To Candy Fruit.
Put fruit, finished in syrup, in a layer, in a new sieve, and dip it quickly into hot water; spread it on a napkin before the fire to drain, and do more in the sieve; sift double refined sugar over the fruit, till white all over. Spread it on the shallow ends of sieves to dry in awarmoven, turning it two or three times. Do not let it get cold before it is dry. Watch it carefully.
Almacks.
1 lb. each of baking pears, apples, apricots, and plums; slice the two first, and open the others, put them, in alternate layers, in an earthen jar, in a slow oven. When the fruit is soft, squeeze it through a cullender, put to it 1 lb. lump sugar, and simmer gently, stirring all the while, till it leaves the pan clear, then put it in small moulds, or drop it in little cakes; when cold, put them by.
Peaches, Apricots, and Plums in Brandy.
Gather peaches before they are quite ripe, prick them with a needle, and rub off the down with a piece of flannel. Pass a quill carefully round the stone to loosen it. Put them into a large preserving-pan, with cold water, rather more than enough to cover them, and let it gradually become scalding hot. If the water does more than simmer very gently, or the fire be fierce, the fruit may crack. When tender, lift them carefully out, and fold them in flannel, or a soft table cloth, in several folds. Have ready a quart, or more, as the peaches require, of the best brandy, and dissolve in it 10 oz. of powdered sugar. When cool, put them into a glass jar, and pour the brandy and sugar over. Cover with leather, or a bladder.
Cherries in Brandy.
Gather morella cherries on a dry day, when quite ripe; cut offhalfthe stalk, and put them into wide mouthed bottles, strewing layers of finely pounded sugar between. Allow to each bottle half the weight of the fruit in sugar.When the fruit reaches the neck of the bottle, fill up with brandy; cork and rosin it tight.
Grapes in Brandy.
Put some close bunches, of any sort, into a jar (having pricked each grape), strew a good quantity of pounded sugar candy over them, and fill up the jar with brandy. Tie a bladder over, and keep in a cool place.
Barberries for Tartlets.
Pick barberries without stones, from their stalks, and put them into a stone jar, in a kettle of water, or on a hot hearth, and simmer very slowly till the fruit is soft: then put it into a pan with ¾ lb. lump sugar to 1 lb. barberries, and boil slowly for fifteen minutes. Use no metal but silver.
Barberries in Bunches.
Tie the stalks of the fruit on little flat pieces of wood, 3 inches long, a ¼ inch wide. Simmer these in syrup two successive days, and when cold, cover them with the syrup. On the third day candy them. (See to candy fruit.)
PICKLES.
Thegreat art of pickling consists in using good vinegar, and in selecting the various articles, at the proper seasons.—Pickles are indigestible, but their liquor is good to give relish to cold meat, therefore the strongest vinegar should be used, because a less quantity will suffice. They should be kept in a dry place, and glass jars are best, because then it is easy to perceive whether the vinegar diminishes, and if it does, more should be boiled with spice, and poured over the pickles. Fill the jars 3 parts full with the pickles, but always let there be 3 inches above their surface of vinegar. If earthenware jars are used, let them be unglazed; and vinegar should always be boiled in unglazed earthenware; indeed, it ought never toboilat all, but be just scalding hot, for boiling causes much of the strength to evaporate. Keep the bottles closely stopped, with bungs, and a bladder, wetted in the pickle. When you have opened a bottle, cork it again, put a fresh bladder over, if you wish the pickles to keep. When the pickles are all used, the vinegar should be boiled up with a little more spice, and bottled when cold. The colour of pickles is a matter of no small difficulty, though of the greatest consequence, when used by way of ornament. A fine colour is sometimes preserved by keeping pickles a long time in scalding hot vinegar, the vessel being covered. When a bottle of capers or pickles is opened, it should be kept filled, by fresh boiled vinegar.
Artichokes are in season in July and August.
Cauliflowers, in July and August.
Capsicum pods, end of July and beginning of August.
Cucumbers, the end of July to the end of August.
French beans, July.
Mushrooms, September.
Nasturtium pods, middle of July.
Onions from the middle to the end of July.
Radish pods, July.
Red cabbage, August.
Samphire, August.
Tomatas, the end of July to the end of August.
Walnuts.
Make a strong brine of salt and water, about ¼ lb. salt to a quart of water, and steep the walnuts in it a week, previously pricking them with a large needle; then put them, with the brine, into a stew-pan, gently simmer them, pour off the liquor, lay the walnuts on a sieve to drain in the air two days, to turn them black. Have ready made a pickle of strong vinegar; add to each quart 1 oz. ginger, 1 oz. strong pepper, 1 oz. eschalots, 1 oz. salt, ½ oz. allspice, and ½ a drachm of cayenne (some persons add garlic, brown mustard-seed, bay leaves, cloves, mace, chopped chilies, and horse-radish); put all into a stone jar, tie over a bladder wetted with vinegar, and over that a leather; keep it close by the side of the fire two days and nights; shake it frequently. Put the walnuts into jars, and pour the pickle hot over them; when cold, put in bungs, and tie wetted bladder over.
Walnuts, Green.
The best time is while the shells are still tender, and before they are quite ripe. Lay them in a strong brine of salt and water for ten days, changing the brine twice during that time; put in a thin board to float over, that the air may not get to them and turn them black; then pour the brine from the walnuts, and run a large needle several times through each one; lay some vine leaves at the bottom of an earthen pan, put in the walnuts, and cover with more leaves, fill up the vessel with water, and put it on the fire till scalding hot; then pour off the water, put fresh in, let that become hot, pour it off, and repeat this once again; scrape off the husks, rub the walnuts smooth with flannel, and throw them into a vessel of hot water. Boil, three minutes, a quart of vinegar for every 50 walnuts, withwhite pepper, salt, ginger, cloves, and cayenne (in the proportion of the last receipt), and after rubbing the walnuts, dry them out of the water, and pour the vinegar over them.
Gherkins.
The best are about 4 inches long, and 1 inch in diameter. Put them into unglazed jars, or open pans, and pour salt and water over (¼ lb. salt to a quart of water), cover, and set them by the side, when not convenient for them to stand before the fire; in two or three days they will be yellow; pour off the water, and cover them with scalding hot vinegar: set them again before the fire, and keep them of an equal heat, if possible, for ten days, and they will become green; then pour off the vinegar, and have ready to pour over the gherkins (in jars), the same pickle as that for walnuts, leaving out the eschalots if you choose. The vinegar poured from the gherkins should be bottled, for it will be good cucumber vinegar.
