SELECT EXTRACTS FROM AN EARLY RECEIPT-BOOK.
The earliest school of English Cookery, which had such a marked
Anglo-Norman complexion, has been familiarised to us by the
publication of Warner's _Antiquitates Culinaricae_, 1791, and more
recently by the appearance of the "Noble Book of Cookery" in Mrs.
Napier's edition, not to mention other aids in the same way, which are
accessible; and it seemed to be doing a better service, when it became
a question of selecting a few specimens of old receipts, to resort
to the representative of a type of culinary philosophy and sentiment
somewhere midway between those which have been rendered easy of
reference and our own. I have therefore given in the few following
pages, in a classified shape, some of the highly curious contents of
E. Smith's "Compleat Housewife," 1736, which maybe securely taken to
exhibit the state of knowledge in England upon this subject in the
last quarter of the seventeenth century and first quarter of the
succeeding one. In the work itself no attempt at arrangement is
offered.
I.--MEAT, POULTRY, ETC.
_To make Dutch-beef_:--Take the lean part of a buttock of beef raw;
rub it well with brown sugar all over, and let it lie in a pan or tray
two or three hours, turning it three or four times; then salt it well
with common salt and salt-petre, and let it lie a fortnight, turning
it every day; then roll it very strait in a coarse cloth, and put it
in a cheese-press a day and a night, and hang it to dry in a chimney.
When you boil it, you must put it in a cloth: when 'tis cold, it will
cut out into shivers as Dutch-beef.
_To dry Mutton to cut out in Shivers as Dutch-Beef_:--Take a middling
leg of mutton, then take half a pound of brown sugar, and rub it hard
all over your mutton, and let it lie twenty-four hours; then take an
ounce and half of saltpetre, and mix it with a pound of common salt,
and rub that all over the mutton every other day, till 'tis all on,
and let it lie nine days longer; keep the place free from brine, then
hang it up to dry three days, then smoke it in a chimney where wood is
burnt; the fire must not be too hot; a fortnight will dry it. Boil
it like other hams, and when 'tis cold, cut it out in shivers like
Dutch-beef.
_To stuff a Shoulder or Leg of Mutton with Oysters_:--Take a little
grated bread, some beef-suet, yolks of hard eggs, three anchovies,
a bit of an onion, salt and pepper, thyme and winter-savoury, twelve
oysters, some nutmeg grated; mix all these together, and shred them
very fine, and work them up with raw eggs like a paste, and stuff your
mutton under the skin in the thickest place, or where you please, and
roast it; and for sauce take some of the oyster-liquor, some claret,
two or three anchovies, a little nutmeg, a bit of an onion, the rest
of the oysters: stew all these together, then take out the onion, and
put it under the mutton.
_To marinade a Leg of Lamb_:--Take a leg of lamb, cut it in pieces the
bigness of a half-crown; hack them with the back of a knife; then take
an eschalot, three or four anchovies, some cloves, mace, nutmeg, all
beaten; put your meat in a dish, and strew the seasoning over it, and
put it in a stew-pan, with as much white-wine as will cover it, and
let it be two hours; then put it all together in a frying-pan, and let
it be half enough; then take it out and drain it through a colander,
saving the liquor, and put to your liquor a little pepper and salt,
and half a pint of gravy; dip your meat in yolks of eggs, and fry it
brown in butter; thicken up your sauce with yolks of eggs and
butter, and pour it in the dish with your meat: lay sweet-breads and
forc'd-meat balls over your meat; dip them in eggs, and fry them.
Garnish with lemon.
_A Leg of Mutton à-la-Daube_:--Lard your meat with bacon through, but
slant-way; half roast it; take it off the spit, and put it in a small
pot as will boil it; two quarts of strong broth, a pint of white-wine,
some vinegar, whole spice, bay-leaves, green onions, savoury,
sweet-marjoram; when 'tis stew'd enough, make sauce of some of the
liquor, mushrooms, lemon cut like dice, two or three anchovies:
thicken it with browned butter. Garnish with lemon.
_To fry Cucumbers for Mutton Sauce_:--You must brown some butter in a
pan, and cut the cucumbers in thin slices; drain them from the water,
then fling them into the pan, and when they are fried brown, put in a
little pepper and salt, a bit of an onion and gravy, and let them stew
together, and squeeze in some juice of lemon; shake them well, and put
them under your mutton.
_To make Pockets_:--Cut three slices out of a leg of veal, the length
of a finger, the breadth of three fingers, the thickness of a thumb,
with a sharp penknife; give it a slit through the middle, leaving the
bottom and each side whole, the thickness of a straw; then lard the
top with small fine lards of bacon; then make a forc'd-meat of marrow,
sweet-breads, and lamb-stones just boiled, and make it up after 'tis
seasoned and beaten together with the yolks of two eggs, and put it
into your pockets as if you were filling a pincushion; then sew up the
top with fine thread, flour them, and put melted butter on them, and
bake them; roast three sweet-breads to put between, and serve them
with gravy-sauce.
_To make a Florendine of Veal_:--Take the kidney of a loin of veal,
fat and all, and mince it very fine; then chop a few herbs, and put to
it, and add a few currants; season it with cloves, mace, nutmeg, and
a little salt; and put in some yolks of eggs, and a handful of grated
bread, a pippin or two chopt, some candied lemon-peel minced small,
some sack, sugar, and orange-flower-water. Put a sheet of puff-paste
at the bottom of your dish; put this in, and cover it with another;
close it up, and when 'tis baked, scrape sugar on it; and serve it
hot.
_To make a Tureiner_:--Take a china pot or bowl, and fill it as
follows: at the bottom lay some fresh butter; then put in three or
four beef-steaks larded with bacon; then cut some veal-steaks from
the leg; hack them, and wash them over with the yolk of an egg, and
afterwards lay it over with forc'd-meat, and roll it up, and lay it
in with young chickens, pigeons and rabbets, some in quarters, some in
halves; sweet-breads, lamb-stones, cocks-combs, palates after they
are boiled, peeled, and cut in slices: tongues, either hogs or
calves, sliced, and some larded with bacon: whole yolks of hard eggs,
pistachia-nuts peeled, forced balls, some round, some like an olive,
lemon sliced, some with the rind on, barberries and oysters: season
all these with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and sweet-herbs, mix'd together
after they are cut very small, and strew it on every thing as you put
it in your pot: then put in a quart of gravy, and some butter on the
top, and cover it close with a lid of puff-paste, pretty thick. Eight
hours will bake it.
_To make Hams of Pork like Westphalia_:--To two large hams, or three
small ones, take three pounds of common salt, and two pounds and half
of brown coarse sugar; mix both together, and rub it well into the
hams, and let them lie seven days, turning them every day, and rub the
salt in them, when you turn them; then take four ounces of salt-petre
beat small, and mix with two handfuls of common salt, and rub that
well in your hams, and let them lie a fortnight longer: then hang them
up high in a chimney to smoke.
