green pease soup (No. 216 or 17) is with pease: let half the asparagus
be rubbed through a sieve, and the other cut in pieces about an inch
long, and boiled till done enough, and sent up in the soup: to make two
quarts, there must be a pint of heads to thicken it, and half a pint cut
in; take care to preserve these green and a little crisp. This soup is
sometimes made by adding the asparagus heads to common pease soup.
_Obs._ Some cooks fry half an ounce of onion in a little butter, and rub
it through a sieve, and add it with the other ingredients; the _haut
goût_ of the onion will entirely overcome the delicate flavour of the
asparagus, and we protest against all such combinations.
_Maigre, or Vegetable Gravy Soup._[207-*]--(No. 224.)
Put into a gallon stew-pan three ounces of butter; set it over a slow
fire; while it is melting, slice four ounces of onion; cut in small
pieces one turnip, one carrot, and a head of celery; put them in the
stewpan, cover it close, let it fry till they are lightly browned; this
will take about twenty-five minutes: have ready, in a sauce-pan, a pint
of pease, with four quarts of water; when the roots in the stew-pan are
quite brown, and the pease come to a boil, put the pease and water to
them; put it on the fire; when it boils, skim it clean, and put in a
crust of bread about as big as the top of a twopenny loaf, twenty-four
berries of allspice, the same of black pepper, and two blades of mace;
cover it close, let it simmer gently for one hour and a half; then set
it from the fire for ten minutes; then pour it off very gently (so as
not to disturb the sediment at the bottom of the stew-pan) into a large
basin; let it stand (about two hours) till it is quite clear: while this
is doing, shred one large turnip, the red part of a large carrot, three
ounces of onion minced, and one large head of celery cut into small
bits; put the turnips and carrots on the fire in cold water, let them
boil five minutes, then drain them on a sieve, then pour off the soup
clear into a stew-pan, put in the roots, put the soup on the fire, let
it simmer gently till the herbs are tender (from thirty to forty
minutes), season it with salt and a little Cayenne, and it is ready.
You may add a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup (No. 439).
_Obs._ You will have three quarts of soup, as well coloured, and almost
as well flavoured, as if made with gravy meat.
N.B. To make this it requires nearly five hours. To fry the herbs
requires twenty-five minutes; to boil all together, one hour and a half;
to settle, at the least, two hours; when clear, and put on the fire
again, half an hour more.
_FISH SOUPS._--(No. 225.)
_Eel Soup._
To make a tureenful, take a couple of middling-sized onions, cut them in
half, and cross your knife over them two or three times; put two ounces
of butter into a stew-pan when it is melted, put in the onions, stir
them about till they are lightly browned; cut into pieces three pounds
of unskinned eels, put them into your stew-pan, and shake them over the
fire for five minutes; then add three quarts of boiling water, and when
they come to a boil, take the scum off very clean; then put in a quarter
of an ounce of the green leaves (not dried) of winter savoury, the same
of lemon thyme, and twice the quantity of parsley, two drachms of
allspice, the same of black pepper; cover it close, and let it boil
gently for two hours; then strain it off, and skim it very clean. To
thicken it, put three ounces of butter into a clean stew-pan; when it is
melted, stir in as much flour as will make it of a stiff paste, then add
the liquor by degrees; let it simmer for ten minutes, and pass it
through a sieve; then put your soup on in a clean stew-pan, and have
ready some little square pieces of fish fried of a nice light brown,
either eels, soles, plaice, or skate will do; the fried fish should be
added about ten minutes before the soup is served up. Forcemeat balls
(Nos. 375, 378, &c.) are sometimes added.
_Obs._ Excellent fish soups may be made with a cod's skull, or skate, or
flounders, &c. boiled in no more water than will just cover them, and
the liquor thickened with oatmeal, &c.
_Cheap Soups._--(No. 229.)
Among the variety of schemes that have been suggested for "bettering the
condition of the poor," a more useful or extensive charity cannot be
devised, than that of instructing them in economical cookery: it is one
of the most-important objects to which the attention of any real
well-wisher to the public interest can possibly be directed.
The best and cheapest method of making a nourishing soup, is least known
to those who have most need of it; it will enable those who have small
incomes and large families to make the most of the little they possess,
without pinching their children of that wholesome nourishment which is
necessary for the purpose of rearing them up to maturity in health and
strength.
The labouring classes seldom purchase what are called the coarser pieces
of meat, because they do not know how to dress them, but lay out their
money in pieces for roasting, &c., of which the bones, &c. enhance the
price of the actual meat to nearly a shilling per pound, and the
diminution of weight by roasting amounts to 32 per cent. This, for the
sake of saving time, trouble, and fire, is generally sent to an oven to
be baked; the nourishing parts are evaporated and dried up, its weight
is diminished nearly one-third, and all that a poor man can afford to
purchase with his week's earnings, perhaps does not half satisfy the
appetites of himself and family for a couple of days.
If a hard-working man cannot get a comfortable meal at home, he soon
finds his way to the public-house, the poor wife contents herself with
tea and bread and butter, and the children are half starved.
DR. KITCHINER'S receipt to make a cheap, nutritive, and palatable soup,
fully adequate to satisfy appetite and support strength, will open a new
source to those benevolent housekeepers who are disposed to relieve the
poor; will show the industrious classes how much they have it in their
power to assist themselves; and rescue them from being dependent on the
precarious bounty of others, by teaching them how they may obtain an
abundant, salubrious, and agreeable aliment for themselves and families,
for one penny per quart. See page 210.
For various economical soups, see Nos. 204, 239, 240, 224, 221, and
_Obs._ to Nos. 244 and 252, and Nos. 493 and 502.
_Obs._ Dripping intended for soup should be taken out of the pan almost
as soon as it has dropped from the meat; if it is not quite clean,
clarify it. See receipt, No. 83.
Dripping thus prepared is a very different thing from that which has
remained in the dripping-pan all the time the meat has been roasting,
and perhaps live coals have dropped into it.[209-*]
Distributing soup does not answer half so well as teaching people how to
make it, and improve their comfort at home: the time lost in waiting at
the soup-house is seldom less than three hours; in which time, by any
industrious occupation, however poorly paid, they could earn more money
than the quart of soup is worth.
DR. KITCHINER'S _Receipt to make a Gallon of Barley Broth for a Groat_.
See also No. 204.
Put four ounces of Scotch barley (previously washed in cold water), and
four ounces of sliced onions, into five quarts of water; boil gently for
one hour, and pour it into a pan; then put into the saucepan from one to
two ounces of clean beef or mutton drippings, or melted suet, (to
clarify these, see No. 83) or two or three ounces of fat bacon minced;
when melted, stir into it four ounces of oatmeal; rub these together
till you make a paste (if this be properly managed, the whole of the fat
will combine with the barley broth, and not a particle appear on the
surface to offend the most delicate stomach); now add the barley broth,
at first a spoonful at a time, then the rest by degrees, stirring it
well together till it boils. To season it, put a drachm of
finely-pounded celery, or cress-seed, or half a drachm of each, and a
quarter of a drachm of finely-pounded Cayenne (No. 404), or a drachm and
a half of ground black pepper, or allspice, into a tea-cup, and mix it
up with a little of the soup, and then pour it into the rest; stir it
thoroughly together; let it simmer gently a quarter of an hour longer,
season it with salt, and it is ready.
The flavour may be varied by doubling the portion of onions, or adding a
clove of garlic or eschalot, and leaving out the celery-seed (No. 572),
or put in shredded roots as in No. 224; or, instead of oatmeal, thicken
it with ground rice, or pease, &c., and make it savoury with fried
onions.
This preparation, excellent as it is, would, without variety, soon
become less agreeable.
Nothing so completely disarms poverty of its sting, as the means of
rendering a scanty pittance capable of yielding a comfortable variety.
Change of flavour is absolutely necessary, not merely as a matter of
pleasure and comfort, but of health; _toujours perdrix_ is a true
proverb.
This soup will be much improved, if, instead of water, it be made with
the liquor meat has been boiled in; at tripe, cow-heel, and cook-shops,
this may be had for little or nothing.
This soup has the advantage of being very soon and easily made, with no
more fuel than is necessary to warm a room; those who have not tasted
it, cannot imagine what a savoury and satisfying meal is produced by the
combination of these cheap and homely ingredients.
If the generally-received opinion be true, that animal and vegetable
foods afford nourishment in proportion to the quantity of oil, jelly,
and mucilage, that can be extracted from them, this soup has strong
claims to the attention of rational economists.
_Craw-fish Soup._--(No. 235.)
This soup is sometimes made with beef, or veal broth, or with fish, in
the following manner:
Take flounders, eels, gudgeons, &c., and set them on to boil in cold
water; when it is pretty nigh boiling, skim it well; and to three quarts
put in a couple of onions, and as many carrots cut to pieces, some
parsley, a dozen berries of black and Jamaica pepper, and about half a
hundred craw-fish; take off the small claws and shells of the tails;
pound them fine, and boil them with the broth about an hour; strain off,
and break in some crusts of bread to thicken it, and, if you can get it,
the spawn of a lobster; pound it, and put it to the soup; let it simmer
very gently for a couple of minutes; put in your craw-fish to get hot,
and the soup is ready.
_Obs._--One of my predecessors recommends craw-fish pounded alive, to
sweeten the sharpness of the blood. Vide CLERMONT'S _Cookery_, p. 5,
London, 1776.
"_Un des grands hommes de bouche de France_" says, "_Un bon coulis
d'ecrevisses est le paradis sur la terre, et digne de la table des
dieux_; and of all the tribe of shell-fish, which our industry and our
sensuality bring from the bottom of the sea, the river, or the pond, the
craw-fish is incomparably the most useful and the most delicious."
_Lobster Soup._--(No. 237.)
You must have three fine lively[211-*] young hen lobsters, and boil
them, see No. 176; when cold, split the tails; take out the fish, crack
the claws, and cut the meat into mouthfuls: take out the coral, and soft
part of the body; bruise part of the coral in a mortar; pick out the
fish from the chines; beat part of it with the coral, and with this make
forcemeat balls, finely-flavoured with mace or nutmeg, a little grated
lemon-peel, anchovy, and Cayenne; pound these with the yelk of an egg.
Have three quarts of veal broth; bruise the small legs and the chine,
and put them into it, to boil for twenty minutes, then strain it; and
then to thicken it, take the live spawn and bruise it in a mortar with a
little butter and flour; rub it through a sieve, and add it to the soup
with the meat of the lobsters, and the remaining coral; let it simmer
very gently for ten minutes; do not let it boil, or its fine red colour
will immediately fade; turn it into a tureen; add the juice of a good
lemon, and a little essence of anchovy.
_Soup and Bouilli._--(No. 238. See also No. 5.)
The best parts for this purpose are the leg or shin, or a piece of the
middle of a brisket of beef, of about seven or eight pounds weight; lay
it on a fish-drainer, or when you take it up put a slice under it, which
will enable you to place it on the dish entire; put it into a soup-pot
or deep stew-pan, with cold water enough to cover it, and a quart over;
set it on a quick fire to get the scum up, which remove as it rises;
then put in two carrots, two turnips, two leeks, or two large onions,
two heads of celery, two or three cloves, and a fagot of parsley and
sweet herbs; set the pot by the side of the fire to simmer very gently,
till the meat is just tender enough to eat: this will require about four
or five hours.
Put a large carrot, a turnip, a large onion, and a head or two of
celery, into the soup whole; take them out as soon as they are done
enough; lay them on a dish till they are cold; then cut them into small
squares: when the beef is done, take it out carefully: to dish it up,
see No. 204, or No. 493: strain the soup through a hair-sieve into a
clean stew-pan; take off the fat, and put the vegetables that are cut
into the soup, the flavour of which you may heighten by adding a
table-spoonful of mushroom catchup.
If a thickened soup is preferred, take four large table-spoonfuls of the
clear fat from the top of the pot, and four spoonfuls of flour; mix it
smooth together; then by degrees stir it well into the soup, which
simmer for ten minutes longer at least; skim it well, and pass it
through a tamis, or fine sieve, and add the vegetables and seasoning the
same as directed in the clear soup.
Keep the beef hot, and send it up (as a remove to the soup) with
finely-chopped parsley sprinkled on the top, and a sauce-boat of No.
328.
_Ox-head Soup_,--(No. 239.)
Should be prepared the day before it is to be eaten, as you cannot cut
the meat off the head into neat mouthfuls unless it is cold: therefore,
the day before you want this soup, put half an ox-cheek into a tub of
cold water to soak for a couple of hours; then break the bones that have
not been broken at the butcher's, and wash it very well in warm water;
put it into a pot, and cover it with cold water; when it boils, skim it
very clean, and then put in one head of celery, a couple of carrots, a
turnip, two large onions, two dozen berries of black pepper, same of
allspice, and a bundle of sweet herbs, such as marjoram, lemon-thyme,
savoury, and a handful of parsley; cover the soup-pot close, and set it
on a slow fire; take off the scum, which will rise when it is coming to
a boil, and set it by the fireside to stew very gently for about three
hours; take out the head, lay it on a dish, pour the soup through a fine
sieve into a stone-ware pan, and set it and the head by in a cool place
till the next day: then cut the meat into neat mouthfuls, skim and
strain off the broth, put two quarts of it and the meat into a clean
stew-pan, let it simmer very gently for half an hour longer, and it is
ready. If you wish it thickened (which we do not recommend, for the
reasons given in the 7th chapter of the Rudiments of Cookery), put two
ounces of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, throw in as much
flour as will dry it up; when they are all well mixed together, and
browned by degrees, pour to this your soup, and stir it well together;
let it simmer for half an hour longer; strain it through a hair-sieve
into a clean stew-pan, and put to it the meat of the head; let it stew
half an hour longer, and season it with Cayenne pepper, salt, and a
glass of good wine, or a table-spoonful of brandy. See Ox-cheek stewed,
No. 507.
