necessary in cleaning it. It is a common error to wash it too much, and
by this means the flavour is diminished. If the fish is to be boiled,
after it is cleaned, a little salt and vinegar should be put into the
water, to give it firmness. Codfish, whiting, and haddock, are far
better if a little salted, and kept a day; and if the weather be not
very hot, they will be good two days. When fish is cheap and plentiful,
and a larger quantity is purchased than is immediately wanted, it would
be proper to pot or pickle such as will bear it, or salt and hang it up,
or fry it a little, that it may serve for stewing the next day. Fresh
water fish having frequently a muddy smell and taste, should be soaked
in strong salt and water, after it has been well cleaned. If of a
sufficient size, it may be scalded in salt and water, and afterwards
dried and dressed. Fish should be put into cold water, and set on the
fire to do very gently, or the outside will break before the inner part
is done. Crimp fish is to be put into boiling water; and when it boils
up, pour in a little cold water to check extreme heat, and simmer it a
few minutes. The fish plate on which it is done, may be drawn up, to see
if it be ready, which may be known by its easily separating from the
bone. It should then be immediately taken out of the water, or it will
become woolly. The fish plate should be set crossways over the kettle,
to keep hot for serving; and a clean cloth over the fish, to prevent its
losing its colour. Small fish nicely fried, covered with egg and crumbs,
make a dish far more elegant than if served plain. Great attention is
required in garnishing fish, by using plenty of horseradish, parsley,
and lemon. When well done, and with very good sauce, fish is more
attended to than almost any other dish. The liver and roe should be
placed on the dish in order that they may be distributed in the course
of serving.--If fish is to be fried or broiled, it must be dried in a
nice soft cloth, after it is well cleaned and washed. If for frying,
smear it over with egg, and sprinkle on it some fine crumbs of bread. If
done a second time with the egg and bread, the fish will look so much
the better. Put on the fire a stout fryingpan, with a large quantity of
lard or dripping boiling hot, plunge the fish into it, and let it fry
tolerably quick, till the colour is of a fine brown yellow. If it be
done enough before it has obtained a proper degree of colour, the pan
must be drawn to the side of the fire. Take it up carefully, and either
place it on a large sieve turned upwards, and to be kept for that
purpose only, or on the under side of a dish to drain. If required to be
very nice, a sheet of writing paper must be placed to receive the fish,
that it may be free from all grease; it must also be of a beautiful
colour, and all the crumbs appear distinct. The same dripping, adding a
little that is fresh, will serve a second time. Butter gives a bad
colour, oil is the best, if the expense be no objection. Garnish with a
fringe of fresh curled parsley. If fried parsley be used, it must be
washed and picked, and thrown into fresh water; when the lard or
dripping boils, throw the parsley into it immediately from the water,
and instantly it will be green and crisp, and must be taken up with a
slice.--If fish is to be broiled, it must be seasoned, floured, and laid
on a very clean gridiron, which when hot, should be rubbed with a bit of
suet, to prevent the fish from sticking. It must be broiled over a very
clear fire, that it may not taste smoky; and not too near, that it may
not be scorched.
FISH GRAVY. Skin two or three eels, or some flounders; gut and wash them
very clean, cut them into small pieces, and put them into a saucepan.
Cover them with water, and add a little crust of toasted bread, two
blades of mace, some whole pepper, sweet herbs, a piece of lemon peel,
an anchovy or two, and a tea-spoonful of horse-radish. Cover the
saucepan close, and let it simmer; then add a little butter and flour,
and boil with the above.
FISH PIE. To make a fine fish pie, boil two pounds of small eels. Cut
the fins quite close, pick off the flesh, and return the bones into the
liquor, with a little mace, pepper, salt, and a slice of onion. Then
boil it till it is quite rich, and strain it. Make forcemeat of the
flesh, with an anchovy, a little parsley, lemon peel, salt, pepper, and
crumbs, and four ounces of butter warmed. Lay it at the bottom of the
dish: then take the flesh of soles, small cod, or dressed turbot, and
rub it with salt and pepper. Lay this on the forcemeat, pour on the
gravy, and bake it. If cod or soles are used, the skin and fins must be
taken off.
