Barszcz.—A favourite Polish soup is Barszcz. Put 4 lb. beef, 1 lb. smoked ribs of pork, ¼ lb. ham, and 12 button mushrooms, onions and leeks into a large stewpan. Add 1 pint expressed juice of beetroot. Cook until the meat is tender, then add a hare, a fowl, and a duck, previously roasted to colour and give it a good flavour, and again some beetroot juice. Boil ¼ hour, and add some whites of eggs beaten with a little water to clear the soup. Cut up the boiled meats into convenient portions, and serve them in the bouillon, garnished with button mushrooms, tiny onions, slices of beetroot alternately with some fingers of celery and sprigs of parsley, all thoroughly well cooked beforehand; some fresh fennel, balls of force-meat and some broiled sausages, the small ones usually eaten abroad, about the length and thickness of the forefinger. This recipe is in the above quantities requisite for a large consumption. It can, however, be easily modified to suit any requirement, especially as regards the game and poultry added. Judgment must step in and regulate the due proportion of ingredients in a lesser or greater quantity as desired. The beetroot juice is quite peculiar to Poland. Without it few dishes are concocted or brought to table. Wash your beet carefully, then scrape it and cut in 4 lengthway pieces. Put them in a saucepan, and cover well with lukewarm water; keep it a soft heat for the space of 3-4 hours, by which gentle process the juice acquires an agreeably acid flavour.
Chotodriec.—Put 1 qt. salted cucumber juice, and a small quantity of leaven into a large saucepan, and boil well. Allow it to cool gently, and then mix in 1 qt. curdled milk. Boil one young beetroot, cut up finely in strips, in a separate saucepan. When done add it also to the soup, with some of the water wherein it was boiled, to colour a good red. Have ready 4 hard-boiled eggs, cut either in thin slices or small fillets, the latter being preferable; a good tablespoonful of finely chopped fennel and chives; some slices of fresh cucumber, and the flesh of a whole cray-fish, or crab, whichever most preferred, cut up in fair sized pieces. Add all these ingredients one after another to the soup, which must be served cold without bread, accompanied by small pieces of ice to make it colder still. Some palates have a complete and unconquerable objection to beetroot; when this happens to be the case, substitute sorrel, dressed like a spinach purée, with a little butter, for the obnoxious beetroot. There is a simplified method of making chotodriec by mixing the curdled milk with the juice of crushed fresh cucumber, some chopped fennel and chives; also sorrel; the hard-boiled eggs in rounds and slices of cucumber crushed in at the last moment. Melon is often substituted in this case for the cucumber, and makes a pleasing diversity. The salted cucumber juice for making chotodriec is prepared by the Polish cooks in the following manner. Wipe some moderate sized green cucumbers carefully in a clean linen cloth, and put them to what is termed “sweat” for 24 hours in a warm, dry place. Have a wooden cask staved in at the top well scalded; if it is a possibility, use a cask that has contained either hock or sherry previously. Place the cucumbers at the bottom, one against the other, and cover them with a bed of chopped fennel, some young leaves of the cherry-tree, and some crushed coriander seed. Pour some salted water on them, which has been already boiled, and allowed to get cold. Then cover up the cask carefully, and place in some cool place, resting on pieces of wood, to prevent the cask touching the ground. Cold water previously boiled must be added, should the moisture ooze away. The cask must be watched every day, and any mould which may by chance accumulate on the top be carefully removed. At the expiration of 2 months, the cucumbers are considered to be sufficiently salted and flavoured, and ready to be eaten. The water should not be excessively salt, as it is the usual custom for the poor to steep their bread in it, on the principle that it is sinful to waste, besides giving their bread an unwonted relish.
Zrazy.—Another famous dish. Take the undercut from a sirloin of beef, cut it through into cutlets a bare inch thick; beat them with a cutlet bat or the blade of a heavy knife till they are about half the original thickness; trim them to a nice round shape. Make a good-sized piece of butter quite hot in a stewpan, lay in the slices with salt, pepper, a pinch of pounded cloves, and an onion or some shallots that have been minced and delicately browned in butter, or (if not objected to) a small clove of garlic pounded or bruised fine. Cover close, and let the zrazy steam in their own gravy till tender. Turn them when one side is coloured, and taste them occasionally. If the gravy dries away, add a little stock or soup. When done quite tender, take up the slices. Skim off any superfluous fat from the sauce; dust a little flour in; darken the sauce with sugar browning; let it cook for a minute; then pour it over the meat, and garnish with sliced potatoes fried in butter.
Russian.—The Russian people, during the great fasts—which last 4-7 weeks, and which recur 4 times during the year—sustain themselves entirely on the soup made with the bitter cabbages, and a handful of dry salted fish called sniedky. It is clean tasted, but you need be a lover of this fish to relish it. It is not unlike whitebait; it is salt and dry, and leaves a somewhat soapy taste.
Borshch.—Take 3 lb. good fat meat, wash it well in warm water, boil it 2-3 minutes, take it out and wash it in cold water; cut it in pieces, and put it in the pot, pouring some stock over it; add some vegetables and a head of cabbage cut in 8 pieces; when the cabbage is well boiled, add according to taste the juice of beetroot or kwass (weak beer made of rye, very similar to treacle beer) or vinegar, and salt; then boil it until all is ready. You may add to this borshch, 1 lb. smoked ham, previously washed in warm water, dried, and boiled twice; lift it immediately and wash it in cold water, cut it in pieces, and put it in the borshch; then boil all together. Before serving, skim off the fat, take out the cabbage and put it in another pot, to which add 1 lb. sliced beetroot and some stock; boil it, add a little of the juice of the beetroot uncooked, to give it colour, and pepper and salt to taste. Prepared in this manner, borshch is excellent. The ingredients are as follows: 2½-3 lb. beef; 1 lb. ham; 1 head celery; parsley and 2 onions; 2 or 3 leaves of laurel; 1 small head of cabbage; 10-20 gr. pepper, salt, juice of beetroot, and some fennel.
