ESCHALOT, OR GARLIC VINEGAR.
On from four to six ounces of eschalots or on two of garlic peeled and bruised, pour a quart of the best vinegar; stop the jar or bottle close, and in a fortnight or three weeks the vinegar may be strained off for use: a few drops will give a sufficient flavour to a sauce, or to a tureen of gravy.
Eschalots, 4 to 6 oz.; or, garlic, 2 to 4 oz.; vinegar, 1 quart: 15 to 21 days.
Obs.—These roots may be used in smaller or in larger proportion, as a slighter or a stronger flavour of them is desired, and may remain longer in the vinegar without any detriment to it.
ESCHALOT WINE.
This is a far more useful preparation even than the preceding one, since it can be used to impart the flavour of the eschalot to dishes for which acid is not required. Peel and slice, or bruise, four ounces of eschalots, put them into a bottle, and add to them a pint of sherry; in a fortnight pour off the wine, and should it not be strongly flavoured with the eschalots, steep in it two ounces more, for another fortnight; a half-teaspoonful of cayenne may be added at first. The bottle should be shaken occasionally, while the eschalots are infusing, but should remain undisturbed for the last two or three days, that the wine may be clear when it is poured off to bottle for keeping. Sweet-basil wine is made by steeping the fresh leaves of the herb in wine, from ten to fifteen days.
Eschalots, 4 oz.; sherry, 1 pint: 15 days, or more.
HORSERADISH VINEGAR.
On four ounces of young and freshly-scraped horseradish pour a quart of boiling vinegar, and cover it down closely: it will be ready for use in three or four days, but may remain for weeks, or months, before the vinegar is poured off. An ounce of minced eschalot may be substituted for one of the horseradish, if the flavour be liked.