LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
LETTERS
TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
BY
MARIE HANSEN-TAYLOR
K
(MRS. BAYARD TAYLOR)
" And true philosophers, methinks,
Who love all sorts of natural beauties,
Should love good victuals and good drinks."
THACKERAY
LONDON
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, & COMPANY
Limited
FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C,
1892
AGRIC.
LIBRARY
Copyright, 1892, by Charles Scribner's Sons,
for the United States of America.
Printed by Berwick & Smith,
Boston, Masa., TJ.S.A.
HENRY MORSE
DEDICATED
TO
LILIAN BAYARD TAYLOR KILIANI
512525
CONTENTS
LETTER I
PAGE
Introductory How to choose meat Meat must be kept until fit
for use Length of time necessary for keeping meat Impor-
tance of the kitchen fire I
LETTER II
What Liebig did for the advance of cookery On the subject of
economy About marketing Food is needed to counteract
the daily waste of the human body The chemistry of food
The daily rations necessary Nutritive value of food-materials
C. Voit's estimate of a full ration We eat too much meat. . 6
LETTER III
How to boil meat and make soup How to make a broth preserving
all the nutrients of meat Recipe for ordinary soup-liquor How
to make a good soup, and save the meat for use Liebig's way of
using his meat extract for soup Amber-colored broth Occa-
sional additions to soup 14
LETTER IV
About soup in general Rumford soup Soups divided into three
classes Soups made of cereals Accessories to soups 20
LETTER V
Vegetable soups Water soups Soups of meat puree Sweetbread
and calf s brains soup Two ancient recipes 30
vii
Vlll CONTENTS
LETTER VI
PAGE
About salting food The qualities of pure salt Salt assists diges-
tion Salt will raise the temperature of boiling water The use,
value, and abuse of spices Buy spices and herbs whole How
to preserve herbs How to keep lemon and orange peels
Grades of nourishment in meats, and their different food-values
The juices of meat must be kept intact How to broil a beef-
steak, showing the principle of the art of cooking meat How to
roast beef How to stew or braise meat Recipe Time required
for roasting other kinds of meat Respective value of different
cuts of beef Filet of beef & la jardiniere What to do with
remnants of beef Beef en matelote 40
LETTER VII
Waste material in food-matters, and loss of weight in cooking Recipe
for duck a la Portiigaise About veal Recipes About mutton
Recipes 49
LETTER VIII
General remarks about pork Roast pork with Cumberland sauce
Other recipes About ham A mustard and a horseradish
sauce, both cold How to boil ham and beef tongue, and what to
do with the remnants About poultry and how to buy How to
cook chickens and game Other recipes How to fry parsley
What to do with remnants of poultry Stewed turkey Devilled
drumsticks Duck Pigeons Stuffings for poultry 59
LETTER IX
The usefulness of ragotits Some recipes How to make sauces
Recipes for sauces Ragout in pastry shell ; in ring of crou-
tons; in rice-ring Three cold sauces 69
LETTER X
Difference between frying and saztte'mg How to fry How to make
croquettes Recipe of a batter About gelatine, and the nutri-
tive value of gelatinous substances What these substances are
The uses of meat-jelly Recipes Meat jellies for invalids.. 76
CONTENTS IX
LETTER XI
PAGE
About rice, and how to cook it The pilaff Various recipes for it
Risotto Recipes for baked rice About macaroni, and how to
boil it Recipes , 84
LETTER XII
Recipe for stufato a V Italienne with macaroni Other recipes for
macaroni About mushrooms, and how to cook them About
truffles 91
LETTER XIII
The value of vegetables in nutrition About potatoes How to boil,
steam, and bake them Mashed potatoes Various recipes 98
LETTER XIV
Food-values of vegetables Green peas A dish of mixed vegetables
String-beans Lima beans Kohlrabi Spinach Sorrell
Cauliflower Asparagus Brussels sprouts Cabbage Savoy
cabbage Red cabbage 106
LETTER XV
Carrots Turnips Salsify Celery root Parsnips Root-vegeta-
bles mixed Beets Sweet potatoes Corn Egg-plant Squash
Tomatoes Onions Chestnuts Macedoine of vegetables. . . 1 18
LETTER XVI
Food-values of fish How to cook fish Court-bouillon for boiling
fish Striped bass Sauce hollandaise for fish Two recipes for
pike Cod and haddock Mustard sauce for fish Salmon
Parsley sauce Sauce oenoise Sauce remoulade Flounder
a la Joinville How to broil fish Fish steak sauted Mack-
erel Bloaters How to use remnants of fish Bouille-abaisse
Matelote Fish in jelly 128
CONTENTS
LETTER XVII
PAGE
Cured cod, and how to treat it Codfish balls Oysters, and the
different ways of cooking them Oyster sauce How to cook
clams Clam chowder How to boil a lobster Various recipes
for lobster Lobster sauce Lobster butter Frogs' legs 139
LETTER XVIII
General remarks about salads How to prepare lettuce, and to make
a French dressing About dressing herb salads More substan-
tial salad dressings Three different mayonnaise dressings
Combinations in salads How to pickle beets Cabbage salads
Rules to follow for salads of boiled vegetables An excellent
combination salad, and how to treat cucumbers 147
LETTER XIX
Various ways of making potato salad A Portuguese salad Italian
salad An appetizer Venetian fish salad Salmon salad
Lobster salad Salad of boiled vegetables Salad a la Nostiz
A Dumas salad Chicken salad Other meat salads Tomato
salads 157
LETTER XX
Food-value of eggs Ways of cooking eggs, and how to do it
How to make omelets Stirred eggs Roman fritata Pan-
cakes Pancakes filled with meat Farcied eggs About cheese
Some recipes 164
LETTER XXI
Valuation of food-matters for light desserts The most economical
dessert Sweet pancakes Desserts served in cups Recipe for
Mount Blanc Snow crime Raspberry foam Rodgrod
Whipped cream; how to make it, and its uses Russian creme
Chocolate bavaroise How to use gelatine Russian rice
Macedoine of fruit Apple pudding White of egg pudding
Custard pudding Lemon pudding Rice pudding Wine
sauce Fruit sauces Claret sauce 1 73
CONTENTS XI
LETTER XXII
PAGE
Rules for baking cake German drop cakes Israel cake Jenny
Lind cake Lightning cake Sponge cake Sand cake Choc-
olate cake Vienna cake Two nice cake fillings Cake icings
and ornamenting Small cakes Chocolate tarts Portuguese
drop cakes Sugar wafers Macaroons Filet de vent Kisses
Meringues Bouchees Candied fruit and orange peel 182
LETTER XXIII
Rules for putting up stores of preserves Sour cherries and black-
hearts put up air-tight Jam of raspberries and blackberries
Raspberry sirup Jellies of raspberries, blackberries, and currants
How to put up peaches Brandy peaches Quinces Two
kinds of pickled cucumbers Pickled cabbage Sweet pickles
Tomato catsup Tarragon vinegar 192
LETTER XXIV
Suggestions for an evening entertainment Pickled oysters Sand-
wiches, and how to make them Three recipes for mixed butter
Salted almonds Tea punch Cardinal punch Snow punch
Ambrosia Almond milk Four menus for luncheons Four
menus for dinners , 201
INDEX.. . 211
LETTERS : TO'k-' : V6tJ^'G HOUSEKEEPER
LETTER I
'L'utile, pour moi, c'est le beau.
CHARLES JOBEY.
SO you are going to begin housekeeping? And as I prom-
ised you a friend's advice whenever this event should
occur, I am ready to keep my promise. With the
J. . Introductory.
exception that I have the advantage over you of
being older, and therefore, of course, so much the wiser, our
cases are almost parallel. We have not been raised in luxury ;
we both have married worthy men, who have to use their
brains and energy to provide for bread and butter, and, since
our natures " cry for it," a great deal more in addition. Your
husband like mine furnishes the means for a modest but com-
fortable living, and you and I are bound in return to see that
the waste of force and brain-power he is obliged to undergo is
day by day restored, and his vitality kept unimpaired by those
chemicals of which our mortal frame is made up, and which
we call food.
Now do not think that what you have undertaken is mere
play. It is, on the contrary, a tolerably severe task and a
great pleasure at the same time when you see that your efforts
are succeeding.
Do you believe that a morning's work can be done comfort-
ably on a gruel breakfast? Do you think a stomach would not
rebel against a continued diet of roast beef and chops ? If you
wish your husband to be nervously debilitated by and by, dis-
heartened and the reverse of cheerful, give him breakfasts with-
i
2 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
out substance and dinners without variety. Be they cooked as
well as you please, that will not tend to mend matters in the long
run.
Your task being not eay; I am l goitig-tb;be a severe teacher.
I require of you, my pupil, from the start 'that, being a house-
keeper, you devote each dy;sr>m;of:yDur best thinking to
the bill of fare and the meals to be served. ' I do not think it
waste of time. Try it, and you will feel satisfied with the
result. With all that science and experience contribute nowa-
days, cooking is more of an art than ever, for an art it has
been considered ever since people became civilized. Nor is
it a peculiarly feminine occupation. There have been male
cooks always, some of them famous, as we know, and there
are not a few among men of genius and distinction who have
given more or less attention to culinary accomplishments. In
Plato's opinion it brought no dishonor to a philosopher in case
of necessity to cook his own meal ; and Baronius, a cardinal
and learned theologian of the Middle Ages, took pride in the
preparation of meals, writing over his mantelpiece with his
own hand : " Caesar Baronius, permanent cook." Richelieu,
also, and Mazarin, his successor, looked closely into the details
of their cuisines. Rousseau was an expert in cooking eggs in
various styles, while Lamartine, the poet, was taught by his
tutor, the Abbe" Dumont, to cook a plain dinner. Our own
countryman, Rumford, who was made a count in Germany,
invented the soup which is called by his name, benefiting
thereby the poorer classes of the people. And who has not
heard of the amiable and refined Brillat-Savarin ? You must
acknowledge, my friend, that we have a galaxy of renowed ex-
amples before us, whom to follow we need not be ashamed.
But, if an art, cooking is also a study, and my advice would be
to make it a study first and an art afterward. This implies that
you are not to take what I say, or what the cook-books (a whole
host of them) tell you, according to the letter, but that you will
have to catch the spirit of it all, and do as it directs. In this
way the intelligent way you will become the inventor, the
true artist, the benefactor.
LETTER I 3
This is my first injunction : To provide for your meals buy
the best of materials; it is the cheapest, because it goes
furthest in nourishing. This is especially true of the most
important of all food, meat; inasmuch as the flesh of all
the higher animals furnishing food contains nearly all the sub-
stances of which the human frame is made up. For this reason
you must know how to distinguish between good and bad meat.
In giving you the requisite indications I follow Dr. Wiel, whose
" Diaetetisches Kochbuch " has been my teacher in many
respects : i, Meat when of a pale red color shows HOW to choose
that the animal had been ailing; 2, when of a meat -
deep purple that it died (was not slaughtered) ; 3, when
healthy and well-fed the color is of a dark pink ingrained with
white, which is fat ; 4, the fat of a healthy animal is of a pure
white, and hard ; 5, the fat of a sickly one is of a yellowish white,
and soft and watery to the touch. It follows that you have
to do your own marketing yourself.
The two principal ingredients of the meat are the muscular
fibre and the juice. In the latter is contained the albumen,
which is of so much value in restoring us from day to day.
The fibre, however, determines the relative nutritive properties
of the meat. In this respect well-fed beef is highest in rank.
And of the beef again it is the loin and sirloin which are the most
nutritious parts as well as the easiest to digest. The poorest
pieces are the flank, neck, and shank. Their nutritive value is
about ten times less than that of the loin, sirloin, rib piece,
and rump. The remaining parts are inferior to the latter and
superior to the former ; they are of more or less relative value ;
in the hands of an intelligent cook, however, the least nutritive
piece even may be turned into good and palatable food. You
must learn that even the best piece of meat is not fit for roast-
ing or stewing unless it has been kept for some
. r 11 m -i Meat must be
time alter slaughtering, lo give it the necessary kept tin fit for
tenderness it has to pass through a certain pro-
cess, which in reality is the first degree of decomposition. In
this way an acid the lactic acid is developed, which tends
to soften the fibre otherwise tough. This process, however,
4 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
can take place only with meat kept at a temperature above
freezing-point. If meat is frozen it has to be thawed gradually
and then put to use at once, or it will soon be beyond the
proper stage of ferment. The time necessary for the right
sort of decomposition to set in is longer or shorter according
to the different kinds of meat and the seasons. In summer
beef is ready for use in one or two days, while in
The time neces- * '
sary for keeping winter it takes about a week. Veal and lamb
take two days in summer, and four to six in
winter; mutton, one to two in summer, and three to six in
winter ; venison, four in summer, and ten to twelve in winter ;
poultry, one to two days in summer, and four days at least in
winter ; game, from one to twelve days. If at any time you
should be obliged to use a piece of meat while it is still too
fresh, you may remedy the case by pouring over it some
boiling hot vinegar, then wiping it dry with a clean towel
before putting it into your pan.
This leads me to the kitchen fire, the importance of which is
so little appreciated by our kitchen maids. The best of mate-
. importance of rial is apt to be spoiled and made tasteless by
the kitchen fire. e j t h er too hot or too slow a fire. A well-regu-
lated fire is absolutely necessary in preparing good and nutri-
tious food. It ought to be made a special study by each house-
keeper, who, in turn, ought to instruct her servant. It is a
known fact that water, after getting to the boiling point /. <?.
showing an agitated surface does not increase in temperature.
As soon as this point is reached a slackening fire will do the
same service as a lively one. The lesson to be derived from
this is one of economy. The importance of the right sort of
fire in preparing different kinds of food was known in ancient
times. Some curious works have come down to us written
by Greek cooks of old. One of them says : " You must
see to the strong, the medium, and the slow fire according
to the dishes you wish to prepare " ; and then he adds :
" Nor is he the genuine cook who handles the pan, swings
the ladle or the meat-knife, or who serves up a delicacy;
but he it is who knows to keep the right measure, and
LETTER I 5
gives the necessary temperature to each dish of food he
cooks."
Well, we have made a beginning of what we have to learn.
We will proceed step by step, until we reach the top of the
ladder, only to find that there is no end to the pursuit of knowl-
edge even in the matter of cooking.
LETTER II
Je crois qu'il est tres bon de r6v61er aux hommes
Les secrets de se bien rfourrir.
CHARLES JOBEY.
YOU never had the benefit of a cooking-school? Neither
had I. By-the-bye, I found out the other day that cooking-
schools are by no means a modern institution ; for during the
reign of Louis XIV. of France Madame de Sable" distinguished
herself among the court ladies all dabbling in cookery by
establishing a cooking-school, where the Duke of Larochefou-
cauld was counted one of her best pupils.
I was going to say that although our cooking-schools are ex-
cellent, and are doing a great deal of good, a woman of common
intelligence and good sense may never come near one, and yet
become a good cook and housekeeper by the grace of her own
ingenuity. Necessity and love of home combining, she will
soon make herself acquainted with the first rudiments of cook-
ing, and then her own experiences will teach her more and more.
It is astonishing how many cook-books have been published of
every size and kind. Still, many as there are, new and old,
I think there is room for more of them ; for cooking is gradually
passing into a new phase by the help of modern chemistry. It
L iebi did was ^iebig who first called public attention to the
for the advance chemical process performed in every kitchen for
the purpose of restoring the daily waste of the
human body ; who taught us in his " Chemische Briefe " how to
roast meat, and why the piece of meat which has furnished us
with a good broth is devoid of nutriment. Others have followed
him, and intelligent housekeepers are beginning to see that they
have to study in order to become adequate providers for their
families. In my opinion the cook-books of the future will have
6
LETTER II 7
to take cognizance of the practical side of chemistry as demon-
strated by modern scholars.
I touched on the subject of economy in my last in speaking
of the kitchen fire, and now mean to impress upon O n the subject
your mind that in this word "economy," when ofeconom y-
coupled with intelligence, you have the key to the secret how
to have a better table with restricted means than many a
family paying large sums for no end of provisions. In the first
place, it is absolutely wrong to be wasteful, and in the second
place it is not ladylike to be so. This may comfort you when
your servant, as ignorant persons are apt to do, will confound
in her mind meanness with economy. Do not allow yourself to
be troubled in the least by such a doubt on her part, for it is a
matter of false pride to be influenced thus as long as you know
better. Nor will you be able to carry out the principle of
economy without making your servant your assistant. You will
have to teach her imperatively that you will allow no waste of
any kind that no particle of food is to be thrown Some ways of
away without your orders. Food, if left over, be it economizing.
ever so small in quantity, is to be put on clean platters, and set
away for your inspection next day. In this way, for instance, I
have often made of little remnants of different kinds of cooked
food the most palatable of soups. Bones left over, cooked or
not, ought to be cracked, and added to the contents of the soup-
kettle. The superfluous fat of a roast is better trimmed off
when raw, and prepared for future use by cutting it in squares,
and rendering or " trying it out." Have the clean drippings
poured through a fine sieve into a bowl, and set away in a cool
place. The fat left after the meat has been served may be ap-
propriated to the same purpose, but it is inferior in quality.
The drippings of different kinds of meat are better kept sepa-
rate. Mutton drippings are only fit to use when fresh. If
cooked up with a slice of onion, they are delicious to fry pota-
toes with. The fat taken from a chicken and rendered is nearly
as good as butter for cooking purposes.
I want also to call your attention to the bread-box. Pieces
will accumulate in it, and may be used up in different ways the
8 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
nice pieces for various dishes, of which later ; the odds and ends
to dry in the oven, and roll into crumbs for breading chops, etc.
Parsley, celery leaves and stalks, pieces of raw carrot left
over, may be dried, and kept each separate for future use.
These are merely hints on which to enlarge for yourself.
In marketing, look out for the best material. I said before
that it is the cheapest, because it contains the most nutriment ;
therefore, it goes the furthest to satisfy the appetite.
About marketing. * ,
When you buy you should well calculate your needs
as to quantity. When brought home, all articles not for imme-
diate use should be taken care of at once and stored in proper
places. The next thing is to use your marketing in such a way
as to make the most of it. Even the best materials will be in-
sufficient to nourish if not put to their proper uses. To attain
this, each article of food has to be prepared in such a way as
to preserve intact the nutriments contained in it as much as
The way to pre- possible, and care has also to be taken to bring
pare food. out j ts particular flavor ; this makes food palatable
and favors digestion. Too much heat will dry up the juiciest
of meat. The wrong kind of spice, or too much of it, will kill
the delicate flavor of animal or vegetable food, and rob it of its
wholesome nature.
Nor is it a matter of indifference what kind of food you pro-
vide, and in what way you combine the different kinds. There
Food is needed * s a certam amount of waste going on in our
to counteract bodies day by day, which must be replaced by the
the daily waste . J J , . , ,
of the human same elements which have been spent, and which
are contained in the foods provided by nature.
These elements, and the manner in which they are distributed
in our foods, are a matter for you to study, in order to become
the judicious provider for your family.
There are two classes of nutrients which concern us mostly.
(i) The plastic materials, so called because they build up and
The chemistry repair the organs of the human body, and renew
of food. the life-giving blood. (2) The heat and breath
producing materials the fuel by which the human machine is
kept going. Of the former the chief element is nitrogen,
LETTER II
which is furnished by the albumen in animal substances, by
the gluten in cereals, and legumin in vegetables ; by casein in
milk, etc. They are classed by the name of albuminoids, or
protein. The second class consist chiefly of carbon and
hydrogen, and are summed up as carbohydrates. They are
contained in sugar, starch, dextrin, alcohol, water, and in the
fats of animals and vegetables. The fats, however, are often
classed by themselves, and further on, in giving you the daily
rations of food as set down by the latest investigations, you
will find special mention made of them.
