and, taking out a piece of the fruit, save it entire, and extract the
seeds thoroughly; put the cucumbers, with the pieces which have been
cut from them, into a strong pickle of salt and water, and leave in
it for 10 days, or until they become yellow; place in a pan, with
thick layers of fresh vine leaves between them; dissolve a little
powdered alum in the brine from which they have been taken, pour it
on, and set the pan over a moderate fire; keep the cucumbers at a
scalding heat for 4 hours at least, without on any account allowing
them to boil; by that time they will be of a fine green colour;
drain on a sieve, and when cold put a stick of horse-radish, some
mustard seed, 4 cloves of garlic, and ¼ oz. of peppercorns into each
cucumber; fit in the piece that was taken out, and stitch with a
needle and green silk; boil 2 oz. each of black peppercorns, long
pepper, and sliced ginger, 4 oz. mustard seed, 1 oz. each of garlic,
mace, and cloves, and 1 gal. best white wine vinegar, together for 8
minutes; lay the cucumbers in a deep jar, and when the pickle is cold
pour it on; tie first bladder, and then leather, closely over.
Gherkins.--Soak 250 gherkins in a pickle of 2½ lb. common salt to 1
gal. water; let lie 3 hours; drain on a sieve, wipe separately, and
place in a jar; boil 1 gal. best white wine vinegar, 6 oz. common
salt, 1 oz. each of allspice and mustard seed, ½ oz. each of cloves
and mace, 1 sliced nutmeg, and 1 stick of horse-radish, sliced, for
12 minutes; skim well, and pour when cold over the gherkins; let
stand 20 hours covered up close; put altogether into a pan over the
fire, and let simmer only until they attain a nice green colour;
place in jars, pour the liquor and spices over them, and tie closely
with bladder and leather.
Grapes.--The grapes must be carefully cut from the stalk before they
are ripe, and care must be taken not to bruise the skin, or they
will become soft instead of crisp. Boil 4 pints vinegar, 2 oz. whole
ginger, 1 oz. peppercorns, 2 doz. cloves, and a very small piece
of mace. When cold pour it over the grapes, and let them be well
covered, and remain 3 days; then boil the vinegar again, and pour it
cold on the grapes. Bottle and cork securely.
Grape Leaves.--A writer in the _Country Gentleman_ recommends the
use of fresh green grape-leaves to place on top of pickles in jars
in place of flannel or other cloth usually employed. He claims the
leaves will preserve the vinegar sharp and clear and impart a nice
flavour. The leaves should be rinsed in pure water and left to
drain before use, and occasionally changed. They exclude the air,
and besides imparting a delightful flavour to the pickle cause less
trouble to the housewife.
Ketchup.--(_a_) Elder.--Put into a jar 3 pints elderberries, picked
from the stalks, 2 large blades of mace, 2 oz. ginger, 6 oz.
anchovies, ½ oz. whole pepper, 1½ pint vinegar; set it in a rather
cool oven, and let it remain there all night. Next morning strain
the liquor from the berries, and put into an enamelled stewpan, with
the ginger, mace, anchovies, pepper and salt; let it boil till the
anchovies are dissolved. Strain off, and, when cold, put into small
bottles, cork and seal. This is a nice ketchup for broiled fish. The
berries will make a chutney.
(_b_) Mushroom.--The mushrooms should be gathered in the morning
before the sun is on them. Break them in small bits, put them in a
large dish, and sprinkle a good deal of salt upon them; let them
lie for 4 days, turning them daily, and adding a little salt. Lay
the pieces upon a sieve, or put them in a thin bag. Let them run
all night until the juice is all run from them; put the juice in a
stewpan, beat up the whites of 2 eggs, add them to the ketchup, with
plenty of mixed spices. Let it boil for one minute, run it through a
piece of muslin into a basin, and when cold bottle it up, cork, and
seal it; keep it in a dry place.
