallots” is often erroneously given to those shallots resulting from the above process.
But [ciseled] shallots are merely laterally sliced, the result of which operation is a series of thin, regular discs. [Ciseled] or chopped shallots should, when possible, only be prepared when required; if, however, they must be treated in advance, they should be kept somewhere in the cool until wanted.
[181—SPICES]
Strictly speaking, spices include cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, mace; and the many varieties of peppers and pimenta, cayenne, paprika, &c.
These various condiments are found ready-made on the market, and they need only be kept dry in air-tight boxes in order to prevent the escape of their aroma.
But there is another kind of preparation, in cookery, to which the name of spice or all-spice is more especially given. [75] ]Nowadays several market varieties of this preparation exist, and vie with each other for custom, though in most cases they deserve it equally well.
Formerly this was not so, and every chef had his own formula.
The following is a recipe for the spice in question, which would be found useful if it had to be prepared at a moment’s notice:—