this delicious fish can only be obtained, either “plain,” “devilled
black,” or “devilled red,” in true perfection at those excellent
hostelries which by its means have attained celebrity. No greater
mistake exists. It is within the power of every gentleman to have as
good whitebait at his own table as he can obtain elsewhere. Fresh
bait, ample flouring, and boiling--absolutely boiling--lard will
solve the problem in the most satisfactory manner.
Salmon is getting cheaper--if not better--and plump chicken-turbot is
still in. The gigantic but rather coarse halibut remains, with plaice
and flounder. Dainty brook-trout and larger specimens of the same
genus, from the Irish lakes, present an agreeable spectacle; while
the gurnet is in great force. Whiting is yet in season, but mackerel
and herring are better later on. Oysters take their leave.
_Game and Poultry._--Spring chickens, ducklings, goslings, and
guinea-fowl but feebly replace the juicy birds of the autumn and
winter months.
_Vegetables._--Among the prime vegetables of the month asparagus
holds the chiefest place, and is always delicious. To those who
have not yet tasted it we may recommend cold asparagus, with plain
salad-dressing, as a breakfast dish without a peer. Green peas, early
French beans, seakale, sorrel, spinach, succulent mushrooms, early
carrots, and baby turnips are plentiful.
_Fruit._--Pines, melons, oranges, hothouse grapes, peaches,
nectarines and strawberries, and a few durable apples and pears
apart--fruit is scarce; but delicious tarts can be made of green
peaches and apricots.
May.
_Meat._--Veal and lamb are in full season, and sweetbreads are in
great request. As the supply is always limited, butchers not seldom
try to pass off bullock’s sweetbread--i.e. the pancreatic gland--on
their customers. True sweetbread is a gland in the neck of the young
animal only. This should not be tolerated, as bullock’s sweetbread
is coarse-flavoured and hard, and needs long and careful washing
and cooking before it comes to table. It can, however, be made very
palatable with care, and is occasionally worth buying as a change,
under its rightful name, and at a legitimate price. Brains parboiled
in salt and water to harden them are another good substitute for
sweetbreads, and offer one more change from the perpetual joint and
fowls that are on every table.
_Game and Poultry._--A young fowl has large feet, knees, and neck
in proportion to its size, and its thighs look white or pinkish. An
old one has thin, scraggy legs and purplish tinge on its thighs; the
scales look hard and horny, and often there are long hairs on the
skin. If the beak is on, it should be soft, and so with the breast
bone, which is frequently broken by the poulterer to give the bird
a plump appearance. The length and size of the claws is another
indication of age; the size is little or no guide, as that depends on
the variety and the feeding. The small-boned, short-legged varieties
are generally said to be the best. A very fat bird is to be avoided,
for it wastes much in cooking, and even what remains of the fat
cannot be eaten. Birds that are kept in the dark and crammed previous
to killing become very fat, but the flesh loses flavour and firmness,
and they are far inferior to barndoor fowls. Cleanliness is also
essential to the production of a well-flavoured fowl; the same may be
said of ducks, now as ducklings to be eaten with the earliest green
peas. Full-grown ducks are better in late summer or autumn. Their age
can be judged from the appearance of the feet, and by the pliability
of the bill. The down that covers them may be an indication of
youth, but it may also be put on by the poulterer with a sprinkling
of gum.
Chickens, turkey poults, ducklings, goslings, and guinea-fowl dispute
supremacy, but very little is to be said for any of them. The pigeon
is possibly the best bird procurable during May. Plover’s egg, always
delicious, even when eaten under difficulties, seems to gain in
beauty when presented in the form of an aspic.
_Fish._--May is the true mackerel month. The herring too puts in an
appearance during the month of May, and is a thoroughly delicate
fish. The only valid accusation against the herring is on account of
his innumerable bones, but this is not the true reason of his being
voted unfashionable. Unfortunately, the herring is too cheap, and,
in consequence of this defect, is in the habit of haunting vulgar
localities, and thus excluding himself from the refined society that
he is so well qualified to exhilarate.
