Marjorum                      1 handful
              Lemon thyme                   ½ handful
              Water                         1 pint

Tie double paper over, and send it to the baker’s oven, to be baked
four or five hours, then turn it out into a dish, and when cool enough,
separate all the meat from the bones, and chop coarsely, and mixing the
pieces of fat equally throughout the mass. Press the meat now into a
dish that will about hold it, and using what part of the liquor you may
require to moisten the meat, and leave a plate or dish over the meat,
with weights to keep it pressed down. Next day, when it has settled
into a dense mass, pour clarified butter all over it, a quarter of an
inch thick. It is eaten cold, and in winter season will keep well some
weeks.

                        POTTED SHRIMPS, DIABLE.

Follow the directions for preparing the fish as for potted shrimps,
until you arrive at the seasoning department, when mix

              Table salt                     ½ lb.
              Sifted loaf sugar              ¼ lb.
              Cayenne pepper                 1 oz.
              Durham mustard                 1 oz.

Make four or five tablespoonfuls of olive oil boiling hot in a stewpan,
throw a handful of the shrimps at a time into it, and in less than
a minute take them out, season them well with the mixture and lay
them on dishes to cool. Continue thus to treat all the rest, and when
done fill your pots and press the fish down closely. Next day cover
with clarified butter, and afterwards the pots may be made secure
with bladder, white or coloured paper over that. Keep them in a dry
airy room. They will be much liked if taken with wine, and rectify a
vitiated palate.

                            POTTED PIGEONS.

Take a couple of dozen of pigeons, which should be hung up a full week
in cold weather. They must be drawn of the intestines and nicely picked
of pen-feathers. Cut off the necks and pinions and lay them open at the
backbones, wiped clean out and washed in salt and water, being dried
quickly. Season them well with

              Nutmeg, grated                1 oz.
              Cloves, in fine powder        1 oz.
              White pepper, in fine powder  2 oz.
              Table salt, in fine powder    6 oz.
              Bay leaves, in fine powder    1 oz.

inside, particularly on the backbone and vent, and let them lie put
down in a jar and covered over for a week, turning them daily. Then
place them singly, or in halves, if a small family; put a lump of
fresh butter inside of each, and, tying thick paper over the pots, bake
them slowly until done. While they are yet warm pour off any gravy
that may have been produced, which must be set by, and when cold the
butter taken off and added to the quantity which will be required to
be clarified, and with which the birds must be covered, when cold,
to the thickness of at least half an inch in each pot. These will be
excellent, taken cold.

                            RUSSIAN POLONY.

Your success in this undertaking chiefly depends upon the choice of the
meats made use of. Take of

        The lean of Belfast smoked hams, 1 year old     3 lb.
        The fat of Belfast smoked hams, 1 year old      3 lb.
        High flavoured hung beef                        3 lb.
        Smoked ox tongues                               3 lb.
        Hard back fat of bacon                          4 lb.

Peel the tongues after being boiled and reject the roots and tips. Cut
the four first of the above up into dice and pound them separately into
smooth pastes, with mucilage of gum tragacanth and fresh butter. Next
cut the fat bacon into dice or cubes as large as the finest growth of
peas, no rind or gristles to be retained; then mix intimately together,

              Garlic, minced                 1½ oz.
              Shalots, minced                 6 oz.
              Juniper berries, in fine powder 3 oz
              Jamaica pepper, in fine powder  3 oz.
              Black peppercorns               3 oz.
              Bay salt, in fine powder        1 lb.
              Coarse sugar                    ¾ lb.

and blending all the meats well, season highly with the mixture, and
put it down in a jar for a week to mellow. Then work the mass well for
half an hour. Get some of the largest ox intestines, and soak them
in luke-warm salt and water, wipe them dry and proceed to fill them,
keeping out the air as much as possible, which you will effect by
regular and even pressure, and pricking, only where necessary, with a
stocking-needle. Make your polonies about a foot long each, and put
them aside as done until the next day; then repeat the pressure and tie
them up finally. They must be put into boiling-water with a little salt
and saltpetre, and after once boiling, simmer only for half an hour.
Then take them up, wipe dry, and hang in a current of air for a week,
being turned daily without fail. Then smoke them with

              Oak lops                      2 parts
              Beech chips                   2 parts
              Fern                          1 part
              Peat                          1 part

for a month. Stow them away in malt cooms. They will be prized by those
persons who delight in high flavours. They need no coating; nay, many
foreigners prefer them mouldy on the outsides.

                            GERMAN SAVELOYS.

   Take rough Hambro’ smoked beef           2 lb.
              Neats’ tongues, smoked        1 lb.
              Smoked ham                    1 lb.
              Fat of bacon                  2 lb.

Boil the tongue moderately, peal and cut off the gross root tip. Cut
up the whole of the meat into large dice, and pound it thoroughly,
mixing the fat in equally in all parts of the mass. Pick out all skins,
sinews, &c., and mix a pound of good moist sugar throughout it, so let
it lie two days. Then take

              Sage leaves, in fine powder      3 oz.
              Garlic, minced finely            2 oz.
              Shalots                          2 oz.
              Bay leaf, in powder              2 oz.
              Chillies, or capsicum, in powder 3 oz.

mix them well and then sift them, and blend them well with the meat,
so that all parts may partake of the flavour alike; put it into a jar,
which bung up close and set it aside for a week to get mellow. Now try
a small quantity of it: if it suits your taste, well and good, if not
add seasoning. Now fill your sausage skins, and when nice and solid
prick them a little, and put them into a pan of boiling water to simmer
slowly three quarters of an hour. Then take them out and let go cold,
and next day wipe them and smoke them three weeks with

              Oak lops and dust             3 parts
              Fern or grass turfs           3 parts

then hang them up in a dry room and keep them with hams, tongues, &c.
These will be excellent in a month, just popped into boiling water for
five minutes, or fried in olive oil and eaten cold.

                         JERSEY BLACK PUDDINGS.

In France, in the Channel Islands, and Belgium these delicacies are
introduced at the tables of the highest families, a distinction which
they richly deserve, while in England very few persons make them at
home, but purchase at the shops an indescribable mass of groats,
blood, bread, herbs, &c., and frequently, to cover the indolence of
the pork-butcher, loaded with such an amount of the commoner spices,
as to render the whole anything but palatable. Then, again, the fat,
which seems to be the only recommendation, is found here and there in
lumps so large, that before they become heated through, it is certain
the other of part of the mass must be burnt nearly to a cinder. I think
that we can produce an article well worthy of the trouble and slight
expense incurred by the trial. Take a couple of dozen of large onions,
peel them, cutting off the bottoms, cut them into small pieces, and put
them into a stewpan along with ten ounces of sweet lard, and stew them
slowly till of a light brown colour. Cut three pounds of pig’s leaf
that is perfectly sweet and dry into dice, pick out all the skins.
Boil half a dozen heads of endive, chop them fine and add to the fried
onions; season them with

              Table salt                    2 oz.
              White pepper                  ¾ teaspoonful
              Parsley, finely chopped       4 tablespoonfuls
              Thyme, in fine powder         1 tablespoonful
              Bay leaves                    2 tablespoonfuls
              Half a nutmeg, grated

Now add three quarts of pig’s blood――calf’s, or sheep’s is as
good――that has not been long taken from the animal, and if still warm
is preferable. Mix all intimately, and if you find the mixture is too
thin to work well, add a handful or two of stale bread crumbs, or
half to three quarters of a pound of rice, boiled just tender but not
mashed. Take now the smaller pudding skins which have been properly
scraped and cleaned, wash them in salt and water, and with a tin funnel
tie one end of the skin tightly upon it, and the other end up in a
knot, two feet or a yard will be a convenient length. Proceed now to
fill your skins by pressing the meat through the funnel, pricking with
a pin to let out the air. When nicely and firmly filled, tie up the
end, and put the puddings into a flat large pan, with plenty of water
tasting slightly of salt, and already boiling, and let them simmer
twenty minutes, or rather more, attentively watching and pricking them
to prevent bursting. When the blood oozes out no longer, they are
fully cooked, then take them up and let them lie all night on a sieve.
Cut them into pieces four to six inches long, and when wanted for table
wipe them lightly over with a linen rag dipped in olive oil, and broil
them ten minutes. Serve them plain, but very hot. If you cannot procure
endive, you may substitute celery, which must be boiled along with
three or four laurel leaves; the tender parts only must be used. Leeks
also are generally liked, but in that case part of the onions must be
omitted.

                           MARINATED SALMON.

Take six or eight pounds of the middle of a large fish, in preference
to a similar weight of the whole of a grilse or salmon trout, scale it
and cut off the fins, split it open at the back and reserve the roe and
liver; wipe the fish out nicely, and strew moist sugar all over the red
side, put it away on a dish until the next day. Then make the following
mixture,

              Bay leaf, in powder           1 oz.
              Mace, in powder               ½ oz.
              Cloves, in powder             ¾ oz.
              White pepper, in powder       ¾ oz.
              Table salt                   1¼ lb.

Take out the backbone neatly and rub the fish on both sides well with
the mixture and the former sugar; lay three or four laurel leaves upon
the red face of the thick side, turn the thin side over upon them,
and set it away in a cool place for twenty-four hours. Then take it
up, wipe dry, and cut the sides into fitting pieces, and place them in
a deep dish upon the spices, and half a pint of Rhenish wine or Cape
Madeira; tie double paper over and bake it in a slow oven till done
enough. Pour off the pickle while yet warm, and set the pieces on a
sieve to drip until the next day――covered close with a cloth to prevent
the action of the air upon it, and thus to preserve the colour. Now
choose your pots according to the size of your family, and into each
one place a piece of the fish, the red face downwards, and fill up with
genuine olive oil, let remain until the next day, when add more oil,
and again on the third day replenishing what has been absorbed by the
fish. Then tie wetted bladder over the pots and keep them in a cool dry
air. This cannot fail of gaining the approval of all who partake of it,
and is the most certain method of obtaining fresh salmon in the winter
months. The same oil will do again and again for a similar purpose.

                       MARINATED TENCH AND CARP.

How often have I seen twenty or thirty brace of these delicious and
exceedingly nutritious fish exposed for sale in some provincial
market-place, and spoiling for want of purchasers, some neighbouring
baronet or esquire having been drawing his pits and preserves. But why
no purchasers? Simply because, although the spectators might nearly
beg them, the price being so low, few persons only would know what to
do with them, they not being “poor men’s fish;” and the sauces, &c.,
required to dress them would be too expensive; the operatives have
not seen pies made of them, like eels, so even the million as they
are termed do not enjoy them, and ten to one the beautiful fish are
lost; whilst if they were near Houndsditch or the Minories, amongst
the Israelites, they would not remain half an hour unsold even at
half-a-crown the brace, because they know how to prepare them, and
delicious indeed are the majority of their fish dishes. Take three
brace of these fish, scale them, cut off the tails and fins, split them
open at the back, take out all the garbage, gills and eyes, and wash
them quickly in salt and water; now wipe them dry, and have ready the
following mixture:

              Fresh parsley, minced finely  2 tablespoonfuls
              Thyme, in powder              2 tablespoonfuls
              Marjorum, in powder           2 tablespoonfuls
              Moist sugar                   ½ lb.
              Table salt                    ¾ lb.

Make two sides of each fish and cut them across, again place these
pieces in alternate layers with the mixture in an oblong pot closely
covered up, and set them aside for forty-eight hours; then unpack the
fish and replace them in the same receptacle, having rubbed them well
and turned each piece over; so let remain twenty-four hours longer,
the thickest pieces lying nearest the bottom of the jar. Now unpack
again and wash the pieces separately in weak vinegar and water with a
trifle of saltpetre in it, and wiping, leave them between cloths while
you are preparing, by boiling the used herbs and liquor with half a
pint of vinegar and water for ten minutes, and skimming well, strain it
through a fine sieve and set it aside. Now take

              Mace, bruised                  ½ oz.
              Cloves, bruised                1 oz.
              Cayenne pepper                 1 teaspoonful
              Twelve bay leaves, shred
              Four laurel leaves, green
              Of the strained liquor         ½ pint

Boil these for fifteen minutes, skim thoroughly, strain through a fine
sieve and add port wine half a pint, return this to the saucepan,
simmer it covered close for twelve minutes, and let remain by the
fireside. Lay your pieces of fish in a pie dish that will just hold
them, the thickest near the bottom, and pour the liquor in the saucepan
over the fish, tie paper doubled over the dish and bake till done
moderately, which can always be ascertained by the fish leaving the
bone upon a knife being applied. Now pour off the liquor, take out the
fish and set it to drain all night, covered up; place the pieces in the
best adapted pots and fill up with olive oil, renewing on the third
day what had been absorbed by the fish, and tie bladder over. In this
and similar cases take care that the oil is sufficient in quantity to
cover the contents to the thickness of three quarters of an inch at
least. These will be remarkably fine eating in a month. You cannot
purchase such at the shops.

                           MARINATED SHRIMPS.

