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Title: The Still-Room
Author: Roundell, Julia Anne Elizabeth Tollemache, Roberts, Harry
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Still-Room" ***
_THE COUNTRY HANDBOOKS—IV_
EDITED BY HARRY ROBERTS
_The Still-Room_
[Illustration: A CORNISH STILLER OF HERBS.]
_The Still-Room_
_By Mrs. Charles Roundell and Harry Roberts_
[Illustration]
_John Lane, The Bodley Head
London and New York MDCCCCIII_
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LTD., LONDON AND BECCLES.
EDITOR’S NOTE
MRS. CHARLES ROUNDELL is responsible for the chapters dealing with the
Pickling of Meat, Preserves, Refreshments at a Garden-Party, and Food
for Invalids; as well as for certain recipes scattered through the
book. These are distinguished by the initials “J. R.”
CONTENTS
_Page_
A PLEA FOR HOUSEWIFERY 1
BUTTER AND CREAM 9
CHEESE 16
PICKLING MEAT 23
FISH 31
EGGS 32
PICKLING VEGETABLES 33
CONDIMENTS AND SAUCES 40
PRESERVES 48
THE STORING OF FRUIT AND HERBS 57
THE BOTTLING OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES 63
THE DRYING OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES 67
HOME-BREWED BEER 71
CIDER 77
WINE-MAKING 80
THE DISTILLING OF WATERS AND CORDIALS 92
SOME OTHER CORDIALS AND BITTERS 112
DRINKS—OLD AND NEW 117
HINTS FOR REFRESHMENTS AT A GARDEN-PARTY OR PICNIC 128
ICE CREAMS 137
FOOD FOR INVALIDS 139
PERFUMES 145
SOME MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES 149
INDEX 153
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A CORNISH STILLER OF HERBS _Frontispiece_
SYMBOLS OF DISTILLATION _Page_ 3
ALCHEMIST IN HIS LABORATORY ” 5
ALCHEMIST PERFORMING MYSTIC RITES ” 7
DIAPHRAGM CHURN ” 10
MELOTTE CREAM SEPARATOR _To face page_ 10
A SMALL BUTTER-WORKER _Page_ 11
MILK-STRAINER FOR USE WITH MUSLIN ” 13
DOUBLE PAN FOR DEVONSHIRE CREAM-RAISING ” 13
A SELF-SKIMMING PORCELAIN MILK-PAN ” 14
BUTTER-SCOOP ” 14
OLD DISTILLING FURNACES AND STILLS ” 35
DISTILLING OYLE OUT OF SEEDES ” 43
A FRUIT-ROOM ” 59
ORR’S FRUIT-STORING TRAYS _To face page_ 60
LEE’S STEAM FRUIT PRESERVING APPARATUS ” ” 62
RYLAND’S FRUIT BOTTLES _Page_ 64
LEE’S FRUIT BOTTLES AND BOILER _To face page_ 64
BARNETT AND FOSTER’S SPILE-DRAWER _Page_ 74
A GROUP OF DRINKING-GLASSES ” 82
A GROUP OF ANCIENT BOTTLES ” 83
A SIMPLE FRUIT-MILL ” 84
CORK-DRIVER ” 84
A GROUP OF MODERN BOTTLES ” 86
A WINE FILTER-BAG ” 88
BALNEUM MARIÆ ” 93
DISTILLING BY HEAT OF STEAM ” 93
SOME OLD DISTILLING VESSELS ” 95
DISTILLING BY HEAT OF FERMENTING MANURE ” 97
ALCHEMIST WITH HIS SERVANT ” 97
A 16TH-CENTURY STILL, WITH CONDENSER JACKET TO HELM OF STILL ” 99
“THE INSTRUMENT NAMED THE PELLICANE” ” 99
STILLS AT THE WORKS OF THE LONDON ESSENCE CO. _To face page_ 100
BALNEUM MARIÆ _Page_ 101
FURNACE WITH STILLS ” 101
STILL-ROOM OF THE LONDON ESSENCE CO. _To face page_ 102
FURNACE WITH STILLS _Page_ 103
PERSIAN ROSE-WATER SPRINKLER ” 104
A PERFORATED WATER-BATH ” 105
A PORTABLE COPPER STILL ” 105
OLD APPARATUS USED FOR CONDENSING THE DISTILLATE ” 107
“BEHOLDE HERE A MANNER OR FASHION OF BALNEO MARIÆ” ” 109
OLD VESSELS USED IN DISTILLING ” 110
TENDING THE FURNACE ” 110
BALNEUM MARIÆ ” 110
COPPER SPIRIT-MEASURE ” 115
COPPER FUNNEL ” 115
COFFEE ROASTER _To face page_ 120
BEER WARMER OR MULLER _Page_ 122
SOME OLD MORTARS ” 131
PERSIAN INCENSE BURNER ” 147
_The Still-Room_
“_The preparation of meats and bread and drinks, that they may be
rightly handled, and in order to this intention, is of exceedingly
great moment; howsomever it may seem a mechanical thing and savouring
of the kitchen and buttery, yet it is of more consequence than those
fables of gold and precious stones and the like._”—BACON.
_The STILL-ROOM_
A PLEA FOR HOUSEWIFERY
WE live in an age which may well be called the age of the purveyor;
and, if we continue travelling along the road upon which we have
entered, the time cannot be far distant when it will be held ridiculous
to do anything at all for ourselves. To appreciate, to criticize, to
display taste in selection—these are the hall-marks of to-day, and home
is but another name for a private restaurant. Homes such as those in
which Goldsmith and Dickens delighted are now calculated to bring a
blush to the cheeks of the superior and the “artistic.” Of few of our
fine ladies can it be said that “they are excellent Housewives, and as
capable of descending to the kitchen with propriety as of acting in
their exalted stations with dignity.”
We are nowadays far more willing to applaud and reward the woman who
throws her “Letters”—real or imaginary—before the eyes of the bored and
lazy world, than the one who is merely efficient in the sphere allotted
to her sex by nature. An occasional grant, such as Stow records as
being made by Henry VIII., would do much to remedy the position of the
housewife. King Henry’s grant was of an estate in Leadenhall Street
to “_Mistris Cornewallies, widdow, and her heires, in reward of Fine
Puddings by her made_.”
[Illustration: SYMBOLS OF DISTILLATION.
(_From Baker’s “Jewell of Health,” 1576._)]
But suppers have gone out—not the midnight meals of the Strand and
Piccadilly—cider has gone out, and home-cured hams, with home-brewed
ale and home-stilled cordials, have gone the way of Mrs. Primrose’s
gooseberry wine and Mr. Frank Churchill’s spruce beer.
Little economies are now as unfashionable as quiet generosity,
hospitality, and comfort. If it is not beneath the dignity of a
man to spend enjoyable hours of labour in laboratory or malthouse,
in sick-ward or workshop, woman need not feel degraded by the
apportionment to her of those duties which are more immediately bound
up with the creation of happy and refreshing homes.
A private latch-key is no doubt part of the universal birthright, but
it does not in itself afford a sufficient aim in life. To be able to
discourse cleverly of Browning and Wagner is an accomplishment easily
acquired, and affords pleasure to no one. To acquire a reputation for
the excellence of our home-made gooseberry wine, of our home-baked
bread, or of our home-brewed beer is much more difficult and much more
worthy. There is more scope for the use of brains in housewifery than
in almost any of the other careers open to women, and this possibly is
why so many women are fighting shy of it. In housewifery there can
be but little pretence, for no ignorance may remain hid. Bluff and a
ready tongue or pen go a long way towards creating many a “brilliant
reputation” in the “artistic” and vapid world which lives at clubs
and restaurants, and runs societies for improving other people. But
no bluff will ever avail in the presence of the food or drink in the
preparation of which our skill has been employed. The products of
housewifery speak for themselves; they are no empty expressions of
sentiments which may be false or true.
[Illustration: ALCHEMIST IN HIS LABORATORY.
(_From Baker’s “Jewell of Health,” 1576._)]
In no way, indeed, can affection be displayed with more subtle grace
and delicacy than by the thoughtfulness of the housewife. The greatest
of poets has no such instrument at his command. Not that women, in
order to be efficient in their homes, need be ignorant of the events
and thoughts which are in progress outside. Quite otherwise, they
should be able to be the boon companions of men. But what I would urge
is that they should take over as their share of the necessary work
of mankind the management of that department which is immediately
associated with domestic life. In this there is nothing degrading. For,
after all, it is housewifery to which nearly all the arts and sciences
bring their secrets. Home and comfort, food and drink—it will be a
long time before we can get quite away from the need of these things.
To introduce science and order into the domestic kingdom is a task
worthy of the finest intellect; and that woman who by the use of brains
organizes and systematizes her household work is she who can best front
with a smiling face the difficulty of obtaining servants—which appears
to be the great omnipresent trouble of Englishwomen.
[Illustration: ALCHEMIST PERFORMING MYSTIC RITES.
(_From Baker’s “Jewell of Health,” 1576._)]
In his summary of the “inward and outward vertues which ought to be in
a compleate woman,” Gervase Markham laid it down that she must be “of
chast thought, stout courage, patient, untyred, watchfull, diligent,
witty, pleasant, constant in friendship, full of good Neighbourhood,
wise in discourse, but not frequent therein, sharpe and quicke of
speech, but not bitter or talkative, secret in affaires, comfortable
in her counsels, and generally skilfull in the worthy knowledges which
doe belong to her Vocation.” Later he says that, of all these “outward
and active knowledges,” “the first and most principall is a perfect
skill and knowledge in Cookery, together with all the secrets belonging
to the same, because it is a duty rarely belonging to a woman; and
shee that is utterly ignorant therein, may not by the Lawes of strict
Justice challenge the freedome of marriage, because indeede shee can
then but performe halfe her vow; for she may love and obey, but shee
cannot cherish, serve, and keepe him with that true duty which is ever
expected.” The work that is most personal and nearest to our hand may
be the most important and most valuable after all. It may also, as has
been said, be the finest and most dignified if we approach it in the
right spirit.
The chipping away of the gross and unessential, with the consequent
liberation of the true and fine, is as noble a process in cookery as
in sculpture. Yet how different is the attitude of even the humblest
artist in words or marble or paint towards his material and his work
from that of the average housewife towards the flavours and fragrances
which she is privileged to elucidate and to blend. It is a ludicrous
thing that women cry out for spheres in which to display their power.
And all these centuries they have been entrusted with the practice of
an art with almost boundless possibilities, yet scarcely any of them
have proved capable of rising above the status of artisans in that
craft. Equally, one looks in vain for the Roger Bacons, the Harveys,
the Darwins, or the Hubers of the kitchen. The processes of cooking
do not seem to inspire women with any of the wonder, religion, and
scientific zeal such as almost every branch of labour has inspired in
man. Mechanically and brainlessly the recipes of the cookery books are
followed by myriads of women everywhere, so that the compounding of
foods and drinks is usually as uninteresting a piece of drudgery as can
be conceived. One may well pray for a reaction, if indeed the art of
housewifery is not past praying for.
BUTTER AND CREAM
[Illustration: DIAPHRAGM CHURN.]
[Illustration: THE MELOTTE CREAM SEPARATOR]
[Illustration: A SMALL BUTTER-WORKER.]
[Illustration: MILK-STRAINER FOR USE WITH MUSLIN.]
[Illustration: DOUBLE PAN FOR DEVONSHIRE CREAM-RAISING.]
AS a volume of the present series will be devoted to the subject of The
Dairy, which is too large a subject to be treated usefully in a single
chapter, I shall here merely record such facts and formulæ as may be
of help to those who have a general knowledge of dairy work, and also
offer a little advice of a practical kind to those who have to deal
with dairying on the smallest scale. A larder or store-room should
never be used for the storage of milk, as the conditions required
are somewhat different, and also because, more than almost any other
substance, milk absorbs and is spoilt by any strong smell such as many
stores yield to the air about them. The milk-room should be cool, only
moderately light, well ventilated and somewhat dry, and should, if
possible, face the east or north. There must be no possibility of gas
from drain or manure heap coming into contact with the milk at any
stage, either in milking-yard or dairy. The floor should be of tiles
or concrete, and the shelves should be of slate or stone. The room and
all vessels used should be kept scrupulously clean. If a separator is
used, the milk should be put through the machine as soon as possible
after milking, as the milk should have a temperature of about 90° F. If
the cream is to be separated by “setting,” the milk should be taken
straight to the dairy as soon as possible after milking, and poured
through a hair sieve or other strainer into shallow pans—about four
to six inches deep. These should be kept at a temperature of between
46° and 56° F. In from twenty-four to thirty-six hours, according to
the season (more quickly in summer), the cream is separated by a
flat perforated skimmer, or the milk is drawn off by a syphon, or by
the removal of a plug. If skimmed, the process is repeated twelve
hours later, and occasionally a third time after a similar period has
elapsed. If clotted cream be desired, the pans—about six to eight
inches deep—of milk, having stood in the dairy for twenty-four hours,
are heated over a furnace or in a water-bath to a temperature of 175°
F., and then again restored to the dairy to cool. The cream is then
skimmed off the milk by means of the skimmer. If the cream is to be
made into butter, it must be “ripened,” but must not be allowed to
become too sour. In summer, it must not be kept for more than two
days, and in winter for not more than four days. It should be placed,
as soon as separated, in an earthenware cream-holder, large enough to
hold the entire cream to be used at a single churning. When adding the
cream from subsequent skimmings, thoroughly stir the whole together.
Keep the cream cool until twenty-four hours before churning, and add
no fresh cream to the mixture within twelve hours of the churning in
summer, or within twenty-four hours in winter. For the twenty-four
hours previous to churning, the cream must be kept at a temperature
of about 60° F. In summer, churn at a temperature of from 57° to 59°
F., and in winter at from 59° to 63° F. The room, the churn, and the
cream should all be of about the same temperature. The cream should
be strained through straining muslin into the churn, and the latter
should be not more than half full. Churn rather slowly for the first
five minutes, and allow the gas to escape frequently, until no air
rushes out when the vent is opened. Directly you hear the butter
form or “break,” open the churn and see that it has come. It will
resemble mustard seed. Add for each gallon of cream a quart of cold
water, and slowly turn the churn for about half a minute. Draw off the
butter-milk, add to the butter the same quantity of cold water as there
was originally of cream, give the churn a few turns quickly, and then
draw off the water. Repeat this process until the water comes away
quite clear. Then take the butter out of the churn, place it on the
worker, allow it to drain for quarter of an hour, and then work the
whole mass together. Weigh it, and dredge over it from a quarter to
three-quarters of an ounce of fine pure salt to the pound of butter,
rolling it out and sprinkling the salt evenly and by degrees. Well roll
it so as to mix the salt uniformly, and get rid of all the water, but
do not overwork it. Place the butter in a cool place for six hours to
harden before being made up. The hands should never touch the milk,
cream, or butter at any stage; a thermometer should be used to measure
the various temperatures of which knowledge is required; and the churn,
worker, wooden hands, and other appliances should be prepared for use
by first rinsing them with cold water, then scalding them with boiling
water, rubbing them thoroughly with salt, and lastly rinsing them
again with cold water.—_H. R._
[Illustration: A SELF-SKIMMING PORCELAIN MILK-PAN.]
[Illustration: BUTTER-SCOOP.]
_To pot Butter._—The great secret in potting butter so that it will
keep is to extract from it every drop of superfluous milk. This should
be done either by working the butter thoroughly with a pair of the
wooden “hands,” or spatulas, used in all good dairies instead of the
human hand, or by immersing the butter in hot water. In the latter
case the milk will fall to the bottom, leaving the butter floating on
the surface of the water. The butter should be packed in layers in an
earthenware jar or crock, a little salt being sprinkled upon each
layer. If this process is carefully carried out the butter will keep
well. Another method is to make a pickle by pouring a quart of boiling
water upon two pounds of salt, two ounces of loaf sugar, and one ounce
of saltpetre. Let this stand till perfectly cold. Then put the butter
into a jar, and keep it well covered with the pickle. Butter thus
treated will keep sweet and firm throughout the hottest summer.
_Cream Curds._—To one quart of new milk add four eggs, beaten together,
and a little salt. Put it in a covered earthenware jar, and set it in
a pan of water over the fire. Do not stir it, but as soon as the milk
cracks, lay it upon a sieve to drain. Put it upon a china dish in large
spoonfuls.—_J. R._
CHEESE
IT is quite impossible here to give more than the merest outline of the
steps taken in preparing the various sorts of cheese manufactured in
this country. The processes will, moreover, be more fully described in
a future volume of this series. Meanwhile, the reader may be advised
to study the three pamphlets issued by the Royal Agricultural Society
dealing with the practices of making Cheddar, Cheshire, and Stilton
cheeses respectively. A brief summary may, however, be useful to those
who can supplement this by a few actual observations of practical
cheese-making by skilful operators.
In some ways, and by many connoisseurs, Stilton is considered the
finest of English cheeses. The first step in its manufacture is the
addition of Hansen’s (or other) rennet, at the rate of one drachm
to four gallons, to the fresh-strained milk when the milk has a
temperature of from 80° to 85° F., the making-room being kept at a
temperature of about 60° F. The whole is well stirred in a vat for
eight minutes. When, in an hour so, the milk has completely turned,
and the curd is ready for cutting and ladling, straining cloths, from
thirty-six to forty-five inches square, are placed in earthenware
curd-sinks, rods being used to support the sides. The curd is then
ladled out of the vat by means of a half-gallon ladle, and about three
gallons of curd are placed in each straining cloth, the plugs of the
curd-sinks being in position. When the curd has stood for an hour and
a half, open the plugs, drain off the whey, replace the plugs, tie the
straining cloths, and tighten them every two hours until night, drawing
off the whey each time. Then empty the curd on to the curd-tray, and
leave it all night. On the next morning draw off the whey, cut the curd
into three-inch cubes, and leave it to drain for a couple of hours. The
milk from the next milking is treated in like manner. On the afternoon
of the second day the two curds are thoroughly mixed together, broken
up to the size of large filberts, salted at the rate of an ounce to
three and a half pounds of curd, and placed into cheese hoops placed
on round pieces of wood covered with “cheese greys.” The hoops are put
on the drainer, and turned every two hours during the first day by
means of loose calico-covered discs over their top surfaces, similar
to those which served as their basis. The temperature of the room
whilst draining is going on must be about five decrees higher than that
of the making-room. After the first day the cheeses are turned three
times daily. In about a week the cheese can stand alone, and should be
removed from the hoops, calico binders taking their place. The cheeses
are still to be kept on the draining shelves, fresh binders being
applied daily; the outside of the cheese being gently scraped with a
table knife at each binding. As soon as a dry crust begins to form, the
binders are to be removed. The cheeses are to be kept at a temperature
of about 55° F., and given plenty of air. They require turning daily.
In about a month the cheeses are to be placed in a dark store-room
having a temperature of 60° to 65° F., and are to be turned and brushed
daily. In about six months they are fit for the table.
In making Cheddar cheese, the night’s milk is placed in a vat, and left
until the following morning, being kept fairly cool. If much cream has
risen by the morning, this must be skimmed off, added to the morning’s
milk, and well stirred. The morning’s milk must then be heated by the
pan being placed in a vessel containing hot water until its temperature
is raised to a point not far short of, but never exceeding, 95° F. The
evening’s milk is then added to it, and the joint temperature brought
to about 80° to 85° F. Rennet is added, as in the case of Stilton
cheese. In about an hour, when the curd breaks readily and clearly,
as if cut, the curd is to be cut by a long thin knife into two-inch
cubes. In about five minutes the curd is to be further broken up for
about fifty minutes by the “breaker” until the pieces are of the size
of peas, the whey keeping green all the while. Allow the whey to drain
and separate for five or ten minutes, when it should be partly baled or
syphoned off, heated to 130° F., and returned so as to raise the total
temperature to 90° to 95° F., the curd being well stirred during the
return of the heated whey, which process should be gradual, extending
over ten minutes or more. The whey should now rest above the hard and
shotty curd, which sinks to the bottom of the vat. In about a quarter
of an hour the whey is drawn off, the curd is cut up, and the pieces
are piled in a mound. Keep it warm by covering it with cloths, and in
a quarter of an hour again cut it into pieces, turn it, and arrange it
afresh in a mound. It is again covered for half an hour, then removed
to a cooler, cut into small pieces, and covered for another half an
hour. This is often again and again repeated until the curd is ripe
for grinding. The curd having been ground, pure salt at the rate of
an ounce to three pounds should be carefully dredged over, and mixed
into it. The curd should then be placed in the cloth-lined moulds, and
subjected to the press for twelve hours. The cloth is then changed,
the cheese turned, and again pressed for twenty-four hours. This is
repeated for four days, when the cheese is finally removed from the
mould, bandaged after the manner of Stilton, and kept in a temperature
of 65° to 70° F. for six weeks, being turned daily the while, and then
in a temperature of 60° to 65° F., when it is turned on alternate days
for another six or eight weeks.