Onions.
Take off the tops and coats of small round silver button onions, the size of a nutmeg, and put them into a stew-pan three parts full of boiling water; put no more at once than just enough to cover the top of the water. As soon as the onions look transparent, take them up in a sieve, lay them on a folded cloth, whilst you scald the remainder. Make them quite dry with these cloths, then fill the jars three parts full, and pour over them the following pickle, quite hot: to a quart of strong vinegar put 1 oz. allspice, 1 oz. ginger, 1 oz. mace, 1 oz. scraped horse-radish, 1 oz. black pepper, and 1 oz. salt; infuse it by the fire three or four days; when the pickle and the onions are cold, bung the jars, and cover them, first with bladder wetted in vinegar, then with leather.—Or: put the onions into salt and water, change that every day for three days, then put them in a stew-pan with cold milk and water, let that stand over a fire tillnearto a boil, take out the onions, dry, and put them into jars, and pour a pickle over of good vinegar, salt, mace, and pepper, boiled and become cold.
Cucumbers and Onions.
Boil in 3 pints of vinegar ¼ lb. flour of mustard, mixed as for table use; let it get cold; slice 12 large cucumbers, and ½ gallon large onions; put them into jars with 2 oz. ginger, ½ oz. white pepper, and a small quantity of mace and cloves, and pour the vinegar, cold, over them.
Red Cabbage.
Cut out the stalk, and divide a firm, dark coloured middling sized cabbage, then cut in slices the breadth of straws; sprinkle salt over, and let it lie two days; then drain the slices very dry; fill the jar, 3 parts full, and pour a hot pickle over them, of strong vinegar, heated with black pepper, ginger, and allspice. Cover the jar to keep the steam in, and when the pickle is cold, put in bungs, and tie bladders over.
Melon Mangoes.
Cut a small square piece out of one side, and take out the seeds; fill them with brown mustard seeds, garlic, eschalot, scraped horse-radish, ripe capsicums, and a little finely pounded ginger: stuff the melons as full as the space will allow, replace the square piece, and bind them up tightly with thread. Boil a gallon of white wine vinegar, with ¼ oz. mace, ¼ oz. cloves, ½ oz. ginger, ½ oz. black and long pepper, and ½ oz. cayenne; as it is coming to a boil, pour in a wine-glassful of essence of horse-radish, and of garlic vinegar.
Beet Root.
Boil them very gently from an hour and a half to two hours, or till 3 parts done; take them out of the water to cool; peel and cut them in slices about half an inch thick. Prepare a pickle of good vinegar, and to each quart 1 oz. black pepper, ½ oz. salt, ½ oz. horse-radish, ½ oz. ginger, and a little cayenne; infuse these by the fire three days, and let the pickle be cold before you pour it over the beet-root.
Mushrooms.
Take the red inside out of the large ones, and rub both large and small, with a piece of flannel and salt; put them into a stew-pan, with a little mace and pepper, and strew salt over; keep them over a slow fire, till the liquor which will be drawn, dries up again; shake the stew-pan often; then pour over as much vinegar as will cover them, let it become hot, but not boil, and put all into a jar.—Or: boil buttons in milk and water till rather tender, put them into a cullender, and pump cold water on them till they are cold; put them into salt and water, for twenty-four hours, then dry them in a cloth. Make a pickle of distilled vinegar, mace, and ginger, if to bewhite, if not, white wine vinegar. It must be cold before you pour it over the pickle.
India Pickle.
Put into a jar a gallon of white wine vinegar, 1 lb. sliced ginger, ½ oz. turmeric bruised, ½ lb. flour of mustard, ½ lb. salt, 1 oz. long pepper, bruised; peel ½ lb. garlic, lay it on a sieve, sprinkle it with salt, let it stand in the sun, or before the fire, three days to dry, then put it into the vinegar. Place the jar by the side of the fire, cover close, and let it remain three days, shake it every day, and it will be ready to receive the vegetables.—Or: boil in a gallon of vinegar, ten minutes, 2 oz. black and white peppercorns, 2 oz. flour of mustard, 2 oz. turmeric, and 2 oz. ginger, 1 oz. of the best cayenne, and a good quantity of young horse-radish: (you may add ½ oz. more turmeric, and 2 oz. white mustard seed), add curry powder and eschalots.—Or: to a gallon of the strongest vinegar allow 3 oz. curry powder, the same of flour of mustard, rub these together with ½ pint of olive oil, 3 oz. ginger bruised, 1 oz. turmeric, and ½ lb. of eschalots, and 2 oz. garlic (both these sliced and slightly baked in the Dutch oven), ¼ lb. salt, and 2 drachms cayenne; put it all into a jar, cover with bladder wetted in the vinegar, and keep it by the side of the fire three days, shake it several times during each day, and it will be ready to receive the vegetables. Great care is required, to prepare the vegetables; they should be gathered, as they come in season, on a dry day.Parboil in salt and water strong enough to bear an egg, then drain and spread them in the sun, before the fire, or on a stove, to dry; this will occupy two days; then put them into the pickle. The vegetables are, large cucumbers sliced, gherkins, large onions sliced, small onions, cauliflowers, and brocoli in branches, celery, French beans, nasturtiums, capsicums, white turnip radishes, coddling apples, siberian crabs, green peaches, a large carrot in slices, nicked round the edges, and a white cabbage cut up; neither red cabbage nor walnuts. Small green melons are good; cut a slit to take out the seeds, parboil the melons in salt and water, drain and dry, then fill them with mustard seed, and 2 or 3 cloves, tie round, and put them into the pickle.—Some persons boil it up after the vegetables are in. These receipts are all good.
Lemons.
Cut them across, about half way through, and put 1½ tea-spoonful of salt into each one, let them lie in a deep dish five or six days; to each lemon add 1½ nutmeg, grated, 1 table-spoonful of black mustard seed, and a little mace; boil till tender, in vinegar to cover them, then put them by. Keep the jar filled with vinegar.—Or: cut the lemons in 4 parts, but not through, fill with fine salt, put them in layers in a jar, and sprinkle fine salt over each layer. Examine and turn them, every five or six days, and in six weeks they will be ready. If dry, add lemon juice to them.—Or: grate the rind of 8 lemons, rub well with salt, and turn them every day for a week: put them into a jar with 2 oz. race ginger, a large stick of horse-radish sliced, 2 tea-spoonsful flour of mustard, 3 of cayenne, 1 oz. turmeric, and vinegar enough to cover them. Put more vinegar if required.