(_c_) Ditto.--Break up the mushrooms, and add ¼ lb. salt to every 3½
lb. mushrooms; let them stand for 2 days, and drain all the juice you
can procure from them by pressure; then boil it slowly for an hour,
with 2 oz. of salt, a few cloves, and ¼ oz. peppercorns and whole
ginger, to each qt.; then strain, and when cold bottle, using new
corks, and sealing them down.
(_d_) Ditto.--Take for this full-grown flap mushrooms, crush them
with the hands, and put a handful of salt to every peck; let them
stand all night, then put into broad-mouthed jars, and set them for
12 hours in a quick oven, then strain through a hair sieve. To every
qt. of liquor put ¼ oz. cloves, black pepper, and ginger; boil till
half is wasted; when cold bottle for use.
(_e_) Walnut.--Take 6 half-sieves of green walnut shells, put them
into a tub, mix up well with 2-3 lb. common salt; let them stand for
6 days, frequently beating and mashing them, till the shells become
soft and pulpy, then, by banking it up on one side the tub, at the
same time raising the tub on that side, the liquor will drain clear
off to the other; then take that liquor out. The mashing may be
repeated as often as liquor is found. The quantity will be about 6
qt. When done, let it be simmered in an iron boiler as long as any
scum rises; then bruise ¼ lb. ginger, ¼ lb. allspice, 2 oz. long
pepper, 2 oz. cloves; let it slowly boil ½ hour. When bottled, let an
equal quantity of spice go into each bottle, cork them tight, seal
them over, and put them into a cool, dry place for one year before
they are used. (C. G. J.)
Lemon.--Grate the rind from 1½ doz. lemons, taking care only to
remove the extreme outer coating, leaving the white well covered
with a tinge of yellow. Cut them in quarters, but do not let the
knife go quite through them, leaving just enough at the bottom to
hold the quarters together; rub ¾ lb. bay salt equally over them,
and spread them out on a dish. Place this in a cool oven, and let
them remain there until the juice has dried into the peels. This,
if preferred, may be done in front of the fire, but it must be done
very gradually. When the juice is so absorbed, put the lemons in a
large jar, with somewhat less than 1 oz. mace, the same of grated
nutmeg, half the quantity of pounded cloves, 3 oz. peeled garlic, and
¾ breakfastcupful mustard seed bruised a little and tied in a muslin
bag. Over all this pour 3 pints boiling vinegar, close the jar well,
and stand it near the fire for 4-5 days, shaking it up every day.
Then tie it up and let it remain for 3 months to take off the bitter
taste of the peels. At the end of this time turn the whole out on to
a hair sieve, moving it about to get out the liquor; let it stand a
day, and then pour off the fine part and bottle it. The other part
must stand for 3 days more, and it will refine itself. Pour it off
and bottle it, let it stand again and bottle it, till the whole is
refined. It may be put in any sauce, and will not spoil the colour.
If for white sauce, 1 teaspoonful is enough, or 2 for brown sauce.
Should cream be used in the sauce, the pickle must be put in before
the cream or other thickening is added, or it will probably cause it
to curdle.
Mixed Pickles.--1 gal. vinegar, sixpennyworth turmeric, 2 oz. black
pepper ground, 2 oz. long ditto pounded, 1 oz. cloves pounded, 4 oz.
flour of mustard, 3 oz. mustard seed, whole cayenne to your taste,
2 oz. ginger pounded fine, white cabbage cut in slices, quantities
of horseradish scraped, ½ pint garlic, 1 pint shallots, 2 doz. large
onions cut in quarters, a cucumber, a cauliflower, a few French
beans, and a few radish pods, plenty of capsicums. Lay them in a red
pan. You cannot put too much salt about them. Let the vegetables
remain 3 days in salt, then strain them out and shake them. Lay them
on a linen cloth in the sun to dry, then put them into your jar near
the fire. Then boil all your spice with the vinegar, and pour it on
boiling off the fire. They will be fit to use in 2 months. For an
ordinary family ¼ of the above, with half the vegetables, will be
found sufficient to make at a time.
