193-*In culinary technicals, is calledFIRST STOCK, or long broth; in the French kitchen, “le grand bouillon.”193-†A dog was fed on the richest broth, yet could not be kept alive; while another, which had only the meat boiled to a chip (and water), throve very well. This shows the folly of attempting to nourish men by concentrated soups, jellies, &c.—Sinclair,Code of Health, p. 356.If this experiment be accurate, what becomes of the theoretic visions of those who have written about nourishing broths, &c.? The best test of the restorative quality of food, is a small quantity of it satisfying hunger, the strength of the pulse after it, and the length of time which elapses before appetite returns again. According to this rule, we give our verdict in favour ofNo. 19or24. SeeN.B.toNo. 181.This subject is fully discussed inThe Art of Invigorating and Prolonging Life, by Diet, &c. published by G. B. Whittaker, 13 Ave-Maria lane.194-*Called, in some cookery books, “SECOND STOCK;” in the French kitchen, “jus de bœuf.”194-†A great deal of care is to be taken to watch the time of putting in the water: if it is poured in too soon, the gravy will not have its true flavour and colour: and if it be let alone till the meat sticks to the pan, it will get a burnt taste.195-*Truffles, morells, and mushrooms, catchups and wines, &c. are added by those who are for the extreme ofhaut goût.195-†The general rule is to put in about a pint of water to a pound of meat, if it only simmers very gently.195-‡A tamis is a worsted cloth, sold at the oil shops, made on purpose for straining sauces: the best way for using it is for two people to twist it contrary ways. This is a better way of straining sauce than through a sieve, and refines it much more completely.197-*By this method, it is said, an ingenious cook long deceived a large family, who were all fond of weak mutton broth. Mushroom gravy, or catchup (No. 439), approaches the nature and flavour of meat gravy, more than any vegetable juice, and is the best substitute for it in maigre soups and extempore sauces, that culinary chemistry has yet produced.200-*See “L’Art de Cuisinier,” par A. Beauvillier, Paris, 1814, p. 68. “I have learned by experience, that of all the fats that are used for frying, thepot topwhich is taken from the surface of the broth and stock-pot is by far the best.”203-*To make pease pottage, double the quantity. Those who often make pease soup should have a mill, and grind the pease just before they dress them; a less quantity will suffice, and the soup will be much sooner made.204-*If the liquor is very salt, the pease will never boil tender. Therefore, when you make pease soup with the liquor in which salted pork or beef has been boiled, tie up the pease in a cloth, and boil them first for an hour in soft water.204-†Half a drachm of celery-seed, pounded fine, and put into the soup a quarter of an hour before it is finished, will flavour three quarts.204-‡Some put in dried mint rubbed to fine powder; but as every body does not like mint, it is best to send it up on a plate. See pease powder,No. 458, essence of celery,No. 409, and Nos.457and459.205-*My witty predecessor, Dr.Hunter(seeCulina, page 97), says, “If a proper quantity of curry-powder (No. 455) be added to pease soup, a good soup might be made, under the title ofcurry pease soup. Heliogabalus offered rewards for the discovery of a new dish, and the British Parliament have given notoriety to inventions of much less importance than ‘curry pease soup.’”N.B. Celery, or carrots, or turnips, shredded, or cut in squares (or Scotch barley,—in the latter case the soup must be rather thinner), or cut into bits about an inch long, and boiled separately, and thrown into the tureen when the soup is going to table, will give another agreeable variety, and may be calledcelery and pease soup. ReadObs.toNo. 214207-*The French call this “soup maigre;” the English acceptation of which is “poor and watery,” and does not at all accord with the French, which is, soups, &c. made without meat: thus, turtle, the richest dish that comes to an English table (if dressed without meat gravy), is a maigre dish.209-*We copied the following receipt fromThe Morning Post, Jan. 1820.Winter Soup.—(No. 227.)210 lbs of beef, fore-quarters,90 lbs. of legs of beef,3 bushels of best split pease,1 bushel of flour,12 bundles of leeks,6 bundles of celery,12 lbs. of salt,11 lbs. of black pepper.These good ingredients will make 1000 quarts of nourishing and agreeable soup, at an expense (establishment avoided) of little less than 21/2d.per quart.Of this, 2600 quarts a day have been delivered during the late inclement weather, and the cessation of ordinary employment, at two stations in the parish of Bermondsey, at one penny per quart, by which 600 families have been daily assisted, and it thankfully received. Such a nourishment and comfort could not have been provided by themselves separately for fourpence a quart, if at all, and reckoning little for their fire, nothing for their time.211-*ReadNo. 176.214-*Some lovers ofhaut goûtfry the tails before they put them into the soup-pot.216-*Fowls’ or turkeys’ heads make good and cheap soup in the same manner.218-*To this fine aromatic herb, turtle soup is much indebted for its spicy flavour, and the high esteem it is held in by the good citizens of London, who, I believe, are pretty generally of the same opinion as Dr. Salmon. See his “Household Dictionary and Essay on Cookery,” 8vo. London, 1710, page 34, article ‘Basil.’ “This comforts the heart, expels melancholy, and cleanses the lungs.” SeeNo. 307. “This plant gave the peculiar flavour to theoriginal Fetter-lane sausages.”—Gray’sSupplement to the Pharmacopœia, 8vo. 1821 p. 52.219-*“Tout le monde sait que tous les ragoûts qui portent le nom deTORTUE, sont d’origine Anglaise.”—Manuel des Amphitryons, 8vo. 1808, p. 229.219-†Those who do not like the trouble, &c. of making mock turtle, may be supplied with it ready made, in high perfection, atBirch’s, in Cornhill. It is not poisoned with Cayenne pepper, which the turtle and mock turtle soup of most pastry cooks and tavern cooks is, and to that degree, that it acts like a blister on the coats of the stomach. This prevents our mentioning any other maker of this soup, which is often made with cow-heel, or the mere scalp of the calf’s head, instead of the head itself.The following are Mr. Birch’s directions for warming this soup:—Empty the turtle into a broad earthen vessel, to keep cool: when wanted for table, to two quarts of soup add one gill of boiling water or veal broth, put it over a good, clear fire, keeping it gently stirred (that it may not burn); when it has boiled about three minutes, skim it, and put it in the tureen.N.B. The broth or water, and the wine, to be put into the stew-pan before you put in the turtle.219-‡The reader may have remarked, that mock turtle and potted beef always come in season together.SeeObs.toNo. 503*. This gravy meat will make an excellent savoury potted relish, as it will be impregnated with the flavour of the herbs and spice that are boiled with it.220-*“Manygourmetsand gastrologers prefer the copy to the original: we confess that when done as it ought to be, the mock turtle is exceedingly interesting.”