summer. When fresh and good, it is at once firm and tender, and abounds
with rich gelatinous nutriment. Being drawn and washed clean, it may be
lightly rubbed with salt, and put in a cold place, and it will keep two
or three days. An hour or two before dressing it, let it soak in spring
water with some salt in it. To prevent the fish from swelling and
cracking on the breast, score the skin across the thickest part of the
back. Put a large handful of salt into a fish kettle with cold water,
lay the turbot on a fish strainer and put it in. When it is beginning to
boil, skim it well; then set the kettle on the side of the fire to boil
as gently as possible for about fifteen or twenty minutes; if it boil
fast, the fish will break to pieces. Rub a little of the inside coral
spawn of the lobster through a hair sieve, without butter; and when the
turbot is dished, sprinkle the spawn over it. Garnish the dish with
sprigs of curled parsley, sliced lemon, and finely scraped horseradish.
Send up plenty of lobster sauce. The thickest part of the fish is
generally preferred. The spine bone should be cut across to make it
easier for carving.
TURBOT PIE. Take a middling turbot, clean it very well, cut off the
head, tail, and fins. Make a forcemeat thus; take a large eel, boil it
tender, then take off the flesh; put the bones of the turbot and eel
into the water the eel was boiled in, with a faggot of herbs, whole
pepper, an onion, and an anchovy; let this boil till it becomes a strong
broth. In the mean time, cut the eel very fine; add the same quantity of
grated bread, a little lemon-peel, an anchovy, parsley, and the yolks of
two or three hard eggs, and half a pint of oysters blanched and bearded;
chop all these as fine as possible; mix all together with a quarter of
a pound of melted butter; and with this forcemeat lay a rim in the
inside of the dish; put in the turbot, and fill up the vacancies with
forcemeat; strain off the broth, scum it very clean, and add a lump of
butter rolled in flour, and a glass of white wine; pour this over the
fish. Make a good puff paste, cover the pie with it, and let it be
thoroughly baked. When it comes from the oven, warm the remainder of the
liquor; pour it in, and send it to table.
TURKEYS. When young they are very tender, and require great attention.
As soon as hatched, put three peppercorns down their throat. They must
be carefully watched, or they will soon perish. The hen turkey is so
careless, that she will stalk about with one chicken, and leave the
remainder, or even tread upon and kill them. Turkeys are violent eaters,
and must therefore be left to take charge of themselves in general,
except one good feed a day. The hen sets twenty-five or thirty days, and
the young ones must be kept warm, as the least cold or damp kills them.
They must be fed often, and at a distance from the hen, or she will pick
every thing from them. They should have curds, green cheese parings cut
small, and bread and milk with chopped wormwood in it. Their drink milk
and water, but must not be left to turn sour. All young fowls are a prey
for vermin, therefore they should be kept in a safe place where none can
come. Weasels, stoats, and ferrets will creep in at a very small
crevice. The hen should be under a coop, in a warm place exposed to the
sun, for the first three or four weeks; and the young ones should not be
suffered to wander about in the dew, at morning or evening. Twelve eggs
are enough to put under a turkey; and when she is about to lay, lock her
up till she has laid every morning. They usually begin to lay in March,
and set in April. Feed them near the hen-house, and give them a little
meat in the evening, to accustom them to roosting there. Fatten them
with sodden oats or barley for the first fortnight; and the last
fortnight give them as above, and rice swelled with warm milk over the
fire twice a day. The flesh will be beautifully white and fine
flavoured. The common way in Norfolk is to cram them, but they are so
ravenous that it seems unnecessary, if they are not suffered to wander
far from home, which keeps them lean and poor.--When fat turkeys are to
be purchased in the market, in order to judge of their quality it is
necessary to observe, that the cock bird when young has a smooth black
leg, and a short spur. If fresh and sweet, the eyes are full and bright,
and the feet moist and supple. If stale, the eyes will be sunk, and the
feet stiff and dry. The hen turkey is known by the same rules; but if
old, the legs will be red and rough.
TURKEY PATTIES. Mince some of the white part, and season it with grated
lemon, nutmeg, salt, a dust of white pepper, a spoonful of cream, and a
very small piece of butter warmed. Fill the patties, and bake them.
TURKEY PIE. Break the bones, and beat the turkey flat on the breast.
Lard it with bacon, lay it into a raised crust with some slices of bacon
under it, and well seasoned with salt, pepper, nutmeg, whole cloves, and
bay leaves. Lay a slice of bacon over it, cover it with a crust, and
bake it. When baked, put a clove of garlic or shalot into the whole in
the middle of the crust, and let it stand till cold. The turkey may be
boned if preferred. Duck or goose pie may be made in the same manner.