Whiting and smelts still appear, but are practically superseded by
whitebait. The Salmonidæ are in grand condition. Salmon, salmon
trout, lake and brook trout prevail on our dinner-tables; but the
most delicate member of the entire family is rarely seen. Either from
scarcity, the distance of the lakes from the metropolis, or from some
other cause, the beautiful silvery char seldom reaches London. Small
as he is, he has all the richness of the _salar_, and possesses a
delicacy all his own. Turbot now ceases, and codfish has retired.
Brill, gurnet, soles, plaice, and flounders are in season. Oysters
having departed, other shell-fish improve much in quality. Lobsters
and crabs now lose much of the dryness that is so conspicuous a fault
with them during the winter months.
_Vegetables._--Vegetables are now plentiful and cheap. In warm
seasons that are yet sufficiently damp they grow quickly, and the
fibre is less woody and hard than that of vegetables grown in cold or
dry weather. With the warm weather comes the difficulty of transport,
but it is not yet so great as in July and August, when the plants
are full of sap and ferment quickly under a hot sun. Gardeners
have a habit of keeping vegetables for a few hours in a hot bed or
greenhouse before sending them to the kitchen. They have some idea
that it improves the quality--an idea that is wholly erroneous, and
should be combated. Potatoes are often laid in the sun for a few
hours to dry, but they should never be allowed to lie long enough
for fermentation to set in. All withered vegetables should have the
stalks freshly cut, and the ends should then be put in a bowl of
water, just as withered flowers would be treated. Through the stalks
they suck up water enough to fill their shrunken cells, and make
them green and stiff once more, but to plunge the entire plant under
water is a mistake, and after a few hours of such treatment the water
is often perceptibly warm, and the leaves bruised and decaying. Of
course this does not apply to washing vegetables and salads, which
cannot be too thorough and complete, especially of the vegetables
that many housekeepers buy off barrows in the streets.
Asparagus is now in great perfection, and green peas wait upon the
insipid duckling. Unless young, quickly grown, freshly gathered, and
properly cooked, green peas are apt to be a failure, and when four
important conditions have to be fulfilled the chances are naturally
against success. Summer cabbages, cauliflowers, spinach, young
carrots, turnips, and potatoes are all to the fore; nor do salads
fail to keep pace with these, as cabbage, lettuce, summer endive, and
corn-salad are to be had in profusion.
_Fruit._--The weak point of May is fruit, as almost the only good
fruit that can be obtained at a reasonable price is the orange.
Strawberries are to be bought for money, but in this instance the
open-air-grown fruit is far preferable to the productions of the
hothouse.
June.
_Meat._--Lamb is now in fine condition, and, besides the ever-welcome
fore-quarter, supplies admirable material for entrées of various
kinds. Lamb’s head, either baked and served upon a mince or stewed
with green peas, will always find legions of admirers.
On the subject of veal mankind is by no means so unanimous as on that
of lamb, and in this country especially veal is generally denounced
as unwholesome. Although it is unfortunately the custom to allow
calves to grow unreasonably large before the day of sacrifice, and
to compensate the loss of whiteness by phlebotomy, thereby losing
much of the tenderness and succulence of the meat, veal is after
all one of the most valuable materials for the production of dainty
dishes. Calf’s head is susceptible of various treatment and the ears
are esteemed choice morsels. Tongue, liver, sweetbread and feet have
their several admirers. Breast of veal, either stuffed or curried,
is a good dish, and so is the _fricandeau_ well larded and served
with mushrooms, peas, spinach, or--best of all--with sorrel. To
the various forms of _paupiettes_, _escalopes_ and cutlets there
is verily no end, and to sum up its qualifications, veal makes an
excellent roast. This latter remark, however, applies only to the
loin. The huge mass called in English fillet of veal is one of the
most tasteless and barbarous of joints.