To ensure this delicacy of first-rate quality you must buy your shrimps
alive, and boil and pick them at home with all possible despatch. Set
a gallon of live shrimps in three quarts of boiling water, in which
one and half pounds of bay or rock salt has been dissolved, and boil
them fifteen minutes, then strain off the water and as soon as possible
commence shelling them, and keep them covered with cloths as you
proceed. Be particular that no refuse or pieces of the shells remain
to disgrace the preparer, and laying them lightly on clean dishes,
mix amongst them the following seasoning in very fine powder, being
well sifted and dried the day previous and kept bottled up. I repeat
that the shrimps must have been deprived of all their moisture with
the assistance of a moderately cool oven, and not two fish to be seen
sticking together. Nor can any excuse avail in this instance, as the
less time that is occupied in potting these sorts so much better chance
will there be of your total success in the product.

              Mace, in finest powder        1 oz.
              Nutmeg, in finest powder      2 oz.
              Cloves, in finest powder      2 oz.
              Table salt, in finest powder  1 lb.
              Loaf sugar, in finest powder  ¾ lb.

When seasoned to your entire satisfaction, the fish however fully
retaining their own fine flavour, fill your pots, which must be the
cleanest and best dried possible; press the shrimps well down, and set
them as you proceed at the mouth of your cool oven until there is no
evaporation observable. Now take them up, press down again, and laying
one or two bay leaves on the top, fill up with the best olive oil, and
set away in a cool dry room. Next day replenish the oil that has been
absorbed, and not till after the third day tie bladder over. Plenty of
oil must cover the fish, and although potted shrimps are not expected
to keep well after three or four days, yet you may expect every
satisfaction from this process. If decay soon takes place, it will be
owing to the fish not having been well dried in the process. As to the
preservation of the true flavour of the fish, this preparation demands
our decided preference.

                     MARINATED TROUT AND GRAYLING.

Fish about a pound weight each are the best for this purpose, but
provided that they are perfectly fresh, have a clear red gill,
and bright eye, we should be induced to thus preserve fish of any
size, because by this process the true flavour of the fish may be
effectually retained. Take two dozen fish, from twelve to twenty ounces
each, scale them, take off the heads, tails, and fins, open them at
the belly, take out the garbage, and washing them quickly in salt
and water, dry them with cloths and leave them covered up. Make the
following seasoning:

              Table salt                    1 lb.
              Cayenne pepper                ¾ oz.
              Sifted loaf sugar             ½ lb.
              Dried parsley                 1 oz.
              Thyme                         ½ oz.

All these must be in finest powder, and sifted, and with a good mixture
of them rub the insides and outsides of the fish well. If you have any
roes of them, wash them well, roll them in the powder and place them
inside the fish, bring the sides together, and tie round with thread;
place them in a convenient pot of earthenware, and with half a pint
of good sherry wine, paper tied closely over, bake them sufficiently;
then, while warm, pour off the gravy and let the fish lie by till next
day, basting them two or three times with the liquor, and removing to
the top those which laid on the bottom. Now pour off the gravy, strain
it, and put it aside bottled up close. Take out the fish and pay the
backbones inside with a camel’s-hair brush and this mixture:

              Essence of cassia             1 tablespoonful
              Essence of mace               1 tablespoonful
              Essence of nutmegs            2 tablespoonfuls
              Essence of bays               3 tablespoonfuls

Lay the fish on their backs and repeat this brushing over the bone
two or three times, then lay the fish on their flat, mix the strained
liquor in the bottle with whatever you have remaining of your essence
mixture, and six tablespoonfuls of good old malt whisky, and pour this
over the fish; baste well with it two or three times daily for a week
or until they have imbibed a fine flavour of the ingredients, and
tying over with leather. Now dry the fish by wiping outside only, and
place pieces in fitting oblong pots and cover with olive oil of first
quality. (See Note, No. 11.) Replenish the oil, and after the third day
make safe with wetted bladder and remove to a cool dry room. In a month
they will be very good, but if you could keep some three months they
would be much improved.

                         MARINATED SILVER EELS.

Take ten pounds of fine fresh river eels, each one and a half pound to
two pounds, skin them, cut off the heads, tails, and fins, lay them
open at the backs and remove all visible bones, and wash in salt and
water; then dry them, cut them into pieces four inches long, and lay
them in salt and water with a bit of saltpetre in it for ten hours;
then make a seasoning thus:

              Allspice, ground finely        1 oz.
              Cayenne pepper, ground finely  1 teaspoonful
              Bay leaf, in fine powder       1 oz.
              Parsley, dried and rubbed fine 2 oz.

Dry the fish well with cloths, rub them all over plentifully with this
mixture, and let them lie packed closely for twenty-four hours; roll
them up neat into little collars, tie them round, and bake them in a
wide-mouthed jar with a teacupful of water and vinegar at the bottom.
Next day pour off the liquor, take out the collars and put them singly
into white earthenware pots, and cover with olive oil, observing to
replenish the oil before finally closing up with bladder.

                    SUPERIOR MARINATED SILVER EELS,
                         OF VERY HIGH FLAVOUR.

Get fresh eels of ten to fifteen ounces each, skin them, take off
heads, tails, and fins, open them at the bellies, and, clearing away
all refuse, wash them in salt and water and dry with cloths. Then for
ten pounds of fish take

              Garlic, minced finely          ½ oz.
              Chillies, minced finely        1 oz.
              Juniper berries, minced finely ¾ oz.
              Jamaica pepper, powdered       1 oz.
              Bay salt                       1 lb.
              Saltpetre                      ¼ lb.
              Vinegar                        1 pint

Boil these twenty minutes, skimming well, and let go cold. Cut the fish
into pieces, place them in a deep dish and pour this pickle over them,
so let them lie till next day. Take out the fish and rub each piece
separately with the mixture, replace the fish in the vessel and let
them lie so for twenty-four hours longer. Now wipe them and hang them
up in a current of air for two days; then with a soft brush take off
the herbs and spice and roll up tightly each piece into a collar, which
secure with narrow tapes. Choose pots of white earthenware that will
each just hold a collar, and so as to allow of the fish being totally
surrounded by oil, and fill up with olive oil and replenishing as
before directed previous to finishing with wetted bladder. Keep these
three months at least, when they will be a fine relish at a moderate
expense. They should be boiled in hot water, and when cold enough the
tapes taken off and the fish eaten cold.

                PICKLED SMELTS, PREFERRED TO ANCHOVIES.

This is an elegant preparation of the smaller fish, the large ones
being chosen for the dinner table. Cut open the fish at the belly,
and wipe them well out with damp cloths, lay in a light coat of the
following seasoning, the roes being replaced, and put them in layers
with the mixture alternately, in a deep jar wide at the top:

              Saltpetre, in powder          ½ oz.
              Bay salt, in powder           9 oz.
              Mace, in powder               ½ oz.
              Cloves, in powder             1 oz.
              Black pepper, in powder       1 oz.
              Cochineal, in powder          ¾ oz.

These must have been well mixed. Press the fish well down in the jar,
and boiling sufficient of the best pickling vinegar with bay leaves,
and four or five laurel leaves, pour it upon the fish when cold, and
tie leather over the jar. They will require three months at least to
become mellow, and are much improved by keeping twice that length of
time.

                           PICKLED LOBSTERS.

In our hot summer months, and when lobsters are plentiful, it would be
wise to save some that would come in opportunely for sauce and many
dishes, when lobsters are scarce and high priced. Take fresh boiled
lobsters, split them, take out the meat as whole as you can, and make a
seasoning of

              Mace, in fine powder          1 oz.
              Cayenne pepper                ¾ oz.
              Nutmeg, in fine powder        1 oz.
              Table salt, in fine powder    6 oz.

by well mixing them. Rub the meat well with this and equally, so that
no part is left undefended. Put the fish down in an earthen jar,
and repeat the rubbing for a day or two. Pack it then in small jars
and pour the following pickle over it, so that it may be covered to
thickness of an inch:

              Best vinegar                  1 pint
              Chillies                      1 oz.
              Cucumber vinegar              ½ pint
              Sal prunelle                  ¾ oz.

and in similar proportions for each pint of vinegar used. Mind that the
vinegar pickle covers well, and then put over all as much olive oil as
will cover to the depth of half an inch. Tie wetted bladder over and
leather upon that for safe keeping. It will be well recommended after a
trial.

                          MARINATED HERRINGS.

The freshest full-roed herrings must be taken for this purpose. Scale
twenty of the shortest and fattest you can get in the middle of the
season, take off the heads, tails, fins, and open them at the bellies,
clean all out, scrape the backbone, and washing the fish in salt and
water, wipe them dry and let them lie until next day, after rubbing a
dessert-spoonful of good moist sugar into the inside of each fish. Lay
them upon their backs in any vessel not too deep, and cover the fish
over with the following mixture――the roes should be nicely washed,
dried, and laid by the side of the fish:

              Coarse sugar                   1 lb.
              Bay salt, in fine powder       ¾ lb.
              Black pepper                   1 oz.
              Eschalots, minced              1 oz.
              Nutmegs, grated                1 oz.

putting half the fish in one layer then a layer of the mixture, and
then a layer of fish above that, and the spices covering all; so let
them lie covered up with a cloth three days. Then wipe the fish dry,
place the roes inside, cut them across in two parts, tie up in rolls
with calico, and lay them with plenty of bay leaves and four laurel
leaves in a deep dish and bake them, just covered over with good sound
porter; then while warm pour off the liquor, and set the fish on a
sieve to go cold, and next day put each one into a white earthenware
jar and cover with olive oil with the same precautions as before. In
two months they will be mellow and rich and greatly liked. The porter
in which they were baked, being boiled twenty minutes with a dozen of
shalots and cayenne, will be a very good cold sauce for chops, steaks,
fish, &c.

                           MARINATED SPRATS.

These shall be superior to what were called “sardines in oil,” some
thirty years ago, and sold in London at 4s. 6d. at first in small tin
boxes, and afterwards at 2s. 6d., each tin containing about sixteen
sprats――for sprats they certainly were. Take a peck of fresh sprats and
pick out for your present use as many of the largest and most sound
as will suit your purpose. Pull off the heads, cut off the fins and
tails, and draw out the little guts, wash them quickly through salt and
water, and dry them between cloths. Have ready the following:

              Mace, in finest powder        1 oz.
              Cloves, in finest powder      2 oz.
              Nutmeg, in finest powder      1 oz.
              Saltpetre, in finest powder   3 oz.
              Table salt, in finest powder  1 lb.
              Bay leaf, in finest powder    3 oz.

with which rub each fish on the inside first, and then throughout the
bulk; put them into small pots of white earthenware, closely packed;
tie bladder over them, merely to keep out the water, and place them in
a stewpan, adding water to reach half way up the sides of the jars,
cover the pan and set it on a slow fire to simmer until the fish are
cooked; then take them up, remove the covers, and set them aside till
the next day, when, pouring off any oil or fat that may have been given
out in cooking, fill up with olive oil and tie bladders safely over.

                             POTTED SMELTS.

For this purpose the smaller fish will do very well. Cut them open at
the belly, clean out and wash in salt and water, having first cut off
the tails and fins; now season them inside with

              Mace, in powder                ½ oz.
              Nutmeg, in powder              1 oz.
              Table salt                     3 oz.
              Cayenne pepper                 ½ oz.
              Bay leaf                       ¾ oz.

and let them lie till next day, when lay them in oblong pots and cover
them with clarified butter; bake them in a slow oven, and when done
enough pour off the butter, and drain effectually, and let them remain
twelve hours. Now warm up the butter again in a water bath, and running
it through a warmed sieve, pour the clear again over the fish, adding
more clarified butter to cover well. Tie bladder over and keep dry.

                            POTTED LOBSTERS.

Take a couple of fine lobsters, place them in a tub with plenty of weak
salt and water, and brush them well from froth and slime, then wash
in pure water and pop them into boiling water in which some salt and
saltpetre have been dissolved. When done lay them on a sieve to get
cold, and next day cut open the shells, crack the claws and take out
the meat, which then pick over carefully from skins and specks, the
coral also must be separated and examined. Now cut the meat into dice
and pound it finely in a mortar, till of a nice smooth consistence,
adding clarified butter at pleasure. Then season with

              Mace, in fine powder          ¾ oz.
              Nutmeg, in fine powder        1 oz.
              Bay leaf, in fine powder      1 oz.
              White pepper, in fine powder  1 oz.
              Cloves, in fine powder        ¾ oz.

and working the paste well proceed to fill white pots, and putting a
part of the coral into the middle of each pot. Press well in and set
aside for the night. Put the pots next into a slow oven, and let the
steam escape that might arise, and when you have got them as dry as it
is possible, without changing the colour of the preparation, set them
by to go cold; then cover with clarified butter effectually and writing
paper over the tops of the pots.

                             POTTED CRABS.