_To make a Ragoo of Pigs-Ears_:--Take a quantity of pigs-ears, and
boil them in one half wine and the other water; cut them in small
pieces, then brown a little butter, and put them in, and a pretty deal
of gravy, two anchovies, an eschalot or two, a little mustard, and
some slices of lemon, some salt, and nutmeg; stew all these together,
and shake it up thick. Garnish the dish with barberries.
_To collar a Pig_:--Cut off the head of your pig; then cut the body
asunder; bone it, and cut two collars off each side; then lay it in
water to take out the blood; then take sage and parsley, and shred
them very small, and mix them with pepper, salt, and nutmeg, and strew
some on every side, or collar, and roll it up, and tye it with coarse
tape; so boil them in fair water and salt, till they are very tender:
put two or three blades of mace in the kettle, and when they are
enough, take them up, and lay them in something to cool; strain out
some of the liquor, and add to it some vinegar and salt, a little
white-wine, and three or four bay-leaves; give it a boil up, and when
'tis cold put it to the collars, and keep them for use.
_A Fricasy of Double Tripe_:--Cut your tripe in slices, two inches
long, and put it into a stew-pan; put to it a quarter of a pound of
capers, as much samphire shred, half a pint of strong broth, as much
white-wine, a bunch of sweet-herbs, a lemon shred small; stew all
these together till 'tis tender; then take it off the fire, and
thicken up the liquor with the yolks of three or four eggs, a little
parsley boiled green and chopp'd, some grated nutmeg and salt; shake
it well together. Serve it on sippets. Garnish with lemon.
_To pot a Swan_:--Bone and skin your swan, and beat the flesh in a
mortar, taking out the strings as you beat it; then take some clear
fat bacon, and beat with the swan, and when 'tis of a light flesh
colour, there is bacon enough in it; and when 'tis beaten till 'tis
like dough, 'tis enough; then season it with pepper, salt, cloves,
mace, and nutmeg, all beaten fine; mix it well with your flesh, and
give it a beat or two all together; then put it in an earthen pot,
with a little claret and fair water, and at the top two pounds of
fresh butter spread over it; cover it with coarse paste, and bake it
with bread; then turn it out into a dish, and squeeze it gently to get
out the moisture; then put it in a pot fit for it; and when 'tis cold,
cover it over with clarified butter, and next day paper it up. In this
manner you may do goose, duck, or beef, or hare's flesh.
_To make a Poloe_:--Take a pint of rice, boil it in as much water as
will cover it; when your rice is half boiled, put in your fowl, with a
small onion, a blade or two of mace, some whole pepper, and some salt;
when 'tis enough, put the fowl in the dish, and pour the rice over it.
_To make a Pulpatoon of Pigeons_:--Take mushrooms, palates, oysters,
sweet-breads, and fry them in butter; then put all these into a strong
gravy; give them a heat over the fire, and thicken up with an egg and
a bit of butter; then half roast six or eight pigeons, and lay them
in a crust of forc'd-meat as follows: scrape a pound of veal, and two
pounds of marrow, and beat it together in a stone mortar, after 'tis
shred very fine; then season it with salt, pepper, spice, and put in
hard eggs, anchovies and oysters; beat all together, and make the
lid and sides of your pye of it; first lay a thin crust into your
pattipan, then put on your forc'd-meat; then lay an exceeding thin
crust over them; then put in your pigeons and other ingredients, with
a little butter on the top. Bake it two hours.
_To keep Green Peas till Christmas_:--Shell what quantity you please
of young peas; put them in the pot when the water boils; let them have
four or five warms; then first pour them into a colander, and then
spread a cloth on a table, and put them on that, and dry them well
in it: have bottles ready dry'd, and fill them to the necks, and pour
over them melted mutton-fat, and cork them down very close, that no
air come to them: set them in your cellar, and when you use them, put
them into boiling water, with a spoonful of fine sugar, and a good
piece of butter: and when they are enough, drain and butter them.
II.--MEAT PIES AND PUDDINGS.
_A Battalia Pye_:--Take four small chickens, four squab pigeons, four
sucking rabbets; cut them in pieces, season them with savoury spice,
and lay 'em in the pye, with four sweet-breads sliced, and as many
sheep's-tongues, two shiver'd palates, two pair of lamb-stones, twenty
or thirty coxcombs, with savoury-balls and oysters. Lay on butter, and
close the pye. A lear.
_To make an Olio Pye_:--Make your pye ready; then take the thin
collops of the but-end of a leg of veal; as many as you think will
fill your pye; hack them with the back of a knife, and season them
with pepper, salt, cloves, and mace; wash over your collops with
a bunch of feathers dipped in eggs, and have in readiness a good
hand-full of sweet-herbs shred small; the herbs must be thyme,
parsley, and spinage; and the yolks of eight hard eggs, minced, and a
few oysters parboiled and chopt; some beef-suet shred very fine.
Mix these together, and strew them over your collops, and sprinkle
a little orange-flower-water on them, and roll the collops up very
close, and lay them in your pye, strewing the seasoning that is left
over them; put butter on the top, and close up your pye; when 'tis
drawn, put in gravy, and one anchovy dissolved in it, and pour it in
very hot: and you may put in artichoke-bottoms and chesnuts, if you
please, or sliced lemon, or grapes scalded, or what else is in season;
but if you will make it a right savoury pye leave them out.
_To make a Lumber Pye_:--Take a pound and a half of veal, parboil it,
and when 'tis cold chop it very small, with two pound of beef-suet,
and some candied orange-peel; some sweet-herbs, as thyme,
sweet-marjoram, and an handful of spinage; mince the herbs small
before you put them to the other; so chop all together, and a pippin
or two; then add a handful or two of grated bread, a pound and a half
of currants, washed and dried; some cloves, mace, nutmeg, a little
salt, sugar and sack, and put to all these as many yolks of raw eggs,
and whites of two, as will make it a moist forc'd-meat; work it with
your hands into a body, and make it into balls as big as a turkey's
egg; then having your coffin made put in your balls. Take the marrow
out of three or four bones as whole as you can: let your marrow lie a
little in water, to take out the blood and splinters; then dry it, and
dip it in yolk of eggs; season it with a little salt, nutmeg grated,
and grated bread; lay it on and between your forc'd-meat balls, and
over that sliced citron, candied orange and lemon, eryngo-roots,
preserved barberries; then lay on sliced lemon, and thin slices of
butter over all; then lid your pye, and bake it; and when 'tis drawn,
have in readiness a caudle made of white-wine and sugar, and thicken'd
with butter and eggs, and pour it hot into your pye.