Buck venison is in season from the middle of this month until
September. It is one of those delicacies of the table that is not
very often bought in the open market, and no one looks a gift horse
in the mouth. Lean venison is scarcely worth eating, and is often
sold at a very small price; the fat should be thick and abundant,
clear and bright looking; the hoof smooth and close. In cool weather
a haunch may hang for a fortnight, and it should be kept perfectly
dry by wiping with cloths. Tastes, however, differ greatly as to the
length of time that venison should be hung, and indeed “high” meat or
game is actually in a state of decomposition, and it has been known
to produce symptoms of poisoning in persons unaccustomed to its use.
It begins first to decompose near the bone, and its state can best be
ascertained by running a skewer into the middle of the joint.
_Fish._--Lobster, whiting, trout, eels, and salmon, continue in
season. The tiny Thames flounder is exceedingly sweet in flavour, and
although lacking the firmness of the sole has peculiar merit of its
own, either accommodated in _sootje_, or fried in perfect style.
_Game and Poultry._--Goslings and half-grown geese--called in many
country places green geese--are in season from now to September. The
29th of that month is a fixed date when every one knows that geese
are in season to continue so until early spring. Ducks have no such
date in their history; and, beginning in April or May as ducklings
at a high price, they grow larger and cheaper all through the summer
until the decline and disappearance of green peas. The age of both
these birds may be guessed from the toughness of pinion, beak, and
feet; from the deep orange or red colour of the feet of an old goose,
those of a young bird being yellow; from the downy appearance of the
feathers, and the size of the quills. A duck or goose, especially if
not very young, is better for hanging a day or two, but it must not
be in the least high, as the abundant fat would be rank. Rabbits,
that is wild rabbits, are out of season. A few are seen in the shops,
for they are not protected by game laws, but careful housekeepers
know better than to buy them. Tame rabbits are fattened for market
all the year round, though it is in winter that they are imported and
sold in largest quantities.
Chickens are larger, and turkey poults assume respectable dimensions;
but the great event of the present month is the advent of quail,
wheatear, and ortolan. These delicious birds are doubly welcome
at the present moment, as they afford inestimable relief from the
insipid sameness of spring banquets. Of all game birds the quail
is the most dainty, and combines in the highest degree delicacy of
texture, beauty of form, and subtle aroma.
It is generally admitted that of all small birds the ortolan is the
best, although some fastidious epicures affect to prefer the becafico
and the reed-bird. Caught in great numbers in the south of France,
ortolans are subjected to a preliminary process of fattening before
the day of doom. Perhaps the most refined method of cooking ortolans
is the traditional one of wrapping them in a vineleaf and simply
roasting them. Johannesberg is the wine of all others which has the
greatest sympathy with the tiny bird of the sunny south. Wheatears
abound on the great South Downs of England, and these plump morsels
may be dealt with in the same fashion as their foreign compeer.
_Eggs._--During spring and early summer eggs are cheap and good.
Those of the plover, turkey, and guinea-hen are exquisite in flavour,
and always command a comparatively high price; but the productions
of the barndoor fowl, the game-fowl, the bantam and Cochin China are
to be obtained at a very moderate price, while the choice vegetables
now in season suggest varieties of omelet but little known to the
English cuisine. Eggs should be put by for winter use during this
month or next. Recipes for preserving them are given on p. 117. Fresh
eggs are not easy things to choose. It is quite easy to distinguish a
distinctly bad egg, because, on holding it to the light, it is seen
to be opaque, and a fresh egg is transparent; but there is no such
visible difference between a new-laid egg and one that is some days
or weeks old. The actual difference consists in the evaporation of
water and its replacement by air, so that at one end there is a large
air bubble in a stale egg. This is often enough to cause a rattling
of the yolk if it is shaken close to the ear. Sometimes the yolk is
seen to be settled on one side. The comparative weight is a sure
test, for the air is lighter than the water, and a stale egg floats
in brine where a fresh one sinks; but the drawback of this test is
that the salt and water are not available in the market. Dissolve 2
oz. kitchen salt in 1 pint water. When a fresh-laid egg is placed
in this solution it will descend to the bottom of the vessel, while
one that has been laid on the day previous will not quite reach the
bottom. If the egg be 3 days old it will swim in the liquid, and if
it be more than 3 days old it will float on the surface, and project
above the latter more and more in proportion as it is older.
