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.
Dingy Pudding.—Stir together the yolks of 4 eggs, 2 oz. sugar, and 1½ oz. almonds, sliced in their peel. Then stir in 2 oz. grated chocolate, 2 teaspoonfuls grated brown bread, soaked in red wine, 2 oz. currants, ½ teaspoonful allspice or 6 pounded cloves, and add the egg whites whisked to a snow. Steam the pudding in a covered mould, and serve with chocolate sauce poured over. Allow 1½ hour to steam.
Dresdener Torte.—Take ½ lb. butter, and beat it with 4 eggs and 5 yolks for ½ hour; put in after you have beaten it 8 oz. castor sugar, 3 spoonfuls cream, ½ lb. fine flour, 1 spoonful white wine, the rind of a grated lemon; beat it well together, fill the whole in a buttered form, and bake it for ¾ hour.
Egg Dumplings.—Beat 2 oz. butter to a cream, and stir in the yolks of 3 eggs, with 1 oz. powdered sugar; mix 2 tablespoonfuls good yeast with 1 teacupful lukewarm milk; add this to the above. Having warmed 1 lb. fine flour, stir this in by degrees; the mass should be as thick as a light bread dough. Beat it well and set it to rise; then dredge a paste-board with plenty of flour. Form, with light handling, egg-sized rolls, and set them to rise a second time on the board. Put 2 oz. butter and the same of loaf sugar in a stewpan, with milk enough to cover the bottom nearly 1 in. deep; let this boil by the time the dough has risen; place carefully in the stewpan as many as it will hold without crowding. Bake them in the oven or over a clear fire, with red coals on the lid: ½ hour should bake them sufficiently.
Flummery.—Dissolve 1 oz. isinglass in 1 pint boiling water, let it stand 2 hours, pour it into a saucepan with ¼ lb. sugar, the juice and peel of a lemon, and the yolks of 4 eggs; set it on the fire, and keep stirring till it boils; strain it through a flannel bag, and when almost cold pour it into the mould, which must be dipped in cold water before you fill it.
Fricadel.—Take 1 lb. uncooked lean veal and ½ lb. lean ham, mince both finely with a small bunch of parsley, lemon thyme, and lemon peel, add a little grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoonful salt, half that quantity of white pepper, and a pinch of cayenne; mix well with the above 4 oz. good butter and 5 oz. biscuit powder, beat 4 eggs well, add to them 1 teacup cold water, and stir these to the other ingredients; when thoroughly mixedtake your baking pan, and mould your fricadel in the centre of it to a flat round or oval shape, cover it with biscuit powder, put some butter in the pan to baste it with, and cook it until of a nice golden brown, either in an oven or before the fire. When nearly done, put 2-3 tablespoonfuls thick cream in the pan and baste the fricadel with it; when done, which will be in about ¾ hour, lift it with 2 egg slices carefully on to the dish you will serve it on, and surround it with a thick rich brown gravy. Thick captain’s biscuits are best for the biscuit powder.
Frothed Milk Soup.—Pound 6 bitter almonds and boil them in 2 qt. milk, or, instead of the almonds, use half a stick of vanilla; add sugar to taste, and a little salt. Beat separately 4 eggs; the whites must be whisked to a stiff froth, then mixed with the yolks. Let the milk just cease boiling, and whisk in the eggs till it froths well, but not over the fire or the eggs will curdle. Serve with small sponge biscuits.
Frothed Wine Soup.—Beat 4 eggs and the yolks of 4 others in a stewpan; add 4-6 oz. sugar, ½ pint water, the grated peel and rind of a lemon, and a bottle of white wine; place it over a slow fire, and whisk it continually till quite frothy and on the point of boiling, but no further; serve as soon as it is ready, or the froth will subside; hand sponge or other light cake with it.
Groat Pudding.—Boil raspberries or red currants, press and strain the juice. To 1 pint this add 1 pint red wine, and set it on the fire with ample sugar to sweeten. When it boils sprinkle in ¼ lb. coarsely-ground corn, barley, or groats; stir this till it thickens and is done, then put it into a wetted mould; when quite cold, turn it out on a dish. Any fruit sauce may be poured over it. The same red pudding may be made with rice, nudels, or sago. It should turn out of the mould in a jelly, but not too stiff.
Grütze.—(a) As made in Hamburg and Norway, 3½ lb. red currant juice, 3 pints water, sugarad lib., flavouring of almonds or cinnamon 1 oz. Set this mixture on the fire, and when it boils add 1 lb. sago or 1¼ lb. ground rice; boil for ¼ hour, stirring frequently. Pour into moulds to cool. Should be eaten in soup plates with sifted sugar and milk. Any acid fruit-juice will do as well.
(b) 2 lb. red currants, ½ lb. raspberries, boiled in 1½ pint water; when quite soft pass through a sieve; make this juice quite boil; add ¾ lb. sago well soaked in water; let it boil ¼ hour, stirring it all the time. Wet a mould with cold water, pour in, and when cold turn it out. To be eaten with milk, cream, or custard. Any other fruit or preserve will do.
Gulasch.—Cut a tender piece of steak into quite small pieces, lay them in a deep frying-pan, with a little bacon, some slices of onion, a little pepper and salt, and fry them in butter till the gravy looks brown; then add a little lemon juice, a small quantity of water, and a wineglassful of wine if liked; cover the pan, and let the contents simmer till the meat is quite done.
Honigküchen.—1 lb. honey, 1 lb. flour, ¼ lb. butter, ¼ lb. almonds pounded coarsely, 1 dr. pounded cloves, the grated peel of a lemon, and ½ oz. soda carbonate dissolved in water. Let the honey and butter come to a boil over the fire, take this off, and in a few minutes stir in the flour and spice by degrees, then the almonds, and lastly the soda. Let the mass stand all night in a cool place, In the morning roll it ½ in. thick, cut it into little square cakes, put ½ almond in each corner, and a slice of peel in the middle. Bake them in a moderate oven a pale brown.
Knödeln.—(a) Beat ¼ lb. butter to a cream, beat 3 eggs to a froth, and add gradually to the butter; then add about 2 breakfastcupfuls breadcrumbs; mix and make into balls the size of a walnut. Perhaps salt ought to be added. In clear soup they are excellent.
(b) Mash 3 or 4 large potatoes smoothly with 1 large tablespoonful flour, mix with 1 well-beaten egg; make into balls the size of a walnut, and boil. These are served with meat in the place of other vegetables, or baked.
Köche (Moulds).—We have no suitable term for this sort of dish in English. Sponge pudding is the nearest, but this does not do it justice; nor is custard right. We must therefore call it a mould.
(a) Bread.—Stir well together the yolks of 6 eggs and 3 oz. powdered sugar, mix in 2 oz. grated bread, any approved flavouring of spice or grated lemon peel, and the whites of 4 eggs whisked to a stiff snow, stirred lightly in at last; have a mould well buttered, sprinkle in it some finely shred blanched almonds, and lay here and there a thin slice of candied peel; put the mass into the mould and steam it with care; boil sugar to a thread height and pour it over when the köche is turned out of the mould. Serve it without delay.
(b) Chestnut.—Stir 2 oz. butter with 3 oz. sugar, the yolks of 6 eggs, and 4 bitter almonds pounded fine. Have chestnuts boiled and pounded smooth or grated; add ¼ lb. these, and then stir in the whites of 4 eggs whisked to a snow. Steam the mass in a well-buttered mould; when turned out serve with any approved sauce.
Kräplen.—1 pint milk, 2 lb. flour, 2 oz. fresh butter, 5 eggs, 1 tablespoonful pounded sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls rosewater, 2 tablespoonfuls good yeast, and a good pinch of salt. These ingredients must be mixed in the following manner. Having warmed the milk just lukewarm, stir in the flour, working it as dry as possible. The butter should be placed in a cup near the fire till warm, and then pour it on to the dough, and work it well in; then beat up the eggs, and pour them little by little on to the dough, kneading it well all the time. Lastly, mix in the sugar, salt, rosewater, and yeast, and beat it well together until you see blisters coming in it. Now divide it in pieces about the size of 2 fingers and ½ in. thick. Let these stand in a warm place until they have well risen, and then bake them on buttered tins till they are of a rich golden colour, and, while warm, sprinkle well with white sugar and grated cinnamon, if the flavouring is not objected to.
