In conclusion, I will say that I find Worcester sauce my greatest reliance in devilling bones, in making that thoroughly delightful dish—a devilled shoulder-bone of either mutton or lamb, or, indeed, where anything in the way of meat is concerned. I do not shake the bottle; but that is a matter of individual taste. I have tried Harvey sauce, which also answers; but we at home prefer the former.
Tomato sauce is very excellent for some things—like pork—and is also good with veal; but you cannot mix other sauces with it. And, unless very very sour, I would counsel you to avoid the sugar so freely recommended in most books on cookery.
And I had nearly omitted to mention a very important item, viz., devilled biscuits, which are so much enjoyed by many people. These are done either dry or buttered. What are called American toast biscuits, or soda biscuits in America, are the nicest; but they need a light hand, as they break easily. Dip them twice into warm water, then pepper them with cayenne pepper, and bake till quite crisp in a slow oven. Serve hot in a toast-rack.
In the other way, you must knead together an ounce and a half of butter, a saltspoonful of cayenne, and a saltspoonful of flour of mustard. Dip the biscuits twice into warm milk, spread them with the mixture, and bake in a slow oven till crisp. Serve very hot.
VARIETIES.
Lotteries in Great Britain.
In the close of last century and the beginning of this the lottery system prevailed in Great Britain to a surprising extent. From 1785 to 1823 there was a Lottery Act every year which brought in the State over a quarter of a million a year.
Independent of the State lotteries there were lotteries for houses and lands, jewels and plate, merchandise and ships, and even advowsons and presentations. Tailors advertised their business by means of lotteries; so did hatters and glovers. Even the bootblacks gave away coupons, entitling their customers to a share in lotteries. A plate of meat at an eating house gave the purchaser a chance of sixty guineas. Threepennyworth of oysters included a ticket in a five guinea lottery. Even a sausage stall had a lottery attached, offering the chance of a five shilling prize to every one who ate a farthing’s worth of sausages.
The whole system—and a demoralising one it was—had an end put to it by the Lottery Act of 1823.