Cauliflowerandbrocolibefore they are quite ripe, may be picked in neat branches, and pickled, the same way asgherkins; alsoFrench beans, nasturtiums and radish pods, in the same way.
VINEGARS.
Vinegaris seldom made at home, and as the best is made from wine only, it is scarcely worth the trouble, for, for every purpose, the best vinegar is the cheapest.
Gooseberry Vinegar.
To every quart of bruised ripe gooseberries, put 3 quarts of spring water, stir well, and steep them eight and forty hours; then strain into a barrel, and to every gallon of liquor, put 2 lbs. white pounded sugar, and a toast soaked in yeast. Put it in the sun in summer, and by the fire in winter, for six months, without stopping the bung hole, but keep it always covered with a plate. White currants, stripped, in the same way.—Or: boil 1 lb. coarse brown sugar in a gallon of water, a quarter of an hour, scumming well; put it in a pan; when nearly cold put in a thick slice of toasted bread spread with yeast: let it work twenty-four hours, put it in a cask or jar, and place that in the sun, or near the fire. You may add some ripe gooseberries, bruised.
Good Common Vinegar.
To every gallon of water, put 2 lbs. coarse sugar, boil and skim. Put it in a pan or tub, and when sufficiently cold add a slice of toast, spread on both sides with fresh yeast. Let it stand a week, then barrel, and set it in the sun or by the fire, for six months.
Cider Vinegar.
To every gallon of cider, put 1 lb. white sugar, shake well, and let it ferment, four months.
Vinegar of Wine Lees.
Boil the lees half an hour, during which, skim well. Pour it into a cask, with a bunch of chervil. Stop the cask close, and in a month it will be ready.
Cayenne Vinegar.
Put into a quart of the best vinegar, 10 oz. cayenne, 1 oz. salt, 1 oz. cloves, 1 oz. garlic broken, and 2 grains cochineal bruised; shake it every day, for a fortnight.
Chili Vinegar.
Put 100 fresh gathered red chilies into a quart of the best white wine vinegar; infuse them, ten days, shaking the bottle every other day. ½ an ounce of really good cayenne will answer the purpose of the chilies.—A spoonful or two in melted butter, for fish sauce.Chili Wine.—The same way as the last, using sherry, or brandy, instead of vinegar. A fine flavouring ingredient.
Eschalot Vinegar or Wine.
Infuse in a pint of vinegar, 1 oz. eschalots, peeled and sliced, a little scraped horse-radish, and 2 tea-spoonsful cayenne: shake the jar or bottle, once a day for three weeks, then strain and bottle the liquor.Wine.—Very good for flavouring made dishes: peel, mince and pound in a mortar, 3 oz. eschalots and steep them in a pint of sherry ten days, pour off the liquor and put in 3 oz. fresh eschalots, and let it stand again ten days, then pour off and bottle it.
Tarragon Vinegar.
Pick the leaves on a dry day, about Midsummer, make them perfectly dry before the fire, then put them into a wide-mouthed bottle or jar, and pour in vinegar to cover them; steep them fourteen days, then strain through a flannel jelly bag, into half pint bottles; cork carefully, and keep in a dry place.
Vinegar for Salads.
Take of chives, savory, tarragon, and eschalots, each 3 oz., of balm and mint tops, a handful each. Dry, pound, and put them into a wide mouthed bottle or jar, with a gallon of the best vinegar, and cork close. Set it in the sun, for a fortnight, strain it, squeeze the herbs; let it stand a day, then strain and bottle it.
Garlic Vinegar.
Peel and bruise 2 oz. garlic, infuse it in a quart of vinegar, three weeks. Strain and bottle it. A few drops to a pint of gravy; a very slight flavour is approved of by some, which by others, is considered highly offensive.
Green Mint Vinegar.
Fill a wide mouthed bottle with the green leaves, cover with vinegar and steep them a week; pour off the vinegar, put in fresh leaves, let it stand another week, then bottle it.
Horse-radish Vinegar.
Prepare this about November. Scrape 3 oz., also 2 oz. eschalots, and 1 drachm of cayenne, pour on them a quart of vinegar, and let it stand a week, then strain, and it is ready.
Camp Vinegar.
Put into a pint of the best vinegar, 1 drachm of cayenne, 3 table-spoonsful soy, 4 table-spoonsful walnut catsup, a small clove of garlic, minced fine, and 4 anchovies chopped. Steep a month, shake it every other day, strain it, pour it into pint or ½ pint bottles.
Cucumber Vinegar.
Pare 8 or 10 large cucumbers, cut in thin slices, and put them into a china bowl, with 2 onions sliced, a few eschalots, a little salt, white pepper, and cayenne. Boil a quart ofvinegar, let it cool, then pour it into the bowl; cover close, let it stand three days, and bottle it.
Basil Wine.
About the end of August fill a wide mouthed bottle with fresh leaves of basil, cover with sherry and infuse them ten days; strain and put in fresh leaves, infuse another ten days, then pour off, and bottle it. A table-spoonful to a tureen of mock turtle, just before it is served.
Raspberry Vinegar.
This, besides being a nice sauce for batter and other light puddings, is good with water, as a summer drink, also for colds, sore throat or fever. It will not be good unless made with fresh fruit; and the finer the sugar, the clearer the syrup.—To 1 quart of fruit add 1 pint of vinegar (cold); cover close for twenty-four hours; pour off the liquor, and put to it a quart of fresh fruit, cover close and let it again stand for twenty-four hours; repeat this for the third time. Then boil up the vinegar, with a lb. of lump sugar to each pint, until it becomes a syrup.
ESSENCES.
Someof the following are useful in culinary, others in medicinal compounds, and some in both.
Essence of Ginger.