Nalym.—Chop an onion, fry it in 2 spoonfuls fresh butter melted, add 1 spoonful flour; mix; pour in a little water, and set it to simmer on the hot plate. When it begins to boil, put in 5-6 potatoes, which you have cut in pieces, with some salt. Clean thoroughly, and salt your fish, cut it in convenient pieces, and let all simmer together, add some barley grits, a little parsley, and black pepper. The fish thus dealt with is called in Russian nalym, which is translated lavaret, a name familiar to travellers as that of a kind of trout which inhabits the lakes of Switzerland. Soup made from sea fish is not so much relished, as Russia is especially rich in fresh-water fish. They sometimes make shchi with sea fish.
Oucha.—Made for great occasions. Cook 2-3 lb. some small fishes, or, if you prefer just a fowl, with carrots, turnips, onions, a few herbs and some spice and salt; add a little nutmeg, clear with white of egg or with caviare, and strain through a fine cloth. When this broth is ready, place in it sterlet cut in good slices; add a glass of cold water and let it stew, removing all scum. When the sterlet is cooked pour the oucha into a tureen containing slices of lemon, without either rind or pips. Add champagne to taste, and give it all a boil up, adding parsley and fennel. When you serve it do not cover the tureen. This fish is very delicate. It is usually served in the pan in which it has been cooked; therefore in large establishments silver saucepans are used.
Shchi.—The Russians, like the Germans and other northern nations, are fond of a subacid flavour in their food: many of their soups are thus flavoured; and where they are not, a very common thing is for a dish of clotted sour cream to be placed on the table, from which the consumer may take what is necessary to give his plat (whether soup, pork, or anything else) the degree of acidity which suits his palate. A very little of this sour cream goes a far way however, a spoonful or two being sufficient to convert a very excellent dish of brown soup into what, according to our lights, would be considered a sour and unpalatable mess; but the shchi has generally a sufficiently subacid flavour of its own. It is made in this way. At the beginning of winter a store of cabbages is laid in by almost every household; these are chopped up into shreds, and placed in barrels with vinegar and salt, when a certain amount of fermentation takes place, and the cabbage becomes a kind of sauerkraut. From these barrels a portion is taken as required, and that is pretty commonly daily, for the shchi is not only the most characteristic national food in Russia, but the regular daily food of the great mass of the people. The portion so taken is made with meat into a cabbage broth, which is the shchi. With the broth there is always served a number of lumps of the boiled meat that made it. To make the shchi good, the degree of fermentation that it passes through in the barrel has to be carefully watched, for, if it goes too far, putrefaction sets in, and, if not absolutely spoiled, the cabbage at least acquires a high flavour, which is not agreeable to everyone. The shchi which we have been describing is shchi pure and simple, but it can be infinitely varied; by grating and mixing with it other items, it can be made to assume the appearance of almost any vegetable soup, from green-pea soup to cock-a-leekie: but, under whatever guise it appears, its identity can always be traced by the subacid flavour which is ever present in greater or less force. Whatever form it takes, however, when well made it is excellent.
Siberian Pilemaignes.—Chop 2 onions, add slices of ham and fat bacon, and a tender piece of game. Chop all these together, adding some black pepper and a few cloves. For the paste, take 3 glasses flour, 2 eggs, 7 spoonfuls salt water, and 1 teaspoonful salt; work this into a tolerably stiff paste, and roll it out as thin as you can without breaking it. Place on it at equal distances balls of the forcemeat, cover them well with paste, and press them all round to prevent coming out. With a knife or mould divide them into little crescent-shaped tarts. Plunge them into boiling salted water, and look at them in 10 minutes and see if they are done. If so, take them out carefully with a slice, and place them in a deep dish. You can moisten them with a sauce made of stock and butter, with lemon juice or vinegar. If you have put plenty of bacon in do not make any sauce, as they will contain sufficient gravy. Do not forget that the forcemeat is put into the paste uncooked.
Stouffate—Salt a piece of beef, lard it with ham or smoked tongue, or else fat bacon. Put in an earthenware pot (not in a metal pan) several slices of bacon or butter, vegetables, and spice, and on this lay the meat. Pour over it some wine, and 2 spoonsful vinegar or lemon juice. Let this simmer, adding a little water sufficient to moisten the meat on all sides. When sufficiently cooked put the meat on a dish, remove all fat from the gravy, to which add a little stock; strain it if necessary, and pour it over the meat.
Scottish.—Brochan.—Brochan is excellent as a supper dish or as a hot nourishing drink in winter when coughs and colds are on the outlook for victims. This is the way it is made: A sufficiency of water is put in a pan on the fire and allowed to boil; for every pint water in the pan, 1 small dessertspoonful of meal is put into a basin and mixed with ½ breakfastcupful sweet cream, according to the quantity of meal; this, with salt to taste, is poured into the boiling water, and the whole allowed to boil for about 1 hour. It is served in cups or small basins; into each of these is put 1 tablespoonful golden syrup, or thin slices of cheese, and the boiling gruel is poured into each. The oatmeal used is that known in Scotland as medium ground.