_Cream Cheese._—There are several soft cheeses well worth the attention
of the small dairy owner. Simple cream cheese is the easiest of all,
for one has only to take a quart of thick cream, put it with two drops
of rennet into a napkin which has been freshly rinsed out in cold
spring water, and sprinkle a little salt over it. Tie up the cream in
the napkin as tightly as possible, and hang it up in the dairy. It may
be eaten in twenty-four hours. The napkin must be changed at night, and
again in the morning, for a fresh one wrung out in cold water. When the
cream cheese comes out of the dining-room, it must be again tied up in
a clean damp napkin and taken immediately to the dairy.
_Grewelthorp Cream Cheese_ is equally simple in its manufacture. Take
one quart of new milk, and put it with a few drops of rennet in a warm
place, where it must remain for twenty-four hours. Then put in a little
salt, stir the milk well, tie it up in a cloth, and hang it up in the
dairy to drain. If a richer cheese is required, add half a pint of
cream to the new milk.
A number of soft cheeses may be made with the help of some tinned iron
cylindrical moulds open at both ends. These moulds may be of various
diameters and depths. Some loose squares of wood, some entire and
others perforated, of various sizes, to serve as bottoms and tops of
the moulds, must also be provided; and straw mats of the same size as
the boards are also desirable. A good average size for the moulds is
five inches in diameter, and four inches in depth. About two quarts of
milk are required to make one cheese for this size mould.
_To make Camembert_, the rennet diluted with water is added to milk
of a temperature of about 85° F., and the whole is stirred for three
minutes. It is then covered for about four hours, until no curd adheres
to the finger when placed on its surface. The curd is then ladled in
slices into the moulds, each mould being placed on a straw mat, with a
board below, resting on a sloping table. The full moulds are allowed to
drain for about six hours in a temperature of 60° F. A clean mat and
board are then placed at the top of the mould, the latter inverted,
and the previous base removed and cleaned. Repeat this changing and
inversing twice a day for two days. Then remove the cheeses from the
moulds, sprinkle some salt on top and bottom, and stand them on straw
or straw-mats in a temperature of about 50° to 55° F., a free current
of air being carried through the drying-room. The cheeses require
turning each morning and evening for another three days, then every
morning for a week, and afterwards on alternate days. In about a
fortnight, when the cheeses cease to stick to the hand when touched,
they are put in a cool (about 50° F.), dark, slightly damp cellar to
ripen for about another fortnight, being turned on alternate days.
_Gervais Cheese._—Messrs. Long and Morton, in their book “The Dairy,”
give directions for preparing a Mignon or Gervais. This cheese is made
of a mixture of cream and milk set at a temperature of 65° F. Six drops
of Hansen’s rennet are sufficient for two and a half quarts of milk
and one quart of cream. The curd is fit to cut in from six to eight
hours, when it is removed into a cloth, in which it is allowed to drain
until it is sufficiently solid and consistent to press.
Removed into a clean cloth, it is laid within a wooden frame with
open sides, and pressed with a close-fitting follower of wood, heavy
enough to cause the whey to drain away without any loss of cream. This
pressure, with one or two manipulations, with the object of maintaining
evenness of consistence, continues until the curd is as thick as an ice
cream, when it is pressed into specially made paper-lined moulds. It
may be eaten about three days later.
_To pot Cheese._—A pleasant form of potted food is made by pounding
together in a mortar a pound of cheese, three ounces of quite fresh
butter, and half a table-spoonful each of castor sugar and made
mustard. This mixture should be packed in jars, covered with clarified
butter, and securely covered. It should not be kept longer than a
fortnight.
PICKLING MEAT
IN pickling or salting meat, it is better to let the fresh joint first
hang for two or three days untouched. This will make the meat more
tender. Before salting it, be careful to remove every pipe or kernel
in the meat, and fill up all holes with salt. Do not attempt to pickle
meat in very cold frosty weather, or in warm damp weather. It is a good
plan to sprinkle the meat with water and then to hang it up for a few
hours before salting it: this cleanses it from any blood, and makes the
flavour more delicate.
A good brine, sufficient for twenty pounds of beef, is made by mixing
together three pounds of salt, three-quarters of a pound of sugar, and
two ounces of saltpetre. Boil these ingredients together for twenty
minutes in two gallons of water, skimming off all scum. Let the liquid
get quite cold before you pour it over the meat, and see that the joint
is thoroughly covered with the brine. For a smaller piece of meat the
quantities given for the brine can be easily reduced, following the
same proportions carefully. The meat must be turned over every day, and
well basted with the brine; and the salting pan or tub must be covered
with a clean piece of tamis-cloth, or other porous woollen material.
The meat will be ready for use in a fortnight.
In cooking pickled or salted meat, two things must be recollected.
First, that, in order to make salted meat tender, it must be put into
cold water when first placed on the fire. Secondly, that it is next to
impossible to cook salted meat too slowly.
_Spiced Round of Beef._—Procure a round of beef weighing from
thirty-five to forty pounds; remove the bone, and lay the beef in a
stone pan. Well rub into the meat all over (not omitting the sides of
the round as well as the top and bottom) a mixture made of four pounds
of salt, two pounds of coarse brown sugar, a quarter of a pound of
saltpetre, and two ounces of _sal prunella_ from the chemist. Turn the
beef every day, and well rub into it the brine which it makes. Let it
remain in pickle for one month. When ready for cooking, let the beef be
closely bound into shape with coarse webbing. Lay it in a large kettle
or pot, and cover the beef with broth as cold as it can be to remain
liquid. Add plenty of rough vegetables, such as carrots, turnips,
onions, and celery, all sliced. Dry in the oven a sufficient quantity
of ginger, cloves, mace, and peppercorns to make two ounces of each
when dried and pounded fine in a mortar. Add these to the beef. Bring
the broth slowly to a very gentle boil, and then keep it simmering
very gently for twelve hours, turning the beef over at the end of six
hours. It must on no account be allowed to boil, or it will be hard and
tasteless. Remove the kettle from the fire, but let the beef remain in
it for two days, when it will have become perfectly cold and firm.
Take off the webbing, and the beef will be ready for eating.
_Welsh Beef._—Rub two ounces of saltpetre into a round of beef; let it
rest an hour, and then rub it with equal parts of pepper, salt, and
allspice. Keep the beef in the brine which this will make for fifteen
days, turning and rubbing it every day. Then put the beef into a large
earthenware round pan, first coating the bottom of the pan with a layer
of suet. Put another layer of suet over the top of the beef, and then
cover the pan with a coarse paste of flour and water. Bake in a slow
oven for eight hours, then pour off any gravy, and let the beef get
cold before it is taken out of the pan.
_To make Sausages._—Sausages are generally put into the thoroughly
cleaned skins of the intestine of the pig. But they are sometimes
preferred without this covering. Take two pounds of fresh pork, using
both fat and lean in equal proportions, but avoiding the coarse fat
from the inside of the pig. Mince the pork as finely as possible,
and then pass it twice through the mincing machine. Blanch and mince
two dessert-spoonfuls of sage, add four ounces of freshly made
bread-crumbs, and season with pepper and a dust of salt. Mix all
thoroughly together, and keep the sausage-meat in a cool place. When
wanted do not use skins, but form the sausage-meat into small round
cakes three-quarters of an inch thick, flour them, and fry them in
butter from ten to fifteen minutes, turning them often.
_To cook Sausages._—This recipe is for sausages which have been put
into skins by the sausage machine. Plenty of time must be allowed for
cooking the sausages, for if they are done too quickly the skins will
burst. About ten minutes is enough over a low fire, the skins having
been well pricked over first. The sausages are much better if they are
first pricked, then put into hot water and brought slowly to the boil,
simmered for five minutes, drained, and finally fried in bacon fat
till they are brown. Serve round a pile of mashed potato, or shape the
mashed potato into long ovals, fake them on a buttered baking-tin, and
when very hot, lay the potato ovals on a hot dish, and put a sausage on
each.
_Ham._—Tastes vary much as to the best size of a ham; some people like
a York ham weighing thirty or forty pounds, others prefer a foreign
ham not exceeding a few pounds in weight. Monsieur de St. Simon,
writing in 1721, said he could never forget the delicious flavour of
the little Spanish hams he had once tasted near Burgos. The pigs which
furnished these hams lived on the flesh of vipers, and in our own day
the hams of the little black pigs of North Carolina, which feed on
rattlesnakes, are esteemed an especial delicacy. The peculiar flavour
of a Westphalian ham is due to the smoke of a fire of juniper branches
over which the ham is hung for three weeks.
It was formerly the custom to put a thick coat of mortar over the
inside of a cured ham to keep out the air, and to prevent the mildew,
or “rust,” which damp is sure to cause. A better way is to cover the
underneath portion of the ham (where the knife has been used), and also
the knuckle-end of the bone, with a paste made of flour and water. This
paste entirely prevents any “rusting,” or, in other words, the minute
fungus caused by damp.
_To cure a Ham weighing from fifteen to eighteen pounds. Norfolk
Recipe._—One pound of treacle, half a pound of coarse brown sugar,
half a pound of bay-salt (_i.e._ sea-salt), one pound of common salt,
one ounce of saltpetre, and two ounces of _sal prunella_ (_i.e._
saltpetre which has been fused, and is sold by chemists). Pound all
these together as finely as possible, and rub the ham thoroughly with
them. Lay the ham in a tub, covered with the pickle, and let it remain
there for a month. It must be turned and basted with the pickle every
other day. When taken out of the pickle, let the ham dry for a day or
two, standing on end. Then brush it over with Crosse and Blackwell’s
essence of smoke. This preparation gives to the ham all the flavour of
the chimney-smoke in which hams used to be hung. [This recipe was given
to me by a friend in whose family it has been used year by year during
four generations.]
_Pickle for Bacon._—Weigh each flitch, and allow for every stone (a
stone of meat weighs eight pounds) one pound of salt, two ounces of
bay-salt, two ounces of saltpetre, and three ounces of coarse brown
sugar. Sprinkle the flitches with salt, and drain them for twenty-four
hours. Mix the salt, bay-salt, saltpetre, and sugar thoroughly
together, and rub all well into the flitches, rubbing the ends as well
as the sides. Do this every day for a month. Then hang up the flitches
to dry, sewing a bag of coarse muslin over each. [Do not use paper, as
it breaks in damp weather. Muslin is a far better protector from the
flies, which are always more partial to salt meat than to any other.]
The flitch, from the Old English word, is one side of the pig.
_To cure Pig’s Cheeks._—Do not use any saltpetre, but clear the two
cheeks well, take out the bones, rub well with common salt, let the
cheeks drain, and next day rub them again with salt, using a fresh
supply. Then mix four ounces of salt with five ounces of coarse brown
sugar, cover the cheeks with this mixture, and turn them every day.
They will be sufficiently cured in twelve days. If saltpetre is used
the cheeks will be hard.
_To boil a Ham._—The great point in boiling a ham is to boil it as
slowly as possible. If a ham is small and rather fresh, it will need
soaking in cold water for only eighteen hours before it is boiled; but
as a rule a ham should be soaked for forty-eight hours, the water being
changed three or even four times during that period. After the ham has
been soaked, scrub it well with a dry, stiff brush, so as to remove
all smoke and discoloration from the surface. Trim off any ragged or
untidy parts, reserving them for the stock-pot. Now put the ham into
a ham-kettle or a large pan, and cover it completely with cold water
to the depth of one inch. Let the water heat as slowly as possible,
so that it may be an hour and a half or two hours before it comes to
the boil. It is a good rule to allow twenty-five minutes’ simmering to
each pound of ham. Skim off all scum as it rises. When the liquor is
perfectly clear put in one shallot, a stick of celery, two turnips, two
or three onions, and three carrots, also add (in a muslin bag) a bunch
of parsley, a sprig of thyme and of marjoram, some chopped lemon-peel,
and twelve peppercorns. Cover the pan closely, reduce the heat under
it, and let the ham simmer very gently for five hours. At the end of
that time lift the ham out, peel off the outside skin, and trim it a
little if this is needed. Brush the ham over with thin glaze, or cover
it with raspings of bread, and set it in a slow oven to brown.
_To steam a Ham._—If the ham is quite small this is an excellent way of
cooking it. As soon as the ham has been soaked, scrubbed, and trimmed,
put it into the steamer over boiling water. Allow twenty-five minutes
to every pound of ham, and keep the water under the steamer boiling
hard. Either glaze the ham or cover with raspings.
_To pot Pounded Meat, Chicken, or Fish._—Cook the meat until it is very
tender and easily separated from the bones. Mince it, and then pound it
with a quarter of its weight of clarified butter, together with pepper
and such other spices and herbs as are liked. Then fill the pots with
the mixture, press it tightly, and cover with clarified butter.
FISH
_TO smoke Fish._—Having opened and cleaned the fish, place them in salt
and saltpetre, eight parts to one, and leave them over the night. Then
wipe them, and hang them in a row, by a stout wire passed through their
eyes, over a sawdust fire for about twenty-four hours.
_To salt Fish._—Having opened and cleaned the fish, place them in
strong brine for twenty hours. Drain them and place them in jars, with
layers of salt between the several layers of fish. Securely cover
the jars until the fish are wanted. Soak the fish for four hours in
lukewarm water and dry before cooking.
_To pickle Fish._—Having opened and cleaned the fish and removed their
heads, place them in a jar for twenty-four hours with layers of salt
between the several layers of fish. Drain them, and boil them for two
minutes with vinegar, onions, cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaves.
Place them in jars, pour the liquid over them, and closely fasten down
the covers.
_To pot Shrimps._—Boil some shrimps, and as soon as cold remove their
shells. Mix with them a little mace, cayenne, salt, and pepper, and
pack them tightly in the pots. Bake for about ten minutes in a slow
oven, and when cold pour over them a quarter of an inch thickness of
melted butter which is just beginning to set.
EGGS
_TO preserve Eggs._—Gather them quite fresh, thoroughly clean them, and
place them in a covered vessel containing a 10 per cent. solution of
sodium silicate (soluble glass). Eggs thus treated keep perfectly fresh
for six months, or even longer.
PICKLING VEGETABLES
FOR pickling, the fruit, or leaves, or bulbs should be in perfect
condition and thoroughly cleaned. Strong vinegar of good quality should
be used, and the spices should be fresh and good. The mixing and
heating of the vinegar is best performed in unglazed stoneware vessels;
if these are unavailable, enamelled iron pans should be used. Pickling
consists in preserving fruits or other vegetable products in spiced
vinegar, the details of the process differing slightly according to the
product to be pickled. To make the spiced vinegar, place in a stoneware
or enamelled boiling-pan a quart of strong vinegar, from half an ounce
to four ounces of black peppercorns, a couple of ounces of crushed
ginger, and from two to eight ounces of mustard seed. Boil this mixture
for four minutes. If liked, any or all of the following spices may
be added to, and boiled with, the vinegar, in addition to those just
named: from one to four blades of mace, from two to ten cloves, from
four to eight allspice, and from two to eight grains of cayenne pepper.
_Implements._—Unglazed stone jars are of all vessels the most suitable
for the containing of pickles, both by virtue of their chemical
composition, and on account of their pleasant wholesome look. Glass
bottles are next best for the purpose. In any case, the great thing
to be remembered is that no metallic substance must be allowed to come
into contact with the pickle or with the vinegar which is to be used.
Wooden spoons alone should be used for mixing. For closing the mouths
of the jars or bottles, corks should be employed, and further security
from contact with the air should be ensured by covering the corked
mouths with tinfoil, bladder, or parchment-paper. It is desirable that
the vessels be furnished with mouths of smaller size than is usually
the case, as the larger the mouth the greater the risk of contamination
by exposure to the air.
[Illustration: OLD DISTILLING FURNACES AND STILLS.
(_From the title page of the first volume of Brunschwig’s “Liber de
Arte Distillandi,” 1500._)]
_To pickle Red Cabbage._—Cut the cabbages into shreds, place them in
a large jar with plenty of salt well intermingled. Leave them alone
for two days, then pour off the liquid, dry the cabbage for a few
hours in the air, pack it in the pickling jars to about an inch from
the opening, and pour sufficient cold spiced vinegar to fill each jar
completely, interspersing some of the spices among the cabbage. Cork
and seal at once.
_To pickle Shallots._—Peel the shallots, and place them in a large
jar with plenty of salt well intermingled. In two days pour off the
liquid, and dry the shallots in the air for a few hours. Then pack them
in the pickling jars, and pour boiling spiced vinegar to fill each
jar completely, interspersing some of the spices among the shallots.
Cork and seal whilst hot. If the vinegar be poured off in a week,
reboiled, and returned to the jars, the pickle will keep much longer.
_To pickle Walnuts._—Take walnuts gathered about July, when still young
and soft enough to be pierced by a pin, and place them in a large jar,
with plenty of salt well interspersed and covering. In eight days
pour off the liquid, and wipe and then dry the nuts in the air for a
few hours. Pierce each walnut with a stout needle, place them in the
pickling jars, and pour boiling spiced vinegar on them so as to fill
the jars. Cover with corks, and each week for three weeks pour off the
vinegar, reboil it, and fill up the jars with boiling spiced vinegar.
Then finally cork and seal.
_To pickle Gherkins._—Place the gherkins in a large jar with plenty of
salt over and among them. In six days pour off the liquid and add a
little water to it, so that it may be a brine strong enough that an egg
will float thereon. Boil this liquid and pour it over the gherkins. In
twenty-four hours pour off the liquid, wipe and dry the gherkins in the
air, place them in the pickling jars, and fill the latter with boiling
spiced vinegar. Cork and seal. If the vinegar be poured off in a week,
reboiled, and again placed in the jars, the pickle will keep much
longer.
_To make a Green Tomato Pickle._—Take a gallon of green tomatoes and a
quart of onions; slice them and cover them with salt. In twenty-four
hours pour off the liquid, and slowly boil for about an hour the
tomatoes and onions in a quart of spiced vinegar, to which a pound of
sugar and a tea-spoonful of celery seed have been added. When tender,
take the mixture off the fire, bottle, cork, and seal.
_To make a Ripe Tomato Pickle._—Substitute ripe tomatoes for the
tomatoes and onions in the last recipe. Halve the quantity of vinegar,
and omit the celery seed.
_To pickle Plums._—Prick four pounds of plums and place them in a
fire-proof stoneware pan with two and a half pounds of sugar. Carefully
bring to the boil, and add two-thirds of a pint of spiced vinegar. Boil
for a few minutes, take out the plums, cool them, and place them in the
pickle-jars. Boil up the liquid again, and pour it whilst boiling over
the plums so as to fill the jars. Cork and seal at once.
_To pickle Samphire._—Gather samphire whilst it is green, about August,
break it into sprigs, place in a jar, and add abundance of salt over
and amongst the sprigs. In two days pour off the liquid, and dry the
samphire for a few hours in the air. Pack it in jars, pour boiling
unspiced vinegar over it so as to fill the jars, and boil in the oven
until the samphire is green and crisp, and at once remove. Cork and
seal.
_To make Nasturtium Pickle._—Place some green nasturtium seeds in a
weak solution of salt for three days. Then soak them in cold water for
twelve hours. Strain and place them in small jars, and pour boiling
vinegar over them.
