salad oil, add 6 shallots, chopped, with a very little lemon peel,
mix with stock and 2 tablespoonfuls vinegar, some pepper and salt,
and a bay leaf. Boil for 20 minutes, and strain. Place on the fire
again, and add 6-8 stoned olives, cut up small. Serve round a mince
of mutton.
_Onion Sauce_ (pauvre homme).--(_a_) Peel and parboil some onions,
drain, and cut them in quarters, put them into a stewpan with
sufficient well-flavoured white stock to cover them; keep on the lid,
and simmer gently until quite tender, pass them through a sieve; add
to the pulp sufficient milk, cream, or béchamel sauce as will be
necessary to make the sauce; stir over the fire until quite hot, add
seasoning of pepper and salt if required, and it is ready.
(_b_) Parboil some onions a few minutes, mince them roughly and put
them into a saucepan, with plenty of butter, a pinch of sugar and
pepper and salt to taste; let them cook slowly, so that they do not
take colour, and add 1 tablespoonful flour. When they are quite
tender pass them through a hair sieve. Dilute the onion pulp with
sufficient milk to make the sauce of the desired consistency; add a
tablespoonful of Parmesan cheese, stir well, make it hot, and serve.
(_c_) Boil some onions in milk, with pepper, salt, and nutmeg. When
quite done pass them through a sieve. Put some butter and flour into
a saucepan; when the butter is melted and well mixed with the flour
put in the pulp of the onions, and add either milk or cream, stirring
the sauce on the fire until it is of the desired consistency.
_Orange Sauce_ (Bigarade).--Pare off, as thinly as possible, the
yellow rind of 2 Seville oranges; cut it into very thin shreds,
and boil them in water for 5 minutes. Melt a piece of butter in a
saucepan, add to it 1 tablespoonful flour, and stir until it begins
to colour; add a gill of stock, pepper and salt to taste, the juice
of the oranges, and a good pinch of sugar; then put in the boiled
rinds, stir the sauce until it boils, and serve.
_Oyster Sauce_ (aux Huîtres).--(_a_) Parboil the oysters in their
own liquor, beard them, and reserve all the liquor. Melt a piece of
butter in a saucepan, add a little flour, the oyster liquor, and
enough milk to make as much sauce as is wanted. Put in a blade of
mace and a bay leaf tied together, pepper and salt to taste, and
the least dust of cayenne. Let the sauce come to the boil, add the
oysters, and as soon as they are quite hot remove the mace and bay
leaf. Stir in a few drops of lemon juice, and serve.
(_b_) To make this in perfection is really one of the simplest
operations in cookery Open 24 oysters; scald them, beard and wash
them, and strain the liquor from them very carefully. Put all this
into a stewpan of rich melted butter; let the oysters get thoroughly
hot through; add the juice of a lemon, and serve.
(_c_) Mock.--1 teacupful good gravy, 1 of milk, 3 dessertspoons
anchovy sauce, 2 of mushroom ketchup, 2 oz. butter, 1 teaspoonful
pounded mace, whole black pepper. All to be boiled until thoroughly
mixed.
_Parsley_ (au Persil).--(_a_) Pick the parsley while quite green,
wash it in cold water to remove all dust, &c., cut off all the
stalks, and lay it on paper before the fire till quite crisp. It
is never so good a colour if dried in the oven. Crumble it in your
hands, then pass it through a wire sieve, which will retain all the
stalks and let the parsley go through; put it into wide-mouthed
bottles, and cork tightly. When required for use, boil it with a
little soda for 5 minutes.
(_b_) And Butter.--Melt 1 oz. butter, and add to it 1 dessertspoonful
flour, salt, and white pepper to taste; stir on the fire for 2
minutes, add a little more than 1 tumblerful boiling water by
degrees, and a small quantity of parsley, blanched and finely
chopped; keep on stirring for 5 minutes, but do not let the sauce
boil.
