_Ingredients._—½ pint of port wine, a saltspoonful of salt, 2
tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 2 sliced onions, a faggot of sweet herbs,
nutmeg and mace to taste, the juice of a lemon, 2 anchovies; 1 or 2
barbels, according to size. _Mode._—Boil the barbels in salt and water
till done; pour off some of the water, and to the remainder put the
ingredients mentioned above. Simmer gently for ½ hour or rather more,
and strain. Put in the fish, heat it gradually, but do not let it boil,
or it will be broken. _Time._—Altogether 1 hour. _Sufficient_ for 4
persons. _Seasonable_ from September to November.
BARBERRIES (Berberis vulgaris).
A fruit of such great acidity, that even birds refuse to eat it. In
this respect, it nearly approaches the tamarind. When boiled with
sugar, it makes a very agreeable preserve or jelly, according to the
different modes of preparing it. Barberries are also used as a dry
sweetmeat, and in sugarplums or comfits; are pickled with vinegar, and
are used for various culinary purposes. They are well calculated to
allay heat and thirst in persons afflicted with fevers. The berries,
arranged on bunches of nicely curled parsley, make an exceedingly
pretty garnish for supper dishes, particularly for white meats, like
boiled fowl à la Béchamel, the three colours, scarlet, green, and
white, contrasting well, and producing a very good effect.
BARBERRIES, to preserve in Bunches.
_Ingredients._—1 pint of syrup, barberries. _Mode._—Prepare some small
pieces of clean white wood, 3 inches long and ¼ inch wide, and tie the
fruit on to these in nice bunches. Have ready some clear syrup (_see_
SYRUP); put in the barberries, and simmer them in it for 2 successive
days, boiling them for nearly ½ hour each day, and covering them each
time with the syrup when cold. When the fruit looks perfectly clear it
is sufficiently done, and should be stowed away in pots, with the syrup
poured over, or the fruit may be candied. _Time._—½ hour to simmer each
day. _Seasonable_ in autumn.