_Some other Pickles._—Young pea pods, young French bean pods,
cauliflower, unripe gooseberries, and umbels of elderberry flowers
gathered before they expand, barberries (Mrs. Glasse recommends that a
little sprig of boiled fennel be placed at the top of each jar before
sealing), and sliced boiled beetroot, are pickled as directed for red
cabbage.
Unripe, but fully grown radish pods, are pickled as directed for
gherkins.
Onions and young mushrooms (which should be rubbed with salt but not
peeled) are pickled as directed for shallots.
Small apples, pears, peaches, apricots, and damsons may be used to make
sweet pickles as directed for plums. But apples, pears, peaches, and
apricots require to be peeled before being pickled.
_To make Sauerkraut._—Take a dozen fine, hard-hearted, white cabbages,
remove the outer leaves, and shred the hearts into small shreds. Place
these shreds into a large tub, and over each layer sprinkle a little
salt (about six pounds in all). Press the layers of cabbage firmly
down, and, when the tub is full, sprinkle salt over the top of the heap
of cabbage. On this place a piece of linen, and a wooden cover on the
linen. Weigh down the cover by means of a large stone or other weight.
The cover must accurately fit the tub, and slide down within the
staves. The tub should then be placed in a warm room till fermentation
has begun. Wash and replace the linen cover every fortnight. In three
weeks the sauerkraut will be fit for use, though it will keep good for
more than a year.
CONDIMENTS AND SAUCES
_MUSTARD._—The simplicity of its manufacture probably accounts for our
persistence in serving in our mustard-pots the never-varying paste of
mustard and water. Yet the infinite variety of flavours which may be
introduced into our table mustards should sufficiently reward us for
the little trouble entailed in mixing them. As all these made mustards
contain spices or herbs which lose much of their aroma by exposure to
the air, they should be put into jars and securely corked directly
they are made. Ordinary mustard also soon loses its piquancy if left
exposed to the air. It should therefore be kept in a properly closed
bottle or jar. It is best to make small quantities of ordinary mustard
frequently, almost daily, as required.
_To make Ordinary Mustard._—Take a bare table-spoonful of mustard,
white and brown in equal parts, and mix therewith one tea-spoonful of
salt, adding to the mixture, little by little, two table-spoonfuls of
cold water, stirring the while. Continue stirring for a few minutes.
_Mustard with Horseradish._—Boil a table-spoonful of grated horseradish
in half a tea-cupful of water for ten minutes, and allow to get cold.
Then mix the mustard as in the last recipe, adding the horseradish and
two table-spoonfuls of the water in which it has been boiled instead of
the plain water.
_To make a simple French Mustard._—Proceed as in the last recipe,
except that a minced shallot should be substituted for the horseradish,
and that only the water, having been cleared by straining, is added to
the mustard-flour. A tea-spoonful of good vinegar is to be added to the
mixture and thoroughly incorporated.
_To make a Spiced Mustard (Recipe 1)._—Take a quarter of a pound of
mustard-flour, pour over it three small tea-cupfuls of boiling vinegar,
keep the mixture just below boiling-heat for about forty-five minutes,
add a salt-spoonful of ground ginger, half a salt-spoonful of powdered
cloves, and a salt-spoonful of grated nutmeg, and heat for five minutes
longer.
_To make a Spiced Mustard (Recipe 2)._—Take a tumblerful of vinegar,
and place therein two salt-spoonfuls of salt, a salt-spoonful of
scraped horseradish, and half a salt-spoonful of powdered cloves. At
the end of three days strain off the liquid and add a sufficiency of
mustard-flour—about three ounces—to make a thick paste.
_To make a Spiced Mustard (Recipe 3)._—Mix together a tea-spoonful
each of powdered mace, ground black pepper, powdered dill seeds, and
powdered cinnamon, a slightly smaller quantity of powdered cloves,
a table-spoonful of powdered tarragon leaves, and three pints of
vinegar. Heat for an hour, strain, and then mix with about a pound of
mustard-flour and a quarter of a pound of castor sugar to make a thick
paste.
[Illustration: DISTILLING OYLE OUT OF SEEDES.
(_From Baker’s “Jewel of Health,” 1576._)]
_To make Frankfort Mustard._—Mix together a quarter of a pound of
castor sugar, an ounce of allspice, half an ounce of powdered-cloves,
and a pound of ground mustard—white and brown, in equal parts. Mix into
a thick paste with wine vinegar.
_To make Jesuits’ Mustard._—Thoroughly mix ten sardines, a quarter of
a pound of ground brown mustard, three-quarters of a pound of ground
white mustard, and two hundred capers. Make into a paste with about a
quart of boiling vinegar.
_To make Mustard as at Düsseldorf._—Take two earthenware pans, and
place in each a quart of vinegar. In one place a quarter of an ounce
of thyme leaves, and in the other place three minced onions. Let them
stand for forty-eight hours. Bruise half a pound of white mustard seed
and half a pound of black mustard seed, and put them in a pan with a
tea-spoonful of powdered cloves, a tea-spoonful of powdered coriander,
half a pound of salt, and the strained vinegar. Thoroughly mix. Add
a little more vinegar if the mixture is too thick, or a little more
mustard if it is too thin. Parsley, celery, or other herbs may be used
instead of onions to flavour the vinegar.
_To make an Aromatic Mustard Powder._—In making a mixed powder of this
kind, it is absolutely essential to success that each of the articles
be thoroughly dry previous to being mixed. A good result is obtained
by mixing a quarter of a pound of salt, a pound of mustard, half an
ounce each of dried garlic, dried thyme, dried tarragon, and mixed
spices—all finely powdered. The mixture should be stored in air-tight
boxes or bottles.
_To make a Spiced Table Vinegar._—Mix in an earthenware pan two ounces
of cloves, a quarter of an ounce of mace, and the same quantity each of
orange blossoms and cassia bark. Pour a quart of heated strong vinegar
over the spices, and let the mixture digest in a warm place for a week.
Strain, filter through filter-paper, and bottle.
_To make an Aromatic Table Vinegar (Recipe 1)._—Chop up one ounce each
of bay leaves, leaves of rosemary, and leaves of sage, and place them
in a fireproof earthenware pan; add thereto a quarter of an ounce each
of cloves, zedoary root, and chillis. Pour on the mixture a quart of
heated strong vinegar, and let it digest in a warm place for a week.
Strain, filter, and bottle.
_To make an Aromatic Table Vinegar (Recipe 2)._—Chop up one ounce each
of thyme leaves, basil leaves, leaves of marjoram, leaves of tarragon,
and bean leaves. Add thereto half an ounce each of chopped shallots and
celery. Pour on the mixture a quart of heated strong vinegar, and treat
as in the last recipe.
_To make an Aromatic Table Vinegar (Recipe 3)._—Chop up and mix half a
pound of tarragon leaves, and a quarter of a pound each of rocambole,
shallots, anchovies, capers, and bay leaves. Pour over them three
quarts of heated strong vinegar, and treat as in the first recipe.
_To make Aromatic Table Vinegar (Recipe 4)._—The leaves of any sweet
herb, having been dried, may be lightly placed—not pressed—in a bottle
till it is full, and vinegar poured over them and allowed to stand for
six weeks. It may then be strained off and bottled.
_To make Aromatic Wines._—The leaves of any sweet herb are to be
treated as above, but sherry is to take the place of the vinegar.
_To make Curry Powder._—Pound to a fine powder and mix thoroughly
together a quarter of a pound each of coriander seed and turmeric, an
ounce each of mustard, ginger, and black pepper, and half an ounce each
of cardamom, cumin, and pimento.
_To make Mushroom Catsup._—Wipe, but do not wash or skin, some freshly
gathered, fully ripe mushrooms, and place them in a jar with layers
of salt between the several layers of mushrooms and over the whole,
allowing six ounces of salt to a gallon of mushrooms. Cover the jar
loosely with a cloth, and place it in a warm room until the next day.
Crush the mushrooms, place the whole in a cool oven for half an hour,
and strain through coarse muslin. Boil the liquid with peppercorns,
half an ounce to the quart; mace, a dram to the quart; cloves, a dozen
to the quart; and bruised ginger, half an ounce to the quart. When the
liquid has boiled down to a half, take it off the fire, allow it to
cool, strain through very coarse straining cloth, and bottle in small,
well-corked bottles. If these bottles are treated as the bottles of
fruit in fruit-bottling are treated, the catsup will keep the better.
_To make Tomato Catsup._—Boil a quart of perfectly ripe tomatoes with a
table-spoonful of black pepper, a salt-spoonful of salt, a tea-spoonful
each of ground cloves and allspice, and half a tea-spoonful of mustard
in a pint of vinegar for three hours. Strain, and, when the mixture is
cold, bottle and seal.
_To make Walnut Catsup._—Boil a gross of soft, young walnuts, crushed,
two ounces each of ground nutmeg and black pepper, half an ounce each
of ground mace and ginger, and fifty cloves, ground, in two quarts
of vinegar for forty minutes. Strain, and, when the mixture is cold,
bottle and seal.
_To make a Piquant Sauce (Recipe 1)._—Boil half an ounce of cayenne,
half an ounce of cochineal, half an ounce of mixed garlic, and half a
dozen cloves in a quart of vinegar for twenty minutes. Strain, and,
when the liquor is cool, add two ounces of essence of anchovies, half a
pint of an equal mixture of walnut and mushroom catsup, and half a pint
of good port. Thoroughly mix and bottle.
_To make a Piquant Sauce (Recipe 2)._—Boil a quarter of a pound of
bruised cloves, a quarter of a pound of minced shallots, and half
an ounce of cayenne pepper in half a gallon of vinegar for twenty
minutes. Strain, and, when the liquor is cool, add half a pint of an
equal mixture of walnut catsup and soy. Thoroughly mix and bottle.
_To make a Piquant Sauce (Recipe 3)._—Boil a quarter of a pound each of
allspice, minced shallots, and minced garlic, and two ounces of salt in
a quart of vinegar for twenty minutes. Strain, and, when the mixture
is cool, add a gallon each of walnut catsup and mushroom catsup.
Thoroughly mix and bottle.
_To make Anchovy Sauce._—Heat, until it thickens, a mixture of a pint
of vinegar, a pint and a quarter of water, two pounds and a half
of butter, three-quarters of a pound of flour, and thirty minced
anchovies. Rub the mixture through a coarse hair sieve and bottle.
_To make a Salad Dressing to be stored._—Salad dressings should be
mixed freshly as required; but it is sometimes thought desirable to
keep a stock dressing bottled and ready for all emergencies. Thoroughly
beat the yolks of three eggs, and gradually stir in half a tea-cupful
of olive oil, together with a table-spoonful of mustard, a little
pepper, two table-spoonfuls of salt, and half a tea-cupful of vinegar;
adding, last of all, the well-beaten whites of the three eggs. Bottle
in well-stoppered bottles.
PRESERVES
IT is easy to make good jam at home if a few simple rules are followed.
Excellent jams can, it is true, be bought, but they are generally too
sweet, a large proportion of sugar being used in order to make the jam
keep for a considerable time.
RULE 1.—Use only fresh fruit which has been gathered in dry weather.
2. Allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar to one pound of all fruit,
except stone fruit. Stone fruit requires an extra quarter of a pound
of sugar. Break the sugar small, but do not pound it; if the sugar
is pounded the syrup will not be clear. Use the best sugar, as the
inferior kinds produce much more scum.
3. Never set the preserving-pan flat on the fire. If you do, the
fruit will stick to it, and burn. Raise the pan on a trivet a little
above the fire, and not exactly over the hottest part. Stir the jam
with a wooden spoon all the time that the sugar and fruit are boiling
together. An iron spoon ruins both the flavour and the colour of jam.
Stir gently at first, more quickly as the boiling of the jam proceeds.
Skim off all scum as it rises.
4. Put the fruit into the preserving-pan, sprinkle in some of the
sugar, and as the fruit juices, add the rest of the sugar by degrees.
When the sugar is all dissolved bring the jam to the boil.
5. Never boil jam longer than twenty minutes. If it is boiled too long
the jam will be sticky, but if not boiled enough it will not keep. When
the scum ceases to rise, put a few drops of the jam on a cold plate,
watch it for a minute, and if it sets, and does not flow freely, the
jam is done.
6. Warm the jam-pots before you pour the hot jam into them; if you do
not they may crack. Fill the pots to within half an inch of the top,
and wipe off any drops spilt with a cloth wrung out in hot water. If
this is not attended to, there will be great difficulty in scraping off
the drops when the jam has cooled.
7. The day after the jam is made, and when it has become quite
cold, lay a round of thin paper on the top of each pot. Then take a
sufficient number of the vegetable parchment covers which are sold for
tying over jam-pots, soak them for a minute or two in cold water, wipe
them dry, stretch one over each pot, and tie it round with string. The
parchment tightens as it dries, and excludes the air from the jam. When
the covers are dry, write in ink on each the name of the jam and the
date.
8. Always keep jam in a cool, dry place. Damp makes it mouldy, heat
makes it ferment.
9. Never put one pot of jam exactly on the top of another, but set one
row of pots on the edges of the row beneath, leaving a clear space in
the centre of each pot.
Different fruits require different treatment when made into jam. Thus,
strawberries must be carefully stirred, raspberries must be mashed with
a wooden spoon; and both these fruits, being soft and juicy, require
less boiling than the drier kinds. Dry fruits, such as apples, should
always be put first into a covered jar set in a pan of boiling water,
and kept there until they are thoroughly softened. Fruit, with the
exception of the very juicy kinds, takes longer to boil than sugar, so
that it is well to cook the fruit partially before adding the sugar.
Over-boiled sugar spoils the texture of jam.
Rhubarb jam requires the addition of a little root-ginger and a few
strips of lemon-peel.
_Orange Marmalade._—Allow for every pound of oranges one pint of water
and three-quarters of a pound of sugar.
Pare Seville oranges very thin, and boil the rind till tender. Boil it
in plenty of water for about three-quarters of an hour. At the end of
this time the orange rind should be so tender that a straw will pierce
it. Then cut it into very thin strips about half an inch long. Take off
the tough white coat of each orange, and throw it away. Then scrape out
the pulp and juice very carefully, and throw the pips into cold water.
When they have remained in the water for a short time, squeeze them
through a cloth, and add a pint of the water in which the pips have
been soaked to every three-quarters of a pound of the sugar. The reason
for steeping the pips is that they yield a glutinous substance, which
adds richness to the marmalade. Boil the syrup for twenty minutes,
allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar and one pint of water to
every pound of orange pulp. Put the pulp and juice into the syrup, and
boil for half an hour, carefully skimming off the scum as it rises.
During the last five minutes add the shreds of orange-peel. Put the
marmalade into pots, and tie them down next day.
_Clear Orange Marmalade._—In this marmalade there are no shreds of
orange-peel. Cut the oranges in half after they are peeled and freed
from the white skin. Boil them for three-quarters of an hour, allowing
one pint of water to twelve oranges. Strain off the juice, and boil
it up sharp for ten minutes. Allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar
to every pint of juice. Boil for twenty or five-and-twenty minutes
till it jellies. Four oranges make a pound pot of marmalade. It is an
improvement if half the peel taken from the oranges is grated finely,
and boiled with the oranges.
_Quince Marmalade._—Scald the quinces, pare, core, and quarter them. To
four pounds of fruit add three pounds and a half of sugar. Take three
pints of the water the quinces were scalded in, and boil in it both
the parings and the cores. Strain the water, and add it to the quinces
and the sugar. Let it stand all night. Next day set the quinces over
a slow fire, and bring them very gradually to the boil, skimming and
stirring them all the time they are cooking.
Crab-apples, Siberian crab-apples, and the fruit of the Pyrus Japonica,
or Japanese quince, all make excellent preserve.
_Crab-apple Marmalade._—Parboil the crab-apples, and pulp them through
a sieve or colander. Pare six large common apples, boil them till quite
soft, and pass them through the sieve, when they will yield all the
liquid they contain. To every quart of crab-apple pulp add one gill of
the liquid from the common apples; and allow three-quarters of a pound
of sugar to every pound of pulp. Boil all together for fifteen minutes,
stirring the whole time.
_Fruit Jellies._—In making fruit jellies only the clear juice extracted
from the fruit is used. The fruit must be softened by being placed in
a jar set in boiling water, after which the juice must be allowed to
drip through a hair sieve or a piece of canvas. The fruit must on no
account be squeezed or rubbed with the hand or spoon, but it may be
pressed down by a plate with a weight set upon it. Boil the juice for
ten minutes, weigh it, and when it boils up again, add half a pound of
sugar to every pint of juice. Then boil the whole sharp for five or ten
minutes more, skimming off all scum.
_Clear Apple Jelly._—Pare and core half a peck of green apples, cut
them up, and drop them as you cut them into two quarts of water. Pare
two small lemons, cut them up, removing the pips, and add them to the
apples, reserving the lemon-peel. Put the apple-parings and the cores
with the apples, and boil all together very slowly till the fruit is
quite a pulp. Then strain it through a jelly-bag, and to every pint of
liquid add half a pound of lump sugar. Boil the whole very fast with
the peel of the two lemons, skimming thoroughly all the time. It ought
to jelly in three-quarters of an hour; try it by dropping a few drops
on a cold plate. When sufficiently done take out all the lemon-peel,
and pour the jelly into moulds or small pots.
_Cranberry Jelly_ can be made in this way from the Russian and Swedish
cranberries now sold, but cranberries will require a pound of sugar to
the pint of juice. Cranberries should not be boiled longer than twenty
minutes.
_Medlar Jelly._—Gather the medlars when quite sound, wipe them well,
and let them stew in the preserving-pan with just enough boiling water
to cover them till they are in a pulp. Drain the fruit through a piece
of canvas, but do not press the pulp. Weigh the juice, and allow half
a pound of sugar to every pint. Boil it till quite clear, stirring and
skimming well. When it jellies, pour it into small moulds, and let it
set.
_Currant Jelly (No. 1)._—Strip red currants from their stalks, and put
them into the oven. When quite juicy, pass them through a hair sieve
or a coarse cloth. To every pint of juice allow a pound of loaf sugar
well beaten and sifted. Heat the sugar on a dish in the oven, putting
it between two sheets of foolscap paper, and when the currant juice
has boiled for a couple of minutes, strew the sugar into it by degrees
whilst the juice is boiling hot. It will jelly immediately, and gain
flavour by keeping. Put it at once into pots.
_Currant Jelly (No. 2)._—To six pounds of red, white, or black
currants add four pounds of sugar and half a pint of currant juice
extracted from additional currants. Stir the fruit well together in a
preserving-pan, set it on a brisk fire, and when it boils up, pass it
through a cloth into a basin with a lip. Pour the jelly from the basin
at once into pots. Let the pots remain uncovered for nine days, and
then tie them up.
_Blackberry Jelly._—Take six pounds of blackberries before they are
quite ripe, pick them from the stalks, and put them into a jar. Tie
the jar up closely, set it in a pan of water on the fire till the
blackberries become pulp. Then strain the fruit through a cloth, and to
one pint of juice add one pound of sifted sugar. Boil it to a jelly,
and pour it into pots for use. Blackberry jelly is much improved if
half the quantity of blackberries is used and the other half made up of
bullaces or wild plums. But bullaces are now rare.
_Scotch “Jam Jelly.”_—This preserve is made from the berries of the
mountain ash, gathered when they have become nearly (but not quite)
ripe. Take off the stalks, and stew the berries in a jar set in
boiling water. They take many hours’ stewing before they become tender,
but in the end they make excellent jelly. For the mountain-ash berries
allow a pound of sugar to a pound of pulp.
