these are, strange as it may seem, eaten cold. The first is gaspacho.
This is always regarded as the most refreshing of all the national
dishes. The poor glory in it; and the rich, during that time when
the beams of a too scorching sun enervate the Spanish frame, fly to
gaspacho as an unfailing “pick-me-up.” Put some chopped chives and
cucumber cut up in the shape of dice into a large salad bowl, add a
small quantity of water, a pinch of salt, lemon juice and oil. Throw
in some crumbled bread, which must be able to float. Finally sprinkle
some fine chopped marjoram over the whole, and your gaspacho is ready.
Morcillas, or Black Puddings.--These savoury articles are prepared
as follows: Mince up the fat that has been taken from the stomach of
the pig into very small pieces, and throw it into a large tub with
salt, onions, pepper, cloves, and cinnamon, all chopped small; pound
the whole together till the spices are well mixed, and then add the
blood slowly, using a wooden spoon. As soon as the paste is made,
fry a little and taste, adding more seasoning if required. Now fill
the skins, leaving them a little thin, so that they may not burst in
cooking, which operation is performed by boiling in a large saucepan
full of lukewarm water. Care must be taken that the puddings are
placed in the saucepan slowly and without crowding, and as soon as
the vessel is filled loosely, set it on a quick fire. After boiling
for a moment or two, pierce each pudding with a needle threaded with
a wisp of fennel to let out the air, and reduce the fire. When it is
found that on pricking no blood issues from the puddings, they may
be considered cooked. Remove the puddings very cautiously from the
saucepan, place them on the table in a clean cloth, dry, and then
hang them up. The water in which they have been boiled may be used
as stock. Some insert rice with the mincemeat instead of the other
ingredients, and there are many other recipes.
_Turkish._--The following are mainly from the pen of Marie Kibrizli
Pasha, and first appeared in the _Queen_:--
Asuree.--Take 2 lb. wheat, unground, and wash it; throw it into a
large saucepan cold water and boil for 1 hour; then dry it near the
stove on a cloth. When it is quite dry beat it in a mortar to get off
the husks; then put the wheat into a strong muslin bag, tie it up;
put it into a saucepan of cold water, and let it boil all day until
the water becomes of the consistency of jelly. Then take out the bag,
squeeze it until all the water is out, and throw the dregs away. Put
1 lb. white sugar in the water and boil it until it becomes like
jelly; if not sweet enough, add more sugar. Put a handful of sultana
raisins in a dish with a few blanched almonds, cut small; mix these
with the jelly and put it in glass dishes. It will keep many days,
and is a strengthening and a very nice dish.
Cerkestal.--Remains of fowls may be stewed with an onion, pepper,
salt, and a little water. Wash and bruise 6 walnuts, and mix them in
some of the gravy, adding a small quantity of cayenne pepper, and
serve as a sauce.
Dolma Hindi (Stuffed Turkey or Fowl).--Take 2 handfuls rice and half
boil it; then cut up 1 doz. chestnuts, a handful of currants, and a
handful of pistachio nuts; melt about ¼ lb. butter in a saucepan,
then mix all well together, adding a little salt and a little cayenne
pepper, with a very small quantity of bruised cinnamon. Then stuff
the turkey or fowl with this, and sew up the breast; put it on a flat
baking dish with a little butter, and baste it with butter. This
stuffing is used in Turkey for all kinds of birds and sheep that are
roasted whole.
Dolmas.--Chop some mutton or beef very finely, with a little of the
fat; add an onion, pepper, salt, and a little boiled rice, and mix it
all together. Then take some cabbage leaves and put them into boiling
water for a minute or two, and roll the meat into them like small
sausages; then stew them in a little broth or water with a small
piece of butter in it.
Elva.--Take 1 lb. semolina and ½ lb. butter; put the butter into
a saucepan, and brown it well; then sprinkle the semolina into
it slowly, and keep stirring until it all becomes well mixed and
browned. When sufficiently done, put ½ lb. white sugar and 1 pint
milk into another saucepan, and boil it; then blanch about 30-40
almonds, cut them in halves, and throw them into the semolina; then
stir in the syrup slowly, and mix well. When it becomes like a thick
paste, turn it into moulds to cool, and then turn out on the dishes.
