THE GOLDEN RULE COOK BOOK
SIX HUNDRED RECIPES FOR MEATLESS
DISHES. ORIGINATED COLLECTED AND
ARRANGED BY M. R. L. SHARPE. NEW
EDITION PUBLISHED BY LITTLE, BROWN,
AND COMPANY, BOSTON, 1912
It was Margaret More who said, "The world needs not so
much to be taught, as reminded." May this book remind
many of the Love they owe to every living creature.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed,
which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the
which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be
for meat.
And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air,
and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there
is life, I have given every green herb for meat; and it was so.
Genesis i. 29, 30
CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION 11
THE KITCHEN 29
THE DINING ROOM 35
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS 39
SOUPS 45
VEGETABLES 79
VEGETABLE COMBINATIONS 167
NUT DISHES 177
RICE, MACARONI, ETC. 185
CROQUETTES 197
TIMBALES AND PATTIES 209
SAUCES 217
EGGS 231
CHEESE 249
SALADS 257
SAVOURIES 273
SANDWICHES 281
PASTRY, PATTY CASES, ETC. 287
A FEW HOT BREADS 293
PLUM PUDDING AND MINCE PIE 299
MENUS 303
INDEX 315
Let none falter who thinks he is right.
Abraham Lincoln.
INTRODUCTION
The arranging of this help for those who are seeking to obey the call
to a higher humanitarianism, which is put forth by non-flesh-eating
men and women, has been a labour of love: the labour, the result of
an earnest endeavour to so write the receipts that "the way-faring
woman may not err therein," the love, of a kind whose integrity
may not be questioned, since it has inspired to the never easy task
of going against the stream of habit and custom, and to individual
effort in behalf of the myriads of gentle and amenable creatures,
which an animality that defiles the use of the word has accustomed
man to killing and eating.
The name Vegetarian has come to mean one who abstains from animal
flesh as food; and, as some designation is necessary, it is perhaps
a sufficiently suitable one. This term did not, however, originally
classify those who used a bloodless diet, but is derived from the
Latin Homo Vegitus, which words described to the Romans a strong,
vigorous man. The definition of the word Vegitus, as given in
Thomas Holyoke's Latin Dictionary, is "whole, sound, quick, fresh,
lively, lusty, gallant, trim, brave," and of Vegito, "to refresh,
to re-create." Professor Mayor of England adds to these definitions:
"The word vegetarian belongs to an illustrious family; vegetable,
which has been called its mother, is really its niece."
The word has unfortunately become intermingled with various dietetic
theories, but the Vegetarian who is one because his conscience
for one reason or another condemns the eating of flesh, occupies a
very different place in the world of ethics from one who is simply
refraining from meat eating in an effort to cure bodily ills.
Indeed, the dyspeptic frequenting the usual Vegetarian restaurant
has little opportunity to know much about vegetables as food,
the menu being, as a rule, so crowded with various mixtures which
are supposedly "meat substitutes" that vegetables pure and simple
find small place. This book contains no meat substitutes, as such,
but receipts for the palatable preparation of what is called by many
"live foods,"--that is, food which has no blood to shed and does not,
therefore, become dead before it can be eaten.
There will also be found lacking from the index such dishes as
"Vegetarian Hamburg Steak," "Pigeon Pie, Vegetarian style," etc.,
which should repel rather than attract, by bringing to mind what
Bernard Shaw has graphically spoken of as "scorched carcasses."
It has been proven by myself and my household that flesh eating may
be safely stopped in one day with no injury to health or strength,
and that a table supplied from the receipts in this book can make
those whom it furnishes with food well and strong as far as food can
make them so.
There are many reasons why thoughtful, cleanly, humane people should
not feed upon animals, but there is a surprising deafness to this
fact shown by the majority of those active in humane charities. One
marvels to see hundreds of consecrated workers in session, putting
forth every effort for the enacting of laws for the amelioration of the
sufferings of cattle travelling to slaughter by car and ship, who are
still content to patronise the butcher shop to buy food supplied by
the dead bodies of these tortured victims of a false appetite. Mere
thoughtlessness can make the kindest act cruelly inconsistent, for
I once saw a woman presiding at a meeting held to discountenance the
wearing of aigrettes with a sheaf of them decorating her bonnet. This
looks much like receiving stolen goods while denouncing theft.
It is well to write, and legislate, and pray for better and kinder
treatment of these frightened, thirst-maddened, tortured creatures
on their journey to our tables, but the surest, quickest way to help
(and this can be done even while continuing to work for the alleviation
of their sufferings) is to stop feeding upon them.
In a recent issue of a paper devoted to humane matters there is an
indignant protest against the sufferings endured by crated chickens
in a certain market, and another article deplores the cruelty shown
to turtles in the same place, but when we know the writers of these
protests to be still willing to use these creatures on their tables,
it is not always easy to fully credit their tender-heartedness. In
another such paper there appear from year to year sentimental pictures
and poems extolling the kindliness and virtues of "the cattle upon
a thousand hills," while those same pages print instructions on the
most humane way of slaying them, giving as a reason for the sudden
and painless death described that suffering "poisons the meat."
The favourite phrase, "our four-footed friends," seems rather an
anachronism in the face of our acknowledged relations to them as eater
and eaten, for the phrase indicates a mutual pact of friendship,
which, however well sustained by them, is dishonoured by man; for
even cannibals, we are told, sink no lower than to eat their foes.