To meet with well potted crabs is a very rare occurrence, and, speaking
generally, is attributable to the carelessness of the preparer. Crabs
are very often out of season, that is, cannot be got without great
trouble and expense, and they are very much liked; these admissions
furnish reasons why we should have some well preserved. Take half a
dozen eastern coast crabs――those of Hartlepool and neighbourhood are
always sound and well flavoured, while those on the western coast and
about Ireland are little worth――plug up all the holes with wooden pegs,
throw them into a tubful of salt and water and brush them _thoroughly_,
then wash in pure water and put them into boiling water to be cooked;
then take them up and lay them to get cold; pull off the claws and put
the large shells into a slow oven after having run off any water that
may have collected in them, and when no more steam arises from the slow
drying, set them also to get cold. Take all the meat out of the claws,
pick out very carefully all the little skins and strings, cut it into
dice and pound it in a mortar with clarified butter until of a nice
plastic mass, which cover up in a cloth. Now attack the body shells,
pick out all the solid meat, and, setting the coral aside, throw out
all the skins and refuse you can find, and beat up this also with best
Durham mustard, as for the table, some cayenne, chillie vinegar, and
table salt. Place some of this at the bottom of each pot, and having
ready this seasoning, mix what is requisite with the meat from the
claws:

              Mace                          1 oz.
              Cloves                       1½ oz.
              Nutmeg                        1 oz.
              Bay leaf                      1 oz.
              Table salt                    6 oz.
              White pepper                  2 oz.

Work this well into the mass, and having put a portion of the hard
coral into each pot, fill up with the seasoned claw meat. Set the pots
in a slow oven to evaporate what moisture you can, then set aside and
when cold pour clarified butter plentifully over, which, when cold,
must again be covered with writing paper. If your ingredients were
genuine, your butter sweet, and well managed, and the fish of prime
quality, you will have a choice or rare preparation of these generally
admired fish.

                       SIDE OF VENISON COLLARED.

As this sort of animal food can only be got at one season of the year,
I recommend any person who is fond of good eating at a moderate cost,
to get the two sides or flitches of a prime fat buck, and cure them in
the two different ways herein described, with full assurance that the
result will be perfectly satisfactory. Take a side and hang it up in a
free current of air as long as ever you can trust it, wiping it daily
with a coarse cloth, and dusting it over, particularly the fat parts,
with ground black pepper, to prevent the flies settling on it. With a
sharp knife take off the outer skin, and, removing all sinews, bone it
nicely; divide it next into pieces fit for collars, that is, so that
when rolled up the ends may be level and firm. Rub vinegar well over
the meat and leave it packed closely in a deep dish and covered up till
the next day. Make ready a mixture of

              Mace, in fine powder          1 oz.
              Cloves, in fine powder        2 oz.
              Nutmeg, in fine powder        1 oz.
              White pepper, in fine powder  2 oz.
              Bay salt                      ¾ lb.
              Common or rock salt           ½ lb.
              Bay leaves, shred             3 oz.

and with this rub the meat, which should have been dried with cloths
well, and pack them down to lie forty-eight hours. Then take them
up, and cutting slices of hard fat bacon, half an inch wide and six
or eight inches long, insert them in channels cut in the venison and
about two and a half inches apart; this should be done with consummate
nicety. Now roll up the meat into collars and bind tightly with broad
tape, and sew strong unbleached calico all round the length. Lay paper
shavings in the bottom of a deep straight-sided jar, and upon them six
or eight laurel leaves and twice as many bay leaves, and place the
collars lightly upon them, then pouring in half a pint of water, tie
doubled paper over the jar and bake slowly for three hours at least, or
until nicely cooked; then while warm pour off the gravy into a basin
to get cold, and taking out the collars set them to drain all night.
Next day, after wiping them dry, place the rolls of meat in a jar that
will just hold them without squeezing, and pour clarified mutton suet
with sweet lard in the proportion of a quarter of a pound of the latter
to twelve ounces of the former, and when cold covering the meat to the
thickness of two inches. Tie wet bladder over and put away in a cold
airy room. This should not be broached under two months, and then by
placing the jar in a pan of boiling water for twenty minutes you can
take out a collar and put away the jar, taking care that the meat is
totally covered by the suet and made safe from the air. Pop the collar
into a saucepan of boiling water and salt for fifteen minutes, then
take it out, wipe it dry, and when nearly cold take off the envelopes
and set it by till next day. Serve it garnished with fresh parsley and
slices of lemon or pickled red beetroot, which two latter may be eaten
with it, and then I think you will confess that this “common part of
venison” is very first-rate eating.

                         THE OTHER SIDE SMOKED.

Proceed as with the former side, and having rubbed it well with
vinegar, make a mixture of

              Allspice, ground              3 oz.
              Black pepper, ground          2 oz.
              Eschalots, minced            2½ oz.
              Garlic, minced               1½ oz.
              Bay salt                      ¾ lb.
              Coarse sugar                  ¾ lb.
              Bay leaves                    2 oz.

and rub all parts thoroughly, and let them lie placed down in a deep
pan for forty-eight hours; then take them up, wipe dry and lard them
well with shreds of the best sweet fat bacon and roll up tightly into
collars, which bind with tape and envelope in calico or thin canvas,
and stow them away in a deep jar that will hold them conveniently till
the next day. Boil up the used spices, herbs, and salts with as much
porter as you think will cover the meat, well skimming it till no more
scum arises, and pour it hot over the meat; so let it remain covered
with leather for a week. Then hang up the collars in a draught of
air, minding to turn them every morning regularly, or the neglect is
certain to be detected when brought to table. Next suspend them in your
chimney, and smoke them for a fortnight with

              Oak lops or sawdust           2 parts
              Beech chips                   2 parts
              Fern                          1 part
              Peat                          1 part

When cold you can coat them with gelatine composition and keep them in
malt cooms. Slices cut off these collars and broiled will be excellent
in three months, or, if you choose to boil them and eat cold, take care
they are put on the fire in ready boiling water, as we do not want
venison broth. (See Note, No. 10.)

                          YOUNG PIG COLLARED.

Your porkman having supplied you with a short, round pig, say about
ten to twelve weeks old, the neck taken off close up to the shoulders
and split down the back, you will proceed to take out the bones and
gristles and wash it five minutes in salt and water, then wipe dry and
rub the following mixture――

              Mace, beaten finely           ½ oz.
              Cloves, beaten finely         1 oz.
              Nutmeg, beaten finely         1 oz.
              Pepper, beaten finely         1 oz.
              Salt, beaten finely          1½ lbs.

――in all parts well, and let them lie pressed closely for twenty-four
hours, then take them up, wipe dry, roll the one half up into a collar,
with tape and new linen, and boil it in a pickle made by boiling up the
former used spices――adding thereto

              Six laurel leaves, green
              Twelve bay leaves
              Vinegar                       1 pint
              Ginger, beaten coarsely       1 oz.
              Bay salt                      ¾ oz.

――until tender. Examine the collars when nearly cold, and tighten
the binding if requisite. Cut them through, in the middle, straight
across, put each roll into a jar just capable of holding it; boil up
the pickle again, adding vinegar and porter, if not enough to cover
your meat completely; tie bladder over and keep a month, when it will
be very rich, yet delicate. The pickle must have been well skimned and
all fat removed from it. The other half may be thus treated, making an
agreeable change, though this latter will be much higher flavoured:
Proceed as with the last, until having rolled it up in a nice tight
collar, you will make this pickle:

              Sage leaves, shred            ½ handful
              Capsicums, mixed              ½ oz.
              Juniper berries, bruised      1 oz.
              Six laurel leaves, shred
              Garlic, shred                 ½ oz.
              Porter or ale                 1 quart
              Salt                          ½ lb.

Boil these twenty minutes, skim well and pour over the meat, placed in
a deep jar that will just hold it, and tying leather over let it remain
three weeks. Then take it up, wipe dry, hang it in a current of dry air
for a week, turning it daily, and smoke it with

              Oak lops or sawdust           2 parts
              Fern                          2 parts
              Beech or birch chips          2 parts

for three weeks. When cold you can coat it with gelatine, or if packed
with hams, tongues, &c. &c., in malt cooms, will be a high, much
esteemed article, after being kept a month or two to become mellow.
Care must be taken in the broiling, as the meat will be extremely rich
and tender.

                              POTTED HARE.

A large one is generally chosen for this purpose, although you run the
risk of its not being tender; but since flavour is the essential here,
we must guard against the toughness by hanging it with the skin on, and
not opened for a fortnight if it came to hand quite fresh killed. A
stuffing should be made of

              Best salt butter              ½ lb.
              Grated bread.                 1 lb.
              Thyme, in powder              ½ oz.
              Marjorum, in powder           ½ oz.
              Lemon thyme, in powder        ¾ oz.

and the hare stuffed and basted as if for the parlour or dining-room.
Here, before the meat is cold, it should be separated from the bones
and well picked over, then, with clarified butter at hand, it must be
pounded well till of a nice stiff paste, and then seasoned with

              Mace, in powder               ½ oz.
              Cloves, in powder             ¾ oz.
              Nutmegs, in powder            ¾ oz.
              Red currant jelly, liquefied  1 teacupful
              Port wine                     1 teacupful

When these are well blended with the mass, you may fill pots and jars,
and proceed as usual with clarified butter to cover, and writing paper
over the pots.

                           POTTED MOOR GAME.

It is absolutely necessary that the greatest nicety prevails in the
picking and dressing of these species of game, and we shall leave
that to the poulterer and the cook, and only offer our advice as to
the different ingredients most acceptable as seasonings. Moor game
will bear hanging longer, and must not be overdone with fire, as they
possess a flavour well worth keeping. Season your birds with

              Cloves                        1 oz.
              Mace                          ½ oz.
              Cayenne                       ¾ oz.
              Table salt                    6 oz.
              Bay leaves                    2 oz.

and roast them a nice brown. Their heads, which in general are made to
be seen protruding, should be glazed, and the pots just nicely adapted
to contain one bird each. Clarified butter must wholly cover the body
and half an inch above. Writing paper, pasted on, covers all.

                      POTTED SNIPES AND WOODCOCKS.

We see so many of these delicious birds now-a-days, particularly at our
seaports opposite to the Continent, that we are reminded of the great
gratifications of former days, when such things were not purchaseable,
as to induce us to embrace the opportunity of preserving some. The
trails must not be drawn, but the picking and dressing must be done
effectually. Affix the bills to the thighs by skewers, the feet being
brought on to the breasts, season inside rather highly with

              Cayenne pepper                ½ oz.
              Table salt                    6 oz.
              Mace                          1 oz.
              Bay leaves                    2 oz.

Place your birds in a straight-sided jar, with the best salt butter
well washed, and bake slowly until done enough. Then pour off the
butter, put the birds singly into pots, and next day clarify the used
butter, adding more. Cover well and finish with writing paper pasted
over.

                             POTTED TROUT.

Where the natural flavour of this delicious fish can be retained it is
worth while potting them, and _vice versâ_. (See Note, No. 9.) From
half a pound to one and a half pounds weight each fish, will be the
best size for this preparation. Their freshness is insisted upon, or
better to let them alone. Scale your fish, cut off the heads, tails,
and fins, open them at the belly and wipe out clean, scatter good moist
sugar over the inside of the fish, and bring the sides of them together
again, pack them the backs downwards side by side, and let them lie
till the next day. Then take

              Bay leaves, in fine powder    1 oz.
              Laurel leaves, shred          1 oz.
              Mace, in fine powder          ½ oz.
              Nutmeg, in fine powder        1 oz.
              White pepper, in fine powder  2 oz.
              Table salt, in fine powder    6 oz.

Mix these well together and season the fish plentifully inside and out
with it, lay them flat in a dish, cover with a coarse meal crust and
bake them in a slow oven. Pour off the gravy while warm and let the
fish remain till next day. Then cut your trout into pieces adapted to
your pots, fill them, and pour clarified butter over to cover well, and
if for long keeping at least an half inch thick above the fish. Next
day, if all seem firm and safe, paste writing paper over and put away
in a cool airy room.

                              POTTED EELS.

Provided the fish are fresh we shall not refuse any size for this
purpose, from nine ounces to a pound each. They must be divested of
their skins, heads, tails, and fins, and opened at the belly from the
head down to the tail end. Clear all rubbish away, and at once wash
them a minute or two in salt and water, and dry with cloths. Dust best
flour over them and put them away, while you prepare a pickle of

              Bay leaves, shred             1½ oz.
              Laurel leaves                 1½ oz.
              Marjorum                       2 oz.
              Thyme                          1 oz.

For ten pounds of eels:

              Bay salt or rock              1½ lb.
              Coarse sugar                   ½ lb.
              Porter                         ½ pint
              Beer                           ½ pint

Lay your fish in a deep dish, previously cut into pieces three inches
long, or less, according to shape of your pots; with alternate layers
of seasoning, cover all close down and let lie twenty-four hours, and
if thick somewhat longer. When all are pickled, wash them through salt
and water, dry with cloths, and dusting them with flour, fry them in
boiling olive oil a nice brown colour, and put them as done to drain
and get cold. Next day lay a pinch of crushed or shred chillies inside
each piece of fish, and lay them into white pots, cover well with best
butter clarified, and all over the tops thickly. Replenish next day if
any has been absorbed, and make all safe with bladder. These will be
much liked with wine.

                            POTTED SHRIMPS.

Whether you are about to pot a large or a small quantity of shrimps,
and wish them to be “got up” in good style, and calculated to keep
well, I must desire you to boil your own fish at home. This done,
get them picked quickly as possible, then examine well that no skins
or filaments remain, spread them out in clean dishes, and evaporate
the moisture by a cool oven and attention, and will be only just
accomplished when no two fish are found sticking together. Season them
according to your own taste with this mixture:

              Mace, in finest powder        ½ oz.
              Cloves, in finest powder      1 oz.
              Table salt, in finest powder  1 lb.
              Sifted loaf sugar             6 oz.
              White pepper                  2 oz.