FISH SAUCE. Put into a very nice tin saucepan a pint of port wine, a
gill of mountain, half a pint of fine walnut ketchup, twelve anchovies
with the liquor that belongs to them, a gill of walnut pickle, the rind
and juice of a large lemon, four or five shalots, a flavour of cayenne,
three ounces of scraped horse-radish, three blades of mace, and two
tea-spoonfuls of made mustard. Boil it all gently, till the rawness goes
off, and put it into small bottles for use. Cork them very close and
seal the top.--Or chop two dozen of anchovies not washed, and ten
shalots, and scrape three spoonfuls of horseradish. Then add ten blades
of mace, twelve cloves, two sliced lemons, half a pint of anchovy
liquor, a quart of hock or Rhenish wine, and a pint of water. Boil it
down to a quart, and strain it off. When cold, add three large spoonfuls
of walnut ketchup, and put the sauce into small bottles well corked.--To
make fish sauce without butter, simmer very gently a quarter of a pint
of vinegar, and half a pint of soft water, with an onion. Add four
cloves, and two blades of mace, slightly bruised, and half a
tea-spoonful of black pepper. When the onion is quite tender, chop it
small with two anchovies, and set the whole on the fire to boil for a
few minutes, with a spoonful of ketchup. Prepare in the mean time the
yolks of three fresh eggs, well beaten and strained, and mix the liquor
with them by degrees. When all are well mixed, set the saucepan over a
gentle fire, keeping a bason in one hand, to toss the sauce to and fro
in, and shake the saucepan over the fire, that the eggs may not curdle.
Do not let it boil, only make the sauce hot enough to give it the
thickness of melted butter.--Fish sauce a la Craster, is made in the
following manner. Thicken a quarter of a pound of butter with flour, and
brown it. Add a pound of the best anchovies cut small, six blades of
pounded mace, ten cloves, forty corns of black pepper and allspice, a
few small onions, a faggot of sweet herbs, consisting of savoury, thyme,
basil, and knotted marjoram, also a little parsley, and sliced
horse-radish. On these pour half a pint of the best sherry, and a pint
and a half of strong gravy. Simmer all gently for twenty minutes, then
strain it through a sieve, and bottle it for use. The way of using it
is, to boil some of it in the butter while melting.
FLANNELS. In order to make flannels keep their colour and not shrink,
put them into a pail, and pour on boiling water. Let them lie till cold,
before they are washed.
FLAT BEER. Much loss is frequently sustained from beer growing flat,
during the time of drawing. To prevent this, suspend a pint or more of
ground malt in it, tied up in a large bag, and keep the bung well
closed. The beer will not then become vapid, but rather improve the
whole time it is in use.
FLAT CAKES. Mix two pounds of flour, one pound of sugar, and one ounce
of carraways, with four or five eggs, and a few spoonfuls of water. Make
all into a stiff paste, roll it out thin, cut it into any shape, and
bake on tins lightly floured. While baking, boil to a thin syrup a pound
of sugar in a pint of water. When both are hot, dip each cake into the
syrup, and place them on tins to dry in the oven for a short time. When
the oven is a little cooler, return them into it, and let them remain
there four or five hours. Cakes made in this way will keep good for a
long time.
FLAT FISH. Flounders, plaice, soles, and other kinds of flat fish, are
good boiled. Cut off the fins, draw and clean them well, dry them with a
cloth, and boil them in salt and water. When the fins draw out easily,
they are done enough. Serve them with shrimp, cockle, or mustard sauce,
and garnish with red cabbage.