Skink Soup.—A much-liked and often made soup, made from the shin of beef. A well-broken shin of beef is put into 1½ gal. boiling water and boiled for 2 hours; it is then taken out, and the meat cut from the bone in small neat pieces, the liquor being skimmed at the same time. The bone is returned to the liquor and boiled 4 hours longer. This part of the process is generally done the day before the soup is wanted. The vegetables are then added in about the same proportion as for mutton broth. Add the pieces of beef at the same time, with pepper and salt to taste, and boil till the vegetables are tender.
Sowens.—The sids of oats are made into a dish called sowens, which is delicious, and, being light and wholesome, is often recommended by doctors for invalids. The sids are the inner husks of the oat grain; they retain a fine floury substance, which is what sowens are made of. To make sowens, the sids are first put into a narrow-mouthed wooden tub, like a small barrel with an open end, called a “sowen bowy,” and cold water mixed with them. The sids rise in dry bubbles to the top of the water, and must be stirred with the spurtle till all are wet; they are then covered with cold water to the depth of 6-8 in., and allowed to set for a week in summer, and a few days longer in winter, to sour. When sour, a tin sieve, called the sowen sieve, is placed over a wide-mouthed jar or tub, and the tubful of sour sids poured through the sieve; the sids remain on the sieve, and a drab liquid runs into the tub below. The sids which remain on the sieve have some cold water poured over them to wash out any sediment, are squeezed between the hands for the same purpose, and then thrown away. The water in the wide tub is allowed to set for 2 days after the foregoing operation, and is then fit for use; a thick sediment will be at the bottom, and clear water at the top. When wanted for use, the water is poured off, and sufficient of the sediment put into a pan and boiled with a little water for ½ hour; it is then served in soup plates and eaten with new milk.
Spanish.—Ajo blanco.—This soup is extensively eaten in Andalusia. Pound 1 clove of garlic and 7 well-dried beans, or better still, almonds, in a small spice mortar to a smooth paste. Moisten this paste with olive oil, drop by drop, then water by degrees, so as to thoroughly incorporate and amalgamate the whole. Add until it is sufficiently wet to soak some bread, which must be added later on, pouring in some vinegar and a little salt. Then put in the breadcrumbs, size of half an almond, and allow it to soak. A final mixing of the bowl, and this quaint and perfectly national dish awaits consumption.
Bacalao.—Bacalao, or salted cod, in this land of rigid Catholicism, is almost indispensable as food on the many last days in the calendar. (a) Cut up the cod after it has been soaked for 24 hours, and lay the pieces so as to cover the bottom of a pipkin; pour on this a thick stratum of grated bread, garlic and parsley in profusion, then more codfish, then bread again, and so on till the pipkin is full to the top. Fill all the crevices with raw oil, garlic, pepper and salt; close the pipkin, and boil till the contents are nearly dry, when serve. (b) Lay onions, cut in thick circles, at the bottom of a pipkin, with tomatoes, a grain of garlic, and cinnamon; on these place a layer of codfish sliced, and so on in alternate layers. Pour in plenty of oil, cloves, peppers, whole and ground, and then set on the fire to boil, without adding any stock, till the juice of the tomatoes and onions is nearly absorbed. (c) Codfish with honey or sugar may be eaten by boiling the pieces, draining them dry, soaking in honey, flouring, and then frying; or the pieces may be covered with yolk of egg, floured, and powdered over with sugar. (d) Codfish a la vizcaino (in the Biscayan method) may be nice. After soaking and cutting in bits, put it on to boil; meanwhile toast a few tomatoes before the fire, skin them, and mash them well up with a wooden spoon; chop up plenty of onions very small, and put them to boil in oil. Just before they turn colour add the tomatoes. Now place the cod in a pipkin, throw in the onions and tomatoes with the oil in which they were cooked, and set on a slow fire to simmer gently till quite done. (e) Codfish con ajo de arriero (with muleteer’s garlic) is prepared by boiling the fish first, then adding a sauce at the time of serving, made by frying garlic in oil, and adding peppers, green and red, with vinegar in equal quantity with the oil.
Chorizos.—The ordinary chorizos, or plain sausages, are prepared thus: the lean of pork chopped very small is steeped in a small tub with salt, pepper, white and red, to give it a colour, wild marjoram, which has been well pounded and passed through a sieve, and garlic bruised. It is here beaten up well, so that the meat and condiments may become well incorporated, and it is so kept for 3-4 days, taking care to turn it over once or twice a day, and to work it with the hands. After that time fry a little to taste and try, adding such seasoning or other ingredients as may appear necessary; when ready fill the skins, having prepared them the day previous with an infusion of wild marjoram, a little salt, and water sufficient to cover them. Longaniza, which are larger, longer, and very tender, are made in the same way, but without hot pepper, and with the addition of a little aniseed boiled in white wine. The coarse longanizas is made by chopping up the liver, tongue, heart, kidney, and intestines. Some sausages are scented by drenching the mincemeat in white wine flavoured with powdered cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg; and occasionally this sauce is further thickened with eggs beaten up with or without sugar, the meat being minced small, so as to form a thick paste, adding sometimes honey or cream.