_Very fine Hogs Puddings_:--Shred four pounds of beef-suet very fine,
mix with it two pounds of fine sugar powder'd, two grated nutmegs,
some mace beat, and a little salt, and three pounds of currants wash'd
and pick'd; beat twenty-four yolks, twelve whites of eggs, with a
little sack; mix all well together, and fill your guts, being clean
and steep'd in orange-flower-water; cut your guts quarter and half
long, fill them half full; tye at each end, and again thus oooo. Boil
them as others, and cut them in balls when sent to the table.
_To make Plumb-Porridge_:--Take a leg and shin of beef to ten gallons
of water, boil it very tender, and when the broth is strong, strain it
out, wipe the pot, and put in the broth again; slice six penny-loaves
thin, cutting off the top and bottom; put some of the liquor to it,
cover it up, and let it stand a quarter of an hour, and then put it in
your pot, let it boil a quarter of an hour, then put in five pounds of
currants, let them boil a little, and put in five pounds of raisins,
and two pounds of prunes, and let them boil till they swell; then put
in three quarters of an ounce of mace, half an ounce of cloves, two
nutmegs, all of them beat fine, and mix it with a little liquor cold,
and put them in a very little while, and take off the pot, and put in
three pounds of sugar, a little salt, a quart of sack, and a quart of
claret, the juice of two or three lemons; you may thicken with sagoe
instead of bread, if you please; pour them into earthen pans, and keep
them for use.
III.--SWEET-PUDDINGS, PIES, ETC.
_To make New-College Puddings_:--Grate a penny stale loaf, and put to
it a like quantity of beef-suet finely shred, and a nutmeg grated, a
little salt, some currants, and then beat some eggs in a little sack,
and some sugar, and mix all together, and knead it as stiff as for
manchet, and make it up in the form and size of a turkey-egg, but a
little flatter; then take a pound of butter, and put it in a dish, and
set the dish over a clear fire in a chafing-dish, and rub your butter
about the dish till 'tis melted; put your puddings in, and cover the
dish, but often turn your puddings, until they are all brown alike,
and when they are enough, scrape sugar over them, and serve them up
hot for a side dish.
You must let the paste lie a quarter of an hour before you make up
your puddings.
_To make a Spread-Eagle pudding_:--Cut off the crust of three
half-penny rolls, then slice them into your pan; then set three pints
of milk over the fire, make it scalding hot, but not boil; so pour it
over your bread, and cover it close, and let it stand an hour; then
put in a good spoonful of sugar, a very little salt, a nutmeg grated,
a pound of suet after 'tis shred, half a pound of currants washed and
picked, four spoonfuls of cold milk, ten eggs, but five of the whites;
and when all is in, stir it, but not till all is in; then mix it well,
butter a dish; less than an hour will bake it.
_To make a Cabbage Pudding_:--Take two pounds of the lean part of a
leg of veal; take of beef-suet the like quantity; chop them together,
then beat them together in a stone mortar, adding to it half a little
cabbage, scalded, and beat that with your meat; then season it with
mace and nutmeg, a little pepper and salt, some green gooseberries,
grapes, or barberries in the time of year. In the winter put in a
little verjuice; then mix all well together, with the yolks of four or
five eggs well beaten; then wrap it up in green cabbage leaves; tye a
cloth over it, boil it an hour: melt butter for sauce.
_To make a Calf's Foot Pudding_:--Take two calf's feet finely shred;
then of biskets grated, and stale mackaroons broken small, the
quantity of a penny loaf; then add a pound of beef-suet, very finely
shred, half a pound of currants, a quarter of a pound of sugar; some
cloves, mace and nutmeg, beat fine; a very little salt, some sack and
orange-flower-water, some citron and candied orange-peel; work all
these well together, with yolks of eggs; if you boil it, put it in the
caul of a breast of veal, and tie it over with a cloth; it must boil
four hours. For sauce, melt butter, with a little sack and sugar; if
you bake it, put some paste in the bottom of the dish, but none on the
brim; then melt half a pound of butter, and mix with your stuff, and
put it in your dish, and stick lumps of marrow in it; bake it three or
four hours; scrape sugar over it, and serve it hot.
_To make a Chestnut Pudding_:--Take a dozen and half of chestnuts, put
them in a skillet of water, and set them on the fire till they will
blanch; then blanch them, and when cold, put them in cold water, then
stamp them in a mortar, with orange-flower-water and sack, till they
are very small; mix them in two quarts of cream, and eighteen yolks of
eggs, the whites of three or four; beat the eggs with sack, rose-water
and sugar; put it in a dish with puff-paste; stick in some lumps of
marrow or fresh butter, and bake it.
_To make a Brown-bread Pudding_:--Take half a pound of brown bread,
and double the weight of it in beef-suet; a quarter of a pint of
cream, the blood of a fowl, a whole nutmeg, some cinnamon, a spoonful
of sugar, six yolks of eggs, three whites: mix it all well together,
and boil it in a wooden dish two hours. Serve it with sack and sugar,
and butter melted.
_To make a baked Sack Pudding_:--Take a pint of cream, and turn it to
a curd with a sack; then bruise the curd very small with a spoon; then
grate in two Naples-biskets, or the inside of a stale penny-loaf, and
mix it well with the curd, and half a nutmeg grated; some fine
sugar, and the yolks of four eggs, the whites of two, beaten with two
spoonfuls of sack; then melt half a pound of fresh butter, and stir
all together till the oven is hot. Butter a dish, and put it in, and
sift some sugar over it, just as 'tis going into the oven half an hour
will bake it.
_To make an Orange Pudding_:--Take two large Sevil oranges, and grate
off the rind, as far as they are yellow; then put your oranges in fair
water, and let them boil till they are tender; shift the water three
or four times to take out the bitterness; when they are tender, cut
them open, and take away the seeds and strings, and beat the other
part in a mortar, with half a pound of sugar, till 'tis a paste; then
put in the yolks of six eggs, three or four spoonfuls of thick cream,
half a Naples-biscuit grated; mix these together, and melt a pound of
very good fresh butter, and stir it well in; when 'tis cold, put a bit
of fine puff-paste about the brim and bottom of your dish, and put it
in and bake it about three quarters of an hour.
_Another sort of Orange Pudding_:--Take the outside rind of three
Sevil oranges, boil them in several waters till they are tender; then
pound them in a mortar with three quarters of a pound of sugar; then
blanch and beat half a pound of almonds very fine, with rose-water to
keep them from oiling; then beat sixteen eggs, but six whites, and
a pound of fresh butter; beat all these together very well till 'tis
light and hollow; then put it in a dish, with a sheet of puff-paste at
the bottom, and bake it with tarts; scrape sugar on it, and serve it
up hot.