_Damson Cheese._—Stew the damsons till tender in a jar set in boiling
water. Rub them through a coarse sieve to take off the skins. Take out
the stones, crack them, and blanch the kernels. Boil the cheese for
one hour. Then weigh it, and add one pound of sugar to two quarts of
the damson pulp. Boil it, stirring it well till it is thick. Keep the
fire low, and boil the pulp very slowly. After the cheese has thickened
well, leave off stirring; but it must boil quite to a candy, and may
take seven hours. Put in the kernels a few minutes before the damson
cheese is taken off the fire. The cheese will be done when it leaves
the sides of the pan. A peck and a half of damsons will make ten pints
of cheese. Cover the moulds when cold with paper dipped in brandy.
_Brandy Cherries._—To every pound of Morello cherries, stalked but not
stoned, add three-quarters of a pound of best loaf sugar. Take a few
cherries, bruise them, and take as much juice from them as will make
the sugar into a very thick syrup. Fill wide-mouthed bottles with the
cherries, and prick each cherry all over with a fine needle. Let the
syrup get quite cold, then pour it on the cherries, and fill up the
bottles with good brandy.
_Brandy Peaches._—Peel the peaches carefully with a silver
dessert-knife, and as you do so put each peach into cold water. Choose
a deep stone jar, put into it one pound of peaches covered with
three-quarters of a pound of sifted sugar. Fill up the jar with good
brandy. Set the jar in a pan of cold water on the fire, and let it
gradually heat till the brandy is nearly boiling. Then let it get cold
and tie up the jar closely.
THE STORING OF FRUIT AND HERBS
A STORE-ROOM for apples and pears should be cool, though frost-proof,
slightly moist, and well ventilated, though free from draughts.
Adjacent apples should not be in contact with each other. If very
choice, it is wise to wrap each apple in tissue paper. The fruit should
be hand-picked, and placed in the store-room when quite dry, and any
specimens that show signs of rottenness should be removed directly they
are recognized.
Messrs. Bunyard, of Maidstone, have built some fruit-houses which
admirably fulfil the desired conditions. The following instructions for
erecting a similar storehouse are given by Mr. George Bunyard.
First level the soil and dig out holes for the corners large enough
to admit brick piers 14 inches by 14 inches, or stones about 1
foot square; fix an iron dowel in the centre to receive the corner
posts of the structure. Some provision for air (air-bricks), or an
aperture covered outside and inside with perforated zinc, should be
provided just above the ground line, and if over 20 feet long an extra
foundation should be put in at the half distance to hold another
support.
Make the main posts 6 feet long, 6 inches square, and prepare a hole
in the foot to receive the dowel mentioned above. This will keep the
framework firm. The main ground plate should be 4½ inches by 3 inches,
and the top plate of the same size. Support and steady in the usual way
with quartering 4½ inches by 3 inches, and when this is fixed, choose a
dry day, and pitch, tar, or cold creosote the lower plates and all the
woodwork 2 feet from the ground to protect from damp: this quartering
should show an even outside face to secure the matchboard.
The cheapest material for the outside covering will be ¾-inch
matchboard, and it may as well be fixed outside the rafters as well.
Pitchboard 4½ inches by 1 inch, rafters 3 inches by 2 inches.
_Inside Bonds_ from one side to the other, 4½ inches by 3 inches. If
stout they are useful to hold planks, on which baskets can be placed
overhead in the roof, space. In order to receive the side thatch, a
board is attached round the door-plates and at the corners, 6 inches
wide, from the ground to eaves, in which the thatch is placed upright,
and it is kept in position by lateral splines of wood 3 inches by 1
inch.
_The Roof Thatch_ may be 18 inches thick on the roof and 6 inches at
the sides, and where it can be procured, carex or reed is strongest and
most lasting, but it may be of wheat straw or heather. The thatch at
the sides should be 6 inches thick.
Both an inside and outside door should be provided, and they must be
made to fit closely to exclude draughts.
[Illustration: A FRUIT-ROOM.]
[Illustration: ORR’S TRAYS FOR STORING FRUIT]
In order that one may readily inspect the fruit, windows of 21-ounce
glass are inserted, and this saves the use of a candle at storing time;
but outside shutters must be provided to keep the place as dark as
possible, and a fruit-house is perhaps better without windows.
_Ventilation_ is provided by an opening under the apex of roof at each
end, 18 inches by 8 inches, a small opening being left between the
dairy shutters, which can be stopped by hay or moss in severe weather,
and inside opening should be protected by perforated zinc, fine enough
to keep out wasps and flies; another ventilator should be inserted
about midway under the lowest shelf, to open from outside by a shutter,
being covered inside by perforated zinc.
To protect the contents from rats, a ½-inch stout wire netting should
be fastened to the matchboard outside beneath the thatch, so that an
entry would be difficult.
_Inside Shelves_ on which to lay the fruit are readily fixed at the
sides. First place uprights 2 inches by 1½ inch from the ground to the
rafters, and then attach bearers 2 inches by ¾ inch on this to the
quartering; 1 foot between the shelves is a very convenient distance,
the lowest shelf being placed 6 inches from the ground, making six all
up to the eaves. The shelves are made of ¾-inch matchboard, should not
quite meet each other by ¼ inch, so as to gain a slight circulation of
air; upon this place lengths of clean wheat straw, so that the fruit
shall not touch the wooden shelves. In the centre of the fruit-house a
narrow table with a raised edge made of lengths of matchboard, set on
trestles, is useful to set up exhibition collections or to show special
samples. Baskets of fruit can be set under this for early use.
_Floor._—The best possible floor is the natural earth—paved surfaces
are apt to become too dry. The latest sorts should be stored on the
lowest shelf.
_Names._—Provide slips of zinc 4 inches long, turn up one end 1 inch,
at an angle of 45°, and then slit this angle three times, and bend it
so that it will hold a neat card; the other end can be slipped under
the straw.
From their fruit-house, constructed on these lines, Messrs. Bunyard
have put up 80 dishes of fresh clean apples at the Temple Shows at the
end of May.
_Pears._—If pears constitute the bulk of the store, the fruit-house
should be rather drier and rather warmer than in the case of apples. In
either case, the winter temperature should not fall below 40° F., and
the summer temperature should not rise above 60° F.
A very convenient method of storing apples and pears is in flat trays,
such as those known as Orr’s, of which Mr. White, of Bedford, holds the
patent rights. The fruit is placed direct in these as picked from the
tree, and the trays are carried to the fruit-house as fast as they are
filled.
_Medlars_ should be picked in November, preferably after the frost has
touched them. Their stalks should be dipped in strong lime, and the
fruits buried in boxes of wet bran, no two medlars touching, and placed
in the fruit-house.
_Walnuts_ should be removed from their outer rinds, and at once placed
in an earthen jar. Cover them with three inches of sawdust, and place
them in a cool cellar or fruit-house.
_Filberts, Cobs and Hedge Nuts_, for storing, should be gathered just
before they slip their husks—though they must be so ripe as to do so at
the slightest force. They should be dried before storing, or the husks
will become mouldy. They may then be treated as advised for walnuts, or
they may be placed in a jar and sprinkled over with salt.
_Gathering and Drying Herbs._—Herbs should usually be picked just
before they flower, and, their roots having been cut off, they should
be tied into bundles and quickly sun-dried. These bundles may then be
tied in paper bags and hung in a dry room, or they may be powdered and
bottled. Lavender should be cut as soon as the flowers are fully open.
It should then be dried in the shade, and stored in a dry room.
[Illustration: LEE’S STEAM FRUIT PRESERVING APPARATUS]
THE BOTTLING OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
[Illustration: RYLAND’S FRUIT BOTTLES.
_Empress._ _Climax._ _May Queen._
]
THE value of fruits bottled whole in such a way that they retain their
natural form as well as their natural flavour is becoming more and more
recognized, and fortunately science has kept space with the spread of
this recognition, so that it is a perfectly simple matter for the owner
of the smallest garden to bottle his fruit at the most trifling cost
and trouble. The methods adopted have for their object the destruction
of the germs present in the fruit, through whose activity fermentation
and decomposition usually result, and the subsequent exclusion of germs
from the vessels in which the fruit is being preserved. Glass bottles
with air-tight stoppers are usually employed for this purpose, and
several excellent varieties are in the market. In practically all of
them, the top fits on the wide open mouth of the bottle and presses on
a rubber ring. The tops are usually either held down by a metal screw
ring or by a spring clip or wire bail. Of the bottles here illustrated,
the Climax, May Queen, and Empress are manufactured by the Rylands
Glass Company, of Barnsby; whilst the others are dealt in by Messrs.
E. Lee and Company, of Maidstone. Messrs. Lee are also responsible
for an admirable apparatus or boiling pan for sterilizing the fruit
or other product. This apparatus serves not only for the purposes
of fruit bottling, but is also serviceable for sterilizing milk and
for certain other culinary purposes. Select ripe fruit, removing any
that are unsound, and, having washed the bottles, place the fruit
therein—packing the bottles full to the shoulder. Pour in cold water or
cold syrup (from a table-spoonful to half a pound of sugar to the pint
of water) so as to fill the bottles to the brim. Place the indiarubber
ring round the ledge on the neck of the bottle, place the disc upon it,
and loosely arrange the screw-top, if that method be adopted, as
free outlet must be left for steam to escape. Take a pan, such as Lee’s
sterilizing apparatus includes, and place cold water in it of such a
depth as shall reach the shoulders of the bottles which are now to be
placed in the pan. Heat until the water in the pan has a temperature
of between 155° and 160° F., and this temperature is to be maintained
until the bottles are removed. The bottles are to be lifted out singly
and the covers at once screwed down, or locked by the spring or lever,
according to the make of bottle. They should be cooled as quickly as
possible. Apples and pears should be peeled, cut, and cored, and placed
in cold water directly they are cored. All stone fruit should be stoned
before bottling. The time for which the bottles should remain in the
pan, at a temperature of 155° to 160° F., varies. Cherries, rhubarb,
small plums, gooseberries and currants require about twenty minutes;
tomatoes, half an hour; apricots, three-quarters of an hour; and pears,
an hour.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: LEE’S FRUIT BOTTLING BOILER AND FRUIT BOTTLES]
Mushrooms and carrots may be bottled in the same way as fruit, but the
bottles containing them should be left in the pan of heated water for
an hour and a half. Green peas, asparagus and French beans, if first
placed in boiling water for five minutes, may be bottled in like way,
the bottles remaining in the pan for an hour.
_To make Fruit Syrups._—Mash the fruit (raspberries, currants,
strawberries, blackberries, etc.), and allow it to remain, loosely
covered, in a warm place for three days. Then pass the juice through a
muslin strainer, and add a pound of sugar to every half-pound of juice.
Boil until the sugar is dissolved. Cool and bottle, corking securely.
THE DRYING OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
BY means of an evaporator, or drier, a number of fruit and vegetables
may be preserved by the removal of the moisture which they contain.
Quite cheap evaporators are now to be obtained, such as the _Quorn_,
of Messrs. Lumley, of the Minories, London. As the makers of the
various evaporating appliances supply full instructions for their use,
it is not necessary here to give more than the briefest summary of
the treatment to be adopted in drying one or two typical fruits and
vegetables.
The method of preparing apples to be evaporated is as follows:—
After the apples have been pared, cored, and sliced, they are placed
in a tub of perfectly clean water, containing a small quantity of
salt, which prevents oxidation and discoloration. They are then cut
once vertically, and all bruises, specks, and parings trimmed away to
produce the well-known apple-rings of commerce. These are placed thinly
on one of the trays of the evaporator and entered at the lower end of
the upper flue. Sometimes a little sulphur may be sprinkled on the
furnace with great advantage for the purpose of bleaching the rings.
The first tray remains in the position just mentioned until the second
tray is ready to be placed under the first tray which will be in four
or five minutes; the third tray is then filled in the usual manner, and
placed under the second tray, and when the fourth tray is ready the
first three trays are pushed forward in the flue, and the fourth tray
takes the place of No. 1, and so on until the top flue is full. On the
arrival of the first tray at the upper end of the flue, the contents
are examined, and those that are sufficiently dried are removed, and
the remainder turned over and returned down the lower and cooler flue.
In many cases, one tray will hold the whole of the contents (which are
nearly dried) of two or three trays, the empty ones being taken away to
be again filled with fresh fruit. The degree of heat used for drying
apples is from 175° to 240° F.; and the time occupied varies from two
to four hours, according to the variety of the apple, but from two to
two and a half hours is the usual time. Whole apples require a much
longer time, eight to ten hours, according to size and variety.
Plums are dried in the same manner, except that they are placed in the
evaporator at once. They should be graded according to size, and be
uniformly ripe. During the process of evaporation plums ought to be
removed from the evaporator once or twice for the purpose of cooling
them and toughening the skin, and so prevent bursting, which they are
liable to do, because the skin does not allow the moisture in the fruit
to freely escape when first placed in the machine. As soon as the
plums commence to shrivel all danger of bursting is past, and they may
then remain in the evaporator until dry. The time required for plums
is from six to ten hours, and the temperature requisite 240° to 300°
F. Plums may be steamed for a few minutes and then split in half, thus
entirely dispensing with the cooling process, and considerably reducing
the length of time required in drying. 100 pounds of fresh plums will
give about 30 pounds of dried.
Apricots are simply cut in two, the stones being taken out, and the
fruit then dried just like apples, at from 240° to 250° F. They take
from two to three hours to dry. From 100 pounds of the fresh fruit, 10
to 12 pounds of dried will result.
Pears for drying purposes ought not to be quite ripe. They are peeled,
and either dried whole, or, more generally, are divided, and the
seed-vessels cut out, the stems being left on. They then require
steaming for eight or ten minutes, and are filled in from the bottom
upwards. The temperature used is 212° to 240° F., and the pears will
take five to seven hours to dry if divided, or seven to nine hours if
whole. From 100 pounds of fresh pears 12 to 16 pounds of dried ones
will be obtained. When preparing the pears before drying, the flavour
will be improved if a little sugar be added to the water in which
they are cooked, and to this may be put the juice of the removed
seed-vessels and peelings.
Vegetables require, in addition to the peeling, slicing, or cutting
up, to be steamed or cooked for five to seven minutes before they are
dried. This is necessary in order to keep their colour and to prevent
their becoming hard. When dried on a small scale the cooking in boiling
water is generally sufficient. Like apples, vegetables are always
filled in from below upwards.
French beans are cut into strips by a special machine, and cooked for
a few minutes. A little soda added to the water helps to preserve
their bright green colour. The time required for drying is from
three-quarters to one hour. Temperature 150° to 160° F. 100 pounds of
fresh beans giving 10 to 12 pounds of dry.
Peas require simply shelling and a few minutes’ cooking. They should
not be quite ripe, and are laid thinly on the trays. They take from one
to one and a half hours to dry. Temperature 212° to 220° F. 100 pounds
of green pods will yield about 10 to 12 pounds of dried peas.
HOME-BREWED BEER
“Blessing of your heart, you brew good ale.”
“It illuminateth the face, warmeth the blood, and
maketh it course from the inwards to the parts extreme.”
“A quart of ale is a dish for a king.”
“Sir, I have now in my cellar ten tun of the best ale
in Staffordshire; ’tis smooth as oil, sweet as milk,
clear as amber, and strong as brandy; and will be just
fourteen years old the fifth day of next March, old
style.”
ONE of the finest pamphlets ever issued in this country is William
Cobbett’s “Cottage Economy.” Even now it affords good stimulating
reading, and might still serve as a wise protest against the pietistic
and other cant of the times. The object of the little book was first
to emphasize the sound doctrines that no nation ever was or ever will
be permanently great if it consists to any large extent of wretched
and miserable families; that a family to be happy must usually be
well supplied with food and raiment; and that it is to blaspheme
God to suppose that He created men to be miserable, to hunger, to
thirst, and to perish with cold in the midst of that abundance which
is the fruit of their own labour. The second object of the book was
to convey to the families of the labouring classes in particular such
information as to the preparation of food, the selection of clothes
and furniture, and the general management of homes as his wisdom and
sound judgment dictated. All through the book runs a steady stream of
common sense far removed from the slushy cant so prevalent in works
of the kind. “A couple of flitches of bacon are worth fifty thousand
Methodist sermons and religious tracts. They are great softeners of
the temper and promoters of domestic harmony.” “Oak tables, bedsteads,
and stools, chairs of oak or of yew-tree, and never a bit of miserable
deal board. Things of this sort ought to last several lifetimes. A
labourer ought to inherit from his great-grandfather something besides
his toil.” “Nowadays the labourers, and especially the female part
of them, have fallen into the taste of niceness in food and finery
in dress; a quarter of a bellyful and rags are the consequence. The
food of their choice is high-priced, and the dress of their choice
is showy and flimsy, so that to-day they are ladies, and to-morrow
ragged as sheep with the scab.” A healthy attitude towards the plain
and the wholesome and the genuine marks the whole book. Among other
things ardently desired by Cobbett was the extension of the practice
of the home brewing of honest beer, and he denounced the growing
habit of tea-drinking with a vigour that time and results have shown
was not misplaced. He looked upon tea-drinking as a destroyer of
health, an enfeebler of the frame, an engenderer of effeminacy and
laziness, a debaucher of youth, and a maker of misery for old age.
And he could scarce find adequate vent for his impatience of what he
rightly considered the everlasting dawdling about with the slops of the
tea-tackle, or for his pity for the labourer who, instead of cheerfully
and vigorously doing a morning’s work on the strength of a breakfast
of bread, bacon, and beer, has to force his tea-sodden limbs along
under the sweat of feebleness, and at night to return to the wretched
tea-kettle once more. How different, says Cobbett, is the fate of that
man who has made his wife brew beer instead of making tea!
It has been said and often quoted that there is good beer, and better
beer, but no bad beer. The present writer’s experience is that there is
beer so bad that few drinks can rival it for disagreeableness in taste
and effects; stuff which should never be called by the same name as
that transparent, brown or amber, vinous fluid, “bright as a sunbeam,”
free from acidity, flatness and insipidity, which alone is worthy the
name of beer.
To make good beer requires good materials, care, cleanliness, and
method. Given those, failure should be impossible. The water should be
good, soft water being usually to be preferred; the malt fresh and full
of flour; the hops bright, yellowish-green in colour, with a pleasant
brisk fragrance, and free from leaves and bits of stem; and the various
tubs, boilers, and other appliances scrupulously clean. The several
temperatures should be taken with a proper thermometer, and not
guessed, as that way many disasters lie.
[Illustration: BARNETT AND FOSTER’S SPILE-DRAWER.]
Spring and autumn are the seasons most suited for brewing, as at other
times it is difficult to keep the temperature within the proper limits.
Four bushels of ground or bruised malt are placed in a wooden “mash
tun,” and twenty-two gallons of water at a temperature of 170° F. are
added thereto. This is well stirred for half an hour, and then another
eighteen gallons of water at 170° F. are added, and the stirring is
continued for half an hour longer. Cover the mash tun for a couple of
hours, and then draw off the infusion or wort through a hole in the
bottom, protected by a strainer, so that the malt itself remains behind
in the mash tun. Next add to the malt thirty gallons of water at 185°
F. Stir for half an hour, let it stand for an hour, and then draw off
as before. Next add eighteen gallons of water at 200° F. to the malt,
stir for ten minutes, and draw off half an hour later. The three
washings may be all mixed together if a good ale of average strength is
desired, or the third washing may be separately treated so as to make
a light table ale, or they may be all three separately treated so as
to form three ales varying from very strong to very light, the former
having considerable keeping quality. In any case, it is imperative that
the minimum of time be lost in transferring the wort to the copper. It
should be boiled for an hour and a half, and the hops (varying from one
pound in the case of a mild table ale to six or seven pounds in the
case of very bitter ales, three pounds being a good average amount)
added, the boiling being continued for half an hour longer. The wort
is then passed through a strainer into large, shallow tubs to cool,
the depth of liquid not exceeding four inches. It is next poured into
fermenting tuns (casks with one head removed do nicely), which must
not be more than half-filled. The yeast (at the rate of a pint to the
barrel of thirty-six gallons of wort) is to be mixed with a little of
the wort which has been heated to 85° F. As soon as this portion shows
signs of general permeation by the process of fermentation it is to
be added to the main body of wort, which is to be at a temperature of
60° F. Stir it well, and then allow it to stand. As soon as a yeasty
appearance is noticed in the head which rises to the surface, skim it
off every two days until no more yeast appears—usually a week or more
from the start. Then draw off the clear ale into casks, filling them
completely, bung them securely, and place them in a cool cellar. It may
then be kept for from one to twelve months, or longer, according to its
quality and strength. Ale or beer should be tapped a week before it is
required to draw any from the cask in order that it may have time to
settle.