_Obs._--Those who wish this soup still more savoury, &c. for the means
of making it so, we refer to No. 247.
N.B. This is an excellent and economical soup. See also Nos. 204 and
229.
If you serve it as soup for a dozen people, thicken one tureen, and send
up the meat in that; and send up the other as a clear gravy soup, with
some of the carrots and turnips shredded, or cut into shapes.
_Ox-tail Soup._--(No. 240.)
Three tails, costing about 7_d._ each, will make a tureen of soup
(desire the butcher to divide them at the joints); lay them to soak in
warm water, while you get ready the vegetables.
Put into a gallon stew-pan eight cloves, two or three onions, half a
drachm of allspice, and the same of black pepper, and the tails;[214-*]
cover them with cold water; skim it carefully, when and as long as you
see any scum rise; then cover the pot as close as possible, and set it
on the side of the fire to keep gently simmering till the meat becomes
tender and will leave the bones easily, because it is to be eaten with a
spoon, without the assistance of a knife or fork; see N.B. to No. 244;
this will require about two hours: mind it is not done too much: when
perfectly tender, take out the meat and cut it off the bones, in neat
mouthfuls; skim the broth, and strain it through a sieve; if you prefer
a thickened soup, put flour and butter, as directed in the preceding
receipt; or put two table-spoonfuls of the fat you have taken off the
broth into a clean stew-pan, with as much flour as will make it into a
paste; set this over the fire, and stir them well together; then pour in
the broth by degrees, stirring it, and mixing it with the thickening;
let it simmer for another half hour, and when you have well skimmed it,
and it is quite smooth, then strain it through a tamis into a clean
stew-pan, put in the meat, with a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup
(No. 439), a glass of wine, and season it with salt.
For increasing the _piquance_ of this soup, read No. 247.
_Obs._--See N.B. to No. 244; if the meat is cut off the bones, you must
have three tails for a tureen, see N.B. to No. 244: some put an ox-cheek
or tails in an earthen pan, with all the ingredients as above, and send
them to a slow oven for five or six hours.
To stew ox-tails, see No. 531.
_Ox-heel Soup_,--(No. 240*.)
Must be made the day before it is to be eaten. Procure an ox-heel
undressed, or only scalded (not one that has been already boiled, as
they are at the tripe-shops, till almost all the gelatinous parts are
extracted), and two that have been boiled as they usually are at the
tripe-shops.
Cut the meat off the boiled heels into neat mouthfuls, and set it by on
a plate; put the trimmings and bones into a stew-pan, with three quarts
of water, and the unboiled heel cut into quarters; furnish a stew-pan
with two onions, and two turnips pared and sliced; pare off the red part
of a couple of large carrots, add a couple of eschalots cut in half, a
bunch of savoury or lemon-thyme, and double the quantity of parsley; set
this over, or by the side of a slow, steady fire, and keep it closely
covered and simmering very gently (or the soup liquor will evaporate)
for at least seven hours: during which, take care to remove the fat and
scum that will rise to the surface of the soup, which must be kept as
clean as possible.
Now strain the liquor through a sieve, and put two ounces of butter into
a clean stew-pan; when it is melted, stir into it as much flour as will
make it a stiff paste; add to it by degrees the soup liquor; give it a
boil up; strain it through a sieve, and put in the peel of a lemon pared
as thin as possible, and a couple of bay-leaves, and the meat of the
boiled heels; let it go on simmering for half an hour longer, _i. e._
till the meat is tender. Put in the juice of a lemon, a glass of wine,
and a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, and the soup is ready for the
tureen.
_Obs._ Those who are disposed to make this a more substantial dish, may
introduce a couple of sets of goose or duck giblets, or ox-tails, or a
pound of veal cutlets, cut into mouthfuls.
_Hare, Rabbit, or Partridge Soup._--(No. 241.)
An old hare, or birds, when so tough as to defy the teeth in any other
form, will make very good soup.
Cut off the legs and shoulders; divide the body crossways, and stew them
very gently in three quarts of water, with one carrot, about one ounce
of onion, with four cloves, two blades of pounded mace, twenty-four
black peppers, and a bundle of sweet herbs, till the hare is tender
(most cooks add to the above a couple of slices of ham or bacon, and a
bay leaf, &c., but my palate and purse both plead against such
extravagance; the hare makes sufficiently savoury soup without them):
the time this will take depends very much upon its age, and how long it
has been kept before it is dressed: as a general rule, about three
hours: in the mean time, make a dozen and a half of nice forcemeat balls
(as big as nutmegs) of No. 379; when the hare is quite tender, take the
meat off the back, and the upper joint of the legs; cut it into neat
mouthfuls, and lay it aside; cut the rest of the meat off the legs,
shoulders, &c., mince it and pound it in a mortar, with an ounce of
butter, and two or three table-spoonfuls of flour moistened with a
little soup; rub this through a hair-sieve, and put it into the soup to
thicken it; let it simmer slowly half an hour longer, skimming it well;
put it through the tamis into the pan again; and put in the meat with a
glass of claret or port wine, and a table-spoonful of currant jelly to
each quart of soup; season it with salt, put in the forcemeat balls, and
when all is well warmed, the soup is ready.
_Obs._ Cold roast hare will make excellent soup. Chop it in pieces, and
stew it in water (according to the quantity of hare) for about an hour,
and manage it as in the above receipt: the stuffing of the hare will be
a substitute for sweet herbs and seasoning.
N.B. This soup may be made with mock hare, see No. 66.
_Game Soup._--(No. 242.)
In the game season, it is easy for a cook to give her master a very good
soup at a very little expense, by taking all the meat off the breasts of
any cold birds which have been left the preceding day, and pounding it
in a mortar, and beating to pieces the legs and bones, and boiling them
in some broth for an hour. Boil six turnips; mash them, and strain them
through a tamis-cloth with the meat that has been pounded in a mortar;
strain your broth, and put a little of it at a time into the tamis to
help you to strain all of it through. Put your soup-kettle near the
fire, but do not let it boil: when ready to dish your dinner, have six
yelks of eggs mixed with half a pint of cream; strain through a sieve;
put your soup on the fire, and as it is coming to boil, put in the eggs,
and stir well with a wooden spoon: do not let it boil, or it will
curdle.
_Goose or Duck Giblet Soup._[216-*]--(No. 244.)
Scald and pick very clean a couple sets of goose, or four of duck
giblets (the fresher the better); wash them well in warm water, in two
or three waters; cut off the noses and split the heads; divide the
gizzards and necks into mouthfuls. If the gizzards are not cut into
pieces before they are done enough, the rest of the meat, &c. will be
done too much; and knives and forks have no business in a soup-plate.
Crack the bones of the legs, and put them into a stew-pan; cover them
with cold water: when they boil, take off the scum as it rises; then
put in a bundle of herbs, such as lemon-thyme, winter savoury, or
marjoram, about three sprigs of each, and double the quantity of
parsley, an onion, twenty berries of allspice, the same of black pepper;
tie them all up in a muslin bag, and set them to stew very gently till
the gizzards are tender: this will take from an hour and a half to two
hours, according to the size and age of the giblets: take them up with a
skimmer, or a spoon full of holes, put them into the tureen, and cover
down close to keep warm till the soup is ready.
To thicken the soup. Melt an ounce and a half of butter in a clean
stew-pan; stir in as much flour as will make it into a paste; then pour
to it by degrees a ladleful of the giblet liquor; add the remainder by
degrees; let it boil about half an hour, stirring it all the while for
fear it should burn; skim it, and strain it through a fine sieve into a
basin; wash out the stew-pan; then return the soup into it, and season
it with a glass of wine, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, and a
little salt; let it have one boil up; and then put the giblets in to get
hot, and the soup is ready.
_Obs._ Thus managed, one set of goose, or two of duck giblets (which
latter may sometimes be had for 3_d._), will make a quart of healthful,
nourishing soup: if you think the giblets alone will not make the gravy
savoury enough, add a pound of beef or mutton, or bone of a knuckle of
veal, and heighten its "_piquance_" by adding a few leaves of sweet
basil, the juice of half a Seville orange or lemon, and half a glass of
wine, and a little of No. 343* to each quart of soup.
Those who are fond of forcemeat may slip the skin off the neck, and fill
it with No. 378; tie up the other end tight; put it into the soup about
half an hour before you take it up, or make some nice savoury balls of
the duck stuffing, No. 61.
_Obs._ Bespeak the giblets a couple of days before you desire to have
them: this is a favourite soup when the giblets are done till nicely
tender, but yet not overboiled. Giblets may be had from July to January;
the fresher they are the better.
N.B. This is rather a family-dish than a company one; the bones cannot
be well picked without the help of alive pincers.
Since Tom Coryat introduced forks, A. D. 1642, it has not been the
fashion to put "pickers and stealers" into soup.
_Mock Mock Turtle_,--(No. 245.)
_As made by_ Elizabeth Lister (_late cook to Dr. Kitchiner_), _bread and
biscuit baker, No. 6 Salcombe Place, York Terrace, Regent's Park._
_Goes out to dress dinners on reasonable terms._
Line the bottom of a stew-pan that will hold five pints, with an ounce
of nice lean bacon or ham, a pound and a half of lean gravy beef, a
cow-heel, the inner rind of a carrot, a sprig of lemons-thyme, winter
savoury, three times the quantity of parsley, a few green leaves of
sweet basil,[218-*] and two eschalots; put in a large onion, with four
cloves stuck in it, eighteen corns of allspice, the same of black
pepper; pour on these a quarter of a pint of cold water, cover the
stew-pan, and set it on a slow fire, to boil gently for a quarter of an
hour; then, for fear the meat should catch, take off the cover, and
watch it; and when it has got a good brown colour, fill up the stew-pan
with boiling water, and let it simmer very gently for two hours: if you
wish to have the full benefit of the meat, only stew it till it is just
tender, cut it into mouthfuls, and put it into the soup. To thicken it,
pour two or three table-spoonfuls of flour, a ladleful of the gravy, and
stir it quick till it is well mixed; pour it back into the stew-pan
where the gravy is, and let it simmer gently for half an hour longer;
skim it, and then strain it through a tamis into the stew-pan: cut the
cow-heel into pieces about an inch square, squeeze through a sieve the
juice of a lemon, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, a tea-spoonful
of salt, half a tea-spoonful of ground black pepper, as much grated
nutmeg as will lie on a sixpence, and a glass of Madeira or sherry wine;
let it all simmer together for five minutes longer.
Forcemeat or egg balls may be added if you please; you will find a
receipt for these, No. 380, &c.
*.* A pound of veal cutlets, or the belly part of pickled pork, or nice
double tripe cut into pieces about an inch square, and half an inch
thick, and rounded and trimmed neatly from all skin, gristle, &c. and
stewed till they are tender, will be a great addition.
_Mock Turtle_,--(No. 247.)
Is the "_bonne bouche_" which "the officers of the mouth" of old
England[219-*] prepare, when they choose to rival "_les grands
cuisiniers de France_" in a "_ragoût sans pareil_."
The following receipt is an attempt (and the committee of taste
pronounced it a successful one), to imitate the excellent and generally
approved mock turtle made by Messrs. Birch, Cornhill.
Endeavour to have the head and the broth ready for the soup,[219-+] the
day before it is to be eaten.
It will take eight hours to prepare it properly.
_hours._
Cleaning and soaking the head 1
To parboil it to cut up 1
Cooling, nearly 1
Making the broth and finishing the soup 5
---
8
Get a calf's head with the skin on (the fresher the better); take out
the brains, wash the head several times in cold water, let it soak for
about an hour in spring-water, then lay it in a stew-pan, and cover it
with cold water, and half a gallon over; as it becomes warm, a great
deal of scum will rise, which must be immediately removed; let it boil
gently for one hour, take it up, and when almost cold, cut the head into
pieces about an inch and a half by an inch and a quarter, and the tongue
into mouthfuls, or rather make a side-dish of the tongue and brains, as
in No. 10.
When the head is taken out, put in the stock meat,[219-++] about five
pounds of knuckle of veal, and as much beef; add to the stock all the
trimmings and bones of the head, skim it well, and then cover it close,
and let it boil five hours (reserve a couple of quarts of this to make
gravy sauces, &c. see No. 307); then strain it off, and let it stand
till the next morning; then take off the fat, set a large stew-pan on
the fire with half a pound of good fresh butter, twelve ounces of onions
sliced, and four ounces of green sage; chop it a little; let these fry
one hour; then rub in half a pound of flour, and by degrees add your
broth till it is the thickness of cream; season it with a quarter of an
ounce of ground allspice and half an ounce of black pepper ground very
fine, salt to your taste, and the rind of one lemon peeled very thin;
let it simmer very gently for one hour and a half, then strain it
through a hair-sieve; do not rub your soup to get it through the sieve,
or it will make it grouty; if it does not run through easily, knock your
wooden-spoon against the side of your sieve; put it in a clean stew-pan
with the head, and season it by adding to each gallon of soup half a
pint of wine; this should be Madeira, or, if you wish to darken the
colour of your soup, claret, and two table-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, see
No. 407*; let it simmer gently till the meat is tender; this may take
from half an hour to an hour: take care it is not over-done; stir it
frequently to prevent the meat sticking to the bottom of the stew-pan,
and when the meat is quite tender the soup is ready.
A head weighing twenty pounds, and ten pounds of stock meat, will make
ten quarts of excellent soup, besides the two quarts of stock you have
put by for made dishes, &c.
_Obs._ If there is more meat on the head than you wish to put in the
soup, prepare it for a pie, and, with the addition of a calf's foot
boiled tender, it will make an excellent ragoût pie; season it with
zest, and a little minced onion, put in half a tea-cupful of stock,
cover it with puff paste, and bake it one hour: when the soup comes from
table, if there is a deal of meat and no soup, put it into a pie-dish,
season it a little, and add some little stock to it; then cover it with
paste, bake it one hour, and you have a good mock turtle pie.