(_c_) Fried.--Pick out a number of sprigs as much of a size as
possible, hold them together by the stalks, and shake them repeatedly
in cold water, so as to thoroughly wash them; then shake out the
water from them, and dry them thoroughly and effectually in a cloth,
cut off the stalks close, put the parsley in the frying basket, and
dip it for about a minute in boiling hot lard or oil, never ceasing
the while to shake the basket. Turn out the parsley on a napkin in
the screen in front of the fire to drain. Parsley should be fried
just before it is wanted.
_Pepper Pot._--(_a_) Get a buck pot (those made by the Buck Indians
in Demerara are the best), and put into it 1 qt. cold water, 3
tablespoonfuls cassareep, salt to suit taste, and a handful of “bird”
peppers. Your meat must be well cooked, and after cutting it into
small pieces throw it into the liquor in the pot, and let it boil
for ¾ hour. The pepper-pot is now fit for use, but you will find it
better and more palatable when many days old. You can from day to
day add any broken pieces of meat left from table, taking care to
warm your pot every day, to see that the meat is always covered with
gravy, and never to put fish into it. You may put hard-boiled eggs
and cooked meats of all sorts, whether fresh or salted; the greater
the variety, the sweeter your pot. When fresh gravy is added (i.e.
your qt. of water, and 3 tablespoonfuls cassareep, &c.) you must take
care to have your pot boil for ¾ hour, as at first. Take care not to
cover your pot, when put aside, till cool. Pork and ox tail are the
best things to start the pot with. The “odds and ends” are scraps of
any sort of flesh or fowl, drumsticks, &c. When handed round (the
pot itself should come to table neatly covered with a table napkin),
rice (of course boiled separately) should be handed at the same time,
and on no account put into the pot. If a proper “buck” pot cannot be
obtained, a round earthenware one is a fair substitute.
(_b_) Take a good-sized jar (jam-pot shape if possible), into it
put any cold cooked meat you have, viz. ham, bacon, fowl, rabbit,
game, beef, or mutton, &c.; mix them together, flavour with shallot,
cayenne pepper, and salt; pour in some good stock, and plenty of
cassareep sauce; this last ingredient is difficult to obtain out of
the West Indies. It is by far the best; but if unobtainable, add soy
or Harvey’s sauce to taste. Make thoroughly hot in the oven; serve
with a table napkin folded round the pot. The pepper-pot is kept
going for weeks without cleaning, and is replenished with the various
ingredients as required. The West Indians improve its flavour by
adding their own native green and red pepper pods, which are very hot.
_Plum Pudding Sauce._--(_a_) Fresh butter and powdered lump sugar
beaten together until the mixture becomes of the consistency of cream.
(_b_) Beat up the yolks of 6 new-laid eggs with 6 tablespoonfuls
powdered lump sugar; add ½ tumbler pale brandy, and rather more than
½ tumbler sherry; put the mixture in a jug, place this in a saucepan
full of boiling water, and froth up the sauce for about 10 minutes
with a chocolate mill.
(_c_) The best French pale brandy.
(_d_) Foam Sauce.--1 cup white sugar, 3 of butter, 1 tablespoonful
flour. Beat to a cream, put it on the stove, and add 1 wineglassful
sherry or ½ wineglass brandy; stir quickly until it is all foam.
(_e_) Hard Sauce.--4 oz. butter, 5 oz. sugar, beaten to a cream; pile
it on the dish. You can add a scrape of nutmeg or a little lemon
juice when beating it, or brandy, as you like--not enough to thin it,
only to flavour.
(_f_) Beat up together ¼ lb. butter, 4 teaspoonfuls brown sugar, 1
egg, and 1 wineglassful wine. Boil it up once, and serve immediately.
_Polish Sauce._--Put a piece of butter and 1 tablespoonful sugar in
a stewpan, and when melted throw in 1 tablespoonful flour and let it
brown. Then stir in ¾ pint red wine; add a good handful of currants
washed and picked, the same quantity of raisins stoned, a small
handful of almonds blanched, powdered cinnamon and bruised cloves.
Let all simmer ¼ hour or till the currants are plumped and soft.