There is still another and equally important class of ele-
ments 'anorganic substances such as sulphur, lime, phos-
phorus, potassium, calcium, sodium chloride (common salt),
ircn and other minerals, which enter into the composition of
our blood and bones. Either one of these three (or four)
classes of nutrients without the others will fail to nourish man
or beast. But it is the first and second class which principally
concern us, the fats being contained and distributed among the
animal and vegetable food-materials in such a way as to need
but small attention, while the anorganic and mineral substances
are to be found so wisely mixed with the albuminoids and
carbohydrates that we may let them take care of themselves.
Most scholars agree that for every part of albuminoids there
must be four parts of carbohydrates in our daily food. Next
we have to know how much of either of these The rat j ons
food-elements is necessary to nourish human necessar y dai| y-
beings each day. The following is now generally accepted as
being the daily rations on an average for persons of different
sex and ages :
Albuminoids.
Fats.
Carbohydrates.
For children up to i^ years .
For children from 6-15 years
For a man
Ounces.
0.7 to 1.3
2.5 to 2.9
A 2
Ounces.
I to 1.6
1.2 to 1.9
2
Ounces.
2.3 to 3.3
8.6 to 14.4
17.6
For a woman
q q
I c;
14 4.
For an aged man ....
For an aged woman . . .
3-5
2.9
2.4
1.9
12.5
9-3
10 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
This is meant for persons who work but moderately. A per-
son of leisure would need less albuminoids ; a laboring man or
woman would need more. Besides, there have to be consid-
ered the condition of health, the calling and temperament of
the persons in question, as well as the climate and the seasons.
It follows that a table may be loaded with luxurious dishes and
delicacies, and yet fail to nourish properly those feasting on
them. Unless they are so chosen as to yield in their combi-
nation the right proportion of the nutrients required to repair
the daily wastes of the human body, they will do harm instead
of good.
You might say, " How comes it, then, that mankind is still
in existence, since the science of the kitchen was unknown
heretofore ? " It is, indeed, a fact to be wondered at when we
consider the barbarities practised in the way of feeding and
cooking even to the present day. There are two things, how-
ever, in favor of man : one is the toughness of his frame,
which seems to be able to stand a good deal of abuse ; the
other is that mysterious guide called instinct, which led people
from the start to find out what is good for them and what not.
But instinct, somehow, seems to beat its retreat when civili-
zation advances triumphantly, and neither you nor I would fare
well or be satisfied to rely always on that sort of leadership,
when science is holding up her torch-light to show us the
"how" and "why." Just think of all the persons we know,
young and old, ailing of no one knows what of mysterious
troubles called anaemia, dyspepsia, liver complaint, etc. !
Who knows but that such persons are either half-starved or
over-fed, for which ailments no physician can aid them ?
I would advise you to study this subject earnestly. There
is many a spare hour in which to do it. And it pays. There
are books to teach you books which treat of the kitchen as a
laboratory for preparing the chemical compounds necessary to
preserve and foster life, but which so far, I am afraid, have not
found many readers among our sex. Meanwhile the hints I
give you may help a- little to pave the way.
The following will furnish you with a rough estimate of the
LETTER II 11
nutritive values we have in our principal food-materials as to
nitrogen (albuminoids) and carbon (carbohydrates).
These values may be divided into three different classes :
First, food in which nitrogen and carbon are combined the
class to be rated as the highest; second, food Nutritivevalue8
which contains chiefly nitrogen, and therefore has m food-mate-
to be complemented by articles of the third class ;
third, food which chiefly consists of carbon, and has to be
complemented by food of the second class. Here follows a
list to choose from according to the above values :
Food of the first class : Fat meat ; beef-tea made without
heat ; milk ; fat oysters ; all unbolted flour, and gruel and
bread made thereof; dried beans, peas and lentils; cabbages,
especially cauliflower ; kale, spinach, lettuce, string beans, and
green peas ; onions and leeks ; mushrooms ; tea, coffee, and
chocolate.
Food of the second class : Lean meat ; eggs ; fresh fish ;
lean oysters and clams ; cured fish, especially cod, herring,
salmon, and sardines ; cheese made of milk.
Food of the third class : Salt pork, very fat ; wheat bread ;
wheat flour, corn meal ; sugar ; rice, sago, barley, farina, corn-
starch ; macaroni, vermicelli ; potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips,
carrots, parsnips ; fruit ; fermented beverages.
Your task is to select from these three classes of food your
materials and combine them in such a way as to give you, as
nearly as possible, the correct proportions of albuminoids and
carbohydrates demanded to supply the daily rations for the
persons you have to provide for. In doing so, however, you
have to bear in mind that what you buy is not food consisting
of pure albuminoids and carbohydrates, but materials more or
less mixed with refuse, like the bones and sinews of meat ; and
that in addition you have the mineral matters and the water,
all of which tell in weight. C. Voit, the great c ^.^ ^._
physiologist of Munich, says that a full-grown mate of a full
person to get his full ration of albuminoids needs
at least 8.2 ounces of meat a day, of which there are bones
about 0.6 ounce, fat 0.7 ounce, and pure muscle 6.9 ounces.
12 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
He adds that the latter may be replaced by poultry, or fish,
and also either entirely or in part by cheese, and dishes
prepared with milk or milk and egg.
I follow him also in stating that of the whole amount of food
not more than one-third ought to consist of animal matters
the other two-thirds having to be made up from vegetable
produce. A purely vegetable diet would require a considerably
larger amount of albuminoids than is given in the table of daily
rations, because the digestive properties of the nitrogen of
vegetable food are from one-fourth to one-third less than
those of the same substance in animal food.
It remains for me to give you an idea of the percentages of
the different nutrients in the food-materials with which we have
to work. But I prefer to do this as I go along, mentioning
their proportionate values when I come to deal separately with
the cooking materials and the preparing of them.
I may remark here that on the whole we eat too much meat.
We would fare better if we relied for our animal food more
We eat too much on the products of the dairies. This cannot be
preached enough to persons of moderate means,
inasmuch as the dairies furnish us with a larger quantity of
nutrients for the same money than meat does. Although your
circumstances and mine are not so much restricted as to
impose on us real privations, it is comfortable to know that,
in reducing our butcher's bill and favoring the dairyman, we
get a pleasant substitute for the same amount of nourishment,
and at the same time are practising the virtue of economy.
This method, moreover, helps us to a greater variety in our
meals ; and variety of necessity promotes the appetite and aids
digestion. You might succeed in putting on your table each
day the exact amount of albuminoids combined with the right
proportion of carbohydrates, and fail at the same time to satisfy
the appetite of the consumer. Food, after being eaten, has to
be assimilated taken up by the system in such a way as to
serve its purpose ; and to attain this effect in many cases the
eye needs to be tempted as well as the stomach. Both easily
tire if the same things are continually set before them. And
LETTER II 13
there is the palate also, which is as severe a critic as you would
wish to have. Therefore, you must have variety in your daily
fare ; it must look well ; it must taste well ; in short, your food
must be cooked and served in the best possible way.
The cooking of it is what concerns us most at present. I am
ready to step into the kitchen with you in my next.
LETTER III
L'appetit vient en mangeant.
FIRST of all you wish to know how to boil meat, and make
the most of it for soup. Suppose you have bought a piece
of meat for this purpose, and. want to get from it as good a
broth as possible. What we do first is to cleanse
nSi and' it. We do so by rubbing it off with a clean towel.
make soup. Jf splinters Q f bone> sand? etc>j haye to fa re-
moved, we scrape it with a clean but dull knife. In extreme
cases it may be rinsed quickly with water ; but be sure never
to immerse your meat. If you do, the surface of it will be
robbed of its best juices. These we want as much as possible
to preserve for our broth. To this end we take a soup-kettle
with a tight- fitting lid, which we fill with cold water, and in this
water we put the meat, adding a little salt. In allowing the
water to get hot gradually the blood with the albumen and the
mineral matters are extracted from the meat and imparted to
the water. As soon as the latter reaches the boiling point the
kettle has to be removed to a place where it will merely " smile "
as the French term it ; which means, of course, that it must
simmer or boil gently. After a while we see a brown scum
rising; this is the albumen, which coagulates in the boiling
water and thus is lost as a nutrient. Consequently, meat or
soup broth is not of great nutritive value. It is merely a stim-
ulant on account of the so-called " extractives " in it, of which
gelatine (or glue) is also a part, and, as such, important in the
process of nutrition. The gelatine in the broth is the result of
continued boiling, and proceeds from the tendons, bones, and
gristle, or what is called the connective tissue of the meat.
These extractives give the aroma to the broth.
14
LETTER III 15
The scum, or albumen, when coming to the surface, has to
be removed by a skimmer in order to get a clear broth. To
leave it in would make the soup 'unsightly, and besides albu-
men, when coagulated, is not easily digested. The meat which
remains after all the good is drawn out is worthless, and if
eaten will not be digested, even by a healthy stomach. Since
this meat is refuse, I advise cutting it into small pieces before
putting it in the soup-kettle, adding the bones separately. In
this way there is no doubt of the meat yielding in the course
of several hours all it contains. I must not forget to mention
that for broth but only for broth meat freshly Tomakesou
butchered is the best. And, now, before pro- get meat freshly
, , . ... butchered.
ceedmg to tell you when to add the vegetables,
which are to increase the flavor of the soup-liquor, and the
proportions, I will stop and give you the recipe for making a
broth which preserves all the nutrients of the meat and for
cases of debility, sickness, or convalescence is invaluable. It
is made without fuel of any kind.
Take three ounces of freshly butchered meat of the best sort,
without fat or sine\v (either beef or fowl) ; chop it fine, put it
in a china bowl, and cover it with water which
has been boiled and become cold (or better, dis-
tilled water from the druggist's), until one inch ^Vmeat
above the meat. Then add a pinch of salt, and
five to six drops of muriatic acid ; stir well this mixture by
means of a small glass spoon ; cover up the bowl and let it re-
main in a cool place for three to four hours. At the end of
that time strain the liquid, which has a pale red color, through
a hair sieve ; pour over the meat some more of the water,
while pressing it down with a wooden ladle, until it gets
entirely discolored and you have liquor sufficient to fill a
large teacup quite full. This is enough for one portion. Two
such cups are the most a person ought to take during one day.
It is in liquid form the same as the meat itself.
I return now to the ordinary soup-liquor, and will sum up
the whole for you thus :
Take of lean meat freshly butchered one pound, of bones
16 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
one pound ; cut the meat in large dice \ crack the bones ; put
Red efor a ^ ^ n ^ sou P'kettle holding a little over three
the ordinary quarts ; fill up with cold water nearly full ; add
one saltspoonful of salt. Heat slowly, allowing it
to simmer or boil gently ; skim off the scum that rises. After
one hour add two more saltspoonfuls of salt, and continue boil-
ing until the liquor is clear. Then add your vegetables : a small
carrot or a piece of a large one, a parsley root, the half of a
celery root (the turnip-rooted), one or two of the large celery
leaves, one small leek (it is more delicate than onion), half a
turnip. Allow it to boil one hour longer, or until the vege-
tables are done, when strain through a fine sieve; allow the fat
to settle on top, and skim it off with care.
Some housekeepers are in favor of making their soup-liquor
the day before it is to be used, in order to remove the fat more
readily. Except for economy's sake, or to save time, I prefer
to cook it the same day I want to use it, because in reheating
the broth some of its flavor is certainly lost. With clean sheets
of blotting paper the remaining traces of the soup-grease are
easily and thoroughly removed. The brown paper of the gro-
cers will also do it.
See that your soup-kettle is always tightly covered, lest the
aroma of your soup escape with the steam. I will add, for the
benefit of your economical propensities, that the soup-vegeta-
bles, by not being overdone, may be put to some further use.
They have given, to be sure, their best properties to the broth,
but in exchange they have taken to themselves the broth which
has entered their cells.
For the benefit of the German middle classes, who make
a meal of their soup, in which the meat and a vegetable
are boiled, Dr. Wiel, in his " Diaetetisches Kochbuch," gives a
recipe for "a better piece of meat, and yet a good soup."
The sum of what he says is this :
Divide your meat into two portions, one containing all the
sinewy parts, and the bones with the meat next to them, while
the other must be a piece of solid meat. Chop the meat of
the first portion, split the bones, and pour cold water over it.
LETTER III 17
For one pound of meat take three quarts of water, which will
give you about one quart of good strong broth
in the end. After putting in sufficient salt, some g^ tou^and
muriatic acid (from the druggist's) must be added. ;** e u e meat
For one pound of meat about six drops, no
more. Allow to stand in a cold place for a couple of hours ;
during this time the water will extract all the strength of the
meat. Then heat it gradually, and when it comes to a boil,
and not before, put in the second portion of solid meat, after
tying it up tight with strong twine. By this process less of the
surface of the meat is exposed, and the boiling water produces
an impenetrable crust by coagulation, thus preventing the loss
of the nutritive juices. Allow the whole to boil gently until
the meat is tender. Put your vegetables in after the broth has
been skimmed.
It is well to know this recipe for economical purposes. A
piece of meat boiled in this way makes a good dish for break-
fast, either as a hash, a stew, or in the shape of croquettes. It
may also serve to help out on the kitchen table. For econ-
omy's sake also, I would advise you (since we want a soup to
begin dinner with) not to buy soup-meat oftener than twice a
week. If a first-class broth is not needed do not exhaust the
whole of your soup-meat and bones. Drain off the liquor
wanted for the day, refill the kettle with water, adding such
scraps of meat, cooked or raw, as have been left over or cannot
be used in other ways ; add bones also if you have them.
Always crack the latter. Add some more salt and cook up.
Let stand over until next day when fresh vegetables can be put
in after it has come to a boil. I have often made a third edi-
tion by adding Liebig's meat extract. This you may always
do if your broth is not of sufficiently good quality. Only be
sure not to take too much of it. Meat extract containing
all the extractives, but not the albumen of the meat is a stim-
ulant rather than a nutritive, and as such is fulfilling an impor-
tant part in the process of nutrition. As a stimulant, however,
it is powerful enough to affect the heart if taken in too large
a quantity. A heaped teaspoonful is sufficient for a quart
18 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
of soup; or, take a lump the size of a dried bean for a
plateful.
This may be the proper time to make you acquainted with
the way Liebig himself had the meat extract used in his own
household, instead of broth made of fresh meat :
Take two quarts of cold water ; put in it either half a pound
of cracked marrow-bones or one ounce of beef suet, and such
vegetables as are handy ; boil until the latter are
u!fng^is w meat f done, which takes about one hour. Now strain
mS f ou ^ e h*} 11 ^, anc ^ ac ^^ half an ounce good weight of
meat extract, and the necessary salt. This is
soup-liquor sufficient for seven persons.
The flavor of broth can be improved or varied by taking dif-
ferent kinds of meat at the same time ; as, for instance, adding
a slice of ham to veal, or a piece of liver to beef. If amber-
Amber-coiored colored broth is wanted the vegetables may be
broth. sliced thin and fried brown with a very little butter
before being added to the liquor in the soup-kettle. Fat meat
is not the proper kind for the soup-pot. An old chicken
makes an excellent soup of delicate flavor. Venison, game,
and pigeons make as nourishing a soup as can be. In Catholic
countries a good soup is made of various fish. But even water
soups can be made exceedingly palatable. A good way to im-
prove both the taste and nutritive value of soup, is to add one
or more eggs. In doing so care has to be taken to prevent
curdling. Beat up the egg thoroughly with a tablespoonful of
either water, milk, or cream ; add slowly a ladleful of the hot
soup after removing it from the fire, stirring all the while.
Then add this to the soup, stirring also ; or, better, pour it into
the soup-tureen, and add the soup to it while stirring. In
using the whole egg we have the benefit of the white, which
being largely albumen increases the nutritive value of the soup ;
but in using the yolk merely, a velvety smoothness of the soup
is attained, which is marred by the white of the egg. There-
fore, you may choose between the two as you judge best.
Whenever I take the yolk and not the white, I am in the habit
of saving the latter, and using it with another egg, or with
LETTER III 19
two, for croquettes, pancakes, etc. When I have as many as
three or four whites, I use them for making a delicate white-
of-egg pudding of which hereafter.
A small remnant of a vegetable dish added to a soup it
must harmonize, to be sure, with the rest is a good thing
often ; but the best vegetable to add is tomato, occasional addi-
which never spoils a rice, macaroni, vermicelli, tions to soup>
or vegetable soup. Another very nice addition is "roses" of
cauliflower, or bits of asparagus boiled until just done in the soup
itself. In this way they impart their flavor and best properties
to the soup ; which is not so much the case if boiled by them-
selves in salt water, unless the water is added to the soup with
them. Certain soups are also improved by some minced pars-
ley, which had better be put into the tureen just before the
soup is poured in, or it might lose its aromatic property. In
the south of Germany they add cives cut very fine ; but this is
a matter of individual taste. Bread is often added too. Cut
some of your stale pieces into either small dice or thin well-
shaped slices ; have ready a hot frying-pan ; put in a very small
bit of butter, or pork drippings (chicken fat is very good), and
after it is done hissing put in your bread, tossing or stirring it
frequently, until of a rich yellow or brown on all sides ; keep
hot and dry, and either add to the soup-tureen the last moment,
or have it served and handed around separately.
I might go on indefinitely to theorize in this fashion about
soups, and teach you the "composing " of them without giving
you a single recipe. I will, however, stop short, and give you
some detailed samples in my next.
LETTER IV
Je vis de bonne soupe et non de beau langage, MOLIERE.
THE soup is, according to Brillat-Savarin, our philosopher of
the kitchen, " la premiere consolation de Pestomac besoi-
gneux " the prime comfort of the eager stomach. The French,
About soup Germans, and Italians have it on their table every
in general. ^ av to b e gj n dinner with. As for their poor it is
often all they have for their mid-day meal. The middle classes
are apt to make their soup the nucleus of their dinner by
adding the rest of the meal to the soup-pot and serving it on
separate dishes. In the south of Germany soup is eaten at
dinner and at supper by many a family of the upper classes
a custom which seems to be very old elsewhere, if we are to
judge from a French proverb dating centuries back, which
says :
Without his soup at eve and morn
Is my good Christian all forlorn. 1
I said before that soup-liquor is more of a stimulant than
a nutrient. It is owing to the substances you add that, as
soup, it becomes more or less nourishing. The following ex-
ample will demonstrate to you how nourishing it can be made
by study. The recipe is called
Rumford Soup from its inventor, and is composed on the
principle of getting what is necessary to nourish in the cheapest
way. It was for his merit in bettering the condition of the
poorer classes that Benjamin Thompson, an American, was
made Count Rumford by the Prince- Elector of Bavaria in the
" Soupe le soir, soupe le matin,
C'est 1'ordinaire du bon chretien."
20
LETTER IV 21
beginning of the century. Being a scholar in national economy
he found out by means of chemical researches how to obtain
nourishment at lowest cost. It is by the Rumford Soup that he
is now chiefly remembered. There are several versions of this
soup. I have tried the following, and found it not only satisfy-
ing to the appetite but also palatable.
Soak three cups of dried peas over night ; put them to cook
with plenty of cold water ; when they come to a boil add three-
quarters of a pound of fresh pork, one cup of R ec ipefor
barley, and the necessary salt. Now get ready Rumford Soup,
four large potatoes, peel, wash, and slice them, and add them
to the above about half an hour before meal-time. Allow at
least three hours for peas and barley to get pulpy and for the
pork to get done. Add boiling water if necessary to thin the
soup, but it ought to be rather thick. When done remove the
pork, cut it in dice and set it away in the covered tureen in a
warm place. Pour the soup in a colander and strain, rubbing
it through with a potato-masher. Heat up again the strained
soup, add some minced parsley to the pork in the tureen and
serve your soup over it.
Now let us see what nutrients we have in this recipe. The
following table will show it :
ALBUMINOIDS. FATS. CARBOHYDRATES.
Peas 23 percent. 2 percent. 52 percent.