The demand for butcher's meat may not seem materially lessened because
I do not eat it, but it is lessened notwithstanding, and I rejoice to
know that in the past seven years my abstinence from flesh must have
resulted in a little less slaughter, and I am glad to have reduced
by even one drop the depth of that ocean of blood. I have heard the
Biblical statement that man was to have dominion over all the earth
quoted as a justification for the eating of the lower animals. We
will some day be so civilised that we will recognise the great truth
that dominion implies care, and guardianship, and protection rather
than the right to destroy.
The first objection voiced against Vegetarianism is not usually
against its principle, but its practice; we are told that the refusal
to eat meat causes inconvenience, and that it is best to "eat what is
set before you, asking no questions for conscience's sake." I could
respect the position of one who literally believed and consistently
acted on this mandate, but where in Christendom can he be found? Few
of us could or would eat the flesh of a pet lamb, or partake knowingly
of horse flesh, or could or would feel called upon to dine on these
lines with the peoples who eat dog, or with so-called cannibals. The
host might have secured, in a broad spirit of hospitality, just the
particular carcass which most pleased his own palate, but courtesy
seldom forces us to eat any flesh other than the sorts to which our
own habits have accustomed us.
There is a well-known story of an American statesman who was reared
by Vegetarian parents in the country, and taken while still a small
boy to dine at a neighbour's. During the progress of the meal a large
platter was borne into the room, on which lay something the like of
which he had not seen on any table. He stared in wonder, and finally
located the resemblance and shouted, "Why, mother, if that isn't a
dead hen!" Habit had not overcome his horror of that particular dead
thing as food, as it would have done had he seen dead hens served as
food all his life.
As to the inconvenience caused my friends when I am at their tables,
I consider it of such small consequence compared to the fact that
even one child should be standing almost knee-deep in blood in some
slaughter-house, working to supply my wants, that it is not worth a
second thought. No one need go hungry from any well-planned dinner,
even though no extra preparation has been made for the non-meat-eating
guest; but if my hostess knows in advance that I do not eat meat,
and wishes to have prepared an especial dish, I give her the benefit
of the doubt, and believe that she is as pleased to do it as I would
be in her place. We like to take a little extra trouble to entertain
our friends, and the thought expended to give others pleasure is
perhaps the real joy of hospitality.
Another class of objector likes to remind us that we take life when we
eat vegetables, or drink, or breathe. A friend, who has since ceased
to consider the unnecessary and cruel slaughtering of thousands of
creatures daily a fit subject for joking, once sent me in raillery a
sonnet which rehearsed the sad death suffered by a cabbage to satisfy
a Vegetarian's selfish cravings. I find no qualms in my own conscience
on this subject, but should I ever come to feel as these over-sensitive
claim I should, I hope I will not then eat even the "innocent cabbage."
Again, if the germs in the water we drink and the air we breathe
do die by reason of our drinking and breathing I endure no
self-condemnation. Man cannot be required to do the impossible by
any Principle of Good, and to do each day what good he is able to do,
to avoid the evil he can avoid, and in every difficulty choose what
he thinks to be the lesser of two evils, is perhaps as much as even
Divine Love expects of him to-day.
It is well to face the unpleasant fact that there are occasions when
in our present state of development it seems necessary to kill in
self-defence, as it were, moths, rats, etc.; but even in this we can
"do our best," and it has been well said, "angels can do no more." We
can by care in our households greatly reduce this necessity, and we
can always see that no creatures, although destroying our property,
pilfering or stealing, are in their death made to suffer. In this
connection I would urge every one who reads these lines to never
permit a piece of sticky fly-paper to be brought into the house,
for of all cruel ways of destruction, this slow method, by which the
unfortunate fly almost dismembers itself in its frantic efforts to
escape, is one of the most fiendishly contrived.
An advocate of Vegetarianism has truly said, "A vegetable diet is
as little connected with weakness and cowardice as meat eating
is with physical force and courage." That Vegetarians are not
physical weaklings is no mere matter of opinion, but is proven
by the giant Japanese wrestlers; the ancient Greek wrestlers;
those Indian regiments of the British army showing most endurance;
by the peasantry of the world, which is seldom able to afford meat,
and above all, by those famous Vegetarians who march around the globe
doing the work carnivorous man is too weak to do,--the horse, the ox,
the camel, and the elephant. One of our best-known cooking teachers and
food experts printed this statement not long ago: "While meat seems
necessary to the rapid development of the American, I must contend
that a well-selected vegetable diet will give greater health, bodily
vigour, and mental strength," which would seem contradictory, for even
an American would not seem to require other food than that which will
give him greatest health, bodily vigour, and mental strength.
Nor have we cause to feel ashamed of the mentality of the guests at
Ceres' table, which is graced by a goodly company; the list of names
encircling the cover of "The Vegetarian Magazine" reads, "Adam, Hesiod,
Gautama, Isaiah, Daniel, Plato, Zoroaster, Aristotle, Seneca, Ovid,
Plutarch, Pope, Swedenborg, Leonardo da Vinci, Voltaire, Franklin,
Westley, Linnæus, Shelley, Tolstoi, and King Oscar II." Others are
Bernard Shaw, and Maurice Maeterlinck (who is said to have become a
non-meat eater to gain greater endurance for his favourite pastime
of mountain climbing), Richard Wagner, and General Booth.
