to be observed in obtaining uniformly good coffee, whether made from
Rio, or Java, and other mild-flavored coffees. In the Eastern and Middle
States Mocha, Java, Maracaibo, Ceylon, etc., are most highly esteemed
and generally used; but at the West and in the South more Rio coffee is
consumed. The coffee _par excellence_, however, is a mixture of Mocha
and Java roasted together, and thus thoroughly blended. Mocha alone is
too rough and acrid to suit many palates, but blended as above it is
certainly delicious. In all varieties, however, there is a considerable
range as to quality and flavor, and, as before stated, the best guide
for the consumer is to buy of a reliable dealer, and throw upon his
shoulders the responsibility of furnishing a satisfactory article.
“Hotels and restaurants that desire good coffee should make it in _small
quantities_ and _more frequently_. It is impossible for coffee to be
good when it is kept simmering for hours after it is made.”
“=A Cup of Coffee.=”—The author of “Salad for the Solitary,” etc., has
so well covered all the facts concerning the origin and history of this
domestic beverage that little remains to be said; but as the
establishment of the first coffee-house in London is connected with a
curious anecdote, perhaps my readers will like to hear it.
Mr. D. Edwards, a Turkish merchant, on his return from Smyrna to London,
brought with him a Greek of Ragusa, named Pasquet Rossee, who used to
prepare coffee every morning for his master. Edwards’s neighbors,
beginning to appreciate the good qualities of this beverage, became so
numerous as visitors at breakfast-time that in order to get rid of them
he ordered Rossee to open a coffee-house, which the latter did in St.
Michael’s Alley, Cornhill. This was the first coffee-house in the city.
Now, taking its popularity as a basis, let us laugh at the doctors who
maintain the theory that hot coffee irritates the stomach and injures
the nerves. Let us tell them that Voltaire, Fontenelle, and Fourcroy,
who were great coffee-drinkers, lived to a good old age. Let us laugh,
too, at Madame Sévigné, who predicted that coffee and Racine would be
forgotten together.—_Exchange._
_VEGETABLES._
=Potatoes.=—To boil a potato properly is very naturally supposed to be a
very easy matter, but how seldom do we meet with one boiled to a proper
turn? In 1873, while out hunting in northwestern Minnesota, I stopped at
an old log-cabin for dinner. The proprietor of the hostelry was an old
down-East Yankee, who, suffering from a lung complaint, had taken his
family out West, and had pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres, there
to remain the rest of his days. I had the good fortune of having a
well-filled pocket-pistol of brandy with me (to be used for medicinal
purposes only), which I soon converted into Apple-Sauce while his wife
was preparing dinner. He was delighted with it, and told me that it was
the first drop of spirits he had seen or tasted for several years (and I
believed him, from the manner in which that punch disappeared). This set
him to telling me what a splendid cook his wife was, and that she could
beat “all tarnation a’ biling taters.” I left him immediately and
offered my services to madam as second cook, my object being to learn
her _trick_ of boiling potatoes. At last dinner was ready, the cloth
spread, and while the judge (as he was called) set the table I looked
for a garden (?) to get a salad. Not finding the cultivated article, I
had to resort to the field, and obtained a few edible weeds, washed and
dried them, and prepared them for dinner.
OUR BILL OF FARE.
Vegetable Soup.
Smoked Shad with drawn Butter.
Roast Rump of Salted Beef.
Boiled Potatoes.
Parsnip Fritters.
Weed Salad.
Home-made Cheese. Cold Johnny-cake.
Acorn Coffee.
My long tramp over the prairie hunting prairie-chickens may possibly
have had something to do with my ferocious appetite, but I do not
remember an occasion when I enjoyed myself so much at table or ate so
heartily. The dinner was a success, and the potatoes surpassed all
expectations. I am not much of a potato-eater, but on this occasion I
surprised myself by asking for a potato the third time.
Her receipt for boiling potatoes was very simple. She washed them well
and peeled off a strip about a quarter of an inch wide lengthwise round
each potato, placed them in an old iron pot, covered them with fresh
rain-water (cold), and added a teaspoonful of salt. She allowed them to
boil fifteen minutes, and then poured out a quart of the hot water and
added a quart dipperful of cold water. When the edge of the peel began
to curl up, she pronounced them done, and removed them from the pot,
covered the bottom of a baking-tin with them, placed them in the oven
with a towel over them for fifteen minutes, with the oven-door open.