TURKEY SAUCE. Open some oysters into a bason, and pour the liquor into a
saucepan as soon as it is settled. Add a little white gravy, and a
tea-spoonful of lemon pickle. Thicken it with flour and butter, boil it
a few minutes, add a spoonful of cream, and then the oysters. Shake them
over the fire, but do not let them boil. Or boil some slices or fine
bread with a little salt, an onion, and a few peppercorns. Beat it well,
put in a bit of butter, and a spoonful of cream. This sauce eats well
with roast turkey or veal.
TURKISH YOGURT. Let a small quantity of milk stand till it be sour, then
put a sufficient quantity of it to new milk, to turn it to a soft curd.
This may be eaten with sugar only, or both this and the fresh cheese are
good eaten with strawberries and raspberries, as cream, or with
sweetmeats of any kind.
TURNIPS. To dress this valuable root, pare off all the outside coat, cut
them in two, and boil them with beef, mutton, or lamb. When they become
tender take them up, press away the liquor, and mash them with butter
and salt, or send them to table whole, with melted butter in a boat.
Young turnips look and eat well with a little of the top left on them.
To preserve turnips for the winter, cut off the tops and tails, and
leave the roots a few days to dry. They should then be stacked up with
layers of straw between, so as to keep them from the rain and frost, and
let the stack be pointed at the top.
TURNIPS MASHED. Pare and boil them quite tender, squeeze them as dry as
possible between two trenchers, put them into a stewpan, and mash them
with a wooden spoon. Then rub them through a cullender, add a little bit
of butter, keep stirring them till the butter is melted and well mixed
with them, and they are ready for the table.
TURNIP BUTTER. In the fall of the year, butter is apt to acquire a
strong and disagreeable flavour, from the cattle feeding on turnips,
cabbages, leaves of trees, and other vegetable substances. To correct
the offensive taste which this produces, boil two ounces of saltpetre in
a quart of water, and put two or more spoonfuls of it into a pail before
milking, according to the quantity of milk. If this be done constantly,
the evil will be effectually cured: if not, it will be owing to the
neglect of the dairy maid.
TURNIP FLY. To prevent the black fly from injuring the turnip crop, mix
an ounce of sulphur daily with three pounds of turnip seed for three
days successively, and keep it closely covered in an earthen pan. Stir
it well each time, that the seed may be duly impregnated with the
sulphur. Sow it as usual on an acre of ground, and the fly will not
attack it till after the third or fourth leaf be formed, when the plant
will be entirely out of danger. If garden vegetables be attacked by the
fly, water them freely with a decoction of elder leaves.
TURNIP PIE. Season some mutton chops with salt and pepper, reserving the
ends of the neck bones to lay over the turnips, which must be cut into
small dice, and put on the steaks. Add two or three spoonfuls of milk,
also a sliced onion if approved, and cover with a crust.
TURNIP SAUCE. Pare half a dozen turnips, boil them in a little water,
keep them shaking till they are done, and the liquor quite exhausted,
and then rub them through a tammis. Take a little white gravy and cut
more turnips, as if intended for harrico. Shake them as before, and add
a little more white gravy.
TURNIP SOUP. Take from a knuckle of veal all the meat that can be made
into cutlets, and stew the remainder in five pints of water, with an
onion, a bundle of herbs, and a blade of mace. Cover it close, and let
it do on a slow fire, four or five hours at least. Strain it, and set it
by till the next day. Then take the fat and sediment from it, and
simmer it with turnips cut into small dice till tender, seasoning it
with salt and pepper. Before serving, rub down half a spoonful of flour
with half a pint of good cream, and a piece of butter the size of a
walnut. Let a small roll simmer in the soup till fully moistened, and
serve this with it. The soup should be as thick as middling cream.
TURNIP TOPS. These are the shoots which come out in the spring from the
old turnip roots, and are to be dressed in the same way as cabbage
sprouts. They make very nice sweet greens, and are esteemed great
purifiers of the blood and juices.
TURNPIKES. Mix together a quarter of a pound each of flour, butter,
currants, and lump sugar powdered. Beat up four eggs with two of the
whites, make the whole into a stiff paste, with the addition of a little
lemon peel. Roll the paste out thin, and cut it into shapes with a wine
glass. The addition of a few carraway seeds will be an improvement.