But after all, the one great argument for a fleshless diet is the
humanitarian one, and it does not seem possible that persons exist
to-day who do not know of the horrors of cruelty which take place
hourly, in order that meat may be eaten by men and women who could
not look without sickening at the process which has made possible
the roast upon their tables, but who are nevertheless the employers
of every fainting child in the stock-yards, and every brutalised man
in the shambles, whose wages they pay with every pound of meat they
buy. The real butcher of an animal is the one for whom it receives
its death blow, not the one who actually deals that blow.
A man who recently visited some stock-yards writes: "We were sorry to
see the Thor man make mislicks at a pretty heifer. His first stroke
did not fell her, and she staggered and looked at him so wonderingly
and pathetically. He could not strike her while her head was in that
position, and after giving her two or three more ineffectual blows,
she looked at him so reproachfully, as if pleading, 'Why do you treat
me so cruelly? What have I ever done to you?' Finally he got her
down and out of her misery. I shall never take a bit of steak on my
fork without seeing that pretty heifer lifting her stunned head to
that awkward pounder."
Perhaps nothing more revolting than this same writer's remarks anent
pig-killing has been written, but since the words are accurately
true, they should be fit to read, for if the words which tell the
truth about meat as food are unfit for our ears, the meat itself is
not fit for our mouths. He describes the pig-sticking, the skinning,
and the process which makes the pig into pork, and then adds: "He goes
into the cooling room, and the whole effort from that time is to keep
him from crumbling back into dust, attacked by worms. Salt and brine
and smoke and cold prevent the corpse from utter dissolution. The
refrigerator is a sort of Purgatory where the brute stays until he
finally finds a cemetery in the human alimentary canal." Yet this
man expects to again have meat "on his fork"!
The "Cosmopolitan" calls attention to the remarkable procession daily
passing through a certain slaughter-house, as follows: "Imagine a
procession of 10,000 cattle marching two by two, in a line fifteen
miles long; let 20,000 sheep follow them, bleating along twelve miles
of road; after them drive sixteen miles of hogs, 27,000 strong; then
let 30,000 fowls bring up the rear, clucking and quacking and gobbling,
over a space of six miles; and in this whole caravan, stretching for
nearly fifty miles and requiring two days to pass a given point, you
will see the animals devoted to death in the packing houses of ----
& Co. in a single day. Surely a Buddhist would think that the head
of that establishment had much to answer for. Never before in the
world's history was a massacre of the innocents organised on such a
stupendous scale or with such scientific system."
People are surprisingly callous to the sufferings of those animals
destined to become food. Recently some well-dressed, well-mannered
men were on a train returning East from a Western visit, and the train
coming to a standstill for some reason, their conversation was plainly
overheard by their fellow-passengers. They were discussing a visit
to the stock-yards, and one of them, quite convulsed with laughter,
cried out that he really thought the most comical sight he had seen
while away, in fact one of the funniest things he had seen in his
whole life, was the antics of a pig "which had escaped out of the
scalding pen!" The pig-sticker had evidently been as awkward that
time as the man who missed the pretty heifer.
It is daily less possible to buy turkeys and chickens minus their
heads. The delicate death without the use of the old-time axe (which
we degraded men and women have thought a pretty symbol to place on
Thanksgiving Day table cards) is brought about by hanging the fowls
up by the feet, in what fright can be imagined, an incision is then
made in the roof of the mouth, and after bleeding to death, which,
as in the case of calves or veal, insures solid white flesh, they are
served as food to dainty women who can scarcely bear to kill a fly,
and alas! to some members of the societies for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals!
One crate of chickens can encase more suffering than I want endured
for me. There is first the terror in capture, then the suffering of
being thrust, legs often tied, in the small over-crowded crate, then
the journey in the shrieking train, and the thirst-tortured hours in
the sun before the final twist of the neck or the blow of the axe,
given in many cases just before natural death would render the fowl
unfit for sale. And such food, poisoned by fear and suffering, is
considered the most delicate, and thought fit to feed to invalids!
That all chickens do not endure the same suffering before death is
no excuse for eating them, for some will have to submit to it while
chicken is an article of food. The modern invention of fattening fowl
by the machine-stuffing method, to make what are called in England
"Surrey fowls," and in America are given various fancy names, is so
revolting that it almost makes one faint to read a true account of
it. We are selfishly prone to comfort ourselves when these things are
brought to our notice with the thought that the lower creatures do not
suffer as we would. The fact is that no two live beings suffer the
same in any event, physical or mental, but the lower animal or bird
or fish suffers in its fear and death all it is capable of suffering,
and we have no right to make any creature do this for our pleasure.
Mr. E. Bell has written, "Dreadful are the revelations made by humane
men, who, setting aside personal comfort and peace of mind, have
endeavoured to sound the depths of animal agony and bloodshed. The
process of flaying alive, and even of dismembering animals before
the breath has left their bodies, is far from uncommon in private
slaughter-houses."
When we witness the cruelty to horses on our streets, though they
are property which the most unwise would naturally seek to care for,
we can only imagine what must chance to the unfortunate creatures,
already condemned to death and only regarded as food, at the hands
of the hardened men whose miserable lot it is to be employed by
Christendom to do its most evil work.