Barley 7.5 per cent. i per cent. 76 per cent.
Potatoes 2 percent. o percent. 20.7 per cent.
Fat pork (bones excepted) . . 14.5 per cent. 37.5 per cent. o per cent.
Total 47 percent. 40.5 per cent. 148.7 per cent.
In adding the fat to the carbohydrates you will find that the
total is pretty nearly as one to four, which is the proportion
necessary to give proper nourishment and keep the system in
a healthy condition.
Since charity is a virtue to be practised in every household,
you will remember this recipe when a poor man or woman, or
whole family, is to be fed. Only see that they get enough of
the ingredients to make up as near as possible the ration each
person needs every day. I would advise to put this soup on
22 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
your own table now and then when you happen to have but a
slender steak to follow, or perhaps a dish made of some rem-
nant of the day before some croquettes, or a stew and no
roast. For, mind you, we please ourselves (our husbands in-
cluded) in this, that we do not ape the wealthy in a profusion
of meats and courses, which would soon exhaust our funds and
the capabilities of our husbands to furnish them. We are of
one opinion in this, as you have assured me, that a simple meal,
as long as it supplies the needful nourishment, is a comfort all
around, if only prepared with care and served "with grace,"
as Brillat-Savarin ordains for the pheasant. It saves both time
and labor. It promotes health and cheerfulness.
To be able to select the soup best suited for the day it is
well to consider our subject under three different heads :
Soups divided soups made of preparations of cereals, those
into three classes. ma( j e o f vegetables, and those made from animal
substances. Fish soups, although properly included in the
latter class, I will leave out for the present.
For the first kind of soups we have chiefly wheat flour, farina,
barley, sago, rice, vermicelli. These are rich in starch, which
belongs to the carbohydrates, as you know, and take rank in
this way :
ALBUMINOIDS. FATS. CARBOHYDRATES.
Wheat flour 10 per cent. I per cent. 75.2 per cent.
Farina 10 percent. I percent. 75.2 per cent.
Vermicelli 9 per cent. 0.5 per cent. 76.5 per cent.
Rice 8 per cent. i per cent. 76.5 per cent.
Barley 7.5 per cent. i per cent. 76 per cent.
Of the vegetables as nutrients there is not much to say, their
value as such ranking rather low, with the exception of dried
peas, beans, and lentils. These three are valuable, as the fol-
lowing shows :
ALBUMINOIDS. FATS. CARBOHYDRATES.
Peas 23 per cent. 2 per cent. 52 per cent.
Beans 23 per cent. 2 per cent. 53.3 per cent.
Lentils 25.5 per cent. 2 per cent. 54 per cent.
But valuable as they are, they require good digestive capacity,
and therefore may be kept in reserve, while preference is given
LETTER IV 23
to the more delicate although less nutritious vegetables for
soups.
The third kind of soups those consisting of animal sub-
stances are the most nourishing if made of chopped meat,
such as beef, venison, chicken, pigeon, game, sweetbread, calf s
brain, etc.
Of each of these three kinds of soups you may borrow for
the other two. You can add, for instance, vegetables to the
cereal products ; or animal matter to a vegetable soup ; or you
may mix ingredients belonging to all three classes of soups.
Only take care that each substance is in harmony with the
other, and that the whole is agreeable to the eye as well as to
the taste.
To begin with the starchy matters, it is a safe rule to take a
tablespoonful for each person of either farina, barley, rice, etc.
They are added to the boiling liquor while stirring Soups made
to prevent the forming of lumps. Boil gently. ofcereals -
As to time, farina takes about fifteen minutes to get done ;
sago, about five minutes, or until clear; barley, from one to
two hours to get properly cooked. Rice takes about half an
hour in soup. It has to be washed and scalded beforehand.
Vermicelli, according to thickness, takes from five to forty
minutes to get done.
I will remark here that I always mean my recipes for three
persons, unless differently stated. I begin with some plain
soup :
Farina Soup. Take the finest wheat farina, measure off
your quantity (a tablespoonful for each person) ; stir gradually
into your boiling liquor (about half a pint for a person) ; cover
up, and let boil for fifteen minutes, stirring the soup every now
and then with a spoon. Have the yolk of one egg beaten up
with a tablespoonful of cream (or milk) ; add this at the last
moment, proceeding as told before. 1 Salt to taste. This soup
ought to be of a creamy smoothness.
Flour Soup No. i. Mix two tablespoonfuls of flour with a
1 See p. 18.
24 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
little cold water, and stir until quite smooth ; add to it gradu-
ally, and stirring all the while, one and a half pints of boiling
broth; flavor with a little lemon peel, which remove before
serving ; put on to boil for ten minutes ; then add butter the
size of a walnut and the yolk of an egg beaten up with some
cream or milk. Salt to taste ; add a sprinkle of grated nutmeg.
Flour Soup No. 2. Take butter, one and a half ounces
(or size of small egg) ; melt, and stir into it two tablespoonfuls
of flour. When bubbling up add little by little one and a half
pints of broth, stirring until quite smooth ; add one teaspoonful
of minced parsley and one egg beaten up in two tablespoonfuls
of thick cream. Salt to taste.
To this soup as well as to those follqwing you can make ad-
ditions of cauliflower, green peas, asparagus, if they happen to
be handy, or whatever else you see fit. Remember also the
proportions mentioned before and apply them to the following
recipe. This is of French origin :
Velvety Soup (Potage Veloute) . Take pearl sago (the
best), stir it into your boiling broth, and cook until clear; add
one yolk for each person (two will do for three persons), beat
it up with cream. Salt to taste.
Omelet Soup. Make a pancake batter of one egg, milk,
flour, a little salt, and a sprinkle of either minced parsley or
cives, which bake thin and not too brown in a buttered frying-
pan ; when done, put on a bread-board and cut into very nar-
row strips ; put into the soup-tureen, and serve over them a
clear broth.
If you have mutton for the foundation of your soup, rice or
barley will be best to use. Take rather more than usual of the
soup vegetables for this broth, especially celery root and leaves ;
also a clove, a bay leaf, and a few pepper seeds.
Barley Soup No. i. Take pearl barley; stir into boiling
water nearly one pint to three tablespoonfuls to which
add a small piece of butter, a little salt, and turnip-rooted
celery cut into small dice ; cook gently (covered up) for about
two hours, seeing that the barley gradually takes up all the water,
but do not let it get dry. When done add your broth to it ; let
LETTER IV 25
come to a boil, and serve over one or two eggs beaten up
with cream or milk.
Barley Soup No. 2. Take the coarse-grained barley; do
as before, leaving out the celery root. After the barley is
about half done add the meat-liquor, and finish cooking it
until quite soft. Rub through a wire sieve, add egg and
cream, and serve over crisply fried bread, or little bread balls,
of which later.
All these soups may be served without the egg, if the broth
is a first-rate one.
Rice-flour Soup. Take one ounce of rice flour (two table-
spoonfuls) ; stir until smooth in one gill of cold soup-liquor ;
add to it one and a half pints of the boiling liquor, and cook
for ten minutes, stirring all the while. Add now two or three
tablespoon fuls of cream (hot), a sprinkle of white pepper
or nutmeg, and salt to taste. After poured into the tureen
put on top of the soup some custard, which is made in the
following way :
Custard for Soups. Take two whole eggs and one yolk;
beat well with one gill of cold soup-liquor (water will do), a
pinch of salt, and a dash of grated nutmeg ; pour into an
earthen bowl or mug, place into a cooking-vessel with hot
water, and allow it to be heated until the eggs have set, and no
longer. Take out a spoonful at a time ; or turn out the cus-
tard and cut it into small, equally long strips by means of a
fluted knife.
This custard may be added to other soups, especially when
clear and made of vegetables.
The above recipe for rice-flour soup is a German one. I
have an English recipe which is the same, but leaves out the
custard, flavors the soup with a saltspoonful of curry-powder,
and a squeeze of lemon.
A very good and showy soup is the following :
Soup with Moulded Rice. Have a first-rate beef broth,
amber-colored and clear. Take of rice, well washed and
scalded, six ounces ; of butter, three ounces ; put into one
quart of boiling broth, which may be of inferior quality (water
26 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
will do also) ; see that the liquid is salted exactly right ; boil
covered up for half an hour ; then set uncovered in a hot place
until all the liquid left is evaporated, when you empty the rice
into a deep mould. Press it down to have it take the shape of
the mould. Set it in a moderately warm place for a while, and
when ready to serve turn the rice out of the mould on a hot
plate. Dust all over it some grated Parmesan cheese. Or
have the cheese handed around separately, and pour over the
rice some melted crayfish butter, garnishing its base or not with
either shrimps, crayfish tails, buttonhole mushrooms, or forcemeat
balls, or with all of these. Have the rice handed around with
each plate of broth from the tureen. It is rice enough for six
persons.
The scarlet-colored butter made of crayfish or sweet water
crab, comes handy in tiny tin boxes. Although an expensive
article, a small quantity will go very far both to color and to
flavor ; and put away in a cool place this butter will keep, after
the box has been opened, for weeks. The crayfish tails are
also imported, ready for use, in small glass jars.
I will give you only one more recipe of this kind of soups,
a vermicelli soup, to which we gave the name :
Potage aux Voyageurs (Travellers' Soup). 1 Take either
chicken or veal broth ; cook vermicelli in it, of the thick
kind, until soft, but not so that it falls to pieces. When done
beat up one or more yolks of egg in half a cupful of cream ;
add to the soup with a squeeze of lemon juice, and serve
with grated Parmesan cheese. If you take a tablespoonful of
sour instead of sweet cream, you will not need the lemon
juice.
Before I proceed I will make you acquainted with some
accessories to soups, which are apt to improve especially the
Accessories vegetable soups, and often are the most nutri-
to soups. t j ous p arts O f them<
Since you will need bread for nearly all of the following
recipes, I remind you that to be economical every piece and
1 See Bayard Taylor's " Travels in Greece," p. 218.
. LETTER IV 27
chip of bread has to be saved, and kept for future use in a
clean jar or box. The slices can be cut into any shape required,
whilst the odds and ends after accumulation are to be put on
the back of the stove or range to get perfectly dry, which makes
them fit to be rolled into fine crumbs, by means of the rolling-
pin. They ought to be kept in a covered glass or porcelain
jar until needed. Just now we want some thick slices of stale
bread to add let us say to a green pea soup.
Golden Dice. Cut bread into large dice ; beat up one egg
in a few tablespoonfuls of milk, to which add a bit of salt ; soak
the bread in it for half an hour, then fry it until of a fine yellow
in hot lard. Skim out of the lard on a piece of brown paper
placed on a colander.
Cheese Crusts {croutons). Cut some thin slices of bread
into round or oval shaped pieces ; dip the upper side into
melted butter, and cover thickly with grated Parmesan or
Swiss cheese ; place these pieces on a sheet iron baking-pan
or a pie-dish, and put into the oven until of a deep yellow.
They are handed with the soup.
I was present at a dinner where the croutons were dry-toasted
on the under side, while on top the bread was spread with fresh
butter covered with grated cheese. They were handed with a
Julienne soup.
Next we have forcemeat and bread balls. The latter are the
easiest made, and the more economical additions to soups as
well as to fricassees, etc.
Bread Balls. Take two ounces of butter, and melt it ; add
four to five tablespoonfuls of fine bread-crumbs, a saltspoonful
of salt, a little nutmeg or pepper ; mix, then add one whole
egg and one yolk ; mix again, and stir until smooth and light.
Form little balls the size of hickory nuts, and drop them either
into boiling water salted or the boiling soup. Cover up, and
allow to boil from ten to fifteen minutes.
It is always best to try one ball first by cooking it before the
rest. If it cooks to pieces some more bread-crumbs, if too hard
a tablespoonful of cream (sour is the best), has to be added.
This rule holds good with all the recipes for balls and dumplings.
28 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
Sponge Balls. Take the whites of two eggs and put them
into a teacup ; fill it up with milk, and pour the contents into
a stew-pan ; add one teacupful of flour and one ounce of
butter (or size of an egg) ; stir well over the fire until the
batter is thick and smooth ; set it to cool, after which stir into
it the two yolks, a few pinches of salt, a pinch of mace (if
liked), and drop into the boiling soup a teaspoonful at a time.
Cook from eight to ten minutes.
Marrow Balls. Take two ounces of beef suet; soak in
water for one hour to whiten it ; chop fine ; melt it over the
fire, and strain into a large bowl. When nearly cooled off stir
it with a spoon until creamy ; drop into it the yolk of an egg
and, after stirring a while, a whole egg, half a saltspoonful of
salt, half a teaspoonful of minced onion, and one teaspoonful
of minced parsley ; at the last add three tablespoonfuls of fine
bread-crumbs. Form into balls as big as a walnut by means of
two spoons, which dip into boiling water every now and then.
Place the balls one beside the other on a flat pie-dish which has
been buttered previously. When ready to put them into the
boiling water, or soup, heat the dish. The balls will drop easily
into the cooking-vessel. Boil gently for about ten to fifteen
minutes.
Forcemeat Balls. Take half a pound of raw veal (or
chicken) ; mince very fine ; soak two ounces of bread (no
crust) in milk; when soft put it in a clean towel and squeeze
until dry ; add two ounces of butter and the yolks of two eggs,
pound the whole in a mortar, and force through a fine sieve ;
season with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg, and form into
almond-shaped balls by taking a teaspoonful of it, heaped full, at
a time, shaping it at the top into a point, and smoothing it
down by means of a knife dipped in water. Cook about ten
minutes in soup-liquor.
Ham Dumplings. Proceed as above, taking raw ham in-
stead of veal, and season with either minced onion or parsley,
instead of nutmeg, leaving out the salt. Do not take the
trouble to force it through a sieve, but stir until smooth and
light. Form rather large balls about the size of a small egg
LETTER IV 29
and cook for twenty minutes to half an hour. They must be
as light as sponge when cut with the spoon, and are very good
in a soup of clear broth. This is a recipe from Bavaria, south-
ern Germany.
To-day's lesson having been long enough, I will stop here
to continue in my next letter the chapter on soups.
LETTER V
They are very different thoughts born within man well nourished and
man miserable and hungry. DR. J. N. VON NUSSBAUM.
YOU are right, my teachings are tinctured to some extent
by what I learned during the years I spent in Germany. I
there became acquainted with the thrifty spirit of the better
classes of the people, and with their ways of making a great deal
out of a very little. The French in this respect do the same.
Give them poor materials, and they will set before you a dainty
meal. We, who have the best of everything, ought to do
equally well, if not better.
Of a great number of recipes for vegetable soups which
I have at my command, I will select some typical ones,
leaving it to you to vary and improve on them.
Vegetable soups. _ / J
ror you understand that it is not my inten-
tion to write for you a regular cook-book. After you become
familiar with the spirit of the art of cookery, you will continue
after the beginning you have made to teach yourself far
better than any one else could do it.
Julienne Soup. Take one carrot, a quarter of a white
turnip, a quarter of a celery-root, half a parsnip, one small leek,
about four leaves of a head of lettuce, and a quarter of the
tender inside of a head of Savoy cabbage. Cut all this in nar-
row strips, about two inches long, stew for half an hour in one
ounce of butter ; but see that it does not get brown or stick to
the vessel. Then add one quart of good, clear broth and boil
the vegetables in it gently for one hour. According to the
season, you may add to the foregoing vegetables some heads
of asparagus, tender green peas, and string beans, cooked sepa-
rately. Observe that this soup, after adding the broth to the
30
LETTER V 31
vegetables done in butter, has to boil very gently to prevent
the broth from getting cloudy. Serve with this soup some
browned bread, or, if preferred, serve it over some boiled rice.
A heaped tablespoonful of the latter will be sufficient for the
above quantity of soup.
There is a general belief that herbs eaten in springtime are
especially wholesome. The following recipe, taking this into
account, is termed :
Easter Soup. Gather the young sprouts and leaves of wild
herbs when their first shoots appear, such as dandelion, sheep-
sorrel, yarrow, nettle, lady's-mantle {Alchemilla vulgaris),
strawberry leaves, etc. Take a handful of each ; rinse repeat-
edly in cold water and drain in a colander. Do not squeeze
them, lest you lose some of their juices. Chop fine ; put into
some good broth, and boil gently for about half an hour. Mix
butter the size of a walnut with a teaspoonful of flour and drop
it into half a cup of boiling cream or milk. When cooking has
dissolved it, add it to the soup. Serve with poached eggs on
top, or the custard the recipe of which I gave you in my
last.
Carrot Soup. Take two large carrots, one small turnip,
half a celery root, one leek ; boil in water which has been
salted, adding butter the size of half an egg. When soft, drain
and work through a sieve with a potato-masher. Add this pulp
to the soup-liquor.
This soup is improved by an addition of rice. The latter in
combination with Savoy cabbage is excellent if the whitish part
of the inside head only is taken, and cut into fine shreds.
Asparagus Soup. Take half a pound of fresh asparagus,
cut off the heads, and boil separately in salted water until done,
which will be in about fifteen minutes. Cut the rest into small
pieces, throw them into boiling broth (which need not be of
the best) and cook gently for one hour. Then pass through
a fine colander ; put it back on the fire to boil up. Add the
asparagus heads, and the yolks of one or two eggs beaten up in
half a cup of cream.
Green Pea Soup. Take half a pint of large green peas, and
32 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
a handful of both spinach leaves and parsley (which serve as
coloring-matter). Cook the whole in some weak broth until
quite soft ; rub through a fine colander ; put back on the fire,
and let it come to a boil ; add a piece of butter the size of a
walnut, and a handful of small green peas cooked separately.
Some roses of cauliflower may be added ; or some of the little
balls I gave you the recipes for.
An Italian soup, called Risi-pisi, consists of green peas
pulped through a sieve and mixed with boiled rice.
Corn Soup. Take a couple of ears of corn ; grate off the
top skin of the grains all around them and by means of a tin
spoon scoop out the milk and what is left of the grains. Stir
the pulp thus obtained into boiling broth, and allow it to cook
about an hour. Add a small lump of butter rolled in flour, and
half a cup of cream or milk.
Some tomato, either fresh or left over from a previous meal,
is a good addition to corn soup. To make it still better, take
Tomato, com, I GSS of the corn, and add half a dozen okra pods
and okra for soup. S \[ CG ^ thin. Leave off the flour, and take of
cream but one teaspoon, mixed with the yellow of an egg.
A tomato soup without any accessories but milk, butter, salt,
pepper, and cracker-crumbs is a very simple affair, and very
good, indeed, but I would class it rather with the water soups.
Tomato soup with rice is excellent when milk is left out, and a
good broth is used instead of water.
The following I consider a very good recipe :
Tomato Soup. Take about ten tomatoes ; cut them in
pieces ; cook them with a quarter of a pound of ham, one
onion in which stick a clove, a sprig of parsley, two pepper-
corns, half a bay leaf (no salt on account of the ham) ; after
half an hour drop into it butter size of a walnut mixed with a
heaped teaspoonful of flour ; allow to dissolve while boiling,
and rub through a wire sieve. Salt to taste. Add to a broth
in which two or three teaspoonfuls of either very fine vermi-
celli or starlets of vermicelli have been cooked.
Tomato and okra seem to have been specially designed by
nature to complement each other, the acid liquid of the one
LETTER V 33
being in accordance with the glutinous and grassy insipidity of
the other. In the Southern States people found Tomato and
this out long ago, and the result has been the okra combined -
gumbo soup. There are a great many varieties of recipes for
this soup, most of them of an extravagant character. Okra
grows readily in our gardens North, and makes a first-rate soup
in combination with a "Julienne," an addition of tomato, and
a bunch of thyme, sweet marjoram, and parsley, the bunch be-
ing removed before serving the soup. The following is a
Georgia recipe for a plain
Gumbo Soup. Take fresh tomatoes and okra in equal quan-
tities, slice them ; cook gently in some beef liquor for several
hours ; season to taste. Boil rice separately, and serve with the
soup.