Put 3 oz. fresh grated ginger, and 1 oz. thinly cut lemon peel into a quart of brandy, let it stand ten days, and shake it every day.—Essence of Allspice—Oil of pimento, 1 drachm, strong spirits of wine, 2 oz., mix them by degrees; a few drops will flavour a pint of gravy or wine.—Essence of Nutmeg, Clove, or Mace—Put 1 drachm of either into 2 oz. of the strongest spirit of wine. A few drops will be sufficient.—Essence of Cinnamon—2 oz. spirits of wine, and 1 drachm of oil of cinnamon.
Essence of Savoury Spice.
1 oz. black pepper, ½ oz. allspice finely pounded, ¼ oz. grated nutmeg, infused in a pint of brandy ten days.
Essence of Cayenne.
Steep 1 oz. good cayenne in 1 pint of brandy, or spirits of wine, a fortnight, then strain and bottle it, for use.
Essence of Seville Orange and Lemon Peel.
Rub lump sugar on the lemon or orange, till quite saturated with the rind, then scrape the sugar so saturated into the jar you keep it in, rub the rind again, and so on, till you have enough, press the sugar down close, and keep it for use. This imparts a very nice flavour to custards and puddings. Tincture of lemon peel is made by paring the peel, and steeping it in brandy.
CATSUPS.
Theseshould be made at home, as well as pickles. A small quantity of catsup every year is sufficient, and very little time and trouble will provide it. It should be put into small bottles (filled to the neck), for when a cork is once drawn, catsups, essences, and pickles begin to decay. The bottles kept lying on their side, because this tends to preserve the cork. Keep them in a dry place.
Mushroom Catsup.
Made in September. The large flaps are best. Break off whatever parts are dirty or decayed, and lay the rest in pieces, in an earthen pan in layers, with salt between; put a folded cloth over, and let it stand a day and night, or longer, by the side of the fire; then strain off the liquor into the saucepan, and to every quart, put ½ oz. black peppercorns, a ¼ oz. allspice, ½ oz. sliced ginger, a few cloves, and 2 or 3 blades of mace. Boil the liquor, fifteen minutes, over a quick fire, though it will be stronger and keep longer, if boiled until the quantity be reduced one half, and then the spices need not be put in until it has been boiling about twenty minutes. When you take it off the fire, let it stand to settle, pour off clear, and bottle it; the sediment may be strained and bottled also, for it answers for fish sauce and brown soup. Anchovies, bay leaves, and cayenne, may be added to the spices. Dip the corks in melted rosin. Some put a table-spoonful of brandy into each pint bottle. A table-spoonful of mushroom catsup is sufficient to flavour ½ pint of sauce.—Or: break them in a pan, sprinkle salt between and let them stand till the next day, when, if their liquor be not drawn, add fresh mushrooms and more salt: the next day pour offthe liquor, boil it three hours, let it settle, strain and add to every 2 quarts, ½ oz. of cloves, ½ oz, nutmegs, ½ oz. mace, 1 oz. race ginger, 1 oz. jamaica, and 1 oz. black pepper, some eschalots and horse-radish, and 1 pint of Port wine, then boil it again half an hour. This will keep well.
Walnut Catsup.
Gather them green, prick them with a large needle, and let them lie three days, in an earthen pan, sprinkled with a handful of salt, and a very little water. Mash them well each day, with a rolling pin. On the fourth day, pour some scalding hot salt and water over, mash again, and let them stand the whole day; then with a spoon or cup, lift out what liquor there is, pound the walnuts well, and pour a little good vinegar and water over them, which will extract all their juice; pour this off, and put to it what you already have, boil it slowly, and scum well. When there is no longer any scum, put to every quart 1 oz. bruised ginger, 1 oz. allspice, 1 oz. black pepper, a ¼ oz. each of cloves, mace, and nutmeg; simmer it three quarters of an hour, when cold, bottle it.—Or: when of a full size, but tender, pound the walnuts, strain out the juice, let it settle and boil it up, taking off the scum as it rises: to each 2 quarts allow 3 lbs. anchovies, and boil gently till they are dissolved, then strain, and boil again with a small quantity of garlic and eschalots, a stick of cinnamon, ½ an oz. each of black pepper, cloves and mace, the rind of 2 lemons, 3 pints of vinegar, 4 wine-glassfuls of port wine, and the same of strong beer; boil it gently three quarters of an hour; scum well. The longer this is kept the better.
Oyster Catsup.
Use fresh Melton oysters. Pound them in a marble mortar, and to a pint of oysters add a pint of sherry. Boil them up, then add 1 oz. salt, 2 drachms of pounded mace, and 1 drachm of cayenne; boil up again, skim, then strain it through a sieve, and when cold, bottle it, and seal down the corks. Brandy will assist to keep it: it is a nice catsup for white sauces.—Cockles and muscles, the same way, but a pounded anchovy or two may be added to giveflavour.—Or: boil 100 oysters in 3 pints of sherry, with 1 lb. of anchovies, and 1 lemon sliced, for half an hour; then strain it, add a ¼ oz. cloves, ¼ oz. mace, 2 oz. eschalots, and 1 nutmeg sliced, boil it a quarter of an hour: when cold, bottle it, with the spice and eschalots. If the oysters are large they should be cut.
Tomata Catsup.
Take 6 doz. tomatas, 2 doz. eschalots, 1 doz. cloves of garlic, 2 sticks of horse-radish, and 6 bay leaves; slice and put them in 1½ pint of vinegar, with a handful of salt, 2 oz. pepper, 2 oz. allspice, and a little mace. Boil well together, ten minutes, pour it into a pan, let it stand till the next day, add a pint of sherry, give it one boil, take it off the fire, skim it, and after it has stood a few minutes, add a tea-cupful of anchovy sauce, and a tea-spoonful of cayenne. Strain, and when cold, bottle it. The pulp may be rubbed through a sieve for sauce.
Lobster Catsup.
Get a lobster of about 3 lbs. weight, and full of spawn, pick out all the meat, and pound the coral with 6 anchovies in a marble mortar: when completely bruised, add the meat, pound and moisten it with ½ a pint of sherry or Madeira, a tea-spoonful of cayenne, a wine-glassful of chili or eschalot vinegar, and 1½ pint of eschalot wine; mix well, put it into wide-mouthed bottles, on the top put a dessert-spoonful of whole black peppers, to each bottle: cork tightly, rosin them, and tie leather over. Keep in a cool place. 4 or 5 table-spoonsful to a tureen of thick melted butter.
THE CELLAR.