In a pamphlet called "An Epitome of Vegetarianism" C. P. Newcombe
writes: "Our opponents are quick to point out the supposed resemblance
between the canine teeth of man and those of the carnivora, forgetting
that they are even more prominent in the ape, the horse, and the
camel. We accept the challenge and appeal for an authoritative
statement of the facts to the great masters of science, among whom
there is complete agreement, viz., that expressed by Baron Cuvier, the
Professor of Natural History in the College of France, who wrote in
'The Animal Kingdom,' vol. i, page 88: 'Fruits, roots, and the other
succulent parts of vegetables appear to be the natural food of man;
his hands afford him a facility for gathering them, and his short and
comparatively weak jaws, his short canine teeth, not passing beyond the
common line of others, and his tuberculous cheek teeth would not permit
him either to feed upon herbage or devour flesh unless these aliments
were previously prepared by the culinary process.' Similar opinions
are expressed by Sir Charles Bell, F. R. S., Prof. William Lawrence,
F. R. S., Sir Richard Owen, K. C. B., F. R. S., and Dr. Charles Darwin,
with many others."
While interesting in stating a case, this interests me as an argument
but little, for if we were carnivorously made, with our minds,
our hearts, our capacity for love and charity, and that great hope
we have of finally manifesting the perfection of the sons of God,
we still should control our tendencies by a higher law, and no more
be carnivorous than we are apes, or marauders, or any other mental
or physical manifestation from which spiritual evolution has lifted
us high.
But this humanitarianism does not consider alone the animals
slaughtered, but the men, women, and children who do this revolting
work. One packing-house in the West advertises over 18,000 employees;
multiply this by thousands and one can estimate the numbers of human
beings who are thus degraded and brutalised. In my own household
I have made it a point of honour to demand no labour which I would
not be willing to do myself; I might fail in strength, but morally I
would be willing to undertake any work required by me, and from the
day I realised what I required from others if I ate meat, I became
an abstainer from it, for no surer ethical truth can be stated than
that we have no moral right to demand from the hands of another,
work we would not be willing to undertake ourselves.
Mr. Henry Salt has written, "Of all recognised occupations, the
work which is looked upon with the greatest loathing (next to
the hangman's) is that of the butcher--the trade of doing to death
countless numbers of inoffensive and highly organised creatures, amid
scenes of indescribable filth and ferocity--is delegated to a pariah
class of slaughter-men, who are thus themselves made the victims of
a grievous social wrong."
So large a percentage of the murderers of to-day have been butchers,
they or their fathers before them, that these statistics alone
constitute a sufficient argument for Vegetarianism.
Man's inhumanity to himself in this matter of flesh eating is rapidly
being uncovered by meat inspectors, food experts, and hundreds of
physicians the world over. The statistics comparing meat-eating
and non-meat-eating races with regard to tuberculosis, cancer,
appendicitis, etc., are of the greatest interest to those who care
not only for the health but for the mere cleanness of their bodies.
Dr. B. W. Richardson, in a book called "The Field of Disease," says:
"In Jewish communities there are a number of men set apart to act
as inspectors of animal food. They attend at the slaughter-houses,
and after an animal is slain and dressed they submit it to inspection;
then, unless they put upon it their sign, that it is free from disease,
it is not permitted to enter a Jewish family. It enters into the
families outside the Jewish community, so that we who are not Jews
actually accept into our bodies food which the Jews have rejected
as diseased."
The statistics taken from two small abattoirs alone, for one year, as
given by a secretary of one Jewish ecclesiastical board are as follows:
Total oxen killed 22,308
Diseased 7,885
Total calves killed 3,330
Diseased 705
Total sheep killed 41,556
Diseased 13,019
According to this very nearly one-third of all the meat sold to
Christian families is tainted by parasitical disease. If an animal
dies of cancer, tuberculosis, etc., our laws protect us from the
carcass, but, if slaughtered, the diseased portion is cut away and
the remainder is sold as fit for food. Such blood is squeezed from
beef and poured by the gallon by loving hands into the willing lips
of consumptives and anæmics!
The true Vegetarian will not be seen adorned (?) by any of the
reapings from a dead body, whether they be feathers or furs, for
these have no beauty in the sight of those who see them in thought,
dripping with the blood from which they can never be truly cleansed.
Those who would "strain at gnats" while swallowing camels, criticise
the Vegetarian for his kid gloves and his leather shoes; but perfect
conditions do not yet prevail for the absolutely consistent carrying
out of his principles; his effort is to help to bring these to pass,
and he does not refrain from beginning for the reason that he cannot
yet do all. An adequate substitute for leather has been made which
experiments have proven of value, but, as yet, there is no demand
which justifies its manufacture.
Many express the fear that, were wholesale slaughter abolished, the
earth would be overrun by the lower animals; but were artificial and
unnatural breeding discontinued we can safely trust that the animal
creation would find its proper place in the world, as everything does,
under the guidance of the controlling Mind which is Creator.