Cocido.—First and foremost on the list of soups comes the cocido, or far-famed olla podrida, so supremely dear to the national heart. Every province has some particular method for the concoction of cocido, to which mode it faithfully adheres. The following method is that of the Spanish capital, Madrid, that being the most general. Throw 1½ lb. either mutton or veal into a vessel, with water (the Spaniards use a pipkin, called in the vernacular a “marmite”), 1½ lb. garbanzos, or chickpeas, one good slice of lean raw ham, and any debris (no matter how small) of game or poultry. Cook gently with the lid on, skim, and add a little bacon cut small, and as much salt as necessary; cook for another ½ hour, then pour off the broth slowly, to be used afterwards for the soup and sauce; add as much vegetable as you please, thoroughly well washed, and cook over a clear fire until done. About 5 minutes before the olla is ready, throw in a piece of chorizo (black pudding). Serve the meat separately on one dish, the vegetables on another, and in a third the sauce for the whole.
Gaspacho.—There are 2 other soups much affected by this nation, and these are, strange as it may seem, eaten cold. The first is gaspacho. This is always regarded as the most refreshing of all the national dishes. The poor glory in it; and the rich, during that time when the beams of a too scorching sun enervate the Spanish frame, fly to gaspacho as an unfailing “pick-me-up.” Put some chopped chives and cucumber cut up in the shape of dice into a large salad bowl, add a small quantity of water, a pinch of salt, lemon juice and oil. Throw in some crumbled bread, which must be able to float. Finally sprinkle some fine chopped marjoram over the whole, and your gaspacho is ready.
Morcillas, or Black Puddings.—These savoury articles are prepared as follows: Mince up the fat that has been taken from the stomach of the pig into very small pieces, and throw it into a large tub with salt, onions, pepper, cloves, and cinnamon, all chopped small; pound the whole together till the spices are well mixed, and then add the blood slowly, using a wooden spoon. As soon as the paste is made, fry a little and taste, adding more seasoning if required. Now fill the skins, leaving them a little thin, so that they may not burst in cooking, which operation is performed by boiling in a large saucepan full of lukewarm water. Care must be taken that the puddings are placed in the saucepan slowly and without crowding, and as soon as the vessel is filled loosely, set it on a quick fire. After boiling for a moment or two, pierce each pudding with a needle threaded with a wisp of fennel to let out the air, and reduce the fire. When it is found that on pricking no blood issues from the puddings, they may be considered cooked. Remove the puddings very cautiously from the saucepan, place them on the table in a clean cloth, dry, and then hang them up. The water in which they have been boiled may be used as stock. Some insert rice with the mincemeat instead of the other ingredients, and there are many other recipes.
Turkish.—The following are mainly from the pen of Marie Kibrizli Pasha, and first appeared in the Queen:—
Asuree.—Take 2 lb. wheat, unground, and wash it; throw it into a large saucepan cold water and boil for 1 hour; then dry it near the stove on a cloth. When it is quite dry beat it in a mortar to get off the husks; then put the wheat into a strong muslin bag, tie it up; put it into a saucepan of cold water, and let it boil all day until the water becomes of the consistency of jelly. Then take out the bag, squeeze it until all the water is out, and throw the dregs away. Put 1 lb. white sugar in the water and boil it until it becomes like jelly; if not sweet enough, add more sugar. Put a handful of sultana raisins in a dish with a few blanched almonds, cut small; mix these with the jelly and put it in glass dishes. It will keep many days, and is a strengthening and a very nice dish.
Cerkestal.—Remains of fowls may be stewed with an onion, pepper, salt, and a little water. Wash and bruise 6 walnuts, and mix them in some of the gravy, adding a small quantity of cayenne pepper, and serve as a sauce.
Dolma Hindi (Stuffed Turkey or Fowl).—Take 2 handfuls rice and half boil it; then cut up 1 doz. chestnuts, a handful of currants, and a handful of pistachio nuts; melt about ¼ lb. butter in a saucepan, then mix all well together, adding a little salt and a little cayenne pepper, with a very small quantity of bruised cinnamon. Then stuff the turkey or fowl with this, and sew up the breast; put it on a flat baking dish with a little butter, and baste it with butter. This stuffing is used in Turkey for all kinds of birds and sheep that are roasted whole.
Dolmas.—Chop some mutton or beef very finely, with a little of the fat; add an onion, pepper, salt, and a little boiled rice, and mix it all together. Then take some cabbage leaves and put them into boiling water for a minute or two, and roll the meat into them like small sausages; then stew them in a little broth or water with a small piece of butter in it.
Elva.—Take 1 lb. semolina and ½ lb. butter; put the butter into a saucepan, and brown it well; then sprinkle the semolina into it slowly, and keep stirring until it all becomes well mixed and browned. When sufficiently done, put ½ lb. white sugar and 1 pint milk into another saucepan, and boil it; then blanch about 30-40 almonds, cut them in halves, and throw them into the semolina; then stir in the syrup slowly, and mix well. When it becomes like a thick paste, turn it into moulds to cool, and then turn out on the dishes.
Etena Zarvatte (Ragout).—The Arab cook (for the cooking in Turkey is always done by Arab women) takes 1 lb. meat, either beef or mutton, and cuts it into small pieces. She then fries it just sufficiently to brown it in a little butter or dripping, adding salt, pepper, and a tumblerful of water. She then cuts up 1 lb. French beans, and puts the whole into a stewpan to simmer slowly, adding water as it is required, and serves it when the whole is of a good consistency and there is a good gravy. Any kind of vegetables, carrots or potatoes, will do instead of beans.
