- Salt, an ounce,
- Mustard, half an ounce,
- Allspice,[288-*] a quarter of an ounce,
- Black pepper ground, and lemon-peel grated, or of [No. 407], pounded and sifted fine, half an ounce each,
- Ginger, and
- Nutmeg grated, a quarter of an ounce each,
- Cayenne pepper, two drachms.
Pound them patiently, and pass them through a fine hair-sieve; bottle them for use. The above articles will pound easier and finer, if they are dried first in a Dutch oven[288-†] before a very gentle fire, at a good distance from it; if you give them much heat, the fine flavour of them will be presently evaporated, and they will soon get a strong, rank, empyreumatic taste.
N.B. Infused in a quart of vinegar or wine, they make a savoury relish for soups, sauces, &c.
Obs. The spices in a ragoût are indispensable to give it a flavour, but not a predominant one; their presence should be rather supposed than perceived; they are the invisible spirit of good cookery: indeed, a cook without spice would be as much at a loss as a confectioner without sugar: a happy mixture of them, and proportion to each other and the other ingredients, is the “chef-d’œuvre” of a first-rate cook.
The art of combining spices, &c., which may be termed the “harmony of flavours,” no one hitherto has attempted to teach: and “the rule of thumb” is the only guide that experienced cooks have heretofore given for the assistance of the novice in the (till now, in these pages explained, and rendered, we hope, perfectly intelligible to the humblest capacity) occult art of cookery. This is the first time receipts in cookery have been given accurately by weight or measure!!!
(See Obs. on “the education of a cook’s tongue,” pages [52] and [53].)
Pease Powder.—(No. 458.)
Pound together in a marble mortar half an ounce each of dried mint and sage, a drachm of celery-seed, and a quarter of a drachm of Cayenne pepper; rub them through a fine sieve. This gives a very savoury relish to pease soup, and to water gruel, which, by its help, if the eater of it has not the most lively imagination, he may fancy he is sipping good pease soup.
Obs.—A drachm of allspice, or black pepper, may be pounded with the above as an addition, or instead of, the Cayenne.