They were splendid.
The roast rump of salt beef was a new dish to me, but it was very good.
It had stood in water twenty-four hours to extract the salt from it. It
was a little dry and a trifle too well done.
My salad was composed of a few dandelions that had grown in a shady
spot, a few inch dock-leaves, the tip-ends of the milk-weed, and a few
wild chives, with bacon dressing; but I had no vinegar. As a substitute
I gathered a handful of sheep sorrel, chopped it up fine, and sprinkled
it over the salad.
On my departure the _judge_ addressed me as Mr. Weedeater, and requested
me to make his cabin my home whenever I was in Minnesota.
=Cabbage.=—Never buy overgrown cabbages. They may appear very pleasing
to the eye, but they are apt to be too coarse and too full of fibres to
make a palatable dish. Do not trim off the outer leaves until the day
they are wanted. It is a good plan to purchase a few dozen heads of
cabbage with the stalks on, and hang them up in the cellar, heads down;
then cut them down when wanted. Cut the heads into quarters; trim off
all wilted leaves; cover them with cold water; add a handful of salt,
and let them stand an hour before boiling. This process thoroughly
cleanses them from insects, etc., that may be concealed between the
leaves. When ready to boil cover them with boiling water; add a pea of
soda, a little salt, and boil till tender. The old-fashioned way of
boiling cabbage and other vegetables for a boiled dinner with the joint
is not to be recommended for families outside of the farm, as it makes
altogether too hearty a meal for those taking but little exercise.
=Boiled Asparagus.=—If the cut end of asparagus is brown and dry and the
heads bent on one side, the asparagus is stale. It may be kept a day or
two with the stalks in cold water, but it is much better fresh. Scrape
off the white skin from the lower end, and cut the stalks of equal
length; let them lie in cold water until it is time to cook them; tie
the asparagus in small bundles, put them into a pot with plenty of
water, and a handful of salt. When the asparagus is sufficiently cooked
serve it on toast with drawn butter or with cream dressing, sauce
vinaigrette, etc.
=Boiled Artichokes.=—Soak the artichokes and wash them in several
waters; cut the stalks even; trim away the lower leaves, and the ends of
the others; boil in salted water with the tops downwards, and let them
remain until the leaves can be easily drawn out. Before serving remove
the choke and send to table with melted butter.
=Jerusalem Artichokes.=—Peel the artichokes and throw each root into
cold water and vinegar immediately, to preserve the color. Put them into
boiling water, with a little salt, until sufficiently tender for a fork
to pass through them easily; then pile them on a dish, and serve as hot
as possible with melted butter or white sauce poured over. Soyer shaped
them like a pear, then stewed them gently in three pints of water with
two or three onions thinly sliced, one ounce of salt, and one ounce of
butter. He then placed a border of mashed potatoes round a dish, stuck
the artichokes in it points upwards, poured over them either white sauce
or melted butter, and put a fine Brussels sprout between each. It made a
pretty, inviting dish. Time to boil, about twenty minutes. They should
be tried with a fork frequently after a quarter of an hour, as they will
become black and tasteless if allowed to remain on the fire longer than
necessary.
=Brussels Sprouts.=—Pick, trim, and wash a number of sprouts; put them
into plenty of fast-boiling water. The sudden immersion of the
vegetables will check the boiling for some little time, but they must be
brought to a boil as quickly as possible, that they may not lose their
green color. Add a tablespoonful of salt and a pea of soda, and boil
very fast for fifteen minutes. Lose no time in draining them when
sufficiently done; and serve plain, or with a little white sauce over
the top.
=Green Peas.=—To have green peas in perfection, care should be taken to
obtain them young, freshly-gathered, and freshly-shelled. The condition
of the peas may be known from the appearance of the shells. When the
peas are young the shells are green, when newly-gathered they are crisp,
when old they look yellow, and when plump the peas are fine and large.
If peas are shelled some hours before they are cooked they lose greatly
in flavor.
=Bottled Green Peas.=—Shell the peas; put them into dry, wide-mouthed
bottles, and shake them together so that they may lie in as little space
as possible; cork the bottles closely, and seal the corks; bury the
bottles in dry earth in the cellar, and take them up as they are wanted.
They will keep three or four months.