_Prune Sauce._--Boil ½ lb. prunes in a little water till soft, then
take out the stones and break them in a mortar; put the fruit and
crushed stones in a stewpan with a glass of wine, the juice of a
lemon, and a strip of its peel; add ½ teaspoonful powdered cinnamon,
some sugar, and the syrup in which the prunes were boiled; simmer
a few minutes, then pass the sauce through a coarse sieve. If too
thick, add a little more water or wine.
_Pudding Sauce._--(_a_) Pour ½ pint fast boiling water on 1 large
tablespoonful flour, mixed smoothly in 1 gill ale. Sweeten with 2 oz.
raw sugar, add a large pinch of grated nutmeg, or any other spice,
stir over the fire until it boils, then put in 1 oz. butter, and when
it is dissolved the sauce will be ready.
(_b_) The yolks of 4 eggs, and the juice of 2 lemons, sugar to taste,
and if you choose, a wineglass of hock; make these hot in a pan, and
when it begins to thicken, add the whites, which have been beaten to
a froth, and serve with the pudding almost directly.
(_c_) Scald 1 oz. Jordan almonds and 6 bitter almonds; bruise them
in a mortar with 4 oz. sugar and 1 tablespoonful _eau de fleurs
d’oranger_ to a pulp. Put this in a small stewpan, with 1 gill of
cream, 2 yolks raw eggs, and with a wire whisk whip the sauce (always
one way) over a very slow heat till it becomes a substantial smooth
froth.
(_d_) A little caramel, the yolks of 2 eggs, ¼ pint cream, ½ glass
brandy or sherry, stir in a jug till it thickens; put on ice to cool.
_Quin Sauce._--2 gal. each mushroom ketchup and walnut ketchup, 1
gal. soy, 1 lb. garlic, 6 lb. sprats; boil ¼ hour; strain; bottle.
_Raspberry Sauce._--Put into a stewpan 4 well-beaten eggs, 2
teaspoonfuls flour, 1 pint fresh raspberry juice, and ¼ lb. sugar;
whisk this over the fire till it thickens and rises well; serve while
it is light and frothy. Other similar fruit may be used in the same
way. If red currants be chosen more sugar will be required.
_Ravigote Sauce._--(_a_) Take equal parts parsley, chervil, garden
cress, and tarragon; mince them very finely. Rub a saucepan with
shallot, melt a piece of butter in it, add a little flour, mix
thoroughly, then add stock _quant. suff._, pepper, salt, a glass of
white wine, and the herbs. Let the sauce come to the boil, then throw
in a small pat of butter, a squeeze of lemon, and serve.
(_b_) Pound in a mortar some fine herbs, previously chopped--viz.
parsley, chervil, cress, pimpernel, celery, chives, scallions--a
spoonful of capers, 1 or 2 anchovies; reduce to a smooth paste, add
the yolk of an egg, salt, pepper, 1 spoonful oil, and 1 of vinegar.
_Rum Butter._--Grate 1 lb. coarse brown sugar as fine as possible,
add ½ small nutmeg grated, melt a little over ¼ but not quite ½ lb.
butter, stir in the sugar and nutmeg; add 1 wineglassful good rum,
and beat it well up. Pour into a deep glass dish or basin, and when
cold sprinkle powdered white sugar well over it.
_Sharp Sauce._--(_a_) Robert.--Put a large piece of butter rolled
in flour into a saucepan, add chopped and blanched parsley and
mushrooms, a little chopped shallot, and the least bit of garlic.
Moisten with a cupful of stock, add salt, a grate of nutmeg, and some
English mustard; amalgamate thoroughly, and serve in a boat.
(_b_) Poivrade.--Take 3 parts olive oil, 1 of tarragon vinegar, a
little mustard, plenty of pepper and salt to taste, beat them up with
a fork until perfectly amalgamated.
(_c_) Piquante.--3 cloves garlic, 3 shallots, 3 anchovies, 2
tablespoonfuls mushroom, 1 oz. cayenne. Bruise all well together in a
mortar, and mix with them 1½ pint boiling vinegar. Shake the bottle
occasionally, and let it stand 2-3 weeks. Then strain and bottle for
use.