_To make a French-Barley Pudding_:--Take a quart of cream, and put to
it six eggs well beaten, but three of the whites; then season it with
sugar, nutmeg, a little salt, orange-flower-water, and a pound of
melted butter; then put to it six handfuls of French-barley that has
been boiled tender in milk: butter a dish, and put it in, and bake it.
It must stand as long as a venison-pasty, and it will be good.
_To make a Skirret Pye_:--Boil your biggest skirrets, and blanch them,
and season them with cinamon, nutmeg, and a very little ginger and
sugar. Your pye being ready, lay in your skirrets; season also the
marrow of three or four bones with cinamon, sugar, a little salt and
grated bread. Lay the marrow in your pye, and the yolks of twelve hard
eggs cut in halves, a handful of chesnuts boiled and blanched, and
some candied orange-peel in slices. Lay butter on the top, and lid
your pye. Let your caudle be white-wine, verjuice, some sack and
sugar; thicken it with the yolks of eggs, and when the pye is baked,
pour it in, and serve it hot. Scrape sugar on it.
_To make a Cabbage-Lettuce Pye_:--Take some of the largest and hardest
cabbage-lettuce you can get; boil them in salt and water till they are
tender; then lay them in a colander to drain dry; then have your paste
laid in your pattipan ready, and lay butter on the bottom; then lay
in your lettuce and some artichoke-bottoms, and some large pieces of
marrow, and the yolks of eight hard eggs, and some scalded sorrel;
bake it, and when it comes out of the oven, cut open the lid; and pour
in a caudle made with white-wine and sugar, and thicken with eggs; so
serve it hot.
_Potato, or Lemon Cheesecakes_:--Take six ounces of potatoes, four
ounces of lemon-peel four ounces of sugar, four ounces of butter; boil
the lemon-peel til tender, pare and scrape the potatoes, and boil them
tender and bruise them; beat the lemon-peel with the sugar, then beat
all together very well, and melt all together very well, and let it
lie till cold: put crust in your pattipans, and fill them little more
than half full: bake them in a quick oven half an hour, sift some
double-refined sugar on them as they go into the oven; this quantity
will make a dozen small pattipans.
_To make Almond Cheesecakes_:--Take a good handful or more of almonds,
blanch them in warm water, and throw them in cold; pound them fine,
and in the pounding put a little sack or orange-flower-water to keep
them from oiling; then put to your almonds the yolks of two hard eggs,
and beat them together: beat the yolks of six eggs, the whites of
three, and mix with your almonds, and half a pound of butter melted,
and sugar to your taste; mix all well together, and use it as other
cheesecake stuff.
_To make the light Wigs_:--Take a pound and half of flour, and half a
pint of milk made warm; mix these together, and cover it up, and let
it lie by the fire half an hour; then take half a pound of sugar, and
half a pound of butter; then work these in the paste, and make it into
wigs, with as little flour as possible. Let the oven be pretty quick,
and they will rise very much.
_To make very good Wigs_:--Take a quarter of a peck of the finest
flour, rub into it three quarters of a pound of fresh butter, till
'tis like grated bread, something more than half a pound of sugar,
half a nutmeg, and half a race of ginger grated; three eggs, yolks
and whites beaten very well, and put to them half a pint of thick
ale-yeast, three or four spoonfuls of sack. Make a hole in your flour,
and pour in your yeast and eggs, and as much milk just warm, as will
make it into a light paste. Let it stand before the fire to rise half
an hour; then make it into a dozen and half of wigs; wash them over
with eggs just as they go into the oven; a quick oven, and half an
hour will bake them.
_To make Carrot or Parsnip Puffs_:--Scrape and boil your carrots or
parsnips tender; then scrape or mash them very fine, add to a pint of
pulp the crumb of a penny-loaf grated, or some stale biscuit, if
you have it, some eggs, but four whites, a nutmeg grated, some
orange-flower-water, sugar to your taste, a little sack, and mix it up
with thick cream. They must be fry'd in rendered suet, the liquor very
hot when you put them in; put in a good spoonful in a place.
_A Tansy_:--Boil a quart of cream or milk with a stick of cinamon,
quarter'd nutmeg, and large mace; when half cold, mix it with twenty
yolks of eggs, and ten whites; strain it, then put to it four grated
biskets, half a pound of butter, a pint of spinage-juice, and a little
tansy, sack, and orange-flower-water, sugar, and a little salt; then
gather it to a body over the fire, and pour it into your dish, being
well butter'd. When it is baked, turn it on a pye-plate; squeeze on
it an orange, grate on sugar, and garnish it with slic'd orange and a
little tansy. Made in a dish; cut as you please.
_To make Sack Cream_:--Take the yolks of two eggs, and three spoonfuls
of fine sugar, and a quarter of a pint of sack: mix them together, and
stir them into a pint of cream; then set them over the fire till 'tis
scalding hot, but let it not boil. You may toast some thin slices of
white bread, and dip them in sack or orange-flower-water, and pour
your cream over them.
_To make Quince Cream_:--Take quinces, scald them till they are soft;
pare them, and mash the clear part of them, and pulp it through a
sieve; take an equal weight of quince, and double-refin'd sugar beaten
and sifted, and the whites of eggs, and beat it till it is as white as
snow, then put it in dishes.
_To make Pistachia Cream_:--Peel your pistachias, and beat them very
fine, and boil them in cream; if 'tis not green enough, add a little
juice of spinage; thicken it with eggs, and sweeten to your taste;
pour it in basons, and set it by till 'tis cold.
_To make white Jelly of Quinces_:--Pare your quinces, and cut them in
halves; then core them and parboil your quinces; when they are soft,
take them up, and crush them through a strainer, but not too hard,
only the clear juice. Take the weight of the juice in fine sugar;
boil the sugar candy-height, and put in your juice, and let it scald
awhile, but not boil; and if any froth arise, scum it off, and when
you take it up, have ready a white preserved quince cut in small
slices, and lay them in the bottom of your glasses, and pour your
jelly to them, it will candy on the top and keep moist on the bottom a
long time.
_To make Hart's-Horn Jelly_:--Take a large gallipot, and fill it full
of hart's-horn, and then fill it full with spring-water, and tie a
double paper over the gallipot, and set it in the baker's oven with
household bread; in the morning take it out, and run it through a
jelly-bag, and season it with juice of lemons, and double-refin'd
sugar, and the whites of eight eggs well beaten; let it have a boil,
and run it thro' the jelly-bag again into your jelly-glasses; put a
bit of lemon-peel in the bag.
IV.--CHEESES.