This soup was eaten by the committee of taste with unanimous applause,
and they pronounced it a very satisfactory substitute[220-*] for "the
far-fetch'd and dear-bought" turtle; which is entirely indebted for its
title of "sovereign of savouriness," to the rich soup with which it is
surrounded.
Without its paraphernalia of subtle double relishes, a "starved turtle,"
has not more intrinsic sapidity than a "fatted calf." Friendly reader,
it is really neither half so wholesome, nor half so toothsome. See
Essence of Turtle, No. 343*, and _Obs._ to No. 493. To warm this soup,
see No. 485.
To season it, to each gallon of soup put two table-spoonfuls of
lemon-juice, see No. 407*, same of mushroom catchup (No. 439), and one
of essence of anchovy (No. 433), half a pint of wine (this should be
Madeira, or, if you wish to darken the colour of your soup, claret), a
tea-spoonful of curry powder (No. 455), or a quarter of a drachm of
Cayenne, and the peel of a lemon pared as thin as possible; let it
simmer five minutes more, take out the lemon-peel, and the soup is ready
for the tureen.
While the soup is doing, prepare for each tureen a dozen and a half of
mock turtle forcemeat balls (to make these, see No. 375 or No. 376, No.
390 to No. 396); we prefer the stuffing ordered in No. 61, and a dozen
egg balls; and put them into the tureen. Brain balls, or cakes, are a
very elegant addition, and are made by boiling the brains for ten
minutes, then putting them in cold water, and cutting them into pieces
about as big as a large nutmeg; take savoury, or lemon-thyme dried and
finely-powdered, nutmeg grated, and pepper and salt, and pound them all
together; beat up an egg, dip the brains in it, and then roll them in
this mixture, and make as much of it as possible stick to them; dip them
in the egg again, and then in finely-grated and sifted bread-crumbs; fry
them in hot fat, and send them up as a side-dish.
A veal sweetbread, prepared as in No. 89, not too much done or it will
break, cut into pieces the same size as you cut the calf's head, and put
in the soup, just to get warm before it goes to table, is a superb
"_bonne bouche_;" and pickled tongue, stewed till very tender, and cut
into mouthfuls, is a favourite addition. We order the meat to be cut
into mouthfuls, that it may be eaten with a spoon: the knife and fork
have no business in a soup-plate.
*.* Some of our culinary contemporaries order the haut goût of this (as
above directed, sufficiently relishing) soup to be combustibled and
bedevilled with a copious addition of anchovies, mushrooms, truffles,
morelles, curry-powder, artichoke bottoms, salmon's head and liver, or
the soft part of oysters or lobsters, soles cut in mouthfuls, a bottle
of Madeira, a pint of brandy, &c.; and to complete their surfeiting and
burn-gullet olio, they put in such a tremendous quantity of Cayenne
pepper, that only a fire-proof palate, lined with asbestos, or indurated
by Indian diet, can endure it. See note under No. 493.
N.B. In helping this soup, the distributer of it should serve out the
meat, forcemeat, and gravy, in equal parts; however trifling or needless
this remark may appear, the writer has often suffered from the want of
such a hint being given to the soup-server, who has sometimes sent a
plate of mere gravy without meat, at others, of meat without gravy, and
sometimes scarcely any thing but forcemeat balls.
_Obs._ This is a delicious soup, within the reach of those who "eat to
live;" but if it had been composed expressly for those who only "live to
eat," I do not know how it could have been made more agreeable: as it
is, the lover of good eating will "wish his throat a mile long, and
every inch of it palate."
N.B. Cucumber in a side-plate is a laudable vegetable accompaniment.
_English Turtle._--(No. 248.)
See No. 502. "A-la-mode beef."
_Curry, or Mullaga-tawny[222-*] Soup._--(No. 249.)
Cut four pounds of a breast of veal into pieces, about two inches by
one; put the trimmings into a stew-pan with two quarts of water, with
twelve corns of black pepper, and the same of allspice; when it boils,
skim it clean, and let it boil an hour and a half, then strain it off;
while it is boiling, fry of a nice brown in butter the bits of veal and
four onions; when they are done, put the broth to them; put it on the
fire; when it boils, skim it clean; let it simmer half an hour; then
mix two spoonfuls of curry, and the same of flour, with a little cold
water and a tea-spoonful of salt; add these to the soup, and simmer it
gently till the veal is quite tender, and it is ready; or bone a couple
of fowls or rabbits, and stew them in the manner directed above for the
veal, and you may put in a bruised eschalot, and some mace and ginger,
instead of black pepper and allspice.
_Obs._ Read No. 497.
_Turtle[223-*] Soup._--(No. 250.)
As it is our wish that this work should be given to the public at the
lowest possible price, the receipt for dressing a turtle is taken out,
as a professed cook is always hired for the purpose of dressing it. The
space this long receipt occupied is now filled with directions for
making useful pickles. See No. 462.
_Portable[223-+] Soup, or Glaze._--(No. 252.)
Desire the butcher to break the bones of a leg or a shin of beef, of ten
pounds weight (the fresher killed the better); put it into a soup-pot (a
digester[223-++] is the best utensil for this purpose) that will well
hold it; just cover it with cold water, and set it on the fire to heat
gradually till it nearly boils (this should be at least an hour); skim
it attentively while any scum rises; pour in a little cold water, to
throw up the scum that may remain; let it come to a boil again, and
again skim it carefully: when no more scum rises, and the broth appears
clear (put in neither roots, nor herbs, nor salt), let it boil for eight
or ten hours, and then strain it through a hair-sieve into a brown stone
pan; set the broth where it will cool quickly; put the meat into a
sieve, let it drain, make potted beef (No. 503), or it will be very
acceptable to many poor families. Next day remove every particle of fat
from the top of it, and pour it through a tamis, or fine sieve, as
quietly as possible, into a stew-pan, taking care not to let any of the
settlings at the bottom of the stone pan go into the stew-pan, which
should be of thick copper, perfectly well tinned; add a quarter of an
ounce of whole black pepper to it; let it boil briskly, with the
stew-pan uncovered, on a quick fire; if any scum rises, take it off with
a skimmer: when it begins to thicken, and is reduced to about a quart,
put it into a smaller stew-pan; set it over a gentler fire, till it is
reduced to the thickness of a very thick syrup; take care that it does
not burn, a moment's inattention now will lose you all your labour, and
the soup will be spoiled: take a little of it out in a spoon and let it
cool; if it sets into a strong jelly, it is done enough; if it does not,
boil it a little longer till it does; have ready some little pots, such
as are used for potted meats, about an inch and a half deep, taking care
that they are quite dry; we recommend it to be kept in these pots, if it
is for home consumption (the less it is reduced, the better is the
flavour of the soup), if it be sufficiently concentrated to keep for six
months; if you wish to preserve it longer, put it into such bladders as
are used for German sausages, or if you prefer it in the form of cakes,
pour it into a dish about a quarter of an inch deep; when it is cold,
turn it out and weigh the cake, and divide it with a paste-cutter into
pieces of half an ounce and an ounce each; place them in a warm room,
and turn them frequently till they are thoroughly dried; this will take
a week or ten days; turn them twice a day; when well hardened, and kept
in a dry place, they may be preserved for several years in any climate.
This extract of meat makes excellent "_tablettes de Bouillon_," for
those who are obliged to endure long fasting.
If the surface becomes mouldy, wipe it with a little warm water; the
mouldy taste does not penetrate the mass.
If, after several days' drying, it does not become so hard as you wish,
put it into a bainmarie stew-pan, or milk-boiler, till it is evaporated
to the consistence you wish; or, set the pots in a cool oven, or in a
cheese-toaster, at a considerable distance from the fire: this is the
only safe way of reducing it very much, without the risk of its burning,
and acquiring an extremely disagreeable, acrid flavour, &c.
_Obs._ The uses of this concentrated essence of meat are numerous. It is
equally economical and convenient for making extempore broths enumerated
in the _Obs._ to No. 200, sauces and gravies for hashed or stewed meat,
game, or poultry, &c.
You may thicken it and flavour it as directed in No. 329; to make gravy,
sauces, &c. take double the quantity ordered for broth.
If you have time and opportunity, as there is no seasoning in the soup,
either of roots, herbs, or spice, boil an onion with or without a bit of
parsley and sweet herbs, and a few corns of allspice, or other spice, in
the water you melt the soup in, which may be flavoured with mushroom
catchup (No. 439), or eschalot wine (No. 402), essence of sweet herbs
(No. 417), savoury spice (No. 421, or No. 457), essence of celery (No.
409), &c. or zest (No. 255); these may be combined in the proportions
most agreeable to the palate of the eater, and are as portable as
portable soup, for a very small portion will flavour a pint.
The editor adds nothing to the solution of this soup, but a very little
ground black pepper and some salt.
N.B. If you are a careful manager, you need not always purchase meat on
purpose to make this; when you dress a large dinner, you can make glaze
at very small cost, by taking care of the trimmings and parings of the
meat, game, and poultry, you use: wash them well, put them into a
stew-pan, cover them with the liquor you have boiled meat in, and
proceed as in the above receipt; and see _Obs._ on No. 185.
MEM. This portable soup is a most convenient article in cookery;
especially in small families, where it will save a great deal of time
and trouble. It is also economical, for no more will be melted than is
wanted; so there is no waste.
Nine pounds of neck of beef, costing 2_s._ 7-1/2_d._ produced nine
ounces of very nice soup; the bones, when boiled, weighed ten ounces.
Half an ox-cheek, costing 1_s._ 9_d._ and weighing 14-3/4 pounds,
produced thirteen ounces; but not so firm or clear, and far inferior in
flavour to that obtained from a shin of beef.
A sheep's head, costing 9_d._, produced three ounces and a half.
Two pounds of lean meat, from the blade-bone of beef, produced hardly an
ounce.
The addition of an ounce of gum arabic, and two ounces of isinglass, to
four ounces of the extract from a leg of beef, considerably diminished
the consistence of the mass, without adding to its bulk.
It has been thought that the portable soup which is manufactured for
sale, is partly made with ox-heels; but the experiment (No. 198) proves
this cannot be, as an ounce of the jelly from ox-heel costs 5_d._ For
the cheapest method of procuring a hard jelly, see N.B. to No. 481;
nineteen bones, costing 4-1/2_d._ produced three ounces: almost as cheap
as Salisbury glue.
A knuckle of veal, weighing 4-3/4 pounds, and costing 2_s._ 4_d._
produced five ounces.
A shin of beef, weighing nine pounds, and costing 1_s._ 10-1/2_d._
produced nine ounces of concentrated soup, sufficiently reduced to keep
for several months. After the boiling, the bones in this joint weighed
two pounds and a quarter, and the meat two pounds and a quarter.
The result of these experiments is, that the product from legs and shins
of beef was almost as large in quantity, and of much superior quality
and flavour, as that obtained from any of the other materials; the
flavour of the product from mutton, veal, &c. is comparatively insipid.
As it is difficult to obtain this ready-made of good quality, and we
could not find any proper and circumstantial directions for making it,
which, on trial, answered the purpose, and it is really a great
acquisition to the army and navy, to travellers, invalids, &c. the
editor has bestowed some time, &c. in endeavouring to learn, and to
teach, how it may be prepared in the easiest, most economical, and
perfect manner.
The ordinary selling price is from 10_s._ to 12_s._, but you may make it
according to the above receipt for 3_s._ 6_d._ per pound, _i. e._ for
2-1/2_d._ per ounce, which will make you a pint of broth.
Those who do not regard the expense, and like the flavour, may add the
lean of ham, in the proportion of a pound to eight pounds of leg of
beef.
It may also be flavoured, by adding to it, at the time you put the broth
into the smaller stew-pan, mushroom catchup, eschalot wine, essences of
spice or herbs, &c.; we prefer it quite plain; it is then ready to be
converted, in an instant, into a basin of beef tea, for an invalid, and
any flavour may be immediately communicated to it by the magazine of
taste (No. 462).
_To clarify Broth or Gravy._--(No. 252*.)
Put on the broth in a clean stew-pan; break the white and shell of an
egg, beat them together, put them into the broth, stir it with a whisk;
when it has boiled a few minutes, strain it through a tamis or a napkin.
_Obs._ A careful cook will seldom have occasion to clarify her broths,
&c. if prepared according to the directions given in No. 200.
FOOTNOTES:
[193-*] In culinary technicals, is called FIRST STOCK, or long broth; in
the French kitchen, "_le grand bouillon_."
[193-+] A dog was fed on the richest broth, yet could not be kept alive;
while another, which had only the meat boiled to a chip (and water),
throve very well. This shows the folly of attempting to nourish men by
concentrated soups, jellies, &c.--SINCLAIR, _Code of Health_, p. 356.
If this experiment be accurate, what becomes of the theoretic visions of
those who have written about nourishing broths, &c.? The best test of
the restorative quality of food, is a small quantity of it satisfying
hunger, the strength of the pulse after it, and the length of time which
elapses before appetite returns again. According to this rule, we give
our verdict in favour of No. 19 or 24. See N.B. to No. 181.
This subject is fully discussed in _The Art of Invigorating and
Prolonging Life, by Diet_, &c. published by G. B. Whittaker, 13
Ave-Maria lane.
[194-*] Called, in some cookery books, "SECOND STOCK;" in the French
kitchen, "_jus de boeuf_."
[194-+] A great deal of care is to be taken to watch the time of putting
in the water: if it is poured in too soon, the gravy will not have its
true flavour and colour: and if it be let alone till the meat sticks to
the pan, it will get a burnt taste.
