Cucumbers for pickling should be very small, and as free from
spots as possible. Make a brine of salt and water strong enough to
bear an egg. Pour it over your cucumbers, cover them with fresh
cabbage leaves, and let them stand for a week, or till they are
quite yellow, stirring them at least twice a day. When they are
perfectly yellow, pour off the water. Take a porcelain kettle, and
cover the bottom and sides with fresh vine leaves. Put in the
cucumbers (with a small piece of alum) and cover them closely with
vine leaves all over the top, and then with a dish or cloth to
keep in the steam. Fill up the kettle with clear water, and hang
it over the fire when dinner is done, but not where there is a
blaze. The fire under the kettle must be kept very moderate. The
water must not boil, or be too hot to bear your hand in. Keep them
over the fire in a slow heat till next morning. If they are not
then of a fine green, repeat the process. When they are well
greened, take them out of the kettle, drain them on a sieve, and
put them into a clean stone jar. Boil for five or six minutes
sufficient of the best vinegar to cover the cucumbers well;
putting into the kettle a thin muslin bag filled with cloves,
mace, and mustard seed. Pour the vinegar scalding hot into the jar
of pickles, which should be secured with a large flat cork, and an
oil-cloth or leather cover tied over it. Another way to green
pickles is to cover them with vine leaves or cabbage leaves, and
to keep them on a warm, hearth pouring boiling water on them five
or six times a day; renewing the water as soon as it becomes cold.
In proportioning the spice to the vinegar, allow to every two
quarts, an ounce of mace, two dozen cloves, and two ounces of
mustard seed. You may leave the muslin bag, with the spice, for
about a week in the pickle jar to heighten the flavour, if you
think it necessary.