Kabaps (Kabobs).—Take some slices of mutton or beef, with a little of the fat and an onion, chop them very fine, add pepper, salt, and a little flour; mix all well together with a little water, so as to make a thick dough; then roll it round skewers and bake it in a slow oven. As soon as the gravy forms, take it off the skewers and put it on a dish with sippets of toasted bread, and throw the gravy over it.
Kabrac Dolmassi (stuffed vegetable marrows).—Take 1 or 2 kabracs (vegetable marrows), cut them in halves across, and scoop out the seeds and a little of the pulp; then rub in a little salt. Scrape off the rinds, then chop ½ lb. mutton very finely, add 1 large onion chopped very small, and a little parsley, also chopped, then season with a little pepper, salt, and about a pennyworth of uncooked rice. Mix all together and stuff the vegetable marrow with it, then put them to boil slowly, with only a small quantity of water in the saucepan.
Kourabiedes.—Break ½ lb. fresh butter into ½ lb. finest rice flour, add ½ lb. finely-powdered sugar and a pinch of salt, moisten into a rather firm paste with orange-flower water, knead lightly, and divide into balls the size of a mandarin orange, bake for ½ hour between buttered sheets of paper; powder with sugar when done.
Kufté.—Mince 1 lb. lean beef very small; add salt, pepper, and a chopped onion, grate the crumb of 2 French rolls, or a large piece of bread and mix it with the meat, and add 2 eggs; then mix all together into a dough. Then roll it into small sausages, first putting them into a little flour. Brown about ¼ lb. butter in a frying pan, and fry the meat in it, and when dished throw the butter over it.
Lokma.—Take 1 lb. flour, then beat up 10 eggs; mix them with the flour, and add a pinch of salt, then put in a glass of water to thin it a little. Take ½ lb. butter, brown it in a frying pan, and put the paste in small round pieces into it, let them brown slowly, taking care to turn them and keep them separate. Take 1 lb. white sugar and 1 teacupful cold water, and boil them in a clean saucepan; when the syrup is done, throw the balls in, and boil them until they are well sweetened, then serve them either hot or cold.
Ouzum Yaprac Dolmassi (dolmas with vine leaves).—During the spring in Turkey large quantities of the young vine leaves are gathered. They are then carefully placed in layers in large earthenware jars or pans that are not porous. The leaves for winter use have layers of salt placed between them, but those for summer use do not require it. Place a good handful of salt over each layer of leaves, and press them down tightly. When the jars are within 2 in. of being full fill them with water. Then place a piece of wood across the top, and put a stone on it to keep out the air. The Dolmas are made in the following way: Take 1 lb. veal, with a little of the fat, mince the meat very finely, and add salt, pepper, and a pennyworth of raw rice, and a large onion chopped very small. Mix it all together into a dough. Put an iron saucepan full of water on the fire; when it begins to boil throw into it 30-100 leaves, as you may require, and let them boil 5 minutes, stirring them well; then turn them out on a dish to cool; when cold break off the stalks, and roll a small quantity of the meat into each, taking care to close the leaf well. Place them carefully in layers in a saucepan without water, and closely, one over the other. Then take a good-sized piece of butter, brown it in the frying pan, and pour it over the dolmas. Half fill the saucepan with hot water, cover it and put it on a stove, to boil slowly until the dolmas are done. Care must be taken not to let them mix together. To get them well out without breaking, the saucepan must be turned upside down on a dish. Beat up an egg and mix it with a little flour, then put a small quantity of the water in which the dolmas were boiled into a smaller saucepan, and stir the egg into it. Pour this sauce over the meat.
Pilau.—Take 3 or 4 large tomatoes and boil them. When they are quite soft mash them well, adding a little salt, and put them back in the same water in which they were boiled, and add ½ lb. rice. When the rice has absorbed all the water, and is well done, take the saucepan off the fire, and put it to stand near, so as not to cool; then put a good-sized piece of butter in a frying pan, and when it is well browned mix it up well with the rice, and serve it hot.
Pouf Burek.—The Arab takes ½ lb. flour and 2 eggs, and makes a paste; then rolls it out thin; then grates some new cheese, chops some parsley very finely, mixes them, and spreads the mixture over the paste. She then doubles up the paste, or folds it once, and cuts out small round cakes with a coffee cup. She then puts a good-sized piece of butter in a frying pan, and when it is nicely browned she fries the little cakes in it, and serves them hot.
Prassas (leeks with oil).—Take 2 doz. leeks and wash them well, cut them in two, leaving only a small part of the white end, and throw away the rest; then cut them into pieces the size of dice, and throw them into water to wash them. Put a breakfastcupful of the best Lucca oil in a saucepan, and brown it slightly; then have ready 3 large onions cut up small, and throw them into the oil to brown a little. Mince a little parsley and mix it with the leeks, and then put them into the oil, adding 2 or 3 glasses hot water. Cover it well; season well; let it boil slowly until the leeks are done. Serve it cold.
Suburek.—Take 1 lb. flour and add a little water and salt, so as to make a thick paste, roll and divide it into 3 portions, then roll out 2 portions and put them aside to serve for rolling up the third portion. Then take 8 eggs, mix them with the third portion, roll it out very thin, cut it into 8 portions and throw them into boiling water on the fire, one after the other. When they are half-boiled or nearly done, spread one of the uncooked portions in a pie dish that is not very deep, and put 4 of the 8 boiled portions in it. Then take some minced beef or mutton, well seasoned and slightly browned in a frying pan with butter, mix a little minced parsley with it, and put it in the dish, then put the remaining 4 boiled portions over it and cover the whole with the remaining large portion, then brown a little butter in the frying pan and put it over the paste. Bake it in the oven. A very good dish.