A goodcellar, besides its general convenience, in regard to a variety of household purposes, is indispensable to every one who wishes to have good beer. However skilful and successful the brewer, no beer, nor, indeed, any fermented liquors (with few exceptions), can be kept good, any length of time, especially in the summer months, unless they be secured from being turned sour by heat, and by sudden variations of the atmosphere. No cellar can be considered perfect which is not below the surface of the ground. Houses in the country are frequently without the convenience of underground cellaring; but every house ought, where it is practicable, to be built over cellars, which, independently of other advantages, contribute very materially to the dryness and warmth of the building.
The directions for brewing, given by my father, in his "Cottage Economy," are so circumstantial, and so simple, clear, and intelligible, that any person, however inexperienced, who reads them with attention, may, without further instruction, venture to brew without risk of a failure. It is certain that many families, who had previously never thought of brewing their own beer, have been encouraged by the plainness and simplicity of his directions to attempt it, and have never since been without good home-made beer. Brewing is not, perhaps, in strictness, a feminine occupation; there are, nevertheless, many women who are exceedingly skilful in the art. It is obviously not within the province of the mistress of a house, even to superintend the brewing department, but, when circumstances may render it necessary that she should undertake the task, she cannot, when about to give her directions, do better than consult the "Cottage Economy."
The utensils necessary are: a copper, a mash-tub and stand, an under-back, to stand under the edge of the mash-tub, when the malt is put in, two buckets, a strainer, a cooler, a tun-tub, and a cask to put the beer in.
Having these utensils, the next thing is, materials for making the beer. These are, soft water, malt, and hops. The water should besoft, because hard water does not so well extract the goodness of the malt; but if you have none but hard water, soften it by letting it stand two days in some open vessel in the air. The malt should be (or, at least, usually is) ground or bruised into a very coarse meal. The hops should be fresh, of a bright yellow, and highly scented. Farnham hops are the cleanest and best. I give receipts for finings, but do not recommend them, though they certainly will make beer clear which might not be so without them.
The process is this: if you mean to make about a hogshead of beer, take 120 gallons of water (soft, or softened by exposure to the air), and put it into the copper. When it has boiled, pour it into the malt. This is rather a nice matter; if you put in the malt too soon, it cakes and becomes dough. The old-fashioned rule is, to let the steam keep flying off till you can see your features in the water; but as the weather frequently renders this an uncertain criterion, take your thermometer, and plunge it into the water now and then, and when the quicksilver stands at 170, the heat is about right. Pour the malt in gently, taking care to stir it about as it goes in, so as to separate it, and make every particle come in contact with the water; when it is all in, stir it for twenty minutes or half an hour; then put your stirring-stick across the mash-tub, and cover cloths all over to keep in the heat. Let this, which is calledmashing, go on for four or five hours. It cannot well be too long about. When the malt has remained soaking all this time, draw off the liquor by means of your buckets, and put it into the copper again. This liquor is called the "sweet wort." Light the fire under the copper, and pour into it, forevery bushelof malt that you have mashed, ¾ lb. ofhops, or, if not very good, 1 lb. for every bushel. Stir these well into the wort, and keep it on a good hard boil for an hour, being very particular to make it boil all the while. This being done, you have now to cool the beer:rake the fire out from under the copper, and again take out your liquor in your buckets; put the cooler in some place away from the chances of dirt falling into it, and where it may stand level; then strain the liquor into it. The next operation is, theworking; and the most difficult part of this is, to ascertain when, precisely, the liquor is cool enough to bear it. Experienced brewers generally ascertain this by the feel of the liquor, by merely putting the finger into it; but it is better to use the thermometer again; plunge it in, and when the quicksilver stands at 70 the heat is right. Then, with your buckets again, put the whole of the liquor out of the cooler into the tun-tub; and take a pint, or thereabouts, of fresh yeast (balm), and mix it in a bowl with some of the liquor; then pour it into the tun-tub with the liquor that is now cool enough to be set to work; mix it up a little by dipping the bowl in once or twice, and pouring it down from a height of two or three feet above the surface of the liquor in the tun-tub; then cover the tun-tub with cloths, as you did the mash-tub. In a few hours it will begin to work; that is, a little froth, like that of bottled porter, will begin to rise upon the surface; when this has risen to its height, and begins to flatten at the top and sink, it should be skimmed off, and is good yeast, and the beer is ready to put into the cask in your cellar. When you put it into the cask, let it stand a day, without being bunged down, because it may work a little there. When you find that it does not, then, if you use finings, put them in, and bung down tightly.
The following receipt is given to me by a gentleman who is celebrated for the excellence of his beer.
Suppose the brewer is about to make a hogshead of beer of good strength. Eight bushels of malt will be sufficient. Let the water, if notsoft, stand two days in some vessel in the open air, which will soften it. One hundred and twenty gallons will be sufficient; and, if he uses ground malt, let him remember to attend to the heat of the water in the mash-tub before he puts it in, and also to the stirring and separating as it goes in. When it has stood long enough in the mash-tub, he must draw it off, and put it into the copper, and then throw in ¾ lb. of good hopsfor every bushel of malt; or, if the hops be not really good and strong, 1 lb.to the bushel. Boil the liquor at least an hour;but be very particular to make it boil the whole time; for much depends on this. Beer that has not boiled well is always crude, and soon spoils. It is the great fault of most brewers, that, to save the evaporation caused by a good boiling, they cool the liquor before it is sufficiently cooked. When it has boiled the proper time, pour it immediately, hot as it is, into a clean cask; put the bung and vent-peg in lightly; watch the cask, and when you find fermentation going on, which will show itself by a little oozing out of froth round the bung, take out both bung and vent-peg, and let them remain out till the working is over, and the froth begins to sink down into the cask; then put the bung and vent-peg in tightly, and the brewing is over. The cask should not be filled to running over, yet very little space should be left below the bung when driven in, as the body of air that would fill this vacancy would deaden the beer.
This mode deviates from that practised by my father, in two essential points: namely, thecoolingand theworkingof the beer; for, in the last receipt it is not cooled at all, and no yeast is required to work it. If it answers, it is a less troublesome, and, calculating the cost of the coolers, less expensive mode of brewing than that detailed in the "Cottage Economy."
