Is made with three or four shalots pounded, and done in the same way.
_Browning_,
Is nothing more than pounded white sugar, melted over a slow fire,
with a little butter and water, till it begins to smoke and turn
brown, then diluted with more water, till about the consistence of
soy, and afterwards boiled, skimmed, strained, and preserved in well
corked bottles.
ALL PLAIN SAUCES, should taste only of the articles from which they
take their names.
In COMPOUND SAUCES the several ingredients should be so nicely
proportioned that no particular flavour should predominate.
Soy, walnut-peels, burnt treacle, or sugar, cayenne pepper, or
capsicums, chilies, vinegar, pickled herrings, anchovies, sardinias, or
sprats, are the bases of almost all the sauces to be found in the shops.
Never season too highly your sauces, gravies, or soups.
Cloves and allspice,—mace and nutmeg,—marjorum, thyme, and
savory,—leeks, onions, shalots, and garlic,—need not be mixed together
in the same preparation, when either of them will supply the place of
the others.
In short, Cooks now know, by experience, that a much less number of
ingredients are sufficient to give a finer flavour to sauces, &c. than
was formerly used; because, in this age of refined taste, we have
learnt to combine the _simply elegant_ with the _purely nutritious_.
_Salads._
These may be eaten at all seasons of the year; but they are most
wholesome in the spring, when green herbs, of all kinds, are in the
greatest perfection. They are, then, most efficacious, in cleansing,
sweetening, and purifying the blood. But, though Salads in the winter
act not so powerful as in the spring, yet, such as are to be had,
retain all the properties or qualities of their nature, and the warmer
kinds, in particular, being gentle, salutary, and most excellent
stimulants, are well calculated to warm the stomach, and exhilarate the
spirits.
The following are the principal herbs, or vegetables, used in English
salads; viz.
Beet Root, Mint, Small Salading
Celery, Onions, which are
Chervil, Parsley, Turnip,
Chives, Radish, Common, Rape,
Corn Salad, ————–—, Turnip, Salad Radish,
Cucumber, Shalots, Mustard,
Garlic, Sorrel, Garden Cress.
Lettuce, Water Cresses, and
Balm, Dandelion, Nettle Tops, Sage, Spinage Tops, and Tarragon, are
sometimes used.
Besides these, the French use many other articles as Salads, most of
which being warm, exhilarating, and antiscorbutic, contribute greatly
to their health and cheerfulness; viz.
Balm, Pennyroyal Tops, Dandelion,
Sage, Tarragon, Spinage Tops,
Nettle Tops.
Salad herbs should be used fresh from the gardens; but if grown stale,
they must be refreshed in cold water. They must be carefully picked,
and washed clean, and then shaken in a clean cloth to dry.
The ingredients generally used in mixing Salads are eggs boiled hard,
and rubbed fine, oil, vinegar, mustard, pepper, and salt.
The adulteration of articles of provision is now so common, that
the Cook will do well to be guarded against such impositions, by
dealing with respectable tradesmen only.—The articles most frequently
adulterated are bread, tea, brown sugars, coffee, mustard, pepper, and
all other things that are to pass through the mill.
The Cook should take care to be amply provided with proper instruments,
and kitchen utensils of all kinds, without which she can do nothing
as it ought to be done. It will be necessary to have graduated glass
measures, such as the apothecaries use, divided into tea-spoonsful and
table-spoonsful,[14] and also graduated on their sides, according to
the following figures, in order to measure quantities of fluids with
accuracy.
[Illustration:
No. 1. represents a glass, calculated to measure any quantity from
two drachms to eight ounces.
No. 2. From one drachm to two ounces.
No. 3. From half a drachm to one ounce.