[195-*] Truffles, morells, and mushrooms, catchups and wines, &c. are
added by those who are for the extreme of _haut goût_.
[195-+] The general rule is to put in about a pint of water to a pound
of meat, if it only simmers very gently.
[195-++] A tamis is a worsted cloth, sold at the oil shops, made on
purpose for straining sauces: the best way for using it is for two
people to twist it contrary ways. This is a better way of straining
sauce than through a sieve, and refines it much more completely.
[197-*] By this method, it is said, an ingenious cook long deceived a
large family, who were all fond of weak mutton broth. Mushroom gravy, or
catchup (No. 439), approaches the nature and flavour of meat gravy, more
than any vegetable juice, and is the best substitute for it in maigre
soups and extempore sauces, that culinary chemistry has yet produced.
[200-*] See "_L'Art de Cuisinier_," par A. Beauvillier, Paris, 1814, p.
68. "I have learned by experience, that of all the fats that are used
for frying, the _pot top_ which is taken from the surface of the broth
and stock-pot is by far the best."
[203-*] To make pease pottage, double the quantity. Those who often make
pease soup should have a mill, and grind the pease just before they
dress them; a less quantity will suffice, and the soup will be much
sooner made.
[204-*] If the liquor is very salt, the pease will never boil tender.
Therefore, when you make pease soup with the liquor in which salted pork
or beef has been boiled, tie up the pease in a cloth, and boil them
first for an hour in soft water.
[204-+] Half a drachm of celery-seed, pounded fine, and put into the
soup a quarter of an hour before it is finished, will flavour three
quarts.
[204-++] Some put in dried mint rubbed to fine powder; but as every body
does not like mint, it is best to send it up on a plate. See pease
powder, No. 458, essence of celery, No. 409, and Nos. 457 and 459.
[205-*] My witty predecessor, Dr. HUNTER (see _Culina_, page 97), says,
"If a proper quantity of curry-powder (No. 455) be added to pease soup,
a good soup might be made, under the title of _curry pease soup_.
Heliogabalus offered rewards for the discovery of a new dish, and the
British Parliament have given notoriety to inventions of much less
importance than 'curry pease soup.'"
N.B. Celery, or carrots, or turnips, shredded, or cut in squares (or
Scotch barley,--in the latter case the soup must be rather thinner), or
cut into bits about an inch long, and boiled separately, and thrown into
the tureen when the soup is going to table, will give another agreeable
variety, and may be called _celery and pease soup_. Read _Obs._ to No.
214
[207-*] The French call this "_soup maigre_;" the English acceptation of
which is "_poor and watery_," and does not at all accord with the
French, which is, soups, &c. made without meat: thus, turtle, the
richest dish that comes to an English table (if dressed without meat
gravy), is a maigre dish.
[209-*] We copied the following receipt from _The Morning Post_, Jan.
1820.
WINTER SOUP.--(No. 227.)
210 lbs of beef, fore-quarters,
90 lbs. of legs of beef,
3 bushels of best split pease,
1 bushel of flour,
12 bundles of leeks,
6 bundles of celery,
12 lbs. of salt,
11 lbs. of black pepper.
These good ingredients will make 1000 quarts of nourishing and agreeable
soup, at an expense (establishment avoided) of little less than
2-1/2_d._ per quart.
Of this, 2600 quarts a day have been delivered during the late inclement
weather, and the cessation of ordinary employment, at two stations in
the parish of Bermondsey, at one penny per quart, by which 600 families
have been daily assisted, and it thankfully received. Such a nourishment
and comfort could not have been provided by themselves separately for
fourpence a quart, if at all, and reckoning little for their fire,
nothing for their time.
[211-*] Read No. 176.
[214-*] Some lovers of _haut goût_ fry the tails before they put them
into the soup-pot.
[216-*] Fowls' or turkeys' heads make good and cheap soup in the same
manner.
[218-*] To this fine aromatic herb, turtle soup is much indebted for its
spicy flavour, and the high esteem it is held in by the good citizens of
London, who, I believe, are pretty generally of the same opinion as Dr.
Salmon. See his "_Household Dictionary and Essay on Cookery_," 8vo.
London, 1710, page 34, article 'Basil.' "This comforts the heart, expels
melancholy, and cleanses the lungs." See No. 307. "This plant gave the
peculiar flavour to the _original Fetter-lane sausages_."--GRAY'S
_Supplement to the Pharmacopoeia_, 8vo. 1821 p. 52.
[219-*] "Tout le monde sait que tous les ragoûts qui portent le nom de
TORTUE, sont d'origine Anglaise."--_Manuel des Amphitryons_, 8vo. 1808,
p. 229.
[219-+] Those who do not like the trouble, &c. of making mock turtle,
may be supplied with it ready made, in high perfection, at BIRCH'S, in
Cornhill. It is not poisoned with Cayenne pepper, which the turtle and
mock turtle soup of most pastry cooks and tavern cooks is, and to that
degree, that it acts like a blister on the coats of the stomach. This
prevents our mentioning any other maker of this soup, which is often
made with cow-heel, or the mere scalp of the calf's head, instead of the
head itself.
The following are Mr. Birch's directions for warming this soup:--Empty
the turtle into a broad earthen vessel, to keep cool: when wanted for
table, to two quarts of soup add one gill of boiling water or veal
broth, put it over a good, clear fire, keeping it gently stirred (that
it may not burn); when it has boiled about three minutes, skim it, and
put it in the tureen.
N.B. The broth or water, and the wine, to be put into the stew-pan
before you put in the turtle.
[219-++] The reader may have remarked, that mock turtle and potted beef
always come in season together.
See _Obs._ to No. 503*. This gravy meat will make an excellent savoury
potted relish, as it will be impregnated with the flavour of the herbs
and spice that are boiled with it.
[220-*] "Many _gourmets_ and gastrologers prefer the copy to the
original: we confess that when done as it ought to be, the mock turtle
is exceedingly interesting."--_Tabella Cibaria_, 1820, p. 30.
"Turtles often become emaciated and sickly before they reach this country,
in which case the soup would be incomparably improved by leaving out
the turtle, and substituting a good calf's head."--_Supplement to
Encyc. Brit. Edinburgh_, vol. iv. p. 331.
[Very fine fat turtles are brought to New-York from the West Indies;
and, during the warm weather, kept in crawls till wanted: of these they
make soup, which surpasses any mock turtle ever made. A.]
[222-*] _Mullaga-tawny_ signifies pepper water. The progress of
inexperienced peripatetic palaticians has lately been arrested by these
outlandish words being pasted on the windows of our coffee-houses. It
has, we believe, answered the "_restaurateur's_" purpose, and often
excited JOHN BULL to walk in and taste: the more familiar name of curry
soup would, perhaps, not have had sufficient of the charms of novelty to
seduce him from his much-loved mock turtle.
It is a fashionable soup, and a great favourite with our East Indian
friends, and we give the best receipt we could procure for it.
[223-*] "The usual allowance at a turtle feast is six pounds live weight
per head: at the Spanish dinner, at the City of London Tavern, in
August, 1808, 400 guests attended, and 2500 pounds of turtle were
consumed."--See BELL'S _Weekly Messenger_ for August 7th, 1808.
_Epicure_ QUIN used to say, it was "not safe to sit down to a turtle
feast at one of the City Halls, without a basket-hilted knife and fork."
We recommend our friends, before encountering such a temptation, to read
our peptic precepts. Nothing is more difficult of digestion, or oftener
requires the aid of peristaltic persuaders, than the glutinous callipash
which is considered the "_bonne bouche_" of this soup. Turtle is
generally spoiled by being over-dressed.
[In Philadelphia, an excellent turtle soup is made of a small native
tortoise, called a _terrapin_, and the article _terrapin soup_. A.]
[223-+] "A pound of meat contains about an ounce of gelatinous matter;
it thence follows, that 1500 pounds of the same meat, which is the whole
weight of a bullock, would give only 94 pounds, which might be easily
contained in an earthen jar."--Dr. HUTTON'S _Rational Recreations_, vol.
iv. p. 194.
In what degree portable or other soup be nutritious, we know not, but
refer the reader to our note under No. 185.
[223-++] This machine was invented by Dr. Denys Papin, F.R.S., about the
year 1631, as appears by his essay on "_The New Digester, or Engine for
Softening Bones_;" "by the help of which (he says) the oldest and
hardest cow-beef may be made as tender and as savoury as young and
choice meat."
Although we have not yet found that they do what Dr. Papin says, "make
old and tough meat young and tender," they are, however, excellent
things to make broths and soups in. Among a multitude of other admirable
excellencies obtainable by his digester, Dr. Papin, in his 9th chapter,
page 54, on the profit that a good engine may come to, says, "I have
found that an _old hat_, very bad and loosely made, having imbibed the
jelly of bones became very firm and stiff."
GRAVIES AND SAUCES.
_Melted Butter,_
Is so simple and easy to prepare, that it is a matter of general
surprise, that what is done so often in every English kitchen, is so
seldom done right: foreigners may well say, that although we have only
one sauce for vegetables, fish, flesh, fowl, &c. we hardly ever make
that good.
It is spoiled nine times out of ten, more from idleness than from
ignorance, and rather because the cook won't than because she can't do
it; which can only be the case when housekeepers will not allow butter
to do it with.
Good melted butter cannot be made with mere flour and water; there must
be a full and proper proportion of butter. As it must be always on the
table, and is the foundation of almost all our English sauces, we have,
Melted butter and oysters,
---- ---- ---- parsley,
---- ---- ---- anchovies,
---- ---- ---- eggs,
---- ---- ---- shrimps,
---- ---- ---- lobsters,
---- ---- ---- capers, &c. &c. &c.
I have tried every way of making it; and I trust, at last, that I have
written a receipt, which, if the cook will carefully observe, she will
constantly succeed in giving satisfaction.
In the quantities of the various sauces I have ordered, I have had in
view the providing for a family of half-a-dozen moderate people.
Never pour sauce over meat, or even put it into the dish, however well
made, some of the company may have an antipathy to it; tastes are as
different as faces: moreover, if it is sent up separate in a boat, it
will keep hot longer, and what is left may be put by for another time,
or used for another purpose.
_Lastly._ Observe, that in ordering the proportions of meat, butter,
wine, spice, &c. in the following receipts, the proper quantity is set
down, and that a less quantity will not do; and in some instances those
palates which have been used to the extreme of _piquance_, will require
additional excitement.[228-*] If we have erred, it has been on the right
side, from an anxious wish to combine economy with elegance, and the
wholesome with the toothsome.
_Melted Butter._
Keep a pint stew-pan[228-+] for this purpose only.
Cut two ounces of butter into little bits, that it may melt more easily,
and mix more readily; put it into the stew-pan with a large tea-spoonful
(_i. e._ about three drachms) of flour, (some prefer arrow-root, or
potato starch, No. 448), and two table-spoonfuls of milk.
When thoroughly mixed, add six table-spoonfuls of water; hold it over
the fire, and shake it round every minute (all the while the same way),
till it just begins to simmer; then let it stand quietly and boil up. It
should be of the thickness of good cream.
N.B. Two table-spoonfuls of No. 439, instead of the milk, will make as
good mushroom sauce as need be, and is a superlative accompaniment to
either fish, flesh, or fowl.
_Obs._ This is the best way of preparing melted butter; milk mixes with
the butter much more easily and more intimately than water alone can be
made to do. This is of proper thickness to be mixed at table with
flavouring essences, anchovy, mushroom, or cavice, &c. If made merely
to pour over vegetables, add a little more milk to it.
N.B. If the butter oils, put a spoonful of cold water to it, and stir it
with a spoon; if it is very much oiled, it must be poured backwards and
forwards from the stew-pan to the sauce-boat till it is right again.
MEM. Melted butter made to be mixed with flavouring essences, catchups,
&c. should be of the thickness of light batter, that it may adhere to
the fish, &c.
_Thickening._--(No. 257.)
Clarified butter is best for this purpose; but if you have none ready,
put some fresh butter into a stew-pan over a slow, clear fire; when it
is melted, add fine flour sufficient to make it the thickness of paste;
stir it well together with a wooden spoon for fifteen or twenty minutes,
till it is quite smooth, and the colour of a guinea: this must be done
very gradually and patiently; if you put it over too fierce a fire to
hurry it, it will become bitter and empyreumatic: pour it into an
earthen pan, and keep it for use. It will keep good a fortnight in
summer, and longer in winter.
A large spoonful will generally be enough to thicken a quart of gravy.
_Obs._ This, in the French kitchen, is called _roux_. Be particularly
attentive in making it; if it gets any burnt smell or taste, it will
spoil every thing it is put into, see _Obs._ to No. 322. When cold, it
should be thick enough to cut out with a knife, like a solid paste.
It is a very essential article in the kitchen, and is the basis of
consistency in most made-dishes, soups, sauces, and ragoûts; if the
gravies, &c. are too thin, add this thickening, more or less, according
to the consistence you would wish them to have.
MEM. In making thickening, the less butter, and the more flour you use,
the better; they must be thoroughly worked together, and the broth, or
soup, &c. you put them to, added by degrees: take especial care to
incorporate them well together, or your sauces, &c. will taste floury,
and have a disgusting, greasy appearance: therefore, after you have
thickened your sauce, add to it some broth, or warm water, in the
proportion of two table-spoonfuls to a pint, and set it by the side of
the fire, to raise any fat, &c. that is not thoroughly incorporated with
the gravy, which you must carefully remove as it comes to the top. This
is called cleansing, or finishing the sauce.
*.* Half an ounce of butter, and a table-spoonful of flour, are about
the proportion for a pint of sauce to make it as thick as cream.
N.B. The fat skimmings off the top of the broth pot are sometimes
substituted for butter (see No. 240); some cooks merely thicken their
soups and sauces with flour, as we have directed in No. 245, or potato
farina, No. 448.