Etena Zarvatte (Ragout).--The Arab cook (for the cooking in Turkey is
always done by Arab women) takes 1 lb. meat, either beef or mutton,
and cuts it into small pieces. She then fries it just sufficiently
to brown it in a little butter or dripping, adding salt, pepper, and
a tumblerful of water. She then cuts up 1 lb. French beans, and puts
the whole into a stewpan to simmer slowly, adding water as it is
required, and serves it when the whole is of a good consistency and
there is a good gravy. Any kind of vegetables, carrots or potatoes,
will do instead of beans.
Kabaps (Kabobs).--Take some slices of mutton or beef, with a little
of the fat and an onion, chop them very fine, add pepper, salt, and
a little flour; mix all well together with a little water, so as to
make a thick dough; then roll it round skewers and bake it in a slow
oven. As soon as the gravy forms, take it off the skewers and put it
on a dish with sippets of toasted bread, and throw the gravy over it.
Kabrac Dolmassi (stuffed vegetable marrows).--Take 1 or 2 kabracs
(vegetable marrows), cut them in halves across, and scoop out the
seeds and a little of the pulp; then rub in a little salt. Scrape
off the rinds, then chop ½ lb. mutton very finely, add 1 large onion
chopped very small, and a little parsley, also chopped, then season
with a little pepper, salt, and about a pennyworth of uncooked rice.
Mix all together and stuff the vegetable marrow with it, then put
them to boil slowly, with only a small quantity of water in the
saucepan.
Kourabiedes.--Break ½ lb. fresh butter into ½ lb. finest rice flour,
add ½ lb. finely-powdered sugar and a pinch of salt, moisten into a
rather firm paste with orange-flower water, knead lightly, and divide
into balls the size of a mandarin orange, bake for ½ hour between
buttered sheets of paper; powder with sugar when done.
Kufté.--Mince 1 lb. lean beef very small; add salt, pepper, and a
chopped onion, grate the crumb of 2 French rolls, or a large piece of
bread and mix it with the meat, and add 2 eggs; then mix all together
into a dough. Then roll it into small sausages, first putting them
into a little flour. Brown about ¼ lb. butter in a frying pan, and
fry the meat in it, and when dished throw the butter over it.
Lokma.--Take 1 lb. flour, then beat up 10 eggs; mix them with the
flour, and add a pinch of salt, then put in a glass of water to thin
it a little. Take ½ lb. butter, brown it in a frying pan, and put the
paste in small round pieces into it, let them brown slowly, taking
care to turn them and keep them separate. Take 1 lb. white sugar and
1 teacupful cold water, and boil them in a clean saucepan; when the
syrup is done, throw the balls in, and boil them until they are well
sweetened, then serve them either hot or cold.
Ouzum Yaprac Dolmassi (dolmas with vine leaves).--During the spring
in Turkey large quantities of the young vine leaves are gathered.
They are then carefully placed in layers in large earthenware jars
or pans that are not porous. The leaves for winter use have layers
of salt placed between them, but those for summer use do not require
it. Place a good handful of salt over each layer of leaves, and press
them down tightly. When the jars are within 2 in. of being full fill
them with water. Then place a piece of wood across the top, and
put a stone on it to keep out the air. The Dolmas are made in the
following way: Take 1 lb. veal, with a little of the fat, mince the
meat very finely, and add salt, pepper, and a pennyworth of raw rice,
and a large onion chopped very small. Mix it all together into a
dough. Put an iron saucepan full of water on the fire; when it begins
to boil throw into it 30-100 leaves, as you may require, and let them
boil 5 minutes, stirring them well; then turn them out on a dish to
cool; when cold break off the stalks, and roll a small quantity of
the meat into each, taking care to close the leaf well. Place them
carefully in layers in a saucepan without water, and closely, one
over the other. Then take a good-sized piece of butter, brown it in
the frying pan, and pour it over the dolmas. Half fill the saucepan
with hot water, cover it and put it on a stove, to boil slowly until
the dolmas are done. Care must be taken not to let them mix together.