—Tabella Cibaria, 1820, p. 30.“Turtles often become emaciated and sickly before they reach this country, in which case the soup would be incomparably improved by leaving out the turtle, and substituting a good calf’s head.”—Supplement to Encyc. Brit. Edinburgh, vol. iv. p. 331.[Very fine fat turtles are brought to New-York from the West Indies; and, during the warm weather, kept in crawls till wanted: of these they make soup, which surpasses any mock turtle ever made. A.]222-*Mullaga-tawnysignifies pepper water. The progress of inexperienced peripatetic palaticians has lately been arrested by these outlandish words being pasted on the windows of our coffee-houses. It has, we believe, answered the “restaurateur’s” purpose, and often excitedJohn Bullto walk in and taste: the more familiar name of curry soup would, perhaps, not have had sufficient of the charms of novelty to seduce him from his much-loved mock turtle.It is a fashionable soup, and a great favourite with our East Indian friends, and we give the best receipt we could procure for it.223-*“The usual allowance at a turtle feast is six pounds live weight per head: at the Spanish dinner, at the City of London Tavern, in August, 1808, 400 guests attended, and 2500 pounds of turtle were consumed.”—SeeBell’sWeekly Messengerfor August 7th, 1808.EpicureQuinused to say, it was “not safe to sit down to a turtle feast at one of the City Halls, without a basket-hilted knife and fork.”We recommend our friends, before encountering such a temptation, to read our peptic precepts. Nothing is more difficult of digestion, or oftener requires the aid of peristaltic persuaders, than the glutinous callipash which is considered the “bonne bouche” of this soup. Turtle is generally spoiled by being over-dressed.[In Philadelphia, an excellent turtle soup is made of a small native tortoise, called aterrapin, and the articleterrapin soup. A.]223-†“A pound of meat contains about an ounce of gelatinous matter; it thence follows, that 1500 pounds of the same meat, which is the whole weight of a bullock, would give only 94 pounds, which might be easily contained in an earthen jar.”—Dr.Hutton’sRational Recreations, vol. iv. p. 194.In what degree portable or other soup be nutritious, we know not, but refer the reader to ournoteunderNo. 185.223-‡This machine was invented by Dr. Denys Papin, F.R.S., about the year 1631, as appears by his essay on “The New Digester, or Engine for Softening Bones;” “by the help of which (he says) the oldest and hardest cow-beef may be made as tender and as savoury as young and choice meat.”Although we have not yet found that they do what Dr. Papin says, “make old and tough meat young and tender,” they are, however, excellent things to make broths and soups in. Among a multitude of other admirable excellencies obtainable by his digester, Dr. Papin, in his 9th chapter, page 54, on the profit that a good engine may come to, says, “I have found that anold hat, very bad and loosely made, having imbibed the jelly of bones became very firm and stiff.”
193-*In culinary technicals, is calledFIRST STOCK, or long broth; in the French kitchen, “le grand bouillon.”
193-†A dog was fed on the richest broth, yet could not be kept alive; while another, which had only the meat boiled to a chip (and water), throve very well. This shows the folly of attempting to nourish men by concentrated soups, jellies, &c.—Sinclair,Code of Health, p. 356.
If this experiment be accurate, what becomes of the theoretic visions of those who have written about nourishing broths, &c.? The best test of the restorative quality of food, is a small quantity of it satisfying hunger, the strength of the pulse after it, and the length of time which elapses before appetite returns again. According to this rule, we give our verdict in favour ofNo. 19or24. SeeN.B.toNo. 181.
This subject is fully discussed inThe Art of Invigorating and Prolonging Life, by Diet, &c. published by G. B. Whittaker, 13 Ave-Maria lane.
194-*Called, in some cookery books, “SECOND STOCK;” in the French kitchen, “jus de bœuf.”
194-†A great deal of care is to be taken to watch the time of putting in the water: if it is poured in too soon, the gravy will not have its true flavour and colour: and if it be let alone till the meat sticks to the pan, it will get a burnt taste.
195-*Truffles, morells, and mushrooms, catchups and wines, &c. are added by those who are for the extreme ofhaut goût.
195-†The general rule is to put in about a pint of water to a pound of meat, if it only simmers very gently.
195-‡A tamis is a worsted cloth, sold at the oil shops, made on purpose for straining sauces: the best way for using it is for two people to twist it contrary ways. This is a better way of straining sauce than through a sieve, and refines it much more completely.
197-*By this method, it is said, an ingenious cook long deceived a large family, who were all fond of weak mutton broth. Mushroom gravy, or catchup (No. 439), approaches the nature and flavour of meat gravy, more than any vegetable juice, and is the best substitute for it in maigre soups and extempore sauces, that culinary chemistry has yet produced.
200-*See “L’Art de Cuisinier,” par A. Beauvillier, Paris, 1814, p. 68. “I have learned by experience, that of all the fats that are used for frying, thepot topwhich is taken from the surface of the broth and stock-pot is by far the best.”
203-*To make pease pottage, double the quantity. Those who often make pease soup should have a mill, and grind the pease just before they dress them; a less quantity will suffice, and the soup will be much sooner made.
204-*If the liquor is very salt, the pease will never boil tender. Therefore, when you make pease soup with the liquor in which salted pork or beef has been boiled, tie up the pease in a cloth, and boil them first for an hour in soft water.
204-†Half a drachm of celery-seed, pounded fine, and put into the soup a quarter of an hour before it is finished, will flavour three quarts.