=Boiled Turnips.=—Turnips should only be served whole when they are very
young, and then they should be covered with white sauce. When they have
reached any size they should be mashed. Pare the turnips, and wash them;
if very young a little of the green top may be left on; if very large
they should be divided into halves or even quarters; throw them into
slightly-salted water, and let them boil gently till tender; drain and
serve them.
=Carrots.=—This vegetable is almost invariably sent to table with boiled
beef. When the carrots are young they should be washed and brushed, not
scraped, before cooking—and old carrots also are better prepared in this
way—then rubbed with a clean coarse cloth after boiling. Young carrots
require an hour for cooking, and fully-grown ones from one hour and a
half to two hours. The red is the best part. In order to ascertain if
the root is sufficiently cooked, stick a fork into it. When they feel
soft they are ready for serving.
=Boiled Celery.=—Have ready a saucepan of boiling water, with a little
salt in it. Wash the celery carefully; cut off the outer leaves, make
the stalks even, and lay them in small bunches; throw these into the
water, and let them boil gently until tender, leaving the saucepan
uncovered. When done, drain, and place them on a piece of toast which
has been dipped in the liquid; pour over them a little good melted
butter, and serve.
=Boiled Spinach.=—Take two pailfuls of spinach, young and
freshly-gathered. Pick away the stalks, wash the leaves in several
waters, lift them out with the hands that the sand or grit may remain at
the bottom, and drain them on a sieve. Put them into a saucepan with as
much boiling water slightly salted as will keep them from burning, and
let them boil until tender. Take the spinach up, drain it, and press it
well; chop it small, and put it into a clean saucepan with a little
pepper and salt and a slice of fresh butter; stir it well for five
minutes. Serve with the yolk of hard-boiled egg.
=Onion.=—This vegetable may be regarded either as a condiment or as an
article of real nourishment. By boiling it is deprived of much of its
pungent volatile oil, and becomes agreeable, mild, and nutritious. There
is no vegetable about which there is so much diversity of opinion as
there is about the onion, some persons liking a little of it in every
dish, and others objecting to it entirely. Generally speaking, however,
a slight flavoring of onion is an improvement to the majority of made
dishes, but it should not be too strong. The smell which arises from the
esculent during cooking and the unpleasant odor it imparts to the breath
of those who partake of it are the principal objections which are urged
against it. The latter may be partially remedied by eating a little raw
parsley before and after it. When onions are used for stuffing, the
unpleasant properties belonging to them would be considerably lessened
if a lemon, freed from the outer rind but covered as thickly as possible
with the white skin, were put in the midst of them, and thrown away when
the dish is ready for the table. Onions may be rendered much milder if
two or three waters are used in boiling them. Spanish onions are not so
strong as the English, and are generally considered superior in flavor.
The largest are the best.
=Boiled Beets.=—Wash, but do not cut them, as it would destroy their
sweetness; put them on to boil in a sufficiency of water, and let them
boil from two to three hours, or until they are perfectly tender; then
take them up, peel and slice them, and pour vinegar or melted butter
over them. The root is excellent as a salad, and as a garnish for other
salads it is desirable on account of the brightness of its color.
=Boiled Corn.=—Strip the ears, pick off the silk, and put them in a pot
of water with a little salt; boil half an hour. When done, cut off the
corn from the cob and season it with butter, pepper, and more salt if
necessary, or serve on the ear.
=Oyster-Plant.=—Scrape the roots lightly; either cut them into
three-inch lengths, or leave them whole, and throw them into water with
a little lemon till wanted; put them into boiling salt and water, and
keep them boiling quickly till tender; drain them, arrange on toast upon
a hot dish, and pour over them good melted butter, white sauce, or sauce
maître d’hôtel.
=Boiled Cauliflower.=—Cut the stalk close to the bottom, and pare away
the tops of the leaves, leaving a circle of shortened leafstalks all
round. Put the cauliflower head downwards into a little vinegar and
water for a quarter of an hour. Put it into a pan of boiling water, with
a tablespoonful of salt in it. Some persons prefer milk and water.
Remove the scum carefully as it rises or the cauliflower will be
discolored. Boil till tender. This may be ascertained by taking a little
piece of the stalk between the finger and thumb, and if it yields easily
to pressure it is ready. Drain, and serve. Put a lump of butter the size
of an egg into a saucepan with a cupful of cold water; add gradually a
teaspoonful of flour, mix smoothly, boil, and strain over the vegetable.
