well for any length of time, without spoiling or becoming rancid. The
following method of preserving butter, supposing it to have been
previously well made, is recommended as the best at present known.
Reduce separately to fine powder in a dry mortar, two pounds of the
whitest common salt, one pound of saltpetre, and one pound of lump
sugar. Sift these ingredients one above another, on two sheets of paper
joined together, and then mix them well with the hands, or with a
spatula. Preserve the whole in a covered jar, placed in a dry situation.
When required to be used, one ounce of this composition is to be
proportioned to every pound of butter, and the whole is to be well
worked into the mass: the butter is then to be packed in casks in the
usual way. Butter cured with this mixture will be of a rich marrowy
consistence, and will never acquire that brittle hardness so common to
salt butter. It has been known to keep for three years, as sweet as it
was at first; but it must be observed, that butter thus cured requires
to stand at least three weeks or a month before it is used. If it be
opened sooner, the salts are not sufficiently blended with it, and
sometimes the coolness of the nitre will then be perceived, which
totally disappears afterwards. Cleanliness in this article is
indispensable, but it is not generally suspected, that butter made or
kept in vessels or troughs lined with lead, or put into glazed
earthenware pans, is too apt to be contaminated with particles of that
deleterious metal. If the butter is in the least degree rancid, this can
hardly fail to take place; and it cannot be doubted, that during the
decomposition of the salts, the glazing is acted upon. It is better
therefore to use tinned vessels for mixing the preservative with the
butter, and to pack it either in wooden vessels, or in stone jars which
are vitrified throughout, and do not require any inside glazing.
PRESSED BEEF. Salt a piece of the brisket, a thin part of the flank, or
the tops of the ribs, with salt and saltpetre five days. Boil it gently
till extremely tender, put it under a great weight, or in a cheesepress,
and let it remain till perfectly cold. It is excellent for sandwiches,
or a cold dish.
PRIMROSE VINEGAR. Boil four pounds of moist sugar in ten quarts of water
for about a quarter of an hour, and take off the scum. Then pour the
liquor on six pints of primroses, add some fresh yeast before it is
quite cold, and let it work all night in a warm place. When the
fermentation is over, close up the barrel, and still keep it in a warm
place.
PRINCE OF WALES'S PUDDING. Put half a pound of loaf sugar, and half a
pound of fresh butter, into a saucepan; set it over the fire till both
are melted, stirring it well, as it is very liable to burn, but do not
let it boil. Pour this into an earthen pan, grate the rind of a lemon
into it, and leave it to cool. Have ready two sponge biscuits soaked in
a quarter of a pint of cream, bruise them fine and stir them into the
sugar and butter. Beat the yolks of ten, and the whites of five eggs
well with a little salt; squeeze and strain the juice of the lemon into
them, and mix these well in with the other ingredients. Lay a puff paste
into the dish, strew it with pieces of candied lemon peel, put in the
pudding, and bake it three quarters of an hour in a moderate oven. Sift
fine sugar over it, before it is sent to the table.