204-‡Some put in dried mint rubbed to fine powder; but as every body does not like mint, it is best to send it up on a plate. See pease powder,No. 458, essence of celery,No. 409, and Nos.457and459.
205-*My witty predecessor, Dr.Hunter(seeCulina, page 97), says, “If a proper quantity of curry-powder (No. 455) be added to pease soup, a good soup might be made, under the title ofcurry pease soup. Heliogabalus offered rewards for the discovery of a new dish, and the British Parliament have given notoriety to inventions of much less importance than ‘curry pease soup.’”
N.B. Celery, or carrots, or turnips, shredded, or cut in squares (or Scotch barley,—in the latter case the soup must be rather thinner), or cut into bits about an inch long, and boiled separately, and thrown into the tureen when the soup is going to table, will give another agreeable variety, and may be calledcelery and pease soup. ReadObs.toNo. 214
207-*The French call this “soup maigre;” the English acceptation of which is “poor and watery,” and does not at all accord with the French, which is, soups, &c. made without meat: thus, turtle, the richest dish that comes to an English table (if dressed without meat gravy), is a maigre dish.
209-*We copied the following receipt fromThe Morning Post, Jan. 1820.
Winter Soup.—(No. 227.)
These good ingredients will make 1000 quarts of nourishing and agreeable soup, at an expense (establishment avoided) of little less than 21/2d.per quart.
Of this, 2600 quarts a day have been delivered during the late inclement weather, and the cessation of ordinary employment, at two stations in the parish of Bermondsey, at one penny per quart, by which 600 families have been daily assisted, and it thankfully received. Such a nourishment and comfort could not have been provided by themselves separately for fourpence a quart, if at all, and reckoning little for their fire, nothing for their time.
211-*ReadNo. 176.
214-*Some lovers ofhaut goûtfry the tails before they put them into the soup-pot.
216-*Fowls’ or turkeys’ heads make good and cheap soup in the same manner.
218-*To this fine aromatic herb, turtle soup is much indebted for its spicy flavour, and the high esteem it is held in by the good citizens of London, who, I believe, are pretty generally of the same opinion as Dr. Salmon. See his “Household Dictionary and Essay on Cookery,” 8vo. London, 1710, page 34, article ‘Basil.’ “This comforts the heart, expels melancholy, and cleanses the lungs.” SeeNo. 307. “This plant gave the peculiar flavour to theoriginal Fetter-lane sausages.”—Gray’sSupplement to the Pharmacopœia, 8vo. 1821 p. 52.
219-*“Tout le monde sait que tous les ragoûts qui portent le nom deTORTUE, sont d’origine Anglaise.”—Manuel des Amphitryons, 8vo. 1808, p. 229.
219-†Those who do not like the trouble, &c. of making mock turtle, may be supplied with it ready made, in high perfection, atBirch’s, in Cornhill. It is not poisoned with Cayenne pepper, which the turtle and mock turtle soup of most pastry cooks and tavern cooks is, and to that degree, that it acts like a blister on the coats of the stomach. This prevents our mentioning any other maker of this soup, which is often made with cow-heel, or the mere scalp of the calf’s head, instead of the head itself.
The following are Mr. Birch’s directions for warming this soup:—Empty the turtle into a broad earthen vessel, to keep cool: when wanted for table, to two quarts of soup add one gill of boiling water or veal broth, put it over a good, clear fire, keeping it gently stirred (that it may not burn); when it has boiled about three minutes, skim it, and put it in the tureen.
N.B. The broth or water, and the wine, to be put into the stew-pan before you put in the turtle.
219-‡The reader may have remarked, that mock turtle and potted beef always come in season together.
SeeObs.toNo. 503*. This gravy meat will make an excellent savoury potted relish, as it will be impregnated with the flavour of the herbs and spice that are boiled with it.
220-*“Manygourmetsand gastrologers prefer the copy to the original: we confess that when done as it ought to be, the mock turtle is exceedingly interesting.”—Tabella Cibaria, 1820, p. 30.
“Turtles often become emaciated and sickly before they reach this country, in which case the soup would be incomparably improved by leaving out the turtle, and substituting a good calf’s head.”—Supplement to Encyc. Brit. Edinburgh, vol. iv. p. 331.
[Very fine fat turtles are brought to New-York from the West Indies; and, during the warm weather, kept in crawls till wanted: of these they make soup, which surpasses any mock turtle ever made. A.]
222-*Mullaga-tawnysignifies pepper water. The progress of inexperienced peripatetic palaticians has lately been arrested by these outlandish words being pasted on the windows of our coffee-houses. It has, we believe, answered the “restaurateur’s” purpose, and often excitedJohn Bullto walk in and taste: the more familiar name of curry soup would, perhaps, not have had sufficient of the charms of novelty to seduce him from his much-loved mock turtle.
It is a fashionable soup, and a great favourite with our East Indian friends, and we give the best receipt we could procure for it.
223-*“The usual allowance at a turtle feast is six pounds live weight per head: at the Spanish dinner, at the City of London Tavern, in August, 1808, 400 guests attended, and 2500 pounds of turtle were consumed.”—SeeBell’sWeekly Messengerfor August 7th, 1808.
EpicureQuinused to say, it was “not safe to sit down to a turtle feast at one of the City Halls, without a basket-hilted knife and fork.”
We recommend our friends, before encountering such a temptation, to read our peptic precepts. Nothing is more difficult of digestion, or oftener requires the aid of peristaltic persuaders, than the glutinous callipash which is considered the “bonne bouche” of this soup. Turtle is generally spoiled by being over-dressed.
[In Philadelphia, an excellent turtle soup is made of a small native tortoise, called aterrapin, and the articleterrapin soup. A.]
223-†“A pound of meat contains about an ounce of gelatinous matter; it thence follows, that 1500 pounds of the same meat, which is the whole weight of a bullock, would give only 94 pounds, which might be easily contained in an earthen jar.”—Dr.Hutton’sRational Recreations, vol. iv. p. 194.