Tauf—Ghezon.—Draw 2 fowls, and put them to boil slowly; when they are half done take off all the white meat and put it into another saucepan to boil in milk, adding a small quantity of the water in which the fowls were first boiled. When the meat is reduced to a pulp mix it well with pounded white sugar, so as to make it quite sweet. Serve cold on a dish sprinkled with pounded cinnamon. This is a strengthening dish for an invalid.
Tauk Dolmas.—After drawing a fowl, chop the liver, gizzard, and heart very finely and add seasoning; boil some rice and mix it with a small piece of butter, then mix all together and stuff the fowl with it; make a little gravy with the neck and head, and serve with it. This dish should be stewed slowly.
Tuginar (ragoût with artichokes).—Take 1 lb. mutton or veal, and cut it in small pieces. Take 8-10 artichokes and wash them well, stripping off all the leaves, then cut the bottoms in 4 quarters; cut up 2 onions and mince a little parsley, and mix them. Then put a ¼ lb. butter into a stewpan, and put the meat in; when it is a little browned, throw in 2 or 3 tumblers of water, cover it, and let it stew gently for ¼ hour. Add a little seasoning, according to taste, with the onion and parsley; then put in the artichokes to cook until they are done, and then serve the dish. Other vegetables, such as broccoli or Brussels sprouts, may be substituted.
West Indian.—Cavershed Fish.—Cut a sole into 3 or 4 pieces, according to size; flour each piece, have ready a frying-pan with some good frying oil, put it on the fire, and when the oil boils lay the fish in it, and fry a light brown; drain each piece well, and, when cold, lay them on a dish. Boil ½ pint vinegar, with a little allspice, ginger, and pepper, and throw it over the fish.
Coconut Cakes.—Break a coconut, remove the brown skin and cut it up into quite small pieces (somewhat larger than grains of rice). Put 1 lb. coarse brown sugar into a saucepan, with a teacupful of water; when it boils, skim off the scum, or strain through muslin, add the coconut and a little ginger, and boil (stirring constantly) till the sugar begins to thicken; then drop a little of the mixture from a spoon on to a board or dish which has been well damped with cold water; if it sets so that it can be raised with a knife without breaking, drop all the mixture in like manner in little cakes. Grated coconut can be done in the same way.
Crab Backs.—This dish is truly delicious; once eaten as prepared by a black cook, it is one never to be forgotten. The crabs must be caught and brought in alive; the cook must kill them herself, and divide the claws and bodies from the backs; when doing so she must be careful not to break the gall in the body, which would cause the whole of the meat in the crab to taste bitter. Boil these sufficiently, and, when cold, pick all the meat from the claws and bodies; the fat, which is of a very dark colouring, must be well mixed with the meat and stirred; add pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, and lime juice to taste, also bread or biscuit crumbs; have the backs nicely cleaned, fill them with the above mixture, sprinkle breadcrumbs over them, and bake for about 10 minutes. Some people prefer crab backs without the addition of the fat, when they are not nearly so rich, and are of a much lighter colour.
Eater Drink.—An Indian drink. Take 3 doz. ripe fruit of the eater (ita) palm, place them in a jar, and pour boiling water over them. Let them stand until they are sufficiently soft to allow the rind to come off easily. Scrape the fruit, and when cool sweeten, and it is ready for use. This palm is as light as cork, and grows abundantly in the interior of Guiana.
Fly.—Grate 3 or 4 sweet potatoes (the white sort), place them in a stone jar, with 3 gal. boiling water, 1 doz. cloves, clear sugar to taste, and clarify with the white shell of an egg. Let it stand 24 hours, then strain, bottle and cork tightly; it is fit for use in a week.
Fou-fou Soup.—Peel 1 doz. plaintains, wash and boil them, place them in a dish till cooked, then pound them in a wooden mortar, occasionally moistening the pestle with cold water, to prevent it sticking, until they become one solid lump. Moisten a spoon with water, and after carefully separating the fou-fou from the mortar place it in a dish and serve with soup. The spoon should always be first moistened with soup before cutting the fou-fou, or it would be most difficult to cut it at all. The soup can be made of plantains, tannias, ochras, pigeon peas, black-eyed peas, pumpkin, or any vegetable. When made of ochras procure a good-sized dish of ochras, cut off the heads, wash and cut in slices, place them in a pot with as much water as you require soup, with ½ lb. salt beef, ½ lb. salt pork, cold, or fresh meat, 2 or 3 fresh fish, a small piece of salt fish, a few shrimps, 2 fresh peppers, one chopped onion, and seasoning. When most thoroughly boiled, or rather simmered, serve hot in a tureen, and the fou-fou served separately at the same time. When fou-fou soup is made of dry peas they must be well soaked, and then boiled for some time before the meat, &c., is added. When made of plaintains only these must be mashed when sufficiently cooked. A favourite way with the negroes is to cut the plaintains in slices, and boil a great many of them in soup without making them into fou-fou; when done in this way they call it “cutty-cutty.”
Groundnut Cakes.—Put 2 lb. these nuts (they can be bought in any small greengrocer’s shop, and are sometimes called monkey nuts) in the oven on a tin, and let them bake until you can remove the red skin of the kernel quite easily; then shell them all, take off all the skins and divide them in halves; make them into little cakes, as in recipe for coconut cakes.
