finely with the pulp and rind of a lemon; melt a pat of butter in a
saucepan, mix with it 1 tablespoonful flour, add the minced parsley
and lemon, sufficient broth or stock to make the sauce, a little
pounded mace and a few capers; stir over the fire, and when partly
cooked add, off the fire, the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up.
Pike.--(_a_) Soup.--Boil until quite soft 2 oz. well-washed rice
in sufficient salt and water, with a small piece of butter. Take 1
lb. flesh of pike well freed from bones and skin, divide it into
small pieces, and toss them in butter until cooked; mince it finely,
together with 3 hard-boiled yolks of eggs, pound in a mortar,
and stir them into the rice, with salt and pepper to taste; add
sufficient water to make the soup, and pass the whole through a fine
sieve. Let the soup come to the boil, and serve over small sippets of
toast.
(_b_) Stewed, with Butter Sauce.--Prepare some stock. Cleanse the
fish, remove the inside, cut off the fins, rub it well with salt,
and pour over it a glass of vinegar. Lay the fish in the stock,
and simmer gently until thoroughly cooked, strain, and serve with
the following sauce: Put 3 oz. butter in a saucepan, add to it 2
spoonfuls milk and some grated nutmeg, add sufficient stock strained
from the fish to make the sauce. Let the sauce boil, then add, off
the fire, the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up with 1 gill cream, pour over
the fish, and serve. This dish is improved by stewing the fish the
previous day, then allowing it to get cold in the stock, and stewing
it a second time when wanted.
Sardine Sauce.--Remove the tails, skin, and bone from 1 doz.
sardines, cut them up into small pieces. Take a shallot, a small
quantity of parsley, and the thin rind and pulp of ½ lemon; mince all
very finely. Melt in a saucepan a pat of butter with 1 tablespoonful
flour. When it has taken colour, add the above mince, with enough
stock to make the sauce; let it boil, and lastly add a little grated
nutmeg.
Sorrel Sauce.--Pick from the stalks and wash carefully 2 handfuls of
sorrel, drain, and then chop it somewhat coarsely. Melt in a saucepan
a pat of butter, mix with it 1 small tablespoonful flour, add the
sorrel and ½ pint cream, a little stock, salt, and grated nutmeg; let
it come to the boil, and it is ready.
Trout.--(_a_) Choose small fish, cleanse and wash them, remove the
fins, and rub them well over with salt; mix a handful of flour with
some salt and pepper, roll the fish over in it, and then fry them in
hot fat until of a light brown colour, drain and serve.
(_b_) Take some rather small trout, remove the insides, cut off the
fins, wash them carefully, and sprinkle them with vinegar. Put into a
stewpan one pint of stock or broth well freed from fat, ½ pint wine,
¼ pint vinegar, a few slices of onion, some parsley, bay leaf, whole
pepper and salt to taste, lay the trout in this and simmer gently,
without letting them quite boil, until done. Strain off the sauce,
place the fish on a hot dish, garnish with parsley, and serve either
with oil and vinegar, or with the following sauce. Melt a small piece
of butter in a saucepan, stir into it 1 tablespoonful flour, and add
some of the strained sauce from the fish, let it boil, and pour over
the trout.
_German._--Beer Soup.--Bake to a good dark-brown ½ lb. bread, which
has been previously soaked in oiled fresh butter, crumble it up, and
add 1½ pint beer, the same quantity of red wine, some thin rind of
lemon peel finely chopped, some cinnamon, cloves, and pounded white
sugar. Boil the whole up lightly, and serve with some thin slices of
bread fried in butter, laid on the top.