In what degree portable or other soup be nutritious, we know not, but refer the reader to ournoteunderNo. 185.
223-‡This machine was invented by Dr. Denys Papin, F.R.S., about the year 1631, as appears by his essay on “The New Digester, or Engine for Softening Bones;” “by the help of which (he says) the oldest and hardest cow-beef may be made as tender and as savoury as young and choice meat.”
Although we have not yet found that they do what Dr. Papin says, “make old and tough meat young and tender,” they are, however, excellent things to make broths and soups in. Among a multitude of other admirable excellencies obtainable by his digester, Dr. Papin, in his 9th chapter, page 54, on the profit that a good engine may come to, says, “I have found that anold hat, very bad and loosely made, having imbibed the jelly of bones became very firm and stiff.”
Is so simple and easy to prepare, that it is a matter of general surprise, that what is done so often in every English kitchen, is so seldom done right: foreigners may well say, that although we have only one sauce for vegetables, fish, flesh, fowl, &c. we hardly ever make that good.
It is spoiled nine times out of ten, more from idleness than from ignorance, and rather because the cook won’t than because she can’t do it; which can only be the case when housekeepers will not allow butter to do it with.
Good melted butter cannot be made with mere flour and water; there must be a full and proper proportion of butter. As it must be always on the table, and is the foundation of almost all our English sauces, we have,
I have tried every way of making it; and I trust, at last, that I have written a receipt, which, if the cook will carefully observe, she will constantly succeed in giving satisfaction.
In the quantities of the various sauces I have ordered, I have had in view the providing for a family of half-a-dozen moderate people.
Never pour sauce over meat, or even put it into the dish,however well made, some of the company may have an antipathy to it; tastes are as different as faces: moreover, if it is sent up separate in a boat, it will keep hot longer, and what is left may be put by for another time, or used for another purpose.
Lastly.Observe, that in ordering the proportions of meat, butter, wine, spice, &c. in the following receipts, the proper quantity is set down, and that a less quantity will not do; and in some instances those palates which have been used to the extreme ofpiquance, will require additional excitement.228-*If we have erred, it has been on the right side, from an anxious wish to combine economy with elegance, and the wholesome with the toothsome.
Keep a pint stew-pan228-†for this purpose only.
Cut two ounces of butter into little bits, that it may melt more easily, and mix more readily; put it into the stew-pan with a large tea-spoonful (i. e.about three drachms) of flour, (some prefer arrow-root, or potato starch,No. 448), and two table-spoonfuls of milk.
When thoroughly mixed, add six table-spoonfuls of water; hold it over the fire, and shake it round every minute (all the while the same way), till it just begins to simmer; then let it stand quietly and boil up. It should be of the thickness of good cream.
N.B. Two table-spoonfuls ofNo. 439, instead of the milk, will make as good mushroom sauce as need be, and is a superlative accompaniment to either fish, flesh, or fowl.
Obs.This is the best way of preparing melted butter; milk mixes with the butter much more easily and more intimately than water alone can be made to do. This is of proper thickness to be mixed at table with flavouring essences,anchovy, mushroom, or cavice, &c. If made merely to pour over vegetables, add a little more milk to it.
N.B. If the butter oils, put a spoonful of cold water to it, and stir it with a spoon; if it is very much oiled, it must be poured backwards and forwards from the stew-pan to the sauce-boat till it is right again.
Mem.Melted butter made to be mixed with flavouring essences, catchups, &c. should be of the thickness of light batter, that it may adhere to the fish, &c.
Clarified butter is best for this purpose; but if you have none ready, put some fresh butter into a stew-pan over a slow, clear fire; when it is melted, add fine flour sufficient to make it the thickness of paste; stir it well together with a wooden spoon for fifteen or twenty minutes, till it is quite smooth, and the colour of a guinea: this must be done very gradually and patiently; if you put it over too fierce a fire to hurry it, it will become bitter and empyreumatic: pour it into an earthen pan, and keep it for use. It will keep good a fortnight in summer, and longer in winter.
A large spoonful will generally be enough to thicken a quart of gravy.
Obs.This, in the French kitchen, is calledroux. Be particularly attentive in making it; if it gets any burnt smell or taste, it will spoil every thing it is put into, seeObs.toNo. 322. When cold, it should be thick enough to cut out with a knife, like a solid paste.
It is a very essential article in the kitchen, and is the basis of consistency in most made-dishes, soups, sauces, and ragoûts; if the gravies, &c. are too thin, add this thickening, more or less, according to the consistence you would wish them to have.
Mem.In making thickening, the less butter, and the more flour you use, the better; they must be thoroughly worked together, and the broth, or soup, &c. you put them to, added by degrees: take especial care to incorporate them well together, or your sauces, &c. will taste floury, and have a disgusting, greasy appearance: therefore, after you have thickened your sauce, add to it some broth, or warm water, in the proportion of two table-spoonfuls to a pint, and set it by the side of the fire, to raise any fat, &c. that is not thoroughly incorporated with the gravy, which you must carefully remove as it comes to the top. This is called cleansing, or finishing the sauce.
***Half an ounce of butter, and a table-spoonful of flour, are about the proportion for a pint of sauce to make it as thick as cream.
N.B. The fat skimmings off the top of the broth pot are sometimes substituted for butter (seeNo. 240); some cooks merely thicken their soups and sauces with flour, as we have directed inNo. 245, or potato farina,No. 448.
Put the butter in a nice, clean stew-pan, over a very clear, slow fire; watch it, and when it is melted, carefully skim off the buttermilk, &c. which will swim on the top; let it stand a minute or two for the impurities to sink to the bottom; then pour the clear butter through a sieve into a clean basin, leaving the sediment at the bottom of the stew-pan.
Obs.Butter thus purified will be as sweet as marrow, a very useful covering for potted meats, &c., and for frying fish equal to the finest Florence oil; for which purpose it is commonly used by Catholics, and those whose religious tenets will not allow them to eat viands fried in animal oil.
Put two ounces of fresh butter into a small frying-pan; when it becomes a dark brown colour, add to it a table-spoonful and a half of good vinegar, and a little pepper and salt.