Lebkuchen.—1 pint honey, ¾ lb. sugar, 1½ lb. fine flour, ¼ lb. almonds in the skins, each one sliced into 4 or 5, ½ lb. mixed candied peel sliced and cut up ½ in. long, the peel of a lemon cut very small, ½ oz. powdered cinnamon, 1 dr. powdered cloves, ½ nutmeg grated, a small glass of rum, and 1 saltspoonful carbonate soda. Put the honey and sugar in a stewpan over the fire, and when it boils up throw in the almonds; let them simmer 5 minutes, then take the pan from the fire, put in the spice and peel. Let it cool a little, then stir in the soda, next the rum, and lastly work in the flour. While this dough is still warm roll it out as thin as possible; cut oblong pieces, about 4 in. long and 2 broad; lay them nearly close together on buttered or well-floured tins, and let them remain all night in a cool place. Bake them next day, after the bread in a baker’s oven. They must not be done brown. As soon as they are taken out, draw a knife across the tins to divide them in the pieces above described, and when cold break them apart. Boil some moist sugar in a little water till it will draw into threads, glaze them on one side with this, and let them dry.
Marzipan.—Blanch, and then pound very fine 1 lb. sweet and a few bitter almonds, adding a few spoonfuls of rosewater; put the almond paste in a stewpan with 1 lb. powdered sugar, and stir over the fire till a smooth paste is obtained, which will not stick to the finger when touched. Turn it out on to a pasteboard well strewn with powdered sugar; roll out the paste, divide it into cakes of any shape you like, and put them on sheets of paper on the baking sheet well sprinkled with sugar; bake in a slow oven until of a pale yellow colour.
Marien Cakes.—To 1 lb. flour add ½ lb. butter, 10 oz. sugar, 6 eggs, the rind of a lemon finely grated, and a little nutmeg and cinnamon. These must be well worked into a rather stiff paste, and cut into round cakes after being rolled out nearly 1 in. thick. These must be placed on tins for baking after being ornamented on the top with currants and pieces of sweet almonds cut small.
Monastery Wine Soup.—Boil ¼ lb. rice in 1½ pint water until quite soft, and with itthe thin yellow rind of a lemon; add by degrees a bottle of any white wine; sweeten with 3-4 oz. sugar, and whisk in the yolks of 4 eggs when ready to serve.
Neun-loth Pudding.—This favourite pudding is made as follows:—Stir ½ pint milk into 4½ oz. fine flour and 4½ oz. powdered loaf sugar. Put into a stewpan 4½ oz. butter and ½ pint milk. When this is hot and the butter melted, stir in the other milk and flour; keep the mixture stirred over the fire till it boils and thickens, then turn it out in a pan to cool. Stir in the yolks of 9 eggs, 4½ oz. almonds blanched and pounded, and, lastly, the 9 egg-whites whisked to a stiff snow. Stir all briskly together, butter a mould or basin, fill it, and boil the pudding 1½ hour. The water must not cease boiling. Serve arrack sauce or white wine sauce with it.
Nudels.-These are home-made maccaroni, and serve all the purposes for which it is used in Italy. They may be appropriated to any sweet dishes by first boiling them soft in milk or water 10-20 minutes, and then mixing them with eggs, sugar, spice, preserves, &c. A straight rolling-pin and a smooth pasteboard are indispensable in the manufacture of nudels. For nudel paste, beat 2 eggs, work into them by degrees as much flour as they will take, and knead them into a smooth, stiff dough. Cut this into 4 or 6 parts, make a ball of each, and roll it out as thin as possible; indeed, it cannot be too thin, for perfection is only gained when it is thin enough for one to be able to read through it. Lay each cake on a napkin as it is finished. They will resemble fine chamois leather. By the time you have rolled out the last cake, the first one will be dry enough to cut as follows: Divide the cake into quarters by cutting straight across each way. Lay the pieces one on the other, with their inner edges equal, and begin cutting them with a sharp knife into strips as narrow as twine; indeed as thread-like as you can to the end. Then scatter them apart to dry, and proceed in turn with the other cakes. When you have rolled out one of the little balls to its full tension, turn in an edge, roll it up tightly, and thus cut it into little rings, which will open when thrown into the boiling soup or water. Little stars, &c., may be stamped out with very small tin cutters. The cakes may be laid one on the other for cutting, and may be cut finer and quicker by using an ordinary ruler, as for ruling lines nearly close together. When allowed to dry well, they will keep any length of time in paper bags or tin canisters. A variety may also be made by cutting the paste into tape widths like ordinary macaroni. If preferred perfectly white, use only the whites of eggs in mixing the paste. Be careful to keep the paste-board constantly dredged with dry flour while rolling out the nudels.
Parsnip Pudding.—Wash and scrape 2 or 3 parsnips, and boil them in milk or water till tender. Mash or pound them smooth, stir in a piece of butter warmed, and sugar, lemon, or cinnamon to taste. Mix in 3 or 4 well-beaten eggs, according to the size of the pudding, and a small glass of rum or brandy. Put it in a buttered dish, strew crumbs over, put little lumps of butter on the top, and bake it in a moderate oven; or butter a mould, strew it with crumbs thickly, and boil it. Serve with pudding sauce.
Plinsen.—These are much the same as our pancakes, only there are more varieties, both in the batter used and the method of treating the pancakes after being fried. 4 tablespoonfuls flour, 4 eggs, 2 oz. warmed butter, a little salt, 1 tablespoonful sugar, and ½ pint cream or lukewarm milk enough to make a thin batter; stir this well. Fry pancakes, exceedingly thin, a pale brown on both sides. Lay one on the other, with sugar and cinnamon, or other spice, between. Strew sugar plentifully over the top one, and glaze it with a salamander or other red-hot iron. For fruit, to the above batter add 2 oz. currants, well washed in hot water, and ½ lemon peel grated. Use very little butter or lard in frying the plinsen. Spread over each one a thin layer of preserved or stewed fruit. Roll them up. Lay them close together in a dish, sift sugar and cinnamon over, and serve with sweet sauce.
Sago Wine Soup.—First wash the sago, and then boil for an hour in plenty of water, a pinch of salt, some cinnamon and rind of lemon. By this time the water should be reduced by one half. Fill up with red wine, add some slices of lemon, and sugar tosweeten. Let it come to the boil once more, and when serving the soup sprinkle it with powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Salsenaugen.—Make a dough of 6 oz. flour, 4 oz. butter, 4 oz. sugar flavoured with vanilla or lemon, 4 hard-boiled yolks of eggs, and 2 oz. pounded almonds. Knead it out as thick as a finger, stamp it with cutters into leaves and rings, and pile them up; wash them over with the white of egg in a snow and strew them thickly with sugar. Then sprinkle with water, and bake, after which put a jelly in the centre.
Sand-torte.—Take ¼ lb. butter, ¼ lb. sugar, grate the rind of lemon, and beat it well for ½ hour. Mix in 2 eggs, and 2 yolks one after the other, with ¼ lb. fine flour; beat it well together, and fill the whole in a buttered form; strew some finely cut almonds on the top, and bake it for 1 hour.
Sauerbraten.—One of the great national dishes of Germany is sauerbraten. Lay a piece of beef in a deep dish and pour a cup of vinegar over it. Let it remain in this 2-4 days, turning and basting it every day. To prepare for cooking wipe it dry; cut strips of fat bacon the size of a little finger; roll them in a mixed seasoning of salt, pepper, and pounded cloves. Make holes in the meat with a large skewer, and put in the pieces of bacon. Make butter hot in an iron pot or stewpan just large enough; put in the beef and set it over a brisk fire, letting the steam escape to hasten the browning; dredge it with flour, and turn it when one side is brown. When the meat is nicely coloured add about 1 pint water, 2 carrots, quartered lengthwise, a large onion or two sliced, 2 or 3 bay leaves, 1 teaspoonful whole pepper, a blade of mace, ¼ lemon peel, and a good sprinkling of salt. Cover closely, and let it steam slowly 2-3 hours, adding a little water when necessary. At serving time take up the meat, and keep it hot while you skim the fat off and strain the gravy. The unbroken carrots may be laid round the meat. Add lemon juice or vinegar if the sauce requires more acid; thicken with flour, give it a boil up, pour a little over the meat, and serve the rest in a sauceboat.