_The Queen's Cheese_:--Take six quarts of the best stroakings, and
let them stand till they are cold; then set two quarts of cream on the
fire till 'tis ready to boil; then take it off, and boil a quart of
fair water, and take the yolks of two eggs, and one spoonful of sugar,
and two spoonfuls of runnet; mingle all these together, and stir it
till 'tis blood warm: when the cheese is come, use it as other cheese;
set it at night, and the third day lay the leaves of nettles under and
over it: it must be turned and wiped, and the nettles shifted every
day, and in three weeks it will be fit to eat. This cheese is made
between Michaelmas and Alhallontide.
_To make a Slip-coat Cheese_:--Take new milk and runnet, quite cold,
and when 'tis come, break it as little as you can in putting it into
the cheese-fat, and let it stand and whey itself for some time; then
cover it, and set about two pound weight on it, and when it will hold
together, turn it out of that cheese-fat, and keep it turning upon
clean cheese-fats for two or three days, till it has done wetting,
and then lay it on sharp-pointed dock-leaves till 'tis ripe: shift the
leaves often.
_To make a New-market Cheese to cut at two Years old_:--Any morning
in September, take twenty quarts of new milk warm from the cow, and
colour it with marigolds: when this is done, and the milk not cold,
get ready a quart of cream, and a quart of fair water, which must be
kept stirring over the fire till 'tis scalding hot, then stir it well
into the milk and runnet, as you do other cheese; when 'tis come, lay
cheese-cloths over it, and settle it with your hands; the more hands
the better; as the whey rises, take it away, and when 'tis clean gone,
put the curd into your fat, breaking it as little as you can; then put
it in the press, and press it gently an hour; take it out again, and
cut it in thin slices, and lay them singly on a cloth, and wipe them
dry; then put it in a tub, and break it with your hands as small as
you can, and mix with it a good handful of salt, and a quart of cold
cream; put it in the fat, and lay a pound weight on it till next day;
then press and order it as others.
V.--CAKES.
_To make Shrewsbury Cakes_:--Take to one pound of sugar, three pounds
of the finest flour, a nutmeg grated, some beaten cinamon; the sugar
and spice must be sifted into the flour, and wet it with three eggs,
and as much melted butter, as will make it of a good thickness to roll
into a paste; mould it well and roll it, and cut it into what shape
you please. Perfume them, and prick them before they go into the oven.
_To make Whetstone Cakes_:--Take half a pound of fine flour, and half
a pound of loaf sugar searced, a spoonful of carraway-seeds dried,
the yolk of one egg, the whites of three, a little rose-water, with
ambergrease dissolved in it; mix it together, and roll it out as thin
as a wafer; cut them with a glass; lay them on flour'd paper, and bake
them in a slow oven.
_To make Portugal Cakes_:--Take a pound and a quarter of fine flour
well dried, and break a pound of butter into the flour and rub it in,
add a pound of loaf-sugar beaten and sifted, a nutmeg grated, four
perfumed plums, or some ambergrease; mix these well together, and
beat seven eggs, but four whites, with three spoonfuls of
orange-flower-water; mix all these together, and beat them up an hour;
butter your little pans, and just as they are going into the oven,
fill them half full, and searce some fine sugar over them; little more
than a quarter of an hour will bake them. You may put a handful of
currants into some of them; take them out of the pans as soon as they
are drawn, keep them dry, they will keep good three months.
_To make Jumbals_:--Take the whites of three eggs, beat them well, and
take off the froth; then take a little milk, and a little flour, near
a pound, as much sugar sifted, a few carraway-seeds beaten very fine;
work all these in a very stiff paste, and make them into what form you
please bake them on white paper.
_To make March-pane_:--Take a pound of Jordan almonds, blanch and beat
them in a marble mortar very fine; then put to them three-quarters
of a pound of double-refin'd sugar, and beat with them a few drops of
orange-flower-water; beat all together till 'tis a very good paste,
then roll it into what shape you please; dust a little fine sugar
under it as you roll it to keep it from sticking. To ice it, searce
double-refined sugar as fine as flour, wet it with rose-water, and mix
it well together, and with a brush or bunch of feathers spread it
over your march-pane: bake them in an oven that is not too hot: put
wafer-paper at the bottom, and white paper under that, so keep them
for use.
_To make the Marlborough Cake_:--Take eight eggs, yolks and whites,
beat and strain them, and put to them a pound of sugar beaten and
sifted; beat it three-quarters of an hour together; then put in
three-quarters of a pound of flour well dried, and two ounces of
carraway-seeds; beat it all well together, and bake it in a quick oven
in broad tin-pans.
_To make Wormwood Cakes_:--Take one pound of double-refin'd sugar
sifted; mix it with the whites of three or four eggs well beat; into
this drop as much chymical oil of wormwood as you please. So drop them
on paper; you may have some white, and some marble, with specks of
colours, with the point of a pin; keep your colours severally in
little gallipots. For red, take a dram of cochineel, a little cream of
tartar, as much of allum; tye them up severally in little bits of fine
cloth, and put them to steep in one glass of water two or three hours.
When you use the colour, press the bags in the water, and mix some
of it with a little of the white of egg and sugar. Saffron colours
yellow; and must be tyed in a cloth, as the red, and put in water.
Powder-blue, mix'd with the saffron-water, makes a green; for blue,
mix some dry powder-blue with some water.
_A French Cake to eat hot_:--Take a dozen of eggs, and a quart of
cream, and as much flour as will make it into a thick batter; put to
it a pound of melted butter, half a pint of sack, one nutmeg grated,
mix it well, and let it stand three or four hours; then bake it in
a quick oven, and when you take it out, split it in two, and pour a
pound of butter on it melted with rose-water; cover it with the other
half, and serve it up hot.
_To make the thin Dutch Bisket_:--Take five pounds of flour, and two
ounces of carraway-seeds, half a pound of sugar, and something more
than a pint of milk. Warm the milk, and put into it three-quarters of
a pound of butter; then make a hole in the middle of your flour, and
put in a full pint of good ale-yeast; then pour in the butter and
milk, and make these into a paste, and let it stand a quarter of an
hour by the fire to rise; then mould it, and roll it into cakes pretty
thin; prick them all over pretty much or they will blister; so bake
them a quarter of an hour.
_To make Dutch Ginger-bread_:--Take four pounds of flour, and mix with
it two ounces and a half of beaten ginger; then rub in a quarter of
a pound of butter, and add to it two ounces of carraway-seeds,
two ounces of orange-peel dried and rubb'd to powder, a few
coriander-seeds bruised, two eggs: then mix all up in a stiff paste,
with two pounds and a quarter of treacle; beat it very well with
a rolling-pin, and make it up into thirty cakes; put in a candied
citron; prick them with a fork: butter papers three double, one white,
and two brown; wash them over with the white of an egg; put them into
an oven not too hot, for three-quarters of an hour.
