Part 193 (1/2)

_Average cost_,--English, in full season, 3s. 6d. to 5s. each; when scarce, 10s. to 15s.; _seasonable_, June to August. French, 2s. to 3s.

6d. each; _seasonable_, June and July. Dutch, 9d. to 2s. each; _seasonable_, July and August.

MELON.--The melon is a most delicious fruit, succulent, cool, and high-flavoured. With us, it is used only at the dessert, and is generally eaten with sugar, ginger, or pepper; but, in France, it is likewise served up at dinner as a sauce for boiled meats. It grows wild in Tartary, and has been lately found in abundance on the sandy plains of Jeypoor. It was brought originally from Asia by the Romans, and is said to have been common in England in the time of Edward III., though it is supposed that it was lost again, as well as the cuc.u.mber, during the wars of York and Lancaster. The best kind, called the _Cantaloupe_, from the name of a place near Rome where it was first cultivated in Europe, is a native of Armenia, where it grows so plentifully that a horse-load may be bought for a crown.

PRESERVED MULBERRIES.

1560. INGREDIENTS.--To 2 lbs. of fruit and 1 pint of juice allow 2-1/2 lbs. of loaf sugar.

_Mode_.--Put some of the fruit into a preserving-pan, and simmer it gently until the juice is well drawn. Strain it through a bag, measure it, and to every pint allow the above proportion of sugar and fruit. Put the sugar into the preserving-pan, moisten it with the juice, boil it up, skim well, and then add the mulberries, which should be ripe, but not soft enough to break to a pulp. Let them stand in the syrup till warm through, then set them on the fire to boil gently; when half done, turn them carefully into an earthen pan, and let them remain till the next day; then boil them as before, and when the syrup is thick, and becomes firm when cold, put the preserve into pots. In making this, care should be taken not to break the mulberries: this may be avoided by very gentle stirring, and by simmering the fruit very slowly.

_Time_.--3/4 hour to extract the juice;

1/4 hour to boil the mulberries the first time, 1/4 hour the second time.

_Seasonable_ in August and September.

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

MULBERRY.--Mulberries are esteemed for their highly aromatic flavour, and their sub-acid nature. They are considered as cooling, laxative, and generally wholesome. This fruit was very highly esteemed by the Romans, who appear to have preferred it to every other. The mulberry-tree is stated to have been introduced into this country in 1548, being first planted at Sion House, where the original trees still thrive. The planting of them was much encouraged by King James I. about 1605; and considerable attempts were made at that time to rear silkworms on a large scale for the purpose of making silk; but these endeavours have always failed, the climate being scarcely warm enough.

TO PRESERVE MORELLO CHERRIES.

1561. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of cherries allow 1-1/4 lb. of sugar, 1 gill of water.

_Mode_.--Select ripe cherries; pick off the stalks, and reject all that have any blemishes. Boil the sugar and water together for 5 minutes; put in the cherries, and boil them for 10 minutes, removing the sc.u.m as it rises. Then turn the fruit, &c. into a pan, and let it remain until the next day, when boil it all again for another 10 minutes, and, if necessary, skim well. Put the cherries into small pots; pour over them the syrup, and, when cold, cover down with oiled papers, and the tops of the jars with tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg, and keep in a dry place.

_Time_.--Altogether, 25 minutes to boil.

_Average cost_, from 8d. to 10d. per lb. pot.

_Seasonable_.--Make this in July or August.

THE CHERRY-TREE IN ROME.--The Cherry-tree was introduced into Rome by Lucullus about seventy years before the Christian era; but the capital of the world knew not at first how to appreciate this present as it deserved; for the cherry-tree was propagated so slowly in Italy, that more than a century after its introduction it was far from being generally cultivated. The Romans distinguished three princ.i.p.al species of cherries--the _Ap.r.o.nian_, of a bright red, with a firm and delicate pulp; the _Lutatian_, very black and sweet; the _Caecilian_, round and stubby, and much esteemed. The cherry embellished the third course in Rome and the second at Athens.

PRESERVED NECTARINES.

1562. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of sugar allow 1/4 pint of water; nectarines.

_Mode_.--Divide the nectarines in two, take out the stones, and make a strong syrup with sugar and water in the above proportion. Put in the nectarines, and boil them until they have thoroughly imbibed the sugar.

Keep the fruit as whole as possible, and turn it carefully into a pan.

The next day boil it again for a few minutes, take out the nectarines, put them into jars, boil the syrup quickly for 5 minutes, pour it over the fruit, and, when cold, cover the preserve down. The syrup and preserve must be carefully skimmed, or it will not be clear.

_Time_.--10 minutes to boil the sugar and water; 20 minutes to boil the fruit the first time, 10 minutes the second time; 5 minutes to boil the syrup.