All these must have been well dried, mixed, and sifted finely. Your
pots must be particularly clean and dry, and the sooner they are filled
with the fish the better. Press down the fish in the pots and dry them
in a cool oven, but not to brown them. Set them aside to get cold, _not
damp_, and cover well with best butter nicely clarified, and paste
writing paper over the tops of the pots.

                         POTTED BEEF, AS HARE.

Get half a dozen pounds of fine beef skirts, hang them up in dry air
for a week, or in hard weather for ten days, then beat them well with a
paste pin, take off the skin and lay them down in a deep earthen pot,
without cutting, and rub them well on both sides with

              Jamaica pepper                1 oz.
              Eschalots, minced             ½ oz.
              Thyme, in powder              1 oz.
              Marjorum, in powder           1 oz.
              Coarse sugar                  1 lb.
              Bay salt                      1 lb.

and let them lie six days, being turned every day. Then take them up,
wipe dry, and cut into pieces; lay them in a deep straight-sided jar,
with a pound of the best salt butter dispersed in little lumps here
and there between them, subject this to the action of a water bath
until the meat is tender. You can raise the heat of the boiling water
which surrounds the jar, by adding plenty of salt to it, by eight deg.
Fahr. Then while hot pour off the gravy and set the meat in a dish to
go cold. Next day take off the butter and fat from the gravy, cut your
meat into dice, take out the films and strings, and with the butter
and pounding bring the meat into a nice plastic consistence. If your
hare is to be very highly flavoured you may add more thyme and cayenne.
Now fill your pots and cover well with clarified butter, and again with
wetted bladder.

                         POTTED NEATS’ TONGUES.

Unless the tongues were cured according to your own receipts, you
cannot tell how to treat them for potting. I shall therefore consider
that you have been under the necessity of purchasing some out of
the pickle tub of the butcher, which, generally speaking, are not
remarkable for excellence as regards flavour, and please observe that
neats’ tongues have no piquant flavour of their own, it is always
created by the curer. Take two tongues of seven or eight pounds each,
boil them as usual, and rather underdone; take off the peel and extra
root, gullet, and two and a half inches of the extreme tip, cut them
into slices one inch thick, and lay them down in a jar, with

              Molasses                      1 lb.
              Jamaica pepper                1 oz.
              Garlic, minced                ½ oz.
              Shalots, minced               1 oz.
              Bay leaves, in powder         1 oz.
              Four laurel leaves
              Bay salt                      ½ lb.
              Porter, or old ale            ½ pint

These must be simmered half an hour and put into the jar hot, then
cover close with paper and let remain in a week; then take up and wash
the meat quickly with water half a pint, and vinegar half a pint, cut
then into dice and pound them in a mortar with fresh butter till you
have got a nice, smooth, thick paste. Fill clean dry pots and jars, and
leave them in a cool oven for two hours. Then press the meat down well,
and next day cover with plenty of best clarified butter and tie white
paper over. This is a quick method of getting a very excellent article
of its sort, and as the same ingredients would perfect three or four
tongues more in succession, it is economical in the end.

                          POTTED BEEF’S HEART.

You may not expect any thing particularly good as a relish from so
common an article as a beef’s heart, but I often think there is more
credit due to a person for producing a choice relish from what is
considered an inferior base, than in spoiling an expensive natural
production in the attempt to improve it. In this case I fear not to
give satisfaction. The expense is really trifling, and the trouble
reducible to a pleasure. Get a fine ox heart, with plenty of fat on
it, hang it up a dry room, but not in an air current, for a week; then
empty the cavities of the clotted blood, cut out the deaf ears as low
down internally as your knife will reach, cut open a communication
between the upper cavities and the lower ones, but on no account
penetrate through the outside bark of the heart. Tie good string round
and about it, so that the meat may be hung in various ways when needed,
and rub it well for a quarter of an hour with the following:

              West India molasses           ¼ lb.
              Strong vinegar                ½ pint
              Eschalots, minced             2 oz.

simmered for twenty minutes and let go cold. Hang up the heart point
downwards, and fill the holes with the mixture. Rub it daily for a
week, keeping the cavities filled. Then boil up the pickle, adding

              Jamaica pepper, ground       1½ oz.
              Garlic, minced                1 oz.
              Bay salt                      3 oz.
              Black pepper, ground          1 oz.

and for another week rub the heart daily and keep the holes filled.
Then boil up again, adding

              Bay leaves, in powder         1 oz.
              Laurel leaves, shred          ½ oz.
              Bay salt                      4 oz.
              Water                         1 quart

and rub with this once. Take down the meat and let it lie on its broad
end in a deep dish, and baste it every morning for a week longer. Then
take it up, wipe it dry and hang it in a current of air for twenty-four
hours, and then rub it twice daily for a week with

              Pure olive oil                ½ pint
              Salpetre, in powder           ¾ oz.
              Bay salt, in powder           2 oz.

Now wipe it dry again, put it in a deep pot, tie paper over, and bake
it in a slow oven until done enough. When cold cut it open lengthwise,
select all the tender parts, pick them well from strings and films,
and, cutting it into dice, pound it in a mortar into a nice smooth
pulpy consistence. Consider now that it may be required to be kept, and
if it needs salt add some, but unless you are in favour of any peculiar
taste, I think we shall need no addition. Press the meat into pots and
jars, cover with clarified butter, and tie paper over. If kept three
months, or twelve months, I am pretty sure of your approbation.

                            POTTED VENISON.

Get a nice fat plump shoulder of mutton, cut it open three inches above
the knuckle and also for three or four inches on the under side, and
down to the bone, and filling these trenches with

              Twelve eschalots, minced
              Port wine lees                ¼ pint
              Thyme, in powder              1 oz.
              Marjorum, in powder           ¾ oz.

sew the skin over, and hang the meat in a dry room to season for nine
days; then rub it all over with

              Bay salt, in powder           1 lb.
              Coarse sugar                  ¼ lb.
              Allspice, ground              1 oz.
              Nutmeg, ground                1 oz.

and let it lie, being turned and rubbed daily, for a week longer. It
may now be baked, and when cold cut up in the way best calculated for
embracing the tenderness of the joint. The lean should be pounded by
itself, picking out all sinews and strings, and the fat, or such parts
as will help to make the mass smooth; fresh butter must also be used if
required, and when all is in readiness you may season it to your taste
with

  Cloves, in fine powder 1 oz.
  Mace, in fine powder ½ oz.
  Cayenne, in fine powder ¼ oz.
  Bay leaf, in fine powder 1 oz.

and adding salt as you relish, remembering that potted delicacies if
seeming too salt at first lose that predominance by keeping, and it is
the same, but in a less degree, with some of the finer spices. Fill
your pots and little jars, and cover with clarified butter and paper,
and keep them in a dry cool room, and where there is nothing to be
feared from damps.

                            MARINATED VEAL.

Beat a fine large cutlet with the rolling-pin, put butter, eggs, and
flour into a pan, and when hot lay in the cutlet and let it stew; the
mixture will penetrate to the very inside, and your olfactory sense is
delighted and palate refreshed with veal, not insipid as veal generally
is, but with a morsel moist with odoriferous juices. When cold it may
be cut in pieces, placed in oblong pots, and covered with the best
olive oil. It must be eaten with tomato sauce.

                            ANOTHER METHOD.

Chop a pound and a half of veal fine, with half a pound of lean ham and
half a pound of sweet fat bacon to be minced along with

              Two eschalots
              Green parsley                 1 teaspoonful
              Mushrooms                     1 teaspoonful
              Marjorum, in powder           1 teaspoonful
              Thyme, in powder              1 teaspoonful
              Mace, in fine powder          ¼ oz.
              Cayenne pepper                ½ teaspoonful
              Salt                          1 dessert-spoonful

Put these into a mortar after they have been well mixed, and bring
the whole to a nice thick plastic consistence; put it into a mould
lined with thin slices of fat bacon, and let it remain pressed down
heavily for a week; then take it out, cut it into rather thick slices,
which fry in boiling olive oil until done through, and of a nice brown
colour, set them aside, and when cold put them into proper pots and
fill up with best olive oil; tie bladder over the pots and keep in a
dry cool room.

                         MARINATED SALMON ROES.

As soon as they are taken out of the fish wash them in salt and water
for a minute, and dry them well with cloths. Smear the inside of an
earthenware jar with sweet lard, put in the roes, tie leather over and
subject them to the action of a water bath for three hours, then let
them cool and divide them, pick out all the films and specks, and mix
the following with the mass according to your taste:

                Mace, in finest powder           ¼ oz.
                Nutmeg, in finest powder         ½ oz.
                Bay leaf, in finest powder       ½ oz.
                Table salt, in finest powder     4 oz.
                Cayenne pepper, in finest powder ¼ oz.

Dry small white jars and pots and fill them to within three quarters
of an inch of the top with the fish, press closely down, set the jars
near the door of an oven for twenty minutes, and when cold fill up with
olive oil, which replenish the next day, and then tie bladder closely
over. Keep in a cool dry room.

                          ESSENCE OF LOBSTERS.

Boil six pounds of live lobsters thus: Throw them into salt and water
and with a brush clean them well, tie up the tails, and pop them into a
pan of boiling water, in which a good handful of salt and half an ounce
of saltpetre have been dissolved; then set them to cool, take out all
the meat and coral, which, when it has been cleared of the skins, chop
up into dice, and set it on the fire in a clean pan, with a pound and
a half of bay salt and two quarts of water, and let it simmer twenty
minutes. Then take out the fish, pound it in a mortar with half an
ounce of cayenne pepper and the same quantity of finely powdered mace,
bring it to a nice paste with some of the water last used, and put it
again into the pan with the remainder of the water and let it simmer
half an hour. When cold, or nearly so, fill your clean glass jars with
it, cork them well and seal them.

                          ESSENCE OF SHRIMPS.

Put a gallon of live shrimps into a pan of three quarts of boiling
water, in which a pound and half of bay salt or rock salt has been
dissolved, skim them well and boil them ten minutes, strain off the
water through a sieve, and while the shrimps are warm pull off the
heads, which with unsound ones put aside. Boil one pound of bay salt
with two quarts of water ten minutes, skimming it well, and set it by
to get cold. Pound the shrimps in a mortar with their skins to a paste,
using a little of the last water, and when it has been well worked add
the remainder of the water, boiled and strained, with this mixture:

              Red sanders, in powder        1 oz.
              Cayenne pepper                ½ oz.
              Mace, bruised                 ½ oz.
              Bay leaf, shred               ¾ oz.
              Two anchovies, shred

Pass the pulp through a sieve, and, when cold, bottle it, corking and
sealing securely.

                         ESSENCE OF ANCHOVIES.

Boil fourteen pounds of Gorgona fish for ten or twelve minutes with ten
quarts of river water, rub the fish through a sieve, saving the water
to again boil any of the fish that will not pass. When the bones are
all dissolved, strain, add the water to the pulp of the fish along with

              Bay salt                      1 lb.
              Wheaten flour                 1 lb.
              Cayenne pepper                ½ oz.
              Mushroom catsup               ¼ pint.

Put it into bottles, which cork and seal well.

                             TOMATO PASTE.

Scald and peel twenty large fine tomatoes, put them in a stone jar, tie
paper over, and leave them in a warm oven for an hour. Take off the
liquid that floats on the top and press the fruit through a sieve. Add
to every quart of the tomatoes half a pint of good sharp vinegar, and
seasoning to your taste with this mixture, viz.

              Bay salt                      6 oz.
              Mace, in powder               ¾ oz.
              Cayenne, in powder            ½ oz.
              Cloves, in powder            1½ oz.
              Bay leaf                      1 oz.

Put it into a clean saucepan, stir it continually from the bottom for
three hours and until you have got a smooth nice thick mass, which when
cold put into jars and cover well with bladder. It will be found of
essential service in seasoning soups, &c., when tomatoes are not to be
had.

                             TOMATO CATSUP.

Take twenty fine tomatoes and scatter over them, upon a dish, twelve
ounces of table salt, so let them lie three days. Next boil together

              Mace, bruised                    ¼ oz.
              Cloves, bruised                  ¼ oz.
              Black pepper, bruised            ½ oz.
              Jamaica pepper, bruised          ½ oz.
              Long pepper, bruised             ½ oz.
              Ginger                           ½ oz.
              Mustard seed, bruised            ¾ oz.
              Two dozen capsicums
              Six heads of garlic
              One stick of horseradish, sliced
              Best London pickling vinegar     1 quart

The boiling and skimming should continue half an hour. Peel the fruit,
add them, and boil together half an hour longer; strain through a sieve
and bottle it the next day; cork well and seal. This is an excellent
receipt, as will be proved by a trial. The catsup should be six months
old to attain its prime.

                             BENGAL CHETNA

              Sub-acid apples, pared and cored ½ lb.
              Malaga raisins, stoned           ¼ lb.
              Coarse sugar                     ¼ lb.
              Bay salt                         2 oz.
              Best ginger, powdered            2 oz.
              Cayenne pepper                   2 oz.
              Eschalots, minced                1 oz.
              Best pickling vinegar, as much as required.