The "Cottage Economy" speaks of the necessity of keeping the casks in good order; and this is a matter, though of great importance, often neglected. New casks should be seasoned before they are used; one way recommended is, to boil 2 pecks of bran or malt dust in a copper of water, pour it hot into the cask, stop close, and let it stand two days, then wash it out well, and drain the cask. Servants are negligent about vent-pegs and bungs. They should be put in tight, the tap taken out, and a cork put in, as soon as the last beer is drawn. If the casks were kept in proper order, beer would not so often be spoiled. Of equal consequence, is the cleanness of the brewing utensils. They should be scoured well with a brush and scalding water, after they have been used. Do not use soap or any thing greasy. A strong ley of wood ashes may be used, if there be any apprehension of taint. When hops are dear, gentian may be substituted in part for them, in the proportion of 8¼ oz. gentian, and 2 lbs. hops, to 12 bushels of malt.
To Fine Beer.
Draw out a gallon of ale, put to it 2 oz. isinglass, cut small and beaten; stir the beer, and whip it with a whisk, to dissolve the isinglass, then strain, and pour it back into the cask, stir well, a few minutes, and put the bung in lightly, because a fresh fermentation will take place. When that is over stop it close; let the vent-peg be loose. Fermentation is over, make the vent-peg tight; and in a fortnight the beer will be fine. Drink 3 parts, and bottle the rest.—A good way to fine new beer, is to run the wort through a flannel into the tun, before it has worked.
For Stale Small Beer.
Put 1 lb. chalk, in small pieces, into a half hogshead, and stop it close. It will be fit to drink on the third day.—Or: put half chalk, and the other half hops.
To Bottle Beer.
Stone bottles are best. The best corks the cheapest, put them in cold water half an hour before you use them. The bottles perfectly clean and sweet, fill them with beer, put in each bottle a small tea-spoonful of powdered sugar, and let them stand uncorked, till the next day: then cork, and lay the bottles on their sides; or, better still, stand them with the necks downwards.—When a bottle is emptied, the cork should be returned into it directly, or it will become musty.
To Make Cider.
The apples quite ripe, but not rotten. If the weather be frosty, gather the apples, and spread them from 1 to 2 feet thick, on the ground, and cover with straw; if mild, let them hang on the trees, or remain under, if fallen, until you are ready to make the cider. It should not be made in warm weather, unless they are beginning to rot, in which case you must not delay. Unripe fruit should be made by itself, as the cider never keeps.—Large cider mills will make from 100 to 150 gallons in a day, according to the difference in the quality of fruit, some sorts of apples beingmore tough and less juicy than others, consequently requiring more grinding. Not more than 7 or 8 bushels should be put into the mill at once. They should be ground, till the kernels and rinds are all well mashed, to give the flavour to cider. Pour the cider from the mill into a press; press the juice well, then pour it into hogsheads. When it has done fermenting, and the time for this is very uncertain, rack it off into other hogsheads, let it settle, and then bung it down.
ENGLISH WINES AND CORDIALS.
Fruit of every kind should be gathered in dry sunny weather, quite ripe. All home made wines are the better for a little brandy; though some persons never use any.
To Clear Wine.
Dissolve ½ lb. hartshorn shavings in cider or rhenish wine; this is sufficient for a hogshead.—Or: to 2 table-spoonsful boiled rice, add ½ oz. burnt alum in powder: mix with a pint, or more, of the wine, stir it into the cask, with a stout stick, but do not agitate the lees.—Or: dissolve ½ oz. isinglass, in a pint or more of the wine, mix with it ½ oz. of chalk in powder, and put it into the cask: stir the wine, but not the lees.
British Sherry, or Malt Wine.
Take 12 quarts of the best sweet wort, from pale malt, let it cool and put it into a 10 gallon cask. Take as much water as will be required to fill up the cask, put it on the fire, with 22 lbs. of the best lump sugar, stir from time to time, and let it boil gently about a quarter of an hour, taking off the scum as it rises. Take it off the fire, let it cool, pour it into the cask, and put in a little good yeast. It may, perhaps, continue to ferment two or three weeks; when this has ceased, put in 3 lbs. raisins, chopped fine; these may cause fresh fermentation, which must be allowed to subside; then put in the rinds of 4 Seville oranges, and their juice, also a quart of good brandy; at the end of threeor four days, if a fresh fermentation have not taken place, put the bung in tight. Keep it a year in the cask, then bottle it; the longer it is kept the better.—Or: stir 42 lbs. good moist sugar into 14 gallons of water, till it is dissolved, then boil it twenty minutes; let it cool in a tub, then put in 16 lbs. good Malaga raisins, picked and chopped; when it is quite cold pour in 2 gallons of strong beer ready to be tunned, and let it stand eight days; then taking out the raisins, put it into a 16 gallon cask, with 2 quarts of the best brandy, 1 lb. bitter almonds blanched, and 2 oz. isinglass. Bottle it in a year.
British Madeira.
Boil 30 lbs. moist sugar in 10 gallons of water, half an hour, and scum well. Let it cool, and to every gallon put 1 quart of ale, out of the vat; let this work, in a tub, a day or two; then put it in the cask, with 1 lb. sugar candy, 6 lbs. raisins, 1 quart of brandy, and 2 oz. isinglass. When it has ceased to ferment, bung it tight, for a year.
English Frontiniac.
Boil 11 lbs. lump sugar in 4 gallons of water, half an hour; when only milk warm, put it to nearly a peck of elder flowers, picked clear from the stalks, the juice and peel of 4 large lemons, cut very thin, 3 lbs. stoned raisins, and 2 or 3 spoonsful yeast: stir often, for four or five days. When quite done working, bung it tight, and bottle it in a week.
Red Currant Wine.
To 28 lbs. of moist sugar, allow 4 gallons of water, pour it over the sugar, and stir it well. Have a sieve of currants (which usually produces between 10 and 11 quarts of juice), squeeze the fruit with the hand, to break the currants, and as you do so, put the crushed fruit into a horse-hair sieve, press it, and when no more will run through the sieve, wring the fruit in a coarse cloth. Pour the juice on the sugar and water, mix it, and then pour it all into a 9 gallon cask, and fill it with water, if the barrel should not be full.—The cask should be filled upwith water every day, while the wine ferments, and be bunged up tight, when it ceases. This is a cheap and simple method of making currant wine.—Or: put a bushel of red, and a peck of white currants, into a tub or pan, squeeze well; strain them through a sieve upon 28 lbs. of powdered sugar; when the sugar is dissolved put in some water in the proportion of 1½ gallon to 1 gallon of juice, pour it all into the barrel, add 3 or 4 pints of raspberries, and a little brandy.