(_d_) Brown Sharp Sauce.--Cut a small carrot and a few shallots
into dice, put them into a stewpan with a small pat of butter, some
parsley, and parsley roots, 2 or 3 slices lean ham, a little thyme, ½
bay leaf, a clove, a little mace, and a few grains of peppercorn and
allspice. Set the stewpan on a slow fire till the contents attain a
fine brown colour; keep stirring with a wooden spoon; pour into it
4 tablespoonfuls white vinegar, and add a lump of sugar. This must
reduce until almost a glaze. Moisten this with some rich brown gravy,
preferably with that made from veal and ham, but in any case it
must have had mushrooms, parsley, and green onions boiled in it for
flavouring, a little plain consommé should also be added; season with
a little cayenne and salt. This should be tasted to ascertain whether
it be salt enough, and also to ensure its not being too acid; should
it be so, add a little more of the brown gravy; skim off the fat,
strain the sauce through a tammy, and serve.
(_e_) White Sharp Sauce.--Put a small bunch of tarragon into a
stewpan with 4 tablespoonfuls white vinegar (or, if there be
no fresh tarragon, tarragon vinegar may be used), and about 20
peppercorns; let the vinegar reduce to a quarter of its original
quantity. Have ready some good white sauce which has been flavoured
with a few mushrooms, a bunch of parsley, and green onions. Pour
6 tablespoonfuls of this sauce into the stewpan with the vinegar,
and 2 tablespoonfuls stock; let this reduce over a hot fire. Strain
it through a tammy, and then put it again on the fire. When it has
boiled, take it off the fire, thicken it with the yolks of 2 eggs
and stir in a small bit of butter. Should it be rather brown, add a
spoonful of cream to restore the white appearance, and add a little
cayenne pepper and salt.
_Shrimp Sauce_ (Crevette).--Take ½ pint shrimps, pick out all the
meat from the tails, pound the rest in a mortar with the juice of
half a lemon and a piece of butter; pass the whole through a sieve.
Make 1 pint melted butter, put the meat from the tails into it,
add a dust of cayenne, and when the sauce boils stir into it the
shrimp butter that has come through the sieve, with or without a
tablespoonful of cream.
_Soubise Sauce._--Peel and blanch 6 onions, cool them in water,
drain, and put them in a stewpan with sufficient water or white
stock, to cover them; add some cayenne, bay leaf, a little mace, a
small piece of ham or bacon; keep the lid closely shut, and simmer
gently till tender, take them out, drain thoroughly, press through
a sieve or tammy cloth, add ½ pint béchamel made in the following
manner: Put into a stewpan a little parsley, 1 clove, ¼ bay leaf,
some sweet herbs, and 1 pint white stock; when boiled long enough to
extract the flavour of the herbs, &c., strain it, boil up quickly,
and reduce to half the quantity, mix 1 tablespoonful arrowroot with
½ pint milk or cream, pour on the reduced stock, and simmer for 10
minutes.
_Spinach Greening._--Take enough spinach for a small dish, wash, and
pound it in a mortar until quite soft; then lay it in a strong, clean
kitchen cloth to wring out the juice. This is best done by 2 persons,
one at either end of the cloth, each twisting the extremity round a
wooden spoon to form a handle. This will enable them to wring the
cloth so tightly as to easily extract all moisture from the spinach.
This juice must be immediately placed in a small stewpan and held
over the fire until it thickens, it must be then turned out upon a
hair sieve to drain away the watery part. When this has all come
away, rub the spinach green through the sieve with a wooden spoon,
and it is then ready for use.
_Sweet Sauce._--(_a_) Melted butter and sugar.
(_b_) Ditto, with addition of either raspberry juice or raspberry
vinegar.
(_c_) Mix arrowroot with cold water, pour boiling water on it,
stirring till it thickens. Add to this lumps of broken sugar which
have been rubbed on lemon peel (to imbibe the flavour), and the
strained juice of a lemon.
(_d_) Cut the peel of a large lemon into very narrow strips, let them
remain in water by the fire for 1-2 hours, then boil them up with
Demerara sugar till like syrup, squeeze the juice in, put the lemon
straws on the pudding, and pour the sauce over. This sauce is very
good with Sir Watkin’s pudding.