Obs.This is used as sauce for boiled fish, or poached eggs.
Put two ounces of fresh butter into a saucepan; set it at a distance from the fire, so that it may melt gradually, till it comes to an oil; and pour it off quietly from the dregs.
Obs.This will supply the place of olive oil; and by some is preferred to it either for salads or frying.
Wash some parsley very clean, and pick it carefully leaf by leaf; put a tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water: boil the parsley about ten minutes; drain it on a sieve; mince it quite fine, and then bruise it to a pulp.
The delicacy and excellence of this elegant and innocent relish depends upon the parsley being minced very fine: put it into a sauce-boat, and mix with it, by degrees, about half a pint of good melted butter (No. 256); only do not put somuch flour to it, as the parsley will add to its thickness: never pour parsley and butter over boiled things, but send it up in a boat.
Obs.In French cookery-books this is called “melted butter, English fashion;” and, with the addition of a slice of lemon cut into dice, a little allspice and vinegar, “Dutch sauce.”
N.B. To preserve parsley through the winter: in May, June, or July, take fine fresh-gathered sprigs; pick, and wash them clean; set on a stew-pan half full of water; put a little salt in it; boil, and skim it clean, and then put in the parsley, and let it boil for a couple of minutes; take it out, and lay it on a sieve before the fire, that it may be dried as quick as possible; put it by in a tin box, and keep it in a dry place: when you want it, lay it in a basin, and cover it with warm water a few minutes before you use it.
Top and tail them close with a pair of scissors, and scald half a pint of green gooseberries; drain them on a hair-sieve, and put them into half a pint of melted butter,No. 256.
Some add grated ginger and lemon-peel, and the French, minced fennel; others send up the gooseberries whole or mashed, without any butter, &c.
This is the first time that chervil, which has so long been a favourite with the sagacious French cook, has been introduced into an English book. Its flavour is a strong concentration of the combined taste of parsley and fennel, but more aromatic and agreeable than either; and is an excellent sauce with boiled poultry or fish. Prepare it, &c. as we have directed for parsley and butter,No. 261.
Is prepared in the same manner as we have just described inNo. 261.
Obs.For mackerel sauce, or boiled soles, &c., some people take equal parts of fennel and parsley; others add a sprig of mint, or a couple of young onions minced very fine.
Boil the roes of mackerel (soft roes are best); bruise them with a spoon with the yelk of an egg, beat up with a very little pepper and salt, and some fennel and parsley boiledand chopped very fine, mixed with almost half a pint of thin melted butter. SeeNo. 256.
Mushroom catchup, walnut pickle, or soy may be added.
This agreeable accompaniment to roasted poultry, or salted fish, is made by putting three eggs into boiling water, and boiling them for about twelve minutes, when they will be hard; put them into cold water till you want them. This will make the yelks firmer, and prevent their surface turning black, and you can cut them much neater: use only two of the whites; cut the whites into small dice, the yelks into bits about a quarter of an inch square; put them into a sauce-boat; pour to them half a pint of melted butter, and stir them together.
Obs.The melted butter for egg sauce need not be made quite so thick asNo. 256. If you are for superlative egg sauce, pound the yelks of a couple of eggs, and rub them with the melted butter to thicken it.
N.B. Some cooks garnish salt fish with hard-boiled eggs cut in half.
A glass of sherry, half a glass of brandy (or “cherry-bounce”), or Curaçoa (No. 474), or essence of punch (Nos.471and479), and two tea-spoonfuls of pounded lump sugar (a very little grated lemon-peel is sometimes added), in a quarter of a pint of thick melted butter: grate nutmeg on the top.
See Pudding Catchup,No. 446.
Pound three anchovies in a mortar with a little bit of butter; rub it through a double hair-sieve with the back of a wooden spoon, and stir it into almost half a pint of melted butter (No. 256); or stir in a table-spoonful of essence of anchovy,No. 433. To the above, many cooks add lemon-juice and Cayenne.
Obs.Foreigners make this sauce with good brown sauce (No. 329), or white sauce (No. 364); instead of melted butter, add to it catchup, soy, and some of their flavoured vinegars, (as elder or tarragon), pepper and fine spice, sweet herbs, capers, eschalots, &c. They serve it with most roasted meats.
N.B. Keep your anchovies well covered; first tie down your jar with bladder moistened with vinegar, and then wiped dry; tie leather over that: when you open a jar, moisten the bladder, and it will come off easily; as soon as you have taken out the fish, replace the coverings; the air soon rusts and spoils anchovies. SeeNo. 433, &c.
Pound two cloves of garlic with a piece of fresh butter, about as big as a nutmeg; rub it through a double hair-sieve, and stir it into half a pint of melted butter, or beef gravy or make it with garlic vinegar, Nos.400,401, and402.
Pare a lemon, and cut it into slices twice as thick as a half-crown piece; divide these into dice, and put them into a quarter of a pint of melted butter,No. 256.
Obs.—Some cooks mince a bit of the lemon-peel (pared very thin) very fine, and add it to the above.
To make a quarter of a pint, take a table-spoonful of capers, and two tea-spoonfuls of vinegar.
The present fashion of cutting capers is to mince one-third of them very fine, and divide the others in half; put them into a quarter of a pint of melted butter, or good thickened gravy (No. 329); stir them the same way as you did the melted butter, or it will oil.
Obs.—Some boil, and mince fine a few leaves of parsley, or chervil, or tarragon, and add these to the sauce; others the juice of half a Seville orange, or lemon.
Mem.—Keep the caper bottle very closely corked, and do not use any of the caper liquor: if the capers are not well covered with it, they will immediately spoil; and it is an excellent ingredient in hashes, &c. The Dutch use it as a fish sauce, mixing it with melted butter.
Cut some pickled green pease, French beans, gherkins, or nasturtiums, into bits the size of capers; put them into half a pint of melted butter, with two tea-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, or nice vinegar.
Choose plump and juicy natives for this purpose: don’t take them out of their shell till you put them into the stew-pan, seeObs.toNo. 181.
