Part 18 (2/2)

The manner in which hasty-pudding is eaten with b.u.t.ter and sugar, or b.u.t.ter and mola.s.ses, in America, is as follows: The hasty-pudding being spread out equally upon a plate, while hot, an excavation is made in the middle of it, with a spoon, into which excavation a piece of b.u.t.ter, as large as a nutmeg, is put; and upon it, a spoonful of brown sugar, or more commonly of mola.s.ses.-- The b.u.t.ter being soon melted by the heat of the pudding, mixes with the sugar, or mola.s.ses, and forms a sauce, which, being confined in the excavation made for it, occupies the middle of the plate.--The pudding is then eaten with a spoon, each spoonful of it being dipt into the sauce before it is carried to the mouth; care being had in taking it up, to begin on the outside, or near the brim of the plate, and to approach the center by regular advances, in order not to demolish too soon the excavation which forms the reservoir for the sauce.

If I am prolix in these descriptions, my reader must excuse me; for persuaded as I am that the action of Food upon the palate, and consequently the pleasure of eating, depends very much indeed upon the MANNER in which the Food is applied to the organs of taste, I have thought it necessary to mention, and even to ill.u.s.trate in the clearest manner, every circ.u.mstance which appeared to me to have influence in producing those important effects.

In the case in question, as it is the sauce alone which gives taste and palatableness to the Food, and consequently is the cause of the pleasure enjoyed in eating it, the importance of applying, or using it, in such a manner as to produce the greatest and most durable effect possible on the organs of taste, is quite evident; and in the manner of eating this Food which has here been described and recommended, the small quant.i.ty of sauce used, (and the quant.i.ty must be small, as it is the expensive article,) is certainly applied to the palate more immediately;-- by a greater surface;--and in a state of greater condensation;-- and consequently acts upon it more powerfully;--and continues to act upon it for a greater length of time, than it could well be made to do when used in any other way.--Were it more intimately mixed with the pudding, for instance, instead of being merely applied to its external surface, its action would certainly be much less powerful; and were it poured over the pudding, or was proper care not taken to keep it confined in the little excavation or reservoir made in the midst of the pudding to contain it, much of it would attach itself and adhere to the surface of the plate, and be lost.

Hasty-pudding has this in particular to recommend it;--and which renders it singularly useful as Food for poor families,--that when more of it is made at once than is immediately wanted, what remains may be preserved good for several days, and a number of very palatable dishes may be made of it.--It may be cut in thin slice, and toasted before the fire, or on a gridiron, and eaten instead of bread, either in milk, or in any kind of soup or pottage; or with any other kind of Food with which bread is commonly eaten; or it may be eaten cold, without any preparation, with a warm sauce made of b.u.t.ter, mola.s.ses, or sugar, and a little vinegar.--In this last-mentioned way of eating it, it is quite as palatable, and I believe more wholesome, than when eaten warm; that is to say, when it is first made.--It may likewise be put cold, without any preparation, into hot milk; and this mixture is by no means unpalatable, particularly if it be suffered to remain in the milk till it is warmed throughout, or if it be boiled in the milk for a few moments.

A favourite dish in America, and a very good one, is made of cold boiled cabbage chopped fine, with a small quant.i.ty of cold boiled beef, and slices of cold hasty-pudding, all fried together in b.u.t.ter or hog's lard.

Though hasty-puddings are commonly made of Indian meal, yet it is by no means uncommon to make them of equal parts of Indian, and of rye meal;--and they are sometimes made of rye meal alone; or of rye meal and wheat flour mixed.

To give a satisfactory idea of the expence of preparing hasty-puddings in this country, (England,) and of feeding the Poor with them, I made the following experiment:--About 2 pints of water, which weighed just 2 lb. Avoirdupois, were put over the fire in a saucepan of a proper size, and 58 grains in weight or 1/120 of a pound of salt being added, the water was made to boil.--During the time that is was heating, small quant.i.ties of Indian meal were stirred into it, and care was taken, by moving the water briskly about, with a wooden spoon, to prevent the meal from being formed into lumps; and as often as any lumps were observed, they were carefully broken with the spoon;--the boiling was then continued half an hour, and during this time the pudding was continually stirred about with the wooden spoon, and so much more meal was added as was found necessary to bring the pudding to be of the proper consistency.