Mawbery.—Get fourpennyworth mawbery bark from a chemist, boil it with a little water, and let it stand till cool. Add sufficient water to fill 12 bottles, and sweeten to taste, strain, and brew it for some time. Bottle and let it stand 24 hours, when it is fit for use, and it is a pleasant drink, slightly bitter. The bottles must never be corked and the froth which works up must be taken off. Never let it stand more than 2 days after it is fit for use.
Pepper-pot.—Pepper-pot cannot be prepared without cassaripe, and it may be interesting here to describe the mode of manufacture of that very excellent sauce, which is also used to great advantage in soups and sauces. It is made from the cassava root, bitter cassava, which is thus prepared: Peel and grate the roots on a large grater, which must be placed in a tub to receive it, put the pulp that has been grated into a mataube (a mataube is a long tube-like squeezer made of reed, by the Buck Indians, the lower end has a handle, the upper part is hung up on a tree, or some such convenient place). Hang up the mataube when quite full of cassava pulp, and pull the lower handle until all the juice is expressed. This juice must be allowed to settle in a tub; it is then to be strained; the settlement of the cassava juice is often converted into a very inferior kind of starch. Now place the strained juice into a large pot, and reduce it by repeated boiling greatly, and keep constantly skimming while boiling it; it will be found that the colour will change from white milky-looking juice to yellow, and lastly to black. During the boiling a small quantity of sugar and a few bird peppers (from which cayenne pepper is ground) should be added; then let the juice cool, bottle and cork it, and it is ready for pepper-pot, and for colouring soups and gravies. Good cassaripe is very thick and black. The cassava pulp, which is left dry, when all the juice is expressed, makes very delicious bread; it is placed in hoops in an oven, without the addition of any liquid, merely pressed together in a thin round wafer form, baked in an oven, and then taken out while still quite pale in colour, and exposed for some time to the burning West Indian sun. This bread is very delicious when toasted and buttered, served hot.
Place a sufficient quantity of meat—whether pork, beef, or mutton—to fill the earthen pot you possess (the Demerarians usually use a black earthen open pot, made by the Buck Indians) in a pot of boiling water; let it boil a few minutes. Then take out the meat, and cut it up in pieces, as you would for a stew; place these in the buckpot, and fill to the top with boiling water; put in with the meat sufficient cassaripe to make the sauce a rich colour, 6 fresh peppers, or a spoonful of cayenne, tied up in a bit of muslin; boil this for an hour; remove it then from the fire, and boil it up every day once whether it is used or not. It should be served hot in the buckpot in which it is cooked, which should be placed on a clean plate and so brought to table. On no account serve the pepper-pot in a dish other than it has been cooked in, and that dish should always be earthen. Cold meat without gravy or onions can be added, in fact any meat that is not seasoned or stuffed.
Pepper Punch.—Pound one pennyworth of dry ginger in a mortar, with 12 bird peppers, and boil this for a short time in a little water, place this in a stone jar, adding ¼ pint lime juice, strained, ¼ pint white rum, ¼ pint gin, ½ pint brandy, and sugar to taste, with 10 qt. cold water; stir the whole well together, cut a white lemon in two and throw in, tie the jar down, and place in the sun for 2 days, then bottle off, cork very tightly, and use when ripe; if this is to be kept any time, the corks should be tied with twine, or wired, or they will fly like champagne corks. This quantity is sufficient to fill 12 quart bottles.
Pinaree.—An Indian drink. Grate the bitter cassava and express the juice; sift the pulp and take all the coarse remains from the sifter, say 2 pints, moisten with fresh boiled cassaripe, grate 2 sweet potatoes, put all in a jar, cover with a leaf, and leave for 3 days, when a small quantity can be drunk with water. If allowed to stand many days, this becomes a most intoxicating drink, and is much used by the Buck Indians.
Pine Drink.—The rind of 1 pineapple to a quart bottle. Pare off the rind rather thickly, place it in a stone jar, with a few cloves, and 1 qt. boiling water; let it stand 24 hours, strain and sweeten to taste, bottle and cork tightly. It is ready for use in 2-3 days.
Salmagundy.—Wash a Dutch herring, remove the flesh from the bones, and lay it in a dish; put a few slices of onion on it. Boil ½ pint vinegar, with a little allspice, ginger, and pepper; when cold, pour it over the herring.
Slip and Dip.—This is a Barbadian dish. Procure some eddoes, boil them till they will slip out of the skin readily by slightly pressing. Stew some tchad (a kind of salted herring) with butter, seasoning, &c., and eat the boiled eddoes with the stew. The two together are called “Slip and Dip,” just as with us fried salt beef and fried greens and potatoes rejoice in the name of “Bubble and Squeak.” Eddoes boiled, with butter sauce and lime juice poured over them, or with anchovy sauce, are used as vegetables.
Sorrel Drink.—This fruit grows almost wild at two seasons of the year in Demerara, and is of a very rich claret colour, and makes a delicious drink or preserve. The tops are useless, also the seeds. Sometimes the above is boiled into a thick syrup, and mixed with rum, when it is called sorrel bounce.
Sous.—Take the head of a young pig, tie it up in a very clean and thin cloth, and boil it in strong salt and water till sufficiently cooked. Then take it up and place it in an open vessel, cover it with slightly salted water. Let it remain in this for 2 hours, then take the head and remove the cloth, cut it up into delicate pieces, together with the tongue, ears, and trotters. Place all these on a large dish, with several rings of large onions, and some slices of fresh peppers; squeeze some limes till you have enough juice to fill ⅓ teacup, stir a little salt into this, fill up the cup with water, strain it, and pour over the pieces of pork; garnish with parsley, and serve cold either for breakfast or luncheon. Calf’s head treated in the same manner is equally good.
