Part 152 (1/2)

_Seasonable_ in June, July, and August.

_Note_.--A few currants added to the cherries will be found to impart a nice piquant taste to them.

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

CHERRIES.--According to Lucullus, the cherry-tree was known in Asia in the year of Rome 680. Seventy different species of cherries, wild and cultivated, exist, which are distinguishable from each other by the difference of their form, size, and colour. The French distil from cherries a liqueur Darned _kirsch-waser_ (_eau de cerises_); the Italians prepare, from a cherry called marusca, the liqueur named _marasquin_, sweeter and more agreeable than the former. The most wholesome cherries have a tender and delicate skin; those with a hard skin should be very carefully masticated. Sweetmeats, syrups, tarts, entremets, &c., of cherries, are universally approved.

COLD PUDDING.

1262. INGREDIENTS.--4 eggs, 1 pint of milk, sugar to taste, a little grated lemon-rind, 2 oz. of raisins, 4 tablespoonfuls of marmalade, a few slices of sponge cake.

_Mode_.--Sweeten the milk with lump sugar, add a little grated lemon-rind, and stir to this the eggs, which should be well whisked; line a b.u.t.tered mould with the raisins, stoned and cut in half; spread the slices of cake with the marmalade, and place them in the mould; then pour in the custard, tie the pudding down with paper and a cloth, and boil gently for 1 hour: when cold, turn it out, and serve.

_Time_.--1 hour. _Average cost_, 1s. 1d.

_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

COLLEGE PUDDINGS.

1263. INGREDIENTS.--1 pint of bread crumbs, 6 oz. of finely-chopped suet, 1/4 lb. of currants, a few thin slices of candied peel, 3 oz. of sugar, 1/4 nutmeg, 3 eggs, 4 tablespoonfuls of brandy.

_Mode_.--Put the bread crumbs into a basin; add the suet, currants, candied peel, sugar, and nutmeg, grated, and stir these ingredients until they are thoroughly mixed. Beat up the eggs, moisten the pudding with these, and put in the brandy; beat well for a few minutes, then form the mixture into round b.a.l.l.s or egg-shaped pieces; fry these in hot b.u.t.ter or lard, letting them stew in it until thoroughly done, and turn them two or three times, till of a fine light brown; drain them on a piece of blotting-paper before the fire; dish, and serve with wine sauce.

_Time_.--15 to 20 minutes. _Average cost_, 1s.

_Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 puddings. _Seasonable_ at any time.

CURRANT DUMPLINGS.

1264. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of flour, 6 oz. of suet, 1/2 lb. of currants, rather more than 1/2 pint of water.

_Mode_.--Chop the suet finely, mix it with the flour, and add the currants, which should be nicely washed, picked, and dried; mix the whole to a limp paste with the water (if wanted very nice, use milk); divide it into 7 or 8 dumplings; tie them in cloths, and boil for 1-1/4 hour. They may be boiled without a cloth: they should then be made into round b.a.l.l.s, and dropped into boiling water, and should be moved about at first, to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.

Serve with a cut lemon, cold b.u.t.ter, and sifted sugar.

_Time_.--In a cloth, 1-1/4 hour; without, 3/4 hour.

_Average cost_, 9 d.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ZANTE CURRANTS.]

ZANTE CURRANTS.--The dried fruit which goes by the name of currants in grocers' shops is not a currant really, but a small kind of grape, chiefly cultivated in the Morea and the Ionian Islands, Corfu, Zante, &c. Those of Zante are cultivated in an immense plain, under the shelter of mountains, on the sh.o.r.e of the island, where the sun has great power, and brings them to maturity. When gathered and dried by the sun and air, on mats, they are conveyed to magazines, heaped together, and left to cake, until ready for s.h.i.+pping. They are then dug out by iron crowbars, trodden into casks, and exported. The fertile vale of ”Zante the woody” produces about 9,000,000 lbs. of currants annually. In cakes and puddings this delicious little grape is most extensively used; in fact, we could not make a plum pudding without the currant.

BOILED CURRANT PUDDING.