Black Bean Soup. Soak over night one teacupful of black
Mexican beans. Next day put them on to boil in three pints
of cold water (if the water is hard add a pinch of baking soda,
which will make it soft), and add any scraps of pork or ham
you happen to have on hand. Add the salted meat after the
water is tepid. Be careful in salting this soup. After the beans
come to a boil add one small onion, and one clove. When
quite done pulp the beans through a colander fine enough to
retain the skins. Add more water, or some soup-liquor, if too
thick. Serve over one or two hard-boiled eggs cut in quarters,
and half a lemon sliced. If liked, add a tablespoonful of sherry
at the last moment.
The taste of this soup very much resembles that made of turtle.
We have got now as far as the bean, pea, and lentil soups
all three of them very nourishing. You may use for them
either broth or water, just as your judgment leads soups made
you to do. If broth, scraps of meat left over, or of P ulse -
a ham bone, will be sufficient for it ; but water will serve as
well. It seems to me, therefore, that I might introduce the
water soups here rather then later, since the best-
tasting of them are made of vegetables. To begin
with I have to give you two different recipes for an excellent
foundation of a water soup.
34 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
Imitation Broth No. i . Take one pint of dried peas ; pick
out the bad ones and wash ; put them to boil with three pints
Foundation for of water, and a saltspoonful of salt. When quite
water soups. soft> pulp them through a colander. Use this
liquid at discretion for the foundation of soups.
Imitation Broth No. 2. Cook peas as above and strain
them before they get soft, or rather as soon as the water turns
yellow. Add to the latter such vegetables as carrot, turnip,
onion, celery root, after they have been sliced and browned in
a tablespoonful of butter, or fat. Add salt, and allow fully an
hour to boil. If liked, a " bouquet," or bunch of thyme and
parsley, some pepper seeds, and a small bay leaf may be added
with the vegetables. The strained peas may be used up in some
other way.
Another flavoring is obtained by adding the shavings and
fibrous parts of asparagus. They ought, therefore, to be saved
at the right season, dried, and put away carefully in the store
closet.
Recipe No. i I found in a German cook-book, " The
Perfect Lenten Fare," written by a " cook for many years " in
a Catholic vicarage. She says this pea broth is the foundation
for all lenten soups.
To make soup without meat, of either dried peas, beans,
or lentils you wash them first, then soak them over night, and
HOW to make P ut t ^ iem on tne stov e at an early hour, with
a good soup plenty of cold water. (Remember that hard water,
for cooking purposes, has to be made soft by
adding a pinch of baking soda.) Do not let them get dry,
but replenish the water if not sufficient. Pulse takes from
two to three hours to get thoroughly done. To raise it to
the proper standard of nourishment, the addition of fat is
needed. Pork drippings are the best for this purpose. Both
pea and lentil soups are improved by adding an hour before
meal-time some soup-vegetables, sliced and browned in fat.
If the soup, after being rubbed through a colander, lacks con-
sistency, a little flour mixed with butter may be added to
thicken it. The lentil soup is improved by some lemon juice
LETTER V 35
or vinegar, which by softening the cellulose, or woody particles
of this highly nourishing vegetable, helps the digestive powers
to perform the heavy task imposed upon them by it.
Bean soup does not need the additional vegetables. If
liked, a small onion and a slice of bacon cut in little dice may
be fried crisp in a hot pan, and added to the soup after it has
been rubbed through the colander.
All three soups are improved by serving them over bits of
bread fried crisp in butter or fat. A sausage cooked, skinned,
and cut into thick slices is also a pleasant addition.
In contrast to the above vegetables potatoes have but little
alimentary value. Still, a soup made of them is often con-
venient, and palatable.
Potato Soup. Take either cooked potatoes left over, and
grate them, or peel, slice, and cook raw potatoes in salted
water until quite soft. Add to the water a little bunch of
sweet marjoram, an onion, and a small celery root. If grated
potatoes are used which have been cooked before, stir them
into the boiling liquid at the very last, and allow to boil up
once or twice. For this sort of soup, imitation broth No. 2 is
in order. The soup made of raw potatoes has to be rubbed
through a colander. Add minced parsley to it, if sweet mar-
joram is not liked. One or two eggs beaten up in some milk
or cream will greatly improve the nourishing quality of a
potato soup.
By a simple process easily divined, a good many of the
recipes for soups I have given you can be turned into water
soups. Therefore, I will only add two more recipes.
A Green Soup. Take one handful of garden sorrel and one
of spinach the stripped leaves only. Wash them well;
chop them, but not too fine, with a sprig of parsley and a few
lettuce leaves ; toss them over the fire in hot butter the size of
half an egg ; then add one quart of boiling water, salt, a slice
of stale bread, one onion, one clove, and (if convenient) a
couple of pistachio nuts peeled and cut into shreds. Allow all
this to boil gently for one hour, and no longer. Then rub the
whole through a sieve, and add two eggs with some cream.
36 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
Serve either over some browned bread or some of the little
bread balls mentioned before. Or leave away the latter as
well as the egg, and serve the egg custard with this soup.
Pea-pod Soup. Put to boil three pints of water ; fill the
kettle up to the water's edge with the well-washed pods of
fresh peas after the latter have been removed ; add one table-
spoonful of drippings, some salt, and a few pepper seeds ; also
some thyme, parsley, and celery leaves. Cook until the pods
are quite soft, when strain off the liquid into another pot, and
pound the pods in a mortar to a pulp. Now put the latter
back into the sieve and rub through into the liquid. Heat up
again, and add either some of the peas cooked separately or
some young carrots sliced and cooked beforehand ; or serve
over browned bread, etc., according to your own judgment.
The lesson of economy this soup teaches is evident.
We have come at last to the soups I have enumerated as
those of the third kind. They are made chiefly of meat hashed
Sou s mad vcr ^ ^ ne ' ^^ ^^ generally called by the French
of chopped term puree. There are a great many varieties.
If you mean to be economical, you will use for
them remnants of meat. Trim it off the bones carefully,
remove all fat and sinew, and chop it as fine as possible. The
bones, of course, you will crack and add to the kettle in which
the broth is simmering. Take the minced meat, toss it a few
times over the fire in a little very hot butter. This is the thick-
ening for your soup, which you may serve either white or
brown, according to the meat you use. If white, you take half
a cup of cream or milk ; drop into it, when boiling, butter and
flour rubbed into a ball ; cook it until dissolved and smooth ;
then add the yolks of one or two eggs, beaten up. Put the
hashed meat into the tureen first, then the whitening with the
egg, and at last the broth, being careful to mix the whole grad-
ually and thoroughly. Minced parsley may be added. If the
soup is to be brown, take butter and flour of equal quantity,
mix it in a very hot iron pan, and continue stirring over the fire
until evenly brown. Add enough of the broth a little at a
time, and stirring well to make a thick brown batter ; add
LETTER V 37
this to the broth for your soup, let it boil up a few times, see-
ing that it is smooth, then add your minced meat, and serve.
With the white as well as the brown soup, an addition of either
forcemeat, bread, or egg balls is in place.
The above gives you the generalization of this kind of very
nourishing soups, to which I will add some special recipes. I
begin with a soup which " Mademoiselle Francoise " (the pseu-
donym of a lady known in French society) invented for her
frequent guest, Offenbach, the composer, after his years and
labors began to tell on his health.
Raw Meat Soup. Take a good beef broth ; boil in it some
pearl sago ; when done, add the yolk of an egg mixed with a
tablespoonful of tepid broth .and a little grated Parmesan cheese.
At the very last, when already in the tureen, add, while stirring
carefully, some raw beef free of all fat and sinew, which previ-
ously has been chopped very fine.
The most delicate of this kind of soups is the chicken puree,
which goes by the name of soupe a la reine. Of the different
recipes I know of, I select the following as being, in my opinion,
the best, and at the same time the most practical one.
Chicken Puree Soup (or Soupe a la Reine) . Boil an old
hen in two quarts of water with a saltspoonfal of salt, the usual
vegetables, one bay leaf and about six white pepperseeds.
When the meat is quite tender, take it off the bones, remove
the skin and tendons ; chop it first very fine, then pound it to
a pulp in a mortar with a little butter and six blanched almonds. 1
Meanwhile set on to boil three ounces of Carolina rice in the
chicken liquor, freed of fat. When the rice is thoroughly soft,
which will be in about an hour, mix with it the chicken pulp, and
rub the whole through a wire sieve. This soup must have the
consistency of thick cream. If too thick, add some handy soup
liquor, or water, or milk. You may also add some yolk of egg,
but it would change the color, which ought to be white. If
you wish this soup to be particularly nice, take merely the
white meat for the thickening, separating it from the dark
1 See p. 207.
68 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
meat, and using the latter for some forcemeat balls. The above
is sufficient for from six to eight persons.
Game Puree Soup. Take the bones and meat of any cooked
game ; also the heads, necks, and giblets of the same ; stew in
plenty of water, with a thin slice of fat bacon, an onion, half a
small carrot, one bay leaf, and a few black pepper seeds. When
quite soft remove the meat to a chopping-bowl and allow the
rest to stew a while longer. Chop the meat, then pound it to a
pulp in a mortar. Brown a scant tablespoonful of flour in but-
ter the size of a walnut ; add it to the liquor which you strain
off the bones, then add the pounded meat, and as much more
broth (or water) necessary to give to your soup the proper con-
sistency. Rub the whole through a wire sieve and serve over
browned slices of bread.
Sweetbread Soup. Blanch and skin one sweetbread. 1 Melt
a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and when hot put into
it the sweetbread with a pinch of salt, and one small onion,
whole. Cover it up, and simmer over a slow fire until tender,
which will be in about fifteen minutes. Then take out the
sweetbread, and cut it into small dice. Remove the onion,
and stir into the hot butter one tablespoonful of flour. When
well mixed add some light-colored broth, either chicken or
veal ; let it boil for several minutes, stirring all the while to
prevent its getting lumpy. Add the sweetbread, and last of all
the yolk of an egg beaten up in a few tablespoonfuls of cream.
If you leave out the onion, this is a first-rate soup for an
Soup for invalid. The next one, although very good, I
an invalid. would not recommend for this purpose, owing
to the large percentage of fatty substance contained in the
brain.
Calf 's Brain Soup. Soak a calf's brain for fifteen minutes
in tepid water ; then pull off the skin ; heat butter the size of a
walnut in a frying-pan ; put in it the brain, and stir it with a
spoon until like mush ; dust over it some flour, and allow it to
simmer, stirring all the time, for about five minutes longer.
1 See p. 72.
LETTER V 39
Thin it with broth, rub it through a fine sieve, and put it back
on the fire to boil up. Add some egg and cream, and serve
over pieces of bread which have been fried crisp.
To conclude this matter of soups, I want to give you for your
edification play after work a sample of what our fore-
fathers considered a fine bruce (broth) or soup. An English
manuscript of the XV. century has the following :
Take the intestines of a pig, and boil them gently ; cut them
into bits, and put them in a pot with some good broth ; then
take some white leek, peel it, and cut it into
,, . XT i i i Two old recipes.
small pieces. Now with some chopped onions
add it to the former, and set on to boil the whole. Dip bread
in some broth, and make it tasty with blood and vinegar ; put
it into a pot, allow it to boil up with pepper and cloves, and
send the whole to the table. With it was served an entire
pig's head.
Another recipe says : Take powdered rice and cook with
milk of almond until thick ; take also gizzards of capons or
hens, pound them in a mortar, mix with the former, put the
whole into a pot, adding powdered cinnamon and cloves ; and
dust some sandalwood over the whole.
Might this be the progenitor of our chicken puree soup ? I
leave it for you to solve.
LETTER VI
Too little can always take more,
But too much can never restore.
What say you to a piece of beef and mustard ?
SHAKESPEARE.
YOU ask me for a rule in salting. This is slightly embarrassing,
for there is really no rule to rely upon. Salt is a mineral
(chloride of sodium) which exists in all animal substances as
_..,. , . . well as in all vegetable matters. But it does not
Difficulties in .
regard to the enter into them in equal proportions. There-
fore one kind of food needs more, another less
salt added in cooking. Fat meat, for instance, has to be salted
more than lean meat ; and of all kinds of meat, venison and
other game has to be salted most sparingly on account of the
larger percentage of salt contained in the flesh already. Of the
vegetables, all grains and those rich in starch possess very little
salt, while spinach, for instance, has 0.6 per cent, beans have
0.4, and figs 0.8 per cent of salt.
Another difficulty in giving rules about salting is the differ-
ence in the salt we buy. It is either good, i.e. pure salt, or
bad, which means adulterated. The latter, of course, does not
The qualities serve its full purpose. Good salt must be of a
of pure salt. p ure S p ar kii n g w hite ; its taste must not be bitter ;
it must not be moist, nor pack into lumps ; it must dissolve in
water without any visible sediment, for which trial you take one
part of salt to three of water. Salt, if adulterated, is mostly
mixed with gypsum (sulphate of lime), which, when added in
quantities above five per cent changes the appearance of the
salt to a dull white. If you dissolve this salt in water, the
latter will remain cloudy. It is more easily tested when
coarse, than when fine.
40
LETTER VI 41
It is safe in all cases to salt but slightly at first. More can
be easily added if necessary, while an overdose of salt is diffi-
cult and often impossible to remedy. Any kind of food if
salted too much is spoiled. Not only is it unpleasant to the
taste, but it also has lost its wholesome properties. For scald-
ing vegetables or boiling macaroni you may safely take a scant
tablespoonful of salt to every quart of water ; but in most other
cases your taste has to judge how much or how little salt a dish
of food needs.
Aside from making food palatable, salt helps to digest it on
account of its dissolvent property. It assists especially to
liquefy fatty and albuminous substances, which salt assists
then are more readily absorbed by the system. d| s estion -
It is also well to know that salted water requires a higher tem-
perature to reach the boiling-point. Thus it is a saitwiii raise
means, by increase of heat, to render any tough- J^onhT"
ness of fibre softer and tenderer. boiling-point
Salt, therefore, is the one seasoning cookery cannot spare.
This accounts for the value attached to it in all ages, and by all
nations. Aborigines have gone to war for it.
Homer sings of it as the divine, the noblest of of salt in
flavors ; and in England, during the Middle Ages, past ages<
the salt-cellar was a standard of rank. It stood in the centre
of the table, and a gentleman sitting at the upper half thought
himself too good to drink to one sitting at the same table
"below the salt." A meal without salt who would relish
it? The best, however, of all dinners is the one where the
"Attic salt" is not lacking either.
You have noticed that in all my recipes for broth and soups
spice is used but sparingly. I mean by it, especially the exotic
spices, the immoderate use of which is hurtful, The use and
while a little of it, and of the right sort, im- value of spices,
proves the flavor of a dish, and, like salt, helps digestion by
promoting the secretion of the gastric juice. Therefore, a weak
digestion is often benefited by the addition to food of pepper,
allspice, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc. each where
it belongs, and in small quantities ; while spice in excess will
42 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
always work harm in the long run by irritating the mucous mem-
TOO much spice brane, oftentimes causing malignant dyspepsia,
is hurtful. Besides, the art of cooking goes begging as soon
as you overcharge your soups, gravies, etc., with spice. It
makes all food taste alike in destroying the particular flavor of
each kind. In following, for instance, most of the English
recipes for soups, you will have generally a taste of something
hot burning your palate and stomach alike ; but you are hardly
able to distinguish any other ingredients except an overdose of
spice.
I would warn you not to buy your spice, nor your herbs, in
a powder. Buy them whole, and highest priced, to get them
Buy spices and pure. They will be the cheapest in the end.
herbs whole. jf kept in tight-fitting boxes, and ground in a
spice- mill when needed, spices will always have their fresh aro-
matic properties, and serve their purpose well.
Herbs, like thyme, sage, sweet marjoram, etc., I buy in
market when fresh from the ground. After rinsing them well,
HOW to pre- an ^ removing what is imperfect, I dry them with
a clean towel, and hang them up in a dry place,
stems upward, and surrounded by a clean sheet of paper, which
is left open below. The latter prevents the dust settling on
them. When they are quite dry I tie the paper up all around,
only to be opened when a sprig is needed.
With parsley and celery leaves I do differently. I dry them
in a cool oven, and then rub them to a powder. In order to
remove the stems remaining, I sift the latter through a fine
wire sieve. It is quite economical to provide for parsley in this
way as long as cheap. It is also very convenient to have it at
hand in the shape of a powder, instead of having to mince it,
although the dry article is not equal to the fresh in flavor.
Of lemons and oranges, when the juice is used for cooking,
I cut off the peel with a sharp knife, quite thin, to be put in
corked bottles each kind by itself with some
now to keep J
lemon and good brandy. More peel may be added at any
orange peels. . , , a f - .
time. This makes a pleasant flavoring for fruit
sauces, puddings, and other desserts. In peeling be careful
LETTER VI 43
not to cut off any of the white underlying the outer yellow.
It is of a bitter taste, and, in addition, prevents the aromatic
oil of the peel from yielding its aroma. The juice of a sour
orange is often preferable to lemon juice for cooking purposes.
It imparts a most delicate flavor even to sauces accompanying
dishes of meat or vegetables.
You are anxious, however, to have me tell you about meat
the staple article of food whenever the question of good
nourishment is concerned. Of all meat, beef is Gradesof
the highest in order. Next to it come venison nourishment
and pigeon, especially squab, which is invaluable
for the sick and persons of weak digestive power. But, to
give you a clear estimate of the different grades of nutritives
in meats, it will be necessary to figure them out in percentages.
The following tables will show you that the fatter the meat is
the more its large percentage of water is reduced and replaced
by substance.
WATER. ALBUMINOIDS. FATS. MINERAL MATTERS.
Lean beef 76.5 21.0 1.5 i.o
Middling fat beef 72.5 21.0 5.5 i.o
Very fat beef 55.5 17.0 26.5 i.o
Lean veal 78.0 20.0 i.o i.o
Fat veal 72.5 19.0 7.5 i.o
Middling fat mutton 76.0 17.0 6.0 i.o
Fat mutton 48.0 15.0 36.0 i.o
Lean pork 72.0 20.0 7.0 i.o
Fat pork 47.0 14.5 37.5 i.o
Chicken middling fat 75.0 20.0 4.0 i.o
Venison 75.5 22.5 i.o i.o
I have demonstrated to you that meat when used for the
purpose of making broth or soup has to be treated so as to ex-
tract its juices, leaving the fibre as refuse. The The - uicesof
opposite treatment is necessary for all meats which meat must
* be kept intact.
are to serve as roasts, steaks, cutlets, stews, etc.
With these the utmost care has to be taken that none of the
juices leak out of the meat. They must be kept intact. If
not, so much of the nourishment contained in the meat as will
escape is waste material and loss to the individual to be fed.
44 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
In order to show you how to proceed I will begin with a broiled
beefsteak :
Get a porterhouse steak an inch thick of about one to one
and a half pounds. If of a well-fed ox, it contains more
nourishment in proportion than a lower-priced
How to broil . - , r . , .
a beefsteak piece of the same weight. See that your fire is
Itratt p gthe m n ~ bright and clear of smoke. Have your gridiron
il mt a CU
meat meant take a. long-haired brush kept for such purposes
for food. . .. . 7
only, dip it into the oil, and grease with it gridiron
and steak. Have the dish hot in which to serve the latter, and
place on it a piece of fresh butter the size of a walnut. Put your
gridiron and meat on the fire, not so near as to burn it, and yet
near enough for the meat to become seared over and browned in
two or three minutes. Then turn it and allow the other side to
get brown as quickly. In this way the albumen on the outside
of the meat, by coming in contact with the heat, coagulates,
and furnishes a crust through which the meat-juice cannot
escape; it stays inside, and thus is kept intact. Place the
steak on the dish ready to receive it ; put some salt on the
upper side, and a sprinkle of pepper if preferred ; then turn
this side downward to come in contact with the butter ; turn it
back again and serve it at once. With this recipe you have the
principle to apply to all meats meant for food.
