Part 54 (1/2)

_Mode_.--Grate the horseradish, and mix it well with the sugar, salt, pepper, and mustard; moisten it with sufficient vinegar to give it the consistency of cream, and serve in a tureen: 3 or 4 tablespoonfuls of cream added to the above, very much improve the appearance and flavour of this sauce. To heat it to serve with hot roast beef, put it in a bain marie or a jar, which place in a saucepan of boiling water; make it hot, but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle.

_Note_.--This sauce is a great improvement on the old-fas.h.i.+oned way of serving cold-sc.r.a.ped horseradish with hot roast beef. The mixing of the cold vinegar with the warm gravy cools and spoils everything on the plate. Of course, with cold meat, the sauce should be served cold.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HORSERADISH.]

THE HORSERADISH.--This has been, for many years, a favourite accompaniment of roast beef, and is a native of England. It grows wild in wet ground, but has long been cultivated in the garden, and is, occasionally, used in winter salads and in sauces. On account of the great volatility of its oil, it should never be preserved by drying, but should be kept moist by being buried in sand. So rapidly does its volatile oil evaporate, that even when sc.r.a.ped for the table, it almost immediately spoils by exposure to the air.

HORSERADISH VINEGAR.

448. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of sc.r.a.ped horseradish, 1 oz. of minced shalot, 1 drachm of cayenne, 1 quart of vinegar.

_Mode_.--Put all the ingredients into a bottle, which shake well every day for a fortnight. When it is thoroughly steeped, strain and bottle, and it will be fit for use immediately. This will be found an agreeable relish to cold beef, &c.

_Seasonable_.--This vinegar should be made either in October or November, as horseradish is then in its highest perfection.

INDIAN CURRY-POWDER, founded on Dr. Kitchener's Recipe.

449. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of coriander-seed, 1/4 lb. of turmeric, 2 oz.

of cinnamon-seed, 1/2 oz. of cayenne, 1 oz. of mustard, 1 oz. of ground ginger, 1/2 ounce of allspice, 2 oz. of fenugreek-seed.

_Mode_.--Put all the ingredients in a cool oven, where they should remain one night; then pound them in a mortar, rub them through a sieve, and mix thoroughly together; keep the powder in a bottle, from which the air should be completely excluded.

_Note_.--We have given this recipe for curry-powder, as some persons prefer to make it at home; but that purchased at any respectable shop is, generally speaking, far superior, and, taking all things into consideration, very frequently more economical.

INDIAN MUSTARD, an excellent Relish to Bread and b.u.t.ter, or any cold Meat.

450. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of the best mustard, 1/4 lb. of flour, 1/2 oz. of salt, 4 shalots, 4 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 4 tablespoonfuls of ketchup, 1/4 bottle of anchovy sauce.

_Mode_.--Put the mustard, flour, and salt into a basin, and make them into a stiff paste with boiling water. Boil the shalots with the vinegar, ketchup, and anchovy sauce, for 10 minutes, and pour the whole, _boiling_, over the mixture in the basin; stir well, and reduce it to a proper thickness; put it into a bottle, with a bruised shalot at the bottom, and store away for use. This makes an excellent relish, and if properly prepared will keep for years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MUSTARD.]

MUSTARD.--Before the year 1729, mustard was not known at English tables. About that time an old woman, of the name of Clements, residing in Durham, began to grind the seed in a mill, and to pa.s.s the flour through several processes necessary to free the seed from its husks. She kept her secret for many years to herself, during which she sold large quant.i.ties of mustard throughout the country, but especially in London. Here it was introduced to the royal table, when it received the approval of George I. From the circ.u.mstance of Mrs. Clements being a resident at Durham, it obtained the name of Durham mustard. In the county of that name it is still princ.i.p.ally cultivated, and the plant is remarkable for the rapidity of its growth. It is the best stimulant employed to impart strength to the digestive organs, and even in its previously coa.r.s.ely-pounded state, had a high reputation with our ancestors.