(_e_) Melted currant jelly, with or without the addition of a little
water. Wine or rum would be a considerable improvement to several of
the above recipes (though not essential), especially to (_e_).
_Tartare Sauce._--(_a_) Stir into the yolk of a new-laid egg, drop
by drop, 1 tablespoonful salad oil; when well mixed, add by degrees
a little chili vinegar, 1 tablespoonful of vinegar, 3 teaspoonfuls
mustard, a little salt and pepper, and some finely chopped parsley;
beat all until of the consistency of cream; cover closely, and set in
a cool place until wanted. It should be made 4-5 hours before used.
(_b_) To the yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs add the yolk of 1 raw egg, 1
teaspoonful mustard and a little salt. Mix the whole well together,
then by degrees add ½ pint salad oil. Beat the whole well together
until it becomes of the consistency of good paste, then add tarragon
vinegar to taste. When the sauce is to be sent to table add a little
chopped tarragon and chervil.
(_c_) Take 2 or 3 shallots, some chervil, and tarragon. Shred them
fine, then add some mustard (either dry or wet), salt, pepper, and a
very little oil and vinegar, stirring constantly. If your sauce gets
too thick put a little more vinegar, and if it tastes too salt add a
little oil and mustard.
_Tomato Sauce_ (Tomate).--(_a_) 10 lb. ripe tomatoes, 1 pint best
brown vinegar, 2 oz. salt, ½ oz. cloves, 1 oz. allspice, ½ lb. white
sugar, 1 oz. garlic, ½ oz. black pepper, ½ oz. cayenne pepper. Wipe
the tomatoes clean, and boil or bake till soft; then strain and rub
through a sieve that will retain the seeds and skins. Boil the juice
for 1 hour, then add the above ingredients (all the spices must be
ground). Boil all together for a sufficient time, which may be known
by the absence of any watery particle, and by the whole becoming a
smooth mass; 5 hours will generally suffice. Bottle without straining
into perfectly dry bottles, and cork securely when cold. The garlic
must be peeled. The proportions of spice may be varied according to
taste.
(_b_) Take 1 peck tomatoes, 10 large onions, or shallots in
proportion, 6 capsicums, and ½ lb. salt. Cut the tomatoes, onions,
and capsicums very small, and work them well together with the salt.
Let it stand 3 days in an earthen vessel, then add 1 oz. black
peppercorns, 1 oz. allspice, and a few cloves, and boil it for nearly
1 hour, stirring it often to prevent it from burning. Then beat it
through a colander, and when cold add ½ pint vinegar to keep it from
fermenting, and bottle it up, adding 1 tablespoonful vinegar at the
top of each bottle. Cork and seal it down, and it will keep for years.
(_c_) Choose ripe tomatoes, and bake till tender, pulp through a
sieve. To every lb. of pulp allow 1 pint chili vinegar, 1 oz. garlic,
1 oz. shallot, plenty of horseradish, ½ oz. ground white pepper, ½
oz. salt. Boil the whole together until every ingredient is tender.
Rub the mixture through a sieve; then to every lb. add the juice of 2
lemons. Boil the whole together until it attains the consistency of
good cream. When cold bottle it; keep it dry and cool.
(_d_) Break with a wooden spoon ½ sieve ripe tomatoes, and rub them
through a hair sieve into a preserving pan; set the pan on the
fire, and keep stirring them until they boil well and become of the
consistency of very thick cream; as soon as they boil, add 2 oz.
shallots and 1 oz. garlic, keep stirring, and, just before taking
them off the fire, put in a few chilies or a little cayenne pepper,
adding salt to taste; pour off into wide-mouthed bottles as soon as
sufficiently boiled, and when cold cork the bottles, covering the
corks with resin.
(_e_) Cut up the tomatoes, and put them into a saucepan containing a
little water, with some parsley, basil, marjoram, thyme, and laurel
leaf according to taste, a clove of garlic, a few cloves, some whole
pepper, and salt. Let them boil till thoroughly done, then strain off
the water, and pass them through a hair sieve. Put a piece of butter
in a saucepan, add to it when melted a spoonful of flour and the
tomato pulp; mix thoroughly, and when hot the sauce is ready. (The G.