To get them well out without breaking, the saucepan must be turned
upside down on a dish. Beat up an egg and mix it with a little flour,
then put a small quantity of the water in which the dolmas were
boiled into a smaller saucepan, and stir the egg into it. Pour this
sauce over the meat.
Pilau.--Take 3 or 4 large tomatoes and boil them. When they are quite
soft mash them well, adding a little salt, and put them back in the
same water in which they were boiled, and add ½ lb. rice. When the
rice has absorbed all the water, and is well done, take the saucepan
off the fire, and put it to stand near, so as not to cool; then put
a good-sized piece of butter in a frying pan, and when it is well
browned mix it up well with the rice, and serve it hot.
Pouf Burek.--The Arab takes ½ lb. flour and 2 eggs, and makes a
paste; then rolls it out thin; then grates some new cheese, chops
some parsley very finely, mixes them, and spreads the mixture over
the paste. She then doubles up the paste, or folds it once, and cuts
out small round cakes with a coffee cup. She then puts a good-sized
piece of butter in a frying pan, and when it is nicely browned she
fries the little cakes in it, and serves them hot.
Prassas (leeks with oil).--Take 2 doz. leeks and wash them well, cut
them in two, leaving only a small part of the white end, and throw
away the rest; then cut them into pieces the size of dice, and throw
them into water to wash them. Put a breakfastcupful of the best Lucca
oil in a saucepan, and brown it slightly; then have ready 3 large
onions cut up small, and throw them into the oil to brown a little.
Mince a little parsley and mix it with the leeks, and then put them
into the oil, adding 2 or 3 glasses hot water. Cover it well; season
well; let it boil slowly until the leeks are done. Serve it cold.
Suburek.--Take 1 lb. flour and add a little water and salt, so as to
make a thick paste, roll and divide it into 3 portions, then roll
out 2 portions and put them aside to serve for rolling up the third
portion. Then take 8 eggs, mix them with the third portion, roll it
out very thin, cut it into 8 portions and throw them into boiling
water on the fire, one after the other. When they are half-boiled or
nearly done, spread one of the uncooked portions in a pie dish that
is not very deep, and put 4 of the 8 boiled portions in it. Then take
some minced beef or mutton, well seasoned and slightly browned in a
frying pan with butter, mix a little minced parsley with it, and put
it in the dish, then put the remaining 4 _boiled_ portions over it
and cover the whole with the remaining large portion, then brown a
little butter in the frying pan and put it over the paste. Bake it in
the oven. A very good dish.
Tauf--Ghezon.--Draw 2 fowls, and put them to boil slowly; when they
are half done take off all the white meat and put it into another
saucepan to boil in milk, adding a small quantity of the water in
which the fowls were first boiled. When the meat is reduced to a pulp
mix it well with pounded white sugar, so as to make it quite sweet.
Serve cold on a dish sprinkled with pounded cinnamon. This is a
strengthening dish for an invalid.
Tauk Dolmas.--After drawing a fowl, chop the liver, gizzard, and
heart very finely and add seasoning; boil some rice and mix it with
a small piece of butter, then mix all together and stuff the fowl
with it; make a little gravy with the neck and head, and serve with
it. This dish should be stewed slowly.
Tuginar (ragoût with artichokes).--Take 1 lb. mutton or veal, and
cut it in small pieces. Take 8-10 artichokes and wash them well,
stripping off all the leaves, then cut the bottoms in 4 quarters; cut
up 2 onions and mince a little parsley, and mix them. Then put a ¼
lb. butter into a stewpan, and put the meat in; when it is a little
browned, throw in 2 or 3 tumblers of water, cover it, and let it stew
gently for ¼ hour. Add a little seasoning, according to taste, with
the onion and parsley; then put in the artichokes to cook until they
are done, and then serve the dish. Other vegetables, such as broccoli
or Brussels sprouts, may be substituted.
