La cuisine creole

by Lafcadio Hearn

MYRTLE ORANGE PRESERVE, OR HOME-MADE LIMES

Pluck the oranges before they turn yellow; they should be a rich dark green; cut a hole in the stem end and take out all the white pulp and seeds; scrape them carefully, grate the rind so as to break the oil cells, and allow the strong oil to escape. Wash them and throw them into strong salt and water; let them stay in it for three days, then soak them in fresh water three days. When you wish to preserve them you must boil them in clear water, slowly, in a brass kettle; cover them with a few orange leaves while boiling, which will green them, and boil until they are tender, then set them up to cool. Weigh as much sugar as you have oranges, and allow pound for pound; boil the syrup clear and then put in the oranges; boil gently for half an hour, or until green and yellow. Use only a silver spoon in making this preserve.

TO MAKE WATERMELON PRESERVES

Take the firm outside rind of the watermelon; scrape off the green and cut out the soft inside; cut the rind into any shapes you choose, stars, crescents, diamonds, etc. After they have been boiled in alum and leaves to green and harden, weigh them and make a syrup of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, with a cup of water to each pound. Boil the syrup clear, and put in the cut rinds, and boil them until transparent. Flavor with ginger for green color, and lemons for the yellow. If the rind is wanted yellow you must boil it with fresh lemon skins and a little saffron before preserving it.

ANOTHER WATERMELON RIND PRESERVE

In a bucket of cold water, put a handful of lime, stir it in, and when it settles clear, pour it over the watermelon rind you intend preserving; let it stay in the weak lime-water one day. Soak it a few hours, and get the taste of the lime from the rind, then put it in alum water and scald for ten minutes. Put grape-leaves in with the alum water while scalding; they will make the rind green. Take the rind from the alum, and put it in cold water for a few hours, and when cold, boil it in strong ginger tea until it is soft, and tastes of the ginger. Make the syrup of one and a half pounds of sugar to each pound of rind, and a half pint of water to each pound of sugar. Let it cook slowly, skim it, and when it looks clear, put in the rind, and let it cook slowly until clear and transparent. The rind should be cut into beautiful shapes, and preserved with care. This is a little trouble; but the housekeeper is amply repaid by the beauty of the preserve.

TO MAKE ANY KIND OF FRUIT JELLY

Wash and drain the fruit, put it in a stone jar, and put the jar into a kettle of water over the fire; let it boil, but see that none of the water gets into the fruit. When the fruit is tender, it will begin to break; pour it now into a flannel bag, but do not squeeze it—that will make the jelly cloudy. To each pint of juice strained, add one pound, or one pound and a quarter of white sugar, and the half of the beaten white of an egg. Boil this rapidly, skim, but do not stir the syrup, as stirring breaks its continuity and prevents its jellying. Boil it twenty minutes, and try a little in some cold water, to find out if it jellies; if it does not, boil it a little longer. Too much boiling, or too slow boiling, injures jelly and makes it ropy. Too much sugar will cause jelly to grain; the quantity used must be in accordance with the requirements of the fruit, acid fruit requiring more sugar and dead ripe fruit less. Red currants take more sugar than black currants; they also take more time to boil to a jelly. A little practice and a few mistakes will make anyone who takes pleasure in cooking a good jelly-maker and preserver.

CRAB APPLE JELLY

This is the best of all apple jellies. Wash the apples, cut them up, remove all defects, remove the seeds and the blossom end; but do not pare them. Lay them in your preserving-kettle, and cover them with water; then boil them until they are soft, but do not let them mash up from too much boiling. Drain off all the water, and mash the apples with the back of a silver spoon. Put this in a jelly bag, and place a deep dish under it to collect the juice. To every pint of the juice allow a pint of loaf sugar; boil it and skim it. It will be ready to dip out into tumblers in half an hour, if you have complied with these directions. Always dip jelly out with a silver spoon, as any other kind darkens fruit. I have seen preserves rendered very dark by putting in them a new-tinned dipper. You must be careful of these things if you desire your confections to be elegant.