C.)
(_f_) To every lb. tomato (ripe) rubbed through a sieve, after being
baked, add 1 pint vinegar, 1 oz. garlic, 1 oz. shallot sliced very
fine, ½ oz. white pepper, ½ oz. salt. Boil these together, and strain
them through a hair sieve. To every lb. add the juice of 3 lemons,
and boil the whole together till it has acquired the consistency of
cream. When cold bottle it, and keep it in a dry place well corked.
(_g_) Boil in a covered jar, in a saucepan of water, ripe tomatoes,
with ¼ oz. shred shallots to every lb. of the fruit. When quite
tender rub the pulp through a sieve, and to every lb. add 1 pint
vinegar and the juice of 2 lemons, ½ oz. salt, ¼ oz. white pepper
ground, and 1 small teaspoonful cayenne pepper. Boil over a slow fire
until the sauce is sufficiently thick. Keep it in ½ pint bottles,
well corked and covered with bladder, in a dry place. Capsicums may
be used instead of the cayenne, and if liked a very small quantity of
garlic; either or both must be boiled in the jar with the tomatoes.
(_h_) Slice tomatoes, put them in a weak solution of salt and water
for 2 days, then scald them well, as the salt is not to season but to
toughen them a little. Put them in a kettle with water enough to just
prevent them from burning, and let them slowly cook for an hour; then
add 1 qt. vinegar, 1 full tablespoon each of powdered mace, allspice,
and cloves, ½ spoonful mustard seed, 1 teacup brown sugar, and a few
slices of onion. A little celery seed or other flavouring of celery
is an improvement. Pour this on, and cook ½ hour longer.
(_i_) ¼ peck green or half-ripe tomatoes, 3 onions (or shallots, if
preferred); slice them, cover with vinegar, and stew them well, with
a spice bag of pepper, cloves, ginger, and chilies, until quite a
pulp, when strain all the vinegar away, and press the pulp through a
coarse sieve. Mix in a little cold vinegar, 1 oz. arrowroot, 1 oz.
mustard, mix this with boiling vinegar, and add all to the pulp with
cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Just boil it all up again, adding
as much of the vinegar the tomatoes were stewed in as will make the
sauce as thick as good cream. Sugar may be added if the tomatoes are
very sour.
(_j_) Gather the tomatoes quite ripe on a sunny day. Cut them into
quarters, and put them into a saucepan with salt _quant. suff._, a
good handful of basil, and 3 or 4 cloves of garlic. A little water
should be put into the saucepan to prevent the tomatoes catching.
When they are thoroughly done turn them out upon a hair sieve, and
wait till all the water has drained from them. Throw away this water,
and pass the tomatoes through the sieve. The pulp thus obtained
is put into a saucepan to boil for about ½ hour, and a moderate
quantity of black pepper maybe added according to taste. When the
sauce is quite cold, put it into wide-mouthed bottles, cork tightly,
and tie up each cork with string or wire; dip the neck of each
bottle into melted rosin, and you may then put them away to be used
when required. The bottles should be of moderate size, for, once
opened, the sauce will no longer keep good. Another way consists
in letting the tomato pulp reduce in the saucepan until it assumes
the appearance of a very thick paste, care being taken to stir it
constantly. When cold it is put away like jam, in pots. When wanted
for use, a small quantity of it is dissolved in hot water. (The G. C.)
(_k_) Bake tomatoes when quite ripe until quite tender, then rub them
through a coarse sieve; weigh, and for every lb. of pulp take 1 qt.
chili vinegar, 1 oz. garlic, 1 oz. shallots, both peeled and sliced,
and a ¼ oz. salt. Boil the chili vinegar, garlic, shallots, and salt
together until the ingredients are tender; them rub them through a
sieve, and to each lb. of all the ingredients mixed together add the
juice of 3 lemons. Boil the whole again to the consistency of thick
cream, bottle it when quite cold, and keep it in a cold dry place. ½
pint good ketchup should be added to the sauce when opened for use.