Bowle.--The drink one gets in Germany under the name of “bowle” is
prepared in several ways, according to the season. In principle it
is a simple mixture of wine and some aromatic herb or seasonable
fruit, and sweetened to taste, which is sometimes further improved
by a slice of orange. Some people add champagne, others, more
economically, some effervescing water, additions which are not
always improvements. It is best to dissolve the sugar in a little
water, and pour it upon the herb or fruit in a suitable receptacle,
and then add a light (still) Rhenish or Moselle wine; the latter is
preferable. An agreeable variation may be made by using some red
wine, perhaps 1 bottle in 4 or 5. This mixture should stand covered
until the taste has become pleasingly noticeable, and then, in some
cases, the substance used should be removed to avoid the bitter
flavour which comes later. The quantities required can only be learnt
by experience. The favourite German bowle is the Maibowle, made of
Maikraut or Waldmeister (Asperula odorata, woodruff), which is found
late in April and May. Strawberries (wild strawberries are better),
apricots, peaches, pineapples, crushed or sliced, make delicious
drinks. Celery is also used. There are also numerous “essences” and
“extracts” in common use, which make one independent of the seasons,
but they only indifferently take the place of fresh fruit, with
perhaps the exception of the essence of pineapple, which is not bad.
Bretzeln.--Mix 1 large tablespoonful yeast into a good ½ pint warm
milk; stir it into 1½ lb. of flour, and beat it well. In another
pan beat ½ lb. butter to cream; add to this 2 oz. sifted sugar, 3
eggs, another tablespoonful yeast, and a little salt. Put the dough
into this, and beat altogether thoroughly till quite smooth; cut off
pieces the size of an egg, roll them into round bars 6-8 in. long,
and tapering off at the ends. Lay them on buttered tins, curving them
in half circles or new-moon shapes, leaving space between each. Put
them by gentle warmth to rise, and when light brush them over with
egg; dust sugar over, and bake them a pale brown.
Carnival Krapfen.--Whisk 2 eggs well, add to them 1 oz. sifted sugar,
2 oz. warmed butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of yeast, 1 teacupful lukewarm
milk, and a little salt. Whip all well together, then stir in by
degrees 1 lb. of flour, and, if requisite, more milk, making thin
dough. Beat it until it falls from the spoon, then set it to rise.
When it has risen, make butter or lard hot in a frying-pan, cut from
the light dough little pieces the size of a walnut, and, without
moulding or kneading, fry them pale brown. As they are done, lay them
on a napkin to absorb any of the fat.
Cherry Soup.--1 lb. cherries (sour cherries are best in summer,
and dry ones in winter), a little spice, a little potato flour or
arrowroot, a glass or so of red wine (viz. common claret). Remove
the stones from 1 lb. cherries, pour water over them, and stew them
with a little spice and cinnamon for about an hour; then rub them
through a hair sieve, and let them boil with a little potato flour
or arrowroot. Add sugar and red wine (common claret) to taste; a
wineglassful is about enough. Serve with sippets of roll or toast.
Chocolate Soup.--3 pints milk, ½ lb. chocolate, the yolks of 2 eggs,
1 teaspoonful potato flour or arrowroot, a little sugar and cinnamon.
Break the chocolate into small pieces, and mix it with a little
boiling water until it becomes a paste. Boil the milk, and mix it
all together with the addition of 1 teaspoonful arrowroot or potato
flour. Let it all boil for a minute or so, stirring it the while,
and then add sugar and cinnamon to taste. Before serving beat up the
yolks of 2 eggs, and put them in the tureen, pouring part of the soup
in first while well stirring it, and then adding the rest. Sippets
of rusk (toast is not general in Germany, but would do as well) are
sometimes sent up in it.
Dicke Milch.--This is merely new milk put into a pie dish or other
shallow vessel, and allowed to stand 2-3 days, according to the
weather, until it is sour and thick, but not quite so stiff as blanc
mange. Only experience can guide one as to the exact stage at which
it is ready to use. If left too long, a watery fluid rises to the
top. It is eaten with breadcrumbs and sugar.
Dingy Pudding.--Stir together the yolks of 4 eggs, 2 oz. sugar, and
1½ oz. almonds, sliced in their peel. Then stir in 2 oz. grated
chocolate, 2 teaspoonfuls grated brown bread, soaked in red wine, 2
oz. currants, ½ teaspoonful allspice or 6 pounded cloves, and add the
egg whites whisked to a snow. Steam the pudding in a covered mould,
and serve with chocolate sauce poured over. Allow 1½ hour to steam.
