Mutton Hams.—Select a short, thick, round leg of wether mutton about 14 lb. weight; rub thoroughly for 20-30 minutes with coarse sugar, and let lie 12 hours, turning 3 times; plunge into the following pickle, with what sugar you have on the dish;-½ lb. bay salt, 1 lb. common salt, 1 oz. saltpetre, 2 oz. juniper berries, 1 handful each of thyme and bay leaves, 2 qt. soft water; simmer together one hour, and use lukewarm; let remain in this pickle 3 weeks; take out, but do not wipe; then smoke, but insist on its being turned frequently, sometimes shank upwards, and vice versâ, for a fortnight, in a strong regular fume; when cold, put into a calico bag, and hang up in the kitchen until you want to dress it; then bury it in the bag in a dry garden soil for 20 hours or so; and take care, when it is boiled, to put plenty of bay leaves, thyme, and marjoram into the pot along with it. (Robinson.)
Norfolk Chine.—Select the chine of a 10-score pig; remove rind and superfluous fat, and rub and turn daily for a week in 1 lb. each salt and treacle, and 1 oz. each bay and laurel leaves; then boil 3 qt. water with 1 lb. salt, 1 oz. each crushed juniper berries and shredded bay and laurel leaves, and a handful each of thyme and marjoram; skim, and pour cold over the meat so that it mingles with the first pickle; turn for 3 weeks, wipe dry, and coat with bran and then pea flour; smoke for 14 days with equal proportions dried fern, oak lops, and birch or beech chips; bake and eat cold.
Oysters.—A method of preserving oysters is adopted by the Chinese. The fish are taken from the shells, plunged into boiling water for an instant, and then exposed to the sun till all the moisture is removed. They remain fresh for a long time, and retain their full flavour. Only the fattest can be so treated. Oysters are also largely “canned,” much in the same way as salmon.
Pickled Pork.—Cut into convenient sized pieces and remove principal bones; rub well with saltpetre and then with a mixture of 2 parts bay salt and 1 part common salt; pack in a clean vessel with plenty of salt around the sides and covering the top.
Porker’s Head.—Choose a dairy-fed porker of 7 score; open the head, and remove gullet, tongue, eyes, &c.; wash 5 minutes in salt and water; rub well all over with coarse sugar and sliced onions; let remain in a deep dish 48 hours; boil ½ oz. powdered bay leaves, ¾ oz. saltpetre, 1 lb. bay salt or rock salt, 2 oz. ground allspice, 1 qt. water; skim well, and when cold, pour it over the head in a deep straight-sided earthen vessel; let lie 3 weeks, turning and basting with the pickle every other day; wipe dry, place the tongue in (having meantime cured it as neats’ tongue) and stuff all cavities with onions fried in olive oil or sweet lard, and powdered dried sage; bind the cheeks close together with tape, and smoke 3 weeks with 2 parts beech chips, 2 parts fern, 1 part peat, 1 part oak sawdust; keep in same packing as hams, tongues, &c., for 2 months; bake and eat cold.
Salmon.—The fish are beheaded and cleaned, and cut by a series of knives into the right lengths to fill 1 lb. cans. When these have been filled to within ¼ in. of the top, the covers are put on and soldered. In an air-tight condition, the full cans are passed to the boilers, vats measuring 5 ft. × 4 ft. × 4 ft., where they are steamed for 1 hour. They are then taken out and cooled. A small hole in the centre of each lid, hitherto remaining soldered up, is opened by applying a hot iron, and the air and cooking-gases are allowed to escape. The cans are then instantaneously made air-tight again, and are boiled for two hours in a bath of salted water, the salt being added to raise the boiling-point. They are then left to stand till quite cool.
Salmon, Kippered.—Lay the fish on a board with the tail towards you, and the back to the right hand; insert the knife at the point of the nose, and split down the backbone, or as near to it as possible. Take out the inside and the roe, and scale and wipe the fish perfectly clean; remove the backbone and every particle of blood. When clean, rub in a mixture of equal parts salt, brown sugar, and ground black pepper, about 4 large spoonfuls of each ingredient to a 10 lb. fish. Let the fish remain in the pickle 2-3 days, according to size, turning it every day. Afterwards press it between 2 flat stones in a cool place for 2-3 days more, then sprinkle it with ground pepper, and hang it out in the sun against a wall until dry, with wooden skewers to keep it flat, or it may be hung above the fireplace in the kitchen when it is warm, but not hot. After that it may be smoked for 2 days and nights in the smoke of dried seaweed and oak sawdust, or painted over with pyroligneous acid, or with Smith’s Cambrian essence.
Salmon, Pickled.—Take a good salmon; cut it across in 2 or 3 pieces without splitting it; wash carefully and boil in pickle made with coarse salt and spring water strong enough to float an egg. The fish must be put down in cold pickle, and allowed very slowly to boil till it begins to separate from the bone, keeping it well skimmed all the while. Put the fish on a table to drain, and when cold pack it in a crock or keg as closely as possible without breaking the pieces, sprinkling a small quantity of powdered saltpetre, a little salt, and some bay leaves on each layer. Then cover with a pickle made thus: 1 qt. vinegar, 3 pints spring water, ¼ lb. lump sugar, 16 drops oil of cloves. This pickle will preserve any kind of fish fit for pickling, and is particularly good for oysters. These should be boiled slowly before put in it.
Sardines.—The beheaded and cleaned fish are spread upon sieves, and plunged for 1 or 2 minutes beneath the surface of boiling oil in coppers. After draining a little, the fish are packed closely in tin boxes, which are filled up with pure cold oil, and soldered. The quality deteriorates with every immersion, owing to the matters disengaged by the boiling oil, and the coppers need frequent replenishing with oil.