INDIAN PICKLE (very Superior).

451. INGREDIENTS.--To each gallon of vinegar allow 6 cloves of garlic, 12 shalots, 2 sticks of sliced horseradish, 1/4 lb. of bruised ginger, 2 oz. of whole black pepper, 1 oz. of long pepper, 1 oz. of allspice, 12 cloves, 1/4 oz. of cayenne, 2 oz. of mustard-seed, 1/4 lb. of mustard, 1 oz. of turmeric; a white cabbage, cauliflowers, radish-pods, French beans, gherkins, small round pickling-onions, nasturtiums, capsic.u.ms, chilies, &c.

_Mode_.--Cut the cabbage, which must be hard and white, into slices, and the cauliflowers into small branches; sprinkle salt over them in a large dish, and let them remain two days; then dry them, and put them into a very large jar, with garlic, shalots, horseradish, ginger, pepper, allspice, and cloves, in the above proportions. Boil sufficient vinegar to cover them, which pour over, and, when cold, cover up to keep them free from dust. As the other things for the pickle ripen at different times, they may be added as they are ready: these will be radish-pods, French beans, gherkins, small onions, nasturtiums, capsic.u.ms, chilies, &c. &c. As these are procured, they must, first of all, be washed in a little cold vinegar, wiped, and then simply added to the other ingredients in the large jar, only taking care that they are _covered_ by the vinegar. If more vinegar should be wanted to add to the pickle, do not omit first to boil it before adding it to the rest. When you have collected all the things you require, turn all out in a large pan, and thoroughly mix them. Now put the mixed vegetables into smaller jars, without any of the vinegar; then boil the vinegar again, adding as much more as will be required to fill the different jars, and also cayenne, mustard-seed, turmeric, and mustard, which must be well mixed with a little cold vinegar, allowing the quant.i.ties named above to each gallon of vinegar. Pour the vinegar, boiling hot, over the pickle, and when cold, tie down with a bladder. If the pickle is wanted for immediate use, the vinegar should be boiled twice more, but the better way is to make it during one season for use during the next. It will keep for years, if care is taken that the vegetables are quite covered by the vinegar.

This recipe was taken from the directions of a lady whose pickle was always p.r.o.nounced excellent by all who tasted it, and who has, for many years, exactly followed the recipe given above.

__Note_.--For small families, perhaps the above quant.i.ty of pickle will be considered too large; but this may be decreased at pleasure, taking care to properly proportion the various ingredients.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INDIA PICKLE.]

KEEPING PICKLES.--Nothing shows more, perhaps, the difference between a tidy thrifty housewife and a lady to whom these desirable epithets may not honestly be applied, than the appearance of their respective store-closets. The former is able, the moment anything; is wanted, to put her hand on it at once; no time is lost, no vexation incurred, no dish spoilt for the want of ”just little something,”--the latter, on the contrary, hunts all over her cupboard for the ketchup the cook requires, or the pickle the husband thinks he should like a little of with his cold roast beef or mutton-chop, and vainly seeks for the Embden groats, or arrowroot, to make one of her little boys some gruel. One plan, then, we strenuously advise all who do not follow, to begin at once, and that is, to label all their various pickles and store sauces, in the same way as the cut here shows. It will occupy a little time at first, but there will be economy of it in the long run.

VINEGAR.--This term is derived from the two French words _vin aigre_, 'sour wine,' and should, therefore, be strictly applied to that which is made only from wine. As the acid is the same, however it is procured, that made from ale also takes the same name. Nearly all ancient nations were acquainted with the use of vinegar. We learn in _Ruth_, that the reapers in the East soaked their bread in it to freshen it. The Romans kept large quant.i.ties of it in their cellars, using it, to a great extent, in their seasonings and sauces. This people attributed very beneficial qualities to it, as it was supposed to be digestive, antibilious, and antis...o...b..tic, as well as refres.h.i.+ng.