Mushrooms.--Take the smallest and roundest button mushrooms, throw
into cold water, and rub each separately with a piece of flannel
dipped in salt to clean them thoroughly; put them again, as you
proceed, into fresh cold water, and finally into a pan with a handful
of table salt scattered over them on a moderate fire, covering them
close that the steam may not escape, for 10 minutes, or until they
are thoroughly hot and the water is drawn well out of them; pour them
on a sieve, and quickly dry them well between the cloths; let remain
covered up from the air till they are cold; place in clean dry glass
bottles with a little mace, and fill up with distilled or white wine
vinegar, adding to each bottle a teaspoonful of salad oil; cork and
seal them up so as to exclude air.
Nasturtiums.--Gather within a week after the blossoms have fallen
off; take a gallon of them, and throw into a pail of salt and water,
cold, in which to keep them, changing the water 3 times at least,
3 days and nights; lay in a sieve to drain, and rub perfectly dry
between cloths; boil for ten minutes 1 gal. white wine vinegar, 1 oz.
each of mace and nutmeg, 2 oz. white peppercorns, 4 sliced shallots,
and 4 oz. common salt; skim well, and when nearly cold, pour the
whole over the fruit placed in jars, and tie close.
Onions.--Take the smallest clear silver onions; after peeling,
immerse in cold salt and water, and let lie for 10 days, changing
the pickle daily; drain on a sieve, put into a jar, pour newly-made
brine of salt and water boiling hot over them, and let stand closely
covered, until cold; repeat the scalding with new pickle, and, when
cold and well drained, put in bottles or jars, with a slice or two
of the best ginger, a blade of mace, and a bay leaf; fill up with
distilled vinegar, and be sure to add salad oil to float on the top;
tie close, and seal down.
Piccalilli.--Slice up a closely-grown, sound-hearted white cabbage
and a sound white beetroot, with a cauliflower divided into several
small branches, a few clear gherkins, some radish-pods, and kidney
beans; lay in a sieve with two or three handfuls of common salt
scattered over, and expose to the sun or fire for 4 days; when you
think all the water is extracted from them, put them into a large
stoneware pan, mixing well, and scattering plenty of good sound
mustard seed amongst them as you go on; to each gallon of best
vinegar, add 3 oz. peeled and sliced garlic, and 1½ oz. turmeric;
boil, skim well, and pour the liquor while hot over the vegetables;
let them lie 10 days, at least, with strong paper tied over, near a
fire, until they have become a fine yellow colour, and have imbibed
a fair quantity of the vinegar; then boil 3 qt. best white wine
vinegar, 1½ oz. each of white pepper and mace, and ½ oz. each of long
pepper, nutmegs, and cloves, for 10 minutes; skim well, and pour all
over the pickles; tie the jar with bladder and leather.
Samphire.--By persons living near the sea it is usually preserved,
when freshly gathered, in equal parts vinegar and sea water, or
even sometimes in the water only; but when brought inland it should
be steeped 2 days in brine, then drained, and put into a stone jar,
covered with vinegar, and having a lid, over which put a thick paste
of flour and water, and set it in a very cool oven all night, or in a
warmer oven till it nearly but not quite boils. Then let it stand on
a warm hob for ½ hour, and allow it to become quite cold before the
paste is removed; then add cold vinegar if any more is required, and
secure as other pickles.
Tomato.--(_a_) Gather 4 doz. tomatoes when turned, but not too ripe.
Lay them in salt and water for 2 days, changing them twice; drain
them, and dry them in a coarse cloth; put them in a pickling jar. To
1 gal. vinegar add 1 oz. ginger, shred, 1 oz. whole pepper, ½ oz.
cloves, 1 pint mustard seeds, and 2 tablespoonfuls mustard flour,
curry powder, turmeric, 2 oz. garlic, 2 oz. shallots, shred, 1 oz.
bay salt, and a little common salt. Half of the spice to be strewed
in the jar, and the other half to be boiled in the vinegar, and to
be poured hot over the tomatoes; then let them be covered close
with a flannel, and a weight at the top to keep in the steam, and
let them stand in the chimney corner for 2 days, but not too near
the fire. The vinegar must be boiled up twice more, and poured over
the tomatoes as before. When quite cold fill up with more vinegar
previously boiled, so that the tomatoes are covered and tied up with
bladder.