Finally, the ale-wife may be referred to the appeal of Dr. King—
“_O Girzy, Girzy! when thou go’st to brew,
Consider well what you’re about to do;
Be very wise, very sedately think,
That what you’re going now to make is drink.
Consider who must drink that drink, and then
What ’tis to have the praise of honest men._”
CIDER
THE processes of cider-making are discussed and explained by the
present writer in Thomas’s “Book of the Apple,” one of the volumes
in the series of “Handbooks of Practical Gardening.” The following
short summary must here suffice. The apples, properly selected and
properly ripened by being thinly piled on boards or straw in an airy,
sunny place, should be torn and crushed in a cider mill, and the juice
pressed out by means of a screw-press. This crude juice should then be
carefully strained through a fine-meshed filter, in order to remove
any cellular tissue or other matter in suspension. The expressed apple
juice, having been freed by filtration from undissolved solids, is next
to be subjected to the process of fermentation, that is, the conversion
of its sugar into alcohol. For this purpose, it should be exposed
to the air in large open vats, or in casks with the bung-hole left
open. All the apple juice that is to be fermented in one vat or cask
should be placed in it within twelve hours from the time of placing
any therein. The specific gravity should be taken daily by means of a
brewer’s hydrometer, about six-sevenths of the total solids consisting
of sugar. Approximately, the sugar gives about half its weight of
alcohol, and it has been found that each decrease of one-hundredth in
the specific gravity of the fluid during fermentation corresponds to
the conversion of two per cent. of sugar into one per cent. of alcohol.
The scum which rises to the surface of the liquid must be skimmed off
two or three times daily, and, as soon as this frothy crust ceases to
rise, the cider still in process of active fermentation is to be drawn
off with great care by means of a rubber syphon or pump and hose into
perfectly clean casks. It is well to rinse out the casks with water of
about the same temperature as that of the cider which is to fill them,
as a sudden drop of heat is very injurious. The casks of cider should
be kept at a steady temperature of about 50° F.
If the open vat system of “purging” is unavailable, then the cider is
to be placed in casks with the bung-holes left open, the cask being
kept full to the brim by frequent additions of clear old cider. The
scum in this case overflows at the bung-holes until the purging process
is complete. Subsequently the cork is to be inserted, a bent glass tube
being passed through its centre, ending outwardly in a basin of water.
The excess of carbonic acid gas is thus enabled to escape. As soon as
the conversion of sugar into alcohol is almost complete, the cider
should be carefully filtered at a low temperature by means of a Filtre
Rapide or other suitable strainer (which must not consist of charcoal,
sand, or clay), and stored in clean air-tight casks in a cool place,
being previously pasteurized if the process be thought desirable or
worth while. The cider must then be left for a time in order to ripen,
that is, to develop bouquet and vinosity. If intended for bottling,
that process may be performed in the following spring, or preferably in
the following autumn. All antiseptics, preservatives, and artificial
flavouring agents should be avoided as suggestions of the devil.
Scrupulous cleanliness of fruit, filters, presses, mills, vats and
casks should make the two first-named possible additions unnecessary,
and careful selection of fruit should make the idea of artificial
flavouring an obvious absurdity.
WINE-MAKING
“_It should be clear like the tears of a penitent,
so that a man may see distinctly to the bottom of
the glass; its colour should represent the greenness
of a buffalo’s horn; when drunk it should descend
impetuously like thunder; sweet-tasted as an almond;
creeping like a squirrel; leaping like a roebuck;
strong like the building of a Cistercian monastery;
glittering like a spark of fire; subtle like the logic
of the schools of Paris; and delicate as fine silk._
“_Often the blind piper would pay us a visit and taste
our gooseberry wine, for the making of which we had
lost neither the receipt nor the reputation._”
_GENERAL Principles._—In making wines from fresh British fruit, the
fruit should be quite mature, yet as fresh in reality as in name; and
too much care cannot be taken in removing all stems, leaves, unripe
or diseased fruits, and other refuse which would certainly affect the
taste, appearance, and keeping power of the ultimate wine. As soon as
possible after being gathered, the fruit is to be placed in a tub or
other vessel, and submitted to the process of crushing or bruising.
It is then thrown into a wooden vat, the water added, and the mixture
allowed to stand for from one to three days, according to the variety
of wine and other circumstances. During this period of maceration, the
mixture is to be frequently stirred by means of a wooden stirrer. The
liquid portion is then drawn or strained off, the residuary pulp being
placed in hair bags and subjected to pressure. In the case of raisins
and other dried fruits, it is customary to chop them into small pieces,
and to soak them in water for twelve hours before crushing them. The
liquid which is thus squeezed out is added to the rest of the liquid
and placed in another vat of wood or earthenware, the sugar and cream
of tartar being added, and the whole well stirred for twenty minutes.
Yeast should then be added, when any is required, and a temperature
of about 60° F. maintained. For about three days—or until most of the
sugar is converted into alcohol, as shown by the saccharometer—the
mixture is to be kept closely covered by means of mats or other
coverings. It is, during this time, to be frequently stirred and its
surface skimmed.
It is then carefully to be run off into casks, the latter to be filled
to the brim, and the wine allowed to work over or “purge” at the partly
open bung-holes. The casks are to be kept constantly filled up with
juice, and in about a fortnight the rectified spirit is to be added,
if such addition is thought desirable. The casks are then to be bunged
securely and left for a month, when they are to be again filled up
and re-bunged. Six weeks later they should be pegged or spiled, and
a little wine drawn off to ascertain if it be clear. If it is quite
clear, it may be racked off—preferably by means of a syphon—into other
casks or into bottles for storage. If, however, it is not yet clear,
the casks must be bunged up and left for another fortnight, or the
wine may be fined by the addition of isinglass—half an ounce to the
hogshead—previously dissolved in a little cold water and diluted with a
pint of wine. This fining solution is to be thoroughly mixed with the
wine in the casks by means of a clean broom-handle. In a short time the
isinglass, with the objectionable particles in the wine, sinks to the
bottom, and so enables the clear liquid to be drawn off. It should then
be stored for at least six months in a cellar having a temperature of
about 56° F.
[Illustration: A GROUP OF DRINKING-GLASSES.]
Racking is best performed by means of a syphon, though the wine may
be—and commonly is—drawn off by a tap. In the latter case the tap
should be inserted two or three days before the wine is to be drawn
off, thus affording it time to re-settle. If it is not convenient to
rack off the wine into a second cask, it may be drawn into a clean tub
or vat, and returned to the same cask after it has been thoroughly
cleaned, and turned bung-hole downwards over an ounce of sulphur, which
is to be burnt so as to fill the cask with the fumes, the wine being at
once returned and the bung secured.
[Illustration: A GROUP OF ANCIENT BOTTLES.]
It is of the utmost consequence in wine-making that every implement,
cask, tub, tap, bottle, and cork, be scrupulously clean before they
come into contact with the wine; and in bottling it is essential that
the bottles be perfectly dry.
[Illustration: A SIMPLE FRUIT-MILL.]
Among the most important and useful appliances for the home wine-maker
are the following: barrels, vats, bottles, corks, taps, pegs, mallet,
cork-squeezer, fruit-crusher, wine-press, straining bags, and syphon.
These may be obtained of Messrs. Lumley, of 1, America Square,
Minories, London; or Messrs. Barnett and Foster, of Eagle Wharf Road,
London.
[Illustration: CORK-DRIVER.]
I cannot too strongly urge the reader to be loyal to her country and
to good taste in her wine-making; and to confine herself chiefly to
the making of simple British wines from British fruit with British
names. Nothing is more objectionable than to brand wines as British
ports, British sherries, English claret, and so on. It is almost as
insufferable as the labelling of writers as Belgian Shakespeares,
English Molières, French Fieldings, and the rest.
I will describe the method of preparing a few typical wines, and then
indicate the several classes in which the various British wines may be
arranged.
_To make Gooseberry Wine._—Take six pounds of perfectly ripe
gooseberries, and treat them as directed in the section on general
principles. Allow one gallon of soft, filtered, or distilled water;
four pounds of sugar, previously made into a syrup with part of the
water; and one and a quarter ounces of cream of tartar. One or two
ounces of rectified spirits of wine may be added. Each of these several
ingredients is to be added at that stage of the fermentation indicated
in the section on general principles.
_To make Sparkling Gooseberry Wine._—Proceed as in the last recipe; but
do not allow the fermentation quite to complete itself before bottling
the wine. Add to each bottle a tiny piece of sugar of about the size of
a pea. Use good strong bottles, and secure the corks by wiring them. It
is sometimes desirable to hasten fermentation in the vat by placing
therein a small piece of toast spread on both sides with ale yeast.
_To make Lemon Wine._—Take five pounds of peeled lemons and the sliced
peel of four lemons, and proceed as in making gooseberry wine, but
allow only three and a half pounds of sugar and add no cream of tartar.
The pips should be removed before the fruit is crushed.
[Illustration: A GROUP OF MODERN BOTTLES.]
_To make Cowslip Wine._—Prepare a simple wine after the manner of
making gooseberry wine, employing one pound of raisins, four pounds of
sugar, and one ounce of cream of tartar to the gallon of water. When
active fermentation has nearly ceased, a few weeks before racking, add
two quarts of bruised cowslip flowers. Then complete the making of the
wine in the usual way.
_To make Rhubarb Wine._—Take five pounds of rhubarb stalks, cut them
into small pieces, and proceed as in making either gooseberry or
sparkling gooseberry wine, but no cream of tartar should be added, and
only three pounds of sugar should be allowed to the gallon.
_To make Date Wine._—Take six pounds of stoned dates, and proceed as in
making gooseberry wine, but no sugar is to be added.
The Merissah of the Berbers is a wine made from dates to which a small
quantity of maize has been added.
_To make Damson Wine._—Take five pounds of ripe stoned damsons, crush
them and one-tenth of their stones, and boil them in a gallon of water.
Then proceed as in making gooseberry wine, but only allow three pounds
of sugar.
_Mead, or Metheglin_—for the distinction between them is difficult to
determine—was the chief alcoholic beverage of the earliest inhabitants
of Britain, and the maker of the mead was the eleventh person in order
of precedence at the ancient courts of the Welsh princes. Mead is
usually supposed to have been the fermented wine obtained from the
liquor formed by boiling honeycombs with water, whereas metheglin was
prepared from honey and water, with or without the addition of hops or
spices.
_To make Spiced Metheglin._—Boil for an hour a mixture of one gallon
of water and three pounds of honey, taking off the scum as it forms.
Allow the mixture to stand for twenty-hour hours, add yeast on toast,
and proceed as directed in the section on the general principles of
wine-making. When the active fermentation is subsiding, a few weeks
before racking the mead, hang into the liquid within the barrel an open
woven bag of mixed spices, an ounce each of crushed ginger, cloves,
allspice, and coriander seeds.
[Illustration: A WINE FILTER-BAG.]
_To make Metheglin with Hops._—Boil half an ounce of hops in water,
and allow it cool. Pour three quarts of warm water on three pounds of
honey, stir, and allow the mixture to stand for twelve hours. Then add
the hops and the water in which they were boiled, together with a piece
of toast spread on both sides with yeast. Allow the mixture to ferment,
and proceed as directed in the section on the general principles of
wine-making. Add no ingredients beyond those named above.
_Hydromel_ is but another name for metheglin, the word implying a
product of the fermentation of a mixture of honey and water.
_To make American Mead._—Take a barrel of cider, fresh from the
apple-press, and place therein twenty or thirty pounds of drained
honeycombs. The next day add sufficient honey to raise the specific
gravity to such a point that an egg will float in the mixture. It is
then to be treated in the manner suggested in the paragraph on the
general principles of wine-making, the only further addition being half
a gallon of rectified spirits.
_To make Ginger Beer._—Take five gallons of boiling water and pour
it on five pounds of lump sugar, five lemons sliced and without
their pips, five ounces of bruised ginger, and five ounces of cream
of tartar. Strain off when the liquid is cool enough, and add five
table-spoonfuls of brewer’s yeast. Let the ginger beer stand all night,
and then strain again as carefully as possible. Add the white of one
egg before bottling the ginger beer, and put the beer in well-washed
champagne bottles. It will be ready in one week. Brewer’s yeast should,
if possible, be used, but if none can be had, two ounces of German
yeast may be substituted for it.—_J. R._
_To make Spruce Beer._—Mince a quantity of young sprouts of the spruce,
and boil them with twenty times their volume of water and an ounce of
sugar to the pint of shoots. Allow to cool and proceed as in making
ginger beer.
“_He wanted to make a memorandum in his pocketbook; it was about spruce
beer. Mr. Knightley had been telling him something about brewing spruce
beer, and he wanted to put it down._”
_Certain other Wines._—Currant (red, white, or black), cherry,
raspberry, mulberry, whortleberry, blackberry, apple, grape, and
elderberry wines are made after the manner of gooseberry wine.
Sloe wine and green gooseberry wine, which latter is not recommended,
are made like damson wine.
Raisin and fig wines are made as date wine is made.
Orange wine is made as lemon wine. Apricot, clary, elderflower, ginger,
juniper, and gilliflower wines are made after the manner prescribed for
cowslip wine.
It is often thought desirable to add to wines the flavour of spices or
herbs other than those essentially used in the making of the wine. In
such a case, the spices should be placed in a muslin bag and suspended
in the wine when active fermentation is subsiding, as suggested in
the directions for making. Commonly for elderberry wine, a mixture of
crushed ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and mace—of each half an ounce to the
gallon—is employed, and for whortleberry wine a mixture of lavender,
rosemary, and ginger.
British wines have earned their bad name partly through the careless
manner in which they are usually prepared, unclean bottles, corks,
casks, and vats being commonly used; and partly through the absurdly
short space of time allowed to elapse between making and drinking. No
wine is fit to drink under two years from the time of its manufacture,
and most wines should be kept in bottle much longer than is customary.
THE DISTILLING OF WATERS AND CORDIALS
THERE is no occupation that comes nearer to the work of gods than this
occupation of distilling. By the application of fire, the purest of
the elements, we separate from gross, substantial bodies those subtle
essences which alone gave them distinction and charm. The distiller
can but smile at the impotence of those who are unable to conceive the
possibility of a post-physical human existence, for, day by day, as he
stands before his stills, he sees the miracle performed whereby the
spiritual, the essential, is separated and continues to exist apart
from the material body in which it previously dwelt.
[Illustration: BALNEUM MARIÆ.
(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]
[Illustration: DISTILLING BY HEAT OF STEAM.
(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]
The work is worthy of fine natures, and should be undertaken with a
mind full of reverence.
The practice of distillation dates back to very early times, the oil
of cedar mentioned by Dioscorides having been obtained by boiling
the oleoresin with water, and condensing the vapour of the oil in
sheep’s wool spread on sticks placed across the top of the vessel.
But more elaborate stills, consisting of cucurbit, alembic (or head)
and receiver, were in use in times not much more recent. Water-baths,
sand-baths, and other means for regulating the heat applied to the
body of the still were used as early as the eighth century by the
Arabians. It was at about this time, also, that distillation of alcohol
was first practised.
[Illustration: SOME OLD DISTILLING VESSELS.]
The distillation of pure alcohol from mixtures containing it, is really
only worth attempting under somewhat elaborate conditions, and on a
fairly large scale. The distillation of essences and aromatic waters,
and of a number of liqueurs may, however, be quite well practised on
the domestic scale. A perfectly made tin-lined copper still, with
pewter or copper head, neck, and worm, the latter fitting in a wood
or metal tub, is the principle article required. It is desirable to
have the cucurbit fitted with a perforated water-bath, or metallic
basket, to contain the herbs or seeds which are to be heated in the
water or alcohol. These substances, thus saved from contact with the
inner surface of the cucurbit, are not liable to burn or to stick.
For certain things, also, it is desirable to be provided with an
unperforated bain-marie when it is wished not to subject the materials
to a heat quite equal to the temperature of boiling water.
All the joints of the still and the tubes connected with it must
be absolutely vapour-proof, or the subtle gases of the spirits and
essences will discover the outlet and escape. The water in the tub
containing the worm must be kept cold, a few jugfuls being drawn from
its surface at intervals and replaced by fresh cold water. Where
possible, fresh plants should be used for distilling purposes, as they
more readily yield their essential oils than is usually the case with
dried plants.
_Aromatic Waters._—For the distilling of simple aromatic waters about
a gallon of water should be allowed to four pounds of the fresh herb,
or one pound of the dry herb, and about two quarts should be distilled
over. Peppermint water, damask-rose water, orange-flower water,
spearmint water, and elder-flower water are prepared in this way. For
dill water, caraway water, fennel water, and cinnamon water, a pound of
the bruised fruit is mixed with two gallons of water, and one gallon is
distilled over.
_Rosemary Water_ is made by mixing a gallon of water, eleven and a half
gallons of rectified spirit, and fourteen pounds of rosemary flowers
and leaves, and slowly distilling off ten gallons over the water-bath.
_Simple Lavender Water_ is made in the same way, substituting lavender
flowers for the rosemary flowers and leaves.
_Beauty Water_ is made by mixing half a gallon of rectified spirits, a
gallon of water, a pound of the flowering tops of thyme and a pound of
those of marjoram, and distilling off a gallon.
_The Distilling of Essences._—The following is a summary of the
directions given by M. Deroy of Paris, a well-known manufacturer of
excellent stills and other appliances connected with distilling, for
the distilling of essences or essential oils.
[Illustration: DISTILLING BY HEAT OF FERMENTING MANURE.
(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]
[Illustration: ALCHEMIST WITH HIS SERVANT.
(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]
The generality of plants give their maximum of essence when they are
dealt with in their fresh condition. Some few, however, produce more
when they are dry. The produce of the same kind may vary for divers
reasons. The moment of its harvest and the atmospheric conditions
under which it is effected, the nature of the soil, the quality of the
plants, and their more or less favourable exposal, exercise a sensible
influence upon the production.
[Illustration: “This instrument, named the Pellicane, which is a
Vessell for Circulating, serveth to none other ende and purpose, than
for to Circulate the Quintessence, which by the Arte of dystilling is
drawen.”]
[Illustration: A 16TH-CENTURY STILL, WITH CONDENSER JACKET TO HELM OF
STILL.]
Substances, previously either cut to pieces, incised, rasped, ground,
or crushed according to their nature, are placed in water of ordinary
temperature for macerating.
The proportion of water used is mostly of three to four times the
weight of the substance. The length of time for soaking varies from
twelve to forty-eight hours according to the dryness and the divided
state of the substance. Some light essences extracted from fresh
flowers (from roses, for example) are obtained without previous
maceration.
The matter is placed in the still with the water into which it has been
macerated. Sea-salt is sometimes added for the purpose of retarding
the point of boiling. It is known that salted water only boils at 108°
Centigrade, say about 229° Fahrenheit.
Those who follow this method, which is the one most generally employed
when it is a question of exhausting plants which contain rather heavy
oils, certify that the essences separate themselves more easily if
distilling is effected at a little over 100° C. (water boiling-point).
[Illustration: STILLS AT THE WORKS OF THE LONDON ESSENCE CO.]
Those who criticize this proceeding pretend that it has the
disadvantage of injuring the quality of the essences obtained.
Thus the necessary quantity of sea salt required for the complete
salting of the water is rarely used, which is to say about 40 per
cent.; the majority of distillers limit themselves, according to the
case in hand, to putting in 20 per cent. and sometimes only from 12
to 15 per cent., considering this a sufficient quantity to obtain a
satisfactory result.
[Illustration: BALNEUM MARIÆ.
(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]
[Illustration: FURNACE WITH STILLS.