Stop and think for a moment what the world would be like to-day if it
were Vegetarian. If the world were Vegetarian, the endless caravans of
doomed creatures would not be ambling to the shambles; not a man would
be brutalised by the daily slaughter of hundreds of gentle creatures;
not a woman would be engaged in sorting edible parts from the dissected
carcasses, making all red around her; not a child would be standing
deep in offal, seeking useful bits of dead bodies; "where sympathy is,
cruelty is impossible," therefore, not a dog would be maltreated, not a
cat selfishly deserted to starve, not a horse cruelly beaten, and not
a vivisectionist could be found on the face of the earth! Those who
had learned to be just to the lower animals would not fail in their
duties to man, and in this millennium, prophesied in Isaiah xi: 9,
slaughter-houses, transport cars, and cattle-ships would be empty,
and the fields and meadows would be filled with labourers under the
clear sky, tilling the ground to provide the food of man.
M. R. L. S.
Providence House, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
I do not see how it is possible that so many good people
remain meat-eaters.
Count Leo Tolstoi.
THE KITCHEN
There is no room in the house which requires such careful furnishing
as the kitchen, and much time may be saved there if the right thing is
in the right place, for just as truly as "the means to do ill deeds
make ill deeds done," do the means to do things well tend toward
their being done.
To house-builders I would urge that it pays to have a white enamelled
sink, and to insist that no sand-soap or scouring soap be used
on it, as this removes the finish and makes it less easy to keep
it spotless. See that a package of one of the cleaning powders is
placed near the sink, convenient for use the first time the maid
looks about for materials, and over the sink on small hooks have hung
two or three different shaped sink brushes. An enamelled soap-dish
should be fastened above the sink, and on the left of it a grooved,
slightly slanting draining board for washed dishes; hanging under
this on a large hook should be the enamelled dishpan and back of it
a wire drainer, both hanging free from the wall.
Any kitchen can have a chair-rail put around it, and this four-inch
wide board should be arranged with small hooks placed at a distance of
ten or twelve inches apart, and on these should hang the enamelled
spoons, strainers, egg-beater, small jugs, and the saucepans,
the bottoms of these being always in evidence and not out of sight
in cupboards. The Europeans have always had their cooking utensils
displayed as a part of the kitchen furnishing, and when this is done
there is less temptation to neglect their absolute cleanliness.
One of the comforts of my kitchen is a holder for saucepan covers; I
was about to invent such a holder when I found that the wire ones made
to display half a dozen handsome plates were perfectly suitable. One
of these hangs beside the stove and the covers are conveniently at
hand when required.
A cupboard built in the kitchen, sixteen inches deep and six feet
across, will hold all the casseroles, baking-pans, tins for spices,
etc., which the usual family requires. Mine was built with this
conviction, and if it becomes overcrowded, I know it has things in
it which do not belong there, and a few moments given to overseeing
its rearrangement always leave it with all the space required.
The table shown in the illustration is becoming well-known in American
kitchens; the deep drawers for flour, etc., are a convenience not
easy to estimate, but the fact that two sizes of pastry boards slide
snugly into their places under the top is its best feature.
A ball of string in a holder hung up with small scissors attached,
a neat calendar, a washable tablet for orders, a burnt-match holder,
a match-box holder fastened near the stove, a small mirror on a door
or in an inconspicuous corner, and a wall clock are things which I
advise the young housekeeper to see securely placed in her kitchen
before the pictures are hung in the drawing-room.
A plate-rack is not only always quaint and decorative, but is
most useful and labour-saving. A pestle and mortar should be among
the utensils of every kitchen, as well as a vegetable mill, and a
small hard-wood board, used exclusively for the cutting of fruit,
vegetables, etc., which are to be sliced, saves many a cut finger,
as the plate usually used is not the proper shape or texture for such
a slippery process.
A piece of thick glass measuring about 7×9 inches, and bound about
the edges with heavy gummed paper or linen, is useful to lay upon the
open pages of the cook-book, and serves the double purpose of holding
it open at the required page and of protecting it from floured or
buttered fingers.
A plentiful supply of the small earthenware dishes, called casseroles,
marmites, ramekins, and gratin dishes, is especially useful in the
Vegetarian's kitchen.
Those building homes should see that the place on which the stove is
to stand is covered with suitable tiling, and this should extend for
two feet or more around the stove. The floor itself is best covered
with linoleum, and if a colour scheme is carried out in this room,
as it may well be in these days of many-coloured enamelled ware,
it can be accented by the linoleum chosen and the kitchen thus made
as beautiful for its purpose as any room in the house.
I have not partaken of a fellow creature for fifteen years.
Bernard Shaw.
THE DINING ROOM
If a breakfast room is not used, a small winged table set in a
sunny corner, or bay-window recess of the dining room, and used as a
breakfast table, is an improvement upon breakfast at the large dining
table, and can be arranged in almost any dining room.
If pictures are hung in this room nothing less appropriate
than those usually chosen as fit subjects for its walls can be
imagined. Engravings showing the gentle deer hunted to his death, with
the dog's fangs already buried in his flesh, stuffed heads of the same
animal, and paintings of dead fish, ducks or grouse, hanging by their
feet, should not give pleasure to or improve the appetites of humane
people. If pictures are used let us have those which depict life,
joy, kindness, and beauty rather than cruelty, bloodshed, and death.