(_b_) Cut some green tomatoes in slices, sprinkle them with salt, and
let them stand 12-15 hours, drain, and put them in a saucepan over
the fire with fresh water, changing it until all the salt is washed
out. When thoroughly scalded and partially cooked, drain them again
and put them into a boiling hot syrup, made with 1 pint vinegar, 3
lb. sugar, ½ oz. cinnamon, ¼ oz. cloves, simmer them in this until
tender, then carefully lift them out and put them into jars, reduce
the syrup and pour it over them. After a day or two boil up the syrup
again, pour it afresh over the tomatoes, and when cold tie them down
carefully.
Vinegar.--(_a_) To every gal. water put 2 lb. coarsest West India
sugar; boil and skim this. Pour the mixture into a common clean
washing mug, and, when sufficiently cool, take 4 pints from it into a
basin, and stir well into it ½_d._ worth good fresh yeast if 3 gal.
vinegar are to be made, or in that proportion, and set the basin,
near a fire, covered with a cloth, to get it to work. When this end
is obtained, put it back to the larger quantity from which it came,
and which ought to be still lukewarm; stir well round with a wooden
preserving spoon, and cover the mug with a cloth, and in a few hours,
or by next morning (if made in an evening) the mixture will be found
in full work. Let it stand one week from the day it was made, then
carefully skim the barm off it, and put it into a barrel or mug in
a warm place in winter, or in the sun in summer. It will be fit for
use in 4-6 months, and then bottle off for use. As soon as you have
bottled off a making of vinegar, immediately begin again, as the
jelly-like “mother,” called the vinegar plant, formed on the surface
by the time it is ready for bottling, helps the making of the next
vinegar. Add it on pouring the mixture into the barrel or closed mug.
(_b_) Make vinegar from a vinegar plant by mixing ½ lb. coarse
brown sugar and ½ lb. treacle with 5 pints water, stirring it until
all the sugar is dissolved; then laying the fungus on the top, and
covering it with thick brown paper tied down. In 6 weeks (or a little
longer in cold weather), the liquid is turned to vinegar, and must
then be strained off and bottled, and a fresh mixture made for the
plant. It must be put in a white ware vessel--a washstand basin is
very suitable, as the vinegar corrodes the yellow glazed ware, and
is injurious. The plant does not get useless if kept “going,” but
improves by growing thicker.
(_c_) Best of all, buy Beaufoy’s vinegar, and run no risk of
subsequent fermentations.
Vinegar, Primrose.--To 18 qt. water add 6 lb. moist sugar; boil and
stir it very well. Let it stand until it is just warm, then add 1
peck primroses with their stalks, and a little yeast. Let it stand
all night, then put it into a cask, bung it up, and allow it to
remain for 2 months. Then give it a little air, and let it stand 2-3
months longer. Then taste, and, if not sour, let it stand till it is.
It must be placed in a warm situation: a great deal depends on where
it is kept.
Vinegar, Raspberry.--Put 1 lb. very fine raspberries in a bowl,
bruise them well, and pour upon them 1 qt. best cider vinegar; next
day strain the liquor on 1 lb. fresh ripe raspberries, bruise them
also, and on the following day do the same, but do not squeeze the
fruit, or it will make it ferment, only drain the liquor as dry as
you can from the fruit. The last time pass it through a canvas bag,
previously wetted with vinegar to prevent waste. Put the juice into
a stone jar with 1 lb. sugar to every pint of juice; the sugar must
be broken into lumps, stir it, and when melted, put the jars into a
saucepan of water, let it simmer a little, skim and remove from the
fire. When cool, bottle off.