_West Indian._--Cavershed Fish.--Cut a sole into 3 or 4 pieces,
according to size; flour each piece, have ready a frying-pan with
some good frying oil, put it on the fire, and when the oil boils lay
the fish in it, and fry a light brown; drain each piece well, and,
when cold, lay them on a dish. Boil ½ pint vinegar, with a little
allspice, ginger, and pepper, and throw it over the fish.
Coconut Cakes.--Break a coconut, remove the brown skin and cut it
up into quite small pieces (somewhat larger than grains of rice).
Put 1 lb. coarse brown sugar into a saucepan, with a teacupful of
water; when it boils, skim off the scum, or strain through muslin,
add the coconut and a little ginger, and boil (stirring constantly)
till the sugar begins to thicken; then drop a little of the mixture
from a spoon on to a board or dish which has been well damped with
cold water; if it sets so that it can be raised with a knife without
breaking, drop all the mixture in like manner in little cakes. Grated
coconut can be done in the same way.
Crab Backs.--This dish is truly delicious; once eaten as prepared
by a black cook, it is one never to be forgotten. The crabs must
be caught and brought in alive; the cook must kill them herself,
and divide the claws and bodies from the backs; when doing so she
must be careful not to break the gall in the body, which would
cause the whole of the meat in the crab to taste bitter. Boil these
sufficiently, and, when cold, pick all the meat from the claws and
bodies; the fat, which is of a very dark colouring, must be well
mixed with the meat and stirred; add pepper, cayenne pepper, salt,
and lime juice to taste, also bread or biscuit crumbs; have the
backs nicely cleaned, fill them with the above mixture, sprinkle
breadcrumbs over them, and bake for about 10 minutes. Some people
prefer crab backs without the addition of the fat, when they are not
nearly so rich, and are of a much lighter colour.
Eater Drink.--An Indian drink. Take 3 doz. ripe fruit of the eater
(ita) palm, place them in a jar, and pour boiling water over them.
Let them stand until they are sufficiently soft to allow the rind to
come off easily. Scrape the fruit, and when cool sweeten, and it is
ready for use. This palm is as light as cork, and grows abundantly in
the interior of Guiana.
Fly.--Grate 3 or 4 sweet potatoes (the white sort), place them in a
stone jar, with 3 gal. boiling water, 1 doz. cloves, clear sugar to
taste, and clarify with the white shell of an egg. Let it stand 24
hours, then strain, bottle and cork tightly; it is fit for use in a
week.
Fou-fou Soup.--Peel 1 doz. plaintains, wash and boil them, place
them in a dish till cooked, then pound them in a wooden mortar,
occasionally moistening the pestle with cold water, to prevent it
sticking, until they become one solid lump. Moisten a spoon with
water, and after carefully separating the fou-fou from the mortar
place it in a dish and serve with soup. The spoon should always be
first moistened with soup before cutting the fou-fou, or it would be
most difficult to cut it at all. The soup can be made of plantains,
tannias, ochras, pigeon peas, black-eyed peas, pumpkin, or any
vegetable. When made of ochras procure a good-sized dish of ochras,
cut off the heads, wash and cut in slices, place them in a pot with
as much water as you require soup, with ½ lb. salt beef, ½ lb.
salt pork, cold, or fresh meat, 2 or 3 fresh fish, a small piece of
salt fish, a few shrimps, 2 fresh peppers, one chopped onion, and
seasoning. When most thoroughly boiled, or rather simmered, serve
hot in a tureen, and the fou-fou served separately at the same time.
When fou-fou soup is made of dry peas they must be well soaked, and
then boiled for some time before the meat, &c., is added. When made
of plaintains only these must be mashed when sufficiently cooked. A
favourite way with the negroes is to cut the plaintains in slices,
and boil a great many of them in soup without making them into
fou-fou; when done in this way they call it “cutty-cutty.”