Dresdener Torte.--Take ½ lb. butter, and beat it with 4 eggs and 5
yolks for ½ hour; put in after you have beaten it 8 oz. castor sugar,
3 spoonfuls cream, ½ lb. fine flour, 1 spoonful white wine, the
rind of a grated lemon; beat it well together, fill the whole in a
buttered form, and bake it for ¾ hour.
Egg Dumplings.--Beat 2 oz. butter to a cream, and stir in the yolks
of 3 eggs, with 1 oz. powdered sugar; mix 2 tablespoonfuls good yeast
with 1 teacupful lukewarm milk; add this to the above. Having warmed
1 lb. fine flour, stir this in by degrees; the mass should be as
thick as a light bread dough. Beat it well and set it to rise; then
dredge a paste-board with plenty of flour. Form, with light handling,
egg-sized rolls, and set them to rise a second time on the board.
Put 2 oz. butter and the same of loaf sugar in a stewpan, with milk
enough to cover the bottom nearly 1 in. deep; let this boil by the
time the dough has risen; place carefully in the stewpan as many as
it will hold without crowding. Bake them in the oven or over a clear
fire, with red coals on the lid: ½ hour should bake them sufficiently.
Flummery.--Dissolve 1 oz. isinglass in 1 pint boiling water, let it
stand 2 hours, pour it into a saucepan with ¼ lb. sugar, the juice
and peel of a lemon, and the yolks of 4 eggs; set it on the fire, and
keep stirring till it boils; strain it through a flannel bag, and
when almost cold pour it into the mould, which must be dipped in cold
water before you fill it.
Fricadel.--Take 1 lb. uncooked lean veal and ½ lb. lean ham, mince
both finely with a small bunch of parsley, lemon thyme, and lemon
peel, add a little grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoonful salt, half that
quantity of white pepper, and a pinch of cayenne; mix well with
the above 4 oz. good butter and 5 oz. biscuit powder, beat 4 eggs
well, add to them 1 teacup cold water, and stir these to the other
ingredients; when thoroughly mixed take your baking pan, and mould
your fricadel in the centre of it to a flat round or oval shape,
cover it with biscuit powder, put some butter in the pan to baste it
with, and cook it until of a nice golden brown, either in an oven or
before the fire. When nearly done, put 2-3 tablespoonfuls thick cream
in the pan and baste the fricadel with it; when done, which will be
in about ¾ hour, lift it with 2 egg slices carefully on to the dish
you will serve it on, and surround it with a thick rich brown gravy.
Thick captain’s biscuits are best for the biscuit powder.
Frothed Milk Soup.--Pound 6 bitter almonds and boil them in 2 qt.
milk, or, instead of the almonds, use half a stick of vanilla; add
sugar to taste, and a little salt. Beat separately 4 eggs; the whites
must be whisked to a stiff froth, then mixed with the yolks. Let the
milk just cease boiling, and whisk in the eggs till it froths well,
but not over the fire or the eggs will curdle. Serve with small
sponge biscuits.
Frothed Wine Soup.--Beat 4 eggs and the yolks of 4 others in a
stewpan; add 4-6 oz. sugar, ½ pint water, the grated peel and rind of
a lemon, and a bottle of white wine; place it over a slow fire, and
whisk it continually till quite frothy and on the point of boiling,
but no further; serve as soon as it is ready, or the froth will
subside; hand sponge or other light cake with it.
Groat Pudding.--Boil raspberries or red currants, press and strain
the juice. To 1 pint this add 1 pint red wine, and set it on the
fire with ample sugar to sweeten. When it boils sprinkle in ¼ lb.
coarsely-ground corn, barley, or groats; stir this till it thickens
and is done, then put it into a wetted mould; when quite cold, turn
it out on a dish. Any fruit sauce may be poured over it. The same red
pudding may be made with rice, nudels, or sago. It should turn out of
the mould in a jelly, but not too stiff.