Among the noblest in the land,
Though he may count himself the least,
That man I honor and revere
Who without favor, without fear,
In the great city dares to stand
The friend of every friendless beast.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
SEASONING
The subject of seasoning is indeed holy ground in culinary matters,
and after much thought and experiment I have decided that the phrase
so deplored by young housekeepers, "season to taste," is after all not
the worst one to use. No such inaccurate directions were to appear
in this cook-book when planned, but I have finally decided with the
army of wiser cooks who have preceded me that accurate measurements
in seasoning are dangerous to success. Not only do tastes vary,
but much depends on the time the seasoning is added, on the rapidity
with which the food is cooking, etc. With this in mind, and very long
prejudice against the old phrase above mentioned, I have compromised
and frequently been tempted to state quantities of salt and pepper,
usually regretting when I have. The truth is, unless one can "season
to taste" one cannot cook palatable dishes, and my final word on the
subject is that it is well to always use a little more salt and pepper
than seems advisable, and then just before serving add a little more!
MEASURING
Weights as a means of measuring quantities have been avoided in these
recipes, as I can see no advantage to the system which uses them,
and I have been able to show even English cooks that the scales are
not the most necessary part of the kitchen furnishing, and they have
become devoted to our simple method of using the kitchen cup as the
standard. It holds 1/2 pint, and 2 cups, therefore, hold 1 pint;
4 cups hold 1 quart; and I find no fault with the old couplet,--
"A pint's a pound
The world around."
It usually is, and one cannot go far wrong in acting as if it always
were.
THICKENING
In thickening sauces and soups, ordinary flour can always be used
and cornstarch also, and as a rule I have said "flour" only in these
recipes, but have only refrained from always advising potato-flour
because it would have confused many who cannot obtain it in America. In
Germany it is always used, and when it can be had is far nicer for
thickening all vegetable sauces and soups than any other sort of flour.
AN HERB GARDEN
No one thing pays better for the little trouble expended than a
small herb garden. Buy two or three tarragon plants, cover them in
the winter, and in the autumn pick the leaves to make vinegar and to
dry. Plant chervil, parsley, thyme, chives, and a plant of rosemary.
A window-box will keep parsley and chives on hand, and a clump of
chives from the market will grow for weeks if set in a bowl and
watered occasionally.
GELATINE
Instead of the usual gelatine use must be made of arrowroot or a
gelatine advertised to be purely vegetable. One tablespoon is usually
allowed to 1 pint of liquid, but experiments must be made and there
will usually be directions found with the package.
FAT FOR FRYING
The Vegetarian can well afford to do away with that doubtful economy,
cooking butter. For ordinary frying use good butter; for deep fat
use a good brand of cooking-oil, or cocoanut butter.
CANNED GOODS
It seems to be a habit with many people to decry the use of canned
vegetables, although I believe there are few households which
subsist without them. My experience is that the best grades of canned
vegetables are often far sweeter and better, fresher in fact, than
vegetables that can be bought in city markets. The housekeeper should
make it a point to know which brands she prefers and to trade where she
can get them; and where no retailer carries them she can usually obtain
cases containing two dozen each from the preservers themselves. A
little trouble taken in the autumn to stock the store-room, instead
of ordering "a can of peas" now and then at random, saves time and
trouble in the end. Among the canned vegetables which are put up and
sealed the day they are picked by the best firms are beets, peas,
corn, spinach, hard-shelled beans, tomatoes, stringless beans, wax
beans, mushrooms, pimentos, okra, okra-tomato, asparagus, etc.; and
the saving of time and labour in the preparation of beans, spinach,
and beets especially, is worth consideration. People make the mistake
of merely warming up canned goods and then serving them, whereas when
the can is opened the vegetables are only ready to be seasoned and
finished as they would be had they been boiled at home. Good canned
vegetables are not easy to improve upon, and I serve them constantly
to people who will not easily credit my statement that they are not
so-called "fresh" vegetables.
I will not kill or hurt any living creature needlessly,
nor destroy any beautiful thing, but will strive to save
and comfort all gentle life and guard and perfect all
natural beauty upon the earth.
John Ruskin.
SOUPS
Most clear soups can be greatly improved in colour by using a small
quantity of vegetable soup browning, or caramel. Do not overdo it,
however, as the flavour is not pleasant when too pronounced. All
cream soups should be cooked in a double boiler.
VEGETABLE STOCK
Few meat stocks have of themselves more flavour than vegetable stock,
that is, the water in which vegetables have cooked. The water in
which rice, onions, leeks, celery, beans, cabbage, etc., have boiled
is valuable in Vegetarian cookery, and the wise cook will use it in
many ways to enhance the flavours of soups and sauces.
A SIMPLE CONSOMMÉ OR STOCK
A simple way of preparing a rich, clear consommé is to wash well 1/2
cup of German lentils, drain them and toss them for ten minutes in a
saucepan in which 1 tablespoon of butter has been melted. Then pour
on them 5 cups of cold water, set them over a hot fire, and let them
boil rapidly about half an hour only. Drain, and strain through a
fine cloth, and return to a clean saucepan with 1 bay leaf, 1 slice
of onion, 2 cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon of celery seed; simmer slowly
for fifteen minutes, season with salt and pepper, and add a little
sherry if liked.
If the lentils are cooked longer, it will make a cloudy soup, which
will be stronger but not clear.