Schmarn Batter.-½ lb. flour, the yolks of 4 eggs, a little salt, sugar, either nutmeg or grated lemon, and cream or milk enough to give a rather thick batter; must be briskly and well stirred. Then add the whites of the eggs, whisked to a snow; about 2 oz. butter must be made quite hot in a stewpan, and into this pour the batter over a brisk fire. Cover, and let it remain till a nice brown crust has formed at the bottom, of not too dark a colour. As soon as this incrusting takes place, break up the schmarn with a little iron spatula or fork, and let it set and brown again; then break it up smaller by tearing it lightly apart, and serve it without delay. If salad is to be served with schmarn, leave out any flavouring of nutmeg, &c., if disapproved of, as also the sugar. To the above schmarn either cream, stewed prunes, or fruit syrup may be added at table.
Schmarollen.—Let a pint of new milk boil, stir in 1 oz. sugar with flour enough to thicken it; boil until the mixture no longer hangs to the sides of the pan, then turn it out and when cool stir in 4 well-beaten eggs. Have 1½ pint milk boiling in a stewpan, and with a spoon dipped each time in water, cut klösse out of the mass, and simmer them in the milk a few minutes. Turn all into a dish, cut 2 oz. butter over them, and bake it a pale brown in a quick oven.
Spatzen.—Stir flour into cold water or milk, with a little salt, to make a thick batter, beat it well with a wooden spoon; drop little flakes or buttons into boiling water. This is easiest done by putting some of the batter on a trencher or flat plate and flaking it quickly off into the pot with a knife, dipped constantly in the water. Boil them 5 minutes; they will swim on the top when done; strain and dish them. Have ready a piece of butter melted in a stewpan, and a handful of crumbs in it, crisped brown; pour this over the spatzen, and serve while they are light and hot. A piece of butter may be stirred in as they are dished. If preferred richer, use an egg or two and milk for the batter.
Sticklerspersgrod.—For this simple and cheap dish, well flavoured, ripe, red gooseberries are used; 4 lb. gooseberries, with ½ lb. raspberries, keep them stirred gently ina stewpan over a clear fire till the fruit is quite soft, then mash and strain the juice through a cloth; make this juice quite boil, then add ½ lb. sugar and 6 oz. cornflour or arrowroot, let it boil 10 minutes, stirring it all the time; wet a mould with cold water, pour in, and when cold turn it out. 1 pint juice to ¼ lb. cornflour are the best proportions. To be eaten in soup plates, with sifted sugar and milk.
Stölle.—Mix 2 oz. dry yeast with ½ pint warm milk and ½ lb. flour. Set this to rise. Take 1½ lb. flour, ¼ lb. sugar, 4 eggs, 1 oz. bitter almonds pounded, ½ nutmeg, the grated rind of a lemon, a little salt, and milk enough to work these into a dough. Add to this the light sponge dough, and mix both well. Add ½ lb. softened butter, ½ lb. stoned raisins, ½ lb. currants, 2 oz. sweet almonds, cut in slices, and the same of candied peel. Knead the whole, cover, and set it to rise. When light flour the paste-board, turn the cake out, and mould it into a long roll. Lay it on a flat baking tin; cut, with a knife, 2 slits all along the roll, near 1 in. deep, so that the 3 divisions on the top are equal in width. Set it to rise. Bake it in a moderate oven. When done rub it over with butter, and strew sugar over when cold.
Strudels.—This form of pastry can only be described by the English term roly-poly, in a very diminutive size. There are various ways of making the paste, but they all agree in this one particular—that it must be worked into a tough dough and very smooth. One way is to beat 2 eggs and the yolks of 2 others, warm a piece of butter the size of an egg and add it to the eggs with a little salt, work in by degrees as much fine flour as will form a dough; knead this till quite smooth. Divide the paste into small balls, roll them round in the hands, then with a smooth rolling pin roll them out as thin as possible. They should be the size of a saucer, but rather oval. Spread over them whatever they are to be called after. Roll them up, when the shape will be larger in the middle, and tapering off at both ends. Lay them 1 in. apart in a baking tin or large stewpan that has been well buttered, cover, and either bake them in the oven or over a slow fire, with red coals on the lid to draw them. When they are risen and beginning to colour, pour some hot milk over, and finish baking a very pale brown.
Zweibach.—(a) Ingredients: 1 lb. flour, ¼ lb. sugar, ¼ lb. butter, ½ pint milk, and 2 tablespoonfuls good yeast. Warm the milk and stir the yeast into it. Put the flour in a pan, and throw the sugar among it. Make a hollow in the middle, and stir the yeast and milk into the hollow like a thin batter. Cut up the butter on the flour, cover, and set it to rise. Then beat it until the dough no longer hangs to the hand or spoon. Let it rise again till it cracks on the top. Cut and mould from the dough long cakes 1 in. thick, 5-6 in. long, and 2 broad. Set them on a buttered tin 2 in. apart; let them rise on this, then brush them over with milk and bake them. Next day slice them open with a sharp knife, lay them on a tin with the crust under, and put them in a cool oven till they are crisp and baked yellow. (b) Beat 6 eggs well, melt ¼ lb. butter in ½ pint new milk, stir into this ¼ pint fresh yeast and 3 oz. powdered sugar. Then stir in, by degrees, as much flour as will make a batter so thick that the spoon moves with difficulty. Cover and place it in warmth to rise. In about an hour sprinkle flour in, and work it well together, but not to a stiff dough. Form cakes as described in (a), and finish the same way in all particulars. Either caraways or anise seeds may be mixed in them. The latter are very good and wholesome for infants’ food.
Indian.—Bhartas.—Bharta holds the same relative position in the cuisine of the East that salad does in that of the West. Bhartas can be made of every kind of vegetable, either singly or in combination, and many kinds of fruit; also with meat, fish, &c. From this it will be seen that it is impossible to give recipes for every kind of bharta, nor is it really necessary, as, once the spirit of the thing in its various forms is mastered, anyone with ordinary ingenuity will be able to successfully work out the problem for themselves. The components of a bharta consist of, first, a chatni or zest, and, secondly, the substantial part being a vegetable, vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, &c. The latter constituent is in most cases cooked, but there are a few exceptions in which its nature willpermit of it being used either raw or cooked—tomatoes for example. Bhartas prepared with meat and fish are eaten as dishes by themselves, while the more substantial vegetable bhartas may either form a separate dish or be used as an accompaniment to curry, &c. For the Chatni or Zest.—Ingredients: 6 spring onions, 2 green chillies, the juice of ½ lemon; salt to taste. Mode: Slice the onions as fine as possible, chop the chillies crossways in circles, mix together, add the salt, squeeze the lemon juice over all, and let the whole soak for ¼ hour at the very least. The onions must be of a fairly good size. The chillies may be increased if the palate will permit, and for appearance sake half may be green and the other half red, but fresh of course. When limes are procurable, the juice of a whole one may with advantage be substituted for that of the lemon. Cayenne pepper and ordinary onions may be used when fresh chillies and spring onions cannot be had. Mustard oil may be omitted but it is a great improvement to all bhartas.
Brianees.—Brianees are spiced dishes somewhat resembling a mixture of curry and pilau. They consist of meat, fish, or cheese, highly seasoned and partially fried, which is put in a saucepan with condiments of various kinds, carefully covered over, and then steamed or boiled. The following example will suffice: Zarebrian Punneezee.—Ingredients: ½ lb. cheese; 2 lb. rice; a small quantity clarified butter; ½ lb. onions; 1 oz. flour; ¼ lb. dried pea flour; cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, saffron, ½ teaspoonful of each; ½ oz. green ginger; ¾ oz. salt. Cut the cheese into small round slices, and sprinkle them with flour; then fry in clarified butter till brown. Grind the cardamoms and cloves, and add to the cheese. Spread a few clean little sticks on the bottom of a saucepan (this is the native way of preventing any substance from being burnt at the bottom of the pan), and place the cheese on them. Fry the green ginger, onions, and curry stuff, and add the mixture to the cheese. Parboil the rice, and put it over with a small quantity of the rice water. Colour a little rice with saffron, and put it into the saucepan under the rice on one side, and the dried pea flour on the other; then pour a little hot clarified butter over. Make a plain biscuit or thin cake of flour and water, and place it on the rice. Cover the saucepan, put a live coal or bit of charcoal on the top of the lid, and boil the whole until the rice is done.