The roast is managed in the same way. Take a rib piece.
Have the butcher cut it as short as he is willing to do. Or
HOW to have him take the bones out (which you use for
soup) and roll it up, fastening it tight with twine.
Do not use skewers ; they make unsightly holes, and allow the
juice to escape. Have your oven thoroughly hot. Put a tea-
spoonful of butter, or as much suet dripping, into your meat-
pan, and when melted and very hot, put in your roast, and
place in the oven. Brown it on all sides as rapidly as possible
to form that impenetrable thin crust; inside of which the par-
ticles of water contained in the meat will develop into steam.
This in its turn permeates the meat-fibre, softens the muscle,
and cooks the meat in its own juices. As soon as this crust is
LETTER VI 45
formed the heat of the oven has to be slackened. To prevent
the outside from burning or drying up, a little melted butter has
to be kept in readiness with which to baste the meat from time
to time. It takes fifteen minutes for every pound of beef to
have the roast done rare. A quarter of an hour before it is
done sprinkle with salt. Do not do it earlier ; for salt, being a
dissolvent, softens the outside and extracts the juices. When
the roast is done put it on a hot dish, clear the pan of fat, add
a little boiling water or beef broth (one saltspoonful of Liebig's
extract dissolved is an excellent addition) and a little salt ; let
it boil up while loosening with a spoon the brown deposit at-
tached to the bottom and sides of the pan. Take care not to
dilute it too much. Strain through a fine wire sieve, and serve
this gravy with the meat. If you should prefer your roast
without any other gravy than the juice running out in carving
which is the very best you could have the made gravy can be
kept over and used afterward in various ways, as, for instance,
in hash or soup. I have purposely given you the recipe for
roasting in the oven, and not on the spit before the fire. Al-
though the latter is decidedly the best, the former can produce
as good and nourishing a roast, if strictly done in the above
way. It is the easiest way for young housekeepers who cannot
afford to keep an experienced cook.
Be sure never to stick a fork into any kind of meat which is
to appear on the table. By making holes for the juices to leak
out, the nourishing: properties of the meat will be r
' o r r ^ Precaution in
reduced. I keep a pair of meat tongs in my the handling
... e- t ii- i i -i of meat.
kitchen for handling and turning steaks and cut-
lets. For turning or lifting larger pieces of meat take two
wooden ladles.
If for any reason you wish to use a lower-priced or indiffer-
ent piece of meat, you will do best to stew or braise it, observ-
ing the same principles as before. Use for it a HOW to stew
stewing-pot with a tight-fitting lid. Brown the or braise meat
meat first on all sides in hot butter or fat. The highest
temperature of fat is three times as hot as boiling water.
The latter (or boiling broth) being added after the meat is
46 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
browned will lower the heat in which the meat cooks consider-
ably, which is necessary to steam the inside of the meat until
tender. After adding the liquid allow it to boil up a few times ;
then secure the lid of the cooking-vessel as tightly as possible
and remove the latter to a place where the temperature is kept
somewhat below the point of boiling where the contents will
merely simmer. If allowed actually to boil, the juices inside
the meat will dry up and the meat will be tough. From the
time your meat begins to simmer, it will take from half an
hour to one hour for each pound to get tender. A small piece
will get done relatively sooner than a large piece. I will give
you here a recipe of Mile. Francoise's for braised beef.
Take four slices of fat bacon; brown them slightly in an
iron pot; remove them, and brown in the fat remaining a
Recipe for piece of beef (about four pounds of the round)
braised beef. on a n s ^ QSf Then, take the bacon, place two of
the slices underneath and two above the beef. Have in readi-
ness one tablespoonful of chopped mushrooms, one teaspoon-
ful each of minced onion, parsley, chervil, and sweet basil ;
moisten all this with either a wineglassful of cooking sherry or
a small cupful of broth. Add the whole to the meat, cover it
up tightly, and let it simmer very slowly for from four to five
hours. Be sparing with the salt on account of the salted pork.
The liquid remaining in the pot, after the meat is taken out,
will make a sauce to be served with it by adding some browned
flour or roux, and some whole mushrooms, after the sauce has
been passed through a wire sieve.
I have given you these three recipes to show the principal
methods to be followed in cooking meats. Keep in your mind
the law laid down in them and apply it to all other kinds of meat.
The time, however, which is required for cooking the differ-
ent meats is not the same for all. Mutton has to be cooked
Time required niore than beef; roast it fully twenty minutes for
oTheTkfndf each pound, and five minutes more each pound
of meat be- for a large leg of mutton. Veal and pork must be
well done to be wholesome ; you may safely take
half an hour for each pound, but twenty-five minutes only when
LETTER VI 47
your roast is a loin. Chicken and turkey require twenty min-
utes each pound, but spring chickens are done in fifteen min-
utes, and so are all small birds. Pigeons and partridges require
half an hour, prairie chickens three-quarters of an hour.
I now return to the beef, than which for nourishment, if
properly treated, there is nothing better. The rib piece, by
which I demonstrated to you the principle at the Respective
base of roasting, is surpassed in succulence by the value of differ-
... , . -, ii. , ent cuts of beef.
sirloin and the filet, or tenderloin respectively
the outer and inner parts of the loin. The filet, bare 0f all
bone, by itself, is sold disproportionately high in price in the
large cities, and therefore is not recommendable for small
households like yours and mine. But, after all, you might
some day have occasion for a filet-roast, and will then be glad
to have the following recipe for filet of beef a la jardiniere.
For this piece of meat, eight minutes' cooking for Rec| e for
each pound is sufficient, if meant to be rare: fiietofbeef
. . . , -IT-. 11 a la jardiniere.
otherwise ten minutes each pound. Remove both
fat and skin the latter very carefully, with a sharp-pointed
knife, so as not to cut into the flesh. Lard it on top as closely
as possible in several rows. Have a dripping-pan hot, melt in
it some butter a piece the size of an egg for every two
pounds. When right hot put in your filet and brown it rapidly
on all sides. Then continue to roast with moderate heat.
Baste frequently with the butter in the pan. Sprinkle with
some salt when in the oven half an hour, and finish basting
with a cupful of cream. If preferred, a few spoonfuls of beef
broth can be added to the butter in the pan, instead of basting
with cream. Take the fat off the gravy, strain it, and serve it
poured over the filet. Surround the latter with different kinds
of vegetables, as young carrots, green peas, Brussels sprouts,
" roses " of cauliflower, chestnuts, mushrooms, etc. Arrange
them in little bunches, or bouquets, each kind by itself, and if
tomatoes are in season divide each bouquet by a large stuffed
tomato.
It is very likely that you will nave part of the filet left over,
of which remnant you wish to make the most. This is the
48 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
special way in which I use up cold beefsteak or roast beef:
Scorch a scant tablespoonful of flour in a table-
UiJ* Remnants spoonful of drippings ; add soup liquor sufficient
and^oSbeef to ma ^ e a thick sauce, stirring all the while until
smooth ; add salt and pepper, a teaspoonful of
lemon juice, and as much, or more, of mushroom catsup.
When ready add the meat, either cut in dice or in thin slices,
and stir until completely immersed in the sauce ; cover up
tightly, and set either on a vessel of boiling water, or on a
place where the meat gets heated through, but does not boil.
In fifteen minutes it will be ready to serve. Another way is
this, which is given by Alexandre Dumas, who was never hap-
pier than when able to don the white apron and cook a meal
for one or more friends :
For "beef en matelotte" peel some small onions and put
them in a saucepan with some butter ; place them over a slow
Recipe for beef nre until of a light brown ; dust over them a table-
enmateiotte. spoonful of flour, and continue to cook slowly.
After the flour is of the same color as the onions, add a glassful
of claret (or a tablespoonful of orange juice), half as much
broth, a few mushrooms, some salt, pepper, and a bouquet of
one bay leaf and a sprig of thyme. Allow the whole to stew
for a little while, then pour it over slices of cooked beef, and
place for half an hour where the meat will be kept hot, and be
saturated with the sauce without boiling.
In the foregoing you have means to prove the truth of
what the famous Dr. von Nussbaum of Munich, Germany
wrote : " All our thinking and doing is far greater in value
when we are well nourished, than it is when we are poorly fed
and not our real selves in consequence."
LETTER VII
Is not veal a calf?
Good pasture makes fat sheep.
SHAKESPEARE.
YOU wish to know how much meat for roasts to provide for
your usual meals as well as for company. Before giving
you my opinion, I must remind you that there is waste mate-
rial in what you x buy, which tells in weight but Waste material
does not count as food. Water is waste material, in food matters -
and so are bones. Then, also, meat when cooked weighs less
than when you bought it ; the loss in weight is different in boil-
ing and roasting. When boiled, beef loses 15, Lossofweight
mutton and turkey 16, chicken is-J. and ham 6 in boiling
, , . - . , and roasting.
per cent; when roasted, beef loses 19^, mutton
24^-, turkey 2o|-, lamb 22^-, duck 27-^, and chicken 14 per cent
in weight. Considering all this, and that the larger your roast
the juicier and better it is apt to be, I would advise, for a
household of three, never to provide less than four pounds for
roasting beef, mutton, and veal, and to take one-half pound
more for each guest who dines with you. Of steaks, chops,
and cutlets, as a general rule half a pound is sufficient for each
person. In case of company for dinner, when you will have
other courses besides, a large chicken or a capon is sufficient
for six persons, a turkey for a company of ten to twelve, a
duck but for three to four persons. The latter reminds me of
a recipe quoted in C. Monselet's " Gastronomic."
It is equally good for a tame or a wild duck, and is called
" duck a la Portugaise" Take the heart, gizzard, Recipe for
and liver, and mince them with three shallots (a duck a /a
11 /- i . 11 . Portugaise.
small onion if you cannot get the shallots) ; mix
with a teaspoonful of salt and half as much black pepper;
49
50 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
add a piece of table butter size of an egg and mix the whole
with a silver fork. Then introduce the mixture into the inside
of the duck, and sew it up at both ends. Take a large napkin,
fold it in three thicknesses, roll your duck up in it and fasten
it tightly all over with twine. Put it into boiling water well
salted, and cover it up. Let it boil for thirty minutes if a tame
duck, but thirty-five minutes if a wild one. Remove both twine
and napkin and serve on a hot dish with pieces of lemon for
a garnish.
I mention this only by the way ; and since variety is the spice
of life, you will not object. Later on I intend saying more of
poultry, but first I mean to talk to you about the kinds of meat
on which we depend chiefly for ordinary use.
Veal is much less nourishing than well-fed beef. It has less
muscle, about one-third less iron, and is poorer in alkalies. If,
General remarks however, the animal is not too young, and has
about veal. been well cared for, it furnishes the table with a
variety of food which in the hands of a clever cook may be
turned into a great many pleasant surprises. La Reyniere, who
wrote the famous " Almanac des Gourmands," calls the calf
"the chameleon of the kitchen," on account of the number
of different dishes into which it can be turned. The ten-
derest parts of the calf are the loin, with the kidneys attached,
and the breast. The latter is cheaper than either the loin or
leg, and therefore an economical piece of meat. It may be
stuffed and roasted ; or stewed, and served with a white
sauce ; or made into a delicious " roulade " for slicing when
cold. In case you have a loin of veal, and you wish to make
the most of it, you can use the kidneys for a savory breakfast
dish in the following way : When the roast is
of re vea! a kid d nejs. aljout half-done, remove the kidneys embedded in
their fat. Mince them with one shallot (or a bit
of onion) and a sprig of parsley; melt a teaspoonful of but-
ter in a skillet, add the mince when the butter is hot ; cover
it and allow it to stew for about fifteen minutes over a very
moderate fire, shaking the skillet with its contents from time
to time to prevent the latter from burning. Add a pinch or
LETTER VII 51
two of salt to the mince, and after you take it off the fire a
little white pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. Set aside
until next morning, when add one egg, and mix it in well.
Now cut some slices of bread, brown them slightly in a little
butter, then spread over one side of them the prepared kid-
neys, about half an inch thick ; dust over them some grated
Parmesan cheese, and over it some fine bread-crumbs. Sprinkle
over the whole some melted butter, place the slices on a tin
dish, and put them in a quick oven to get a light brown on top.
Serve hot.
A roast is not always desirable for a small family. Veal cutlets
have the same nourishing properties, if prepared in the right
way. The cutlets from the loin are the best, but
, _ , , , , Veal cutlets.
those cut from the leg may be made just as savory,
and are the cheapest. Have the butcher cut you one pound
off the leg in slices one-third of an inch (half a finger's width)
thick. Divide this meat into pieces as large as the
- , , . . Veal cutlets
palm of your hand. Remove skin and bone, a ia parmen-
pound the cutlets with the flat side of a kitchen mre '
knife, and turn them in some flour. Then heat a teaspoonful
of butter in a saucepan and throw in a teaspoonful of minced
onion. When the latter begins to turn yellow put in your cut-
lets, one beside the other, and add a few small slices of thinly
cut ham. Let all get brown first on one side and then on the
other. Sprinkle a very little salt over the veal, add some pep-
per, and a few squeezes of lemon juice. When the ham is
tender take it out and cut the lean in as many small diamond-
shaped pieces as you have cutlets, and keep hot. Add a little
water to the cutlets, cover them up and allow to simmer
on a slow fire until quite tender, adding more liquid if
necessary. Serve them on a bed of mashed potatoes, place a
piece of ham on every cutlet and pour the gravy around the
potatoes.
When in Carlsbad, Austria, I learned from the bill of fare
that this dish was called veal cutlet d la parmentiere. After
giving you this particular recipe in which you have the base
for cooking veal cutlet, I leave it to you to vary according to
52 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
your own good judgment. You might have peas instead of
potatoes ; or you might leave out the ham and
Vienna Schnitzel. r
garnish the cutlets with capers and slices of lemon,
serving the vegetable separately. The latter way is called
Vienna Schnitzel.
If parts of cooked or roasted veal are left over, you may use
it to advantage for a baked hash, called miroton: Chop fine
the veal and, if on hand, some fat ham or bacon.
Miroton of veal. .
Mince a slice of onion and a few sprigs of pars-
ley. Take bread-crumbs, about a third of the amount of
chopped meat ; soak them in milk, and squeeze dry by means
of a clean towel. Add some salt and white pepper, and one egg
beaten light beforehand. Mix well all these ingredients, then
warm but do not cook them in a saucepan. Now taste
the hash, and see that it is right in salt and spice. Put it into
a deep dish, well buttered, and bake it in a quick oven. It
ought to turn out whole. A tomato or a caper sauce served
with it will greatly improve this dish.
A great delicacy are the sweetbreads. They are both nour-
ishing and easily digested, therefore invaluable for the sick.
But, unfortunately, they are so high-priced in our
large cities (even in the country butchers no
longer throw them away, as they used to do) that
they belong to the luxuries. A calf's head also is not cheap ;
it, however, furnishes us with enough material to permit even
an economical housewife to purchase it now and then. Beside
the meat and skin there are the brains and the tongue for use.
Since all gelatinous matter and the calf s head has a great
deal of it is not easily digested, the addition of a slight acid
is necessary either in the preparation of such matter or in
what is served with it. To increase the nutritive properties of
calf s head, eggs are a first-rate complement.
Recipes for ^ have two recipes which I would recommend
call's head. \)oth f or their simplicity and wholesomeness.
After the head has been properly scraped and cleaned
(which the butcher generally does), have it split in halves,
giving particular orders not to split the tongue as well. Soak
LETTER VII 53
the whole in cold water for about two hours, then remove the
brain and set it aside. Put the halves, with the tongue, on the
fire, with cold water to cover it ; add salt in moderate quantity ;
add one or two pounds of beef bones, if you wish to make
your dish particularly nourishing. After the scum is removed
add two carrots, one turnip-rooted celery, one onion, a bunch
of parsley, eight white pepper seeds, and half a cup of vinegar.
Allow to boil slowly until soft, which will be in about two hours.
Now take the fleshy parts off the bone, also the ears, and peel
the tongue (unless you wish to save it for a special dish later
on, when it will keep fresher in its skin). Cut all this into
nicely shaped pieces and set to keep warm as much of it as
you wish to use for your dish presently. The rest you cover up
with some of the strained liquor and set away. In cold weather
it will keep for weeks. It can be used in various fashions, for
soups, ragouts, etc. ; or it may be baked.
Although the brains may be used for a soup or fried in a
batter, etc., I propose that you should use them for a dish of
"baked calf s head." Take as much as about half of the above
cooked head. Cut the pieces rather small. After the brains
have been well soaked in salted water, scald them in boiling
water, and remove all skins and veins ; then mash them through
a sieve, mix them with a cupful of cream, half a teaspoonful of
flour, two eggs well beaten, a saltspoonful of salt and a sprinkle of
nutmeg. Butter a dish in which to serve it, put in it the pieces
of calf's head and pour over them the above mixture. Bake in
the oven until brown, and serve the following anchovy sauce
with it : Take a teaspoonful of butter ; when hot mix it with a
scant teaspoonful of flour ; add gradually and stirring all the
while about half a pint of the liquid in which the calf's head
has been boiled, or any other broth (water even will do).
When well mixed add four sardines out of brine, which have to
be well washed and bones removed beforehand. Or, if more
convenient, add instead half a teaspoonful of anchovy paste.
Add also one small onion, the peel of a quarter-lemon, and allow
the whole to boil from half an hour to one hour. Put through
a wire sieve, then add some lemon juice and a tablespoonful of
54 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
capers ; set it again on the fire, and as soon as it comes to the
boiling-point stir in the yolks of two eggs beaten up either in a
little cooking wine or cream. Serve in a boat.
The other recipe is called calf's head en tortue. Use for
it, we will say, the other half of the calf's head you have in
readiness. If you wish to use the tongue as well, peel it and
slice it evenly. Set it to get warm in some of its own liquid.
After that prepare a sauce in this way : Melt a piece of butter the
size of an egg, mix with it one teaspoonful of flour ; then stir
into it half a pint or more of the liquid in which the head has
been boiled, and which, of course, has been strained. Let it
bubble up and stir over a moderate fire until quite smooth.
Then add half a teaspoonful of Liebig dissolved in a little boil-
ing water, and the prepared pieces of the calf s head. Have
the whites of three hard-boiled eggs chopped fine ; add them
and a tablespoonful of capers. Put the whole on a moderate
fire and, stirring repeatedly, allow it to simmer for five minutes
longer. At the very last add the juice of half a lemon and a
saltspoonful of white pepper. Stir to get it well mixed in and
remove from the fire. Serve in a hot dish, placing the nicest
pieces in the middle, with skin uppermost, the tongue, if used,
in a circle next to them ; pour over it some of the sauce ; and
serve the rest in a boat. Garnish with slices of lemon and
parsley, or water-cress.
To be economical you will save the tongue for a breakfast
dish. It will suffice for two, if the calf was a large one. It is
Breakfast ^^ mce P re P are d thus \ After the tongue is boiled,
dish of calf s and the skin peeled off, cut it in two lengthwise,
turn the halves in sweet oil or melted butter, then
in some fine bread-crumbs which have been mixed with a little
salt and some minced parsley. Broil them over a bright fire
until they are light brown.