_Vegetables._--Green vegetables of all sorts are now at their best.
Green peas, asparagus, summer endive, spinach, and sorrel. New
potatoes are plentiful, and though really inferior to the ripe tuber,
are greatly preferred by many persons pretending to taste.
As is fitting in summer, salads are to be found in great abundance,
and perhaps the best of these is the Cos lettuce; for plain salad or
for _mayonnaise_ of fish or fowl no better basis exists. Lobster,
crab, salmon, trout, sole or chicken _mayonnaises_ form an agreeable
interlude in any repast, and the prevailing fashion of serving a
plain salad with roast meat is both healthful and appetising. In
all salads compounded of Cos lettuce it should never be forgotten
that tarragon vinegar is indispensable, as this pleasant condiment
relieves the flavour of the lettuce in the most agreeable and
refreshing manner.
_Fruit._--At present rhubarb and gooseberries are the only fruits
available for kitchen purposes. Apricots have even descended to
street barrows; they are imported, and of the hard variety generally
used for cooking. By the end of the month we shall be thinking of
jam, and it is not amiss to issue an early warning against the idea
that damaged or over-ripe fruit is good for jam.
Early raspberries, cherries, currants, apricots, peaches and
nectarines are to be obtained, but the strawberry is master of the
situation. Some pretend that the flavour of the wild strawberry is
superior to that of the finest cultivated varieties. Strawberries
make an excellent beginning for the day, and never taste better than
when plucked and eaten at once. One great advantage the strawberry
unquestionably has over other fruits--it may be eaten at any time and
in any quantity “without compunction.”
July.
_Meat._--The fiery temperature of the dog-days renders necessary
some departure from the national system of alimentation. Even the
carnivorous Briton turns aside with weariness, if not absolute
loathing, from huge masses of tough beef and tasteless mutton, and
sighs for a break in the monotony of our insular cuisine. There is
veal it is true, but the fatted calf is not relished by everybody,
and grass lamb, although now in superb condition, has lost the charm
of novelty, and, like salmon, is viewed askant during the torrid days
of July.
Red-deer venison is the flesh of a thoroughly wild animal, and
possesses a high flavour, but is unfortunately not free from a
certain dryness and toughness of fibre, resulting from “too high
training” or superabundance of exercise; while buck venison is a
delicious compromise between the wild flavour of “beasts of venerie”
and the luscious products of artificial feeding.
By many epicures the neck of a fine buck is held in almost equal
estimation with the haunch. Lovers of tit-bits linger affectionately
over a venison fry; this prime delicacy must be ordered of venison
dealers a few days in advance, especially if the weather be very hot.
Large joints--excepting in the case of venison which is readily
convertible into stews and hashes--are not to be recommended, and a
recourse to “kickshaws” is almost unavoidable.
_Game and Poultry._--Entrées of fowl are always dainty and wholesome.
Quail and ortolan still supply the roast, which in this month
receives an important addition in the leveret--the _avant-courier_ of
the game season.
A guinea-fowl well hung is the nearest approach to a pheasant that
the season affords. Then there are turkey poults, green geese, ducks,
wild ducks, wheatears, and plenty of poultry, besides rabbits.
_Fish._--The fish for the month are salmon and salmon trout, which
will not be cheaper or better than now; grey and red mullet, which
was in ancient Rome prized above all fish, and is still thought a
delicacy; prawns, shrimps, crayfish, most often used for soup or
garnish to other fish; mackerel, still abundant, but not so good as
it was some weeks ago; fresh haddocks, conger, whiting, herrings,
eels, soles, plaice, turbot, Thames flounders--the cheapest of flat
fish, and sometimes muddy-flavoured, though a good flounder makes not
a despicable dish. A large number of ling, hake, or white salmon,
coalfish, roker, and other little-known fish find their way to the
less fashionable quarters of London, and are sold at a low price.