FLATULENCY. Wind in the stomach, accompanied with pain, is frequently
occasioned by eating flatulent vegetables, or fat meat, with large
draughts of beverage immediately afterwards, which turn rancid on the
stomach; and of course, these ought to be avoided. Hot tea, turbid beer,
and feculent liquors will have the same effect. A phlegmatic
constitution, or costiveness, will render the complaint more frequent
and painful. Gentle laxatives and a careful diet are the best remedy;
but hot aromatics and spirituous liquors should be avoided.
FLEAS. Want of cleanliness remarkably contributes to the production of
these offensive insects. The females of this tribe deposit their eggs in
damp and filthy places, within the crevices of boards, and on rubbish,
when they emerge in the form of fleas in about a month. Cleanliness, and
frequent sprinkling of the room with a simple decoction of wormwood,
will soon exterminate the whole breed of these disagreeable vermin; and
the best remedy to expel them from bed clothes is a bag filled with dry
moss, the odour of which is to them extremely offensive. Fumigation with
brimstone, or the fresh leaves of pennyroyal sewed in a bag, and laid in
the bed, will also have the desired effect. Dogs and cats may be
effectually secured from the persecutions of these vermin, by
occasionally anointing their skin with sweet oil, or oil of turpentine;
or by rubbing into their coats some Scotch snuff. But if they be at all
mangy, or their skin broken, the latter would be very painful and
improper.
FLIES. If a room be swarming with these noisome insects, the most ready
way of expelling them is to fumigate the apartment with the dried leaves
of the gourd. If the window be opened, the smoke will instantly drive
them out: or if the room be close, it will suffocate them. But in the
latter case, no person should remain within doors, as the fume is apt to
occasion the headache. Another way is to dissolve two drams of the
extract of quassia in half a pint of boiling water; and, adding a little
sugar or syrup, pour the mixture upon plates. The flies are extremely
partial to this enticing food, and it never fails to destroy them.
Camphor placed near any kind of provision will protect it from the
flies.
FLIP. To make a quart of flip, put the ale on the fire to warm, and
beat up three or four eggs, with four ounces of moist sugar. Add a
tea-spoonful of grated nutmeg or ginger, and a quartern of good old rum
or brandy. When the ale is nearly boiling, put it into one pitcher, and
the rum and eggs into another: turn it from one pitcher to another, till
it is as smooth as cream.
FLOATING ISLAND. Mix three half pints of thin cream with a quarter of a
pint of raisin wine, a little lemon juice, orange flower water, and
sugar. Put it into a dish for the middle of the table, and lay on with a
spoon the following froth ready prepared. Sweeten half a pound of
raspberry or currant jelly, add to it the whites of four eggs beaten,
and beat up the jelly to a froth, until it will take any form you
please. It should be raised high, to represent a castle or a
rock.--Another way. Scald a codlin before it be ripe, or any other sharp
apple, and pulp it through a sieve. Beat the whites of two eggs with
sugar, and a spoonful of orange flower water; mix in the pulp by
degrees, and beat all together till it produces a large quantity of
froth. Serve it on a raspberry cream, or colour the froth with beet
root, raspberry, or currant jelly, and set it on a white cream, which
has already been flavoured with lemon, sugar, and raisin wine. The froth
may also be laid on a custard.
FLOOR CLOTHS. The best are such as are painted on a fine cloth, well
covered with colour, and where the flowers do not rise much above the
ground, as they wear out first. The durability of the cloth will depend
much on these two particulars, but more especially on the time it has
been painted, and the goodness of the colours. If they have not been
allowed sufficient space for becoming thoroughly hardened, a very little
use will injure them: and as they are very expensive articles, care is
necessary in preserving them. It answers to keep them some time before
they are used, either hung up in a dry airy place, or laid down in a
spare room. When taken up for the winter, they should be rolled round a
carpet roller, and care taken not to crack the paint by turning in the
edges too suddenly. Old carpets answer quite well, painted and seasoned
some months before they are laid down. If intended for passages, the
width must be directed when they are sent to the manufactory, as they
are cut before painting.