(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]
During the course of the distillation, the water in the refrigerator
should be renewed by ordinary means when distilling essences which
remain fluid at a normal temperature. Whilst, as for the crystallizable
essences such as aniseed, China-aniseed, caraway, fennel, peppermint,
and roses, care should be taken to keep the worm at about 30° or 40°
Centigrade.
Distilling can be effected by steam or direct fire heat, by taking
the precaution in the latter case to place an interior grating in the
copper so as to hinder the substances from sticking to the bottom.
The aqueous vapours mixed with those of the essences become condensed
in the worm, and the produce of these condensations is gathered in a
special vase, known as a Florentine receiver, where the oil becomes
separated from the distilled water, by reason of the different
densities of the two bodies. According to the nature of the essence,
whether lighter or heavier than water, this recipient is supplied
either in its upper or lower part with a side spout, by which the
overflow of the water passes and leaves the essence to accumulate in
the vase in measure as it is produced.
[Illustration: STILL-ROOM OF THE LONDON ESSENCE CO.]
Distilling is continued until the water runs out at the outlet of the
worm in a limpid state. By this sign it is known that the distillation
is no longer supplying any essential oil to the recipient, as it is
precisely the presence of a certain quantity of oil in the water which
up to this moment gave it a milky appearance.
[Illustration: FURNACE WITH STILLS.
(_From Peter Morwyng’s “Treasure of Enonymus,” 1559._)]
_Cordials._—In the preparation of cordials or liqueurs, scrupulous
cleanliness is of the utmost consequence; and the best of sugar,
the purest of rectified spirits, the best of herbs or essences, and
distilled or filtered rain-water should be used. Where possible,
distillation should nearly always be employed in the preparation of
liqueurs, lemon and orange liqueurs being perhaps exceptions. If,
however, distillation is impracticable, prolonged maceration for a
month or more should be resorted to. In this case, in adapting the
recipes in this chapter, only enough water is to be employed to make up
the total to the amount ordered to be distilled off. If, instead of the
herbs or spices themselves, it is decided to use the prepared essences,
care should be taken to obtain essences prepared from the herbs, and
not mere chemical imitations. Messrs. Bush, Messrs. Stafford, Allen
& Co., and the London Essence Co. may be communicated with. The syrup
is always added to the distillate last of all, and should have been
carefully filtered through a clean filter-bag. If care be taken, the
liqueur will be clear as soon as made, or at any rate after standing
for a few days. Should, however, this not be the case, the liquid may
be fined with whites of eggs, allowing one egg to three gallons. In any
case, the liqueur should be stored for some months—preferably for a
year or more—before being used.
[Illustration: PERSIAN ROSE-WATER SPRINKLER.]
The following are recipes for the making of a number of cordials by
distillation. Those who wish to pursue the subject further may be
referred to an admirable series of articles which appeared in the
_Mineral Water Trade Review_ from September, 1902, to May, 1903.
_To make Absinthe._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a mixture
of one gallon of rectified spirit, half a gallon of water, two pounds
of wormwood tops, and eight grains each of dittany leaves, aniseed,
calamus root, and angelica root. Add another half-gallon of water,
and distil off six quarts at a moderate heat. Add a pint of syrup
containing one pound of sugar.
[Illustration: A PERFORATED WATER-BATH.]
[Illustration: A PORTABLE COPPER STILL.]
_To make Aniseed Cordial._—Proceed as for clove cordial, substituting
half a pound of bruised aniseed and two ounces each of fennel and
coriander seeds for the cloves and allspice, and drawing off only six
quarts.
_To make Benedictine._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a mixture
of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, two ounces of
cardamoms, an ounce each of balm, peppermint, genepi, and angelica
root, half an ounce of calamus, a dram of cinnamon, and half a dram
each of cloves and nutmeg. Distil off a gallon, and add syrup (made by
dissolving eight pounds of sugar in three quarts of water) and three
quarts of water.
[Illustration: OLD APPARATUS USED FOR CONDENSING THE DISTILLATE.
(_From the title-page of the second volume of Brunschwig’s “Liber de
Arte Distillandi,” 1507._)]
_To make Green Chartreuse._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a
mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, an ounce
and a half of lemon-peel, an ounce of balm, half an ounce each of dried
peppermint, mountain wormwood, and dried hyssop flowers, three drams
of angelica root, a dram of calamus root, half a dram each of cloves,
cinnamon, and mace, and a quarter of a dram of cardamoms. Distil off
one gallon, and add syrup (made by heating five pounds of sugar in two
quarts of water) and a pint of water, colouring the liqueur with a
spirituous infusion of spinach or parsley.
_To make Cinnamon Cordial._—Proceed as for clove cordial, substituting
half a pound of cinnamon or cassia bark for the cloves and allspice,
and distilling at a somewhat lower temperature.
_To make Clove Cordial._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel kept
moderately warm, a mixture of one gallon of rectified spirits, one
gallon of water, one ounce of bruised cloves, and one dram of allspice.
Place the mixture in the still, and draw off six and a half quarts at
a moderate heat. Sweeten with syrup (made by heating five pounds
of sugar with two quarts of water, and skimming), and colour with
cochineal.
[Illustration: “Beholde here a manner or fashion of Balneo Mariæ,
verye excellent, of which the vessell large and greate is of tynne;
the bottome or bellye of the same standing wythin the boyling water.
On thys great vessell is Lymbeck of Tynne, covered and compassed of
another vessell like of Tynne farre larger.”
(_From Baker’s “The Newe Jewell of Health,” 1576._)]
_To make Hamburgh Bitters._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a
mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, two ounces
of cinnamon, one ounce each of wormwood, quassia, calamus root, and
centaury, half an ounce each of aniseed, orris, coriander, and cloves,
and a dram each of ginger, cardamoms, and mace. Distil off one gallon,
and add syrup (made by heating three pounds of sugar in three pints of
water) and three pints of water.
_To make Kirschenwasser._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a
mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, half a gallon of water,
a pound of crushed cherry stones, half a pound of crushed apricot
stones, an ounce of dried peach leaves, and two drams of myrrh.
Distil off a gallon, and add three pints of spirit of noyau (made by
distilling off three pints from a digested mixture of three pints of
rectified spirits, a pint and half of water, and a pound of bruised
apricot stones), a pint of orange-flower water, a gallon and a half
of rectified spirits, syrup (made by heating thirty pounds of sugar
in three gallons of water), and water to make up to eight and a half
gallons.
[Illustration: OLD VESSELS USED IN DISTILLING.
(_From Baker’s “Jewell of Health,” 1576._)]
[Illustration: TENDING THE FURNACE.
(_From Baker’s “Jewell of Health,” 1576._)]
[Illustration: BALNEUM MARIÆ.
(_From Baker’s “Jewell of Health,” 1576._)]
_To make Kummel._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a mixture
of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, half a pound
of caraway-seeds, three drams of orris root, and an ounce of fennel
seeds. Distil off one gallon, and add syrup (made by heating seven
and a half pounds of sugar in three quarts of water) and a quart of
water.
_To make Lemon Cordial._—Proceed as for cinnamon cordial, substituting
three-quarters of a pound of dried lemon-peel for the cinnamon.
_To make Noyau._—Digest for a week, in a closed vessel, a mixture of a
gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, two pounds of crushed
apricot or peach stones, and one pound of crushed plum or prune stones.
Distil off five quarts, and add a gallon of syrup containing eight
pounds of sugar and a gallon of water.
_To make Orange Cordial._—Proceed as for cinnamon cordial, substituting
three-quarters of a pound of the yellow part of fresh orange-peel for
the cinnamon.
SOME OTHER CORDIALS AND BITTERS.
“_There is no nation yet known in either hemisphere
where the people of all conditions are more in want of
some cordial to keep up their spirits than in this of
ours._”—SWIFT.
THE following recipes are for the making of cordials by simple mixing
without distillation. Nearly all require straining, and some may
require to be filtered through filter-paper.
_To make Angostura Bitters._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, a
mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon and a half of water,
two ounces of orange-peel, an ounce and a quarter of angostura bark,
three-quarters of an ounce each of alkanet root and red sanderswood,
half an ounce of gentian root, two drams each of cardamoms, Turkey
rhubarb, cinnamon, caraway, coriander, and wormwood, and fifteen grains
of turmeric. Strain, and add a pound of honey. Filter, and bottle.
_To make Balm of Molucca._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, a
mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, an ounce
of cloves, and two drams of mace. Filter, and add a gallon of syrup
(containing eight pounds of sugar) and two quarts of water.
_To make Brandy Shrub._—Digest for a month a mixture of a gallon of
brandy, the peel of two oranges and a lemon, a pint each of orange
juice and lemon juice, and five pints of syrup (containing four pounds
of sugar). Strain, and bottle.
_To make Cassis._—Digest for a week, in a covered vessel, a mixture
of a gallon of rectified spirits, half a gallon of water, two ounces
of cinnamon, and sixteen bruised cloves. At the end of the week add a
gallon of black currants, and digest for a further two months. Press
and strain, and add half a gallon of syrup (containing eight pounds of
sugar).
_To make Cherry Brandy._—Digest for three months, in a closed vessel, a
mixture of a gallon of good brandy and a gallon of fresh cherries, of
which about one-quarter of the stones have been broken. Strain, and add
two pounds of loaf sugar.
_To make Crême de Cacao._—Mix a gallon of rectified spirits with six
pints of water, two and a half pints of syrup (containing two and a
half pounds of sugar), and six and a quarter ounces of Bush’s essence
of cocoa.
_To make Crême de Cacao (another way)._—Digest for a month, in a
covered vessel, a gallon of rectified spirits, a quart of water,
two pounds of caracca, roasted and bruised cocoa-nuts, a pound of
West Indian cacao-nuts, and a shred of vanilla. Add a quart of syrup
(containing two pounds of sugar). Strain, and bottle.
_To make Crême de Café._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, a
gallon of rectified spirits, two pounds of coffee ground and roasted,
and a gallon of water. Add two quarts of syrup (containing four pounds
of sugar). Strain, and bottle.
_To make Crême de Menthe._—Mix five quarts of rectified spirits,
a quarter of an ounce of oil of peppermint, two gallons of syrup
(containing sixteen pounds of sugar) and half a pint of glycerine.
Colour as with green chartreuse.
_To make Curaçoa._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, a mixture
of the peel of nine Seville oranges, the peel of a lemon, a dram each
of cinnamon, coriander, and mace, an ounce of bruised Brazil wood, and
a pint of rectified spirits. This tincture, having been filtered, is
used to flavour a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of
water, and a gallon of syrup (containing eight pounds of sugar).
_To make Ginger Brandy._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel,
stirring daily, a mixture of a gallon of brandy, six pounds of sugar,
two pounds of raisins, half a pound of sweet almonds, two ounces each
of bitter almonds and crushed ginger, an ounce of caraway seeds, and
six lemons cut into slices.
_To make Lemon Brandy._—Proceed as with cherry brandy, substituting a
dozen sliced lemons for the cherries, and adding one pound of sugar
only.
_To make Lemon Cordial._—Digest for a month or more, in a closed
vessel, a mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, half a pound
of lemon-peel, quarter of a pound of orange-peel, half an ounce of
cinnamon, half an ounce of coriander, and five pints of water. Strain,
and add six pints of syrup (containing six pounds of sugar) and three
quarts of water.
[Illustration: COPPER SPIRIT-MEASURE.]
_To make Orange Bitters._—Digest for a month, in a closed vessel, a
mixture of a gallon of rectified spirits, a gallon of water, a pound
of dried orange-peel, half a pound of gentian root, two ounces each
of coriander and cinnamon, and an ounce of cardamoms. Strain, and add
five pints of syrup (containing five pounds of sugar) and two quarts of
water.
_To make Rum Shrub._—As brandy shrub, substituting rum for brandy.
[Illustration: COPPER FUNNEL.]
_To make Sighs of Love._—Mix a gallon of rectified spirits, two
gallons of syrup (containing twelve pounds of sugar), water six pints,
eau de rose one quart, and four drops of essence of vanilla. Colour
delicately with cochineal.
_To make Sloe Gin._—Digest for a year a mixture of a gallon of
unpricked sloes, a gallon of gin, and six or eight pounds of sugar.
_To make Tent._—Digest a mixture of a quart of port, a pint of sherry,
a pint of rectified spirits, a quarter of a pint each of lemon juice
and orange-flower water, three and a half pints of syrup (containing
two pounds of sugar), and three drops of essence of ambergris.
_To make Usquebaugh._—Digest for a month, in a covered vessel, shaking
daily, a mixture of a gallon of brandy, a pound of stoned raisins,
a pound of sugar candy, an ounce each of crushed cinnamon, cloves,
cardamoms, caraways, and nutmeg, a quarter ounce of saffron, and the
rind of a Seville orange.
_To make Vermouth._—Digest for a month, in a closed vessel, a quart of
rectified spirits, two and a half gallons of a white wine, a sliced
orange, two bruised nutmegs, half an ounce each of centaury, germander,
calamus, elecampane, wormwood, and blessed thistle, and a quarter of an
ounce each of gentian root and angelica root. Filter, and bottle.
DRINKS—OLD AND NEW
“_Life isn’t all beer and skittles—but beer and
skittles, or something better of the same sort, must
form a good part of every Englishman’s education._”—TOM
HUGHES.
_TO make Ale Cup._—Digest for a few hours (preferably for a few days)
a quarter of an ounce each of cinnamon and allspice and a couple of
cloves in a tea-cupful of sherry, and strain through muslin. Add to
this infusion four bottles of ginger beer and a quart of ale. Cool on
ice, and serve in tankards.
_To make Badminton._—Mix in a jug, placed on ice, a bottle of
soda-water, a bottle of claret, a glass of sherry, a glass of
maraschino, the peel and juice of a lemon, a table-spoonful of castor
sugar, and a sprig of borage.
_To make Bishop._—Stick four Seville oranges with cloves, and roast
them brown before the fire. Place the oranges in a covered earthenware
vessel before the fire, together with half a pound of castor sugar,
a quarter of an ounce of mixed ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and
half a pint each of water and of claret. Let it stand for a few
hours—preferably for twenty-four hours. Then squeeze the oranges, and
strain. Warm the mixture and add a boiling mixture of half a pint of
claret and a quarter of a pint of port.
“_Fine oranges,
Well roasted, with sugar and wine in a cup,
They’ll make a sweet Bishop when gentlefolks sup._”
_To make Boston Cooler._—Place in a tumbler a bottle of sarsaparilla, a
bottle of ginger ale, the rind of a lemon thinly sliced, and a few bits
of ice.
The best way to break a piece of ice into smaller pieces is to use
a large needle and strike it with a hammer; or it may be crushed by
wrapping it in a napkin or other cloth and hitting it with a mallet.
_To make a Brandy Cocktail._—Fill a tumbler with chipped ice, and pour
thereon three drops of Boker’s or angostura bitters, six drops of
syrup, and half a wine-glassful of brandy. Stir for a minute, and then
strain into a wine-glass containing either a small piece of lemon-peel
or a few drops of curaçoa.
_To make Champagne Cobbler._—Half fill a large tumbler with shaved ice,
add the juice of half a lemon and a tea-spoonful of soda, and fill
up with champagne. Dash a little claret over the top. This should be
served with straws.
_To make Champagne Cup._—Mix in a jug, placed on ice, a bottle of
champagne, two bottles of soda-water, a liqueur-glassful of brandy,
a liqueur-glassful of curaçoa or maraschino, two table-spoonfuls of
sugar, a thin slice of cucumber (which remove before serving), a pound
of ice, and a sprig of verbena.
_To make Cider Cup._—Proceed as with champagne cup, replacing the
champagne by cider, and using only one bottle of soda-water.
_Simple Claret Cup._—Extract the “zest” or essential oil from the
peel of a lemon by rubbing four lumps of sugar upon it. Pare another
lemon as thinly as you can. Put the paring and the sugar into a large
jug, and pour in a quart of claret. Mix all well together, and set the
jug on ice for one hour. Just before serving add a pint of sparkling
moselle and two bottles of soda-water. Put a few sprigs of borage or of
balm into the jug.—_J. R._
_To make Coffee._—Purchase whole, and preferably unroasted, berries of
good quality from a reliable source. Roast freshly as required, grind
as soon as roasted, and make as soon as ground. Some admirably simple
coffee-roasters are now obtainable. In the absence of a proper roaster,
a frying-pan may be used, a few berries being roasted at a time. A
very little butter should be placed in the pan, a low fire should be
employed, and the berries should be kept on the move till they are of a
light brown colour. It should be remembered that a single burnt berry
will spoil the coffee. Coffee should be most carefully strained, and
therefore some form of coffee-pot with percolator is desirable. Pack
the freshly ground coffee tightly in the strainer, and slowly pour
boiling water on it. As soon as the coffee has percolated through, it
should be served. Boiling it drives off the aroma. A table-spoonful of
ground coffee should be allowed to each _café noir_ cup, or each large
cup of _café au lait_. _Café au lait_ consists of an equal mixture of
coffee and boiled milk.
_To make Crambambuli._—Boil half a pound of sugar in a quart of ale.
Beat six eggs with half a pint of cold ale. Add the boiling ale, and
serve.
_To make an Egg-and-Brandy Mixture._—Beat up the yolks of two eggs.
Thoroughly mix with a tea-cupful each of brandy and cinnamon water.
_To make Egg Flip._ (From “Oxford Night-Caps.”)—Egg posset, _alias_ egg
flip, otherwise, in college language, rum booze. Beat up well the yolks
of eight eggs with refined sugar pulverized, and a nutmeg grated; then
extract the juice from the rind of a lemon by rubbing loaf sugar upon
it, and put the sugar, with a piece of cinnamon and a quart of strong
home-brewed beer, into a saucepan, place it on the fire, and when it
boils take it off, then add a single glass of gin, or this may be left
out, put the liquor into a spouted jug, and pour it gradually among the
yolks of eggs, etc. All must be kept well stirred with a spoon while
the liquor is being poured in. If it be not sweet enough, add loaf
sugar.
_To make Egg Nog._—Well beat the yolks of six eggs, and mix them with
half a pound of castor sugar, stirring till the sugar is dissolved. Add
this to a mixture of a pint of brandy, a pint of rum, and three pints
of milk, stirring the while. Pour over the whole the well-beaten whites
of six eggs, and lastly grate a little nutmeg over all. Having been
cooled over ice, this should be served in small tumblers. If hot egg
nog is desired, use hot milk.
[Illustration: A SIMPLE COFFEE ROASTER]
_Fruit Drink._—Mash one pint of strawberries, raspberries, currants, or
mulberries in a pint of water, into which the juice of two lemons has
been squeezed. Add a little sifted sugar. Strain through a hair sieve.
If not sufficiently liquid, add some iced water or half a bottle of
soda-water.—_J. R._
_To make John Collin’s Gin Sling, or Gin Fizz._—Mix in a tumbler the
juice of half a lemon, a small tea-spoonful of castor sugar, and a
wine-glassful of Hollands or of Old Tom gin. Stir for two minutes, then
add a few pieces of ice and a bottle of soda-water.
_To make La Masubal, or Lamb’s Wool._—Roast half a dozen apples, having
previously cored them. Boil a small piece of crushed ginger, a quarter
of a nutmeg grated, and two or three ounces of sugar in a quart of
strong ale. Add the pulp of the roasted apples, and serve hot.
_Lemonade._—To make one quart of lemonade allow six ripe lemons, or
eight if they are not juicy. Take four good-sized lumps of sugar and
rub the outside of the lemons well with them, in order to extract the
“zest” of the rind. Pick out every pip, and squeeze every drop of juice
the lemons will yield into a jug. Then add the four lumps of sugar,
and pour in nearly a quart of boiling water. Cover the jug till the
lemonade is cold. It is an improvement to set the lemonade on ice, but
do not put any pieces of ice into it.—_J. R._
_The Long Drink._—Take a large soda-water tumbler, and bruise into it
twelve or more strawberries, or any fruit which will yield not less
than a table-spoonful of juice. Add a table-spoonful of cream, and fill
up with soda-water.—_J. R._
_To make Mint Julep._—Place four or five sprigs of mint in a tumbler,
together with a table-spoonful of castor sugar and two table-spoonfuls
of water. Stir for two minutes, then add a wine-glassful of brandy,
and fill up the tumbler with shaved ice. The lip of the tumbler may be
rubbed with a piece of fresh pine-apple.