_Clarified Butter._--(No. 259.)
Put the butter in a nice, clean stew-pan, over a very clear, slow fire;
watch it, and when it is melted, carefully skim off the buttermilk, &c.
which will swim on the top; let it stand a minute or two for the
impurities to sink to the bottom; then pour the clear butter through a
sieve into a clean basin, leaving the sediment at the bottom of the
stew-pan.
_Obs._ Butter thus purified will be as sweet as marrow, a very useful
covering for potted meats, &c., and for frying fish equal to the finest
Florence oil; for which purpose it is commonly used by Catholics, and
those whose religious tenets will not allow them to eat viands fried in
animal oil.
_Burnt Butter._--(No. 260.)
Put two ounces of fresh butter into a small frying-pan; when it becomes
a dark brown colour, add to it a table-spoonful and a half of good
vinegar, and a little pepper and salt.
_Obs._ This is used as sauce for boiled fish, or poached eggs.
_Oiled Butter._--(No. 260*.)
Put two ounces of fresh butter into a saucepan; set it at a distance
from the fire, so that it may melt gradually, till it comes to an oil;
and pour it off quietly from the dregs.
_Obs._ This will supply the place of olive oil; and by some is preferred
to it either for salads or frying.
_Parsley and Butter._--(No. 261.)
Wash some parsley very clean, and pick it carefully leaf by leaf; put a
tea-spoonful of salt into half a pint of boiling water: boil the parsley
about ten minutes; drain it on a sieve; mince it quite fine, and then
bruise it to a pulp.
The delicacy and excellence of this elegant and innocent relish depends
upon the parsley being minced very fine: put it into a sauce-boat, and
mix with it, by degrees, about half a pint of good melted butter (No.
256); only do not put so much flour to it, as the parsley will add to
its thickness: never pour parsley and butter over boiled things, but
send it up in a boat.
_Obs._ In French cookery-books this is called "melted butter, English
fashion;" and, with the addition of a slice of lemon cut into dice, a
little allspice and vinegar, "Dutch sauce."
N.B. To preserve parsley through the winter: in May, June, or July, take
fine fresh-gathered sprigs; pick, and wash them clean; set on a stew-pan
half full of water; put a little salt in it; boil, and skim it clean,
and then put in the parsley, and let it boil for a couple of minutes;
take it out, and lay it on a sieve before the fire, that it may be dried
as quick as possible; put it by in a tin box, and keep it in a dry
place: when you want it, lay it in a basin, and cover it with warm water
a few minutes before you use it.
_Gooseberry Sauce._--(No. 263.)
Top and tail them close with a pair of scissors, and scald half a pint
of green gooseberries; drain them on a hair-sieve, and put them into
half a pint of melted butter, No. 256.
Some add grated ginger and lemon-peel, and the French, minced fennel;
others send up the gooseberries whole or mashed, without any butter, &c.
_Chervil, Basil, Tarragon, Burnet, Cress, and Butter._--(No. 264.)
This is the first time that chervil, which has so long been a favourite
with the sagacious French cook, has been introduced into an English
book. Its flavour is a strong concentration of the combined taste of
parsley and fennel, but more aromatic and agreeable than either; and is
an excellent sauce with boiled poultry or fish. Prepare it, &c. as we
have directed for parsley and butter, No. 261.
_Fennel and Butter for Mackerel, &c._--(No. 265.)
Is prepared in the same manner as we have just described in No. 261.
_Obs._ For mackerel sauce, or boiled soles, &c., some people take equal
parts of fennel and parsley; others add a sprig of mint, or a couple of
young onions minced very fine.
_Mackerel-roe Sauce._--(No. 266.)
Boil the roes of mackerel (soft roes are best); bruise them with a spoon
with the yelk of an egg, beat up with a very little pepper and salt, and
some fennel and parsley boiled and chopped very fine, mixed with almost
half a pint of thin melted butter. See No. 256.
Mushroom catchup, walnut pickle, or soy may be added.
_Egg Sauce._--(No. 267.)
This agreeable accompaniment to roasted poultry, or salted fish, is made
by putting three eggs into boiling water, and boiling them for about
twelve minutes, when they will be hard; put them into cold water till
you want them. This will make the yelks firmer, and prevent their
surface turning black, and you can cut them much neater: use only two of
the whites; cut the whites into small dice, the yelks into bits about a
quarter of an inch square; put them into a sauce-boat; pour to them half
a pint of melted butter, and stir them together.
_Obs._ The melted butter for egg sauce need not be made quite so thick
as No. 256. If you are for superlative egg sauce, pound the yelks of a
couple of eggs, and rub them with the melted butter to thicken it.
N.B. Some cooks garnish salt fish with hard-boiled eggs cut in half.
_Plum-pudding Sauce._--(No. 269.)
A glass of sherry, half a glass of brandy (or "cherry-bounce"), or
Curaçoa (No. 474), or essence of punch (Nos. 471 and 479), and two
tea-spoonfuls of pounded lump sugar (a very little grated lemon-peel is
sometimes added), in a quarter of a pint of thick melted butter: grate
nutmeg on the top.
See Pudding Catchup, No. 446.
_Anchovy Sauce._--(No. 270.)
Pound three anchovies in a mortar with a little bit of butter; rub it
through a double hair-sieve with the back of a wooden spoon, and stir it
into almost half a pint of melted butter (No. 256); or stir in a
table-spoonful of essence of anchovy, No. 433. To the above, many cooks
add lemon-juice and Cayenne.
_Obs._ Foreigners make this sauce with good brown sauce (No. 329), or
white sauce (No. 364); instead of melted butter, add to it catchup, soy,
and some of their flavoured vinegars, (as elder or tarragon), pepper and
fine spice, sweet herbs, capers, eschalots, &c. They serve it with most
roasted meats.
N.B. Keep your anchovies well covered; first tie down your jar with
bladder moistened with vinegar, and then wiped dry; tie leather over
that: when you open a jar, moisten the bladder, and it will come off
easily; as soon as you have taken out the fish, replace the coverings;
the air soon rusts and spoils anchovies. See No. 433, &c.
_Garlic Sauce._--(No. 272.)
Pound two cloves of garlic with a piece of fresh butter, about as big as
a nutmeg; rub it through a double hair-sieve, and stir it into half a
pint of melted butter, or beef gravy or make it with garlic vinegar,
Nos. 400, 401, and 402.
_Lemon Sauce._--(No. 273.)
Pare a lemon, and cut it into slices twice as thick as a half-crown
piece; divide these into dice, and put them into a quarter of a pint of
melted butter, No. 256.
_Obs._--Some cooks mince a bit of the lemon-peel (pared very thin) very
fine, and add it to the above.
_Caper Sauce._--(No. 274. See also No. 295.)
To make a quarter of a pint, take a table-spoonful of capers, and two
tea-spoonfuls of vinegar.
The present fashion of cutting capers is to mince one-third of them very
fine, and divide the others in half; put them into a quarter of a pint
of melted butter, or good thickened gravy (No. 329); stir them the same
way as you did the melted butter, or it will oil.
_Obs._--Some boil, and mince fine a few leaves of parsley, or chervil,
or tarragon, and add these to the sauce; others the juice of half a
Seville orange, or lemon.
_Mem._--Keep the caper bottle very closely corked, and do not use any of
the caper liquor: if the capers are not well covered with it, they will
immediately spoil; and it is an excellent ingredient in hashes, &c. The
Dutch use it as a fish sauce, mixing it with melted butter.
_Mock Caper Sauce._--(No. 275, or No. 295.)
Cut some pickled green pease, French beans, gherkins, or nasturtiums,
into bits the size of capers; put them into half a pint of melted
butter, with two tea-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, or nice vinegar.
_Oyster Sauce._--(No. 278.)
Choose plump and juicy natives for this purpose: don't take them out of
their shell till you put them into the stew-pan, see _Obs._ to No. 181.
To make good oyster sauce for half a dozen hearty fish-eaters, you
cannot have less than three or four dozen oysters. Save their liquor;
strain it, and put it and them into a stew-pan: as soon as they boil,
and the fish plump, take them off the fire, and pour the contents of the
stew-pan into a sieve over a clean basin; wash the stew-pan out with hot
water, and put into it the strained liquor, with about an equal quantity
of milk, and about two ounces and a half of butter, with which you have
well rubbed a large table-spoonful of flour; give it a boil up, and pour
it through a sieve into a basin (that the sauce may be quite smooth),
and then back again into the saucepan; now shave the oysters, and (if
you have the honour of making sauce for "a committee of taste," take
away the gristly part also) put in only the soft part of them: if they
are very large, cut them in half, and set them by the fire to keep hot:
"if they boil after, they will become hard."
If you have not liquor enough, add a little melted butter, or cream (see
No. 388), or milk beat up with the yelk of an egg (this must not be put
in till the sauce is done). Some barbarous cooks add pepper, or mace,
the juice or peel of a lemon, horseradish, essence of anchovy, Cayenne,
&c.: plain sauces are only to taste of the ingredient from which they
derive their name.
_Obs._--It will very much heighten the flavour of this sauce to pound
the soft part of half a dozen (unboiled) oysters; rub it through a
hair-sieve, and then stir it into the sauce: this essence of oyster (and
for some palates a few grains of Cayenne) is the only addition we
recommend. See No. 441.
_Preserved Oysters._[234-*]--(No. 280.)
Open the oysters carefully, so as not to cut them except in dividing the
gristle which attaches the shells; put them into a mortar, and when you
have got as many as you can conveniently pound at once, add about two
drachms of salt to a dozen oysters; pound them, and rub them through
the back of a hair-sieve, and put them into a mortar again, with as
much flour (which has been previously thoroughly dried) as will make
them into a paste; roll it out several times, and, lastly, flour it, and
roll it out the thickness of a half-crown, and divide it into pieces
about an inch square; lay them in a Dutch oven, where they will dry so
gently as not to get burnt: turn them every half hour, and when they
begin to dry, crumble them; they will take about four hours to dry; then
pound them fine, sift them, and put them into bottles, and seal them
over.
N.B. Three dozen of natives required 7-1/2 ounces of dried flour to make
them into a paste, which then weighed 11 ounces; when dried and
powdered, 6-1/4 ounces.
To make half a pint of sauce, put one ounce of butter into a stew-pan
with three drachms of oyster powder, and six table-spoonfuls of milk;
set it on a slow fire; stir it till it boils, and season it with salt.
This powder, if made with plump, juicy natives, will abound with the
flavour of the fish; and if closely corked, and kept in a dry place,
will remain good for some time.
_Obs._--This extract is a welcome succedaneum while oysters are out of
season, and in such inland parts as seldom have any, is a valuable
addition to the list of fish sauces: it is equally good with boiled
fowl, or rump steak, and sprinkled on bread and butter makes a very good
sandwich, and is especially worthy the notice of country housekeepers,
and as a store sauce for the army and navy. See Anchovy Powder, No. 435.
_Shrimp Sauce._--(No. 283.)
Shell a pint of shrimps; pick them clean, wash them, and put them into
half a pint of good melted butter. A pint of unshelled shrimps is about
enough for four persons.
_Obs._--Some stew the heads and shells of the shrimps, (with or without
a blade of bruised mace,) for a quarter of an hour, and strain off the
liquor to melt the butter with, and add a little lemon-juice, Cayenne,
and essence of anchovy, or soy, cavice, &c.; but the flavour of the
shrimp is so delicate, that it will be overcome by any such additions.
MEM.--If your shrimps are not quite fresh, they will eat tough and
thready, as other stale fish do. See _Obs._ to No. 140.
_Lobster Sauce._--(No. 284.)
Choose a fine spawny hen lobster;[236-*] be sure it is fresh, so get a
live one if you can, (one of my culinary predecessors says, "let it be
heavy and lively,") and boil it as No. 176; pick out the spawn and the
red coral into a mortar, add to it half an ounce of butter, pound it
quite smooth, and rub it through a hair-sieve with the back of a wooden
spoon; cut the meat of the lobster into small squares, or pull it to
pieces with a fork; put the pounded spawn into as much melted butter
(No. 256) as you think will do, and stir it together till it is
thoroughly mixed; now put to it the meat of the lobster, and warm it on
the fire; take care it does not boil, which will spoil its complexion,
and its brilliant red colour will immediately fade.
The above is a very easy and excellent manner of making this sauce.
Some use strong beef or veal gravy instead of melted butter, adding
anchovy, Cayenne, catchup, cavice, lemon-juice, or pickle, or wine, &c.
_Obs._--Save a little of the inside red coral spawn, and rub it through
a sieve (without butter): it is a very ornamental garnish to sprinkle
over fish; and if the skin is broken, (which will sometimes happen to
the most careful cook, when there is a large dinner to dress, and many
other things to attend to,) you will find it a convenient and elegant
veil, to conceal your misfortune from the prying eyes of piscivorous
_gourmands_.
N.B. Various methods have been tried to preserve lobsters, see No. 178,
and lobster spawn, for a store sauce. The live spawn may be kept some
time in strong salt and water, or in an ice-house.
The following process might, perhaps, preserve it longer. Put it into a
saucepan of boiling water, with a large spoonful of salt in it, and let
it boil quick for five minutes; then drain it on a hair-sieve; spread it
out thin on a plate, and set it in a Dutch oven till it is thoroughly
dried; grind it in a clean mill, and pack it closely in well-stopped
bottles. See also Potted Lobsters, No. 178.
_Sauce for Lobster, &c._--(No. 285. See also No. 372.)
Bruise the yelks of two hard-boiled eggs with the back of a wooden
spoon, or rather pound them in a mortar, with a tea-spoonful of water,
and the soft inside and the spawn of the lobster; rub them quite smooth,
with a tea-spoonful of made mustard, two table-spoonfuls of salad oil,
and five of vinegar; season it with a very little Cayenne pepper, and
some salt.