TURTLE. The morning that you intend to dress the turtle, fill a boiler
or kettle with a quantity of water sufficient to scald the callapach and
callapee, the fins, &c. and about nine o'clock hang up your turtle by
the hind fins, cut off its head, and save the blood; then with a sharp
pointed knife separate the callapach from the callapee (or the back from
the belly part) down to the shoulders, so as to come at the entrails,
which take out, and clean them, as you would those of any other animal,
and throw them into a tub of clean water, taking great care not to break
the gall, but cut it off the liver, and throw it away. Then separate
each distinctly, and take the guts into another vessel, open them with a
small penknife, from end to end, wash them clean, and draw them through
a woollen cloth in warm water, to clear away the slime, and then put
them into clean cold water till they are used, with the other part of
the entrails, which must all be cut up small to be mixed in the baking
dishes with the meat. This done, separate the back and belly pieces
entirely, cutting away the four fins by the upper joint, which scald,
peel off the loose skin, and cut them into small pieces, laying them by
themselves, either in another vessel, or on the table, ready to be
seasoned. Then cut off the meat from the belly part, and clean the back
from the lungs, kidneys, &c. and that meat cut into pieces as small as a
walnut, laying it likewise by itself. After this you are to scald the
back and belly pieces, pulling off the shell from the back and the
yellow skin from the belly; when all will be white and clean, and with
the kitchen cleaver cut those up likewise into pieces about the bigness
or breadth of a card. Put those pieces into clean cold water, wash them
out, and place them in a heap on the table, so that each part may lie by
itself. The meat, being thus prepared and laid separately for seasoning,
mix two third parts of salt, or rather more, and one third part of
Cayenne pepper, black pepper, and a spoonful of nutmeg and mace pounded
fine, and mixed together; the quantity to be proportioned to the size of
the turtle, so that in each dish there may be about three spoonfuls of
seasoning to every twelve pounds of meat. Your meat being thus seasoned,
get some sweet herbs, such as thyme, savoury, &c. let them be dried and
rubbed fine, and having provided some deep dishes to bake it in, (which
should be of the common brown ware) put in the coarsest parts of the
meat at the bottom, with about a quarter of a pound of butter in each
dish, and then some of each of the several parcels of meat, so that the
dishes may be all alike, and have equal portions of the different parts
of the turtle; and between each laying of the meat, strew a little of
this mixture of sweet herbs. Fill your dishes within an inch and an
half, or two inches of the top; boil the blood of the turtle, and put
into it; then lay on forcemeat balls made of veal, or fowl, highly
seasoned with the same seasoning as the turtle; put into each dish a
gill of good Madeira wine, and as much water as it will conveniently
hold; then break over it five or six eggs, to keep the meat from
scorching at the top, and over that shake a small handful of shred
parsley, to make it look green; which done, put your dishes into an oven
made hot enough to bake bread, and in an hour and half, or two hours,
(according to the size of the dishes) it will be sufficiently done. Send
it to the table in the dishes in which it is baked, in order to keep it
warm while it is eating.
TURTLE FINS. Put into a stewpan five large spoonfuls of brown sauce,
with a bottle of port wine, and a quart of mushrooms. When the sauce
boils, put in four fins; and after taking away all the small bones that
are seen breaking through the skin, add a few sprigs of parsley, a bit
of thyme, one bay leaf, and four cloves, and let it simmer one hour. Ten
minutes before it is done, put in five dozen of button onions ready
peeled, and see that it is properly salted.
TURTLE SOUP. The best sized turtle is one from sixty to eighty pounds
weight, which will make six or eight tureens of fine soup. Kill the
turtle the evening before; tie a cord to the hind fins, and hang it up
with the head downwards. Tie the fore fins by way of pinioning them,
otherwise it would beat itself, and be troublesome to the executioner.