This being done, it was taken from the fire and weighed, and was found to weigh just 1 lb. 11 1/2 oz.--Upon weighing the meal which remained, (the quant.i.ty first provided having been exactly determined by weight in the beginning of the experiment,) it was found that just HALF A POUND of meal had been used.

From the result of this experiment it appears, that for each pound of Indian meal employed in making hasty-pudding, we may reckon 3 lb. 9 oz. of the pudding.--And expence of providing this kind of Food, or the cost of it by the pound, at the present high price of grain in this country, may be seen by the following computation:

L. s. d.

Half a pound of Indian meal, (the quant.i.ty) ]

used in the foregoing experiment,) at 2d ]

a pound or 7s. 6d. a bushel for the corn, ]... 0 0 1 (the price stated in the report of the ]

Board of Agriculture of the 10th of ]

November 1795, so often referred to,) costs]

58 grains or 1/120 of a pound of salt, at ]

2d. per pound ]... 0 0 0 1/60 ------------ Total, 0 0 1 1/60

Now, as the quant.i.ty of pudding prepared with these ingredients was 1 lb. 11 1/2 oz. and the cost of the ingredients amounted to ONE PENNY AND ONE SIXTIETH OF A PENNY, this gives for the cost of one pound of hasty-pudding 71/120 of a penny, or 2 1/3 farthings, very nearly.--It must however be remembered that the Indian Corn is here reckoned at a very exorbitant price indeed[15].

But before it can be determined what the expence will be of feeding the Poor with this kind of Food, it will be necessary to ascertain how much of it will be required to give a comfortable meal to one person; and how much the expence will be of providing the sauce for that quant.i.ty of pudding.--To determine these two points with some degree of precision, I made the following experiment:-- Having taken my breakfast, consisting of two dishes of coffee, with cream, and a dry toast, at my usual hour of breakfasting, (nine o'clock in the morning,) and having fasted from that time till five o'clock in the afternoon, I then dined upon my hasty-pudding, with the American sauce already described, and I found, after my appet.i.te for Food was perfectly satisfied, and I felt that I had made a comfortable dinner, that I had eaten just 1 lb. 1 1/2 oz. of the pudding; and the ingredients, of which the sauce which was eaten with it was composed, were half an ounce of b.u.t.ter; three quarters of an ounce of mola.s.ses; and 21 grains or 1/342 of a pint of vinegar.

The cost of this dinner may be seen by the following computation:

For the Pudding Farthings.

1 lb. 1 1/2 oz. of hasty-pudding, at 2 1/3 farthings a pound ... ... ... ... 2 1/2 ------ For the Sauce

Half an ounce of b.u.t.ter, at 10d. per pound 1 1/4 Three quarters of an ounce of mola.s.ses, at 6d. per pound ... ... ... ... 1 1/352 of a pint of vinegar, at 2s 8d.

the gallon ... ... ... ... ... ... 0 1/16 ------ Total for the Sauce, 2 5/16 farthings.

Sum total of expences for this dinner, for the pudding and its sauce... ... ... 4 13/16 farthings.

Or something less than one penny farthing.

I believe it would not be easy to provide a dinner in London, at this time, when provisions of all kinds are so dear, equally grateful to the palate and satisfying to the cravings of hunger, at a smaller expence.--And that this meal was sufficient for all the purposes of nourishment appears from hence, that though I took my usual exercise, and did not sup after it, I neither felt any particular faintness, nor any unusual degree of appet.i.te for my breakfast next morning.

I have been the more particular in my account of this experiment, to show in what manner experiments of this kind ought, in my opinion, to be conducted;--and also to induce others to engage in these most useful investigations.

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