_To make Cakes of Flowers_:--Boil double-refin'd sugar candy-high, and
then strew in your flowers, and let them boil once up; then with your
hand lightly strew in a little double-refin'd sugar sifted; and then
as quick as may be, put it into your little pans, made of card, and
pricked full of holes at bottom. You must set the pans on a pillow, or
cushion; when they are cold, take them out.
VI.--CAUDLES AND POSSETS.
_To make a Posset with Ale: King-William's Posset_:--Take a quart of
cream, and mix with it a pint of ale, then beat the yolks of ten eggs,
and the whites of four; when they are well beaten, put them to the
cream and ale, sweeten it to your taste, and slice some nutmeg in it;
set it over the fire, and keep it stirring all the while, and when
'tis thick, and before it boils, take it off, and pour it into the
bason you serve it in to the table.
_To make the Pope's Posset_:--Blanch and beat three-quarters of a
pound of almonds so fine, that they will spread between your fingers
like butter, put in water as you beat them to keep them from oiling;
then take a pint of sack or sherry, and sweeten it very well with
double-refin'd sugar, make it boiling hot, and at the same time put
half a pint of water to your almonds, and make them boil; then take
both off the fire, and mix them very well together with a spoon; serve
it in a china dish.
_To make Flummery Caudle_:--Take a pint of fine oatmeal, and put to it
two quarts of fair water: let it stand all night, in the morning stir
it, and strain it into a skillet, with three or four blades of mace,
and a nutmeg quartered; set it on the fire, and keep it stirring,
and let it boil a quarter of an hour; if it is too thick, put in
more water, and let it boil longer; then add a pint of Rhenish or
white-wine; three spoonfuls of orange-flower-water, the juice of two
lemons and one orange, a bit of butter, and as much fine sugar as will
sweeten it; let all these have a warm, and thicken it with the yolks
of two or three eggs. Drink it hot for a breakfast.
_To make Tea Caudle_:--Make a quart of strong green tea, and pour it
out into a skillet, and set it over the fire; then beat the yolks of
four eggs and mix with them a pint of white-wine, a grated nutmeg,
sugar to your taste, and put all together; stir it over the fire till
'tis very hot, then drink it in china dishes as caudle.
VII.--CONSERVES, DRIED AND CAN-DIED FRUITS, MARMALADES, ETC.
_To dry Apricocks like Prunella's_:--Take a pound of Apricocks; being
cut in halves or quarters, let them boil till they be very tender in
a thin syrup; let them stand a day or two in the stove, then take
them out of the syrup, and lay them drying till they be as dry as
prunello's, then box them: you may make your syrup red with the juice
of red plums; if you please you may pare them.
_To candy Angelica_:--Take angelica that is young, and cut it in
fit lengths, and boil it till it is pretty tender, keeping it close
covered; then take it up and peel off all the strings; then put it in
again, and let it simmer and scald till 'tis very green; then take it
up and dry it in a cloth, and weigh it, and to every pound of angelica
take a pound of double-refin'd sugar beaten and sifted; put your
angelica in an earthen pan, and strew the sugar over it, and let it
stand two days; then boil it till it looks very clear, put it in a
colander to drain the syrup from it, and take a little double-refin'd
sugar and boil it to sugar again; then throw in your angelica, and
take it out in a little time, and put it on glass plates. It will dry
in your stove, or in an oven after pyes are drawn.
_To candy Orange-Flowers_:--Take half a pound of double-refin'd
sugar finely beaten, wet it with orange-flower-water, then boil
it candy-high, then put in a handful of orange-flowers, keeping it
stirring, but let it not boil, and when the sugar candies about them,
take it off the fire, drop it on a plate, and set it by till 'tis
cold.
_To make Conserve of Red-Roses, or any other Flowers_:--Take
rose-buds, and pick them, and cut off the white part from the red,
and put the red flowers, and sift them through a sieve to take out the
seeds; then weigh them, and to every pound of flowers take two pounds
and a half of loaf-sugar, beat the flowers pretty fine in a stone
mortar; then by degrees put the sugar to them, and beat it very well
till 'tis well incorporated together; then put it into gallipots, and
tye it over with paper, and over that leather, and it will keep seven
years.
_To preserve white Pear Plumbs_:--Take pear plumbs when they are
yellow, before they are too ripe; give them a slit in the seam, and
prick them behind; make your water almost scalding hot, and put a
little sugar to it to sweeten it, and put in your plumbs and cover
them close; set them on the fire to coddle, and take them off
sometimes a little, and set them on again: take care they do not
break; have in readiness as much double-refin'd sugar boiled to a
height as will cover them, and when they are coddled pretty tender,
take them out of that liquor, and put them into your preserving-pan to
your syrup, which must be but blood-warm when your plumbs go in. Let
them boil till they are clear, scum them and take them off, and let
them stand two hours; then set them on again and boil them, and when
they are thoroughly preserved, take them up and lay them in glasses;
boil your syrup till 'tis thick; and when 'tis cold, put in your
plumbs; and a month after, if your syrup grows thin, you must boil it
again, or make a fine jelly of pippins, and put on them. This way
you may do the pimordian plumb, or any white plumb, and when they are
cold, paper them up.
_To preserve Mulberries whole_:--Set some mulberries over the fire
in a skillet, and draw from them a pint of juice, when 'tis strained.
Then take three pounds of sugar, beaten very fine; wet the sugar with
the pint of juice; boil up your sugar, and scum it, and put in two
pounds of ripe mulberries, and let them stand in the syrup till they
are thoroughly warm; then set them on the fire, and let them boil very
gently; do them but half enough, so put them by in the syrup till next
day; then boil them gently again, and when the syrup is pretty thick,
and will stand in a round drop when 'tis cold, they are enough; so put
all together in a gallipot for use.
_To preserve whole Quinces white_:--Take the largest quinces of the
greenest colour, and scald them till they are pretty soft; then pare
them and core them with a scoop; then weigh your quinces against so
much double-refin'd sugar, and make a syrup of one half, and put in
your quinces, and boil them as fast as you can; then you must have
in readiness pippin liquor; let it be very strong of the pippins, and
when 'tis strained out, put in the other half of your sugar, and make
it a jelly, and when your quinces are clear, put them into the jelly,
and let them simmer a little; they will be very white; so glass them
up, and when they are cold, paper them and keep them in a stove.
_To make white Quince Marmalade_:--Scald your quinces tender, take off
the skin and pulp them from the core very fine, and to every pound
of quince have a pound and half of double-refin'd sugar in lumps, and
half a pint of water; dip your sugar in the water and boil and scum it
till 'tis a thick syrup: then put in your quince, boil and scum it on
a quick fire a quarter of an hour, so put it in your pots.