Grütze.--(_a_) As made in Hamburg and Norway, 3½ lb. red currant
juice, 3 pints water, sugar _ad lib._, flavouring of almonds or
cinnamon 1 oz. Set this mixture on the fire, and when it boils add 1
lb. sago or 1¼ lb. ground rice; boil for ¼ hour, stirring frequently.
Pour into moulds to cool. Should be eaten in soup plates with sifted
sugar and milk. Any acid fruit-juice will do as well.
(_b_) 2 lb. red currants, ½ lb. raspberries, boiled in 1½ pint water;
when quite soft pass through a sieve; make this juice quite boil; add
¾ lb. sago well soaked in water; let it boil ¼ hour, stirring it all
the time. Wet a mould with cold water, pour in, and when cold turn
it out. To be eaten with milk, cream, or custard. Any other fruit or
preserve will do.
Gulasch.--Cut a tender piece of steak into quite small pieces, lay
them in a deep frying-pan, with a little bacon, some slices of onion,
a little pepper and salt, and fry them in butter till the gravy looks
brown; then add a little lemon juice, a small quantity of water, and
a wineglassful of wine if liked; cover the pan, and let the contents
simmer till the meat is quite done.
Honigküchen.--1 lb. honey, 1 lb. flour, ¼ lb. butter, ¼ lb. almonds
pounded coarsely, 1 dr. pounded cloves, the grated peel of a lemon,
and ½ oz. soda carbonate dissolved in water. Let the honey and butter
come to a boil over the fire, take this off, and in a few minutes
stir in the flour and spice by degrees, then the almonds, and lastly
the soda. Let the mass stand all night in a cool place, In the
morning roll it ½ in. thick, cut it into little square cakes, put ½
almond in each corner, and a slice of peel in the middle. Bake them
in a moderate oven a pale brown.
Knödeln.--(_a_) Beat ¼ lb. butter to a cream, beat 3 eggs to a froth,
and add gradually to the butter; then add about 2 breakfastcupfuls
breadcrumbs; mix and make into balls the size of a walnut. Perhaps
salt ought to be added. In clear soup they are excellent.
(_b_) Mash 3 or 4 large potatoes smoothly with 1 large tablespoonful
flour, mix with 1 well-beaten egg; make into balls the size of a
walnut, and boil. These are served with meat in the place of other
vegetables, or baked.
Köche (Moulds).--We have no suitable term for this sort of dish in
English. Sponge pudding is the nearest, but this does not do it
justice; nor is custard right. We must therefore call it a mould.
(_a_) Bread.--Stir well together the yolks of 6 eggs and 3 oz.
powdered sugar, mix in 2 oz. grated bread, any approved flavouring
of spice or grated lemon peel, and the whites of 4 eggs whisked to a
stiff snow, stirred lightly in at last; have a mould well buttered,
sprinkle in it some finely shred blanched almonds, and lay here and
there a thin slice of candied peel; put the mass into the mould and
steam it with care; boil sugar to a thread height and pour it over
when the köche is turned out of the mould. Serve it without delay.
(_b_) Chestnut.--Stir 2 oz. butter with 3 oz. sugar, the yolks of
6 eggs, and 4 bitter almonds pounded fine. Have chestnuts boiled
and pounded smooth or grated; add ¼ lb. these, and then stir in the
whites of 4 eggs whisked to a snow. Steam the mass in a well-buttered
mould; when turned out serve with any approved sauce.
Kräplen.--1 pint milk, 2 lb. flour, 2 oz. fresh butter, 5 eggs,
1 tablespoonful pounded sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls rosewater, 2
tablespoonfuls good yeast, and a good pinch of salt. These
ingredients must be mixed in the following manner. Having warmed the
milk just lukewarm, stir in the flour, working it as dry as possible.