_Obs._--To this, elder or tarragon vinegar (No. 396), or anchovy essence
(No. 433), is occasionally added.
_Liver and Parsley Sauce_,--(No. 287.) _or Liver and Lemon Sauce._
Wash the liver (it must be perfectly fresh) of a fowl or rabbit, and
boil it five minutes in five table-spoonfuls of water; chop it fine, or
pound or bruise it in a small quantity of the liquor it was boiled in,
and rub it through a sieve: wash about one-third the bulk of parsley
leaves, put them on to boil in a little boiling water, with a
tea-spoonful of salt in it; lay it on a hair-sieve to drain, and mince
it very fine; mix it with the liver, and put it into a quarter pint of
melted butter, and warm it up; do not let it boil. _Or_,
_To make Lemon and Liver Sauce._
Pare off the rind of a lemon, or of a Seville orange, as thin as
possible, so as not to cut off any of the white with it; now cut off all
the white, and cut the lemon into slices, about as thick as a couple of
half-crowns; pick out the pips, and divide the slices into small
squares: add these, and a little of the peel minced very fine to the
liver, prepared as directed above, and put them into the melted butter,
and warm them together; but do not let them boil.
N.B. The poulterers can always let you have fresh livers, if that of the
fowl or rabbit is not good, or not large enough to make as much sauce as
you wish.
_Obs._--Some cooks, instead of pounding, mince the liver very fine (with
half as much bacon), and leave out the parsley; others add the juice of
half a lemon, and some of the peel grated, or a tea-spoonful of tarragon
or Chili vinegar, a table-spoonful of white wine, or a little beaten
mace, or nutmeg, or allspice: if you wish it a little more lively on the
palate, pound an eschalot, or a few leaves of tarragon or basil, with
anchovy, or catchup, or Cayenne.
_Liver Sauce for Fish._--(No. 288.)
Boil the liver of the fish, and pound it in a mortar with a little
flour; stir it into some broth, or some of the liquor the fish was
boiled in, or melted butter, parsley, and a few grains of Cayenne, a
little essence of anchovy (No. 433), or soy, or catchup (No. 439); give
it a boil up, and rub it through a sieve: you may add a little
lemon-juice, or lemon cut in dice.
_Celery Sauce, white._--(No. 289.)
Pick and wash two heads of nice white celery; cut it into pieces about
an inch long; stew it in a pint of water, and a tea-spoonful of salt,
till the celery is tender;[238-*] roll an ounce of butter with a
table-spoonful of flour; add this to half a pint of cream, and give it a
boil up.
N.B. See No. 409.
_Celery Sauce Purée, for boiled Turkey, Veal, Fowls, &c._ (No. 290.)
Cut small half a dozen heads of nice white celery that is quite clean,
and two onions sliced; put in a two-quart stew-pan, with a small lump of
butter; sweat them over a slow fire till quite tender, then put in two
spoonfuls of flour, half a pint of water (or beef or veal broth), salt
and pepper, and a little cream or milk; boil it a quarter of an hour,
and pass through a fine hair-sieve with the back of a spoon.
If you wish for celery sauce when celery is not in season, a quarter of
a drachm of celery-seed, or a little essence of celery (No. 409), will
impregnate half a pint of sauce with a sufficient portion of the flavour
of the vegetable.
See _Obs._ to No. 214.
_Green or Sorrel Sauce._--(No. 291.)
Wash and clean a large ponnet of sorrel; put it into a stew-pan that
will just hold it, with a bit of butter the size of an egg; cover it
close, set it over a slow fire for a quarter of an hour, pass the sorrel
with the back of a wooden spoon through a hair-sieve, season with
pepper, salt, and a small pinch of powdered sugar, make it hot, and
serve up under lamb, veal, sweetbreads, &c. &c. Cayenne, nutmeg, and
lemon-juice are sometimes added.
_Tomata, or Love-apple Sauce._--(No. 292. See also No. 443.)
Have twelve or fifteen tomatas, ripe and red; take off the stalk; cut
them in half; squeeze them just enough to get all the water and seeds
out; put them in a stew-pan with a capsicum, and two or three
table-spoonfuls of beef gravy; set them on a slow stove for an hour, or
till properly melted; then rub them through a tamis into a clean
stew-pan, with a little white pepper and salt, and let them simmer
together a few minutes.
[_Love-apple Sauce according to Ude._
Melt in a stew-pan a dozen or two of love-apples (which, before putting
in the stew-pan, cut in two, and squeeze the juice and the seeds out);
then put two eschalots, one onion, with a few bits of ham, a clove, a
little thyme, a bay-leaf, a few leaves of mace, and when melted, rub
them through a tamis. Mix a few spoonfuls of good Espagnole or Spanish
sauce, and a little salt and pepper, with this purée. Boil it for twenty
minutes, and serve up. A.]
_Mock Tomata Sauce._--(No. 293.)
The only difference between this and genuine love-apple sauce, is the
substituting the pulp of apple for that of tomata, colouring it with
turmeric, and communicating an acid flavour to it by vinegar.
_Eschalot Sauce._--(No. 294.)
Take four eschalots, and make it in the same manner as garlic sauce (No.
272). _Or_,
You may make this sauce more extemporaneously by putting two
table-spoonfuls of eschalot wine (No. 403), and a sprinkling of pepper
and salt, into (almost) half a pint of thick melted butter.
_Obs._--This is an excellent sauce for chops or steaks; many are very
fond of it with roasted or boiled meat, poultry, &c.
_Eschalot Sauce for boiled Mutton._--(No. 295.)
This is a very frequent and satisfactory substitute for "caper sauce."
Mince four eschalots very fine, and put them into a small saucepan, with
almost half a pint of the liquor the mutton was boiled in: let them boil
up for five minutes; then put in a table-spoonful of vinegar, a quarter
tea-spoonful of pepper, a little salt, and a bit of butter (as big as a
walnut) rolled in flour; shake together till it boils. See (No. 402)
Eschalot Wine.
_Obs._--We like a little lemon-peel with eschalot; the _haut goût_ of
the latter is much ameliorated by the delicate _aroma_ of the former.
Some cooks add a little finely-chopped parsley.
_Young Onion Sauce._--(No. 296.)
Peel a pint of button onions, and put them in water till you want to put
them on to boil; put them into a stew-pan, with a quart of cold water;
let them boil till tender; they will take (according to their size and
age) from half an hour to an hour. You may put them into half a pint of
No. 307. See also No. 137.
_Onion Sauce._--(No. 297.)
Those who like the full flavour of onions only cut off the strings and
tops (without peeling off any of the skins), put them into salt and
water, and let them lie an hour; then wash them, put them into a kettle
with plenty of water, and boil them till they are tender: now skin them,
pass them through a colander, and mix a little melted butter with them.
N.B. Some mix the pulp of apples, or turnips, with the onions, others
add mustard to them.
_White Onion Sauce._--(No. 298.)
The following is a more mild and delicate[240-*] preparation: Take half
a dozen of the largest and whitest onions (the Spanish are the mildest,
but these can only be had from August to December); peel them and cut
them in half, and lay them in a pan of spring-water for a quarter of an
hour, and then boil for a quarter of an hour; and then, if you wish them
to taste very mild, pour off that water, and cover them with fresh
boiling water, and let them boil till they are tender, which will
sometimes take three-quarters of an hour longer; drain them well on a
hair-sieve; lay them on the chopping-board, and chop and bruise them;
put them into a clean saucepan, with some butter and flour, half a
tea-spoonful of salt, and some cream, or good milk; stir it till it
boils; then rub the whole through a tamis, or sieve, adding cream or
milk, to make it the consistence you wish.
_Obs._--This is the usual sauce for boiled rabbits, mutton, or tripe.
There must be plenty of it; the usual expression signifies as much, for
we say, smother them with it.
_Brown Onion Sauces, or Onion Gravy._--(No. 299.)
Peel and slice the onions (some put in an equal quantity of cucumber or
celery) into a quart stew-pan, with an ounce of butter; set it on a slow
fire, and turn the onion about till it is very lightly browned; now
gradually stir in half an ounce of flour; add a little broth, and a
little pepper and salt; boil up for a few minutes; add a table-spoonful
of claret, or port wine, and same of mushroom catchup, (you may sharpen
it with a little lemon-juice or vinegar,) and rub it through a tamis or
fine sieve.
Curry powder (No. 348) will convert this into excellent curry sauce.
N.B. If this sauce is for steaks, shred an ounce of onions, fry them a
nice brown, and put them to the sauce you have rubbed through a tamis;
or some very small, round, young silver button onions (see No. 296),
peeled and boiled tender, and put in whole when your sauce is done, will
be an acceptable addition.
_Obs._--If you have no broth, put in half a pint of water, and see No.
252; just before you give it the last boil up, add to it another
table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or the same quantity of port wine or
good ale.
The flavour of this sauce may be varied by adding tarragon or burnet
vinegar (Nos. 396 and 399).
_Sage and Onion, or Goose-stuffing Sauce._--(No. 300.)
Chop very fine an ounce of onion and half an ounce of green sage leaves;
put them into a stew-pan with four spoonfuls of water; simmer gently for
ten minutes; then put in a tea-spoonful of pepper and salt, and one
ounce of fine bread-crumbs; mix well together; then pour to it a quarter
of a pint of (broth, or gravy, or) melted butter, stir well together,
and simmer it a few minutes longer.
_Obs._ This is a very relishing sauce for roast pork, poultry, geese, or
ducks; or green pease on maigre days.
See also Bonne Bouche for the above, No. 341.
_Green Mint Sauce._--(No. 303.)
Wash half a handful of nice, young, fresh-gathered green mint (to this
some add one-third the quantity of parsley); pick the leaves from the
stalks, mince them very fine, and put them into a sauce-boat, with a
tea-spoonful of moist sugar, and four table-spoonfuls of vinegar.
_Obs._--This is the usual accompaniment to hot lamb; and an equally
agreeable relish with cold lamb.
If green mint cannot be procured, this sauce may be made with mint
vinegar (No. 398).
_Apple Sauce._--(No. 304.)
Pare and core three good-sized baking apples; put them into a
well-tinned pint saucepan, with two table-spoonfuls of cold water; cover
the saucepan close, and set it on a trivet over a slow fire a couple of
hours before dinner (some apples will take a long time stewing, others
will be ready in a quarter of an hour): when the apples are done enough,
pour off the water, let them stand a few minutes to get dry; then beat
them up with a fork, with a bit of butter about as big as a nutmeg, and
a tea-spoonful of powdered sugar.
N.B. Some add lemon-peel, grated, or minced fine, or boil a bit with the
apples. Some are fond of apple sauce with cold pork: ask those you serve
if they desire it.
_Mushroom Sauce._--(No. 305.)
Pick and peel half a pint of mushrooms (the smaller the better); wash
them very clean, and put them into a saucepan, with half a pint of veal
gravy or milk, a little pepper and salt, and an ounce of butter rubbed
with a table-spoonful of flour; stir them together, and set them over a
gentle fire, to stew slowly till tender; skim and strain it.
_Obs._--It will be a great improvement to this, and the two following
sauces, to add to them the juice of half a dozen mushrooms, prepared the
day before, by sprinkling them with salt, the same as when you make
catchup; or add a large spoonful of good double mushroom catchup (No.
439).
See Quintessence of Mushrooms, No. 440.
N.B. Much as we love the flavour of mushrooms, we must enter our protest
against their being eaten in substance, when the morbid effects they
produce too often prove them worthy of the appellations Seneca gave
them, "voluptuous poison," "lethal luxury," &c.; and we caution those
who cannot refrain from indulging their palate with the seducing relish
of this deceitful fungus, to masticate it diligently.
We do not believe that mushrooms are nutritive; every one knows they are
often dangerously indigestible; therefore the rational epicure will be
content with extracting the flavour from them, which is obtained in the
utmost perfection by the process directed in No. 439.
_Mushroom Sauce, brown._--(No. 306.)
Put the mushrooms into half a pint of beef gravy (No. 186, or No. 329);
thicken with flour and butter, and proceed as above.
_Mushroom Sauce, extempore._--(No. 307.)
Proceed as directed in No. 256 to melt butter, only, instead of two
table-spoonfuls of milk, put in two of mushroom catchup (No. 439 or No.
440); or add it to thickened broth, gravy, or mock turtle soup, &c. or
put in No. 296.
_Obs._ This is a welcome relish with fish, poultry, or chops and steaks,
&c. A couple of quarts of good catchup (No. 439,) will make more good
sauce than ten times its cost of meat, &c.
Walnut catchup will give you another variety; and Ball's cavice, which
is excellent.
_Poor Man's Sauce._--(No. 310.)
Pick a handful of parsley leaves from the stalks, mince them very fine,
strew over a little salt; shred fine half a dozen young green onions,
add these to the parsley, and put them into a sauce-boat, with three
table-spoonfuls of oil, and five of vinegar; add some ground black
pepper and salt; stir together and send it up.
Pickled French beans or gherkins, cut fine, may be added, or a little
grated horseradish.
_Obs._--This sauce is in much esteem in France, where people of taste,
weary of rich dishes, to obtain the charm of variety, occasionally order
the fare of the peasant.
_The Spaniard's Garlic Gravy._--(No. 311. See also No. 272.)
Slice a pound and a half of veal or beef, pepper and salt it, lay it in
a stew-pan with a couple of carrots split, and four cloves of garlic
sliced, a quarter pound of sliced ham, and a large spoonful of water;
set the stew-pan over a gentle fire, and watch when the meat begins to
stick to the pan; when it does, turn it, and let it be very well browned
(but take care it is not at all burned); then dredge it with flour, and
pour in a quart of broth, a bunch of sweet herbs, a couple of cloves
bruised, and slice in a lemon; set it on again, and let it simmer gently
for an hour and a half longer; then take off the fat, and strain the
gravy from the ingredients, by pouring it through a napkin, straining,
and pressing it very hard.