FLOOR CLOTHS CLEANED. Sweep them first, then wipe them with a flannel;
and when the dust and spots are removed, rub with a wax flannel, and dry
them with a plain one. Use but little wax, and rub only with the latter
to give a little smoothness, or it will make the floor cloth slippery,
and endanger falling. Washing now and then with milk, after the above
sweeping and dry rubbing, will give as good an appearance, and render
the floor cloths less slippery.
FLOUNDERS. These are both sea and river fish: the Thames produces the
best. They are in season from January to March, and from July to
September. Their flesh should be thick and firm, and their eyes bright:
they very soon become flabby and bad. Before they are dressed, they
should be rubbed with salt inside and out, and lie two hours to acquire
firmness. Then dip them in eggs, cover with grated bread, and fry them.
FLOUR. Good wheat flour may be known by the quantity of glutinous matter
it contains, and which will appear when kneaded into dough. For this
purpose take four ounces of fine flour, mix it with water, and work it
together till it forms a thick paste. The paste is then to be well
washed and kneaded with the hands under the water, and the water to be
renewed till it ceases to become white by the operation. If the flour be
sound, the paste which remains will be glutinous and elastic, and
brittle after it has been baked.--Adulterated meal and flour are
generally whiter and heavier than the good, and may be detected in a way
similar to that already mentioned, under the article ADULTERATIONS. Or
pour boiling water on some slices of bread, and drop on it some spirits
of vitriol. Put them in the flour; and if it contain any quantity of
whiting, chalk, or lime, a fermentation will ensue. Vitriol alone,
dropped on adulterated bread or flour, will produce a similar
effect.--American flour requires nearly twice as much water to make it
into bread as is used for English flour, and therefore it is more
profitable. Fourteen pounds of American flour will make twenty-one
pounds and a half of bread, while the best sort of English flour
produces only eighteen pounds and a half.
FLOUR CAUDLE. Into five large spoonfuls of pure water, rub smooth one
dessert-spoonful of fine flour. Set over the fire five spoonfuls of new
milk, and put into it two pieces of sugar. The moment it boils, pour
into it the flour and water, and stir it over a slow fire twenty
minutes. It is a nourishing and gently astringent food, and excellent
for children who have weak bowels.
FLOWER GARDEN. The pleasures of the garden are ever various, ever new;
and in every month of the year some attention is demanded, either in
rearing the tender plant, in preparing the soil for its reception, or
protecting the parent root from the severity of the winter's blast.
Ranunculuses, anemones, tulips, and other bulbous roots, if not taken
up, will be in great danger from the frost, and their shoots in the
spring will either be impaired, or totally destroyed.----JANUARY. Cover
the flower beds with wheat straw, to protect them from the cold; but
where the shoots begin to appear, place behind them a reed edge, sloping
three feet forward. A mat is to be let down from the top in severe
weather, and taken up when it is mild. This will preserve them, without
making them weak or sickly. The beds and boxes of seedling flowers
should also be covered, and the fence removed when the weather is mild.
Clean the auricula plants, pick off dead leaves, and scrape away the
surface of the mould. Replenish them with some that is fine and fresh,
set the pots up to the brim in the mould of a dry bed, and place behind
them a reed edging. Cover carnation plants from wet, and defend them
from mice and sparrows.----FEBRUARY. Make hotbeds for annual flowers, of
the dung reserved for that purpose, and sow them upon a good thickness
of mould, laid regularly over the dung. Transplant perennial flowers,
and hardy shrubs, Canterbury bells, lilacs, and the like. Break up and
new lay the gravel walks. Weed, rake, and clean the borders; and where
the box of the edging is decayed, make it up with a fresh plantation.