Burdwan.—This is made of almost any kind of meat which has been previously roasted or boiled. Poultry, game-birds, hare, rabbit, kid, veal, or venison are all suitable for the purpose. If the material chosen happens to be raw, it can easily be made available by being semi-boiled or semi-roasted especially for the purpose. The following typical example will explain the mode of procedure. For the chicken used therein, any other kind of meat, as fancy may suggest, can be substituted.
Take a good chicken which has been left from a previous meal, or purposely prepared, as explained above; a small teacupful of good clear stock, a small Spanish onion, a wineglassful of white wine (Chablis is the best), ½ oz. butter, 6 chillies (a little cayenne pepper will do instead), the juice of ½ lemon, a small piece of garlic. Mix the stock, onion (previously boiled or roasted), wine, butter, chillies, and garlic, and let them thoroughly amalgamate in a stewpan over a moderate fire. Then add the chicken cut up as for curry. Allow the whole to simmer till done, when squeeze in the lemon juice. It ought to be served very hot, accompanied by a dish of boiled rice or kichri.
Chachki or Vegetable Curry.—Ingredients: 1 breakfastcupful shelled peas, ½ lb. pumpkin, 1 small teacupful clear veal stock or water, 2 onions 1 in. diameter, 3 green chillies, a small clove of garlic, 1 tablespoonful curry powder, salt to taste, 1 wineglassful mustard oil, or 2 oz. butter. Mode: Chop the onions, garlic, and chillies, and then reduce them all to a pulp in a mortar. Boil the oil (or butter) in a frypan, add the curry powder, onion, garlic, and chilli pulp, and salt; let it fry for a few minutes, stirring constantly, then put in the peas and pumpkin; when of a golden colour put the whole into a saucepan. Pour the stock or water into the frypan just used; let it boil up, scraping it as you do in making gravy; when it has boiled for a few minutes, add itto the contents of the saucepan, and let it simmer till tender, when serve. All vegetable curries are made in the same manner, and any number of vegetables may be used according to taste. When potato or spinach is one of the ingredients, it will be necessary to ¾ boil them in water before frying them; this will prevent the objectionable liquor given off by them from entering into the gravy.
Chapatis.—1 lb. flour (the coarse kind preferable), 2 oz. butter, 1 teaspoonful salt, some water. Work the butter and salt into the flour, add gradually sufficient water to form the whole into a dough. Roll some of it out on a board with a rolling pin till about1/16in. thick; cut it into a circular form with an inverted saucer, and bake it on a girdle over a clear fire; when done on both sides, place it on a trivet before the fire, turning it occasionally. By the time that the second cake is baked on the girdle, the first will be toasted enough. Now butter the first chapati, and put it on a plate in the oven. Repeat the process till all are ready.
Chicken Country-Captain.—A plump chicken, 4 oz. butter, 4 onions 1 in. in diameter, ½ teaspoonful each ground green chillies, ground coriander seed, and salt, ½ teaspoonful ground turmeric. Cut up the chicken as for curry; if uncooked veal, mutton, &c., is about to be used instead of the chicken, it must be cut up after it has been semi-broiled or semi-roasted. Slice the onions as fine as possible, fry ¼ the quantity in the butter till of a golden brown colour, drain them carefully from all superfluous grease, and put aside in an oven to get crisp. Now put the ground chillies, coriander seed, tumeric, and salt into the frypan, and after the contents have fried for a minute, add the chicken and the remainder of the onions, and keep constantly stirring the whole till the chicken is quite tender. Serve garnished with the crisped onions. Boiled rice is generally an accompaniment when time is no object.
Chicken Curry.—A small fowl, 1 pint stock, 6 onions about 1 in. in diameter, 4 oz. butter, 1 small clove of garlic chopped fine, 2 green chillies (failing which, 3 dried bird’s-eye chillies) chopped fine, 1½ heaped tablespoonfuls curry powder and ½ lemon. Slice the onions fine, take a third of them and fry with half the butter till crisp and of a nice golden colour; drain them carefully from all superfluous grease and put them aside. Then fry the chicken, cut up as directed, in the surplus of the butter left from the last operation; when the meat is slightly coloured, put them also aside. Now take a saucepan, put into it the curry-powder and the remaining half of the butter; let it fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, then throw in the uncooked onions. Amalgamate well with the contents of the saucepan, and after they have fried for a few minutes add the stock chillies, salt, and garlic; stir well, and let the liquor reduce to one-third of its original quantity, the cover of the pan being drawn slightly aside to enable the steam to escape. When it has reduced, add the chicken. Allow the whole to boil briskly for 2 minutes; then place it on the edge of the hob to simmer gently till cooked, stirring the curry frequently to enable the meat to take up the gravy. In about 20 minutes it ought to be ready, but the surest guide is to observe the appearance of the drumsticks; if the bones are found protruding by the flesh having shrunk, it is done. Finally, the piece of the lemon and the fried onions, which have been put aside from the first operation, must be added to the contents of the saucepan, and the whole quickly stirred, after which no time should be lost in serving the curry.
Coconut Pudding.—Grate fine a large coconut, fry it slightly with a little butter. Make 1 pint custard with some new milk, 4 well beaten eggs, a little nutmeg, 1 tablespoonful loaf sugar; stir in gradually a small glass of brandy, adding the coconut by degrees. When well mixed, fill a pie dish, that has been lined with puff paste with the mixture, bake in a gentle oven; about 20 minutes will suffice.
Coconut Soup.—3 pints prepared stock, the kernels of 2 large coconuts, yolks of 2 eggs, juice of a lemon, 2 blades of mace, 1 saltspoonful ground cinnamon, salt and white pepper to taste, a little corn or rice flour. Throw away the liquor inside the kernels of the coconuts, remove the brown outside rind, and rasp them as fine as possible. Mix the stock with the rasped kernel, add the mace, cinnamon, pepper and salt, and let the whole simmer for ½ hour or so, when carefully strain it through fine muslin. Make a paste with the lemon-juice, the yolks of the eggs beaten up, and sufficient cornflour till of the consistency of thin batter; add this gradually to the liquor before prepared, stirring all the while. Let it simmer till ready, when serve with a separate dish of plain boiled rice.
Curries.—Oriental dishes, with few exceptions, are prepared in sufficiently small morsels to permit of their being eaten with the hand, without the aid of knife, fork, or spoon. When, however, this cannot be avoided, as in the case of pilau of poultry, game, or joints, the meat is cooked just long enough to allow of its being separated from the bone by the fingers without being stewed to rags. Indeed, the whole art of curry and pilau making consists in correctly timing the simmering process. If it is removed off the fire too soon, the meat, though done, will be tough, and the spices will not have had time to permeate the tissues; while again, if too much cooked, the disintegration of the fibres will have caused the spices to return into the gravy. Therefore, in either case, a failure will be the inevitable result. A curry properly cooked must hit the happy mean between these extremes, yet ought to be able to be eaten with a spoon and fork only, which is the practice among Europeans in India. The next rule to be borne in mind is the correct dressing of the meat which is to be used. Beef, mutton, pork, fish, &c., must be cut into dice not larger than 1 in. square. Poultry, partridges, &c., should be disjointed as follows: The wings and legs into 2 parts at the joints, and the backs crossways, according to size, into 3 or 4, and the merrythought separated. It may be as well stated that 2 smaller birds are preferable to one large. Hares and rabbits, according to size, ought to have the legs each cut into 3 or 4 pieces, and the backs crossways into 8 or 9; pigeon’s wings and legs whole, backs in two. Small birds as quails, larks, &c., in two, lengthwise.