Groundnut Cakes.--Put 2 lb. these nuts (they can be bought in any
small greengrocer’s shop, and are sometimes called monkey nuts) in
the oven on a tin, and let them bake until you can remove the red
skin of the kernel quite easily; then shell them all, take off all
the skins and divide them in halves; make them into little cakes, as
in recipe for coconut cakes.
Mawbery.--Get fourpennyworth mawbery bark from a chemist, boil it
with a little water, and let it stand till cool. Add sufficient water
to fill 12 bottles, and sweeten to taste, strain, and brew it for
some time. Bottle and let it stand 24 hours, when it is fit for use,
and it is a pleasant drink, slightly bitter. The bottles must never
be corked and the froth which works up must be taken off. Never let
it stand more than 2 days after it is fit for use.
Pepper-pot.--Pepper-pot cannot be prepared without cassaripe, and
it may be interesting here to describe the mode of manufacture of
that very excellent sauce, which is also used to great advantage in
soups and sauces. It is made from the cassava root, bitter cassava,
which is thus prepared: Peel and grate the roots on a large grater,
which must be placed in a tub to receive it, put the pulp that has
been grated into a mataube (a mataube is a long tube-like squeezer
made of reed, by the Buck Indians, the lower end has a handle, the
upper part is hung up on a tree, or some such convenient place). Hang
up the mataube when quite full of cassava pulp, and pull the lower
handle until all the juice is expressed. This juice must be allowed
to settle in a tub; it is then to be strained; the settlement of
the cassava juice is often converted into a very inferior kind of
starch. Now place the strained juice into a large pot, and reduce
it by repeated boiling greatly, and keep constantly skimming while
boiling it; it will be found that the colour will change from
white milky-looking juice to yellow, and lastly to black. During
the boiling a small quantity of sugar and a few bird peppers (from
which cayenne pepper is ground) should be added; then let the juice
cool, bottle and cork it, and it is ready for pepper-pot, and for
colouring soups and gravies. Good cassaripe is very thick and black.
The cassava pulp, which is left dry, when all the juice is expressed,
makes very delicious bread; it is placed in hoops in an oven, without
the addition of any liquid, merely pressed together in a thin round
wafer form, baked in an oven, and then taken out while still quite
pale in colour, and exposed for some time to the burning West Indian
sun. This bread is very delicious when toasted and buttered, served
hot.
Place a sufficient quantity of meat--whether pork, beef, or
mutton--to fill the earthen pot you possess (the Demerarians usually
use a black earthen open pot, made by the Buck Indians) in a pot of
boiling water; let it boil a few minutes. Then take out the meat,
and cut it up in pieces, as you would for a stew; place these in the
buckpot, and fill to the top with boiling water; put in with the
meat sufficient cassaripe to make the sauce a rich colour, 6 fresh
peppers, or a spoonful of cayenne, tied up in a bit of muslin; boil
this for an hour; remove it then from the fire, and boil it up every
day once whether it is used or not. It should be served hot in the
buckpot in which it is cooked, which should be placed on a clean
plate and so brought to table. On no account serve the pepper-pot in
a dish other than it has been cooked in, and that dish should always
be earthen. Cold meat without gravy or onions can be added, in fact
any meat that is not seasoned or stuffed.
Pepper Punch.--Pound one pennyworth of dry ginger in a mortar, with
12 bird peppers, and boil this for a short time in a little water,
place this in a stone jar, adding ¼ pint lime juice, strained, ¼ pint
white rum, ¼ pint gin, ½ pint brandy, and sugar to taste, with 10 qt.
cold water; stir the whole well together, cut a white lemon in two
and throw in, tie the jar down, and place in the sun for 2 days, then
bottle off, cork very tightly, and use when ripe; if this is to be
kept any time, the corks should be tied with twine, or wired, or they
will fly like champagne corks. This quantity is sufficient to fill 12
quart bottles.