Raisin Wine.
Put the raisins in at the bung-hole of a close cask (which will be the better for having recently had wine in it), then pour in spring water, in the proportion of a gallon to 8 lbs. raisins; the cask should stand in a good cellar, not affected by external air. When the fermentation begins to subside, pour in a bottle of brandy, and put the bung in loosely; when the fermentation has wholly subsided, add a second bottle of brandy, and stop the cask close. In a year it will be fit to bottle, immediately from the cask, without refining. Malaga raisins make the finest wine: Smyrna, rich and full, and more resembling foreign wine.
Gooseberry Wine.
To every pound of green gooseberries, picked and bruised, add 1 quart of water, steep them four days, stirring twice a day. Strain the liquor through a sieve, and to every gallon add 3 lbs. loaf sugar; also to every 20 gallons, a quart of brandy, and a little isinglass. When the sugar is dissolved, tun the wine, and let it work, which it will do in a week, or little more, keeping back some of the wine to fill up the cask, before you stop it close. Let it stand in the barrel six months, bottle it, in six more begin to drink it.
To make 4 gallons of Elder Wine.
Boil 1 peck of berries in 4 gallons of water, half an hour; strain and add 2½ lbs. moist sugar. To every gallon of water add ½ oz. cloves, and 2 oz. ginger, tied in a linenbag, boil it again five minutes, and pour it into a pan. When cold, toast a piece of bread on both sides, spread it with good yeast, and put it in the wine. When worked sufficiently, put it into a spirit cask, and cork it down; take the spice out of the cloth, and put it into the cask, with a tumbler of brandy. Leave the vent peg out a few days; in three weeks or a month bottle it.Elder Wine to drink cold.—Boil 1 gallon of berries in 2 gallons of water, two hours and a half. Add 3 lbs. moist sugar to every gallon of wine; boil it twenty minutes. Next day work it with a yeast toast. When worked enough, cask it, with ½ a bottle of brandy, and 7 lbs. raisins.
Ginger Wine.
Boil in 9 gallons of water 12 lbs. loaf sugar, 12 lbs. of moist, 12 oz. good ginger sliced, and the rind of 8 lemons, half an hour, scumming all the time; let it stand till lukewarm, put it into a clean cask with the juice of the lemons, 6 lbs. chopped raisins, and a tea-cupful of yeast, stir every day for ten days, add ¾ oz. of isinglass and 2 quarts of brandy. Stop close, and in four months bottle it.—Or: in 12 gallons of water boil 12 lbs. loaf sugar, 12 oz. ginger, and the rind of 24 lemons, half an hour, scumming all the time; then put it in the cask with the lemon juice, 12 lbs. raisins, and the yeast, stir every day for a fortnight, add 2 oz. isinglass and 1 quart of brandy.
Mountain Wine.
To 5 lbs. of large Malaga raisins, chopped very small, put a gallon of spring water; steep them a fortnight; squeeze out the liquor, and put it in a barrel: do not stop close until the hissing is over.
Primrose Wine.
Boil 18 lbs. lump sugar in 6 gallons of water, with the juice of 8 lemons, 6 Seville oranges, and the whites of 8 eggs; boil half an hour, taking off the scum as it rises; when cool put in a crust of toasted bread, soaked in yeast, let it ferment thirty-six hours: put into the cask the peel of 12 lemons, and of 10 Seville oranges, with 6 gallons ofprimrose pips, then pour in the liquor. Stir every day for a week, add 3 pints of brandy; stop the cask close, and in six weeks bottle the wine.
Cowslip Wine.
Boil 3½ lbs. lump sugar in 4 quarts of water an hour, skim and let it stand until lukewarm, pour it into a pan, upon 4 quarts of cowslip flowers; add a piece of toasted bread spread with yeast, and let it stand four days: put in as many lemons, sliced, as you have gallons of wine, mix and put it into a cask, and stop close.
Grape Wine.
To 1 gallon of bruised grapes (not over ripe), put 1 gallon of water. Let it stand six days, without stirring, strain it off fine, and to each gallon put 3 lbs. moist sugar; barrel, but do not stop it, till it has done hissing.—Or: the fruit barely half ripe, pick from the stalks, and bruise it, then put it in hair cloths, add an equal weight of water, and let it stand eighteen hours, stirring occasionally: dissolve in it from 3 lbs. to 3½ lbs. lump sugar, to each gallon, as you wish the wine to be more or less strong. Put it in a cask, fill it to the brim, and have 2 or 3 quarts in reserve to fill up with, as it diminishes by fermenting. Let it ferment ten days, when that is over, and there is no danger of the cask bursting, fasten it tight, leaving a small vent to open once a week, for a month. Fine and rack the wine in March, and bottle it in October; for abriskwine, it must ferment eight days longer, and be bottled the following March, in cold weather.
Parsnip Wine.
Boil 1 bushel of sliced parsnips in 60 quarts of water, one hour, then strain it, add 45 lbs. lump sugar, boil one hour more, and when cold ferment with yeast; add a quart of brandy, then bottle it.—Or: to each gallon of water add 4 lbs. of parsnips, washed and peeled, which boil till tender; drain, but do not bruise them, for no remedy will make the wine clear: to each gallon of the liquor add 3 lbs. loaf sugar, and ½ oz. crude tartar, and when cooled to thetemperature of 75, put in a little new yeast; let it stand four days, in a tub, in a warm room; tun it, and bung up when the fermentation has ceased. March and October are the best seasons. It should remain twelve months in cask before it is bottled.
Almond Wine.
Warm a gallon of water, add 3 lbs. loaf sugar, stir well from the bottom, and put in the white of an egg well beaten. When the water boils, stir, skim, and boil it an hour, put it in a pan to cool, and add ½ pint of yeast. Tun it next day, work it ten days, stirring once a day, then add to every gallon 1 lb. of sun raisins chopped, and rather less than ¼ lb. of almonds (pounded), more of bitter than sweet, and a little isinglass. Stop the cask close, for twelve months.
Cherry Bounce.