Hold the head in the left hand, and with a sharp knife cut off the neck
as near the head as possible. Lay the turtle on a block on the back
shell, slip the knife between the breast and the edge of the back shell;
and when the knife has been round, and the breast is detached from the
back, pass the fingers underneath, and detach the breast from the fins,
always keeping the edge of the knife on the side of the breast;
otherwise if the gall be broken, the turtle will be spoiled. Cut the
breast into four pieces, remove the entrails, beginning by the liver,
and cut away the gall, to be out of danger at once. When the turtle is
emptied, throw the heart, liver, kidneys, and lights, into a large tub
of water. Cut away the fins to the root, as near to the back shell as
possible; then cut the fins in the second joint, that the white meat may
be separated from the green. Scrape the fat from the back shell by
skimming it, and put it aside. Cut the back shell into four pieces. Set
a large turbot pan on the fire, and when it boils dip a fin into it for
a minute, then take it out and peel it very clean. When that is done,
take another, and so on till all are done; then the head, next the shell
and breast, piece by piece. Be careful to have the peel and shell
entirely cleaned off, then put in the same pan some clean water, with
the breast and back, the four fins, and the head. Let it boil till the
bones will leave the meat, adding a large bundle of turtle herbs, four
bay leaves, and some thyme. If two dishes are to be made of the fins,
they must be removed when they have boiled one hour. Put into a small
stewpan the liver, lights, heart, and kidneys, and the fat that was laid
aside. Take some of the liquor that the other part was boiled in, cover
the stewpan close, and let it boil gently for three hours. Clean the
bones, breast, and back from the green fat, and cut it into pieces an
inch long, and half an inch wide, but suffer none of it to be wasted.
Put all these pieces on a dish, and set it by till the broth is ready.
To prepare the broth, put on a large stockpot, and line the bottom of it
with a pound and a half of lean ham, cut into slices. Cut into pieces a
large leg of veal, except a pound of the fillet to be reserved for
forcemeat; put the rest upon the ham, with all the white meat of the
turtle, and a couple of old fowls. Put it on a smart fire, with two
ladlefuls of rich broth, and reduce it to a glaze. When it begins to
stick to the bottom, pour the liquor in which the turtle was boiled into
the pot where the other part of the turtle has been boiled. Add to it a
little more sweet herbs, twenty-four grains of allspice, six blades of
mace, two large onions, four carrots, half an ounce of whole pepper, and
some salt. Let it simmer for four hours, and then strain the broth
through a cloth sieve. Put into it the green part of the turtle that has
been cut in pieces and nicely cleaned, with two bottles of Madeira. When
it has boiled a few minutes with the turtle, add the broth to it. Melt
half a pound of butter in a stewpan, add four large spoonfuls of flour,
stir it on the fire till of a fine brown colour, and pour some of the
broth to it. Mix it well, and strain it through a hair sieve into the
soup. Cut the liver, lights, heart, kidneys, and fat into small square
pieces, and put them into the soup with half a tea-spoonful of cayenne,
two of curry powder, and four table-spoonfuls of the essence of
anchovies. Let it boil an hour and a half, carefully skimming off the
fat. Pound the reserved veal in a marble mortar for the forcemeat, and
rub it through a hair sieve, with as much of the udder as there is of
meat from the leg of veal. Put some bread crumbs into a stewpan with
milk enough to moisten it, adding a little chopped parsley and shalot.
Dry it on the fire, rub it through a wire sieve, and when cold mix it
all together, that every part may be equally blended. Boil six eggs
hard, take the yolks and pound them with the other ingredients; season
it with salt, cayenne, and a little curry powder. Add three raw eggs,
mix all well together, and make the forcemeat into small balls the size
of a pigeon's egg. Ten minutes before the soup is ready put in the
forcemeat balls, and continue to skim the soup till it is taken off the
fire. If the turtle weighs eighty pounds, it will require nearly three
bottles of Madeira for the soup. When the turtle is dished, squeeze two
lemons into each tureen. It is also very good with eggs boiled hard, and
a dozen of the yolks put in each tureen. This is a highly fashionable
soup, and such as is made in the royal kitchen; but it is difficult of
digestion, and fit only for those who 'live to eat.' Foreigners in
general are extremely fond of it; and at the Spanish dinner in 1808,
eight hundred guests attended, and two thousand five hundred pounds
weight of turtle were consumed.
TUSK. Lay the tusk in water the first thing in the morning; after it has
lain three or four hours, scale and clean it very well; then shift the
water, and let it lie till you want to dress it. If it is large, cut it
down the back, and then across; if small, only down the back; put it
into cold water, and let it boil gently for about twenty minutes. Send
it to table in a napkin, with egg sauce, butter and mustard, and
parsnips cut in slices, in a plate.
TWOPENNY. The malt beverage thus denominated, is not formed to keep, and
therefore not likely to be brewed by any persons for their own
consumption. The following proportions for one barrel, are inserted
merely to add to general information in the art of brewing.