“_Behold this cordial Julep here
That foams and dances in his crystal bounds,
With spirits of balm and fragrant spices mix’d._”
[Illustration: BEER WARMER OR MULLER.]
_To make Mulled Ale._—Boil a quart of ale with a table-spoonful of
sugar, a tea-spoonful of crushed ginger, and two or three cloves. Beat
up eight eggs in a quarter of a pint of cold ale, and place in a large
jug. Pour the boiling ale on this mixture, and then pour the resultant
to and from another jug for some minutes in such a way as to froth the
mixture fully.
_Mulled Claret._—Put half a pint of claret into a saucepan with a
little water, six or eight cloves, and a piece of cinnamon. Make it
boiling hot. Grate a little nutmeg and a little ground ginger very
finely into a jug, pour the claret in, and add a lump of sugar which
has been well rubbed on the rind of a lemon.—_J. R._
_To make Hot Milk Punch._—Dissolve half a pound of sugar in a quart of
boiling milk. Add half a bottle of brandy and a quarter of a bottle
of rum, grating a little nutmeg over the surface, and adding the thin
outer rind and juice of four lemons.
_To make Milk Punch for Bottling._—Place the thin outer peel and the
juice of three Seville oranges and three lemons, with half a nutmeg
grated, in a bottle with a pint of brandy, and leave it to stand for
a few days. Then add a quart of brandy, a pint of rum, a pound of
sugar, and three pints of water. Add a quart of boiling milk, and stir
thoroughly. Let the mixture stand for twenty-four hours, and then
strain through muslin, and bottle.
_To make Hot English Punch._—Rub twelve or more lumps of sugar over the
rind of four lemons until the yellow part has been removed. Throw the
sugar into the jug or bowl, and make up the weight of sugar to a pound.
Add the juice of the lemons and two quarts of boiling water, and stir
for five minutes. Then add a bottle of brandy and half a bottle of rum.
_To make Cold Punch._—Proceed as with hot punch, but replacing the
boiling water by cold water and a few pieces of ice. The punch itself
is better not cooled over ice before serving.
_To make Cold Gin Punch._—Rub a few lumps of sugar over the outer peel
of a lemon, and place this, with the juice of the lemon, in a jug or
bowl, together with enough sugar to make up to three ounces. Add half
a pint of gin, a wine-glassful of maraschino, a pint of water, and two
bottles of iced soda-water.
_To make Purl._—Beat three eggs to a froth, and well mix them with two
ounces of castor sugar and a gill of ale. Heat a quart of ale with a
tea-spoonful of powdered nutmeg and a table-spoonful of crushed ginger.
Slowly add the hot ale to the ale-and-eggs mixture. Lastly, add a
wine-glassful of gin or brandy.
“_For the rest, both the tap and the parlour of the Six Jolly
Fellowship Porters gave upon the river, and had red curtains matching
the noses of the regular customers, and were provided with comfortable
fireside utensils, like models of sugar-loaf hats, made in that shape
that they might, with their pointed ends, seek out for themselves
glowing nooks in the depths, where they mulled your ale, or heated for
you those delectable drinks—purls, flip, and dog’s nose. The first of
these humming compounds was a specialty of The Porters, which, through
an inscription on its door-posts, gently appealed to your feelings as
‘The Early Purl House.’_”
_To make Raspberry Vinegar._—Pour two quarts of best vinegar over one
quart of raspberries picked from their stalks but not mashed. Leave
them for twenty-four hours. Next day put the vinegar and fruit on the
fire till it just boils, and then squeeze it through a cloth. Add two
pounds of sugar, and let all simmer for ten minutes. This quantity
makes six bottles. A gill of raspberry vinegar mixed into a tumbler of
seltzer water makes a most refreshing drink.—_J. R._
_To make Raspberry Vinegar (another recipe)._—Take a quart of
raspberries and place them in a jar. Cover them with a pint of vinegar.
In three days pour off the vinegar, and replace the raspberries by a
fresh lot, again pouring the vinegar over them. In three days pour
off the vinegar again, strain it, add a pound of sugar, boil for five
minutes, skim it, and bottle it.
_To make Saratoga Cobbler._—Half fill a tumbler with shaved ice,
and place therewith a liqueur-glassful each of brandy, whisky, and
vermouth, and four drops of angostura bitters. Mix thoroughly, strain,
and add a slice of lemon.
_To make Shandy Gaff._—Pour into a tumbler coincidently equal
quantities of beer and ginger beer.
_To make Sherbet._—Dry separately a pound of fine castor sugar, half a
pound of carbonate of soda, and half a pound of tartaric acid. Add to
the sugar a large tea-spoonful of essence of lemon, then add the acid
and soda, and well mix. The sherbet should at once be securely bottled,
as the least damp destroys its virtue.
_To make Sherry Cobbler._—Half fill a tumbler with shaved ice. Add two
wine-glassfuls of sherry and a table-spoonful of castor sugar. Stir.
This should be served with straws.
_To make a Syllabub._—Place in a large basin half a pint of sherry and
three ounces of castor sugar. Dissolve the sugar, and then add to the
mixture a pint of warm milk slowly poured from a height so as to make a
froth.
_To make Tewahdiddle._—“This is a right gossip’s cup, that far exceeds
all the ale that ever Mother Bunch made in her lifetime.” To half a
pint of beer add a dessert-spoonful of brandy, half a tea-spoonful of
brown sugar, a slice of lemon and some nutmeg grated. It may be drunk
cold, or the beer may be heated before mixing.
_To make a bowl of Wassail._—“_At night to sup, and then to cards, and
last of all, to have a flaggon of ale and apples, drunk out of a wood
cup, as a Christmas draught, which made all merry._” Boil a quarter of
an ounce each of bruised ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a couple each
of cloves, corianders, and cardamoms in three-quarters of a tumblerful
of water for ten minutes. Add a quart of ale, a bottle of sherry, and
from half a pound to a pound of sugar. Heat, but do not get too near
the boiling-point. Then beat the yolks of six eggs and the whites of
three eggs, and throw them into the bowl. Slowly add half the heated
ale and wine, stirring all the while. Bring the remainder to the boil
and pour it also in the bowl. Lastly, throw into the bowl six roasted
apples which had been cored and stuffed with sugar and think of Puck’s
confession—
“Sometimes lurk I in a gossip’s bowl,
In very likeness of a roasted crab,
And, when she drinks, against her lips I bob,
And in her wither’d dewlaps pour the ale!”
HINTS FOR REFRESHMENTS AT A GARDEN-PARTY OR PICNIC
IT may be useful to give a general idea of the quantities required in
providing for a party of, say, eighty guests.
Five gallons of tea, allowing five ounces of good tea to each gallon.
Six gallons of coffee, half to be served hot with milk, and half
to be served iced, allowing eight ounces of coffee to each gallon.
Three gallons of claret-cup, allowing for each gallon four bottles of
claret and four bottles of soda-water. Twelve quarts of water-ice; six
quarts to be of lemon ice and six of strawberry ice. Twelve dishes
of sandwiches, of different kinds; these are sure to be popular, and
a tolerable supply should be kept in reserve. Four dishes of rolled
brown bread and butter, and the same quantity of white. Eight pounds of
plum-cake cut up into small thick pieces. Six pounds of freshly made
sponge finger biscuits. Two or more bowls of _macédoine_ of fruit.
Oatcake cut into long fingers and spread with Devonshire cream is
popular, and so are small scones split open and filled with Devonshire
cream. A few kinds of sandwiches suitable for garden-parties may be
mentioned here.
_Salad Sandwiches._—Use watercress picked from the hard stems, mustard
and cress, or shred lettuce leaves. Spread the bread with _maître
d’hôtel_ butter. For this, add to two ounces of butter the juice of
one lemon, a dessert-spoonful of chopped parsley leaf freed from all
moisture, a pinch of white pepper, and a pinch of salt.
_Cucumber Sandwiches._—Pare the cucumber, and just before the
sandwiches are wanted cut it into very thin slices. Place the cucumber
between thin pieces of white bread and butter stamped out with a round
cutter.
_Rolled Sandwiches._—Pound in a mortar two ounces of cooked tongue or
ham freed from skin and fat, a quarter of a pound of cooked chicken or
turkey, two table-spoonfuls of _maître d’hôtel_ butter, one ounce of
plain butter, and six table-spoonfuls of fine white of bread-crumbs.
When the mixture is smooth, add a dust of pepper and a small pinch of
salt, and pass it through a sieve. Sprinkle a few bread-crumbs lightly
on a pastry-board, take a little of the mixture, and pat it out with a
knife dipped in hot water. Make it two inches and a half long, and one
inch and a half wide. Trim the edges, and raise it carefully from the
board with the knife, rolling it over as you raise it. If the mixture
is too moist add a few more bread-crumbs, but if it is too dry it will
break and not roll. Dish the rolls on a bed or cress.
_Green Sandwich Rolls._—Pound the yolk of a hard-boiled egg with
a quarter of a pound of butter, six sprigs of watercress, and six
sprigs of parsley. Blanch the watercress and parsley by throwing
them for five minutes into boiling water. Press them dry in a cloth,
but do not squeeze them. Then add a dust of pepper and salt, and six
table-spoonfuls of brown bread-crumbs; and when the mixture is smooth
roll it as in the former recipe.
_Sweet Sandwiches_ can be made of any jam or marmalade. They are better
without butter, and the preserve should be very lightly spread. They
should be about four inches long and one inch wide. Chocolate, melted
in a little hot milk, and spread between slices of stale sponge cake,
makes a popular sandwich.
_Macédoine of Fruit._—Put three lumps of sugar and the thinly pared
rind of half a lemon into a quarter or a pint of water, and boil it for
ten minutes. Then add, if possible, twelve raspberries. If raspberries
cannot be had, add the juice of the half lemon. Let it boil up, skim
it, and set it on ice till quite cold. Then add a dessert-spoonful of
good brandy. Put into a china bowl currants freed from their stalks,
raspberries and strawberries picked from their stems, peaches and
apricots stoned and cut into quarters, black and white grapes, and a
few mulberries. Crack the stones of the peaches and apricots, peel
the kernels, and add them to the fruit in the bowl. Set the bowl on
ice. Ten minutes before the _macédoine_ is wanted, pour the cold syrup
gently over the fruit, and keep the bowl on a dish filled with crushed
ice. Help the _macédoine_ with a soup-ladle instead of a spoon.
_Travellers’ Sandwiches._—These are so often coarsely and carelessly
made that the traveller on whom the sandwiches are bestowed flies in
disgust to the dainties of the railway refreshment-room. Sandwiches
should be packed in the paper known as “butter paper,” and if they have
to be cut some time before they are wanted, they should be kept under
a damp cloth, as they soon become dry if covered with a dish. A small
leaf of young lettuce, or a little cress, improves most sandwiches.
[Illustration: SOME OLD MORTARS.]
_Ham Sandwiches._—Work a little mustard into the butter you mean to
use, and butter both the slices of bread on one side. Lay a thin slice
of ham between the pieces of buttered bread, and press the sandwiches
under a light weight.
_Beef Sandwiches._—Prepare these in the same way, but add a little
grated horseradish to the butter as well as the mustard.
_Chicken Sandwiches._—Use slices of chicken and ham, or chicken and
tongue, or pound the two together. Spread a little _maître d’hôtel_
butter on the bread.
_Gladstone Sandwiches._—Use crisp toast instead of bread, butter the
toast with _maître d’hôtel_ butter, and cover it with finely shred
celery. Cold game is best for these sandwiches.
_Travellers’ Rolls._—Make dinner rolls the size and shape of an egg,
scoop out part of the crumb, and fill the space with pounded cooked
meat moistened with _maître d’hôtel_ butter, and well mixed with shred
lettuce, mustard and cress, or sliced cucumber.
_Egg Sandwiches._—Put some fresh eggs into water which is already
boiling fast, and let them boil for fifteen minutes. Peel off the
shells, cut the eggs into slices lengthwise (not across, or the yolk
and white will not be equally divided), and place them between slices
of bread and butter. Mix both salt and pepper into the butter before
you spread it. Or pound the eggs when they are cold and shelled,
pounding the white and the yolk together in a mortar. Add a little
butter, salt, pepper, and a dust of cayenne, and spread the mixture on
thin slices of bread.
_Cheese and Celery Sandwiches._—Mix freshly grated cheese with an ounce
of butter till it becomes a thick paste. Spread this on thin slices of
bread, and cover it with celery shred as finely as possible.
_Beef Roll._—This is excellent for a journey if cut into sandwiches.
Mince very finely one pound of raw beefsteak and a quarter of a pound
of cooked ham. The meat should be passed twice through the mincing
machine. Add to the meat one well-beaten egg and two ounces of dried
and sifted bread-crumbs. Season with pepper and salt, but be careful
not to put too much. Then mix all well together with a wooden spoon.
Shape the meat into a roll, and tie it up in a cloth, fastening the
ends tightly. Boil the roll for three hours, and glaze it. When cut up
into sandwiches, the mustard spread on the meat should be mixed with
water in which a little horseradish has been grated.
_Out-of-Door Meals._—A good way of packing a light summer luncheon
is to take two strong biscuit-tins of the two-pound size, then to
line them with lettuce leaves at the bottom and sides, and finally to
arrange packets of sandwiches in one tin, with more lettuce to cover
them. In the other tin set a loaf of bread and a plain luncheon cake,
with a good clasp knife, and pack the space left with fruit and whole
tomatoes. Bottles of cold tea should be taken in another basket,
with a bottle or two of claret or light beer, and a few tumblers. For
a boating-trip lasting a day or two the following suggestions may
be found useful. When you encamp by the riverside, and your fire is
burning, put on the saucepan with ten potatoes roughly peeled, three
unpeeled onions, and a couple of carrots sliced. Pour in just enough
water to cover the vegetables, and boil them for twenty minutes,
keeping the lid of the saucepan tightly closed. After twenty minutes
pour off the water, and put into the saucepan the contents of a
one-pound tin of haricot-mutton, or beef, or Irish stew, and stir in
two large spoonfuls of Bovril or Liebig’s Essence of Meat. If Worcester
sauce is liked, add a tea-spoonful of that. Stir all well together,
and continue to stir the stew over a hot fire for five or six minutes.
This makes a good dinner for two hungry men. If you can buy from a
neighbouring garden some young potatoes and carrots use twenty of each.
Do not peel the potatoes, only wash them and rub them with a coarse
cloth. In washing up after such a meal use absolutely boiling water,
for merely _hot_ water is of no use. Fill your saucepan or cooking-pot
with water, and when it boils scour it round a few times with a piece
of house-flannel tied firmly to a stick. Do the same to the frying-pan.
Put metal cups and plates into boiling water, also the blades of knives
and the prongs of forks (keeping the handles out of the water). In this
way they will soon be quite clean, and after a final dip in the river,
and a rub with a dry cloth, they will shine like silver. If a bit of
bacon can be procured do not fry it, but toast it on a toasting-fork
before a clear part of the fire. The rashers of bacon should be
cut thin, and they will be sufficiently toasted when the fat looks
transparent. A gingerbread loaf, made according to the following family
recipe, is useful for boating-trips, as the longer it lasts the better
it is. Two pounds of brown flour, two pounds of treacle, a quarter
of a pound of brown sugar, a breakfast-cupful of cream, two eggs, a
tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda dissolved in a little hot water, two
ounces and a half of ground ginger, and a little chopped citron. Mix
all well together, and bake in a moderately hot oven.
_Cold Tea._—Cold tea, properly made, is much appreciated on journeys,
and is generally liked by shooting-parties on hot days. But good cold
tea cannot be made by filling bottles with the remains of the tea at
breakfast. Cold tea should be drunk unsweetened, and if carelessly made
it is flat and unpalatable. Wide-mouthed glass bottles with screw-tops,
such as are sold for jam, are the best to use. Cold tea should be made
from the best tea and freshly boiling water; it should stand four
minutes only, and should then be poured into the bottles through a tin
strainer. A couple of lemons and a sharp clasp-knife should be packed
in the basket with the bottles of tea, and a little metal box of sugar
can be added for those who like it.
_Iced Coffee._—Make strong coffee from freshly ground berries, add cold
milk and a little sifted sugar. Put the coffee into glass jugs, and set
these on ice for at least two hours before use. If pieces of ice are
put into the coffee the flavour is spoilt.
_Water Biscuits. Family Recipes._—(1) One pound of fine flour and two
ounces of butter well rubbed together. Add a pinch of salt. Mix with
cold water to a very stiff paste, and beat it well with a rolling-pin.
Break the paste into pieces the size of a walnut, and roll each into a
round. Prick each biscuit with a biscuit-pricker. Put them on a very
hot baking-sheet, and bake in a very quick oven.
(2) Rub an ounce of butter into a handful of fine flour. Make it into
a stiff, smooth paste with warm milk and the white of an egg beaten to
a froth. Beat the paste with a rolling-pin for half an hour or longer,
for the delicacy of the biscuits depends upon the length of time they
are beaten. Then take small pieces of the paste and roll them out to
the size of a saucer. They must be so thin as to be almost transparent.
Bake the biscuits very lightly.
Water biscuits are often liked at dinner instead of bread or toast.
ICE CREAMS
VERY good small refrigerators may now be bought, and are very useful
both for the manufacture of ice and of ice creams, as well as for
freezing puddings or cooling drinks. The following recipes are for a
few of the more popular ice creams.
_To make Strawberry Ice Cream._—To three-quarters of a pound of
strawberries add half a pound of sugar (or a pound of strawberry jam
may be used instead of fruit and sugar), and rub through a hair sieve.
Add a pint of rich cream, and very little cochineal. Well mix, and
freeze. Raspberry ice cream may be made in the same way.
_To make Vanilla Ice Cream._—Make a custard with the yolks of five eggs
and a pint of milk, and add two ounces of castor sugar and a little
vanilla. Cool, and partly freeze. Then add and well mix half a pint of
cream, and freeze.
_To make Maraschino Ice Cream._—Mix a pint of cream, a quarter
of a pound of castor sugar, the juice of half a lemon, and two
wine-glassfuls of maraschino, and freeze.
_To make Coffee Ice Cream._—Mix half a pint of very strong, good coffee
with the yolks of six eggs, six ounces of castor sugar, and a pint of
cream, and freeze.
_To make Lemon Ice Cream._—Rub castor sugar over the rind of two
lemons, making the sugar up to six ounces. Mix this sugar with the
juice of the lemons and a pint of cream, and freeze.
FOOD FOR INVALIDS
IT may not be out of place to give a few well-tried recipes for the
benefit of invalids.
_Beef-tea._—Procure beef which has been freshly killed. Take one pound
of beef free from the least particle of fat, gristle, sinew, or skin.
Mince it with a knife, not with a machine. Put the beef into one pint
of cold water, and stir for ten minutes. Bring it to the boil, and boil
it for half an hour, never ceasing to stir it. Strain, and add a dust
of salt only. Serve with strips of dry toast, and salt in a salt-cellar.
_Cold Beef-tea._—This can be digested by persons who cannot take the
usual beef-tea. Mince one pound of raw beef as finely as possible. Pour
upon it one quart of boiling water. Plunge the jar in a deep saucepan
ready filled with boiling water. Set it near the fire, but not so close
as to make it simmer. Draw the saucepan gradually away from the fire,
and let the beef-tea get nearly cold. Then strain it through muslin,
and after that filter it through clean white blotting-paper. Serve cold.
_Chicken Broth._—Roast a chicken for fifteen minutes, not longer. Cut
it into slices, and put it into a saucepan with three pints of cold
water. Season very lightly with pepper and salt. Bring it gradually to
the boil, and let it simmer very gently. An old fowl will take from
four to six hours, a young one will need three hours. Strain, and take
off every particle of fat. The previous roasting of the chicken is a
great improvement. If the broth is liked thick, simmer in it two ounces
of crushed tapioca or sago.