To make a roulade of veal, take the breast. Have your
butcher take out the bones. Then separate the upper from
A rouiade tne lower part in such a way that both hang
of veai. together and form one thin square piece when
opened out. Lay it, inside uppermost, on a meat-board, and
LETTER VII 55
dust it over with salt and pepper. Now make a forcemeat in
the following way : Take half a pound of veal freed from fat
and skin and mince very fine. Take also some suet, and mince
it as fine as possible. Mix the two, and add half a teaspoonful
of minced shallot (or onion) which previously has been steeped
in hot butter until yellow ; also two eggs well beaten, a sprinkle
of grated nutmeg, and a saltspoonful of salt. Mix the whole
thoroughly and spread part of it over your veal to the thickness
of half a finger's width. Cover this layer of forcemeat with
oblong strips (about half an inch thick) of fat bacon, boiled
ham or tongue, and red beets, some parsley leaves, small
gherkins, and slices of hard-boiled eggs. Arrange all this
tastefully as to colors and distances. Then spread over the
whole another layer of forcemeat, which press down to secure
the pieces underneath. Have a flat surface. Now roll up the
meat so as to have the filling all inside. Roll it tight, sew it
together with needle and thread, and string it around with
twine. Take broth enough from the soup-pot to cover the
rolled meat. Place a tight-fitting lid on the stew-pan in which
you cook the meat, and boil it over a gentle fire for about
three hours. When tender take it out of the liquor, put it
between two boards, and place a heavy weight (a flat-iron, for
instance) on top. Let it remain over night, and the next day
it will be fit for slicing. As long as you cannot afford boned
turkey, this is a good substitute when you have
company for tea or luncheon. If the slices are
arranged in a ring, and the centre filled either with
a mayonnaise salad or a slightly acid meat-jelly 1
broken up in small pieces, it makes a very palatable and at
the same time ornamental dish.
Mutton is easier to digest than veal, if the meat is of a young
and well-fed animal. In boiling or roasting mut- General re _
ton or lamb, a bouquet of thyme and sweet marks about
marjoram should be added, which improves the
flavor of the meat. A leg of mutton can bear even a button
of garlic.
1 See p. 79.
56 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
To boil a leg of mutton, crush to a coarse powder a twig of
thyme, a bay leaf, and six black pepper seeds ; chop coarsely an
Reci e for onion and a clove of garlic ; mix the whole and
boiling a leg add a teaspoonful of salt. Rub this mixture into
the outside of the mutton, lap the latter tightly
around with a napkin, and sew it up with thread and needle.
Place it in a pot with a tight-fitting lid, and no more than
cover it with boiling water. Add to the latter a teaspoonful of
salt and the same vegetables as for soup-liquor, with the addi-
tion of some thyme and sweet marjoram. Do not let it boil
violently. A leg of about seven pounds ought to be done in
one hour and three-quarters to two hours. Take the napkin
off just before serving. A puree of white turnips or a white
caper sauce is a fit accompaniment.
The loin makes a savory roast. Add an onion cut in two and
a bouquet of sweet marjoram and thyme after the roast has
taken color. But the best roast of mutton is the
Loin of mutton. - ., ._, ... . . . , .
saddle. This is the two loins without being sep-
arated. Have the butcher trim off the flaps, the tail, and the
shoulder-blades. It requires a brisk oven and ten to fifteen
TO roast minutes roasting for each pound. Add the bou-
a saddle of quet required for mutton and an onion. Peel off
the skin which covers the top of the saddle when
nearly done (about twenty minutes before) ; sprinkle the fat
which remains with salt, then with melted butter, and cover it
all over with finely sifted bread-crumbs. Now continue the
roasting, top part uppermost, until done, when the meat ought
to be covered with a crisp brown crust. Garnish this delicious
roast with small potatoes browned in butter, and small glazed
onions, 1 all of one size. Have it accompanied by green peas.
Apply the same process to a quarter of spring
lamb, than which there is nothing more delicious.
The cheapest pieces of mutton are the shoulder and the
breast. As to the former, let the butcher take out the bones,
which, of course, you use for soup. Put bits of bacon here
1 See p. 125.
LETTER VII 57
and there over the inside of the meat, and sprinkle over it some
salt, black pepper, minced parsley, and a little crushed thyme.
Roll the meat up tightly and fasten it with
. i-ii Recipe for
twine. Put it into a stew-pan, in which has been a shoulder of
heated a tablespoonful of butter. Brown it
rapidly on all sides. Then add boiling water enough to cover
it about half. Salt but slightly, and put around the meat a few
onions, some carrots and turnips, a bay leaf, one or two cloves,
a bunch of parsley, and thyme. As soon as the whole comes to
a boil, remove from the top of the stove to the oven, and allow
it to stew there slowly until done. Place the meat on a hot
dish and arrange the vegetables around it. Add a scant table-
spoonful of flour to the liquor remaining in the pan. Let it
boil for five minutes, while stirring ; taste if it needs salt, and
pour this gravy over the meat.
A breast of mutton you may treat in the same way, or you
may boil it with soup vegetables and salt until tender ; then
drain it, turn it first in melted butter, and after- _
/ . Recipe for
wards in a mixture of bread-crumbs, minced * breast of
shallots and parsley, salt and pepper, over which
you sprinkle some more melted butter. Place the whole be-
tween a double gridiron and broil it until light brown over a
quick fire.
Mutton chops are always best when broiled. Apply the same
principle to them as I demonstrated in regard to beefsteak.
If you wish them extra fine, do as follows : Broiled
Mince a small onion, and as much as a tea- muttonch P s -
spoonful of parsley for about four chops. Mix both with a
scant tablespoonful of olive oil, and rub your chops with this
mixture. Place one upon another, and leave standing for five
minutes. Broil them over a bright fire, sprinkling with salt and
pepper when done. Or in this way : Turn your chops first in
melted butter, and then in part bread-crumbs and part grated
Parmesan cheese, the two mixed together. Then broil.
The kidneys also furnish you with a good breakfast or lunch-
eon dish. Divide them into halves, but so as to let them
hang together. Dust over them salt and pepper, and turn them
58 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
well in bread-crumbs. Then broil them over a quick fire
until light brown. Be careful not to expose them to the heat
Breakfast to ^ on & : ^ey niust be soft and juicy. Have ready
dish of mut- a mixture of fresh butter and minced parsley (to
ton kidneys. ... . . . .
which you may add tarragon and cives, all minced
very fine) ; form the mixture into little balls as large as a
pill ; put one inside of each kidney ; squeeze a few drops of
lemon juice on each, and double up the halves. Serve while
hot.
I give you in all these recipes only an outline of what can
be done with meat. You understand that it is for you to en-
large on them, and apply the rudimentary rules to all other
dishes on which you wish to try your skill. It is the " spirit of
cookery," which I principally want to instil into you.
LETTER VIII
I am one that am nourished by my victuals, and would fain have meat.
SHAKESPEARE.
I HAVE come now to the most despised of animals the pig,
which in spite of all the ignominy heaped on it, lavishes on
MS an abundance of acceptable gifts in the shape
of pork, ham, sausages, etc. Grimod de la Rey- ^
niere, in fact, calls the pig " V animal encydope-
digue par excellence" and in an old German
cook-book of the XVI. century we read, " If a sow were feath-
ered and would fly over a fence, she would be superior to all
poultry and birds of the air." But pork of all meats is hardest
to digest. This is chiefly owing to its toughness of fibre, which
resists mastication, and thus causes larger particles of food
to be conveyed to the stomach than is otherwise the case.
There is, however, a great difference in pork according to what
the animal has been fed on. The sweeter its food was the
better the meat will be, and the healthier at the same time.
Pigs fed on chestnuts are considered the best. The ancient
Greeks ate pigs' livers only if the animals had been fed on
figs, and wine made of honey. And the " Edda " tells us that
the heroes in Walhalla are treated by Odin with meat of wild
boar, who is the progenitor of the pig. All this goes to show
how much pork, and all derived from it, has been esteemed in
all times and ages.
Nevertheless you would hardly treat your dinner guests with
a dish of pork, but rather keep it for the family meal. A rib
roast, if tender is, indeed, succulent and deli-
Roasted pork.
cious of flavor. Always roast it with an onion cut
into halves, and a clove stuck in each half. Sprinkle plenty of
salt over the upper crust of fat, and let it get well done, with-
59
60 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
out drying up the juices. Some people like a layer of brown
bread-crumbs put over the top of the roast after it is done.
Sprinkle over it a little fine sugar, a pinch of ground cloves,
and lastly some melted butter. Put it once more in the oven
to take color. A Cumberland sauce goes well with this roast.
Recipe for Cum- To make it, pour the fat from the pan in which
berland sauce. the pork hag been roaste( i j an d %&& to t h e brOWtt
sediment in the bottom of it half a cup of broth, a wineglass-
ful of claret, a tablespoonful of French mustard, and as much
of currant jelly. Let the whole boil up, and strain through a
fine sieve. If any fat remains skim it off the top.
A filet or tenderloin of pork is an inexpensive piece of meat
inasmuch as there is no waste. Take either the pair of them
HOW to roast smce tnev are excellent for slicing and eating
tenderloin cold or only one if it is large, which will be
of pork. .
sufficient for your dinner of three. It must be
well skinned and not entirely bare of fat. Boil a cupful of
vinegar with one small onion sliced, one slice of lemon, one
bay leaf, one sage leaf, one sprig of thyme, six black pepper
seeds, one clove, for five minutes. Pour it boiling hot all
over your pork, turning it in this liquid a few times. Have a
piece of butter the size of a walnut heated beforehand in a
small dripping-pan, and when hot put in the filet, browning it
quickly on all sides. Then continue to roast slowly for about
one hour, adding a spoonful of the strained vinegar from time
to time, to keep the bottom of the pan moist. Sprinkle with
salt and baste frequently. A quarter of an hour before it is
done, pour over your meat a gill of thick cream. Baste it a
few times. This helps to make the sauce ; remove all but a
little of the fat on it, and serve either poured over the filet or
in a boat.
A very economical roast is the spring or the foreloin of pork.
Let the butcher remove the bones, and prepare the following
Reci e for stuffing i Cut two French rolls into thin slices,
stuffed fore- pour over them a cupful of boiling milk ; let soak
a while and get cool. Then add three eggs, half
a teaspoonful of salt, a teaspoonful of minced onion, as much
LETTER VIII 61
of minced parsley, a slight sprinkle of grated nutmeg, and beat
the whole until light and smooth. Fill this stuffing in the in-
side of the meat, where the bones have been taken out, and
secure it by sewing the edges of the meat together. Roast it
in the usual way.
If you wish to cook pork chops, I would recommend to
have them well pounded on both sides, then turned in bread-
crumbs, in an egz beaten up and salted, and
, , , , , . . Pork chops.
once more in bread-crumbs, saute 1 them in a
little hot butter, shaking them frequently to prevent their scorch-
ing. They take from twenty minutes to half an hour to get
done, and must be of a light brown on both sides.
A favorite with all of us is the ham, and for good reasons.
Although in the process of curing some of its nutritive juices are
lost, it is made fitter for digestion by means of the
, -. . About ham.
salt entering and sottenmg the tough fibres and tis-
sues. If not too large, a ham, even for a small family, is no piece
of extravagance. In cool weather it will keep for a week after
being cooked, and will help out in many ways. You know how
nice it is when cold and sliced. Served with a green salad it
makes a nice dish for lunch or supper. It may also be served
with a cold sauce made in this way : Take about an ounce
of lump sugar, rub into it the outside of half an A sauce for
orange and squeeze over it two tablespoonfuls of cold ham -
its juice. When the sugar is melted, add to it a heaped tea-
spoonful of French mustard, two tablespoonfuls of salad oil,
and as much good vinegar. Mix thoroughly. Or serve with
your cold ham the following horseradish sauce : Take two
tablespoonfuls of sweet cream ; one tablespoonful of best vine-
gar, half a teaspoonful of sugar, and as much of Recipefor
salt. Beat it up, and add as much grated horse- horseradish
radish as it will take to make a thick sauce. You
may also combine these two sauces, by leaving out the cream
and mustard. They both go equally well with cold corned beef,
with boiled fish, and poultry.
i See p. 76.
62 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
In case you wish to serve your boiled ham heated over, I
propose the following way : Cut it into even slices, soak
Boiled ham them in cold milk for about half an hour, then
heated over. w jp e fa em ^ r y t Make a brown roux? add to it
some broth (or water if you have none), a little lemon peel, a
blade of mace, and six black pepper seeds. Let all this boil
slowly for half an hour, when strain and add a wineglassful of
port wine or sherry. Put the sliced ham into this sauce, place
it over boiling water, cover it up, and let it get hot. Serve it
in a rice-ring 2 dusted over with grated Parmesan cheese, if you
choose to do so.
You may also mince some of the lean part of your boiled
ham, and serve it dusted over a dish of boiled macaroni ; or,
in layers between boiled rice, and baked au gratin
Other ways , J '
of using up i.e. browned on top and served in the dish
baked in. There are, in fact, so many different
kinds of nice dishes to be made of ham that in mentioning
some of them I forgot that I have not told you as yet how
to boil a ham which is quite important to know. Buy only
the best of ham, and then do not soak it in water over
HOW to boil night, as a good many cook-books tell you, but
a ham. have j t was h e d and scrubbed with a brush
in lukewarm water. Put it on the fire in cold water, which
must cover it entirely. Have a tight-fitting lid for the pot in
which you cook it. Let it come to a boil very slowly, then
change the water for fresh which is boiling when poured over.
Place the pot now where the water will not boil, but merely
simmer. The ham is done when the skin, being lifted at the
end, will pull off easily. It will take from four to five hours to
cook a small ham.
To roast a ham, cook it as above, and after the skin has been
HOW to peeled off, put it in a dripping-pan with a bottle-
roast a ham. ^ o f p r i me c id e r, and place it in a moderately
hot oven for another hour. Baste it occasionally with the
liquor in the bottom of the pan.
l See p. 70. 2 See p. 73.
LETTER VIII 63
Speaking of ham, I am reminded that of cured food a
boiled beefs tongue is a very good thing to have now and
then, although it is less economical and not nearly How to
as wholesome as ham. Beef tongue is extremely bo ' ! a ton ue -
fat, and there is the root of it, which counts in weight and is
nearly all refuse. In boiling a tongue do as in boiling ham,
with the one exception that a tongue is better for being soaked
over night. If any cold tongue is left over, it will serve for a
breakfast dish, done in the following way, given by Dumas :
Cut your boiled tongue into very thin slices ; take the dish
in which it is to be served, put in a few tablespoonfuls of broth
(or a saltspoonful of Liebig) and a few drops of A break
vinegar or lemon juice. Have a mince made of fast dish of
111 tit/ \ cold tongue
pickled cucumbers, parsley, shallot (or onion),
chervil, some black pepper, salt, and bread-crumbs. Spread a
thin layer of this mixture first, then a layer of sliced tongue,
and so on, finishing with the mince. Dust over the whole
some bread-crumbs, and put in a quick oven for about ten to
fifteen minutes, to heat through and get brown on top. Just
before serving, moisten it with a little more broth (or water).
I have come now to poultry, and particularly chickens, than
which there is nothing more delicate and wholesome in the
way of meat. I am not going here into details Aboutpoultry
about drawing, singeing, and trussing poultry. You '" general, and
.,,_,,,...,. . , , how to buy.
will find that described m every practical cook-
book. But I will give you a few hints, which may be valuable, as
to making the most of the poultry you buy and of the great variety
of dishes furnished by the barn-yard. When marketing, see
that your chickens have flexible bones, that a duck's bill is not
too hard to the touch, and that the feet are of a light yellow.
You are sure, then, that both chickens and ducks are young.
A young turkey has a more delicate skin than an old one ; nor
are the flaps about its head of so dark a red. The barn-
yard pigeons, if young, have very small heads, thick bills, a light
skin, and a delicate yellowish down about head and breast and
underneath their wings. An old fowl or old pigeons furnish an
excellent broth for soup. Remember this in case of sickness.
64 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
If you have a chicken which is not very fat, you may tie
some thin slices of fat bacon or salted pork over its breast, and
lay another couple of slices underneath while roasting. In re-
spect to pigeons, squabs, and game in general, this process is
invariably the best, since all birds lack in fat. They are best
enveloped all around in slices of bacon, which Konig, in his
famous " Geist der Kochkunst," calls their habit.
If you have a very young chicken, it is best to split it down
the back and broil it. It is also good dredged with flour and
browned in an iron pan in some hot butter, first on
About cook-
ing young the outer side, then on the inner, sprinkling with
salt after the former is turned uppermost. When
done and removed to a hot platter, pour a little cream into the
frying-pan to boil up and mix with the brown deposit in it ;
salt it slightly, add a few drops of lemon juice, and pour over
the chicken. Serve it trimmed with bunches of parsley, either
fresh or fried crisp in some boiling lard. I have had the
breasts of a large chicken served in this way for two persons,
while I kept the rest of the chicken for stewing on another
day.
The flavor of a young roasted chicken is greatly improved if
you place inside it a piece of fresh butter the size of a walnut,
and with it a bouquet of parsley and a small onion. If you
like, you may also add the giblets to it, sprinkled with salt. I
must not omit to tell you that the inside of poultry, after being
drawn, ought always to be rubbed with some salt.
Not merely a good, but also a good-looking dish is the fol-
lowing : Take a well-prepared chicken, put it in a stew-
A dish of P ot w ^ f ur ounces of washed rice, half a dozen
stewed chicken mushrooms if you will go to this extravagance
a sprinkle of salt, a blade of mace, four ounces
of butter, and enough boiling water to cover the whole. Cover
with a tight-fitting lid, and allow to boil over a moderate fire
until chicken and rice are tender. Add more water if needed ;
or substitute beef broth for water, if you have it on hand,
which will make the dish more nourishing. The liquid must
nearly all have been taken up by the rice. Remove the mace,
LETTER VHI 65
and serve the chicken with the rice around it. Garnish the dish
with an outside rim of roses of cauliflower boiled in salt water.
A fricassee of chicken is stewed chicken of a higher order.
The following is a good recipe for it : Divide a chicken into
four parts, put it in a pint and a half of boiling Reci e for
water, to which add a piece of butter the size of a fricassee
. of chicken.
walnut, an onion cut in two, a few sprigs ot pars-
ley, half a bay leaf, and a teaspoonful of salt. Allow it to stew
gently until the chicken is done, when remove and strain the
liquor all but a little, in which you keep the chicken hot.
Bring the strained liquor again to a boil, when drop into it two
ounces of butter kneaded into a ball with one tablespoonful of
flour. Let it boil five minutes when the ball will be dissolved ;
then beat into it the yolks of one or two eggs which have
been mixed with a little milk. If too thick, add some of the
broth left on the chicken. At the very last add the juice of
half a lemon, a very little white pepper, and another piece of
butter the size of a walnut. Stir the same vigorously over the
fire until quite hot again, but do not let it boil. If you wish to
make it very nice you may add some button mushrooms, or
a dozen oysters, or some crayfish tails. But should you think
this too extravagant, you merely add some wheels of oyster-
plant (salsify) which have been cooked by themselves in salt
and water. This vegetable harmonizes very well with the sauce
and chicken. Have rice or macaroni served with it.
In the south of Germany, and especially at Vienna, a favorite
way of cooking young chickens is to fry them in lard. They
are called Backhaendl (baked cocks), in true
v Backhaendl,
Viennese dialect, and are delicious. The
haendl or cocks must not be older than two months, and well
fed. Cut them into four parts; first, lengthwise, then re-
moving the spine, divide each half so as to have the breast
and wing and second joint and drumstick each by itself.
Take two eggs for two chickens, add to them two tablespoon-
fuls of water and a saltspoonful of salt, and mix. Dredge the
chickens first with flour, then turn them in the egg, and after
that in fine bread-crumbs. The latter must be of bread one
66 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
day old, when it will not take up fat as much as crumbs
from staler bread. Lay all the pieces thus prepared on a
platter, side by side, and put a deep pan on the fire with one
pound of lard (or half lard and half butter). Heat, it until a
thin piece of bread, when thrown in, will turn light brown in
a few seconds. Then put into it one half of the chicken,
and shake the pan gently until the chicken turns to a rich yel-
lowish brown, which ought to be in two or three minutes.
Remove the chicken with a skimmer to some blotting-paper.