Spacha, or Conserve of Spices.—Shell and peel 25 walnuts, 1 lb. monkey nuts, a few cobnuts, and a few sweet almonds, pound them in a mortar, but not too finely; put 1½ lb. coarse brown sugar in a saucepan with 1 breakfastcupful water, let it boil, then strain through muslin, return it to the saucepan with the nuts, and 1 teaspoonful each ground cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and black pepper, and rather less of ground allspice all mixed together; boil for ½ hour, stirring constantly, thicken it slightly with 2 luncheon biscuits finely pounded, boil for another ¼ hour, then with a spoon put the mixture into custard glasses, and sprinkle a little ground cinnamon on the top of each glass. To be eaten cold.
Swizzle.—Fill a wine glass ⅔ full with brandy, and the other third with Angostura bitters; put this into a jug, with 2 wineglasses of water, and another of finely crushed ice, with a spoonful of sugar (not lump), and swizzle with a swizzle stick until a thick froth rises; then pour into glasses, and drink immediately; the above is enough for 2 men. A well-beaten egg is often added to the above, but the swizzle is then not so refreshing.
Supplementary Literature.
‘The Queen Recipes.’ London. 6d.
Mary Hooper: ‘Cookery for Invalids, persons of delicate digestion, and for children.’ London, 1883. 3s. 6d.
Mary Hooper: ‘Little Dinners; how to serve them with elegance and economy.’ London, 1875. 5s.
Mary Hooper: ‘Everyday Meals, being economic and wholesome recipes for breakfast, luncheon and supper.’ London, 1883. 5s.
H. L. S. Lear: ‘Maigre Cookery.’ London, 1884. 2s.
A. G. Payne: ‘Choice Dishes at small Cost.’ London, 1883. 3s. 6d.
Susan Anna Brown: ‘Mrs. Gilpin’s Frugalities; remnants, and 200 ways of using them.’ New York, 1883. 5s.
‘The Vegetist’s Dietary, and Manual of Vegetable Cookery.’ London, 1877. 6d.
Catherine Ryan: ‘Convalescent Cookery; a family handbook.’ London, 1881. 2s. 6d.
Lady Sarah Lindsay: ‘A Few Choice Recipes.’ London, 1883. 4s. 6d.
Susan Anna Brown: ‘The Book of 40 Puddings.’ New York, 1882. 2s. 6d.
Mrs. Matthew Clark: ‘366 Menus and 1200 Recipes of the Baron Brisse, in French and English.’ London, 1882. 5s.
Charles Elmé Francatelli: ‘The Modern Cook; a practical guide to the culinary art in all its branches; comprising, in addition to English cookery, the most approved and recherché systems of French, Italian, and German cookery, adapted as well for the largest establishments as for the use of private families.’ London, 1881. 12s.
Mrs. Henry Reeve: ‘Cookery and House-keeping; a manual of domestic economy for large and small families.’ London, 1882. 7s. 6d.
Jules Gouffé: ‘The Royal Cookery Book.’ London, 1880. 10s. 6d.
The Queen. London, weekly. 6d.
This apartment should represent in the household the important place occupied by the laboratory in a manufactory. In it should be found the necessary means of examining the qualities of the various articles consumed in the household, and of combating the evils which surround the inmates. This statement presupposes a wide knowledge on the part of the housewife, who, indeed, is often expected to know more than many professors—hence the value of a book like the present as a guide. For facility of reference, the main facts useful to the housewife in her daily duties, i.e. facts which she is particularly called upon to know outside the ordinary routine of cooking and housework, will be grouped together in sections.
Testing.—Chemistry is a valuable science, and more fully appreciated every day in its application to home matters; but the average housewife cannot be expected to qualify herself as an analyst. At the same time there are many simple tests for the purity of air, water, and foods that can easily be brought within the range of an ordinarily intelligent woman, and will be found of great service.
Air.—Apart from poisonous gases due to sewers, &c., there is a constituent of air, which, in excess, becomes poisonous also. This is carbonic acid. Wholesome air does not contain more than 5 volumes of carbonic acid in 10,000; as the proportion increases, the quality of the air deteriorates till it becomes actively poisonous. The simplest method of estimating approximately the proportion of carbonic acid present in the air of a room is by shaking up a small quantity of lime water with a certain amount of the air to be tested. The lime water is prepared by shaking slaked lime with distilled water, allowing it to settle, and then carefully drawing off the clear liquid by a siphon, so as not to disturb the sediment. It can be obtained from any druggist, but should be freshly made.
When this lime water is shaken up in a bottle of air containing carbonic acid, the acid combines with the lime, forming an insoluble powder of carbonate of lime, and when this is in sufficient quantity it makes the water turbid, or milky, so that it can be recognised by the eye. By having a series of bottles of various sizes, filling them with the air to be tested, placing in each bottle a large tablespoonful of lime water, and then shaking them vigorously for 3 or 4 minutes, so that all the air in the bottle shall be brought in contact with the lime water, and all the carbonic acid be taken up by the lime, we shall find that in one bottle of the series the turbidity is just perceptible, while in bottles of less size the fluid remains clear, and in those of greater size it is dense.
The following table is given by Dr. Smart as expressing the relation between the size of the bottle in which turbidity occurs and the volume of carbonic acid in the air:—