CLEAR BOUILLON OR CONSOMMÉ
There are various vegetable extracts in the market which, when diluted,
make delicious stock, or clear soup. If these are not available,
a clear vegetable broth may be made as follows:
Wash 3 cups of any dried beans or lentils, and put them to soak in
a covered earthenware dish with 10 cups of water for twelve hours or
so. Then empty with that same water into a kettle, and let come slowly
to the boiling point, skim frequently, and do not let it actually
boil. When clear, and there seems no further need of skimming, add 1
cup each of cut onions, carrots, turnips, 1 tablespoon of parsley,
1 tablespoon of salt, 1 clove of garlic, and 1 teaspoon of thyme,
etc., 1 tablespoon of celery seed, and 1 bay leaf.
Let boil up once, and then place on the back of the stove to barely
simmer for two hours; then strain through a fine sieve, and a good
broth is made. The beans, etc., can be utilised in a deep pie, or with
brown or white sauce in crust cups, in a curry, or many other ways.
To make this into a strong, clear soup put 2 tablespoons of butter
in a saucepan, and when melted add 1/2 cup each of chopped onions,
carrots, turnips, and celery, 2 cloves, and a bit of parsley; fry
until somewhat browned, then cover with 6 cups of the broth, and
let simmer very quietly for two hours. Skim often, drain, let cool,
remove any grease from the top, and to clarify add to it, when cold,
the slightly beaten yolk of 1 egg and the whites of 3, then set
over a hot fire and stir vigorously, watching for the first sign
of boiling. At this, remove to a place where it cannot even simmer,
but will be warm for half an hour, and strain through a fine, clean
cloth. A wineglass of sherry may be added if to be served in cups.
CREAM OF ARTICHOKE
Scrape and slice enough Jerusalem artichokes to make 2 cups, and cover
them with cold water. Let them stand for fifteen or twenty minutes,
and put them in a saucepan with 2 quarts of cold water or milk, or
1 quart of each, and let them cook for an hour or until thoroughly
soft. Now rub them through a sieve with 2 cups of the stock in which
they cooked, and return to the fire. When boiling add 1 tablespoon of
butter and 1 of flour, rubbed together, and 1 teaspoon of salt and 1
saltspoon of pepper, and cook about ten minutes before adding 2 cups
of hot milk, or 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of cream. Stir well and let
boil up once before serving. A teaspoon of chopped parsley or chives
improves the appearance and taste of almost any cream soup.
CREAM OF ARTICHOKE WITH NASTURTIUMS
Make the plain cream of artichoke soup as in preceding recipe, and
add before straining 1 handful of nasturtium leaves and blossoms;
or, instead, add 1 tablespoon of these, finely minced, to the soup
before serving.
ASPARAGUS SOUP
Use 1 can of asparagus, cut off the tips, and lay them aside. Cut up
the stalks, cover with 4 cups of cold milk (or use half water and half
milk), and let cook slowly in a double boiler for half an hour; then
strain, pressing the asparagus well to extract the flavour. Return to
the saucepan, add 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of butter, into
which 1 teaspoon of flour has been made smooth, season generously
with salt and pepper, add the asparagus tips, 1 cup of milk, and,
just before serving, 1 tablespoon of whipped cream. A tablespoon of
minced onion fried for ten minutes in butter is sometimes added to
the stalks while cooking.
BARLEY AND TOMATO SOUP
Cook 1 can of tomatoes and 1 chopped Spanish onion together for
fifteen minutes, then rub through a wire sieve; add 3 tablespoons of
pearl barley, 1 tablespoon of butter, some pepper and salt, and cook
for one hour, until the barley is soft. Re-season before serving.
BLACK BEAN SOUP
Soak 2 cups of beans for twelve hours or more, and then drain them and
put into 8 cups of cold water; add 3 whole cloves, 3 whole allspice,
and 3 whole peppers, salt well and boil gently for two hours, rub
through sieve, and reheat. Mix 1 tablespoon of thickening flour, and
1 tablespoon of butter and water, and stir into the soup at boiling
point; season afresh and pour into a tureen in which are placed, neatly
sliced, 1 hard-boiled egg and half a dozen seeded slices of lemon. This
soup is improved by adding 1 wineglass of sherry, or one may substitute
for it a few drops of Tomato Chutney or Worcestershire sauce.
BELGIAN SOUP
Take 4 cups of diced turnips and put them in a saucepan with 2
tablespoons of butter, and stir for ten minutes over a slow fire;
then stir in 2 cups of water, 2 teaspoons of brown sugar, and plenty
of pepper and salt, and let simmer for another ten minutes; add
2 cups of milk thickened with 1 tablespoon of flour, let boil up,
stirring constantly, and serve with croutons.
PLAIN BEAN SOUP
Wash 2 cups of any sort of dried beans and soak twelve hours or more
in cold water. Before using, strain them and cover with 8 cups of
cold water. Put over the fire and let cook gently for four hours,
then rub them through a sieve into their own stock, season with 1
tablespoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and 1 tablespoon of
butter, and let them cook ten minutes longer. Serve with half-inch
squares of toast in the tureen.