=Boiled Horse Radish.=—Cut each root into pieces two inches in length,
and each piece into quarters; boil in water containing a little salt and
one tablespoonful of vinegar. When tender drain, place the strips on a
napkin, and send to table with drawn butter. This vegetable is seldom
used except as a condiment or sauce ingredient. Although ignored in any
other form, it is one of the most nutritious and healthful of all
vegetables. It makes an excellent dish when used in equal portions with
any vegetables handled in making fritters.
=Stewed Cucumber.=—Peel and quarter two cucumbers lengthwise; put them
in a saucepan, add one teaspoonful of salt and one dozen whole peppers.
When tender take them out; place them on toast, the edges of which have
been dipped in water used in stewing. Pour drawn butter over them, well
seasoned with cayenne pepper, and serve.
=Stewed Dandelion.=—The first mention of this dish will perhaps inspire
most American people with aversion, but I can honestly advise them to
try it. It is an inexpensive dish, and easily obtained; for fresh
growths after showery weather may be had throughout the year. Gather a
quantity of fresh dandelion; pick off all the withered tips and hard
parts; shred them into strips, and wash them free from grit; put the
dandelion into a stew-pan with a strip of bacon, and add one
tablespoonful of vinegar; cover it with a small quantity of boiling
water, and stew until tender. Mash with a wooden spoon; stir in a lump
of butter; flavor with pepper and salt, and serve like spinach. The dish
may be garnished in a variety of ways, either with hard-boiled eggs,
sippets of fried bread, or slices of boiled carrot cut into shapes. It
is usually served with white meats, as veal, sweet-breads, etc., but it
is excellent as a garnish for poached eggs.
=The following weeds= are all good greens if properly treated: the
milk-weed, the different docks, fat hen, ox-tongue, jack-by-the-hedge,
sea-holly (a substitute for asparagus), sea beet, shepherd’s purse, sow
thistle, hawk-weed, stinging nettle, willow herb, pile-wort, Solomon’s
seal, lamb’s quarter, and a number of other weeds common to this
country, and known only to a few. Once known they would be much sought
after.
_TABLE ETIQUETTE._
The following article from _Harper’s Bazaar_ is so appropriate under
this head that we take the liberty of inserting it entire:
“TABLE ETIQUETTE.—There are a few points of table etiquette not directly
connected with the giving and receiving of dinners and teas, but which
are of the first importance, as they concern individual behavior. We
would be inclined to think every one acquainted with them, and allusion
to them a matter of supererogation on our part, if it were not that we
see them so frequently violated. Those of our readers who are, or who
have always been, familiar with them will perhaps pardon our speaking of
them for the sake of those who are not.
“We do not expect to see these gaucheries in the best society; but there
are many people perfectly well fitted for the best society but for
ignorance concerning these things, which, although trifles in
themselves, are of such infinite importance on the whole. For instance,
where all the requirements are not fully known, if a general cessation
of conversation should suddenly supervene upon the serving of the soup,
would there be silence in the place? Not at all; the gap would be filled
with a continuous bubbling sound from the mouth of some one or other
unlucky wight whose mother never taught him to take soup properly, and
who is possibly disturbing and disgusting all those that do better, and
who know how easily the trouble might be avoided. Soup is to be taken
from the side of the spoon, not from the tip, and it is not to be sucked
in, but the spoon being slightly tilted, it is rather poured into the
mouth than otherwise, the slightest silent inhalation being sufficient
for the rest.
“Another generally neglected obligation is that of spreading butter on
one’s bread as it lies in one’s plate, or but slightly lifted at one end
from the plate; it is very frequently buttered in the air, bitten in
gouges, and still held in the face and eyes of the table with the marks
of the teeth on it. This is certainly not altogether pleasant, and it is
better to cut it a bit at a time, after buttering it, and put piece by
piece in the mouth with one’s finger and thumb.