To make good oyster sauce for half a dozen hearty fish-eaters, you cannot have less than three or four dozen oysters. Save their liquor; strain it, and put it and them into a stew-pan: as soon as they boil, and the fish plump, take them off the fire, and pour the contents of the stew-pan into a sieve over a clean basin; wash the stew-pan out with hot water, and put into it the strained liquor, with about an equal quantity of milk, and about two ounces and a half of butter, with which you have well rubbed a large table-spoonful of flour; give it a boil up, and pour it through a sieve into a basin (that the sauce may be quite smooth), and then back again into the saucepan; now shave the oysters, and (if you have the honour of making sauce for “a committee of taste,” take away the gristly part also) put in only the soft part of them: if they are very large, cut them in half, and set them by the fire to keep hot: “if they boil after, they will become hard.”
If you have not liquor enough, add a little melted butter, or cream (seeNo. 388), or milk beat up with the yelk of an egg (this must not be put in till the sauce is done). Some barbarous cooks add pepper, or mace, the juice or peel of a lemon, horseradish, essence of anchovy, Cayenne, &c.: plain sauces are only to taste of the ingredient from which they derive their name.
Obs.—It will very much heighten the flavour of this sauce to pound the soft part of half a dozen (unboiled) oysters; rub it through a hair-sieve, and then stir it into the sauce: this essence of oyster (and for some palates a few grains of Cayenne) is the only addition we recommend. SeeNo. 441.
Open the oysters carefully, so as not to cut them except in dividing the gristle which attaches the shells; put them into a mortar, and when you have got as many as you can conveniently pound at once, add about two drachms of salt to a dozen oysters; pound them, and rub them through theback of a hair-sieve, and put them into a mortar again, with as much flour (which has been previously thoroughly dried) as will make them into a paste; roll it out several times, and, lastly, flour it, and roll it out the thickness of a half-crown, and divide it into pieces about an inch square; lay them in a Dutch oven, where they will dry so gently as not to get burnt: turn them every half hour, and when they begin to dry, crumble them; they will take about four hours to dry; then pound them fine, sift them, and put them into bottles, and seal them over.
N.B. Three dozen of natives required 71/2ounces of dried flour to make them into a paste, which then weighed 11 ounces; when dried and powdered, 61/4ounces.
To make half a pint of sauce, put one ounce of butter into a stew-pan with three drachms of oyster powder, and six table-spoonfuls of milk; set it on a slow fire; stir it till it boils, and season it with salt.
This powder, if made with plump, juicy natives, will abound with the flavour of the fish; and if closely corked, and kept in a dry place, will remain good for some time.
Obs.—This extract is a welcome succedaneum while oysters are out of season, and in such inland parts as seldom have any, is a valuable addition to the list of fish sauces: it is equally good with boiled fowl, or rump steak, and sprinkled on bread and butter makes a very good sandwich, and is especially worthy the notice of country housekeepers, and as a store sauce for the army and navy. See Anchovy Powder,No. 435.
Shell a pint of shrimps; pick them clean, wash them, and put them into half a pint of good melted butter. A pint of unshelled shrimps is about enough for four persons.
Obs.—Some stew the heads and shells of the shrimps, (with or without a blade of bruised mace,) for a quarter of an hour, and strain off the liquor to melt the butter with, and add a little lemon-juice, Cayenne, and essence of anchovy, or soy, cavice, &c.; but the flavour of the shrimp is so delicate, that it will be overcome by any such additions.
Mem.—If your shrimps are not quite fresh, they will eat tough and thready, as other stale fish do. SeeObs.toNo. 140.
Choose a fine spawny hen lobster;236-*be sure it is fresh, so get a live one if you can, (one of my culinary predecessors says, “let it be heavy and lively,”) and boil it asNo. 176; pick out the spawn and the red coral into a mortar, add to it half an ounce of butter, pound it quite smooth, and rub it through a hair-sieve with the back of a wooden spoon; cut the meat of the lobster into small squares, or pull it to pieces with a fork; put the pounded spawn into as much melted butter (No. 256) as you think will do, and stir it together till it is thoroughly mixed; now put to it the meat of the lobster, and warm it on the fire; take care it does not boil, which will spoil its complexion, and its brilliant red colour will immediately fade.
The above is a very easy and excellent manner of making this sauce.
Some use strong beef or veal gravy instead of melted butter, adding anchovy, Cayenne, catchup, cavice, lemon-juice, or pickle, or wine, &c.
Obs.—Save a little of the inside red coral spawn, and rub it through a sieve (without butter): it is a very ornamental garnish to sprinkle over fish; and if the skin is broken, (which will sometimes happen to the most careful cook, when there is a large dinner to dress, and many other things to attend to,) you will find it a convenient and elegant veil, to conceal your misfortune from the prying eyes of piscivorousgourmands.
N.B. Various methods have been tried to preserve lobsters, seeNo. 178, and lobster spawn, for a store sauce. The live spawn may be kept some time in strong salt and water, or in an ice-house.
The following process might, perhaps, preserve it longer. Put it into a saucepan of boiling water, with a large spoonful of salt in it, and let it boil quick for five minutes; then drain it on a hair-sieve; spread it out thin on a plate, and set it in a Dutch oven till it is thoroughly dried; grind it in a clean mill, and pack it closely in well-stopped bottles. See also Potted Lobsters,No. 178.
Bruise the yelks of two hard-boiled eggs with the back of a wooden spoon, or rather pound them in a mortar, with a tea-spoonful of water, and the soft inside and the spawn of the lobster; rub them quite smooth, with a tea-spoonful of made mustard, two table-spoonfuls of salad oil, and five of vinegar; season it with a very little Cayenne pepper, and some salt.
Obs.—To this, elder or tarragon vinegar (No. 396), or anchovy essence (No. 433), is occasionally added.