BROWN BEAN SOUP
Take 1 cup of brown beans and 1/2 cup of German lentils, wash well
and put in a saucepan with plenty of cold water, 2 or 3 chopped
onions, 1 stalk of celery, 1 bay leaf, and simmer together for three
hours, then strain. If a thin soup is wanted, do not press any of
the pulp through the strainer, but if it is liked somewhat thick,
do so. Return the strained soup to the saucepan and thicken with
1 teaspoon of thickening flour. This is now delicious soup stock,
and can be served plain, or varied by adding peas, diced carrots,
spaghetti, a few drops of sauce, a little sherry, tomato catsup,
or curry powder. Season well with salt and pepper before serving.
RED BEAN SOUP
Soak for 8 hours or more 2 cups of red beans, then put them in a large
saucepan containing 8 cups of cold water, 1 cup of milk, and 2 onions
halved, each having 4 cloves stuck in it. Let cook for two hours, then
press through a sieve, reheat, adding just before serving 1 wineglass
of claret and fresh seasoning of salt and pepper. 1 hard-boiled egg
chopped fine is an improvement to this soup.
LIMA BEAN CREAM SOUP
Soak 2 cups of dried lima beans for several hours and then put them
in a saucepan with 1 cup of cold water and 1 cup of milk and let them
cook for two hours, adding salt when they have partly cooked. Put
1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when melted add 1 onion
chopped fine. Let cook slowly until browned, then scrape the contents
of the frying pan into the saucepan containing the beans, and add
1 tablespoon of tomato catsup or chutney and press all through
a sieve, and re-season before serving. If liked a little thick,
use 1 tablespoon of flour, made smooth in 1/2 cup of milk or cream,
to thicken. A tablespoon of whipped cream in the tureen is always an
improvement to a cream soup.
DUTCH CABBAGE SOUP
Make exactly like Cockie-Leekie soup, using the water in which a
cabbage has boiled for stock and adding 1/2 cup of finely chopped
cabbage instead of using any of the barley to return to the strained
soup. Those who like caraway seed will enjoy the addition of 1
teaspoon of these to the soup. If used, add them with the chopped
cabbage after the other seasoning has been removed.
CALCUTTA BISQUE
Put 1 cup of tomato pulp in a saucepan and with it 1 bay leaf. When
hot add to it 1 saltspoon of soda, and as it foams stir slowly into it
3 or 4 cups of milk, 1 teaspoon of curry powder, 1 teaspoon of butter,
and 1 saltspoon of salt. Let boil up once and serve with croutons.
The water in which rice has boiled or any vegetable stock may be
substituted for milk and the soda then omitted.
CANTON STEW
Put 2 cups of finely shredded cabbage in enough water to boil and let
cook slowly until tender, which should be in about three quarters of
an hour. When the cabbage has been cooking half an hour, add a cup of
milk, and when it is nearly done put in 2 cups of milk; let boil up
once, then season with salt, black pepper, and pour in a hot tureen,
in which should be laid 1 teaspoon of butter. Those who like oyster
crackers served in or with milk stews can use them with this soup
which greatly resembles an oyster stew in flavour.
CARROT BROTH
Scrape and cut 3 or 4 large carrots (or more of the small French sort)
in eighths lengthwise and boil them until tender. Put 2 tablespoons of
butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 1 scant half cup of oatmeal
to it, putting in 1 tablespoon at a time and stirring carefully with
a wooden spoon until all the butter is taken up; then put in 1 ladle
of stock in which the carrots have been cooked, and continue stirring;
then another ladle of stock, and so on until a cup and a half of stock
has been added during ten minutes' slow cooking. Now put in another cup
of stock and let cook ten minutes; then, as the soup will be getting
too thick, add another cup of stock and so on, thinning the soup with
additional stock until the oatmeal is thoroughly cooked. If Quaker
Oats is used, the soup will only have to cook about forty minutes,
and it is best to strain it before serving; fine Scotch meal will take
longer, but does not need to be strained and thickens somewhat better.
When the soup is half cooked add 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 saltspoon of
pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. (Serve the carrots with a plain sauce
or warm them up next day in some of the ways mentioned under Carrots.)
CREAM OF CARROT AND ONION
Take 2 cups of grated carrot and 1 chopped onion and fry for ten
minutes with 1 tablespoon of butter and then cover with 4 cups of
cold water and let boil. Add salt and pepper and in twenty minutes
1 cup of milk in which 1 tablespoon of flour has been dissolved.
CREAM OF CARROTS
Put 2 cups of grated carrot with 1 pint (2 cups) of cold water in
a double boiler, and when heated add 2 tablespoons of butter and 1
teaspoon of sugar. Let cook for an hour, then add 1/2 cup of stale
bread crumbs and 2 cups of water, and let cook half an hour longer. Rub
the contents of the double boiler through a fine sieve, add 1 1/2 cups
of hot milk, 1 tablespoon of salt and a saltspoon of pepper, and return
to the boiler. Beat 2 egg-yolks in 1/2 cup of milk, and when the soup
boils again stir them into it. Stir hard for one minute and serve.
CREAM OF CHEESE
Put 1 quart (or 4 cups) of milk in a double boiler, and put with it
3/4 of a cup of grated cheese, 1 teaspoon of grated onion, 1 teaspoon
of some piquant sauce, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, a dash of cayenne pepper,
and 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 of butter rubbed together. Stir until
smooth, then beat the yolks of 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons of milk,
put in the tureen, and pour the boiling soup over them, stirring
during the process. Add a little salt and serve with croutons.
CREAM OF CAULIFLOWER