Dal-puri.-½ lb. lentil curry, 1 lb. ordinary light pie pastry. When the lentil curry has become quite cold, mash it thoroughly in a mortar till reduced to a fine pulp. Divide it and the pastry into pieces each of the size of a walnut. There ought to be now twice the number of the latter as of the former. Take 2 of the lumps of paste and form them into small shallow bowls, put one of the lumps of the curry-pulp into one of these bowls; carefully adjust a second bowl on the first, and roll the whole out to the size of a dessert plate on a paste board. Make similar cakes till all the materials are used up. Fry each cake separately in a frying-pan with boiling oil, lard, or butter, and serve very hot with the dam-pukht.
Dam-pukht.—Dam-pukht, like many Oriental dishes, is of Persian origin, and etymologically signifies a stew which has been very slowly simmered; in fact, the whole art of preparing it consists in carefully simmering it as gently as possible. For this reason, a gas or oil stove, in the absence of a charcoal fire, is the best means of cooking it, as, under such conditions, the heat can be more easily adjusted for the purpose in view than in the case of the ordinary coal fire. Indeed, in England all Oriental cookery is much more easily and conveniently prepared with the aid of such stoves. Therefore, if satisfactory results are desired, the use of coal fires should, if possible, be eschewed. Dam-pukhts can be made with any kind of poultry—duck, goose, fowl, &c., or with game birds, such as pheasants, partridges, &c. As the details of preparing all dam-pukhts are practically the same, a single example, given below, in which the process is displayed, will suffice to explain every case. In the same way, by substituting a brace of pheasants or partridges for the duck, and with exactly the same quantity of ingredients, a pheasant or partridge dam-pukht can be made. A goose will require half as much again, or, in the case of a large one, twice the quantity of ingredients, otherwise the details are identical.
Dam-pukht of Duck.—A large fat duck (the fatter the better), 2 lb. beef, ½ lb. beef suet, 2 oz. butter, 1 oz. grated breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoonful sweet herbs, 1 teaspoonfuleach soy and apple sauce, mustard-oil, olive-oil, pepper and salt, and mixed spices and birdseye chillies to taste; also any vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, potatoes, cauliflowers, marrow, &c., which may be procurable. After the duck has been feathered, singed, and cleaned, bone it carefully, so as not to break the skin; mix the soy and apple sauce, mustard-oil and olive-oil well together, and pour it into the bird. Make a good gravy of the giblets, flavouring with pepper, salt, and sweet herbs. Mince the beef, suet, and the liver of the duck very small (if you can procure an extra liver or so by all means add them), then add the grated breadcrumbs, pepper, salt, spices, chillies, and sweet herbs, and thoroughly amalgamate the whole well together. Stuff the duck with the mixture. Now melt the butter and pour it into the duck, and, having put it into a stewpan, pour the giblet gravy over it, and let the whole simmer as gently as possible till tender. When ready, glaze it with ordinary glaze if to be eaten cold, if hot do not; but, in either case, serve surrounded by the vegetables plainly boiled, and accompanied with some hot pickles. Oriental epicures generally accompany dam-pukhts with a very nice kind of bread, called dal-puri. Dal-puris are also often served with curries—especially dry curries—pilavs, and very frequently alone.
Dhall Curry.—(a) Take ½ lb. mussoor or moong dhall; clean pick, wash and roast it; mix with it 1 large tablespoonful onions, minced fine, 1 saltspoonful ground chillies, same of turmeric and ground ginger, a clove of garlic minced fine, 1 teaspoonful salt; slice 2 onions lengthways, warm a stewpan, throw in 2 oz. butter, fry the sliced onions crisp, and remove; meanwhile cover the dhall and other ingredients with about 2 in. water above the whole, let it boil smartly until the dhall is dissolved: do not stir it while boiling, but let it cake; rub the mixture through a sieve, pour the dhall into the melted butter in which the onions were fried, stir until well mixed, cover the stewpan close, and simmer for about 20 minutes; serve very hot, with onions floating on the top of the mixture. Dhall may be made from peas, Egyptian lentils, gram, or haricot beans but the moong and mussoor dhall are the best.
(b) Slice and fry 4 onions in 2 oz. butter. When brown take them out; put into the butter the same ingredients as in (a), fry until of a golden colour, then add ½ lb. dhall, which fry until well done, then just cover the dhall with water, let it boil slowly for about 20 minutes, or until dissolved: serve with the fried onions.
(c) Prepare the dhall as in (b), work it up into a paste, then have ready some pie crust; roll it very thin, cut out about size of a saucer, place some of the dhall on each piece, turn the paste over, pinch the edges, throw into boiling butter or lard, and fry of a nice gold colour. In India rice boiled as for curry is eaten with dhall.
Fish Moolay.—Fillet a sole, or cut a grey mullet, mackerel, or haddock into nice pieces; rub with a little curry powder and salt; fry of a light brown in butter. Grate a coconut, pour over it a teacupful of boiling water, mash it well with a spoon, then strain. Cut an onion into slices, fry it in the butter the fish was fried, with a clove of garlic and 2 chillies (green are best); add the coconut water; when boiling put in the fish, a little vinegar, salt, and pepper; stew until the sauce thickens; serve very hot.
Hullvah (Indian Toffee).—Take equal weights of flour, butter, Sultanas, almonds, and sugar; melt the butter, stir in gradually the flour, let it fry until of a light brown, then add by degrees the Sultanas, then the almonds, which must be blanched and sliced; add the sugar, which should first be made into a thick syrup; keep stirring until sufficiently cooked, pour into buttered moulds or shapes.
Jal-frizi.—It is always made of meat—veal, beef, mutton, or pork—which has been previously cooked. An underdone joint comes in very handy for the purpose. Take 1 lb. any cold meat available, 6 onions 1 in. in diameter, 2 oz. butter, salt and chopped green chillies to taste. Remove all bones and gristle from the meat before weighing; cut it up as for hash. Slice the onions fine; mix the meat, onions, chillies, and salt well together. Put the butter into the frypan, and, when it boils, add the rest of theingredients, and fry the whole constantly stirring until the onions are tender, when serve piping hot.
Kedgeree.—(a) Take 1 breakfastcupful rice, boiled and strained, 4 eggs boiled hard, haddock or any other white fish; mince them all together with a knife; put a piece of fresh butter in a stewpan, make the whole very hot, and season with salt and cayenne to taste. (b) Steep ½ pint split peas or Indian dhall in water, add ½ lb. picked and washed rice, with a little ginger, mace, and salt; boil till the peas and rice are swollen and tender, then stir the whole till the water has evaporated; have ready some hard-boiled eggs cut in halves, and an onion or two sliced and fried to garnish with. To be well dressed neither the peas nor rice should be clammy. (c) 1½ teacupful of rice, 12 cloves, 6 cardamoms, 2 teaspoonfuls coriander seeds; let them boil ¼ hour, then add ½ teacupful dhall, let it boil 5 minutes, drain it quite dry. Then put it back quickly into the saucepan, with a small piece of butter and a little salt; let it stand on the hob for 20 minutes; garnish with hard-boiled eggs and fried onions.
Khabobs.—Khabobs, which form another very favourite Indian dish, are composed of fish, flesh, or fowl, with vegetables and spices. They are either cut into slices or else pounded and formed into balls, and then strung on wooden skewers and roasted or fried. They can be served dry or with gravy. As a rule fresh meat is used, but cold chicken, with a little bacon or ham to give it a flavour, and cold roast beef can be cooked in this way. Example:
Khabob Hoossainee.—Ingredients: Meat, 2 lb.; butter, ¾ lb.; onions, 1 lb.; cinnamon, ½ teaspoonful; cloves, cardamoms, black pepper, ¼ teaspoonful; green ginger, coriander, ¼ oz.; salt, ½ oz. Cut the meat a little larger than walnuts, rub some salt and the juice of green ginger over the pieces, cut the onions into slices and fry them in butter, and put on one side. Warm up the meat in the same butter, and when it is getting dry add a little coriander and water, and let it simmer gently on a slow fire for an hour; after the meat is boiled file it on a small wire skewer, first a slice of meat then one of onion, and so continue to file the slices on as many wires as required to look nice in the dish. Sprinkle over them the spices, ground into curry stuff, and fry them in a pan with butter, adding a little water to soften the meat; when done serve up.