To 4 quarts of brandy, 4 lbs. of red cherries, 2 lbs. of black cherries, and 1 quart of raspberries, a few cloves, a stick of cinnamon, and a bit of orange peel: let it stand a month, close stopped, then bottle it; a lump of sugar in each bottle.
Orange Wine.
To 10 gallons of spring water put 30 lbs. of lump sugar: mix well, and put it on the fire with the whites of 7 eggs well beaten; do not stir before it boils: when it has boiled half an hour, skim well, put it into a tub, and let it stand till cold. Then put to it a pint of good ale yeast, and the peels of 10 Seville oranges very thin, let it stand two days, stirring night and morning. Then barrel it, adding the juice of 40 Seville oranges, and their peels. When it has done working, stop it close for six months before it is bottled.—Or: to 10 gallons of water, put 32 lbs. loaf sugar, and the whites of 4 eggs, beaten, boil as long as any scum rises, take that off, pour it through a sieve, and boil again, until quite clear; then pour it into a pan. Peel 100 Seville oranges, very thin; when the steam is a little gone off the water, put the peel into it, keeping back about a double handful. When the liquor is quite cold, squeeze in thejuice; let it stand two days, stirring occasionally; then strain it, through a hair sieve, into the cask, with the peel in reserve. If the fermentation has ceased, it may be bunged down in a week or ten days.
Orange Brandy.
Steep the rinds of 8 Seville oranges and 3 lemons with 3 lbs. lump sugar, in 1 gallon of brandy, four days and nights. Stir often, and run it through blotting paper.
A Liqueur.
Fill one third of a quart bottle with black currants and a quarter part as much of black cherries, fill up with brandy, put in a cork, and let it stand a month; strain it through linen, put in sugar to taste, let it stand again a month, then strain and bottle it.—Quincemay he used the same way, but inRum.
Shrub.
To 1 quart of strained orange juice, put 2 lbs. loaf sugar, and 9 pints of rum or brandy; also the peels of half the oranges. Let it stand one night, then strain, pour into a cask, and shake it four times a day for four days. Let it stand till fine, then bottle it.—Lemon Shrub: to 1 gallon of rum or whiskey, put 1½ pint of strained lemon juice, 4 lbs. of lump sugar, the peel of 9 lemons, and 5 bitter almonds. Mix the lemon juice and sugar first, let it stand a week, take off all the scum, then pour it from one jug carefully to another, and bottle it.
Currant Rum.
To every pint of currant juice 1 lb. lump sugar, and to every 2 quarts of juice, 1 pint of water, set it over the fire, in a preserving pan, boil it, take off the scum, as it rises, and pour it into a pan to cool, stir till nearly cold, add to every 3 pints of liquor, 1 quart of rum, and bottle it.
Ratafia.
Infuse 1 oz. each of anise, dill, carraway, coriander,carrot, fennel, and angelica seeds, in 2 quarts of brandy, a fortnight in summer, and three weeks in winter: in the sun in summer, and in a chimney corner in winter. Shake it every day; strain through a jelly bag, and to every pint put 6 oz. of sugar, dissolved in water. Strain again, that it may be quite fine.—Or:for Pudding Sauces: blanch an equal quantity of peach, apricot, and nectarine kernels, slit and put them into a wide-mouthed bottle, with 1 oz. white sugar candy; fill it with brandy.
Noyeau.
Put ¼ lb. sweet and ¼ lb. bitter almonds with 2 lbs. sugar and the rinds of 3 lemons into a quart of brandy (white is best), with ½ pint new milk: shake and mix well together, every day for a fortnight; then strain and bottle it.
Real Drogheda Usquebaugh.
1 oz. anise seeds, ½ oz. fennel, 1 oz. green liquorice, 1 drachm coriander seeds, of cloves and mace, each 1 drachm, 1 lb. raisins of the sun, and ½ lb. figs. Slice the liquorice, bruise the other ingredients, and infuse all in a gallon of brandy eight days. Shake it 2 or 3 times a day; strain it, add 1 oz. of saffron in a bag: in two days bottle it.
Milk Punch.
Take 2 quarts of water, 1 quart of milk, ½ pint of lemon juice, 1 quart of brandy, and sugar to your taste: put the milk and water together a little warm, then the sugar, then the lemon juice, stir well, then add the brandy; stir again, run it through a flannel bag, till very fine; then bottle it. It will keep a fortnight or more.—Or: steep the rinds of 6 lemons in a bottle of rum three days; add 1 quart of lemon juice, 3 quarts of cold soft water, 3 quarts of rum, 3 lbs. lump sugar, and 2 nutmegs grated; mix well, add 2 quarts boiling milk, let it stand five hours; strain through a jelly bag, and bottle it.
Excellent Punch.
Put a piece of lemon peel into 3 pints of barley water, letit cool, add the juice of 6 lemons, and ½ pint of brandy; sweeten to taste, and put it in the cool, for four hours. Add a little fine old rum.
Norfolk Punch.
Steep the pulp of 12 lemons and 12 oranges, in 4 gallons of rum or brandy, twenty-four hours. Boil 12 lbs. of double refined sugar in 6 gallons of water, with the whites of 6 eggs, beaten to a froth; scum well; when cold, put it into the vessel with the rum, 6 quarts of orange juice, the juice of 12 lemons, also 2 quarts of new milk. Shake the vessel, to mix it; stop close, and let it stand in the cask two months, before you bottle it.
Roman Punch.
To the juice of 12 lemons and 2 oranges, add the peel of 1 orange cut thin, and 2 lbs. pounded loaf sugar, mix well, pass through a sieve, and mix it, gradually, with the whites of 10 eggs, beaten to a froth. Ice it a little, then add champagne or rum to your taste.
Regent's Punch.
A bottle of champagne, a ¼ pint of brandy, a wine glass of good old rum, and a pint of very strong green tea, with capillaire or any other syrup, to sweeten.
A cool Tankard.
Mix 2 wine-glassfuls of sherry, and 1 of brandy, in a tankard, with a hot toast, and sugar to taste; pour in a bottle of clear nice tasted ale, and stir it with a sprig of balm: then let it settle and serve it.
Porter Cup.
Put a bottle of porter, the same of table ale, a wine-glass of brandy, a dessert-spoonful of syrup of ginger, 3 lumps of sugar, and half a nutmeg grated into a covered jug, and set it in a cold place half an hour; just before you serve it stir in a table-spoonful of carbonate of soda.