Repeat the same procedure with the other half of the chicken,
after which throw into the hot lard a handful of
Fried parsley. . T ......
parsley. In one or two minutes it will be as crisp
as the chicken ; skim it out of the fat on to the paper. Dust
over it some fine salt, and serve on top of the chicken. Green
peas are the vegetable best suited to accompany this dish.
Remnants of poultry may be done up to advantage in various
styles, either cut into small pieces and heated
Various uses of .
remnants of m 3. white sauce, or as croquettes, or a ragout,
poultry. i j i j
or a salad with mayonnaise dressing, etc.
A turkey you will provide but for special occasions. I think
it worth while to give you for a trial the following, which is the
very recipe for cooking a turkey as fancied by and served to
the late German Emperor Wilhelm I. : Take a
Stewed turkey. . , ........... .
deep oval pan with tight-fitting lid, large enough
for the turkey to fit in. Heat half a pound of butter in it, and
when hot put in the turkey. Add half a pound of ham cut in
pieces, a plateful of sliced onion, and one pint of boiling water.
Allow to stew slowly from two to three hours. Put the gravy
through a sieve, and pour it over the turkey. Serve macaroni
with it.
The turkey drumsticks, if left over, you may serve up the
second time " devilled." Make a cut down the side, take out
Devilled the bones and cartilage carefully, dip in melted
butter ; dust the inside over with salt and pepper,
sprinkle it with lemon juice, and spread some mustard over
the whole. Broil over a quick fire for a few minutes, and serve
hot.
LETTER VIII 67
I have given you already a recipe for a duck. If you prefer
to roast it, it is best to stuff it with a chestnut filling. Pigeons
you may stuff and roast ; or you may fricassee them,
J , 3 .* ' About a duck.
adding some forcemeat balls to the sauce. When
you serve them with boiled rice, proceed in the following way :
Cut your pigeons into quarters, and saute them to a light
brown in some butter. Then add a slice of onion
...... , About pigeons.
minced, the juice of one or two tomatoes strained
through a sieve, salt, a little white pepper, a bouquet of parsley,
and a little broth (or water). Stew them, cov- pj ge ons
ered up, until tender. Serve them on top of some Wlth rice>
boiled rice, and pour the gravy over the whole.
I add a few recipes for the stuffing of poultry. The follow-
ing you may use both for chicken and turkey : Take two
French rolls, soak, and squeeze dry ; beat until About various
light with two whole eggs and the yolk of one egg. stuffing
TV?- u T JJ 4. 1,1 c i r J for poultry.
Mince the liver ; add a tablespoonful of minced
onion and as much parsley, a teaspoonful of salt, a little
ground mace, and two ounces of butter, which melt. Mix
the whole thoroughly, and heat, but do not let it come to the
point of boiling. To this stuffing you may add also as much
as one pound of sausage-meat, which makes it rich, and im-
parts a flavor in harmony with poultry.
A chestnut stuffing for either turkey or duck is made thus :
Take a dozen large chestnuts, boil, peel and mash them.
Cook the liver of your turkey or duck ; mince it very fine ;
add a tablespoonful of minced ham, a teaspoonful of minced
shallots (or onion), as much both of minced lemon peel and
salt, a very little white pepper, two ounces of melted butter,
two tablespoonfuls of grated bread, and the yolks of two eggs.
Mix the whole thoroughly.
A stuffing of oysters, to which you add bread-crumbs, melted
butter, and a little ground mace and minced parsley, is perhaps
the most delicious of all stuffings for either chicken or turkey,
with the exception of truffles an ingredient by far too ex-
pensive for any sensible mortal to think of in a country like
ours, devoid of this precious fungus.
68 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
I will close with a stuffing for pigeons, and then release you
for to-day. For three pigeons take one ounce and a half of
bread, soak it in milk, and press it dry ; pour over it two ounces
of melted butter ; add to it the minced livers of the pigeons, a
slice of onion, and a few sprigs of parsley minced, a scant tea-
spoonful of salt, a sprinkle of grated nutmeg, and three eggs.
Mix well and fill it into the breasts of the pigeons from the
neck, by means of a teaspoon.
LETTER IX
Thy spirit be thy guide.
FRIEDRICH VON SALLET.
THERE is one branch of cookery which I might call the flower
of the culinary art. This is the making of ragouts and their
attendant sauces. An ordinary cook has not the
faintest idea how to produce them; it requires
both taste and study to achieve success in this
line. I want you to devote your best mind to the
production of ragouts and sauces, since they may be adapted
at the same time to the requirements of a luxurious dinner and
of a modest one, as I am going to show you. Suppose you
have a remnant of chicken left, too insignificant to put on
the table either cold or warmed up. Take it, every scrap of
it, except the skin, and cut it in tiny pieces squares if possi-
ble. If the liver has been saved, so much the better ; cut it
in tiny squares likewise, and set both aside. Now make a thick
white sauce (of which later), which you flavor with some an-
chovy paste as large as a pea, and a sprinkle of lemon juice.
With this sauce you mix your meat. Then pour a teaspoonful
of olive oil in a saucer, brush it over the inside of some scallop-
shells (one for each person), fill the latter with your ragout,
which must be quite hot, sprinkle some dry bread-crumbs
over it, and then some grated cheese. Put a few flakes of table
butter on top of each ; place the shells in a sheet-iron pan, and
brown them in a quick oven, which will take about five minutes.
They must be watched, lest the ragout dry up. Serve the
shells immediately over a folded napkin on a china dish.
They make a nice appetizer when eaten between the soup
and meat course ; and they furnish the best and nicest way of
using up meat as well as fish.
69
70 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
Now you can take the same recipe and, for a special occasion,
turn it into a
Salpicon Royal. Cut into small dice the breast of a chicken,
some sweetbreads and mushrooms, all cooked beforehand ;
add a bechamel sauce, in which some crayfish butter has
been melted ; pour this mixture either into shells of pastry or
small paper cases, and serve hot. Or, more luxurious still,
prepare a
Salpicon a la Conde. Take equal parts of prepared sweet-
breads, the reddest of beef tongue, the blackest of truffles ; cut
them into small dice, and moisten well with a thick white sauce
flavored with lemon juice and mushroom.
The term "salpicon" is generally applied to a ragout fin,
the ingredients of which are cut into fine squares. A ragout
always requires a savory or piquant sauce, and
mostly is composed of mixed materials, which,
however, have to be so assorted that they blend
harmoniously. The greatest care must be be-
stowed on the sauce which completes the whole. It is either
a brown or a white sauce, according to the solids used. If
remnants of cooked beef, mutton, or venison are to be turned
into a ragout, a brown sauce is required ; for veal, poultry, fish,
etc., a white sauce is needed. The foundation of a sauce is
flour and butter mixed, which is called a roux. The propor-
tions are one spoonful of butter to one spoonful of flour. Melt
the butter, mix it with the flour, and stir over the fire a few
minutes only, if the sauce is to be white. Do not allow it to
HOW sauces ta ^c color. For brown sauce, set this mixture on
are made. tne back of the stove until it turns to a rich brown.
Stir it frequently, and do not allow it to become attached to
the bottom of the pan (one of sheet-iron is best) or to get
black in any part. Now, to get the consistency of sauce, add
to the roux the liquid required. Add it lukewarm and little
by little, stirring all the while in one direction ; thus you avoid
getting lumps. When properly thinned, stir over the fire until
it begins to boil ; then set it on the side of the stove and allow
it to continue boiling gently until the flour is cooked, which
LETTER IX 71
will be in about fifteen minutes. To keep the mixture for use
later in the day, put it in a saucepan with tight-fitting lid, which
you place in an open pan filled to reach three-quarters up the
saucepan with boiling water. This you put on a place where
the latter will keep boiling hot, but not boil. The liquid to be
added to the roux varies as to the sauce to be made. A
white sauce requires either a clear, mildly flavored veal or
chicken broth, or it is made with milk and cream, sometimes
with the addition of an egg. A brown sauce ought always to
be more or less piquant ; the broth used may either be of beef
or from scraps and bones of dark meat, flavored with spice,
onions, pickles, or other accessories of the kind.
Professional cooks keep " stock " on hand for the making of
sauces, but this is far too expensive a way for you and me.
The contents of the soup-pot are all we need, and, by adding
afterward to the above white or brown sauces the condiments
needed to suit the kind of food they are to accompany or form
a whole with, we can make with ingenuity as good a sauce
without stock, as the best of professional cooks can with stock.
A brown sauce, however, can always be improved in looks as
well as in regard to its nourishing qualities by adding to it at
the last moment some of Liebig's extract.
With the plain white and brown sauce you can manage to
produce pretty nearly any kind of sauce that you will need.
If you wish to serve some slices left from cooked beef, mutton,
or tongue, the following is a good recipe for a
Brown Ragout Sauce. Prepare your sauce in the way
demonstrated, then add one onion, one bay leaf, one clove,
four allspice, six black pepper seeds, a bouquet of parsley,
summer savory or sweet basil, and continue to let it boil gently
for. half an hour longer, stirring from time to time. Strain
through a wire sieve, and half an hour before serving add some
lemon juice or a little vinegar, and either capers, slices of
pickled cucumbers, or mushrooms or, if preferred, all three
of them. At the last you add the meat, which must be fully
covered with sauce. Cover it up tight and place it over boil-
ing water, where the meat will get heated, and blend with the
72 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
sauce without coming to a boil. Cooked meat heated over
must never boil, or it will get tough.
Of white sauces the bechamel is the most useful. The
original one, invented by Louis XIV.'s famous chef, M.
Bechamel, is a very elaborate one, of which there are many
descendants of high and low degree. The latter, however, are
by no means to be despised. I have, in fact, a special fond-
ness for the following one, which I recommend to you for its
simplicity, tastiness, and wholesome as well as nourishing prop-
erties.
Plain Bechamel Sauce. Make a roux as for white sauce,
substitute milk for broth, add one onion, a flake of mace,
and a bunch of parsley. Let boil for fifteen minutes, then
strain.
This is a very good sauce for poultry, sweetbread, and ham,
and also for certain vegetables. For a ragout or a salpicon,
take half milk and half veal (or chicken) broth, and flavor
with a few mushrooms instead of mace and parsley.
I can recommend also the following
Sauce Allemande. Make a white sauce with either chicken
or veal broth, add to it one onion, half a slice of raw ham cut in
squares, a few white pepper seeds, the peel of one quarter
lemon ; allow it to boil for half an hour, when strain and flavor
with lemon juice.
To this sauce, as to any other, you may add any accessory
which serves your purpose, if you merely take care that noth-
ing incongruous enters into your dish. I use it for a
Mixed Ragout in a Pastry Shell (vol au vent) . Take two
calves' tongues ; boil them in your soup-pot. When done,
peel the skin and trim off the roots. Prepare one or two
sweetbreads in the following way : Wash them well, put them
in a saucepan, cover with cold water, let them simmer not
boil for one hour until they are well blanched. Meanwhile
put water on to boil in another saucepan, and throw into the
boiling water the blanched sweetbreads; let them boil for a
few minutes, removing the scum which rises ; then put them
into cold water, and after they get cool take them out and
LETTER IX 73
trim off the skin and cartilage. Both tongues and sweetbreads
are now ready for use. Cut them into slices and put them
into the above sauce, which must be rather thick; keep hot
over boiling water. Add some mushrooms, either canned or
fresh. 1 If you wish to make this ragout first-rate, you add at
the very last some forcemeat balls boiled in broth. Serve the
whole in a shell of pastry, with a cover of the same, which you
can order of a baker or confectioner, heating it in an oven for
five minutes before use.
You can also dress the ragout inside a rim of croutons.
Take slices of stale bread, cut off the crust, shape it either in
square, triangular, or circular pieces, throw them Howto
into boiling lard until they are of a deep yellow, make a ring
, / r i i of croutons.
when remove them to a piece of blotting paper to
drain off the grease. Have ready a mixture of white of egg
and flour, by means of which you fasten the lower edges of the
croutons to the rim of your dish (which must be slightly warm)
so as to form an inclosure for the ragout to be poured and
served in.
You may also serve a ragout in either a rice or a potato
rim ; this is, however, a somewhat tedious process. I therefore
prefer for a change to make a rim of boiled rice How
in a plain way, by boiling the rice until quite thick make a plain
and soft, then filling it hot into a well-buttered
ring-shaped mould made of tin. Now, by pressing the rice
down, it can be turned out on a warm dish, and is ready at
once to be filled with anything you please.
I have been writing at length on the subject of these mixed
dishes, because I consider them a very valuable chapter in
cookery. Far from being unwholesome if composed of whole-
some food, they, on the contrary, are apt to tempt even a
delicate and dainty stomach, and by their nutritious contents
to benefit a reduced system. Then, what a field for invention
these dishes are, and with what comparatively small expense
they furnish the showiest and most palatable entrees for a
company dinner !
1 See p. 96.
74 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
Since I am writing on sauces, I will add here a few more
cold sauces for serving with both cold and warm meat. They
also have the advantage of keeping for days after they are
made. The simplest is the
Maitre d'Hotel Sauce or Butter. Take four ounces (four
tablespoonfuls) of the freshest butter and either one teaspoon-
ful each of minced parsley and tarragon or, if the latter cannot
be had, two teaspoonfuls of parsley. Beat the butter with a
wooden spoon, mixing well with it the minced herbs, and add-
ing gradually the juice of one lemon. Add a little salt if the
butter is not much salted already or add a flavor of anchovy
paste, which gives an agreeable piquancy to the butter. A
spoonful of this butter heaped on a broiled steak or fish is very
good. It can also be used as a beautiful garnish for a dish of
either meat or fish by putting as many small egg-shaped lumps
of this butter as there are persons, inside of curled lettuce
leaves ; place them here and there on the edge of the dish.
An excellent appetizer, when desirable, is the
Sauce Tartare. Chop very fine two shallots, mince also
some tarragon and chervil, and mix with one heaped teaspoon-
ful of French mustard and the yolks of two eggs, to which add
one teaspoonful of vinegar, one tablespoonful of oil, a little
white pepper and salt, stirring all the time in one direction.
If you notice that the sauce begins to curdle, add a little more
vinegar. Taste to see whether it is sufficiently salted ; if too
much salted, remedy it by adding a little more mustard and
oil.
This is Alexandre Dumas' recipe.
A more pretentious sister to our excellent mint sauce is
this:
Herb Sauce (Sauce a la Ravigote). Chop fine equal parts
of chervil, pimpernel, water-cress, cives, parsley, and tarragon.
Mix with them the hard-boiled yolks of two eggs, add one
scant tablespoonful each of French mustard and oil, a teaspoon-
ful of vinegar, some white pepper and salt, and stir for half
an hour.
I do not mention the sauce mayonnaise ; I will do so
LETTER IX 75
when I come to speak about salads. For the present you have
quite enough matter to try your hand on. But let me advise
you, before I close this letter, to use for your sauces always the
best of butter ; otherwise all your trouble will be in vain. I
have for that statement, outside of my own experience, such an
authority as Gouffe".
LETTER X
Dost them know the art
Of butter and of lard ?
In finger-tips canst feel
How much pepper and salt to deal ?
WHEN I told you about the cooking of meat by means of
boiling, roasting, stewing, and broiling, I made no mention
of frying, or sauteing. I kept it in store for a separate demon-
stration. For to fry as it should be done, is not only a
difficult process, but in regard to a rational diet, it is un-
desirable to indulge in fried food more than occasionally. In
case the distinction between frying and sautemg should not be
quite clear to your mind, I will explain here that the latter
means browning in a small quantity of fat, while
brtw r cen C fry- the former requires immersion into hot fat. Fat,
teuton which is capable of a temperature three times as
hot as boiling water, answers well to perform the
urgent office of cementing at the very start the outside of
the meat (or some other food-matter), in order to preserve
the nourishing and juicy substances within. But the nature
of the fat itself, which of necessity becomes a part of the food
fried or sauteed, causes the latter to become somewhat more
hard to digest. I would, therefore, class a friture as a
relish, in order to distinguish it from necessary food. Of
the two, frying and saufemg, the former is preferable, inas-
much as the process, if carried out correctly, causes much less
fat to attach to the object than will adhere in the slower
process of saufemg. The latter, in fact, is only admissible if
the pan is thoroughly heated beforehand, and the fat, after
being put in it, is made so hot as to surround the food
instantly with a sort of crust. If this were not done, the fat
76
LETTER X 77
would penetrate through the pores into the inside, destroy
the juices, and make the food unpalatable, as well as decidedly
unwholesome.
It is with the manner of frying, or immersing, that I wish to
make you particularly acquainted. For some of the greatest
triumphs of culinary art are to be gained by it. In
the first place you want a deep casserole of good
metal, and then the right sort of fat. Leaf lard, and suet ren-
dered, or half and half of each, are equallygood. Take a large
enough quantity of it to fully immerse what you wish to fry.
Let it melt and get hot. To know when the right temperature
is reached, watch and see when the air above it begins
to waver. Then take a small piece of bread sliced thin,
and throw it into the fat. If it sizzles and takes color in
about five seconds, immerse at once the substance to be fried.
Brillat-Savarin calls this the " surprise," and your whole success
depends on its taking place at the right moment. If your fat
begins to smoke, that moment is past already : you will then
have to remove your casserole with the fat from the fire, add
some fresh lard or suet, and watch again for the exact moment.
After the surprise is effected, you slacken your fire to prevent
the food from carbonizing. When the friture turns to a
golden brown, and rises to the surface, it is time to remove it
with a strainer-ladle to a piece of blotting paper, which you
place on a warm plate. All superfluous fat will enter into the
paper and leave the friture dry and crisp. For frying you
may use almost any kind of cooked meat or vegetable, and
fish when raw. Cereals, if fried, have to be cooked before-
hand, but not so farinaceous food made of dough. Some of
the finest fritures are croquettes, for which remnants of poul-
try, veal, beef, fish, etc., may be appropriated. The founda-
tion of croquettes is a thick sauce, for which take H ow to make
a gill of sweet cream, butter the size of half an egg, croquettes.
one tablespoonful of flour, a little white pepper, salt, and a
piece of lemon peel. I do not repeat how a sauce of this sort
is made ; you know it already. When done, add to it, cut into
tiny squares, whatever material you wish to use. Set it on ice
78 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
to get cold. Then take as much as a tablespoonful of it at a
time, mould it into pear-shaped or cylindrical forms, by rolling
it lightly on a baking-board with your hand. After your
croquettes are all formed, roll them in fine bread-crumbs, then
in a beaten egg slightly salted, and once more in bread-crumbs,
when they will be ready for immersion. Remember what I
said about bread-crumbs apropos of fried chickens in my last.
Croquettes of sweetbread are among the most delicate.
Calfs brains are best fried in batter, when they are very
good indeed. Treat them like sweetbreads, 1 and boil them
with an onion, a few pepper seeds, one bay leaf, and a little
vinegar in salt and water. Divide them into pieces as large as
an egg, and make the following batter : Beat over the fire
until hot one cupful of milk, one whole egg, the
Recipe of a batter.
yolk of another egg, half a saltspoonful of salt,
and one tablespoonful of olive oil. Let it get cool, when add
sufficient flour to make the batter thick, but not stiff. Stir
until smooth. The same batter also serves for fried vegetables ;
as, for instance, roses of cauliflower, pieces of squash, etc.
Even flowers may be fried in it. The vegetables, as I said,
have to be boiled beforehand. As to flowers, I found it
stated in some German cook-book, that " white roses, elder-
berry-blossoms, and nettles," fried in batter, are very good ;
but I will not vouch for it. I myself have eaten in Italy, while
staying in a primitive place among the Apennines, a friture of
pumpkin-blossoms, and acknowledge that I quite relished it.
There remains now for me to tell you something about that
particular substance in the flesh of animals which is called
glue or gelatine. It is derived principally from
About gelatine. r , *
the tissue, the cartilage or gristle, the tendons and
bones. But the bones, skins, and fins of fish also furnish
gelatine. It is extracted from meat or fish by prolonged boil-
ing in water at the highest possible temperature. The latter is
reached by preventing the steam from escaping from the pot in
which the gelatinous matter is being boiled, and by the addition
of salt. 2
k < iSeep. 72. 2 See p. 41.