“Let us mention a few things concerning the eating of which there is
sometimes doubt. A cream cake, and anything of similar nature, should be
eaten with knife and fork—never bitten. Asparagus—which should always be
served on bread or toast, so as to absorb superfluous moisture—may be
taken from the finger and thumb; if it is fit to be set before you, the
whole of it may be eaten. Peas and beans, as we all know, require the
fork only. Potatoes, if mashed, should be eaten with the fork. Green
corn should be eaten from the cob; but it must be held with a single
hand, and not after the fashion of the alderman’s wife at the lord
mayor’s dinner. French artichokes are to be eaten with the fingers,
slightly pulled apart at the top and one of the leaves pulled out with
finger and thumb; the fleshy end of this leaf is then dipped in the
salad dressing served with it, and only that atom of a paler color at
the bottom of the leaf is taken as it peels off between the lips, when
the dry portion is to be laid back in the plate. It is always served as
a separate course by itself; a pretty hand looks very pretty indeed when
fingering a French artichoke. Celery, cresses, radishes, and all that
sort of thing are, of course, to be eaten from the fingers; the salt
should be laid upon one’s plate, not upon the cloth. Fish is to be eaten
with the fork, without the assistance of the knife; a bit of bread in
the left hand sometimes helps one to master a refractory morsel.
“It is best to be very moderate in the beginning of a dinner, as one
does not know what is to follow, and all the rest may be spoiled for one
by an opposite course. We remember the case of a lady in Mexico, who,
dining with the governor of the province, was served for the first
course with a hash. She was somewhat surprised; but it was a very good
hash, and she really made her dinner upon it. But the next course was
also hash—there were seventeen courses of hash before the main dinner,
of every delicious delicacy under the sun, made its appearance! Of
course, a tiny morsel of each hash, for the sake of the flavoring, was
all she should have taken; as it was, she sat afterwards like Tantalus.
“Berries, of course, are to be eaten with a spoon. In England they are
served with their hulls on, and three or four are considered an ample
quantity. But, then, in England they are many times the size of ours;
there they take the big berry by the stem, dip it into powdered sugar,
and eat it as we do the turnip-radish. It is not proper to drink with a
spoon in the cup, nor should one, by the way, ever quite drain cup or
glass. Spoons are sometimes used with puddings, but forks are the better
style. A spoon should never be turned over in the mouth. Ladies have
frequently an affected way of holding the knife half-way down its
length, as if it were too big for their little hands, but this is as
awkward a way as it is weak; the knife should be grasped freely by the
handle only, the forefinger being the only one to touch the blade, and
that only along the back of the blade at its root, and no further down.
In sending one’s plate to be helped a second time, one should retain
one’s knife and fork, for the convenience of waiter and carver. At the
conclusion of a course where they have been used, knife and fork should
be laid side by side on the plate—never crossed; the old custom of
crossing them was in obedience to an ancient religious formula. The
servant should offer everything at the left of the guest, that the guest
may be at liberty to use the right hand. If one has been given a napkin
ring, it is necessary to fold one’s napkin and use the ring; otherwise
the napkin should be left unfolded. One’s teeth are not to be picked at
table; but if it is impossible to hinder it, it should be done behind
the napkin. One may pick a bone at the table, but, as with corn, only
one hand is allowed to touch it; yet one can usually get enough from it
with knife and fork, which is certainly the more elegant way of doing;
and to take her teeth to it gives a lady the look of caring a little too
much for the pleasures of the table; one is, however, on no account to
suck one’s fingers after it.
“Wherever there is any doubt as to the best way to do a thing, it is
wise to follow that which is the most rational, and that will almost
invariably be found to be the proper etiquette. There is a reason for
everything in polite usage; thus, the reason why one does not blow a
thing to cool it is not only that it is an inelegant and vulgar action
intrinsically, but because it may be offensive to others—cannot help
being so, indeed; and it, moreover, implies haste, which, whether
resulting from greediness or from a desire to get away, is equally rude
and objectionable. Everything else may be as easily traced to its origin
in the fit and becoming.
“If, to conclude, one seats one’s self properly at table, and takes
reason into account, one will do tolerably well. One must not pull one’s
chair too closely to the table, for the natural result of that is the
inability to use one’s knife and fork without inconveniencing one’s
neighbors; the elbows are to be held well in and close to one’s side,
which cannot be done if the chair is too near the board. One must not
lie or lean along the table, nor rest one’s arms upon it. Nor is one to
touch any of the dishes; if a member of the family, one can exercise all
the duties of hospitality through servants, and wherever there are
servants, neither family nor guests are to pass or help from any dish.”