_To make red Quince Marmalade_:--Pare and core a pound of quince, beat
the parings and cores and some of your worst quinces, and strain out
the juice; and to every pound of quince take ten or twelve spoonfuls
of that juice, and three-quarters of a pound of loaf-sugar; put all
into your preserving-pan, cover it close, and let it stew over a
gentle fire two hours; when 'tis of an orange-red, uncover and boil it
up as fast as you can: when of a good colour, break it as you like it,
give it a boil, and pot it up.
_To make Melon Mangoes_:--Take small melons, not quite ripe, cut
a slip down the side, and take out the inside very clean; beat
mustard-seeds, and shred garlick, and mix with the seeds, and put in
your mangoes; put the pieces you cut out into their places again, and
tye them up, and put them into your pot, and boil some vinegar (as
much as you think will cover them) with whole pepper, and some salt,
and Jamaica pepper, and pour in scalding hot over your mangoes, and
cover them close to keep in the steam; and so do every day for nine
times together, and when they are cold cover them with leather.
_To make Conserve of Hips_:--Gather the hips before they grow soft,
cut off the heads and stalks, slit them in halves, and take out all
the seed and white that is in them very clean; then put them in an
earthen pan, and stir them every day, else they will grow mouldy;
let them stand till they are soft enough to rub through a coarse
hair-sieve; as the pulp comes, take it off the sieve; they are a dry
berry, and will require pains to rub it through; then add its weight
in sugar, and mix it well together without boiling; keeping it in deep
gallipots for use.
_To make clear Cakes of Gooseberries_:--Take your white Dutch
gooseberries when they are thorough ripe, break them with your fingers
and squeeze out all the pulp into a fine piece of cambrick or thick
muslin to run thro' clear; then weigh the juice and sugar one against
the other; then boil the juice a little while, then put in your sugar
and let it dissolve, but not boil; scum it and put it into glasses,
and stove it in a warm stove.
_To make white Quince Paste_:--Scald the quinces tender to the core,
and pare them, and scrape the pulp clean from the core, beat it in
a mortar, and pulp it through a colander; take to a pound of pulp a
pound and two ounces of sugar, boil the sugar till 'tis candy-high;
then put in your pulp, stir it about constantly till you see it come
clear from the bottom of the preserving-pan; then take it off, and lay
it on plates pretty thin: you may cut it in what shape you please, or
make quince chips of it; you must dust it with sugar when you put it
into the stove, and turn it on papers in a sieve, and dust the other
side; when they are dry, put them in boxes with papers between. You
may make red quince paste the same way as this, only colour the quince
with cochineel.
_To make Syrup of any flower_:--Clip your flowers, and take their
weight in sugar; then take a high gallipot, and a row of flowers, and
a strewing of sugar, till the pot is full; then put in two or three
spoonfuls of the same syrup or still'd water; tye a cloth on the top
of the pot, and put a tile on that, and set your gallipot in a kettle
of water over a gentle fire, and let it infuse till the strength is
out of the flowers, which will be in four or five hours; then strain
it thro' a flannel, and when 'tis cold bottle it up.
VIII.--PICKLES.
_To pickle Nasturtium-Buds_:--Gather your little knobs quickly after
your blossoms are off; put them in cold water and salt for three days,
shifting them once a day; then make a pickle (but do not boil it
at all) of some white-wine, some white-wine vinegar, eschalot,
horse-radish, pepper, salt, cloves, and mace whole, and nutmeg
quartered; then put in your seeds and stop them close; they are to be
eaten as capers.
_To keep Quinces in Pickle_:--Cut five or six quinces all to pieces,
and put them in an earthen pot or pan, with a gallon of water and two
pounds of honey; mix all these together well, and then put them in
a kettle to boil leisurely half an hour, and then strain your liquor
into that earthen pot, and when 'tis cold, wipe your quinces clean,
and put them into it: they must be covered very close, and they will
keep all the year.
_To pickle Ashen-keys_:--Take ashen-keys as young as you can get them,
and put them in a pot with salt and water; then take green whey, when
'tis hot, and pour over them; let them stand till they are cold before
you cover them, so let them stand; when you use them, boil them in
fair water; when they are tender take them out, and put them in salt
and water.
_To pickle Pods of Radishes_:--Gather the youngest pods, and put them
in water and salt twenty-four hours; then make a pickle for them of
vinegar, cloves, mace, whole pepper: boil this, and drain the pods
from the salt and water, and pour the liquor on them boiling hot: put
to them a clove of garlick a little bruised.
_To pickle Broom-Buds_:--Put your broom-buds into little linnen-bags,
tie them up, and make a pickle of bay-salt and water boiled, and
strong enough to bear an egg; put your bags in a pot, and when your
pickle is cold, put it to them; keep them close, and let them lie till
they turn black; then shift them two or three times, till they change
green; then take them out, and boil them as you have occasion for
them: when they are boiled, put them out of the bag: in vinegar they
will keep a month after they are boiled.
_To pickle Purslain Stalks_:--Wash your stalks, and cut them in pieces
six inches long; boil them in water and salt a dozen walms; take
them up, drain them, and when they cool, make a pickle of stale beer,
white-wine vinegar, and salt, put them in, and cover them close.
IX.--WINES.
_To make strong Mead_:--Take of spring-water what quantity you please,
and make it more than blood-warm, and dissolve honey in it till 'tis
strong enough to bear an egg, the breadth of a shilling; then boil
it gently near an hour, taking off the scum as it rises; then put to
about nine or ten gallons, seven or eight large blades of mace, three
nutmegs quarter'd, twenty cloves, three or four sticks of cinamon, two
or three roots of ginger, and a quarter of an ounce of Jamaica pepper;
put these spices into the kettle to the honey and water, a whole
lemon, with a sprig of sweet-briar, and a sprig of rosemary; tie the
briar and rosemary together, and when they have boiled a little while,
take them out and throw them away; but let your liquor stand on the
spice in a clean earthen pot till the next day; then strain it into a
vessel that is fit for it; put the spice in a bag, and hang it in the
vessel, stop it, and at three months draw it into bottles. Be sure
that 'tis fine when 'tis bottled; after 'tis bottled six weeks 'tis
fit to drink.
_To make small White Mead_:--Take three gallons of spring-water and
make it hot, and dissolve in it three quarts of honey and a pound of
loaf sugar; and let it boil about half an hour, and scum it as long
as any rises, then pour it out into a tub, and squeeze in the juice of
four lemons; put in the rinds of but two; twenty cloves, two races of
ginger, a top of sweet-briar, and a top of rosemary. Let it stand in
a tub till 'tis but blood warm; then make a brown toast and spread it
with two or three spoonfuls of ale-yeast, put it into a vessel fit for
it; let it stand four or five days, then bottle it out.
