Sorrel Sauce.—Pick from the stalks and wash carefully 2 handfuls of sorrel, drain, and then chop it somewhat coarsely. Melt in a saucepan a pat of butter, mix with it 1 small tablespoonful flour, add the sorrel and ½ pint cream, a little stock, salt, and grated nutmeg; let it come to the boil, and it is ready.
Trout.—(a) Choose small fish, cleanse and wash them, remove the fins, and rub them well over with salt; mix a handful of flour with some salt and pepper, roll the fish over in it, and then fry them in hot fat until of a light brown colour, drain and serve.
(b) Take some rather small trout, remove the insides, cut off the fins, wash them carefully, and sprinkle them with vinegar. Put into a stewpan one pint of stock or broth well freed from fat, ½ pint wine, ¼ pint vinegar, a few slices of onion, some parsley, bay leaf, whole pepper and salt to taste, lay the trout in this and simmer gently, without letting them quite boil, until done. Strain off the sauce, place the fish on a hot dish, garnish with parsley, and serve either with oil and vinegar, or with the following sauce. Melt a small piece of butter in a saucepan, stir into it 1 tablespoonful flour, and add some of the strained sauce from the fish, let it boil, and pour over the trout.
German.—Beer Soup.—Bake to a good dark-brown ½ lb. bread, which has been previously soaked in oiled fresh butter, crumble it up, and add 1½ pint beer, the same quantity of red wine, some thin rind of lemon peel finely chopped, some cinnamon, cloves, and pounded white sugar. Boil the whole up lightly, and serve with some thin slices of bread fried in butter, laid on the top.
Bowle.—The drink one gets in Germany under the name of “bowle” is prepared in several ways, according to the season. In principle it is a simple mixture of wine and some aromatic herb or seasonable fruit, and sweetened to taste, which is sometimes further improved by a slice of orange. Some people add champagne, others, more economically, some effervescing water, additions which are not always improvements. It is best to dissolve the sugar in a little water, and pour it upon the herb or fruit in a suitable receptacle, and then add a light (still) Rhenish or Moselle wine; the latter is preferable. An agreeable variation may be made by using some red wine, perhaps 1 bottle in 4 or 5. This mixture should stand covered until the taste has become pleasingly noticeable, and then, in some cases, the substance used should be removed to avoid the bitter flavour which comes later. The quantities required can only be learnt by experience. The favourite German bowle is the Maibowle, made of Maikraut or Waldmeister (Asperula odorata, woodruff), which is found late in April and May. Strawberries (wild strawberries are better), apricots, peaches, pineapples, crushed or sliced, make delicious drinks. Celery is also used. There are also numerous “essences” and “extracts” in common use, which make one independent of the seasons, but they only indifferently take the place of fresh fruit, with perhaps the exception of the essence of pineapple, which is not bad.
Bretzeln.—Mix 1 large tablespoonful yeast into a good ½ pint warm milk; stir it into 1½ lb. of flour, and beat it well. In another pan beat ½ lb. butter to cream; add to this 2 oz. sifted sugar, 3 eggs, another tablespoonful yeast, and a little salt. Put the dough into this, and beat altogether thoroughly till quite smooth; cut off pieces the size of an egg, roll them into round bars 6-8 in. long, and tapering off at the ends. Lay them on buttered tins, curving them in half circles or new-moon shapes, leaving space between each. Put them by gentle warmth to rise, and when light brush them over with egg; dust sugar over, and bake them a pale brown.
Carnival Krapfen.—Whisk 2 eggs well, add to them 1 oz. sifted sugar, 2 oz. warmed butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of yeast, 1 teacupful lukewarm milk, and a little salt. Whip all well together, then stir in by degrees 1 lb. of flour, and, if requisite, more milk, making thin dough. Beat it until it falls from the spoon, then set it to rise. When it has risen, make butter or lard hot in a frying-pan, cut from the light dough little pieces the size of a walnut, and, without moulding or kneading, fry them pale brown. As they are done, lay them on a napkin to absorb any of the fat.
Cherry Soup.—1 lb. cherries (sour cherries are best in summer, and dry ones in winter), a little spice, a little potato flour or arrowroot, a glass or so of red wine (viz. common claret). Remove the stones from 1 lb. cherries, pour water over them, and stew them with a little spice and cinnamon for about an hour; then rub them through a hair sieve, and let them boil with a little potato flour or arrowroot. Add sugar and red wine (common claret) to taste; a wineglassful is about enough. Serve with sippets of roll or toast.
Chocolate Soup.—3 pints milk, ½ lb. chocolate, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1 teaspoonful potato flour or arrowroot, a little sugar and cinnamon. Break the chocolate into small pieces, and mix it with a little boiling water until it becomes a paste. Boil the milk, and mix it all together with the addition of 1 teaspoonful arrowroot or potato flour. Let it all boil for a minute or so, stirring it the while, and then add sugar and cinnamon to taste. Before serving beat up the yolks of 2 eggs, and put them in the tureen, pouring part of the soup in first while well stirring it, and then adding the rest. Sippets of rusk (toast is not general in Germany, but would do as well) are sometimes sent up in it.
Dicke Milch.—This is merely new milk put into a pie dish or other shallow vessel, and allowed to stand 2-3 days, according to the weather, until it is sour and thick, but not quite so stiff as blanc mange. Only experience can guide one as to the exact stage at which it is ready to use. If left too long, a watery fluid rises to the top. It is eaten with breadcrumbs and sugar.