At the best tables trout take the place of salmon, while
chicken-turbot and whitebait supply an agreeable variety, and
the much-vilified mussel partly fills up the vacancy left by the
secession of the oyster. The John Dory is now in fine condition, and
yields to no fish in the sea for fineness of texture and delicacy
of flavour. It is unhappily the custom to stuff the Dory with an
over-rich stuffing and serve him with a potent sauce. This treatment
effectually destroys the fine flavour of a fish which requires no
stronger condiment than caper-sauce.
_Vegetables._--Of vegetables we have a great abundance. Green peas
are plentiful and cheap, and the later varieties will keep our tables
supplied for many weeks yet. French beans, said to be in season
when beef is in perfection, broad beans, artichokes, cauliflowers,
cabbage, carrots, marrows, outdoor mushrooms if the weather is
propitious, outdoor cucumbers for the next 10-12 weeks, and salad of
all kinds grown quickly and crisp in summer weather, new potatoes at
their best, all belong to July.
_Fruit._--Walnuts should be ready for pickling at the beginning of
this month. They should be so soft that a pin easily penetrates them.
This is a good time to make all sorts of pickles; but it is cheaper
to buy them than to buy all the materials. Ketchup can be made of the
shell when the walnuts are ripe in September.
What fruit ripens this mouth depends greatly on the part of England
where one looks for it. In the large markets, where much foreign
fruit comes, the seasons are not definitely defined, and all sorts
of fruits are to be found out of their proper season. Much, probably
more than half, of the peaches and nectarines and better kinds of
fruit grown for sale, are grown in houses, or at least with some
protection of glass. Without it they will hardly ripen in the north
of England, and everywhere the uncertainty of spring weather, and the
fatality of a wet frost while the fruit is setting, make the glass
almost a necessity where the crop is raised for profit.
The cry of “cherry ripe” is still familiar, and the subacid fruit is
exceedingly grateful to a parched palate. Strawberries are on the
wane, but raspberries, currants, and gooseberries take their place.
On the good qualities of raspberry and currant tart it is needless to
dilate.
August.
_Game._--The great events for the fashionable and dining world during
the coming month are, no doubt, the commencement of grouse shooting
on the 12th, and of black-cock shooting on the 21st. At one time,
when it was less customary for gentlemen to sell game, a great part
of that sold in shops was obtained in some questionable manner.
Perhaps even now there will be some who do not think of marketing
for grouse, but wait until a present comes from friends at a Scotch
or Yorkshire moor. From whatever source grouse are obtained, the
housekeeper ought to know if they are old or young birds, in order to
avoid the old in case of purchase, and to cook the young and hang the
old in case of gift. It is comparatively easy to distinguish the two
when lying side by side. The undeveloped plumage, the smooth legs,
the short spur are conspicuous. The old birds are usually larger than
the young, and the bones of the pinion and thigh stiffen with age.
They are not so easy to distinguish apart, except by practice. The
old birds not only are improved by longer hanging, but require longer
to cook, so that it is better not to serve old and young on the same
day. Except for this addition, the meat supply remains as for last
month.
_Vegetables._--Some of the summer vegetables are past their best
days, but their place is speedily taken by others. Vegetable marrows
can be cut and hung up for winter use, and French beans are still
tender enough for pickling, though the length of time they will
continue so depends on getting a due proportion of rain with summer
sunshine. In dry seasons vegetables are always stringy and tough.
_Fruit._--Gooseberries, raspberries, and currants will not last the
month out in the warmer parts of England. Even if they are kept from
the birds they drop from the trees as soon as they are perfectly
ripe, and there is so much other fruit that they are not missed.
Strawberries are nearly over, although a few late varieties are
still fit for table. But there is no scarcity of fruit for those who
have money in pocket. The market lists comprise peaches, nectarines,
apricots, greengages, melons, grapes, green figs, early pear and
apples, pine-apples, oranges, lemons.