Pound these ingredients well together, adding the vinegar by degrees
until it comes to a smooth pulp. Let this remain six hours covered up.
If the vinegar has risen to the top clear, it must be further blended
with the spices by well rubbing with some surface of wood, for example,
a potato masher; then add the whole of the vinegar, pass all through a
sieve and bottle it, corking and sealing well.

                        AN EXCELLENT FISH SAUCE.

Take two dozen genuine anchovies, neither wipe nor wash them, and add
them to the following:

              Eschalots, peeled and sliced      1 dozen
              Fresh horseradish, scraped finely 3 tablespoonfuls
              Mace, beaten                      2 drachms
              Cloves, beaten                    2 drachms
              Two lemons, sliced
              Anchovy liquor                    8 oz.
              Rhenish wine                      1 quart
              Water                             1 pint

Boil all together until reduced to one quart, skim it well, and
afterwards strain through a sieve. When cold bottle it, and seal the
corks.

                             A PROVOCATIVE.

              Black pepper, ground              2 oz.
              Bay or rock salt                  2 oz.
              Ground allspice                   1 oz.
              Horseradish, scraped              1 oz.
              Eschalots, minced                 1 oz.
              Walnut pickle, or mushroom catsup 1 quart

Infuse for fourteen days in a gentle heat, strain and bottle for use,
corking and sealing well.

                         FRENCH SAUSAGE SPICE.

              Black pepper, finely powdered      5 lb.
              Mace, finely powdered              3 oz.
              Cloves, finely powdered           1½ lb.
              Nutmeg, finely powdered           1½ lb.
              Jamaica ginger, finely powdered   2½ lb.
              Coriander seeds, finely powdered   ¾ lb.
              Aniseeds, finely powdered          ¾ lb.

Mix them thoroughly, sift, bottle, cork well and seal.

                 TO PREPARE SYRUP FOR PRESERVING FRUIT.

The best refined sugar, which will require no clarifying, should
invariably be used for this process; but when inferior qualities are
chosen they must be prepared in the following manner: To clarify six
pounds of sugar, break it into large lumps, put it into a preserving
pan, and pour upon it five pints of cold spring water; in another pint
of water beat up lightly the white of one small egg, but not frothing
it very much, add it to the sugar, and stir it to mix it well with
the whole. Set the pan over a gentle fire, when the sugar is nearly
dissolved, and let the scum rise without being disturbed; when the
syrup has boiled five minutes, take it off the fire, let it stand two
minutes, and then skim it very clean, let it boil again, then throw in
half a cupful of cold water, which will bring the remainder of the scum
to the surface; skim it until it is perfectly clear, strain it through
a thin cloth, and it will be ready for use, or for further boiling.

All _unripe_ fruit must be rendered perfectly tender by gentle
scalding, before it is put into syrup, or it will not imbibe the
sugar; and the syrup must be _thin_ when it is first added to it, and
be thickened afterwards by frequent boiling, or with sugar added, or
the fruit will shrivel instead of becoming plump and clear. A pound of
sugar boiled for ten minutes in a pint of water will make a very light
syrup, but it will gradually thicken if rapidly boiled in an uncovered
pan. Two pounds of sugar to the pint of water will become thick with
little more than half an hour’s boiling, or with three or four separate
boilings of eight or ten minutes each; if too much reduced it will
candy, instead of remaining liquid.

                   WEST INDIA PRESERVED GREEN GINGER.

Take half a dozen middle-sized cucumbers, cut them open lengthwise,
take out the seeds, cut off the pulpy part, and soak them three days
in strong salt and water, and weighted down so as to be completely
submerged. Next, take them out and wash them in cold water, and put
them, with plenty of cold water, into a pan on the fire, and when it
comes to the boiling point, take them off, pour off the water, and add
more cold water with a quarter of an ounce of bicarbonate of potash
to each quart of water. Now boil them half an hour, and set by in the
water they were boiled in till next day. Then take out, and set them to
drain on a sieve, covered with a cloth. Then take

              Best ginger, bruised         10 oz.
              Best cloves, bruised          1 oz.
              Cinnamon, bruised             ½ oz.
              Rain or soft water            5 pints

which boil five minutes, then simmer for half an hour, in a closely
covered pan, strain the liquor through a flannel bag, and add to each
pint of it one and a quarter pounds of sifted loaf-sugar, making a
syrup, which must be clarified with the white of egg. Boil this, and
skim with care till no scum rises. Peel the cucumbers, and cut them
in pieces the size and shape of a pigeon’s egg. Simmer two ounces more
of bruised ginger, tied in a piece of muslin, in a pint of water,
till reduced to a moderate sized teacupful, and add it to the syrup.
Take the ginger you first used, put it with the syrup and cucumbers
into a clean pan, and boil for ten minutes. Empty all into a clean
earthenware jar, and let stand two days and nights. Next pour off the
syrup, boil it five minutes, taking off the scum if any arises; then
add the cucumbers, boil five minutes longer, and put all back again
into the jar, and let stand three days. Return the syrup and the whole
of the ginger tied in muslin into the pan, and boil until the syrup
adheres to the spoon. Then put in the cucumbers, and boil, a quarter
of an hour, when return all into the jar, and let remain twenty-four
hours uncovered. Then tie wet bladder well over, and in a month it may
be removed into small wide-mouthed glass jars and covered with bladder,
and green paper over that. This, as dessert, is an excellent stomachic,
assisting digestion in weak habits.

                          CURRANTS FOR TARTS.

The fruit for these purposes should be gathered on fine days, and
only the best used for preserves. Press the juice from the rejected
currants, and strain it clear. To each pound of fruit you must allow a
pound of the best refined sugar, and make a fine clear syrup of the
currant juice and sugar. When it is cold put in your fruit and let it
boil until beautifully clear, when you may put it into pots and glass
jars, covering with brandy paper and wetted bladder.

                               TOMATOES.

The fruit here must be taken before it is quite ripe, and if not having
lost its green hue quite may be preferable; and for three pounds
of fruit take off the thin yellow rinds of two large lemons, and,
squeezing out the juice, strain it and put it aside for awhile. Put
the juice with the thin rinds into a clean saucepan, with two or three
blades of mace, a few peach leaves and a dessert-spoonful of ginger
sliced thinly; cover the tomatoes with water barely, and set the pan on
a clear fire to simmer half an hour. Then take out the fruit carefully
with a spoon and set them on a sieve to cool. Add to the water they
were simmered in sugar sufficient to make a thin syrup, which must be
poured over the fruit, when placed in a deep dish, boiling hot, and
so leave them for four or five days. Then pour out the syrup into a
pan, and add sugar to make a strong syrup, into which you may put the
tomatoes and simmer them gently until the syrup has entered fully into
them. Remove them now from the fire and let them remain unmolested for
four or five days longer. If the syrup has now not attained a proper
consistence, you may add sugar, and boil until you have got the desired
end. Pour now on the fruit while it is hot, and if when cold you are
satisfied, make all safe with bladder and leather, and keep in a cool
and airy room.

                               CUCUMBERS.

This is an elegant preserve if well managed. Take two dozen of the
finest, largest, and most clear cucumbers, and without seeds. Cut them
into pieces, take out the very soft part of the insides, put them into
a jar with strong salt and water to cover them, and set them in a warm
situation until they become yellow. Now wash them well, and set them
in a pan of water, with plenty of fresh cabbage leaves, on the fire,
close the lid of the pan, so that no steam can escape, and simmer them
until of a fine green colour. If you have not yet attained your object,
change the water and leaves, and simmer them again. Then take out the
fruit, set it on a sieve to cool, and then into pure cold water for
three or four days, changing the water daily. Put into a clean pan four
pounds of the best refined sugar, with one quart of pure spring water,
boil and skim it well. Then add the rinds of four large lemons pared
very thin, and three ounces of the best ginger sliced, and boil all
together ten minutes. Take it then off the fire, and when cool put in
the cucumbers, and boil them until they are perfectly clear. If their
appearance does not fully satisfy you, set them aside for forty-eight
hours, and then repeat the boiling, and putting your cucumbers into
your pots and glasses, pour the syrup over them, and secure them from
the air with bladder and leather, or with paper over the glasses.

                           GREEN-GAGE PLUMS.

From a peck of this rich fruit, pick out all the largest and most
clear. Put a handful of vine leaves into a pan, then a layer of the
fruit, and so on, in alternate layers, to the end; fill the vessel up
with water, put them over a moderate fire, and let them get thoroughly
hot through, skim them well, pour off the water, and put the plums on a
sieve to cool. Now take off the peels carefully, and, as you proceed,
put them into the water they were heated in, with fresh leaves, and let
them boil three minutes, preventing the escape of the steam as much as
you possibly can. Let them remain at a moderate distance from the fire
seven or eight hours, or until they become green; then put them on a
sieve to drain, and then boil them up in a good clear syrup once a day,
for three successive days. Then take them up, and place in clean dry
glasses and jars; skim the syrup thoroughly over the fire, and, when
nearly cold, pour it over the plums, put brandy paper upon them, and
cover with bladder. You will have an elegant and very rich preserve.

                        PEACHES AND NECTARINES.

Before they are ripe, take the choicest of these fruit, rub off the
down from them with soft old linen, and divide the skin at the seam
with a sharp pointed knife. Put them into a clean jar, cover them with
French brandy, and let them remain so for ten days; then take them out,
and having ready a fine clear syrup, put the fruit into a pan with it,
and boil them until they are beautifully bright and clear. When cold,
take out the fruit, place it in glasses and jars, and fill up with the
syrup nearly cold. Lay brandy paper over and cover with bladder.

                           LEMONS PRESERVED.

Take two dozen fine lemons, wipe them well, and pare off the yellow
rind very thin. Cut out a piece of the rind at the blossom end, and
take out the whole of the pulp and seeds. Rub the lemons over with fine
bay salt, and lay them in cold water, so let them lie for a week, quite
covered, and then boil them in fresh salt and water twenty minutes.
Now prepare a syrup of one pound of the best loaf sugar to a quart of
water, and well skimmed, and into which put the lemons, and boil them
five or six minutes for four days successively, then place them in a
jar and let them stand six weeks, and all the time well covered with
the syrup. Now make a clear, thick, fine syrup of the best refined
sugar and water, put the lemons into it, and boil them gently for ten
minutes; then put them away, and in twenty-four hours boil them again
at short intervals, until they look plump and clear. Now lay them
in jars and glasses, and pour the syrup over them cold; cover with
brandy-paper and tie bladder over them.

                               APRICOTS.

Take two dozen of the largest and soundest apricots when they are just
fully ripe, wipe them clear from gum and other filth; push the stones
out through the stalk ends with a blunted piece of wood; weigh the
fruit now, and for each pound of apricots, allow one pound of the best
refined sugar, the half of which, when reduced to a powder and sifted,
you must strew over the fruit, and let them remain so for twenty-four
hours. Boil them up gently, and when they have been cold repeat the
boiling four or five times, at intervals of three hours, by which means
they will have become clear and bright. Now take them up and lay them
on a sieve, and when you have prepared a good clear thick syrup, boil
the fruit up in it for five minutes, and skimming it well. Then put
the apricots into clear glass jars, and pour the syrup over them. When
cold make all safe with writing paper steeped in brandy, and tie wetted
bladder over. They must be stored in a dry, airy room.

                                DAMSONS.

Choose the finest, large prune damsons for this purpose, pick them over
carefully, throwing out the stalks, and all that are the least crushed,
cut them open lengthwise, and take out the stones, put them into a
pan with water sufficient to cover them, and boil them ten minutes;
turn them out upon a sieve, and when cold, or nearly so, wipe each
separately with some old soft linen or flannel. To each pound of the
fruit allow one pound of the best refined sugar, the half of which,
after being sifted finely, you must scatter equally over the damsons,
on large dishes; put the other half of the sugar to the water in which
the fruit was scalded, set it in a pan on a clear fire, and let it
boil up; skim it thoroughly, and then simmer only, for ten or twelve
minutes; put in the fruit and bring it to a boil; then take it off the
fire, and let it stand, closely covered, half an hour; then put it
again to simmer for half an hour longer, and then put it aside until
the next day. Now boil up the fruit until it is tender, put the damsons
into a sieve while warm, and boil the jelly alone full half an hour,
and taking off any scum that may yet have arisen. Put the fruit into
your pots, jars, &c., and pour your jelly over them, well heated. When
cold, put brandy-paper upon the fruit, and melted mutton suet above
that. Make all safe with bladder and leather, and store them in a dry,
airy, cool room.

                           MORELLO CHERRIES.

Pick thoroughly ripe and sound fruit from the stalks and wipe them
separately; prick them with a needle in three or four places. To each
pound of fruit allow one pound and a half of the best sugar, and strew
one half of it when finely sifted over the cherries upon clean large
dishes, and let them remain so for twenty-four hours. Take now as much
strained red-currant juice as will effectually dissolve the other half
of the sugar, and put it into a pan over a moderate fire, and let it
boil twelve or fifteen minutes, skim it well, add to it the fruit with
their sugar, and let all simmer five minutes, being careful to not
allow them to boil. Then remove the cherries into glasses, boil the
syrup until it is thick and pour it cool over them. When cold guard
them with brandy paper, and paste writing paper neatly cut over the
glasses.