_Obs._--This, it is said, was the secret of the old Spaniard, who kept
the house called by that name on Hampstead Heath.
Those who love garlic, will find it an extremely rich relish.
_Mr. Michael Kelly's[244-*] Sauce for boiled Tripe, Calf-head, or
Cow-heel._--(No. 311*.)
Garlic vinegar, a table-spoonful; of mustard, brown sugar, and black
pepper, a tea-spoonful each; stirred into half a pint of oiled melted
butter.
_Mr. Kelly's Sauce piquante._
Pound a table-spoonful of capers, and one of minced parsley, as fine as
possible; then add the yelks of three hard eggs, rub them well together
with a table-spoonful of mustard; bone six anchovies, and pound them,
rub them through a hair-sieve, and mix with two table-spoonfuls of oil,
one of vinegar, one of eschalot ditto, and a few grains of Cayenne
pepper; rub all these well together in a mortar, till thoroughly
incorporated; then stir them into half a pint of good gravy, or melted
butter, and put the whole through a sieve.
_Fried Parsley._--(No. 317.)
Let it be nicely picked and washed, then put into a cloth, and swung
backwards and forwards till it is perfectly dry; put it into a pan of
hot fat, fry it quick, and have a slice ready to take it out the moment
it is crisp (in another moment it will be spoiled); put it on a sieve,
or coarse cloth, before the fire to drain.
_Crisp Parsley._--(No. 318.)
Pick and wash young parsley, shake it in a dry cloth to drain the water
from it; spread it on a sheet of clean paper in a Dutch oven before the
fire, and turn it frequently until it is quite crisp. This is a much
more easy way of preparing it than frying it, which is not seldom ill
done.
_Obs._ A very pretty garnish for lamb chops, fish, &c.
_Fried Bread Sippets._--(No. 319.)
Cut a slice of bread about a quarter of an inch thick; divide it with a
sharp knife into pieces two inches square; shape these into triangles or
crosses; put some very clean fat into an iron frying-pan: when it is
hot, put in the sippets, and fry them a delicate light brown; take them
up with a fish slice, and drain them well from fat, turning them
occasionally; this will take a quarter of an hour. Keep the pan at such
a distance from the fire that the fat may be hot enough to brown without
burning the bread; this is a requisite precaution in frying delicate
thin things.
_Obs._ These are a pretty garnish, and very welcome accompaniment and
improvement to the finest made dishes: they may also be sent up with
pease and other soups; but when intended for soups, the bread must be
cut into bits, about half an inch square.
N.B. If these are not done very delicately clean and dry, they are
uneatable.
_Fried Bread-crumbs._--(No. 320.)
Rub bread (which has been baked two days) through a wire sieve, or
colander; or you may rub them in a cloth till they are as fine as if
they had been grated and sifted; put them into a stew-pan, with a couple
of ounces of butter; place it over a moderate fire, and stir them about
with a wooden spoon till they are the colour of a guinea; spread them on
a sieve, and let them stand ten minutes to drain, turning them
frequently.
_Obs._ Fried crumbs are sent up with roasted sweetbreads, or larks,
pheasants, partridges, woodcocks, and grouse, or moor game; especially
if they have been kept long enough,
_Bread Sauce._--(No. 321.)
Put a small tea-cupful of bread-crumbs into a stew-pan, pour on it as
much milk as it will soak up, and a little more; or, instead of the
milk, take the giblets, head, neck, and legs, &c. of the poultry, &c.
and stew them, and moisten the bread with this liquor; put it on the
fire with a middling-sized onion, and a dozen berries of pepper or
allspice, or a little mace; let it boil, then stir it well, and let it
simmer till it is quite stiff, and then put to it about two
table-spoonfuls of cream or melted butter, or a little good broth; take
out the onion and pepper, and it is ready.
_Obs._ This is an excellent accompaniment to game and poultry, &c., and
a good vehicle for receiving various flavours from the Magazine of Taste
(No. 462).
_Rice Sauce._--(No. 321*.)
Steep a quarter of a pound of rice in a pint of milk, with onion,
pepper, &c. as in the last receipt; when the rice is quite tender (take
out the spice), rub it through a sieve into a clean stew-pan: if too
thick, put a little milk or cream to it.
_Obs._ This is a very delicate white sauce; and at elegant tables is
frequently served instead of bread sauce.
_Browning_,--(No. 322.)
Is a convenient article to colour those soups or sauces of which it is
supposed their deep brown complexion denotes the strength and
savouriness of the composition.
Burned sugar is also a favourite ingredient with the brewers, who use it
under the name of "essentia bina" to colour their beer: it is also
employed by the brandy-makers, in considerable quantity, to colour
brandy; to which, besides enriching its complexion, it gives that
sweetish taste, and fulness in the mouth, which custom has taught brandy
drinkers to admire, and prefer to the finest Cognac in its genuine
state.
When employed for culinary purposes, this is sometimes made with strong
gravy, or walnut catchup. Those who like a _goût_ of acid may add a
little walnut pickle.
It will hardly be told from what is commonly called "genuine Japanese
soy"[246-*] (for which it is a very good substitute). Burned treacle or
sugar, the peels of walnut, Cayenne pepper, or capsicums, or Chilies,
vinegar, garlic, and pickled herrings (especially the Dutch), Sardinias,
or sprats, appear to be the bases of almost all the sauces which now (to
use the maker's phrase) stand unrivalled.
Although indefatigable research and experiment have put us in possession
of these compositions, it would not be quite fair to enrich the cook at
the expense of the oilman, &c.; we hope we have said enough on these
subjects to satisfy "the rational epicure."
Put half a pound of pounded lump-sugar, and a table-spoonful of water,
into a clean iron saucepan, set it over a slow fire, and keep stirring
it with a wooden spoon till it becomes a bright brown colour, and begins
to smoke; then add to it an ounce of salt, and dilute it by degrees with
water, till it is the thickness of soy; let it boil, take off the scum,
and strain the liquor into bottles, which must be well stopped: if you
have not any of this by you, and you wish to darken the colour of your
sauces, pound a tea-spoonful of lump-sugar, and put it into an iron
spoon, with as much water as will dissolve it; hold it over a quick fire
till it becomes of a very dark brown colour; mix it with the soup, &c.
while it is hot.
_Obs._ Most of the preparations under this title are a medley of burned
butter, spices, catchup, wine, &c. We recommend the rational epicure to
be content with the natural colour of soups and sauces, which, to a
well-educated palate, are much more agreeable, without any of these
empyreumatic additions; however they may please the eye, they plague the
stomach most grievously; so "open your mouth and shut your eyes."
For the sake of producing a pretty colour, "cheese," "Cayenne" (No.
404), "essence of anchovy" (No. 433), &c. are frequently adulterated
with a colouring matter containing red lead!! See ACCUM _on the
Adulteration of Food_, 2d edit. 12mo. 1820.
A scientific "_homme de bouche de France_" observes: "The generality of
cooks calcine bones, till they are as black as a coal, and throw them
hissing hot into the stew-pan, to give a brown colour to their broths.
These ingredients, under the appearance of a nourishing gravy, envelope
our food with stimulating acid and corrosive poison.
"Roux, or thickening (No. 257), if not made very carefully, produces
exactly the same effect; and the juices of beef or veal, burned over a
hot fire, to give a rich colour to soup or sauces, grievously offend the
stomach, and create the most distressing indigestions.
"The judicious cook will refuse the help of these incendiary articles,
which ignorance or quackery only employ; not only at the expense of the
credit of the cook, but the health of her employers."
N.B. The best browning is good home-made glaze (No. 252), mushroom
catchup (No. 439), or claret, or port wine. See also No. 257; or cut
meat into slices, and broil them brown, and then stew them.
_Gravy for roast Meat._--(No. 326.)
Most joints will afford sufficient trimmings, &c. to make half a pint of
plain gravy, which you may colour with a few drops of No. 322: for those
that do not, about half an hour before you think the meat will be done,
mix a salt-spoonful of salt, with a full quarter pint of boiling water;
drop this by degrees on the brown parts of the joint; set a dish under
to catch it (the meat will soon brown again); set it by; as it cools,
the fat will float on the surface; when the meat is ready, carefully
remove the fat, and warm up the gravy, and pour it into the dish.
The common method is, when the meat is in the dish you intend to send it
up in, to mix half a tea-spoonful of salt in a quarter pint of boiling
water, and to drop some of this over the corners and underside of the
meat, and to pour the rest through the hole the spit came out of: some
pierce the inferior parts of the joints with a sharp skewer.
The following receipt was given us by a very good cook: You may make
good browning for roast meat and poultry, by saving the brown bits of
roast meat or broiled; cut them small, put them into a basin, cover them
with boiling water, and put them away till next day; then put it into a
saucepan, let it boil two or three minutes, strain it through a sieve
into a basin, and put it away for use. When you want gravy for roast
meat, put two table-spoonfuls into half a pint of boiling water with a
little salt: if for roasted veal, put three table-spoonfuls into half a
pint of thin melted butter.
N.B. The gravy which comes down in the dish, the cook (if she is a good
housewife) will preserve to enrich hashes or little made dishes, &c.
_Obs._ Some culinary professors, who think nothing can be excellent that
is not extravagant, call this "Scots' gravy;" not, I believe, intending
it, as it certainly is, a compliment to the laudable and rational
frugality of that intelligent and sober-minded people.
N.B. This gravy should be brought to table in a sauce-boat; preserve
the intrinsic gravy which flows from the meat in the Argyll.
_Gravy for boiled Meat_,--(No. 327.)
May be made with parings and trimmings; or pour from a quarter to half a
pint of the liquor in which the meat was boiled, into the dish with it,
and pierce the inferior part of the joint with a sharp skewer.
_Wow wow Sauce for stewed or bouilli Beef._--(No. 328.)
Chop some parsley-leaves very fine; quarter two or three pickled
cucumbers, or walnuts, and divide them into small squares, and set them
by ready: put into a saucepan a bit of butter as big as an egg; when it
is melted, stir to it a table-spoonful of fine flour, and about half a
pint of the broth in which the beef was boiled; add a table-spoonful of
vinegar, the like quantity of mushroom catchup, or port wine, or both,
and a tea-spoonful of made mustard; let it simmer together till it is as
thick as you wish it; put in the parsley and pickles to get warm, and
pour it over the beef; or rather send it up in a sauce-tureen.
_Obs._ If you think the above not sufficiently _piquante_, add to it
some capers, or a minced eschalot, or one or two tea-spoonfuls of
eschalot wine (No. 402), or essence of anchovy, or basil (No. 397),
elder, or tarragon (No. 396), or horseradish (No. 399*), or burnet
vinegar; or strew over the meat carrots and turnips cut into dice,
minced capers, walnuts, red cabbage, pickled cucumbers, or French beans,
&c.
_Beef-gravy Sauce_--(No. 329), _or Brown Sauce for Ragoût, Game,
Poultry, Fish, &c._
If you want gravy immediately, see No. 307, or No. 252. If you have time
enough, furnish a thick and well-tinned stew-pan with a thin slice of
fat ham or bacon, or an ounce of butter, and a middling-sized onion; on
this lay a pound of nice, juicy gravy beef, (as the object in making
gravy is to extract the nutritious succulence of the meat, it must be
beaten to comminute the containing vessels, and scored to augment the
surface to the action of the water); cover the stew-pan, and set it on a
slow fire; when the meat begins to brown, turn it about, and let it get
slightly browned (but take care it is not at all burned): then pour in a
pint and a half of boiling water; set the pan on the fire; when it
boils, carefully catch the scum, and then put in a crust of bread
toasted brown (don't burn it), a sprig of winter savoury, or
lemon-thyme and parsley, a roll of thin-cut lemon-peel, a dozen berries
of allspice, and a dozen of black pepper; cover the stew-pan close, let
it stew very gently for about two hours, then strain it through a sieve
into a basin.
If you wish to thicken it, set a clean stew-pan over a slow fire, with
about an ounce of butter in it; when it is melted, dredge to it (by
degrees) as much flour as will dry it up, stirring them well together;
when thoroughly mixed, pour in a little of the gravy; stir it well
together, and add the remainder by degrees; set it over the fire, let it
simmer gently for fifteen or twenty minutes longer, and skim off the
fat, &c. as it rises; when it is about as thick as cream, squeeze it
through a tamis, or fine sieve, and you will have a fine, rich brown
sauce, at a very moderate expense, and without much trouble.
_Obs._ If you wish to make it still more relishing, if it is for
poultry, you may pound the liver with a bit of butter, rub it through a
sieve, and stir it into the sauce when you put in the thickening.
For a ragoût or game, add at the same time a table-spoonful of mushroom
catchup, or No. 343,[250-*] or No. 429, or a few drops of 422, the juice
of half a lemon, and a roll of the rind pared thin, a table-spoonful of
port, or other wine (claret is best), and a few grains of Cayenne
pepper; or use double the quantity of meat; or add a bit of glaze, or
portable soup (No. 252), to it.
You may vary the flavour, by sometimes adding a little basil, or burnet
wine (No. 397), tarragon vinegar (No. 396), or a wine-glass of
quintessence of mushrooms (No. 450).
See the Magazine of Taste (No. 462).
N.B. This is an excellent gravy; and at a large dinner, a pint of it
should be placed at each end of the table; you may make it equal to the
most costly _consommé_ of the Parisian kitchen.
Those families who are frequently in want of gravy, sauces, &c. (without
plenty of which no cook can support the credit of her kitchen), should
keep a stock of portable soup or glaze (No. 252): this will make gravy
immediately.
_Game Gravy._--(No. 337.)
See _Obs._ to No. 329.