_Nourishing Broth._—Make the chicken broth as in the foregoing recipe,
but when the chicken is put into the saucepan to simmer, add to it two
pounds of fresh shin of beef, without fat, and cook the chicken and
beef together. Or, if the chicken cannot be had, use a knuckle of veal.
Put the beef and veal into five quarts of cold water. Add a little
salt, bring the broth to the boil, and simmer slowly. The beef and veal
must be simmered in five quarts of water till this is gradually reduced
to three pints of broth. Strain, and remove any fat.
_Chicken Food for an Invalid._—Take a good chicken and remove all the
white meat. Cut up the remainder into small pieces, and stew it in a
quart of water till it is reduced one-third. Let it cool. Then remove
every particle of fat or grease. Put in the white meat of the chicken,
and simmer gently for fifteen minutes. Then pound it to a paste in
a mortar. Return the pounded meat to the broth, and again simmer as
gently as possible for fifteen minutes more. Season with just a dust of
pepper and salt, and serve cold in a small mould.
_Mutton Cutlet for an Invalid._—Take three of the nicest cutlets from
the best part of a neck of mutton. Trim one cutlet very neatly, and
trim the other two so that when placed together the outer cutlets
will project beyond the middle one. Tie the three together, the cutlet
intended for the invalid being in the centre. Turn all three with
cutlet-tongs over and over till they are done. All the gravy will
be concentrated in the middle cutlet. Send this to the invalid on a
hot-water plate, and use the other cutlets in the dining-room.
_Savoury Custard for an Invalid._—Take two eggs, using both whites and
both yolks, and the yolks only of two more eggs. Beat them well with
one gill of clear beef-tea, but do not add any salt. Put the custard
into a well-buttered basin, cover the top with a buttered paper, set
the basin in a pan of boiling water, and let it steam slowly. It will
take about fifteen minutes. Let the custard get quite cold, then turn
it out and cut it into diamonds with a cutter. Serve salt and pepper
with the custard.
_The Invalid’s Yorkshire Pudding._—Mix the yolks of two eggs into two
good table-spoonfuls of flour. Beat the whites of the eggs lightly, and
stir all together. Bake for ten minutes in rather a quick oven.
_Restorative Jelly._—Take two ounces of isinglass [in these days
gelatine must be used], two ounces of white sugar candy, and half an
ounce of gum arabic, grated. Steep these ingredients in a pint of
port wine poured over them in an earthenware jar. Let it stand twelve
hours. Put the jar in a saucepan of cold water, and let the water
get gradually warm. Then simmer as slowly as possible, and continue
simmering till the isinglass or gelatine is quite melted. The jelly
will be thick. Do not strain it, but break up a table-spoonful at a
time for use.
_Rice Jelly._—Well wash half a pound of Carolina rice and boil it with
a strip of lemon-peel for one hour in two quarts of water. Pass it
through a sieve, and let it cool. When cold it will be a firm jelly.
Add one pint of milk to the rice jelly, and boil all together till the
rice resembles thickened milk. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon.
Strain it, sweeten it a little, and serve warm.
_Calves’-foot Jelly._—This is much better when the “set” of feet is
prepared at home and not sent in ready for use by the butcher. First
wash each foot separately and very thoroughly, then scald each in
boiling water, and scrape off all the hair. Remove any fat from the
clefts of the hoof. Put the feet into a stone jar, cover them with one
gallon of cold water, bring it to the boil, and then either let it
simmer for six hours or tie stout brown paper over the jar, and put it
into the oven for three hours. Then strain the jelly through a sieve
into an earthenware bowl. Let it get cold, then take off the fat at the
top. Break up the jelly, being careful not to touch the sediment at
the bottom of the bowl. The four feet ought to yield about two quarts
of jelly. Do not clear the jelly, but add a little lemon juice as
flavouring. Some invalids like a little of this jelly warmed as broth;
in this case omit the lemon-peel, and use as flavouring a tea-spoonful
of thyme leaves finely minced and sewn up in a bit of muslin, removing
the muslin before the jelly is strained.
_Clear Barley Water._—Wash one pound of pearl barley very thoroughly,
using fresh water two or three times. Put the barley into a quart jug
with one lump of sugar. Fill the jug with boiling water, and let it
stand to get cold. The barley will settle at the bottom, and the liquid
will be clear. Pare the rind of a lemon as thinly as possible, put it
into a breakfast-cup, pour boiling water upon it, and let it stand half
an hour. Strain the liquid, put it into a glass jug, pour the barley
water upon it, and set the jug on ice before serving.
_Toast and Water._—This refreshing and nutritious drink must be freshly
made, as it soon turns sour. Toast a thin slice of bread very slowly
and carefully till it becomes very hard and brown, but not scorched or
blackened. Put it into a jug, and pour upon it one quart of freshly
drawn cold water. Cover the jug, and let the toast soak for one hour.
Then take out the toast, and pour the water into the jug it is to be
served in. Toast and water does not generally need straining, but it
must be served quite cold.
_American Crust Coffee._—Cut some thin slices of stale bread, and bake
them in the oven till they are quite dark brown. Pound the slices in a
mortar. Boil one ounce of bread-crumbs in half a pint of water, using a
small saucepan. Take it off the fire, let it stand for a few minutes,
and then strain the liquid through a fine tin strainer into a tumbler
or breakfast-cup. Serve it hot. This is quite as nutritious as toast
and water.
PERFUMES
_To make Sweet-Jar or Pot-Pourri._—Take six pounds of bay-salt, beaten
fine, twenty-four sweet-bay leaves, torn into strips, a handful of
myrtle leaves, of the red part of clove carnations, of syringa or
orange-blossom separated from the green calyx, of violets picked from
their stalks, six handfuls of lavender blossoms, a handful of sweet
verbena leaves, of thyme, of balm, of sweet marjoram, and of rosemary.
Dry all these on a sheet spread in a sunny room. Then put them all into
a large china jar, sprinkling the pounded bay-salt thoroughly amongst
both flowers and leaves. In a short time they will become moist. Stir
the contents of the jar well every day for a month, adding a little
bay-salt occasionally. Keep the jar in the sun, closely covered with a
china lid. When the pot-pourri has been in the jar for a day or two,
add four ounces of orris root sliced, two ounces of beaten cloves, and
the rinds of three Seville oranges and of three lemons finely pared,
cut into strips, and well beaten. Cover the jar as before. Jessamine
flowers, myrtle or syringa, or orange flowers, well dried in the sun,
can be added at any time to the pot-pourri. Never adulterate pot-pourri
by scents bought at a shop.—_J. R._
_To make Eau-de-Cologne._—Mix together a pint of rectified spirits, an
ounce of orange-flower water, two drams of oil of bergamot, two drams
of oil of lemon, twenty minims of oil of rosemary, and twenty minims
of oil of neroli. Allow the mixture to stand for a couple of months,
thoroughly shaking at intervals. Filter, if necessary.
_To make Lavender Water without distillation._—Mix together a pint of
rectified spirits, four ounces of distilled water, three drams of oil
of lavender, three drams of orange-flower water, five minims each of
oil of cloves and oil of cinnamon, and four minims of otto of roses.
Allow this mixture to stand for a fortnight, then filter through
carbonate of magnesia, and bottle. Keep for three months before using.
_To make Aromatic Vinegar for Smelling Bottles._—Digest in a bottle
for four days, with frequent shaking, a mixture of a pint of acetic
acid (90 per cent.), one ounce each of dried lavender flowers, thyme,
and rosemary, and twenty grains each of powdered cloves and cinnamon.
Strain, filter through blotting-paper, and bottle.
_To make Toilet Vinegar._—Mix an ounce of pure acetic acid with a pint
of water, and digest therein, for two or three weeks, four ounces
of fresh, or two ounces of dried, fragrant flowers or leaves. Among
the best for the purpose are rose petals, lavender, elder blossom,
rosemary, and thyme.
_Scent Bags_ may be made with almost any dry fragrant leaves or
flowers, such as the scented leaves of geraniums, lavender flowers,
rose petals, and so on. These are tied up in linen bags, and placed
in cushions, or suspended in wardrobes or cupboards. A good recipe is
a pound of lavender flowers, two ounces of thyme, an ounce of ground
cloves, and two ounces of salt. A more elaborate recipe is as follows:
Grind into a coarsely powdered mixture a pound of orris root, a quarter
of a pound each of rose petals, lavender flowers, and sandalwood
shavings, two ounces of benzoin, a dram each of otto of roses and oil
of cloves, a dram of musk, and half an ounce of vanilla pods.
[Illustration: PERSIAN INCENSE BURNER.]
_To make Incense._—Coarsely powder and mix together a pound each of gum
benzoin and frankincense, a quarter of a pound each of cascarilla and
gum myrrh, and half an ounce of cinnamon.
_To make Aromatic or Fumigating Pastils._—Mix together the following
ingredients, all having been separately powdered: two pounds of
charcoal, one pound each of frankincense and gum benzoin, and half a
pound of gum storax. Add to the mixed powders, four ounces of syrup,
six ounces of tincture of benzoin, two ounces each of oil of almonds
and essence of ambergris, and one ounce of essence of musk. Make the
resultant paste into cones, adding a little warm water if required.
_To make Aromatic Pastils. Another Recipe._—Mix together 125 parts
of gum benzoin, 25 parts of balsam of tolu, 100 parts of powdered
sanderswood, and 1 part each of nitre, oil of sandalwood, cinnamon, and
cloves. Make into a paste with a solution of gum tragacanth (made by
pouring 6 parts of warm water over 1 part of gum tragacanth, letting it
stand a few days and then straining), and form into cones.
_To make Aromatic Pastils. Another Recipe._—Mix together 125 parts of
charcoal, 25 parts each of cascarilla bark and gum benzoin, 12 parts of
nitre, 10 parts of myrrh, and 5 parts each of oil of cloves and oil of
nutmeg. Make into a paste with a solution of gum tragacanth.
SOME MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES
_FURNITURE Polish._—Mix together one pint of linseed oil, half a pint
of vinegar, and two table-spoonfuls of turpentine. Rub it well in with
a flannel, and then thoroughly polish with a duster. Never leave the
furniture sticky, but rub it till it is quite bright and clean.
The best polish for oak is made by melting a pound of beeswax in a
pint of turpentine. It must be used when it is of the consistency of
dripping.
If a polished table or tray has been marked by a hot dish, cover the
place with beeswax and turpentine mixed together, and leave it for one
hour. Then rub off the beeswax with a leather. Should the hot dish have
scorched the wood, darken the place with a little linseed oil, and then
polish it.
For brass, use Putz’ German Pomade. Rub it well on, and then polish the
brass thoroughly with a leather.—_J. R._
_To destroy the Smell of Paint in Rooms._—Place in each room a pail of
water in which two or three handfuls of hay are immersed. At the end of
six hours the hay will have absorbed much of the smell of the paint.
Burn the hay, throw away the water, and repeat the process as often as
required.—_J. R._
_To destroy Flies._—Take half a tea-spoonful of freshly ground black
pepper, a tea-spoonful of brown sugar, and a tea-spoonful of cream.
Mix all well together, and put it on a plate. The flies in the room
will soon disappear.—_J. R._
_To destroy Black Beetles._—The Union Cockroach Paste, invented by Mr.
Howarth, F.Z.S., for use in the workhouse at Sheffield when it was
infested with black beetles, never fails in its effect. It is sold in
tins by Mr. Hewitt, Chemist, 66, Division Street, Sheffield.—_J. R._
_To make a Cement for China or Glass._—Mix thoroughly two and a half
ounces of white of egg with one ounce of finely powdered quicklime,
carefully adding an ounce of water and five and a half ounces of
plaster of Paris. This cement should be used as soon as made.
_To make Stick-fast Paste._—Dissolve a quarter of a pound of gum arabic
in half a pint of water, and carefully mix therewith an ounce of sugar
and three ounces of starch. Heat in a water-bath till it becomes clear.
Add half a dram of oil of cloves and allow to cool.
_To make Baking-powder._—Mix together ten ounces of bicarbonate of
soda, eight ounces of tartaric acid, and a pound of corn-flour,
ground-rice, or wheat-flour. Thoroughly mix the powders, pass through a
sieve, and store.
It is essential that the several materials used in the preparation
of baking-powder shall be separately fire-dried with thoroughness
previously to being mixed. The presence of the smallest quantity of
dampness renders the mixture quite inoperative. Baking-powder should
therefore be carefully stored in air-tight boxes or bins.
_To keep Cut Flowers fresh_, they should be supplied with fresh water
every morning, when also a tiny bit of the end of the stem should be
cut off and the whole stem gently wiped with a cloth. No leaves should
be left on that part of the stem which is under water.
INDEX
ABSINTHE, 104
Ale, 71-76
” cup, 117
” mulled, 122
Anchovy sauce, 47
Angostura bitters, 112
Aniseed cordial, 105
BACON, PICKLE FOR, 28
Badminton, 117
Balm of Molucca, 112
Baking-powder, 150
Beauty water, 96
Beef, spiced, 24
” tea, 139
” Welsh, 25
Beer, home-brewed, 71-76
Beetles, to destroy, 153
Benedictine, 115
Biscuits, water, 136
Bishop, 117
Bitters, angostura, 112
” Hamburgh, 106
” orange, 115
Boston cooler, 118
Bottling of fruit and vegetables, 63-66
Brandy, cherry, 113
” cherries, 55
” cocktail, 118
” ginger, 114
” lemon, 114
” peaches, 56
Brewing, 71-76
Broth, 139, 140
Browning, gush about, 2
Butter, 9-15
” to pot, 14
CALVES’-FOOT JELLY, 142
Cassis, 113
Catsup, mushroom, 45
” tomato, 46
” walnut, 46
Champagne cobbler, 113
” cup, 118
Chartreuse, 106
Cheese, 16-22
” Camembert, 21
” Cheddar, 18
” cream, 19
” Gervais, 21
” Grewelthorp, 20
” Stilton, 16
” to pot, 22
Cherries, brandy, 55
Cherry brandy, 113
Churning, 12
Cider, 77-79
” cup, 118
Cinnamon cordial, 106
Claret cup, 118
” mulled, 123
Clove cordial, 106
Cobbett, William, on pietistic and other cant, 71-73
Cobbler, champagne, 118
” Saratoga, 125
” sherry, 126
Cocktail, brandy, 118
Coffee, 119, 136
Cordials, 102-116
Crambambuli, 120
Cream, 9-15
” clotted, 11
” curds, 15
Crême de cacao, 113
” ” café, 113
” ” menthe, 114
Crust coffee, 143
Curaçoa, 114
Curry powder, 45
Custard, savoury, 141
Cutlet, mutton, 140
DAMSON CHEESE, 55
Distilling, 92-111
Drying of fruit and vegetables, 67-70
EAU-DE-COLOGNE, 145
Egg-and-brandy mixture, 120
Egg flip, 120
” nog, 120
Eggs, to preserve, 32
Essences, 96-102
Evaporating of fruit and vegetables, 67-70
FILBERTS, STORING OF, 62
Fish, to pickle, 31
” to pot, 30
” to salt, 31
” to smoke, 31
Flies, to destroy, 149
Flowers, cut, to keep fresh, 151
Fruit, bottling of, 63-66
” drink, 121
” drying of, 67-70
” Macédoine, 130
” storing, 57-62
” syrups, 65
Furniture polish, 149
GARDEN PARTY, REFRESHMENTS AT, 128-136
Gin fizz, 121
” punch, 124
” sling, 121
Ginger beer, 89
” brandy, 114
Gingerbread loaf, 135
HAM, 26
” to boil, 28
” to cure, 27
” to steam, 29
Hamburgh bitters, 108
Henry VIII., appreciator of pudding, 2
Herbs, gathering and drying, 62
Housewifery, a plea for, 1-8
Hughes, Tom, on life, beer and skittles, 117
Hydromel, 89
ICE CREAMS, 137, 138
Incense, 147
Invalids, food for, 139-144
JAMS, 48-56
Jellies, fruit, 52
Jelly, apple, 52
” blackberry, 54
” cranberry, 53
” currant, 53, 54
” Scotch, 54
” calves’-foot, 142
” restorative, 141
” rice, 142
Julep, 122
KING, DR., HIS APPEAL TO THE ALE-WIFE, 76
Kirschenwasser, 108
Kummel, 108
LA MASUBAL, 121
Lavender, gathering and drying, 62
” water, 96, 146
Lemon brandy, 114
Lemon cordial, 111, 114
Lemonade, 121
Long drink, 121
MACÉDOINE OF FRUIT, 130
Markham, Gervase, on the vertues of a compleate woman, 6
Marmalade, crab-apple, 52
” orange, 50, 51
” quince, 51
Mead, 87-89
Meat, pickling, 23-30
” to pot, 30
Medlars, storing of, 61
Merissah, 87
Metheglin, 87-89
Milk, 9-15
” punch, 123
Mint julep, 122
Mulled ale, 122
” claret, 123
Mushroom catsup, 45
Mustard, 40
” aromatic, 42
” Düsseldorf, 42
” Frankfort, 42
” French, 41
” Jesuits’, 42
” spiced, 41
” with horseradish, 40
NOYAU, 111
ORANGE BITTERS, 115
” cordial, 111
PAINT, TO REMOVE THE SMELL OF, 149
Pastils, aromatic, 148
Paste, stick-fast, 150
Peaches, brandy, 56
Perfumes, 145-148
Pickle for bacon, 28
Pickling apples, 38
” apricots, 38
” barberries, 38
Pickling bean pods, 38
” beetroot, 38
” cabbage, 34
” cauliflower, 38
” damsons, 38
” fish, 31
” gherkins, 36
” meat, 23-30
” mushrooms, 38
” nasturtium seeds, 37
” onions, 38
” peaches, 38
” pears, 38
” plums, 37
” samphire, 37
” shallots, 34
” tomatoes, 36, 37
” vegetables, 33-39
” walnuts, 36
Picnic, refreshments at, 128-136
Pigs’ cheeks, to cure, 28
Polish, for furniture, etc., 149
Potting fish, 30
” meat, 30
” shrimps, 31
Pot-pourri, 145
Preserves, 48-56
Punch, 123, 124
Purl, 124
RASPBERRY VINEGAR, 125
Rice jelly, 142
Rosemary water, 96
Rum shrub, 115
SANDWICHES, 128-132
Sauce, anchovy, 47
” piquant, 46, 47
Sauerkraut, 38
Salad dressing, 47
Saratoga cobbler, 125
Sausages, to cook, 26
” to make, 25
Scent-bags, 146
Shandy-gaff, 125
Sherbet, 125
Sherry cobbler, 126
Shrimps, to pot, 31
Shrub brandy, 112
” rum, 115
Sighs of love, 115
Sloe gin, 116
Spiced beef, 24
Spruce, beer, 90
Storing of fruit and herbs, 57-62
Sweet-jar, 145
Swift, on the necessity of cordials, 112
Syllabub, 126
TEA, COLD, 133-135
Tent, 116
Tewahdiddle, 126
Toast and water, 143
Tomato catsup, 46
USQUEBAUGH, 116
VEGETABLES, BOTTLING OF, 63-66
” drying of, 67-70
Vermouth, 116
Vinegar, toilet, 146
” aromatic, for smelling bottles, 142
” aromatic table, 44, 45
” spiced table, 44
WALNUTS, STORING OF, 62
Walnut catsup, 46
Wassail, 126
Water biscuits, 136
Waters, aromatic, 96
Welsh beef, 25
Wine, cowslip, 86
” damson, 87
” date, 87
” elderberry, 90
” gooseberry, 85
” lemon, 86
” making, 80-91
” rhubarb, 87
Wines, aromatic, 45
YORKSHIRE PUDDING, 141
* * * * *
Transcriber’s Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Page xii, “Pellican” changed to “Pellicane” (named the Pellicane)
Page 49, “degress” changed to “degrees” (sugar by degrees)
Page 146, “dr” changed to “dry” (almost any dry)
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