                   BARBERRIES IN SPRIGS AND BUNCHES.

Pick out the finest bunches and sprigs of fine ripe clear
berries――reject all faulty ones――lay them in as much water as will be
requisite for making their syrup, and boil them until they are tender.
Now strain them upon a sieve, and to every pint of their juice add a
pound and half of best refined sugar, boil and skim this thoroughly,
and to each pint of the syrup put half a pound of the fruit in bunches
and boil them very gently until they become quite bright and clear.
When cold put them into clear glasses and pour the syrup to them. Use
brandy paper, and paste writing paper over the glasses.

                    HAMBURGH GRAPES PRESERVED WHOLE.

Pick out some handsome little bunches, wipe them very carefully with
soft old linen moistened with spirits and water, place them in a wide
jar, and allow one ounce of white sugar-candy beaten small to each
pound of the grapes, which, as the fruit is placed, must be scattered
equally amongst it. Fill the jar up with French brandy, the best, and
seeing in two days afterwards that the fruit is properly covered, make
up safely with bladder and leather, and store away in a cool airy room.

                             GOLDEN PIPPINS

Pare two dozen fine pippins nicely, cut them into quarters and take
out the cores. Boil the rinds of two fine large oranges in a pan of
cold water until perfectly tender and lay them in pure spring water for
three days. Put these into a pan, just cover them with water and let
them boil twenty minutes, and strain the juice through a jelly-bag;
then pare two dozen more pippins, take out the cores at the stalk ends
neatly. Make now a fine clear syrup of two pounds of the best refined
sugar and one pint of water, to which add the apple juice, and when
it is cold put in the pippins, adding the orange peel cut into thin
chips. Boil it very gently ten minutes, then take out the pippins, and
when cool put them into jars and pour the syrup over them. Apply brandy
paper, and tie bladder over the jars, and leather over that. Some adopt
the mutton suet melted, with one-eighth of its weight of sweet lard
added, which corrects the brittleness of the suet and causes it to
adhere better to the sides of the jars.

                          RASPBERRY MARMALADE.

Pick fresh ripe raspberries from the stalks and simmer them gently
about ten minutes, keeping them stirred all the time. Pour them and
their juice into a clean hair sieve and rub them through it with a
wooden spoon, leaving only the seeds behind. Weigh the fruit and boil
it quickly for eight or ten minutes, then take the pan from the fire
and stir gradually into it three quarters of a pound of sugar to the
pound of pulp. When this is quite dissolved continue the boiling for
another ten minutes――less time will occasionally be sufficient, but
the thickness of the preserve and the manner in which it jellies on
the skimmer will show when it is boiled enough. The raspberries may
be rubbed through a sieve without the previous simmering, then mixed
with their weight of sugar and boiled quickly for twenty minutes. Rich
strawberry jam or marmalade is made in precisely the same manner.

                        JAM OF MORELLO CHERRIES.

This is a delicious preserve when made with fine ripe morellos. Stone
the fruit, weigh it, heat it rather slowly to draw out the juice, then
boil it quickly for twenty minutes over a very clear fire, add thirteen
ounces of sugar for each pound of the cherries, and boil the jam from
fifteen to twenty minutes longer, being careful to clear off all the
scum. The sugar should be of good quality; it must be beaten to powder
and added gradually to the fruit, and stirred with it off the fire
until it is dissolved. A larger portion may be used when the morellos
are very acid. An equal weight with the cherries will not be too much
for some tastes, but their flavour will be better preserved with less.
A few of the kernels blanched and wiped quite dry may be added a couple
of minutes before the jam is poured out.

                              RED CABBAGE.
                     A RECEIPT FROM HALTON CASTLE.

Take two middle-sized close-knit red cabbages, just when the frost has
seasoned them, strip them of all superfluous leaves, cut them across
in slices nearly a quarter of an inch thick, and scatter finely beaten
bay or rock salt over them when laid on large dishes and covered with
cloths; so let them lie twenty-four hours. Next drain the cabbage on a
sieve and let it remain until the next day, still covered over. Put it
into one jar that will contain it without pressure, and strew as you
proceed pretty plentifully the following mixture amongst and finally
upon the cabbage:

              Allspice, coarsely beaten     1 oz.
              Ginger, sliced               1½ oz.
              Black peppercorns             1 oz.
              Bay leaves, shred             ½ oz.
              Laurel leaves, shred          ½ oz.

Now pour pure cold best London pickling vinegar into the jar, and take
care that the cabbage is perfectly covered, and to the depth of an
inch or more. Make up the jar with a bung, and secure it with resin or
pitch. In a month you will have perhaps the best article of its kind
to be found anywhere, its excellency consisting in its flavour, its
colour, and crispness.

                            GREEN SAMPHIRE.

Carefully pick out the refuse from a peck of fresh samphire as soon as
you get it, or it will be tough by delay. Immerse the accepted branches
in salt and water strong brine for two days, then take it up and dry
with cloths, place it lightly in a pan, and cover it with spring water
in which a handful of salt and half an ounce of saltpetre have been
dissolved, and put it on the fire to simmer, taking it off the moment
that a thick steam comes upon the surface, and add for every quart of
water used in the mouth of each jar a small teaspoonful of gum kino.
Then make the jars secure with bladder and keep for use.

                             CAULIFLOWERS.

Purchase for pickling the closest, soundest, and whitest, entirely free
from grub and insect, and pull them into nice branches and sprigs. Lay
them loosely on large dishes, and scatter table salt generally through
and over them, let them remain thus for three days. Next place them
neatly in jars, and pour boiling water upon them, tie leather over,
and let them stand by twelve or fourteen hours, then dry them on a
sieve and remove them to glass jars, filling them up with the following
pickle when cold:

              Bay leaves, shred             1 oz.
              Laurel leaves, shred          1 oz.
              Chillies, whole               1 oz.
              Capsicums, red and green      1 oz.
              White-wine vinegar            3 quarts

This must be boiled twenty minutes, and skimmed quite clear. Let olive
oil float at the top of the pickle, in the jars, to the depth of half
an inch. Then cover with bladder.

                            WHITE MUSHROOMS.

Choose the smallest, round, perfect buttons, rub each separately with a
piece of soft old flannel, wetted with a solution of bay salt, and let
them be thoroughly cleansed after they are all rubbed. (See note, No.
11). When all ready put them into a pan with a little finely powdered
bay salt scattered over them, and covered so closely that not the
least steam can escape, for ten or twelve minutes, or until the water
is extracted from them. Then get them removed, without any delay, on
to a sieve, then dry them well with cloths, and let them get cold,
effectually covered up from the action of the air. Make the following
light pickle, by boiling it and skimming it well, and, laying your
mushrooms in clean glass jars, pour it amongst and upon them:

              Mace, whole                   ½ oz.
              Eschalots, sliced             ½ oz.
              Cloves, whole                 1 oz.
              Chillies, whole               1 oz.
              Capsicums, whole              ½ oz.
              White-wine vinegar           3½ quarts

When the bottles are nearly filled with the pickle, let olive oil float
on the top for an inch in depth, then make safe with bladder, and keep
dry and cool. In a month they will be fit for use.

                             SILVER ONIONS.

Select your onions well, for many attempts at pickling them have
been rendered abortive by the bad quality of the raw material. They
should be globular and sound, and have the appearance of being got up
in dry weather, and been well dried by the air and sun previous to
being stored. The peeling will, however, prove much, and if you are
suspicious of having been not well served, do not proceed with them.

Peel a peck of nice onions, and, as you proceed, throw them into plenty
of strong salt and water, and let them remain so for ten or twelve
days, changing the pickle every second day. Set them now on a sieve to
drain, then put them into jars and pour on them a brine freshly made
of bay salt and water, boiling hot, and, covering up close, let them
remain till cold. Repeat the scalding and with fresh pickle, and when
drained thoroughly, put them into jars with

              Bay leaves, shred             ½ oz.
              Laurel leaves, shred          ½ oz.
              Chillies, whole               1 oz.
              Best ginger, sliced           1 oz.
              Mace, whole                   ½ oz.
              Best vinegar                  3 quarts

scattered amongst them, and fill up with the vinegar cold. Let olive
oil float on the top, for nearly an inch deep, and secure the jars
with wetted bladder, and, that dried, soft leather above all. For the
preservation of the colour, this attention to the exclusion of the
air is chiefly owing. These are of first-rate quality, and are much
resorted to in the kitchens of the wealthy.

                           PRESERVED WALNUTS.

Take half a hundred of walnuts just when they are ready for pickling,
that is, when punctured with a pin no shell can be perceived. Take
a jar that will a little above hold them, deposit in it a layer of
coarse-sugar half an inch thick, on this make a layer of walnuts
well wiped, and every one sound, then a layer of sugar, and so on
alternately to near the top of the jar. The allowance of sugar must be
half a pound to every score of nuts. Tie coarse paper over the mouth
of the jar and place it in a saucepan of boiling water, in which it
must remain three hours. This will dissolve the sugar; the syrup should
now cover the fruit; if it does not, add some more sugar and continue
the simmering. When cold, cover the mouth of the jar with bladder, and
do not disturb them for six months, for the longer kept the better
they will be. These will be found of excellent and extensive use in
families of many children as a gentle aperient medicine. One is a dose
for a child of five to seven years old, and so in advancing ratio, and
instead of proving nauseous to young palates, will be regarded as a
treat, and, if I am not mistaken, adults will occasionally be troubled
with constipation.

                            APPLE MARMALADE.

Pare and core two pounds of rather acid apples, put them into an
enamelled pan with a pint of sweet cider, or with half a pint of cape
wine, and a pound of crushed good loaf sugar, and cook them slowly by
a gentle heat three hours. Squeeze the fruit first through a colander
and then through a sieve. If not sweet enough add powdered sugar to
your taste. Put it in small white jars, cover with bladder and writing
paper. It will be very nice, and extremely wholesome as supper for the
juveniles, and for the aged, eaten with cream or milk.

                             RED CURRANTS.

Take currants for this purpose just before they have attained a perfect
red colour. Select the nicest bunches, which keep separate, and accept
no single ones but what are clear and sound. Boil these with the fruit
until the colour of the vinegar is changed by it,

              Loaf sugar, sifted              2 lb.
              Bay salt, beaten fine           ½ lb.
              Bay leaves, shred               1 oz.
              Sal prunelle                    ¼ oz.
              White wine, or palest vinegar   2 quarts

skim it well, and let it get cold. Strain it now nicely, and press the
fruit in a sieve, to obtain as much of the colour as possible. Boil it
up again, and skim till quite clear. Now place the bunches and detached
fruit into glass jars or tumblers, and pour the liquor hot upon them,
so as to cover totally; then tie paper and bladder closely over.

                                CELERY.

The white part only is used for this purpose. Wash very clean half
a dozen fine heads, and wipe them dry. Cut them into pieces to your
taste, and make the following pickle:

              Bay salt                      1 lb.
              Best ginger, sliced           2 oz.
              Mace                          ½ oz.
              Capsicums, red and green      1 oz.
              Best vinegar                  2 quarts

Put all these into a deep saucepan, and soon as they come to the
boiling point, strew in the celery; let it boil again, not more than
two minutes, then take it up, pour it through a sieve. When cold,
place the celery in jars, and pour the liquor upon it, and make all
safe with bladder, &c. &c. This will be found extremely useful in all
families that live well. It will keep good a great length of time, and
when the celery is all used, the pickle will be highly acceptable in
dressing salads, &c. A few small onions may be added where they are not
disliked, and omitted at pleasure.

                                GRAPES.

The foreign grapes, if got in the beginning of the importations to
this country, for then they are less likely to be decayed or specked,
answer extremely well for pickling, and are, of course, much cheaper
than those grown at home. The white ones are generally chosen; but
it appears to me that a mixture of the purple ones with them makes
an agreeable change, as far as the appearance is concerned. Take ten
pounds of the largest and soundest you can, and divide into little
branches, which place in a deep straight-sided stone jar, embedded in
vine leaves, and completely cover them with this mixture:

              Bay salt                      1 lb.
              Sal prunelle                  2 oz.
              Common salt                   1 lb.
              Coarse sugar                  6 oz.
              Water                         6 quarts

Tie leather over the jar, and set it in a saucepanful of water on the
fire, and when it has boiled three quarters of an hour, pour off the
liquor, which set aside to be well skimmed, and poured clean off the
dregs. Return the liquor on to the fruit, cover up close, and let
remain so for twenty-four hours; then take them up, and dry them well
between cloths, not allowing the air to act upon them by keeping them
covered up. Next make this pickle:

              Soft or river water           2 quarts
              White-wine vinegar            4 quarts
              Coarse sugar                 2½ lb.
              Bay leaves, shred             3 oz.
              Laurel leaves, shred          2 oz.

Boil these ten minutes, skim until quite clear, and let it get cold.
Replace the fruit in the jar, and fill up with the pickle; you having
laid plenty of vine leaves under, and also on the top of the fruit.
After two days more see if the jar will hold any more of the pickle,
which, if needful, must be added. Make all secure with bung and resin,
and keep them in a cool airy apartment. You will please not to open
them for six months, and will then be much delighted with so elegant
and rich a product.