Malagatani Soup.—3 pints stock, 6 onions 1 in. in diameter, 3 tablespoonfuls coarse lentil flour, 2 oz. butter or lard, 1 tablespoonful coriander seed, 1 teaspoonful cumin seed, a pinch of fenugreek, a few cloves and bird’s-eye chillies, and, if necessary, pepper and salt to taste; but, as the stock is already flavoured, the latter will seldom be required a second time. Slice the onions as fine as possible, and fry them with half the above quantity of butter or lard; when about half done, add the coriander seed (previously parched on a hot iron plate, the husks removed and then crushed), the cumin seed powdered, fenugreek ditto, chillies ditto, and the cloves whole. Fry the whole well, stirring constantly, until the onions have acquired a golden tint, adding more butter as required to prevent burning; parch the lentil flour by placing it on an iron plate on the fire. Mix the onions, condiments, and lentil flour well together. Put them all into a saucepan, and pour over them the prepared stock, which must be boiling hot; simmer the whole for at least ½ hour, when serve with a separate dish of plain boiled rice.
Malay Chicken (Doopiazeh Curry).—Take 3 oz. butter, 1½ teaspoonfuls salt, and tablespoonfuls ground onions, 1 teaspoonful each ground turmeric and chillies, ½ teaspoonful ground ginger, a clove of garlic, 1 teacupful coconut milk, and 2 or 3 onions cut lengthwise. Cut up the raw chicken into small pieces, fry crisp, and set aside the onions; then fry the other condiments of a rich brown; add the chicken when fried brown, pour in the coconut milk and the fried onions, let it simmer for an hour; serve with boiled rice in a separate dish as for curry.
Pilau.—(a) Fish.—1½ lb. cod (almost any kind of fish is suitable for the purpose—turbot,salmon, and sole being the best), 1 lb. rice, 1½ pints white stock, ¼ lb. butter, a small cupful of salad, or, better still, mustard oil, ditto curds, 8 small onions, 1½ oz. lentil flour, 1 dessertspoonful powdered ginger, 1½ tablespoonfuls coriander seed, 6 cardamoms, 6 cloves, a small clove of garlic, pepper and salt to taste, 2 hard-boiled eggs. Skin and bone the fish, wash it well in salt and water, cut it into thick slices, arrange them in a shallow dish, pour the oil over them, and let them soak for ½ hour, turning them over occasionally. Then wipe the oil off with a clean cloth, rub the slices over with the lentil flour, which wash off in a few minutes; dry, and finally turn the slices all over with a fork. Pulp 2 onions in a mortar, together with a third part of the ginger, coriander seeds, and cardamoms. Mix these with the curds, adding pepper and salt to taste. Cover the fish with this mixture. Boil some of the butter, and semi-fry the fish in it. Slice fine a couple more of the onions, and fry them; when half done add the semi-fried fish, and fry till a light brown colour, when put aside to keep warm in the oven. Fry separately 2 more of the onions finely sliced, and at the same time a third more of the coriander seed and half the cloves, in a few minutes add 1 small teacupful white stock, and let the whole simmer gently till it thickens into a sauce, which place on the hob to keep warm. Put the rest of the onions, coriander seed, cardamoms, and the garlic into the stock, let it simmer till reduced to a pint, when strain. Fry the remaining half of the cloves with butter in a saucepan for 2 minutes, then pour the strained stock into this saucepan and give the whole a boil up. Parboil the rice in water, strain it, and finish cooking it in the stock, being careful, when nearly done, to granulate the rice thoroughly by means of its own steam, all superfluous liquor, if there be any, being previously drained off. Serve with the fish arranged on the top of the rice, the sauce poured over all, and garnished with the hard-boiled eggs cut in circles, halves, or quarters, according to fancy.
(b) Fowl.—1 fowl, 1 lb. mutton, 8 oz. rice, 5 onions, 3 or 4 eggs, ½ lb. butter, 10 black peppercorns, 4 blades mace, 10 cloves, 10 cardamoms, 1 dessertspoonful salt, ¼ oz. green ginger. Put 1 lb. mutton cut into slices, and four whole onions, into 6 qts. water; boil all together until reduced to one-third, then mash the meat in the liquor, and set it aside. Wash 8 oz. rice well, and dry it by squeezing it in a cloth. Melt ½ lb. butter in a saucepan, fry in it a handful of onions (sliced lengthwise) until they have become brown, then remove, and lay them aside. In the butter that remains fry slightly a fowl that has been previously boiled; take out the fowl, and in the same butter add the rice, and fry it also a little, and, as the butter evaporates, add the above-mentioned broth to it, and boil the rice in it; then put in the pepper, mace, cloves, cardamoms, and salt, with the green ginger cut in slices. When the rice is sufficiently boiled, remove all but a little fire from underneath the “handy,” and put some live coals or charcoal on the cover. If the rice be at all hard, add a little water to it, and put the fowl in to get a flavour; finally cover it over with the rice, and serve up with a garnish of hard-boiled eggs cut in quarters. The “handy” is a sort of deep basin without handle, made of tin or tin lined copper, with close-fitting lid.
(c) Fruit.—1 lb. Patna rice, 8 bananas (almost every description of fruit can be substituted—quinces, pears, mangoes, &c.), 1½ lb. sugar, 2 lemons (when procurable, 3 lemons preferable), ¼ oz. crushed ginger, ¼ oz. crushed coriander seed, 1 doz. each cloves and cardamoms, and a few small sticks of cinnamon. Make a syrup with ½ lb. of the sugar, flavour it with the ginger and coriander seed, let it simmer for 10 minutes after the spices are added, then strain and put aside. Parboil the rice in water, and finish cooking it in the above syrup, granulating it. Simultaneously with these operations, make a clear syrup with the rest of the sugar, flavour it with the juice of the lemons, the cloves, and cardamoms; after it has simmered for 10 minutes put in the bananas, each cut lengthways into 2 or 4 pieces, let them stew till done. Place the rice in a dish, arrange the bananas on it, strain off the spices from the syrup in which the fruit was stewed, and pour it over all and serve.
(d) Nuckodee Choofta.—3 lb. mutton, 1 lb. rice, 1¼ oz. suet, 2 eggs, 1 oz. flour, 1 lb. onions, ¾ oz. green ginger, ¼ lb. almonds, 2 oz. salt, ¾ oz. coriander seeds, 10 cloves, 8 cardamoms, 8 black peppercorns, a little cinnamon, saffron, and butter. Slice the meat and put it into a saucepan with a sufficient quantity of water, some sliced onions, green ginger, pounded salt, and coriander seeds, with a little butter. Boil all together until the meat is done, then strain the gravy into a basin, take out the meat, and warm it up in butter with half the cloves, after which add part of the other spices. Parboil the rice in plain water, then cook it in the gravy with the cinnamon, take the saffron, grind it with a little water, and colour a part of the rice, place this over the meat, or on one side of the saucepan, and the plain rice on the other. Pour some melted butter over the whole, cover the saucepan close, and set it near the fire. Mince very finely another lb. of meat, and warm it up in melted butter with some sliced onions, green ginger, salt, and coriander seeds; add a little water, and simmer gently till the meat is done, then put the meat into a mortar with the suet, some chopped onions, pepper, salt, and the white of the eggs, beat the whole together into a paste, form it into small balls, roll them in the flour, and then warm them up in melted butter with cloves; pound the almonds with a little water and the rest of the spices, and put it with the balls, which are now to be fried until properly done, and when ready placed over the pilau and served.
Pishpash.—Wash a breakfastcupful of Patna rice in 2 or 3 waters, drain; slice an onion. Get a small knuckle of veal, stew the veal slowly until half done, add then the rice and onion, a blade of mace, a few white peppercorns, and if liked 2-3 cardamoms. Cover close, and cook gently until the rice is done; season with salt to taste; serve very hot. This may be made with the scrag end of neck of mutton, fat being carefully cut off, or with a fat young chicken. The latter is most delicate for an invalid.