L _s._ _d._
Malt, a bushel and a half 0 9 0
Hops, one pound 0 1 6
Liquorice root, a pound and
a half 0 1 6
Capsicum, a quarter of an
ounce 0 0 1
Spanish liquorice, 2 ounces 0 0 2
Treacle, five pounds 0 1 8
----------
0 13 11
----------
L _s._ _d._
One barrel of twopenny,
paid for at the
publican's, 128 quarts,
at _4d._ per quart 2 2 8
Brewed at home, coals
included 0 15 0
----------
Clear gain, 1 7 8
----------
It is sufficient to observe respecting this liquor, that it requires no
storing, being frequently brewed one week, and consumed the next. The
quantity of capsicum in one barrel of twopenny, is as much as is
commonly contained in two barrels of porter: this readily accounts for
the preference given to it by the working classes, in cold winter
mornings. Twopenny works remarkably quick, and must be carefully
attended to, in the barrels.
V.
VACCINE INOCULATION. One of the most important discoveries in the
history of animal nature is that of the Cow Pox, which was publicly
announced by Dr. Jenner in the year 1798, though it had for ages been
known by some of the dairymen in the west of England. This malady
appears on the nipples of cows in the form of irregular pustules, and it
is now ascertained that persons inoculated with the matter taken from
them are thereby rendered incapable of the small pox infection.
Innumerable experiments have been made in different countries, in Asia
and America, with nearly the same success; and by a series of facts duly
authenticated, in many thousands of instances, it is fully proved that
the vaccine inoculation is a milder and safer disease than the
inoculated small pox; and while the one has saved its tens of thousands,
the other is going on to save its millions. With a view of extending the
beneficial effects of the new inoculation to the poor, a new dispensary,
called the Vaccine Institution, has been established in London, where
the operation is performed gratis, and the vaccine matter may be had by
those who wish to promote this superior method of inoculation. The
practice itself is very simple. Nothing more is necessary than making a
small puncture in the skin of the arm, and applying the matter. But as
it is of great consequence that the matter be good, and not too old, it
is recommended to apply for the assistance of those who make it a part
of their business, as the expense is very trifling.
VARNISH FOR BOOTS. To render boots and shoes impervious to the wet, take
a pint of linseed oil, half a pound of mutton suet, six or eight ounces
of bees' wax, and a small piece of rosin. Boil all together in a pipkin,
and let it cool to milk warm. Then with a hair brush lay it on new boots
or shoes; but it is better still to lay it on the leather before the
articles are made. The shoes or boots should also be brushed over with
it, after they come from the maker. If old boots or shoes are to be
varnished, the mixture is to be laid on when the leather is perfectly
dry.
VARNISH FOR BRASS. Put into a pint of alcohol, an ounce of turmeric
powder, two drams of arnatto, and two drams of saffron. Agitate the
mixture during seven days, and filter it into a clean bottle. Now add
three ounces of clean seed-lac, and agitate the bottle every day for
fourteen days. When the lacquer is used, the pieces of brass if large
are to be first warmed, so as to heat the hand, and the varnish is to be
applied with a brush. Smaller pieces may be dipped in the varnish, and
then drained by holding them for a minute over the bottle. This varnish,
when applied to rails for desks, has a most beautiful appearance, like
that of burnished gold.
VARNISH FOR DRAWINGS. Mix together two ounces of spirits of turpentine,
and one ounce of Canada balsam. The print is first to be sized with a
solution of isinglass water, and dried; the varnish is then to be
applied with a camel-hair brush. But for oil paintings, a different
composition is prepared. A small piece of white sugar candy is dissolved
and mixed with a spoonful of brandy; the whites of eggs are then beaten
to a froth, and the clear part is poured off and incorporated with the
mixture. The paintings are then brushed over with the varnish, which is
easily washed off when they are required to be cleaned again, and on
this account it will be far superior to any other kind of varnish for
this purpose.
VARNISH FOR FANS. To make a varnish for fans and cases, dissolve two
ounces of gum-mastic, eight ounces of gum-sandaric, in a quart of
alcohol, and then add four ounces of Venice turpentine.
VARNISH FOR FIGURES. Fuse in a crucible half an ounce of tin, with the
same quantity of bismuth. When melted, add half an ounce of mercury; and
when perfectly combined, take the mixture from the fire and cool it.
This substance, mixed with the white of an egg, forms a very beautiful
varnish for plaster figures.
VARNISH FOR FURNITURE. This is made of white wax melted in the oil of
petrolium. A light coat of this mixture is laid on the wood with a
badger's brush, while a little warm, and the oil will speedily
evaporate. A coat of wax will be left behind, which should afterwards be
polished with a woollen cloth.