Wash the liver (it must be perfectly fresh) of a fowl or rabbit, and boil it five minutes in five table-spoonfuls of water; chop it fine, or pound or bruise it in a small quantity of the liquor it was boiled in, and rub it through a sieve: wash about one-third the bulk of parsley leaves, put them on to boil in a little boiling water, with a tea-spoonful of salt in it; lay it on a hair-sieve to drain, and mince it very fine; mix it with the liver, and put it into a quarter pint of melted butter, and warm it up; do not let it boil.Or,
Pare off the rind of a lemon, or of a Seville orange, as thin as possible, so as not to cut off any of the white with it; now cut off all the white, and cut the lemon into slices, about as thick as a couple of half-crowns; pick out the pips, and divide the slices into small squares: add these, and a little of the peel minced very fine to the liver, prepared as directed above, and put them into the melted butter, and warm them together; but do not let them boil.
N.B. The poulterers can always let you have fresh livers, if that of the fowl or rabbit is not good, or not large enough to make as much sauce as you wish.
Obs.—Some cooks, instead of pounding, mince the liver very fine (with half as much bacon), and leave out the parsley; others add the juice of half a lemon, and some of the peel grated, or a tea-spoonful of tarragon or Chili vinegar, a table-spoonful of white wine, or a little beaten mace, or nutmeg, or allspice: if you wish it a little more lively on the palate, pound an eschalot, or a few leaves of tarragon or basil, with anchovy, or catchup, or Cayenne.
Boil the liver of the fish, and pound it in a mortar with a little flour; stir it into some broth, or some of the liquor the fish was boiled in, or melted butter, parsley, and a few grains of Cayenne, a little essence of anchovy (No. 433), or soy, or catchup (No. 439); give it a boil up, and rub it through a sieve: you may add a little lemon-juice, or lemon cut in dice.
Pick and wash two heads of nice white celery; cut it into pieces about an inch long; stew it in a pint of water, and a tea-spoonful of salt, till the celery is tender;238-*roll an ounce of butter with a table-spoonful of flour; add this to half a pint of cream, and give it a boil up.
N.B. SeeNo. 409.
Cut small half a dozen heads of nice white celery that is quite clean, and two onions sliced; put in a two-quart stew-pan, with a small lump of butter; sweat them over a slow fire till quite tender, then put in two spoonfuls of flour, half a pint of water (or beef or veal broth), salt and pepper, and a little cream or milk; boil it a quarter of an hour, and pass through a fine hair-sieve with the back of a spoon.
If you wish for celery sauce when celery is not in season, a quarter of a drachm of celery-seed, or a little essence of celery (No. 409), will impregnate half a pint of sauce with a sufficient portion of the flavour of the vegetable.
SeeObs.toNo. 214.
Wash and clean a large ponnet of sorrel; put it into a stew-pan that will just hold it, with a bit of butter the size of an egg; cover it close, set it over a slow fire for a quarter of an hour, pass the sorrel with the back of a wooden spoon through a hair-sieve, season with pepper, salt, and a small pinch of powdered sugar, make it hot, and serve up underlamb, veal, sweetbreads, &c. &c. Cayenne, nutmeg, and lemon-juice are sometimes added.
Have twelve or fifteen tomatas, ripe and red; take off the stalk; cut them in half; squeeze them just enough to get all the water and seeds out; put them in a stew-pan with a capsicum, and two or three table-spoonfuls of beef gravy; set them on a slow stove for an hour, or till properly melted; then rub them through a tamis into a clean stew-pan, with a little white pepper and salt, and let them simmer together a few minutes.
Melt in a stew-pan a dozen or two of love-apples (which, before putting in the stew-pan, cut in two, and squeeze the juice and the seeds out); then put two eschalots, one onion, with a few bits of ham, a clove, a little thyme, a bay-leaf, a few leaves of mace, and when melted, rub them through a tamis. Mix a few spoonfuls of good Espagnole or Spanish sauce, and a little salt and pepper, with this purée. Boil it for twenty minutes, and serve up. A.]
The only difference between this and genuine love-apple sauce, is the substituting the pulp of apple for that of tomata, colouring it with turmeric, and communicating an acid flavour to it by vinegar.
Take four eschalots, and make it in the same manner as garlic sauce (No. 272).Or,
You may make this sauce more extemporaneously by putting two table-spoonfuls of eschalot wine (No. 403), and a sprinkling of pepper and salt, into (almost) half a pint of thick melted butter.
Obs.—This is an excellent sauce for chops or steaks; many are very fond of it with roasted or boiled meat, poultry, &c.
This is a very frequent and satisfactory substitute for “caper sauce.”
Mince four eschalots very fine, and put them into a small saucepan, with almost half a pint of the liquor the mutton was boiled in: let them boil up for five minutes; then put in a table-spoonful of vinegar, a quarter tea-spoonful of pepper, a little salt, and a bit of butter (as big as a walnut) rolled in flour; shake together till it boils. See (No. 402) Eschalot Wine.
Obs.—We like a little lemon-peel with eschalot; thehaut goûtof the latter is much ameliorated by the delicatearomaof the former.
Some cooks add a little finely-chopped parsley.
Peel a pint of button onions, and put them in water till you want to put them on to boil; put them into a stew-pan, with a quart of cold water; let them boil till tender; they will take (according to their size and age) from half an hour to an hour. You may put them into half a pint ofNo. 307. See alsoNo. 137.
Those who like the full flavour of onions only cut off the strings and tops (without peeling off any of the skins), put them into salt and water, and let them lie an hour; then wash them, put them into a kettle with plenty of water, and boil them till they are tender: now skin them, pass them through a colander, and mix a little melted butter with them.
N.B. Some mix the pulp of apples, or turnips, with theonions, others add mustard to them.
The following is a more mild and delicate240-*preparation: Take half a dozen of the largest and whitest onions (the Spanish are the mildest, but these can only be had from August to December); peel them and cut them in half, and lay them in a pan of spring-water for a quarter of an hour, and then boil for a quarter of an hour; and then, if you wish them to taste very mild, pour off that water, and cover them with fresh boiling water, and let them boil till they are tender, which will sometimes take three-quarters of an hour longer;drain them well on a hair-sieve; lay them on the chopping-board, and chop and bruise them; put them into a clean saucepan, with some butter and flour, half a tea-spoonful of salt, and some cream, or good milk; stir it till it boils; then rub the whole through a tamis, or sieve, adding cream or milk, to make it the consistence you wish.