Vinegar, Tarragon.--Gather full-grown shoots of tarragon the day
before they are wanted. Fill a ½ gal. jar with as many as it will
hold without pressing them down; add 3 cloves and the thin rind of
1 lemon, and fill up the jar with white wine vinegar; leave it,
tightly corked, exposed to the sun for 2-3 weeks, then strain off the
vinegar, wringing the tarragon in a cloth, filter it through paper,
and bottle it.
Walnuts.--Take 50 large walnuts gathered before the shell is hard;
folding them separately in vine leaves, place them in a jar amidst
plenty more leaves, so that they do not touch each other; fill up
so as to cover them with best pale vinegar, and tie down closely
that the air may be excluded; let stand 20 days; then pour off the
vinegar and wrap the fruit again in fresh leaves, and fill up the jar
again with fresh pale vinegar, standing 14 days longer; take off the
leaves, put them in a jar, and make a pickle of white wine vinegar
and salt that will float an egg, in which simmer for ¼ hour ¼ oz.
mace, ½ oz. each of cloves and nutmeg, and 2 heads of garlic, peeled
and sliced; pour hot over the walnuts; tie close with bladder and
leather.
_Preserving with Sugar._--This embraces the whole range of jams and
jellies, which closely resemble each other. In all cases the fruit
must be fully ripe, gathered quite dry, and freed of stems, &c., but
stone fruits should not be stoned. The chief differences consist in
the proportion of sugar required and the duration of the boiling,
which latter should always be done in a copper pan. The scum must
be removed as it rises in boiling. For the most popular jams the
quantities and times are as follow:--
Black currant 1 of fruit to 1 of sugar; 10 minutes
Raspberry 1 ” ” 1 ” ½ hour
Strawberry 1 ” ” 1 ” 20 minutes
Gooseberry 6 ” ” 4 ” 2 hours
Red currant 1 ” ” 1 ” 10 minutes
Blackberry 1 ” ” ½ ” 1 hour
Cherry (stoned) 2 ” ” 1 ” till stiff
Keeping Jams.--A not unfrequent cause for their becoming mouldy is
that the jars in which jams are kept are sometimes not perfectly dry
when the jam is put into them. The jam-pots put away from last year
will necessarily be dusty, and require washing; and with thoughtless
servants it but too often happens that they will wash the jars the
same day the jam is made. They may imagine they have dried them
with a cloth, but probably a slight dampness still remains which
would be quite sufficient to cause the best-boiled preserve to turn
mouldy, even if afterwards kept in a dry place. Have jars washed
the day before they are used, have them washed in very hot water,
and, after drying with a cloth, have them put down in trayfuls
before the kitchen fire, to do away with the possibility of damp.
The jars should then be set aside in the kitchen until the next day,
covering them with cloths to keep out the dust. For making common
jams, such as red and black currants, raspberries, gooseberries
(and strawberries when not to be preserved whole), allow ¾ lb. loaf
preserving-sugar to every lb. of fruit after it has been picked from
the stalk. The fruit must be picked on a dry day, and should be ripe,
but not bruised or injured. Set the fruit on the hot plate or fire in
a large copper preserving pan, which must, of course, be as bright
and clean as possible; let it cook gently, until it is hot through
and the juice begins to run out, then add the sugar gradually (this
must have been previously crushed, but need not be pounded); keep
stirring with a long-handled wooden spoon, when it comes to the boil
let it remain boiling for ¾ hour, then try if it will set by putting
a few drops on a cold plate, and when this condition is arrived at,
pour it off into jars prepared as described. Some jams do not take so
long to boil as others, so it is as well to begin to try whether they
will set after they have been boiling ½ hour. Many people carefully
take off all the scum as it rises, but it is quite unnecessary; if
properly boiled, and constantly stirred, it will all disappear before
the jam is ready to be poured off, preventing the great waste caused
when it is skimmed. Care must be taken to stir constantly during the
whole process. After filling the jars, let them stand till next day,
when they must be tied down and set in a dry, cool place to keep.