The butter should be placed in a cup near the fire till warm, and
then pour it on to the dough, and work it well in; then beat up the
eggs, and pour them little by little on to the dough, kneading it
well all the time. Lastly, mix in the sugar, salt, rosewater, and
yeast, and beat it well together until you see blisters coming in it.
Now divide it in pieces about the size of 2 fingers and ½ in. thick.
Let these stand in a warm place until they have well risen, and then
bake them on buttered tins till they are of a rich golden colour,
and, while warm, sprinkle well with white sugar and grated cinnamon,
if the flavouring is not objected to.
Lebkuchen.--1 pint honey, ¾ lb. sugar, 1½ lb. fine flour, ¼ lb.
almonds in the skins, each one sliced into 4 or 5, ½ lb. mixed
candied peel sliced and cut up ½ in. long, the peel of a lemon cut
very small, ½ oz. powdered cinnamon, 1 dr. powdered cloves, ½ nutmeg
grated, a small glass of rum, and 1 saltspoonful carbonate soda. Put
the honey and sugar in a stewpan over the fire, and when it boils up
throw in the almonds; let them simmer 5 minutes, then take the pan
from the fire, put in the spice and peel. Let it cool a little, then
stir in the soda, next the rum, and lastly work in the flour. While
this dough is still warm roll it out as thin as possible; cut oblong
pieces, about 4 in. long and 2 broad; lay them nearly close together
on buttered or well-floured tins, and let them remain all night in a
cool place. Bake them next day, after the bread in a baker’s oven.
They must not be done brown. As soon as they are taken out, draw a
knife across the tins to divide them in the pieces above described,
and when cold break them apart. Boil some moist sugar in a little
water till it will draw into threads, glaze them on one side with
this, and let them dry.
Marzipan.--Blanch, and then pound very fine 1 lb. sweet and a few
bitter almonds, adding a few spoonfuls of rosewater; put the almond
paste in a stewpan with 1 lb. powdered sugar, and stir over the
fire till a smooth paste is obtained, which will not stick to the
finger when touched. Turn it out on to a pasteboard well strewn with
powdered sugar; roll out the paste, divide it into cakes of any shape
you like, and put them on sheets of paper on the baking sheet well
sprinkled with sugar; bake in a slow oven until of a pale yellow
colour.
Marien Cakes.--To 1 lb. flour add ½ lb. butter, 10 oz. sugar, 6 eggs,
the rind of a lemon finely grated, and a little nutmeg and cinnamon.
These must be well worked into a rather stiff paste, and cut into
round cakes after being rolled out nearly 1 in. thick. These must
be placed on tins for baking after being ornamented on the top with
currants and pieces of sweet almonds cut small.
Monastery Wine Soup.--Boil ¼ lb. rice in 1½ pint water until quite
soft, and with it the thin yellow rind of a lemon; add by degrees a
bottle of any white wine; sweeten with 3-4 oz. sugar, and whisk in
the yolks of 4 eggs when ready to serve.
Neun-loth Pudding.--This favourite pudding is made as follows:--Stir
½ pint milk into 4½ oz. fine flour and 4½ oz. powdered loaf sugar.
Put into a stewpan 4½ oz. butter and ½ pint milk. When this is hot
and the butter melted, stir in the other milk and flour; keep the
mixture stirred over the fire till it boils and thickens, then turn
it out in a pan to cool. Stir in the yolks of 9 eggs, 4½ oz. almonds
blanched and pounded, and, lastly, the 9 egg-whites whisked to a
stiff snow. Stir all briskly together, butter a mould or basin, fill
it, and boil the pudding 1½ hour. The water must not cease boiling.
Serve arrack sauce or white wine sauce with it.