                                CODLINS.

These must be taken when about the size of hen-eggs, and none but
perfectly sound ones accepted. Wrap them up singly in vine leaves
recently plucked, and place them lightly in a saucepan, with plenty of
leaves under, amongst, and above them, and thoroughly cover them with
water. Boil them slowly until the peels begin to start, and separate,
then carefully take them up, and drain them on a sieve. When cold, pare
them carefully, and, replacing them in the pan, cover so well that none
of the steam can escape, and continue the simmering until they are of a
nice green colour. Now take them up, and let them drain, and get cold.
Put them into little jars, and cover the fruit with white-wine vinegar,
put a round of pasteboard on the top, and pour in melted mutton suet.
Tie bladder over and leather above that, and keep them cool and dry for
three or four months. They will be a good pickle at a little expense.

                              BARBERRIES.

These are more useful as garnishes than otherwise, and a great many
are annually pickled for that purpose. Take half a sieve of fine,
high-coloured fruit, pick out all the nice bunches that are sound, and
keep them apart by themselves; the best of the single ones must also
be had, but put in separate jars. Wash both in salt and water, and set
them to drain. Now take two and a half pounds of bay salt to each
gallon of water, and fill up the jars with the mixture, to running
over; skim them daily for four or five days, and then pour the liquor
away, and fill the jars again with a similar mixture of salt and water,
adding half a pint of the strongest pickling vinegar. Let it merely
steam over the fire, until it has become crisp and finely green, then
take it off quickly, and let it cool, drain off the liquor, and put the
fruit along with a light scattering of the following mixture into a
jar, and cover it well with the liquor:

              Mace, beaten roughly          ½ oz.
              Nutmeg, sliced                1 oz.
              Bay leaves, shred             1 oz.
              Saltpetre                     ½ oz.

Close the jar with a bung and secure that with resin. In a month it
will be ready for table.

                               ASPARAGUS.

Take two hundred of fresh cut asparagus, fully grown, take off the root
ends so high up as to leave the remaining parts tender, and wash the
green tops in cold water, slightly tasted with salt, then remove them
into fresh water, and let them remain in it for about two hours. Put
them next into a shallow pan with as much cold spring water as will
just cover them, and putting it on the fire, watch them closely, so
that the moment the water comes to the boiling point you will remove
it from the fire, and taking out the asparagus heads very carefully,
lest they break, lay them on a sieve to get cold, being covered over
with cloths. Place them now in jars and pour upon them a pickle made of

              White pepper                  ½ oz.
              Nutmeg                       1½ oz.
              Mace                          ½ oz.
              Bay salt                     1½ oz.
              White-wine vinegar            4 quarts

boiled ten minutes or more, and well skimmed, to be used hot. Tie
leather over the jars, and let them remain for five or six days, when
you will boil the pickle again, and pour over hot. When cold make up
the jars securely with bungs and leather.

                               GHERKINS.

From out of three hundred gherkins of the markets you may probably pick
two hundred that will suit your purpose, and they should be all nearly
of the same size; put them into a pickle made of two pounds and a half
of common table salt to one gallon of soft or river water, and let
them remain in it for three hours if they run small, or four hours if
large. Let them lie on a sieve to drain, and wipe them carefully quite
dry, and place them in stone jars――glazed ware is objectionable on many
accounts for pickles. Next make a pickle of

              Cloves                        1 oz.
              Mace                          ½ oz.
              Allspice                      1 oz.
              Two nutmegs, sliced
              White mustard seed            1 oz.
              A stick of horseradish
              Bay salt                      8 oz.
              White-wine vinegar            4 quarts

by boiling them fifteen minutes and skimming clear; when cold pour
it over the gherkins, cover up closely, and let them remain so for
twenty-four hours. Then put the whole contents into a saucepan, and let
them simmer until they have acquired a bright green colour, then place
them not too closely in jars, and pour the liquor with the spices over
them. They must be totally covered with pickle, or more must be made
for that purpose if you intend them to keep well and a long time. Cover
your jars with wetted bladder, and soft leather over that.

                              PICCALILLI.

Take two perfectly fresh closely grown white cabbages, in preference
to one large one, they must be quite sound at the hearts; cut them
crosswise in slices, and then take a thorough grown white beetroot cut
also the same way; divide a nice cauliflower into many small sprigs;
some clear green radish pods, and twenty of the smallest gherkins.
Place these apart from each other and strew three or four handfuls of
common table salt over them. Expose these to the action of the sun if
possible, or of a slow fire four days, or until you see that all the
moisture has been drawn from them. Then put all into a large stoneware
jar, and scatter over and amongst them two handfuls of sound bright
mustard seed as you are packing them down. Now boil together

              Garlic, minced                3 oz.
              Eschalots, minced             1 oz.
              Bay salt                      1 oz.
              Turmeric                      2 oz.
              Best pickling vinegar         1 gallon

Skim it well, and while boiling hot pour it upon the vegetables, and
let them stand closely covered with leather, near the fire, until they
have become of a nice yellow colour and saturated with the acid. Then
make the following pickle:

              Mace, bruised                 1 oz.
              Cloves, bruised               1 oz.
              Jamaica pepper, bruised       ½ oz.
              Nutmeg, sliced                ½ oz.
              White pepper                  2 oz.
              Best vinegar                  1 quart

Let these boil fifteen to twenty minutes, skimming well, and when
cold add it to the pickles. Make the jar safe with bladder and tie
leather over that. This pickle requires three months at least to become
superior, and that the different flavours may be assimilated.

                             LEMON MANGOES.

Take a couple of dozen of large thick-skinned lemons, cut off a piece
from the blossom end of each, leaving a bare surface the size of
a shilling, scoop out the whole of the insides, wash them in cold
water, entirely freeing them of loose pulp, and immerse them in a
brine of a pound of bay salt to the gallon of water. Rouse them about
occasionally, change the brine on the third day, and let them remain so
pickled three days longer. Now drain and wipe them dry, and fill them
with this mixture:

              Horseradish, scraped fine     1 oz.
              Mustard seed, bruised         2 oz.
              Ginger, sliced thin           1 oz.
              Eschalots, minced             1 oz.
              Chillies, minced              1 oz.

Stitch the pieces which you cut off on to their respective
correspondents, neatly place the fruit closely together in a stone jar,
and pour upon them, boiling hot, the following pickle:

              Best pickling vinegar         2 quarts
              The juice from the lemons
              Table salt                    2 tablespoonfuls
              White peppercorns, bruised    1 oz.
              Ginger, bruised               1 oz.
              Mace, bruised                 1 oz.

The lemon juice must have been strained, and the vinegar put upon the
pulp for half an hour, and then also passed through a fine sieve.
The mangoes must be well covered by the pickle, and as some will be
absorbed, it is desirable to let them remain just temporarily covered
with paper for three days and then fill up with the pickle. These will
be very fine in four or five months, but for present consumption they
could not be recommended. Put bladder safely over the jars and cover
with leather.

                             LEMON PICKLE.

Rub off with a fine tin grater the yellow rind of twenty fine large
fresh lemons, recently unpacked from the chest, without disturbing the
white part that lies underneath; next take the white part off with a
sharp knife, and divide the fruit into two parts in the middle, and
then again divide these pieces into slices, which will be each about
an inch and three quarters thick. Rub these thoroughly with bay salt
in fine powder, and set them on a dish to dry in a cool oven until the
juice is completely taken up; put them then in a jar and pour upon them
a pickle of the following ingredients, viz.

              Mace, in fine powder         1¾ oz.
              Cloves, in fine powder        1 oz.
              Nutmeg, in fine powder        2 oz.
              Garlic, minced                1 oz.
              Mustard seed, crushed         1 pint

enclosed in a piece of muslin rag and boiled ten minutes with four
quarts of white-wine vinegar. Make up the jar close with a bung, if
it will admit of it, and put it on a hob by a fireside for ten days,
agitating the contents three or four times daily. Now see that the
fruit is perfectly covered with pickle, and secure the vessel with
bladder and leather, and set it by for six months, by which time the
bitter taste will be dissipated. It must next be bottled for store,
effected thus: Turn the pickle and fruit into a hair sieve and press
the liquor out into a large jug or jar, and on the next day pour the
clear off from the lees through a muslin strainer into bottles, which
should be corked well and the air excluded by sealing wax. You will
still have remaining some sediment, upon which you may put half a pint
of boiling rough cider or light vinegar, for an inferior lemon pickle,
to be kept apart from your best. Better than the first product is
rarely made, and it is an estimable pickle, generally admitted.

                                MANGOES.

An excellent imitation may be made by any dextrous person who wishes to
excel in this branch. The cucumbers for this pickling must be gathered
as soon as they have attained full growth, and the larger the better,
but they must not be ripe or of a light yellow colour. Cut out a piece
from the side of each and put them aside, take out nicely the seeds,
and put both the cucumbers and the pieces which were taken from them
into a pickle of two pounds of salt to a gallon of water, with half an
ounce of saltpetre and one ounce of sal prunelle, so let them lie ten
or twelve days, and until they come to a yellow colour; then put them
in a pan with alternate layers of vine leaves, and dissolve half an
ounce of alum in the brine they were pickled in, pour it upon them in
the pan, which set upon a fire not too brisk, and let the cucumbers be
subjected to a scalding process for about four hours, being attentive
all the time that the pickle does not reach the boiling point. They
should now be of a nice green colour. Set them on a sieve to drain, and
then insert into each cucumber

              One stick of fresh horseradish
              Mustard seed                   ½ oz.
              Four cloves of garlic
              Peppercorns                    ½ oz.

Replace the pieces of the fruit you cut out, and attach them by a
needle and green silk. Make then the following pickle, by boiling for
ten minutes:

              White-wine vinegar            6½ qts.
              Black peppercorns              3 oz.
              Mustard seed                   6 oz.
              Garlic                         2 oz.
              Shalots                        1 oz.
              Mace                          1½ oz.
              Cloves                         2 oz.
              Long pepper                    3 oz.

Lay the mangoes in a deep straight-sided jar, and pour the pickle when
cold upon them, covering completely, and an inch above at least, then
make secure with bladder and leather. These will require three or four
months at least before fit for use.

                             GREEN WALNUTS.

Get a hundred of fine large walnuts while the shells are yet tender,
wrap them up in vine leaves separately, put them into jars along with
plenty more vine leaves, and so that they cannot suffer by contact with
each other, and cover plentifully with the best light-coloured vinegar;
make secure from the air, and let them remain so for three weeks. Now
pour off the vinegar, wrap up again the fruit in fresh vine leaves, and
fill the jars with vinegar as before, this must be continued two weeks
longer, when you may take off the leaves, put the fruit into jars, and
make the following pickle for them:

              Pale vinegar, with enough
                salt in it to float an egg  3 quarts
              Garlic, minced               1½ oz.
              Cloves, bruised               2 oz.
              Mace, bruised                 1 oz.
              Allspice, bruised            1½ oz.
              Nutmeg, bruised               2 oz.

Let these simmer fifteen minutes, and pour the whole, boiling hot, over
the walnuts; tie bladder and leather over the jars, and keep four
months before breaking in upon them.

                         WALNUTS PICKLED WHITE.

Bespeak a hundred of the largest walnuts just when they will suit your
purpose, that is, to admit of their being peeled down to the very white
interior, the kernels; have ready a brine of one pound of salt to the
gallon, and pop your walnuts into it, overhead, as you get them peeled,
and when all done, keep them well covered in the brine four hours. Next
put a pan of pure water over the fire, and just as it is coming to
boil, lay in the fruit, which must not be boiled at all, only simmered,
for about ten or twelve minutes. Then transfer them to a pan of cold
water, with a trifling amount of salt in it; after being in this ten
minutes, take them out, and remove them into a pickle of two and a
half pounds of salt to the gallon, in this let them be kept half an
hour, totally immersed in the pickle to protect the colour. Next take
them out, and lay them between cloths to dry; each nut then must be
wiped separately, and put into clean white earthenware jars, with this
mixture――

              Mace, bruised                1½ oz.
              Cloves, bruised               2 oz.
              White pepper, bruised         2 oz.
              Bay leaves, shred            1½ oz.
              Laurel leaves, shred          1 oz.

――scattered pretty plentifully throughout them. Fill up your jars with
best white-wine vinegar, and secure them from the air with bladder and
leather.

                        PEACHES AND NECTARINES.

The fruit should be gathered just as it is beginning to ripen, and
needs to be perfectly sound, as any bruised or decaying ones would
most likely spoil the whole, and, what is worse, the loss is not
discoverable till a long time after. Let them lie covered over with
a pickle of bay salt and water, one and a half pounds to the gallon,
for three or four days, according to size; take them out and, wiping
them separately, lay them in jars, and pour over them, when cold, this
pickle:

              Mace, beaten fine             ½ oz.
              Cloves, beaten fine           ½ oz.
              Nutmeg, beaten fine           ½ oz.
              Ginger, sliced                1 oz.
              Garlic, minced                ½ oz.
              White-wine vinegar            1 gallon

It must be boiled fifteen minutes and skimmed well. Fill the jars so as
to cover the fruit completely with the pickle. Tie bladder and leather
over, and keep them eight or nine months. They will be very rich and
choice pickles.