_To make Frontiniac Wine_:--Take six gallons of water and twelve
pounds of white sugar, and six pounds of raisins of the sun cut small;
boil these together an hour; then take of the flowers of elder, when
they are falling and will shake off, the quantity of half a peck;
put them in the liquor when 'tis almost cold, the next day put in six
spoonfuls of syrup of lemons, and four spoonfuls of ale-yeast, and
two days after put it in a vessel that is fit for it, and when it has
stood two months bottle it off.
_To make English Champagne, or the fine Currant Wine_:--Take to three
gallons of water nine pounds of Lisbon sugar; boil the water and sugar
half an hour, scum it clean, then have one gallon of currants pick'd,
but not bruised, pour the liquor boiling-hot over them, and when cold,
work it with half a pint of balm two days; then pour it through a
flannel or sieve, then put it into a barrel fit for it with half an
ounce of ising-glass well bruised; when it has done working, stop
it close for a month, then bottle it, and in every bottle put a very
small lump of double-refin'd sugar. This is excellent wine, and has a
beautiful colour.
_To make Saragossa Wine, or English Sack_:--To every quart of water,
put a sprig of rue, and to every gallon a handful of fennel-roots,
boil these half an hour, then strain it out, and to every gallon of
this liquor put three pounds of honey; boil it two hours, and scum
it well, and when 'tis cold pour it off and turn it into a vessel, or
such cask that is fit for it; keep it a year in the vessel, and then
bottle it; 'tis a very good sack.
_Mountain Wine_:--Pick out the big stalks of your Malaga raisins,
then chop them very small, five gallons to every gallon of cold
spring-water, let them steep a fortnight or more, squeeze out the
liquor and barrel it in a vessel fit for it; first fume the vessel
with brimstone; don't stop it up till the hissing is over.
_To make Quince Wine_;--Take your quinces when they are thorough ripe,
wipe off the fur very clean; then take out the cores and bruise them
as you do apples for cyder, and press them, and to every gallon of
juice put two pounds and a half of fine sugar, stir it together till
'tis dissolved; then put it in your cask, and when it has done working
stop it close; let it stand till March before you bottle it. You may
keep it two or three years, it will be better.
_To make Plumb Wine_:--Take twenty pounds of Malaga raisins, pick,
rub, and shred them, and put them into a tub; then take four gallons
of fair water and boil it an hour, and let it stand till 'tis
blood-warm; then put it to your raisins; let it stand nine or ten
days, stirring it once or twice a day, strain out your liquor, and mix
with it two quarts of damson juice, put it in a vessel, and when it
has done working, stop it close; at four or five months bottle it.
_To make Birch Wine_:--In March bore a hole in a tree, and put in a
faucet, and it will run two or three days together without hurting the
tree; then put in a pin to stop it, and the next year you may draw as
much from the same hole; put to every gallon of the liquor a quart of
good honey, and stir it well together, boil it an hour, scum it well,
and put in a few cloves, and a piece of lemon-peel; when 'tis almost
cold, put to it so much ale-yeast as will make it work like new ale,
and when the yeast begins to settle, put it in a runlet that will
just hold it: so let it stand six weeks or longer if you please; then
bottle it, and in a month you may drink it. It will keep a year or
two. You may make it with sugar, two pounds to a gallon, or something
more, if you keep it long. This is admirably wholesome as well as
pleasant, an opener of obstructions, good against the phthisick, and
good against the spleen and scurvy, a remedy for the stone, it will
abate heat in a fever or thrush, and has been given with good success.
_To make Sage Wine_:--Boil twenty-six quarts of spring-water a quarter
of an hour, and when 'tis blood-warm, put twenty-five pounds of Malaga
raisins pick'd, rubb'd and shred into it, with almost half a bushel of
red sage shred, and a porringer of ale-yeast; stir all well together,
and let it stand m a tub cover'd warm six or seven days, stirring it
once a day; then strain it out, and put it in a runlet. Let it work
three or four days, stop it up; when it has stood six or seven days
put in a quart or two of Malaga sack, and when 'tis fine bottle it.
_Sage Wine another way_:--Take thirty pounds of Malaga raisins pick'd
clean, and shred small, and one bushel of green sage shred small, then
boil five gallons of water, let the water stand till 'tis luke-warm;
then put it in a tub to your sage and raisins; let it stand five or
six days, stirring it twice or thrice a day; then strain and press the
liquor from the ingredients, put it in a cask, and let it stand six
months: then draw it clean off into another vessel; bottle it in two
days; in a month or six weeks it will be fit to drink, but best when
'tis a year old.
_To make Ebulum_:--To a hogshead of strong ale, take a heap'd bushel
of elder-berries, and half a pound of juniper-berries beaten; put in
all the berries when you put in the hops, and let them boil together
till the berries brake in pieces, then work it up as you do ale; when
it has done working, add to it half a pound of ginger, half an ounce
of cloves, as much mace, an ounce of nutmegs, and as much cinamon
grosly beaten, half a pound of citron, as much eringo-root, and
likewise of candied orange-peel; let the sweetmeats be cut in pieces
very thin, and put with the spice into a bag and hang it in the vessel
when you stop it up. So let it stand till 'tis fine, then bottle it up
and drink it with lumps of double-refined sugar in the glass.
_To make Cock Ale_:--Take ten gallons of ale, and a large cock, the
older the better, parboil the cock, flea him, and stamp him in a stone
mortar till his bones are broken, (you must craw and gut him when you
flea him) put the cock into two quarts of sack, and put to it three
pounds of raisins of the sun stoned, some blades of mace, and a few
cloves; put all these into a canvas bag, and a little before you find
the ale has done working, put the ale and bag together into a vessel;
in a week or nine days' time bottle it up, fill the bottles but just
above the necks, and leave the same time to ripen as other ale.
_To make it Elder Ale_:--Take ten bushels of malt to a hogshead, then
put two bushels of elder-berries pickt from the stalks into a pot or
earthen pan, and set it in a pot of boiling water till the berries
swell, then strain it out and put the juice into the guile-fat, and
beat it often in, and so order it as the common way of brewing.
_To clear Wine_:--Take half a pound of hartshorn, and dissolve it in
cyder, if it be for cyder, or Rhenish-wine for any liquor: this is
enough for a hogshead.
_To fine Wine the Lisbon way_:--To every twenty gallons of wine take
the whites of ten eggs, and a small handful of salt, beat it together
to a froth, and mix it well with a quart or more of the wine, then
pour it in the vessel, and in a few days it will be fine.
COOKERY BOOKS.