Sow auricula and polyanthus seeds in boxes, made of rough boards six
inches deep, with holes at the bottom to run off the water. Fill the
boxes with light mould, scatter the seeds thinly over the surface, sift
some more mould over them about a quarter of an inch thick, and place
them where they may enjoy the morning sun. Plant out carnations into
pots for flowering.----MARCH. Watch the beds of tender flowers, and
throw mats over them, supported by hoops, in hard weather. Continue
transplanting all the perennial fibrous rooted flowers, such as
golden-rods, and sweet-williams. Dig up the earth with a shovel about
those which were planted in autumn, and clean the ground between them.
All the pots of flowering plants must now be dressed. Pick off dead
leaves, remove the earth at the top, and put fresh instead; then give
them a gentle watering, and set them in their places for flowering. Be
careful that the roots are not wounded, and repeat the watering once in
three days. The third week in March is the time to sow sweet peas,
poppies, catchflies, and all the hardy annual plants. The last week is
proper for transplanting evergreens, and a showery day should be chosen
for the purpose. Hotbeds should now be made, to receive the seedlings of
annual flowers raised in the former bed.----APRIL. Tie up to sticks the
stalks of tall flowers, cut the sticks about two feet long, thrust them
eight inches into the ground, and hide them among the leaves. Clean and
rake the ground between them. Take off the slips of auriculas, and plant
them out carefully for an increase. Transplant perennial flowers and
evergreens, as in the former months; take up the roots of colchichams,
and other autumnal bulbous plants. Sow French honeysuckles, wallflowers,
and other hardy plants, upon the natural ground, and the more tender
sorts on hotbeds. Transplant those sown last month, into the second
hotbed. Sow carnations and pinks on the natural ground, and on open
borders.----MAY. When the leaves of sowbreads are decayed, take up the
roots, and lay them by carefully till the time of planting. Take up the
hyacinth roots which have done flowering, and lay them sideways in a bed
of dry rich mould, leaving the stems and leaves to die away: this will
greatly strengthen the roots. Roll the gravel walks carefully and
frequently, and keep the grass clean mowed. Clean all the borders from
weeds, take off the straggling branches from the large flowering
plants, and train them up in a handsome shape. Plant out French and
African marigolds from the hotbeds, with other autumnals, the last week
of this month, choosing a cloudy warm day. Tie up the stalks of
carnations, pot the tender annuals, such as balsams and amaranths, and
set them in a hotbed frame, till summer is more advanced for planting
them in the open ground.----JUNE. Choose the evening of a mild showery
day, and plant out into the open ground, the tender annuals hitherto
kept in pots in the hotbed frame. They must be carefully loosened from
the sides of the pot, and taken out with all the mould about them; a
large hole must be opened for each, to set them upright in it; and when
settled in the ground by gentle watering, they must be tied up to
sticks. Let pinks, carnations, and sweet-williams, be laid this month
for an increase. Let the layers be covered lightly, and gently watered
every other day. Spring flowers being now over, and their leaves faded,
the roots must be taken up, and laid by for planting again at a proper
season. Snow-drops, winter-aconite, and such sorts, are to be thus
managed. The hyacinth roots, laid flat in the ground, must now be taken
up, and the dead leaves clipped off; and when cleared from the mould,
they must be spread upon a mat in an airy room to dry, and laid by for
future planting. Tulip roots also must now be taken up, as the leaves
decay: anemones and ranunculuses are treated in the same manner. Cut in
three or four places, the cups or poles of the carnations that are near
blowing, that they may show regularly. At the same time inoculate some
of the fine kind of roses.----JULY. Clip box edgings, cut and trim
hedges, look over all the borders, clear them from weeds, and stir up
the mould between the plants. Roll the gravel frequently, and mow the
grass plats. Inoculate roses and jasmines that require this kind of
propagation, and any of the other flowering shrubs. Gather the seeds of
flowers intended to be propagated, and lay them upon a shelf in an airy
room in the pods. When they are well hardened, tie them up in paper
bags, but do not take them out of the pods till they are wanted. Lay
