Procure the heart of a prime ox――the larger the better――hang it up in
a current of dry air as long as it is safe, and at the same time get a
pint of newly-drawn goose oil, which put into a jar along with
Six or eight eschalots, minced
Onions, sliced 1 lb.
Dried sage, powdered 1 oz.
Bay salt ¼ lb.
Saltpetre ½ oz.
Tie brown paper over, and let it remain in a gentle heat until your
meat is ready. First cut out from the heart, the pipe――blood vessel――as
low down as you can, pare away the “deaf ears,” and open as wide as
you consistently can, without piercing the bark or outside skin, a
communication between the two upper cavities――auricles, and the two
lower ones――ventricles, and take out the coagulated blood. Next rub
all parts, the inside and outside, thoroughly twice a day with the
oily mixture for a week, having put the meat, point downwards, in a
straight-sided deep earthen vessel, and keeping the cavities all the
while filled with the liquor. Now boil for fifteen minutes.
Bay leaves, shred 1 oz.
Green laurel, shred 1 oz.
Bay salt, pounded ½ lb.
Vinegar 1 pint
Porter 1 pint
Coarse sugar 1 lb.
Skim it well and add it when half-cold to the meat in the jar, mixing
all well together. Mind that the meat is completely covered with the
pickle, and tie paper over all, so let it be for a week, when boil up
all the pickle, skimming it well, and taking care to renew what may
have been lost or imbibed, and the cavities kept well filled all the
time; let it be in pickle a fortnight longer, then take up, wipe dry
inside and out, make a stuffing of fried sliced onions and sage leaves
powdered, adding black pepper to make it pleasantly hot, and with this
fill the inside of the heart as full as possible, and pressing it in
from the top, make the holes secure with wetted bladder sewed over
them. Let it hang up for a day or two to dry, then wrap it in brown
paper and smoke it, point downwards, for a week; then take it down, rub
it for half-an-hour with olive oil, and smoke it again for a week.
This done, rub it again with the oil and hang it in a quick current of
air for twenty-four hours, and as soon as it is dry enough to retain
it, coat it securely with the gelatine composition, and keep it three
months, and longer the better. Ultimately, it must be roasted, and
slices cut out when cold to be broiled. It is an exceedingly beautiful
treat.