Quoormah (Persian Curry).—Take 2 lb. fat mutton, cut it into small pieces as for curry, sprinkle it with 1½ teaspoonful salt. Warm a stewpan, melt 5 oz. butter, fry 3 onions, sliced thin until crisp; remove, and add to the butter 1 tablespoonful ground onions, 1 teaspoonful ground chillies, 1 of ground coriander seed, ½ of ginger, a little cinnamon, and a clove of minced garlic; fry until well brown; put in the mutton and salt. When this is browned add the crisp onions, cut small, ½ pint curd, 8 peppercorns, 4 cloves, 5 cardamoms, and 2 or 3 bay leaves; stir well together. Closely cover the stewpan, and let the quoormah simmer slowly for about 2 hours. A little water may be added if it becomes too dry. Serve as curry; pork, beef, veal, or chicken may be used.
Rice, Boiled.—Take 1 breakfastcupful Patna rice, pick it free of all foreign matter, wash it in several waters until perfectly clean. Put it, with a saltspoonful salt, into a large saucepan with sufficient water to cover it well. This water may be cold or otherwise, as it does not affect the result. When it is nearly done—which may easily be known by squeezing a grain between the fingers, for if there is just a suspicion of a core it is right—take it off, drain off the water by pushing aside the lid and tilting the pan over. Then at once put the pan under a tap, cover the rice quickly with cold water, drain it off quickly, and repeat the process. Now take the pan containing the drained rice and place it on the hob without any cover, shaking it constantly about to permit the remaining moisture to escape as steam. Care must be taken not to allow the grains adhering to the bottom and sides of the pan to become scorched or shrivelled up. In 3-4 minutes the rice will have become thoroughly cooked by the steam, and each grain separate. There must be no hesitation when you douche the rice with cold water; its object is to wash away all the starch, which clings to the grains and causes them to cohere, and the more water you use the quicker will it be done. The grand secret of boiling rice consists in this washing process. Of course, it cannot be expected that this knack will be learned to any degree of nicety at the first essay; a few patient experiments must, however, finally lead to success, as it is the way in which the greatest rice-eaters of the world—the natives of India—cook it.
Tamarind Fish.—When used as a relish for breakfast, or to eat with a curry, it should be first cleaned of the mixture by scraping with a knife, and then fried, being served very hot.
Italian.—Bracciolette.—Take a piece of fillet of beef, remove all fat and gristle, and mince it finely, mixing with it salt, 1 or 2 cloves (powdered), and a little oil and chopped fat bacon, sweet herbs and parsley to taste. When well amalgamated roll it out, and divide it into small pieces; form each piece into an olive, roll them in liquefied butter, and then in fine breadcrumbs. Just before they are wanted, broil at a good fire, first on one side, then on the other; if done too long they will be spoilt.
Codfish.—Take 3 lb. cod, pick in pieces, remove all bones and skin; take an onion in slices, fry with 2 tablespoonfuls Lucca oil, and 1 oz. butter, add 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley, a little ground cinnamon, mace, and pepper; put in the fish, and stew ½ hour. The same can be done with salted cod after soaking for some hours, in which case do not put salt.
Croccante.-½ lb. finely chopped (and blanched) sweet almonds, ½ lb. loaf sugar, 1 tablespoonful essence of lemon, a piece of butter size of a walnut; boil in a saucepan till it sets (15-20 minutes), turn into a flat shape to set; to be eaten cold.
Galoni.-½ lb. flour, a pinch of salt, 2 eggs beaten, ¼ lb. butter; knead all very thoroughly ¾ hour, roll out very thin, cut in strips or any fancy shapes, fry in boiling lard, place on a hot dish with a napkin, sprinkle with pounded sugar, and serve.
Gniocchi of Semolina.—Take 1 lb. good semolina and 1 pint milk. Put the milk, with an equal quantity of water, on the fire, and before it reaches boiling point sprinkle in the semolina and let it boil, stirring all the time. When sufficiently cooked turn it out on the pasteboard, which has been previously sprinkled with cold water. When cold, cut the paste into pieces the size of a walnut. Put them on a dish, season them well with grated Parmesan, sugar, and cinnamon, add butter; put them in the Dutch oven, and bake 1 hour before serving.
Milanese Stew (Umido).—Take a good-sized piece of beef, and, after well beating and washing it, put it in a basin, cover it with wine, and let it remain for a night. In the morning take out the meat, lard it with strips of bacon, season it with powdered cloves, cinnamon, and salt, lay it in a stewpan with the wine, a faggot of parsley, one of sweet herbs, ½ onion, and a clove of garlic. Boil slowly, with the stewpan closely covered, till the meat is well done.
Minestra.—Cut up 3 or 4 potatoes, add a proportionate quantity of beans (dried ones best), onions, carrots, and celery, sliced, and, if in season, sliced vegetable marrow and pumpkin rind. Boil all these in ¼ saucepan of water till the potatoes are quite soft, adding salt. Then add ¼ lb. rice or maccaroni; boil a little longer, as the rice ought not to be soft, and before taking off the fire add 1 oz. butter (orthodox, a spoonful of fine olive oil), and as much Parmesan cheese; stir a few minutes and serve. In both cases grated cheese may with advantage be added afterwards.
Pickled Fish.—Flour the fish and fry it in oil, and put it by to drain. Pound in a mortar 2 or 3 sprigs of mint, 1 capsicum (fresh, if possible), 2 cloves of garlic, and salt to taste; gradually work in some wine vinegar (say about 1 pint), put this sauce into a saucepan, let it boil for 5 minutes, pour it boiling hot on the fish, and serve when cold.
Puff Paste as used by the Nuns.—Take 1½ lb. flour, reserve a small quantity wherewith to dredge the pastry, break into it the yolks of 2 eggs and 1 white, add ½ glass of tepid water, and 1 spoonful butter. Knead the paste well, and roll it lightly out several times. Divide it into 2 or 3 parts; roll each piece out quite thin. Butter a tart mould, and put in the paste in layers, with butter between the layers. Cut off the edges all round the mould, and then with a sharp knife mark a round the size of the cover you wish to take off, leaving the bottom intact. Bake, and then remove the cover. Fill the tart with whatever you like, put on the cover again, and serve hot or cold.
Purses.—Take 1 lb. finest flour and 2 oz. butter, knead both together lightly with asmany eggs as will form a smooth, stiff paste. Spread it out to the thickness of a penny piece, cut it out in round pieces 4 in. in diameter, place in the middle 1 teaspoonful any kind of well-flavoured mince, ready cooked; gather up each piece of paste, and tie it up with a thin strip of paste. The trimming can be rolled out again and again till all the paste is used, and any manner of device can be made with the paste. To cook these things have a deep frying pan, full of very hot lard, and plunge them in for more or less time, according to the size and shape of the device.
Ricotta.—Strain 1 gal. fresh whey into a flat copper pan, put it on a gentle fire, and as soon as a kind of froth begins to rise on it, add 1 qt. milk, and stir the mixture lightly with a stick until a thick froth rises all over the surface; gather this froth with a spoon, and put it to drain in a deep grass basket, or in a very fine tin colander, and the ricotta is made. It must be carefully avoided to let the milk and whey come to the boil at any time during the process.
Risotto.-¼ lb. rice, and boil it with sufficient salt in a little more water than will cover it, until the rice begins to swell; it must not get too soft. Then add a pinch of saffron, just to colour it, or, if possible, 1 tablespoonful tomato sauce; also about 1 oz. butter, and as much grated Parmesan; stir for a few moments and serve. This is for 4 people.
Zuchillo (Tomato sauce to dress maccaroni with).—Take about 1 lb. trimmings of beef, as much fat bacon, all cut into dice, an onion cut into dice, then thrown into cold water and squeezed dry in a cloth: add or not a clove of garlic, then put the whole into a saucepan, and let it remain on the fire, shaking it occasionally, till the onion is almost melted away; then add parsley, marjoram, thyme, pepper, and salt. Take a piece of “conserva” (tomato pulp dried in the sun to the consistency of damson cheese), cut it in pieces the size of a pea, put in the pieces a few at a time, always stirring the contents of the saucepan. The “conserva” must be fresh and soft; if it is old and tough, it must first be softened by kneading it with a little water. When sufficient “conserva” has been put in, moisten with water a spoonful at a time. Let the whole simmer some 10 minutes longer; then strain, remove superfluous fat, and the sauce is ready. To make “zuchillo” with fresh tomatoes, cut them in pieces, remove pips, water, and stalks, and then put in the pieces instead of “conserva,” a few at a time. In this case it is not necessary to moisten with water, but rather to let the sauce reduce, and to be careful not to put in fresh tomatoes until the first lot is somewhat reduced. Another way is to use either fresh or bottled tomato sauce, and put it in a spoonful at a time. The tomato sauce must be in the French form, with no vinegar in it.