Pinaree.--An Indian drink. Grate the bitter cassava and express the
juice; sift the pulp and take all the coarse remains from the sifter,
say 2 pints, moisten with fresh boiled cassaripe, grate 2 sweet
potatoes, put all in a jar, cover with a leaf, and leave for 3 days,
when a small quantity can be drunk with water. If allowed to stand
many days, this becomes a most intoxicating drink, and is much used
by the Buck Indians.
Pine Drink.--The rind of 1 pineapple to a quart bottle. Pare off the
rind rather thickly, place it in a stone jar, with a few cloves, and
1 qt. boiling water; let it stand 24 hours, strain and sweeten to
taste, bottle and cork tightly. It is ready for use in 2-3 days.
Salmagundy.--Wash a Dutch herring, remove the flesh from the bones,
and lay it in a dish; put a few slices of onion on it. Boil ½ pint
vinegar, with a little allspice, ginger, and pepper; when cold, pour
it over the herring.
Slip and Dip.--This is a Barbadian dish. Procure some eddoes,
boil them till they will slip out of the skin readily by slightly
pressing. Stew some tchad (a kind of salted herring) with butter,
seasoning, &c., and eat the boiled eddoes with the stew. The two
together are called “Slip and Dip,” just as with us fried salt beef
and fried greens and potatoes rejoice in the name of “Bubble and
Squeak.” Eddoes boiled, with butter sauce and lime juice poured over
them, or with anchovy sauce, are used as vegetables.
Sorrel Drink.--This fruit grows almost wild at two seasons of the
year in Demerara, and is of a very rich claret colour, and makes a
delicious drink or preserve. The tops are useless, also the seeds.
Sometimes the above is boiled into a thick syrup, and mixed with rum,
when it is called sorrel bounce.
Sous.--Take the head of a young pig, tie it up in a very clean and
thin cloth, and boil it in strong salt and water till sufficiently
cooked. Then take it up and place it in an open vessel, cover it
with slightly salted water. Let it remain in this for 2 hours, then
take the head and remove the cloth, cut it up into delicate pieces,
together with the tongue, ears, and trotters. Place all these on a
large dish, with several rings of large onions, and some slices of
fresh peppers; squeeze some limes till you have enough juice to fill
⅓ teacup, stir a little salt into this, fill up the cup with water,
strain it, and pour over the pieces of pork; garnish with parsley,
and serve cold either for breakfast or luncheon. Calf’s head treated
in the same manner is equally good.
Spacha, or Conserve of Spices.--Shell and peel 25 walnuts, 1 lb.
monkey nuts, a few cobnuts, and a few sweet almonds, pound them
in a mortar, but not too finely; put 1½ lb. coarse brown sugar in
a saucepan with 1 breakfastcupful water, let it boil, then strain
through muslin, return it to the saucepan with the nuts, and 1
teaspoonful each ground cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and black pepper,
and rather less of ground allspice all mixed together; boil for
½ hour, stirring constantly, thicken it slightly with 2 luncheon
biscuits finely pounded, boil for another ¼ hour, then with a spoon
put the mixture into custard glasses, and sprinkle a little ground
cinnamon on the top of each glass. To be eaten cold.
Swizzle.--Fill a wine glass ⅔ full with brandy, and the other third
with Angostura bitters; put this into a jug, with 2 wineglasses of
water, and another of finely crushed ice, with a spoonful of sugar
(not lump), and swizzle with a swizzle stick until a thick froth
rises; then pour into glasses, and drink immediately; the above is
enough for 2 men. A well-beaten egg is often added to the above, but
the swizzle is then not so refreshing.
SUPPLEMENTARY LITERATURE.
‘The _Queen_ Recipes.’ London. 6_d._
Mary Hooper: ‘Cookery for Invalids, persons of delicate digestion,
and for children.’ London, 1883. 3_s._ 6_d._
Mary Hooper: ‘Little Dinners; how to serve them with elegance and
economy.’ London, 1875. 5_s._