Wash half a peck of large mushrooms while quite fresh, and free them from grit and dirt with flannel. Scrape out the black part clean, and do not use any that are wormeaten: put them into a stewpan over the fire without water, with two large onions, some cloves, a quarter of an ounce of mace, and two spoonfuls of white pepper, all in powder. Simmer and shake them till all the liquor be dried up, but be careful they do not burn. Lay them on tins or sieves in a slow oven, till they are dry enough to beat to powder; then put the powder in small bottles, corked and tied closely, and keep in a dry place.
A teaspoonful will give a very fine flavour to any soup or gravy, or any sauce; and it is to be added just before serving, and one boil given to it after it is put in.
To dry Mushrooms.
Wipe them clean; and of the large take out the brown, and peel off the skin. Lay them on paper to dry in a cool oven, and keep them in paper bags in a dry place. When used, simmer them in the gravy, and they will swell to near their former size. To simmer them in their own liquor till it dry up into them, shaking the pan, then drying on tin plates, is a good way, with spice or not, as above, before made into powder.
Tie down with bladder, and keep in a dry place, or in paper.
Sugar Vinegar.
To every gallon of water, put two pounds of the very coarsest sugar: boil and skim thoroughly; then put one quart of cold water for every gallon of hot. When cool, put into it a toast spread with yeast. Stir it nine days; then barrel, and set it in a place where the sun will lie on it, with a bit of slate on the bunghole.
When sufficiently sour, it may be bottled: or may be used from the cask, with a wooden spigot and faucet.
Gooseberry Vinegar.
Boil spring water; and when cold, put to every three quarts, a quart of bruised ripe gooseberries in a large tub. Let them remain sixty hours, stirring often: then strain through a hair bag, and to each gallon of liquor add a pound of the coarsest sugar. Put it into a barrel, and a toast and yeast, cover the bunghole with a bit of slate, &c. as above. The greater quantity of sugar and fruit, the stronger the vinegar.