Jewish.—Bola D’Amor.—Clarify 2 lb. white sugar; drop a spoonful into cold water to ascertain if it is of a proper consistency; form it into a ball, and try if it sounds when struck against a glass. When it is thus tested, take the yolks of 20 eggs, mix them up gently, and pass them through a sieve; then have ready a funnel, the hole of which must be about the size of vermicelli; hold the funnel over the sugar while it is boiling over a charcoal fire; pour the eggs through, stirring the sugar all the time, and taking care to hold the funnel at such a distance from the sugar as to admit of the egg dropping into it. When the egg has been a few minutes in the sugar, it will be hard enough to take out with a silver fork, and must then be placed on a drainer; continue adding egg to the boiling sugar till enough is obtained; place in a dish a layer of this paste, over which spread a layer of citron cut in thin slices, and then a thick layer of the eggs prepared as above. Continue working thus in alternate layers till high enough to look handsome. It should be piled in the shape of a cone, and the egg should form the last layer. It must then be placed in a gentle oven till it becomes a little set, and the last layer slightly crisp; a few minutes will effect this. It must be served in the dish in which it is baked, and is generally ornamented with myrtle and gold and silver leaf.
Amnastich.—Stew gently 1 pint rice in 1 qt. strong gravy till it begins to swell,then add an onion stuck with cloves, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a chicken stuffed with forcemeat; let it stew with the rice till thoroughly done, then take it up and stir in the rice the yolks of 4 eggs and the juice of a lemon; serve the fowl in the same dish with the rice, which should be coloured to a fine yellow with saffron.
Fish, fried.—Frying fish Jewish fashion, simple as it is, is rarely quite successful, except in a Jewish household. Lay the fish for about 20 minutes in water, in which put a small quantity of salt. Any fish will be nice this way—soles, plaice, or a not too thick slice of salmon. Dry the fish thoroughly with a perfectly clean cloth, and flour it lightly with the flour dredger. Have ready a frying-pan with some good frying oil, beat up 2 eggs and pour them into a plate or pie-dish; pass the fish through the eggs then plunge it into the boiling oil, and fry a light brown. Care must be taken that the oil is really boiling, or the fish will be soft and flabby.
Fish stewed with egg and lemon sauce.—A salmon head, or a slice or two of salmon or halibut, or cod, are the nicest for this dish. Put a little chopped parsley, a little onion, a very small piece of ginger, and a little saffron, previously dissolved in hot water, with some pepper and salt at the bottom of a saucepan. Cut up the fish in not too small pieces, and lay it on them: then cover with water, and let it cook slowly. When almost done, take the yolks of 7 eggs and beat them well; add to them gradually the juice of 5 lemons (strained), pour this very slowly over the boiling fish, gently shaking the saucepan to prevent curdling; directly the sauce thickens it is done.
Juditha.—Put some gooseberries into a saucepan with very little water; when they are soft pulp them through a sieve, add several well-beaten yolks of eggs, and sweeten with white sugar. Have ready a shape of biscuit ice, or any other cream ice, that may be preferred; take off a thick slice of the ice from the top carefully, and without breaking, so that it may be replaced on the ice. Scoop out a large portion of the ice, which may be mixed with the gooseberry cream, and fill the hollow with it. Cover the shape with the piece that was removed, and serve. This is an elegant dish. The ice should be prepared in a round mould; brown bread ice is particularly adapted to a Juditha.
Matso Cakes.—Make a stiff paste with biscuit powder and milk and water; add a little butter, the yolk of an egg, and a little white sugar, cut into pieces, and mould with the hand, and bake in a brisk oven. These cakes should not be too thin.
Matso Diet Bread.—Simmer 1 lb. white sugar in ¼ pint water, which pour hot upon 8 well-beaten eggs; beat till cold, when add 1 lb. matso flour, a little grated lemon peel, and bake in a papered tin or in small tins. The cake must be removed while hot.
Passover Pudding.—Mix equal quantities of biscuit powder and shred suet, half the quantity of currants and raisins, a little spice and sugar, with 1 oz. candied peels, and 5 well-beaten eggs; make these into a stiff batter, and boil well, and serve with a sweet sauce. This pudding is excellent baked in a pudding tin. It must be turned out when served.
Levantine.Bouillabaisse.—This far-famed dish of the Marseillais, is, as a rule, unapproachable to English people, owing to the quantity of garlic and oil, often of inferior quality, used in its preparation; but if the oil is really good, it is hardly tasted at all when well cooked; however, butter may be used instead. (a) Take some “rascasses”—or, where not obtainable, any other rock fish—lampreys, and lobsters. Slightly fry in a good quantity of butter in a stewpan some onions, shallots, and parsley; then put in the fish, and add sufficient water to cover the fish, season with pepper and salt, and put in a pinch or two of flour and saffron; boil for about 10 minutes; pour the rich gravy obtained over thick slices of bread, and serve the fish and the bread and gravy in separate dishes. (b) Boil about 1 lb. small fish with a quantity of water for rather over 1 hour, then pour out the whole, and press the fish through a colander. When this thick rich gravy or soup is obtained, proceed as in (a), only, instead of adding water, use the fish gravy. Rock fish, lampreys, and lobsters should always be employed to make a really good bouillabaisse; crabs may also be added.
Chestnut Pudding.—It is easily made. Boil about 25 large chestnuts, peel, and pound them well in a mortar. Mix the yolks of 12 and the whites of 6 eggs, well beaten with 3 pints cream and ½ lb. fresh butter; sweeten with white sugar. Then add the chestnut paste, stirring over fire till it thickens. Prepare a pie-dish with puff paste, pour in mixture, and bake. It may be eaten with wine sauce or without.
Grasse Nuts.—Take 6 eggs, 1 tablespoonful orange-flower water, and 6 oz. powdered sugar; beat it up with as much flour as it will take up. When formed into a paste, roll it out twice, then knead. Cut off small pieces, and roll them long with the fingers and knot them; put on a tin to bake a light brown. When done, have ready 6 oz. white sugar in a preserving pan, clarify and boil the sugar, then toss in the cakes, and continue tossing until all the sugar is used and the cakes are quite dry and white; spread out to cool.
Orange-flower Cakes.—Take 1 lb. very fine white sugar, melt it with orange-flower water, and clarify it perfectly. Take a handful of orange flowers, bleach them with a little water and lemon juice, and press them very hard indeed in a white cloth. When the sugar is very much reduced, to about half, throw the flowers in. Have ready the white of an egg well whipped with a little water. When the orange flowers have burst (they pop), pour in the egg gently, stirring all the time. Directly the sugar rises, take off the fire, and pour quickly into white paper moulds of any form. These cakes should be very white and light.
Orange-flower Puffs.—Prepare a batter as though for pancakes, add 1 tablespoonful or more, according to taste, good orange-flower water; add a little powdered sugar, fry in butter or dripping, as with apple fritters, powder with white sugar, and serve hot.
Stuffed Vegetable Marrow Flowers.—Pick the flowers when full blown, wash them and stuff with half-boiled rice, minced veal, sweet herbs, onions, and an egg; stew in beef stock. This makes a very pretty and excellententremet, the flowers remaining yellow, with green ribs.
Polish.—The great feature of this cuisine is the very frequent use of flour or oatmeal mixed with the meat. They also employ curdled milk, both sweet and sour, and excessive use of spices, marmalade, and salted provisions, the Polish sour-crout, and the wild horse-radish. A Pole sneers at our homely necessary adjunct of the dinner table, the potato; he clings tenaciously to his salted cucumbers, which a Polish table is never without, and which completely usurp the place of the potato among the poor, forming in some cases their chief provision. Poland is a soup-eating nation; although to our uninitiated eyes, the different materials of which they are concocted seem inharmonious.