Nudels.-These are home-made maccaroni, and serve all the purposes
for which it is used in Italy. They may be appropriated to any sweet
dishes by first boiling them soft in milk or water 10-20 minutes,
and then mixing them with eggs, sugar, spice, preserves, &c. A
straight rolling-pin and a smooth pasteboard are indispensable in
the manufacture of nudels. For nudel paste, beat 2 eggs, work into
them by degrees as much flour as they will take, and knead them into
a smooth, stiff dough. Cut this into 4 or 6 parts, make a ball of
each, and roll it out as thin as possible; indeed, it cannot be too
thin, for perfection is only gained when it is thin enough for one
to be able to read through it. Lay each cake on a napkin as it is
finished. They will resemble fine chamois leather. By the time you
have rolled out the last cake, the first one will be dry enough to
cut as follows: Divide the cake into quarters by cutting straight
across each way. Lay the pieces one on the other, with their inner
edges equal, and begin cutting them with a sharp knife into strips as
narrow as twine; indeed as thread-like as you can to the end. Then
scatter them apart to dry, and proceed in turn with the other cakes.
When you have rolled out one of the little balls to its full tension,
turn in an edge, roll it up tightly, and thus cut it into little
rings, which will open when thrown into the boiling soup or water.
Little stars, &c., may be stamped out with very small tin cutters.
The cakes may be laid one on the other for cutting, and may be cut
finer and quicker by using an ordinary ruler, as for ruling lines
nearly close together. When allowed to dry well, they will keep any
length of time in paper bags or tin canisters. A variety may also be
made by cutting the paste into tape widths like ordinary macaroni. If
preferred perfectly white, use only the whites of eggs in mixing the
paste. Be careful to keep the paste-board constantly dredged with dry
flour while rolling out the nudels.
Parsnip Pudding.--Wash and scrape 2 or 3 parsnips, and boil them in
milk or water till tender. Mash or pound them smooth, stir in a piece
of butter warmed, and sugar, lemon, or cinnamon to taste. Mix in 3 or
4 well-beaten eggs, according to the size of the pudding, and a small
glass of rum or brandy. Put it in a buttered dish, strew crumbs over,
put little lumps of butter on the top, and bake it in a moderate
oven; or butter a mould, strew it with crumbs thickly, and boil it.
Serve with pudding sauce.
Plinsen.--These are much the same as our pancakes, only there are
more varieties, both in the batter used and the method of treating
the pancakes after being fried. 4 tablespoonfuls flour, 4 eggs, 2
oz. warmed butter, a little salt, 1 tablespoonful sugar, and ½ pint
cream or lukewarm milk enough to make a thin batter; stir this well.
Fry pancakes, exceedingly thin, a pale brown on both sides. Lay one
on the other, with sugar and cinnamon, or other spice, between. Strew
sugar plentifully over the top one, and glaze it with a salamander
or other red-hot iron. For fruit, to the above batter add 2 oz.
currants, well washed in hot water, and ½ lemon peel grated. Use very
little butter or lard in frying the plinsen. Spread over each one a
thin layer of preserved or stewed fruit. Roll them up. Lay them close
together in a dish, sift sugar and cinnamon over, and serve with
sweet sauce.
Sago Wine Soup.--First wash the sago, and then boil for an hour in
plenty of water, a pinch of salt, some cinnamon and rind of lemon. By
this time the water should be reduced by one half. Fill up with red
wine, add some slices of lemon, and sugar to sweeten. Let it come
to the boil once more, and when serving the soup sprinkle it with
powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Salsenaugen.--Make a dough of 6 oz. flour, 4 oz. butter, 4 oz. sugar
flavoured with vanilla or lemon, 4 hard-boiled yolks of eggs, and 2
oz. pounded almonds. Knead it out as thick as a finger, stamp it with
cutters into leaves and rings, and pile them up; wash them over with
the white of egg in a snow and strew them thickly with sugar. Then
sprinkle with water, and bake, after which put a jelly in the centre.
Sand-torte.--Take ¼ lb. butter, ¼ lb. sugar, grate the rind of lemon,
and beat it well for ½ hour. Mix in 2 eggs, and 2 yolks one after the
other, with ¼ lb. fine flour; beat it well together, and fill the
whole in a buttered form; strew some finely cut almonds on the top,
and bake it for 1 hour.