_Orange-gravy Sauce, for wild Ducks, Woodcocks, Snipes, Widgeon, and
Teal, &c._--(No. 338.)
Set on a saucepan with half a pint of veal gravy (No. 192), add to it
half a dozen leaves of basil, a small onion, and a roll of orange or
lemon-peel, and let it boil up for a few minutes, and strain it off. Put
to the clear gravy the juice of a Seville orange, or lemon, half a
tea-spoonful of salt, the same of pepper, and a glass of red wine; send
it up hot. Eschalot and Cayenne may be added.
_Obs._--This is an excellent sauce for all kinds of wild water-fowl.
The common way of gashing the breast and squeezing in an orange, cools
and hardens the flesh, and compels every one to eat duck that way: some
people like wild fowl very little done, and without any sauce.
Gravies should always be sent up in a covered boat: they keep hot
longer; and it leaves it to the choice of the company to partake of them
or not,
_Bonne Bouche for Goose, Duck, or roast Pork._--(No. 341.)
Mix a tea-spoonful of made mustard, a salt-spoonful of salt, and a few
grains of Cayenne, in a large wine-glassful of claret or port
wine;[251-*] pour it into the goose by a slit in the apron just before
serving up;[251-+] or, as all the company may not like it, stir it into
a quarter of a pint of thick melted butter, or thickened gravy, and send
it up in a boat. See also Sage and Onion Sauce, No. 300. _Or_,
A favourite relish for roast pork or geese, &c. is, two ounces of leaves
of green sage, an ounce of fresh lemon-peel pared thin, same of salt,
minced eschalot, and half a drachm of Cayenne pepper, ditto of citric
acid, steeped for a fortnight in a pint of claret; shake it up well
every day; let it stand a day to settle, and decant the clear liquor;
bottle it, and cork it close; a table-spoonful or more in a quarter pint
of gravy, or melted butter.
_Robert Sauce for roast Pork, or Geese, &c._--(No. 342.)
Put an ounce of butter into a pint stew-pan: when it is melted, add to
it half an ounce of onion minced very fine; turn it with a wooden spoon
till it takes a light brown colour; then stir in a table-spoonful of
flour, a table-spoonful of mushroom catchup (with or without the like
quantity of port wine), half a pint of broth or water, and a quarter of
a tea-spoonful of pepper, the same of salt; give them a boil; then add a
tea-spoonful of mustard, and the juice of half a lemon, or one or two
tea-spoonfuls of vinegar or basil (No. 397), or tarragon (No. 396), or
burnet vinegar (No. 399).
_Obs._--The French call this "SAUCE ROBERT" (from the name of the cook
who invented it), and are very fond of it with many things, which MARY
SMITH, in the "_Complete Housekeeper_," 8vo. 1772, p. 105, translates
ROE-BOAT-SAUCE. See _Obs._ to No. 529.
_Turtle Sauce._--(No. 343.)
Put into your stew-pan a pint of beef gravy thickened (No. 329); add to
this some of the following--essence of turtle, (No. 343*), or a
wine-glassful of Madeira, the juice and peel of half a lemon, a few
leaves of basil,[252-*] an eschalot quartered, a few grains of Cayenne
pepper, or curry powder, and a little essence of anchovy; let them
simmer together for five minutes, and strain through a tamis: you may
introduce a dozen turtle forcemeat balls. See receipt, No. 380, &c.
_Obs._--This is the sauce for boiled or hashed calf's head, stewed veal,
or any dish you dress turtle fashion.
The far-fetched and dear-bought turtle owes its high rank on the list of
savoury _bonne bouches_ to the relishing and _piquante_ sauce that is
made for it; without, it would be as insipid as any other fish is
without sauce. See _Obs._ to No. 493.
_Essence of Turtle._--(No. 343*.)
Essence of anchovy (No. 433), one wine-glassful.
Eschalot wine (No. 402), one and a half ditto.
Basil wine (No. 397), four ditto.
Mushroom catchup (No. 439), two ditto.
Concrete lemon acid, one drachm, or some artificial lemon-juice
(No. 407*).
Lemon-peel, very thinly pared, three-quarters of an ounce.
Curry powder (No. 455), a quarter of an ounce.
Steep for a week, to get the flavour of the lemon-peel, &c.
_Obs._--This is very convenient to extemporaneously _turtlefy_ soup,
sauce, or potted meats, ragoûts, savoury patties, pies, &c. &c.
_Wine Sauce for Venison or Hare._--(No. 344.)
A quarter of a pint of claret or port wine, the same quantity of plain,
unflavoured mutton gravy (No. 347), and a table-spoonful of currant
jelly: let it just boil up, and send it to table in a sauce-boat.
_Sharp Sauce for Venison._--(No. 345.)
Put into a silver, or very clean and well-tinned saucepan, half a pint
of the best white wine vinegar, and a quarter of a pound of loaf-sugar
pounded: set it over the fire, and let it simmer gently; skim it
carefully; pour it through a tamis or fine sieve, and send it up in a
basin.
_Obs._--Some people like this better than the sweet wine sauces.
_Sweet Sauce for Venison or Hare._--(No. 346.)
Put some currant-jelly into a stew-pan; when it is melted, pour it into
a sauce-boat.
N.B. Many send it to table without melting. To make currant-jelly, see
No. 479*.
This is a more salubrious relish than either spice or salt, when the
palate protests against animal food unless its flavour be masked.
Currant-jelly is a good accompaniment to roasted or hashed meats.
_Mutton Gravy for Venison or Hare._--(No. 347.)
The best gravy for venison is that made with the trimmings of the joint:
if this is all used, and you have no undressed venison, cut a scrag of
mutton in pieces; broil it a little brown; then put it into a clean
stew-pan, with a quart of boiling water; cover it close, and let it
simmer gently for an hour: now uncover the stew-pan, and let it reduce
to three-quarters of a pint; pour it through a hair-sieve; take the fat
off, and send it up in a boat. It is only to be seasoned with a little
salt, that it may not overpower the natural flavour of the meat. You may
colour it with a very little of No. 322.
N.B. Some prefer the unseasoned beef gravy, No. 186, which you may make
in five minutes with No. 252.
THE QUEEN'S GRAVY OF MUTTON, as made by her Majesty's "_Escuyer de
Cuisine_," Monsieur La Montagne. "Roast a juicy leg of mutton
three-quarters; then gash it in several places, and press out the juice
by a screw-press."--From SIR KENELM DIGBY'S _Cookery_, 18mo. London,
1669.
_Curry Sauce_,--(No. 348.)
Is made by stirring a sufficient quantity of curry stuff, (No. 455) into
gravy or melted butter, or onion sauce (Nos. 297, 298), or onion gravy
(No. 299, or No. 339).
The compositions of curry powder, and the palates of those who eat it,
vary so much, that we cannot recommend any specific quantity. The cook
must add it by degrees, tasting as she proceeds, and take care not to
put in too much.
_Obs._--The curry powder (No. 455) approximates more nearly to the best
Indian curry stuff, and is an agreeable and well-blended mixture of this
class of aromatics.
N.B. To dress curries, see No. 497.
_Essence of Ham._--(No. 351.)
Essence of ham and of beef may be purchased at the eating-houses which
cut up those joints; the former for half a crown or three shillings a
quart: it is therefore a most economical relish for made-dishes, and to
give _piquance_ to sauces, &c.
_Grill Sauce._--(No. 355.)
To half a pint of gravy (No. 329), add an ounce of fresh butter, and a
table-spoonful of flour, previously well rubbed together, the same of
mushroom or walnut catchup, two tea-spoonfuls of lemon-juice, one of
made mustard, one of minced capers, half a one of black pepper, a
quarter of a rind of a lemon grated very thin, a tea-spoonful of essence
of anchovies, and a little eschalot wine (No. 402), or a very small
piece of minced eschalot, and a little Chili vinegar (No. 405), or a few
grains of Cayenne; simmer together for a few minutes; pour a little of
it over the grill, and send up the rest in a sauce-tureen. For anchovy
toasts, No. 573, or No. 538. _Or_,
_Sauce à la Tartare._
Pound in a mortar three hard yelks of eggs; put them into a basin, and
add half a table-spoonful of made mustard, and a little pepper and salt;
pour to it by degrees, stirring it fast all the while, about two
wine-glassfuls of salad oil; stir it together till it comes to a good
thickness.
N.B. A little tarragon or chervil minced very fine, and a little
vinegar, may be added; or some of the ingredients enumerated in No. 372.
_Obs._--This from the French artist who wrote the receipt for dressing a
turtle.
_Mem._--These are _piquante_ relishes for anchovy toasts (No. 573, or
No. 538); for BROILED DEVILS, &c. "_Véritable sauce d'enfer_," see No.
538; and a refreshing excitement for those idle palates, who are as
incessantly mumbling out "piquante, piquante," as parrots do "pretty
Poll, pretty Poll."
"For palates grown callous almost to disease,
Who peppers the highest is surest to please."
GOLDSMITH.
_Sauce for Steaks, or Chops, Cutlets, &c._--(No. 356. See also No. 331.)
Take your chops out of the frying-pan; for a pound of meat keep a
table-spoonful of the fat in the pan, or put in about an ounce of
butter; put to it as much flour as will make it a paste; rub it well
together over the fire till they are a little brown; then add as much
boiling water as will reduce it to the thickness of good cream, and a
table-spoonful of mushroom or walnut catchup, or pickle, or browning
(No. 322, or No. 449); let it boil together a few minutes, and pour it
through a sieve to the steaks, &c.
_Obs._--To the above is sometimes added a sliced onion, or a minced
eschalot, with a table-spoonful of port wine, or a little eschalot wine
(Nos. 402, 423, or 135). Garnish with finely-scraped horseradish, or
pickled walnuts, gherkins, &c. Some beef-eaters like chopped eschalots
in one saucer, and horseradish grated in vinegar, in another. Broiled
mushrooms are favourite relishes to beef-steaks.
_Sauce Piquante for cold Meat, Game, Poultry, Fish, &c. or
Salads._--(No. 359. See also No. 372, and Cucumber Vinegar, Nos. 399 and
453.)
Pound in a mortar the yelks of two eggs that have been boiled hard (No.
547), with a mustard-spoonful of made mustard, and a little pepper and
salt; add two table-spoonfuls of salad oil; mix well, and then add three
table-spoonfuls of vinegar; rub it up well till it is quite smooth, and
pass it through a tamis or sieve.
_Obs._--To the above, some add an anchovy, or a table-spoonful of
mushroom catchup, or walnut pickle, some finely-chopped parsley, grated
horseradish, or young onions minced, or burnet (No. 399), horseradish
(No. 399*, or No. 402), or tarragon, or elder vinegar (No. 396), &c.,
and Cayenne or minced pickles, capers, &c. This is a _piquante_ relish
for lobsters, crabs, cold fish, &c.
_Sauce for Hashes of Mutton or Beef._--(No. 360. See also Nos. 451, 485,
and to make Plain Hash, No. 486.)
Unless you are quite sure you perfectly understand the palate of those
you are working for, show those who are to eat the hash this receipt,
and beg of them to direct you how they wish it seasoned.
Half the number of the ingredients enumerated will be more than enough:
but as it is a receipt so often wanted we have given variety. See also
No. 486.
To prepare the meat, see No. 484.
Chop the bones and fragments of the joint, &c., and put them into a
stew-pan; cover them with boiling water, six berries of black pepper,
the same of allspice, a small bundle of parsley, half a head of celery
cut in pieces, and a small sprig of savoury, or lemon-thyme, or sweet
marjoram; cover up, and let it simmer gently for half an hour.
Slice half an ounce of onion, and put it into a stew-pan with an ounce
of butter; fry it over a sharp fire for about a couple of minutes, till
it takes a little colour; then stir in as much flour as will make it a
stiff paste, and by degrees mix with it the gravy you have made from the
bones, &c.; let it boil very gently for about a quarter of an hour, till
it is the consistence of cream; strain it through a tamis or sieve into
a basin; put it back into the stew-pan: to season it, see No. 451, or
cut in a few pickled onions, or walnuts, or a couple of gherkins, and a
table-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or walnut or other pickle liquor; or
some capers, and caper liquor; or a table-spoonful of ale; or a little
eschalot, or tarragon vinegar; cover the bottom of the dish with sippets
of bread (that they may become savoury reservoirs of gravy), which some
toast and cut into triangles. You may garnish it with fried bread
sippets (No. 319).
N.B. To hash meat in perfection, it should be laid in this gravy only
just long enough to get properly warm through.
_Obs._ If any of the gravy that was sent up with, or ran from the joint
when it was roasted, be left, it will be a great improvement to the
hash.
If you wish to make mock venison, instead of the onion, put in two or
three cloves, a table-spoonful of currant jelly, and the same quantity
of claret or port wine, instead of the catchup.
You may make a curry hash by adding some of No. 455.
N.B. A pint of No. 329 is an excellent gravy to warm up either meat or
poultry.
_Sauce for hashed or minced Veal._--(No. 361. See No. 511.)
Take the bones of cold roast or boiled veal, dredge them well with
flour, and put them into a stew-pan with a pint and a half of broth or
water, a small onion, a little grated or finely-minced lemon-peel, or
the peel of a quarter of a small lemon, pared as thin as possible, half
a tea-spoonful of salt, and a blade of pounded mace; to thicken it, rub
a table-spoonful of flour into half an ounce of butter; stir it into the
broth, and set it on the fire, and let it boil very gently for about
half an hour; strain through a tamis or sieve, and it is ready to put to
the veal to warm up; which is to be done by placing the stew-pan by the
side of the fire. Squeeze in half a lemon, and cover the bottom of the
dish with toasted bread sippets cut into triangles, and garnish the dish
with slices of ham or bacon. See Nos. 526 and 527.
_Bechamel, by English Cooks commonly called White Sauce._ (No. 364.)