Obs.—This is the usual sauce for boiled rabbits, mutton, or tripe. There must be plenty of it; the usual expression signifies as much, for we say, smother them with it.
Peel and slice the onions (some put in an equal quantity of cucumber or celery) into a quart stew-pan, with an ounce of butter; set it on a slow fire, and turn the onion about till it is very lightly browned; now gradually stir in half an ounce of flour; add a little broth, and a little pepper and salt; boil up for a few minutes; add a table-spoonful of claret, or port wine, and same of mushroom catchup, (you may sharpen it with a little lemon-juice or vinegar,) and rub it through a tamis or fine sieve.
Curry powder (No. 348) will convert this into excellent curry sauce.
N.B. If this sauce is for steaks, shred an ounce of onions, fry them a nice brown, and put them to the sauce you have rubbed through a tamis; or some very small, round, young silver button onions (seeNo. 296), peeled and boiled tender, and put in whole when your sauce is done, will be an acceptable addition.
Obs.—If you have no broth, put in half a pint of water, and seeNo. 252; just before you give it the last boil up, add to it another table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or the same quantity of port wine or good ale.
The flavour of this sauce may be varied by adding tarragon or burnet vinegar (Nos.396and399).
Chop very fine an ounce of onion and half an ounce of green sage leaves; put them into a stew-pan with four spoonfuls of water; simmer gently for ten minutes; then put in a tea-spoonful of pepper and salt, and one ounce of fine bread-crumbs; mix well together; then pour to it a quarter of a pint of (broth, or gravy, or) melted butter, stir well together, and simmer it a few minutes longer.
Obs.This is a very relishing sauce for roast pork, poultry, geese, or ducks; or green pease on maigre days.
See also Bonne Bouche for the above,No. 341.
Wash half a handful of nice, young, fresh-gathered green mint (to this some add one-third the quantity of parsley); pick the leaves from the stalks, mince them very fine, and put them into a sauce-boat, with a tea-spoonful of moist sugar, and four table-spoonfuls of vinegar.
Obs.—This is the usual accompaniment to hot lamb; and an equally agreeable relish with cold lamb.
If green mint cannot be procured, this sauce may be made with mint vinegar (No. 398).
Pare and core three good-sized baking apples; put them into a well-tinned pint saucepan, with two table-spoonfuls of cold water; cover the saucepan close, and set it on a trivet over a slow fire a couple of hours before dinner (some apples will take a long time stewing, others will be ready in a quarter of an hour): when the apples are done enough, pour off the water, let them stand a few minutes to get dry; then beat them up with a fork, with a bit of butter about as big as a nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful of powdered sugar.
N.B. Some add lemon-peel, grated, or minced fine, or boil a bit with the apples. Some are fond of apple sauce with cold pork: ask those you serve if they desire it.
Pick and peel half a pint of mushrooms (the smaller the better); wash them very clean, and put them into a saucepan, with half a pint of veal gravy or milk, a little pepper and salt, and an ounce of butter rubbed with a table-spoonful of flour; stir them together, and set them over a gentle fire, to stew slowly till tender; skim and strain it.
Obs.—It will be a great improvement to this, and the two following sauces, to add to them the juice of half a dozen mushrooms, prepared the day before, by sprinkling them with salt, the same as when you make catchup; or add a large spoonful of good double mushroom catchup (No. 439).
See Quintessence of Mushrooms,No. 440.
N.B. Much as we love the flavour of mushrooms, we must enter our protest against their being eaten in substance, when the morbid effects they produce too often prove them worthy of the appellations Seneca gave them, “voluptuous poison,” “lethal luxury,” &c.; and we caution those who cannot refrain from indulging their palate with the seducing relish of this deceitful fungus, to masticate it diligently.
We do not believe that mushrooms are nutritive; every one knows they are often dangerously indigestible; therefore the rational epicure will be content with extracting the flavour from them, which is obtained in the utmost perfection by the process directed inNo. 439.
Put the mushrooms into half a pint of beef gravy (No. 186, orNo. 329); thicken with flour and butter, and proceed as above.
Proceed as directed inNo. 256to melt butter, only, instead of two table-spoonfuls of milk, put in two of mushroom catchup (No. 439orNo. 440); or add it to thickened broth, gravy, or mock turtle soup, &c. or put inNo. 296.
Obs.This is a welcome relish with fish, poultry, or chops and steaks, &c. A couple of quarts of good catchup (No. 439,) will make more good sauce than ten times its cost of meat, &c.
Walnut catchup will give you another variety; and Ball’s cavice, which is excellent.
Pick a handful of parsley leaves from the stalks, mince them very fine, strew over a little salt; shred fine half a dozen young green onions, add these to the parsley, and put them into a sauce-boat, with three table-spoonfuls of oil, and five of vinegar; add some ground black pepper and salt; stir together and send it up.
Pickled French beans or gherkins, cut fine, may be added, or a little grated horseradish.
Obs.—This sauce is in much esteem in France, where people of taste, weary of rich dishes, to obtain the charm of variety, occasionally order the fare of the peasant.
Slice a pound and a half of veal or beef, pepper and salt it, lay it in a stew-pan with a couple of carrots split, and four cloves of garlic sliced, a quarter pound of sliced ham, and a large spoonful of water; set the stew-pan over a gentle fire, and watch when the meat begins to stick to the pan; when it does, turn it, and let it be very well browned (but take care it is not at all burned); then dredge it with flour, and pour in a quart of broth, a bunch of sweet herbs, a couple of cloves bruised, and slice in a lemon; set it on again, and let it simmer gently for an hour and a half longer; then take off the fat, and strain the gravy from the ingredients, by pouring it through a napkin, straining, and pressing it very hard.
Obs.—This, it is said, was the secret of the old Spaniard, who kept the house called by that name on Hampstead Heath.
Those who love garlic, will find it an extremely rich relish.