Bottling Fruit.--Have ready some wide-necked glass bottles, with
good-fitting corks and some wax to cover the corks with, in order to
prevent any air from entering. The wax is prepared thus: 1 lb. common
rosin, ¼ lb. beeswax, ¼ lb. tallow; pound the rosin fine, and cut
the beeswax into shreds; put the rosin, wax, and tallow into an old
tin, and melt the mixture gradually over the fire; boil it gently for
5 minutes, stirring it well with a smooth, flat stick. It must be
kept hot enough to run easily while being put on the corks. Fill the
bottles with fruit, and set them in a boiler of warm water (not hot)
up to their necks, without letting any water enter the bottles; have
some warm syrup ready, made in the proportion of ¼ lb. loaf sugar
to 1 pint water, boiled 10 minutes, and then allowed to cool until
lukewarm; fill the bottles with this syrup, and let it cover the
fruit, just leaving enough space for the cork to fit in. The bottles
must not be corked. Set the boiler on the fire; a little straw should
be placed on the bottom of the boiler to prevent the bottles from
cracking. When the water has boiled for 10 minutes, take one bottle
out at a time, cork it at once, and run the wax all over the cork,
spreading it evenly with the flat stick, being careful to cover every
part, lest the air should enter, and so peril the safe keeping.
Gooseberries will require 10 minutes’ boiling; and raspberries,
strawberries, and currants about 5 minutes. Plums must have ¼ hour if
large. Whatever fruit is done in this way must be thoroughly heated
through, and then rendered air-tight. Should there be a flaw in the
glass bottle, it will probably crack while in the boiling water;
but these unpleasant accidents have to be put up with. This mode of
bottling fruit is very good when the fruit is required to be kept as
whole as possible. Another method is to allow ¼ lb. sugar to each
lb. of fruit. Put the sugar in a preserving pan, with sufficient hot
water to moisten the bottom well and help the sugar to melt. When
all the sugar is melted, put in the fruit, and let it boil rapidly
for 10 minutes; if raspberries or small fruit, 5 minutes is enough.
It does not need skimming. Have some hot jars or bottles ready, and
pour the boiling fruit into the hot bottles; cork directly each one
is filled, and wax it over, or paste 3 layers good paper over each
bottle. When dry, these 3 layers of paper will be equal to parchment,
and are sure to exclude the air. The reason why the fruit must be
put into the bottles boiling hot is because the heat expels the air
contained in the bottles, which must be secured immediately they are
filled, else the air will rush in directly they begin to cool. Having
the bottles in a bath of hot water before filling them with the hot
fruit prevents the glass cracking. The bottles need not be dried, but
a good shake must be given to free them as much as possible from the
water. For green gooseberries or rhubarb, it is better to use ½ lb.
sugar to 1 lb. fruit.
Apple Ginger.--2 lb. Ribstone or other hard apples, pare, core, and
cut them into 8 pieces, put them into cold water whilst doing this
to preserve their colour; make the syrup of 3 lb. white sugar, a
little water, and 4 oz. tincture of ginger (not Oxley’s). Put in the
apples and simmer very slowly until transparent. The pieces of apple
should be kept whole. It will keep for a year.
Apple Jam.--Select good baking apples, which cut in round slices into
a brown milk-pan, taking out the cores; to every 1 lb. apples add 1
lb. brown sugar; to the panful add the juice and peel of 4 lemons,
½ lb. whole young ginger, and 1 oz. cloves. Let all stand till next
day, when boil. The slices become of an amber colour, and perfectly
clear when sufficiently boiled.
Apple Jelly.--Choose apples with red skins, wipe, and cut into
quarters, do not peel them. To each lb. fruit put 3 pints cold water,
bring to a boil, then boil rapidly for 30 minutes. Strain, and to
every pint juice allow 1 lb. loaf sugar, return to the pan, and again
boil rapidly for 30 minutes.