Mode.—Mustard should be mixed with water that has been boiled and allowed to cool; hot water destroys its essential properties, and raw cold water might cause it to ferment. Put the mustard in a cup, with a small pinch of salt, and mix with it very gradually sufficient boiled water to make it drop from the spoon without being watery. Stir and mix well, and rub the lumps well down with the back of a spoon, as well-mixed mustard should be perfectly free from these. The mustard-pot should not be more than half full, or rather less if it will not be used in a day or two, as it is so much better when freshly mixed.
TARTAR MUSTARD.
481. INGREDIENTS.—Horseradish vinegar, cayenne, 1/2 a teacupful of mustard.
Mode.—Have ready sufficient horseradish vinegar to mix with the above proportion of mustard; put the mustard in a cup, with a slight seasoning of cayenne; mix it perfectly smooth with the vinegar, adding this a little at a time; rub down with the back of a spoon any lumps that may appear, and do not let it be too thin. Mustard may be flavoured in various ways, with Tarragon, shalot, celery, and many other vinegars, herbs, spices, &c.; but this is more customary in France than in England, as there it is merely considered a "vehicle of flavours," as it has been termed.
PICKLED NASTURTIUMS (a very good Substitute for Capers)
482. INGREDIENTS.—To each pint of vinegar, 1 oz. of salt, 6 peppercorns, nasturtiums.
Mode.—Gather the nasturtium-pods on a dry day, and wipe them clean with a cloth; put them in a dry glass bottle, with vinegar, salt, and pepper in the above proportion. If you cannot find enough ripe to fill a bottle, cork up what you have got until you have some more fit: they may be added from day to day. Bung up the bottles, and seal or rosin the tops. They will be fit for use in 10 or 12 months; and the best way is to make them one season for the next.
Seasonable.—Look for nasturtium-pods from the end of July to the end of August.
[Illustration: NASTURTIUMS.]
NASTURTIUMS.—The elegant nasturtium-plant, called by naturalists Tropoeolum, and which sometimes goes by the name of Indian cress, came originally from Peru, but was easily made to grow in these islands. Its young leaves and flowers are of a slightly hot nature, and many consider them a good adjunct to salads, to which they certainly add a pretty appearance. When the beautiful blossoms, which may be employed with great effect in garnishing dishes, are off, then the fruit is used as described in the above recipe.