pinks and sweet-williams in the earth as formerly, cut down the stalks
of those plants which have done flowering, and which are not kept for
seed. Tie up with sticks such as are coming into flower, as for the
earlier kinds. Sow lupins, larkspurs, and similar sorts, on dry warm
borders, to stand the winter, and flower early next year.----AUGUST. Dig
up a mellow border, and draw lines at five inches distance, lengthways
and across. In the centre of these squares, plant the seedling
polyanthuses, one in each square. In the same manner plant out the
seedling auriculas. Shade them till they have taken root, and water them
once a day. See whether the layers of sweet-williams, carnations, and
such like, have taken root; transplant such as are rooted, and give
frequent gentle waterings to the others in order to promote it. Cut down
the stalks of plants that have done flowering, saving the seed that may
be wanted, as it ripens, and water the tender annuals every evening. Sow
anemones and ranunculuses, tulip, and narcissus seed. Dig up a border
for early tulip roots, and others for hyacinths, anemones, and
ranunculuses. Sow annuals to stand through the winter, and shift
auriculas into fresh pots.----SEPTEMBER. During this month, preparation
should be made for the next season. Tear up the annuals that have done
flowering, and cut down such perennials as are past their beauty. Bring
in other perennials from the nursery beds, and plant them with care at
regular distances. Take up the box edgings where they have outgrown
their proper size, and part and plant them afresh. Plant tulip and other
flower roots, slip polyanthuses, and place them in rich shady borders.
Sow the seeds of flower de luce and crown imperial, as also of auriculas
and polyanthuses, according to the method before recommended. Part off
the roots of flower de luce, piony, and others of a similar kind. In the
last week transplant hardy flowering shrubs, and they will be strong the
next summer.----OCTOBER. Let all the bulbous roots for spring flowering
be put into the ground; narcissus, maragon, tulips, and such
ranunculuses and anemones as were not planted sooner. Transplant
columbines, monkshood, and all kinds of fibrous rooted perennials. Place
under shelter the auriculas and carnations that are in pots. Dig up a
dry border, and if not dry enough, dig in some sand, and set in the pots
up to the brim. Place the reed fence sloping behind them, and fasten a
mat to its top, that may be let down in bad weather. Take off the dead
leaves of the auriculas, before they are thus planted. Bring into the
garden some fresh flowering shrubs, wherever they may be wanted, and at
the end of the month prune some of the hardier kind.----NOVEMBER.
Prepare a good heap of pasture ground, with the turf among it, to rot
into mould for the borders. Transplant honeysuckles and spireas, with
other hardy flowering shrubs. Rake over the beds of seedling flowers,
and strew some peas straw over to keep out the frost. Cut down the stems
of perennials which have done flowering, pull up annuals that are spent,
and rake and clear the ground. Place hoops over the beds of ranunculuses
and anemones, and lay mats or cloths in readiness to draw over them, in
case of hard rains or frost. Clean up the borders in all parts of the
garden, and take care to destroy not only the weeds, but all kinds of
moss. Look over the seeds of those flowers which were gathered in
summer, to see that they are dry and sweet; and prepare a border or two
for the hardier kind, by digging and cleaning.----DECEMBER. During frost
or cold rain, draw the mats and cloths over the ranunculuses; give the
anemones a little air in the middle of every tolerable day; and as soon
as possible, uncover them all day, but draw on the mats at night. Throw
up the earth where flowering shrubs are to be planted in the spring, and
turn it once a fortnight. Dig up the borders that are to receive flower
roots in the spring, and give them the advantage of a fallow, by
throwing up the ground in a ridge. Scatter over it a very little rotten
dung from a melon bed, and afterwards turn it twice during the winter.
Examine the flowering shrubs, and prune them. Cut away all the dead
wood, shorten luxuriant branches, and if any cross each other, take away
one. Leave them so that the air may have a free passage between them.
Sift a quarter of an inch of good fresh mould over the roots of
perennial flowers, whose stalks have been cut down, and then rake over
the borders. This will give the whole an air of culture and good
management, which is always pleasing.