                            GOLDEN PIPPINS.

From a basketful of this ripe fruit pick out twenty of the largest
and clearest, lay them in a stewpan, and, covering them with soft
water, set them on a fire and let them simmer until the peels begin to
be separated from them――they must on no account come to the boil. If
tender, set them to go cold, and peel them carefully, then lay them
again in the water, adding nearly a pint of good sharp vinegar, and
continue the simmering until they become a nice green colour. Now, with
a wooden spoon take them out singly, and let them go cold, and make the
following pickle, boiling it and skimming as long as any scum arises,
for fifteen or twenty minutes:

              Best ginger, bruised         1½ oz.
              Mustard seed, bruised         2 oz.
              Garlic, sliced                ¾ oz.
              Mace, bruised                 ¾ oz.
              Cloves, bruised              1½ oz.
              White-wine vinegar            2 quarts

Put the fruit carefully into jars, not crushing them, and pour the
pickle, cold, upon them, and effectually exclude the air with bladder
and leather.

                              NASTURTIUMS.

About ten days after the blossoms have left the plants is the proper
time to take these for pickling, and they should be immediately put
into process, before they become shrivelled. Immerse half a peck of the
clearest and soundest in a pan of cold salt and water, and let them
remain thus, changing the pickle every morning, for three days. Lay
them to drain on a sieve, and then dry them well between cloths; and
make a pickle of the following ingredients:

              Six eschalots, minced
              White peppercorns             2 oz.
              Mace, bruised                1½ oz.
              Nutmeg, sliced               1½ oz.
              Common table salt             6 oz.
              White-wine vinegar            5 pints

Skim this well, boiling it fifteen minutes, and, filling jars with the
fruit, pour the liquor and spices equally upon them, when about new
milk warm, and tie bladder over the jars.

                              BEET-ROOTS.

Pickled beet-roots which have both fine colour and flavour to recommend
them are seldom to be met with, particularly in the provinces. If this
method is tried, it will most certainly recommend them. Take half a
dozen roots of the deepest blood-red colour, put them into a pail of
cold water, and with a soft brush scour and wash them well, and without
breaking the skin in the least. Put them into a saucepan of boiling
water, and let them boil gently until tender, and no longer, then take
them up, wipe dry, and leave them until the next day. Now peel them
nicely, and cut them across in slices a quarter of an inch thick, not
using the extremities. You may cut the slices into various ornamental
and grotesque figures, and lay them in open-mouthed jars, and make the
following pickle:

              Mace                          1 oz.
              Cloves, bruised               2 oz.
              Peppercorns                   2 oz.
              Bay salt, pounded             4 oz.
              Ginger, sliced                2 oz.
              Horseradish, sliced           1 oz.
              Best vinegar                  ½ gallon

Boil these ten or fifteen minutes, skimming well, and, when cold,
pour over the roots. Replenish the next day what pickle may have been
absorbed, and cover the jars with bladder and leather. This pickle is
ready in a month, and is very good. It makes a beautiful garnish with
fish at dinner, &c. &c.

                 BUTTON MUSHROOMS, FOR PIES AND SAUCES.

Pick out expressly for this purpose a couple of quarts of fresh
gathered button mushrooms, cut the stalks out closely, and wipe them
singly with a piece of soft flannel dipped in moistened bay salt, place
them apart on dishes and scatter a _little_ finely beaten salt amongst
them. Put them into a roomy saucepan along with

              Mace, slightly bruised              ½ oz.
              White peppercorns, slightly bruised ¾ oz.
              Bay leaves, shred                   ½ oz.
              Cloves, bruised                     ¼ oz.

and let them simmer gently and until all their juice is taken up. Take
the pan from the fire, and when cooled a little add to them four or
five glasses of good white wine, agitate the mushrooms in the pan,
replace it on the fire and bring it to the boil for one minute, then
add three pints of the best pale vinegar and boil for ten minutes
slowly. Now put the mushrooms into glass or stone jars that are clean
and perfectly dry, and when cold make secure with corks or bladder, and
keep them in a dry cool room. This is an estimable pickle, and will be
appreciated duly by lady-cooks, who best know its usefulness and the
various ways in which both the mushrooms and their pickle may be made
available. The wine should be good old Madeira, and the quantity may be
increased with great advantage.

                             GREEN PARSLEY.

Take fresh green curled parsley just at maturity, pick out the most
handsome sprigs and put them into salt and water strong enough to float
an egg, and let remain so for five or six days; set them to drain on
a sieve, and then immerse them in another fresh pickle of the same
strength for ten days longer, changing the brine twice. Then drain them
again, and put them into pure cold spring water for two days, changing
the water daily, and when again drained scald them in boiling water
until they are of a nice green, and dry them between soft cloths. Make,
then, the following pickle of

              Mace                          ½ oz.
              Nutmeg, sliced                1 oz.
              Eschalots, minced             1 oz.
              Horseradish, sliced           2 oz.
              White-wine vinegar            3 pints

which must be boiled ten or twelve minutes and well skimmed. Put the
parsley branches lightly into jars and pour the pickle over, covering
well. Fill up again with pickle the next day, and cover that again with
pure olive oil to the thickness of an inch or thereabouts. Cover close
with wetted bladder, and over that, when dried, with soft leather, and
keep in a dry airy room.

                             WALNUT CATSUP.

When walnuts have attained maturity, and are being deprived of the
outside green shells by the fruiterers, take half a peck of these
husks, put them into a jar, and pour on them as much cold strong
pickling vinegar as will quite cover them; bung up the jar, and so let
them remain three months. Then press out the liquor upon a sieve, and
to every gallon of it take

              Cloves                        1 oz.
              Mace                          ¾ oz.
              Ginger                       1½ oz.
              Jamaica pepper               1½ oz.
              Black pepper                  1 oz.
              Garlic                        1 oz.
              Port wine lees               1½ quart
              Anchovies                     8 oz.

With all these boil up the liquor of the walnuts, and let them simmer
twenty minutes, skimming well the whole time, then put it aside for two
days and boil it again until reduced one-third part. When cold, you may
put it in bottles, which cork well and seal with wax. It will be an
excellent catsup, and will be greatly improved by long keeping.

                            MUSHROOM CATSUP.

Throw large black flap mushrooms into a vessel, and crush them with
the hands well, throwing in a large handful of common salt to each
peck, and let them so lie for two days. Then put them into a crock of
earthenware, and let them be macerated in a cool baker’s oven for six
hours or so, and, when cold, press out the juice, which boil with the
following, to each gallon of the liquor:

              Mace                          ½ oz.
              Jamaica pepper                1 oz.
              Black pepper                  1 oz.
              Cloves                       1½ oz.
              Ginger                        1 oz.
              Garlic                        1 oz.
              Bay salt                      9 oz.

The simmering and skimming must be continued as long as any filth
rises, and let it then be put away for a day or two, and boiled up
again, being kept well up to the boiling point until reduced to half
its original quantity. When cold it may be put into bottles and firmly
corked and waxed.

                             TOMATO CATSUP.

When tomatoes are fully ripe take two dozen of fine, large, sound ones,
put them into jars and bake until they are tender; strain off the water
from them, and pass the pulp through a sieve, then add to every pound
of the pulp,

              Eschalots, shred                1 oz.
              Garlic, shred                   ½ oz.
              Bay salt                        ¼ oz.
              White pepper, finely powdered   ¼ oz.
              Chili vinegar                   1 pint

Boil them together until the whole is quite soft, and pass it again
through a sieve. Now, to every pound of the pulp add the juice of
two lemons, and one large Seville orange, boil it again until it has
attained the consistence of thick cream, and when cold bottle it; cork
and seal well.

                          CELERY, CRAB SALAD.

Open and wash thoroughly clean a fine head of celery, wipe dry, and
cut it across into a basin, add to it two ounces of some good rich old
cheese sliced thinly, a teaspoonful of mustard mixed as for the table,
a tablespoonful of best olive oil, the same quantity of vinegar, with
pepper and salt to your taste. Mix all well together.

                         ELDER-FLOWER VINEGAR.

Pick out all the stalks from a peck of fresh elder flowers and put them
into a vessel with two gallons of white-wine vinegar, set them under
the influence of bright sunbeams for fourteen days and upwards, or at
a short distance from a continuous fire, and then filter the vinegar
through a new flannel bag; fill bottles, which must be well corked and
sealed.

                           TARRAGON VINEGAR.

Take the leaves of tarragon just before it blossoms, put a pound of
them to three quarts of the best white-wine vinegar in a stone jar,
and let them infuse sixteen days. Then drain it and strain through
a flannel bag; add for every two gallons a quarter of an ounce of
isinglass dissolved in sherry wine, and let it be agitated briskly in a
large stone bottle two days. Leave it a month to get fine, then draw
it off into clean dry glass bottles, which cork well and seal.

                       WHITE-GOOSEBERRY VINEGAR.

Vinegars should be made at home if you wish to rely upon their
quality. This will be superior to any white-wine vinegar, “so called
at the shops,” and as such will be extremely serviceable in all large
establishments and families. Choose fruit of the lightest colour you
can get when fully ripe, mash it with a wooden mallet or potato beetle.
To every peck of the fruit put two gallons of water, stir them well for
an hour and let them ferment three weeks, repeating the stirring daily.
Then strain off the liquor and add for every gallon:

              Loaf sugar                    1 lb.
              Yeast, thick and fresh        1 tablespoonful
              Treacle                       1 tablespoonful

Let it work for three or four days, then put it into a sweet barrel of
convenient size, and stop it down for twelve months.

                    SYRUP D’ORGEAT, A PARIS RECEIPT.

This elegant syrup is thus made:

              Sweet almonds                20 oz.
              Bitter almonds                8 oz.
              Refined sugar                 9 lb.
              Water                         4 pints

Blanch the almonds, dry them perfectly and pound them in a mortar with
the sugar, adding gradually two thirds of the water; strain through
linen, and wash the almonds on the strainer with the remainder of the
water, and dissolve the sugar in the strained liquor by a gentle heat.
Pour the syrup into an earthenware vessel, remove the scum, and, when
nearly cold, add two ounces of orange-flower water. Put it into clean
clear glass bottles, cork well, and seal effectually.

                       AN EXCELLENT CURRY-POWDER.

              Turmeric                      2 oz.
              Coriander seeds               6 oz.
              Ginger                        ½ oz.
              Cinnamon                      2 drachms
              Cayenne pepper                6 drachms
              Black pepper                  ½ oz.
              Mace                          1 drachm
              Fenugreek                    1½ oz.
              Pimento                       2 drachms
              Cloves                        1 drachm
              Nutmeg                        ½ oz.

Pound all the above separately in a mortar, mix thoroughly for twenty
minutes, then sift and again pound the returns, which, when in finest
powder, mix with bulk; put into dry bottles, cork them well and seal.
Some persons prefer more turmeric and less coriander. Others add two
ounces of the best Durham mustard (scorched). Others, half an ounce
of cardamoms or two ounces of cummin. The colour should be light
yellow――brown, not bright yellow.

                                 NOTES.

It has been incontestably proved by Baron Liebig and other Professors
of Chemistry, that the albumen and gelatine constitute the leading
nutritive ingredients in the different kinds of flesh and fish used as
food; and I have arrived at the conclusion, that any mode of curing
which deprives them of these valuable properties, is opposed to facts
in science and to common-sense, and cannot therefore be tolerated.

On the nutritive properties of animal food, Professor Brande writes:
“When the muscular parts of animals are washed repeatedly in cold
water, the fibrinous matter which remains, consists chiefly of albumen,
and is, in its chemical properties, analogous to the clot of blood.”

In mutton, the albumen or fibrin amounts to as much as twenty-two
per cent., and of gelatine to seven per cent., giving a total of
twenty-nine per cent. of nutritive matter. In beef, the albumen is
twenty, and the gelatine six per cent., yielding a total of twenty-six
per cent. of nutritive matter.

When a piece of meat is covered with salt, or immersed in brine, the
salt penetrates the whole fibre of the flesh, and the juices contained
within are drawn out, and mix with the brine; the salts of potass
contained in it, are exchanged and superseded by those of soda, derived
from _the salt_ with which it has been cured; now, as a constant supply
of potass is required in the system to renew the muscular fibre, it is
quite clear that the want of it must be attended with some derangement
of the health; and hence the benefit derived from the taking of
vegetables, which by supplying potass, make up for the want of this
alkali in the meat.

Albumen is coagulated by heat, and is drawn out by cold water; this
fact is referred to in Note, No. 11.

No. 1. The coating of small articles, of the better sorts, excludes
the air. It is a mixture of gelatine with treacle, applied when hot,
and which when exposed to the air becomes hardened, yet elastic as
india-rubber. See Note, No. 12.

No. 2. The smoking with different sorts of fuel exerts a considerable
influence on the flavour and preservation of the articles so treated;
for example, the mutton of the Ardennes forest, Belgium, which owes its
superiority to the juniper bushes with which it is dried and smoked.
And again, kippered salmon smoked with cedar-wood, at the request of
some of our wealthy Jew families, is excellent, though rather expensive.