LETTER X 79
Now, as to the use of glue or gelatine for nutritive purposes,
the scholars are somewhat at variance. Some authorities hold
that, although gelatine is rich in nitrogen (two parts
of gelatine are equivalent to one of albumen), it is aiityof tlve
hard to digest, and, therefore, as good as useless f^'a^
for the organic building up of the system. Others,
on the contrary, claim that gelatine, if it does not build up, has,
at least, the valuable property of economizing the albuminoids
demanded by the animal system, so that a minimum of them
in connection with gelatine is well calculated for a time to pro-
vide proper nutrition. These same authorities claim also that
gelatine, because easily dissolved, is easily assimilated. In order
not to be lost between these opposing teachings, I think it best
to be on the safe side, and follow the precept of adding to a
dish rich in gelatine (like calf s head, etc.) a slight Acid acts
acid, acting as a dissolvent. If gelatinous sub- as a dissolvent
stances are used for a jelly, make it just stiff enough
to stand, which will render it more palatable, and easier to
digest, than when surcharged with them.
To make meat-jelly or aspic, you have at your service the
skin, nose, and ears of a calf's or a pig's head, the feet of both
calf and pig, the skin of pork or a boiled ham, Substances
the wing-ends, legs, and feet of poultry, etc. Such yielding mate- ,
11 ui J I- J- i_ rialforjelly.
a jelly will enable you to produce plain dishes, as
well 2& plats de gout, highly fanciful and ornamental dishes. It
is used, also, for garnishing, and, when broken up into irregular
pieces, is very effective. Meat by itself will like- The uses of
wise yield up the gelatine contained in its cellular meat -J el| y-
tissue, if boiled long enough for the process to take place. The
meat in this case will be quite worthless, but the jelly will be of
the best and most nutritious, albeit the most expensive. I
will give you first a recipe for aspic, and later two for jelly.
For aspic, to make it economical, take a couple of calfs
feet, and any odd pieces of raw veal and beef, as R ec i P e for
well as remnants of bones or gristle which you a *P' c -
may have on hand. Bring it to the fire with three pints of cold
water and a teaspoonful of salt. Skim well, and let it boil for
80 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
three hours. Then add to it one small celery root, one small
onion, half a carrot, a bouquet of parsley, one bay leaf, and six
black pepper seeds. Allow to boil for about an hour longer,
or until the meat of the calf s feet is ready to drop off the
bones. Now strain it through a hair sieve, and let it stand over
night. The next morning remove all the fat which may have
collected on top, and test it as to its consistency. If it should
not have jellied sufficiently, you will have to boil it a while
longer ; if it is too stiff, add more water, and test it once
more. To clear the jelly, dissolve it, and when nearly boiling,
add to it the whites of two eggs, beaten to a slight foam, and
How te the crushed egg-shells. Stir until it begins to boil,
clear broth then remove it to the side of the stove, cover it
up, and let it remain there without boiling for
about half an hour. It is now ready to receive whatever
acid and additional spice ( powdered, of course) you might
wish to add. The juice of a lemon or a sour orange will
make it pleasantly acid. Tarragon vinegar also gives it a
pleasant flavor. By adding spice and acid the last moment,
their characteristic flavor will be preserved, while, if allowed
to participate in the process of boiling, their fine aroma-
would evaporate into the air. To give your jelly a good
color, add also at the last moment two saltspoonfuls of Liebig,
and see that it dissolves and mixes evenly with the liquid.
Now cover a colander with a clean napkin, place it on a bowl
large enough to hold your jelly, filter the latter through the
napkin, and repeat this process if the jelly is not quite clear
the first time.
This jelly will keep for at least a week in winter, if kept in
a cool place. But, in case it should begin to show specks of
mould on its surface, it may be purified and saved for use by
melting and bringing it to a boil. The scum then rising to the
surface will have to be carefully skimmed off, and the liquid
poured into a clean vessel for preservation. Broken up (as I
said before) into small lozenge-shaped pieces, aspic or meat-
jelly is a delicious accompaniment of cold sliced chicken or
veal and, in fact, any kind of meat.
LETTER X 81
A very nice dish, either for luncheon or supper, is chicken in
jelly. To make it economical, and yet preserve all the nutri-
tives pertaining to it, do as follows : Boil the Recipe
chicken whole with just enough (boiling) water for chicken
to cover it. Add salt, and the vegetables and
spice as for aspic. When the chicken is tender, remove it
from the pot to a meat-board, cut the meat off the bones, and
divide it into small pieces. Then take the bones, break them
up with a cleaver, add the head and feet of the chicken, and
put them back into the chicken broth. Let them boil for an
hour longer, when you had better test it by taking out a spoon-
ful, which you put on ice in a saucer. If it jellies when cold,
you stop the boiling ; if not, you allow it to boil a while longer,
until you obtain the desired result. Taste it now, to see
whether salt or spice ought to be added. A slight addition of
lemon juice is desirable, but not necessary. If your liquor is not
muddy-looking, you need not clear it. Strain it over the pieces
of chicken, which you place in a mould. They must be cov-
ered and no more. After turning it out on a flat dish to be
served, you may trim it with sprigs of parsley, lettuce leaves,
#nd slices of lemon. The choicest accompaniment for chicken
in jelly is a mayonnaise celery or lettuce salad.
Once your aspic is made, you may appropriate part of it for
embedding meat of any kind, as, for instance, slices of cold
roast beef, veal, pork filet, or any remnants which you wish to
serve the second time in disguise. To make Howto
these dishes more fanciful, you put your mould on make a/j/at
ice and fill it half an inch deep with liquid aspic.
After this is tolerably, but not quite firm, you arrange upon it a
pattern of either slices of lemon, sprigs of parsley, capers or
wheels of pickled cucumbers, pieces of cured and boiled
tongue, slices of hard-boiled eggs, etc., according to choice
and taste. This pattern shows when the jelly is turned out
of the mould. Now pour some more of the liquid jelly into the
mould, and when nearly firm, place a layer of meat well arranged
on top of it, and so on until the mould is almost, but not quite
full. Let it stand on ice for two hours before turning it out.
82 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
The latter way, to be sure, is troublesome, and you will not
often resort to it, but it goes to show what can be done, after
all, with comparatively small means, if we want to make some
extra exertion to please the guests we entertain.
It is often convenient to have on hand something special for
slicing down cold. For this purpose I recommend to you the
Recipe for following recipe for head-cheese : Take a calf's
head-cheese. head, and boil it in salt and water until quite
tender ; then take it out, and after it is somewhat cool cut the
meat into dice. Boil in another pot four calf s feet and one
pound of pork, in just enough water to cover the whole. Add
one onion, one bay leaf, the peel of one lemon, a dozen black
pepper seeds, three cloves, a sprig of tarragon, half a pint of
vinegar, and a teaspoonful of salt. When done cut the meat
into dice and mix with those of the head. Now filter the
liquor in which the calf's feet and pork have been cooked over
the meat. Stir the whole until well mixed, put it in several
small forms, and when cold set it away for future use.
The remaining space of this letter I will devote to the prom-
ised recipes for meat-jelly. They are both given by Dr. Wiel.
The following he recommends for enriching gravies and soups,
and to eat with cold meat. He finishes by designating it as " an
invaluable refreshment for fever-patients ! "
Take three ounces of butter ; put in a large cooking-vessel,
and let it melt, when add to it first one pound of lean ham
TWO recipes sliced, then four pounds of lean, gristly beef, the
for meat-jeiiy. same amount of gristly veal, and, if you should
have it on hand, any bones or extremities of poultry. Add
also three carrots, one yellow turnip, one celery root, three
large onions each stuck with two cloves, a large sprig of tarra-
gon, one teaspoonful of white pepper seeds, and a blade of
mace. Add but little salt (about a teaspoonful) at first, since
the ham is salted. If not sufficient, salt can be added, but re-
member that it cannot be taken away. Allow all this to cook
for about half an hour, while moving the contents of the vessel
to and fro from time to time. As soon as a light brown sedi-
ment is noticeable in the bottom of the vessel, add cold water
LETTER X 83
enough to cover up completely the meat and vegetables. Let
the whole boil now uninterruptedly over a moderate fire for
five hours. Skim well, and filter through a napkin. An addi-
tion, at the last, of a scant tablespoonful of Liebig increases
the piquancy and nutritiousness of the jelly. In cold weather
it will keep for a long while.
I have tried this recipe over and over again, and found it
delicious. But I have never made any more at a time than
half the quantity, which is all that is required for ordinary pur-
poses.
The second recipe is Dr. Wiel's jelly for persons suffering
with stomach complaint.
Take four calf s feet, two pounds of beef, and an old fowl.
Boil them for a whole afternoon in five quarts of water, to
which add half an ounce of salt. Skim well. An hour before
it is done add a small pike. Drain, and let get cool over night.
Next morning take off the fat, melt the jelly, and clear it with
the whipped whites of six eggs and the crushed egg-shells.
When as clear as wine, filter it, and add a good half ounce of
Liebig. Put the jelly in small moulds (or bowls) and set it
away in a cold place.
This makes a large quantity. For one person about a fourth
of all ingredients is more than sufficient.
In my next I hope to get done with meat, of which you may
be tired already.
LETTER XI
Enough is as good as a feast.
YOU are right, my friend, man cannot live by meat alone, but
needs to complement it by juicy vegetables. Still, I want
you to be patient for another little space, and let me tell you
first of some more mixed dishes, wherein you have combined
foods which complement each other, and which, therefore, as
good as represent a whole dinner in themselves, containing all
the food-matters necessary to sustain a healthy organism. They
are invaluable where time and money have to be saved. I
mean the combination of rice, or macaroni, with meat and
other substances rich in albuminoids.
You remember that rice contains 8 per cent only of albumi-
noids, 76.5 of carbohydrates, and i of fat, to which I add here
the volume of water, 13 per cent. Rice, in con-
sequence, is deficient in albuminoids, which have
to C c'oSk1t h w to be replaced by food rich in them, but poor in
carbohydrates. The ancients knew this. Ask
your husband, and he will tell you that in the old Indian epos
" Ramayana " there is mention made of a cousin to our rice
pudding, dear to our grandmothers and little children. It is
called there "krisharah," and was made of rice, milk, sugar,
and cardamon seeds, boiled thick. We would hardly want to
make a dinner of it, but what I can highly recommend to you
for this purpose is the pilaff (or pillaw) of old Persian origin.
It is to-day one of the best dishes you get in the Orient.
Before I proceed to explain to you the pilaff, I have to say
something more about rice itself and the way to cook it. We
are favored by producing in the United States the best of all
the different kinds of rice the Carolina rice. Its seeds are
84
LETTER XI 85
of a pure white, long and narrow, and almost transparent. The
East India rice is only third in quality, the Italian rice being
superior to it. The most inferior of all is the Brazilian rice.
I advise you by all means to buy only our excellent domestic
Carolina rice. It is not only better in taste, but also richer in
nourishment. Now, rice before being cooked has to be washed
in cold water at least twice, then drained, put in a china vessel
and scalded by pouring over it some boiling water, in which it
is to remain for about fifteen minutes ; then drain again. To
cook it, throw it into boiling water, one quart for one quarter-
pound of rice, and two teaspoonfuls of salt for this quantity.
Allow it to boil rapidly for twenty minutes, then drain the water
off and remove the rice, uncovered, to the 'back of the stove,
where it must remain about fifteen minutes to get dry. In
this way the seeds remain entire, and do not impart to the
water their mealy substance and sweetness of taste. To see
whether the rice is sufficiently done, take a seed and press it
between your fingers ; if it flattens easily, the rice is fit to drain.
Do not stir it, it would spoil the looks of it ; each seed ought
to remain separate and intact. Thus prepared, it is ready for
use in various ways. If you wish to serve the rice cooked
merely as a vegetable, add to the water in which you boil it a
piece of butter the size of half an egg for the above quantity.
For the genuine pilaff you need rice, and either mutton or
chicken, and you boil the rice in water only five minutes, in
order to finish it in the juice of the meat. There Jhe genuine
is a great variety of recipes to choose from ; I piiaff; and a
r- t i i / 11 recipe for it.
give you first, because very simple, the following
"Oriental pilaff":
Take two pounds of mutton (either breast or loin), cut it
into squares the size of walnuts ; put it in a stew-pan over a
slow fire ; cover it up tightly and allow it to stew in its own fat
until brown, adding from time to time a few drops of water to
prevent scorching. Add pepper and salt, a little thyme, and
one onion. Meanwhile parboil half a pound of rice, and,
after draining it, set away to dry. Remove the mutton when
quite tender, by means of a skimmer, into another vessel.
86 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
Keep hot and well covered. Then substitute the rice for the
meat, and let it stew slowly until done and saturated with the
juice and fat of the mutton. Serve on a hot dish, the rice first
and the meat on top of it.
This same recipe may be followed, by taking chicken instead
of mutton, with this difference, that the chicken is browned
first in butter, then stewed by covering it with water, and that
the thyme is omitted.
Of all the many variations on the same theme, I give you
the following one as well worth trying. It is by M. Casimir,
chef of the Maison d'Or of Paris, and is called "Turkish pilaff" :
Take a chicken, divide it into pieces, stew it with butter,
some chopped onions, thyme, and bay leaves. When it is of a
various other deep yellow, add a quarter-pound of well-washed
recipes for pilaff. Carolina rice. Put it over a slow fire, and allow
the rice to swell and absorb the chicken broth. Add some
salt, pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and nutmeg. Cut a few par-
boiled tomatoes into dice, and add them also. Moisten the
pilaff with good veal consomme and allow the whole to stew
for twenty minutes longer. Add a piece of good butter and a
tablespoonful of veal suet, then take out the pieces of chicken
from under the rice, heap the pilaff on a dish, and put the
chicken on top.
You will notice that here the rice is called " pilaff " aside
from the meat. This agrees with my recollection of the pilaff
we used to have served at Athens, which, being in close prox-
imity to Turkey, is half Oriental in its customs and habits.
Our pilaff consisted of rice heaped up, dry and yet moist, and
having the aroma of the meat broth in which it had been
steeped. It was besides highly colored a deep orange hue,
which seemed to be the combined effect of tomato and saffron.
And this puts me in mind of a recipe for " le pilau" in verse,
by Mery (I found it in Monselet's "Gastronomic "), which he
ends by saying :
"Add last of all, to perfume and color the rice,
The finest saffron then of a truth you will have
A pilaff for Mahomet in Paradise I "
LETTER XI 87
Based on the same principle and similar to the pilaff is the
Italian rice dish called risotto.
After the rice has been properly scalded and dried, put it on
the fire with a piece of butter until it begins to turn slightly
yellow. Then add to it, little by little, some Recipe for
chicken broth flavored with onion. Wait between r ' sotto>
each addition of broth until the rice has taken up every drop
of what has been put on already. Continue this until the rice
is sufficiently done and fully saturated with the meat-liquor.
Then mix it with bits of poultry, particularly liver, or whatever
else of suitable accessories you wish to use. Serve it heaped
up in a dish and dust over it some grated Parmesan cheese ; or
you may also mix some of the cheese with the rice at the last
moment. It always looks well to cut the meat in dice for this
dish. It is excellent also made with pigeon or sweetbread,
or both sweetbread and chicken. You may also add to the
chicken, boiled ham and mushrooms cut either in little squares
or narrow strips, and then call your rice a la Milanaise. The
most luxurious way would be to add bits of truffles.
I return, however, to daily common sense, and give you a
plain recipe, in case you have some ham left over, and wish to
use it in a new shape. It is called baked rice.
Take some boiled rice, let it get cool ; mix it with a table-
spoonful of melted butter, one or two eggs well-beaten before-
hand, some boiled ham chopped fine, and some Re cipesfor
grated cheese. Put the whole in a buttered form, baked rice>
dust over it some more cheese, and bake it in a good oven.
After about fifteen to twenty minutes, try with the clean straw
of a broom, which you stick into the middle of your dish, and
see whether it comes out without anything adhering to it. If
so, the egg is done ; and when the egg is done, your dish is
done.
You may prepare the above in a still simpler fashion thus :
Take one quarter-pound of rice, which you boil with a piece of
butter, and a small onion stuck with one clove. When done
and dry, remove the onion, and mix the rice by means of two
silver forks with six ounces of boiled ham, either chopped or
88 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
cut in little squares (or narrow strips) . Mix just before serv-
ing, set it in the oven for five minutes in order to heat it over,
and heap it on a hot dish.
The giblets of poultry, especially the liver, harmonize well
with boiled rice steeped in butter. They will have to be
minced, and then mixed with the rice. To vary, you may
either moisten your rice with tomato sauce, or have the sauce
served with the rice and giblets separately.
There are more recipes I might give you, but I will rather
leave it to your ingenuity to improve on the foregoing, and
invent your own variations, in order to devote the remaining
portion of my letter to macaroni, which is as useful in nour-
ishing, if not quite as digestible, as rice. The best macaroni
General re- comes from Italy, where it originated and is the
marks about national dish. The best macaroni, again, in
Italy is the Neapolitan. I have heard it said
there is something in the quality of the flour raised in Italy which
makes the Italian macaroni so superior to that made in other
countries. Whether this is true or not I do not know, but it is
a fact that the French and German macaroni does not compare
with the Italian, and that there is none superior to the Neapoli-
tan. It is not even higher-priced than its imitations, when
bought of one of our Italian grocers. Its percentage of car-
bohydrates is 76.5, the same as rice, while it is slightly richer
in albuminoids, containing 9 per cent. In fat it is poorer,
having only 0.5 per cent. Its percentage of water is the same.
(13.0) as rice. On account of the lack of fat it is even more
in need of butter and cheese than rice is. The cheese, espe-
cially, heightens the nutritive quality of macaroni, by adding
the casein to its floury substance. La Reyniere, in his famous
"Almanac of the Kitchen," says that macaroni is one of the
most nutritious entremets, if neither butter nor cheese is spared.
Then he adds, that if one must needs be economical he may
take of Swiss cheese and Parmegiano (Parmesan cheese) half and
half, since only the keenest gourmets will notice this stratagem.
When I have macaroni to accompany a roast of beef I use
cheese but moderately, since the meat supplies abundantly the
LETTER XI 89
lacking albuminoids. I prepare it in this case in the plain
way I learned in Italy when I was young. But first of all I
have to tell you how to boil the macaroni, be- Ho wto
cause a great deal depends on this. The cook- bo1 ' macaroni -
books generally tell you to boil it for fifteen or twenty min-
utes, but I have found that this leaves it tough and raw in
taste ; nor is it the length of time it is boiled in Italy.
Have plenty of water in a deep pot (two quarts for half a
pound), add salt enough to have the water taste, let it come to
a sharp boil ; then put in your macaroni, which you break
in pieces as long as you like, and see that the boiling takes
place again quickly, and continues without interruption until
it is done, which will be in not less than three-quarters of an
hour, if the macaroni is of the large-piped kind ; if of the
thin kind called spaghetti it will be done in slightly less time.
I have for this as good an authority as Dumas on my side.
To test it you have to try a piece of the macaroni between
your fingers ; if it mashes easily, it is done ; you can also tell
by the taste. Do not let it boil too long, else it will give its
best nutritives to the water, getting reduced to an almost worth-
less paste. For the same reason never wash it before boiling.
As soon as done, drain on a sieve, and use at once. There
are ever so many ways in which to serve it, each one more
appetizing than the other. Macaroni presents, in fact, an
open field to an inve'ntive genius. Proof of this is that such
creative spirits as Dumas, Rossini, and others, bestowed their
tender cares on macaroni, and were as proud of their successes
in that line as of their masterpieces in literature and music.
You are waiting, however, for my " Italian recipe for plain
macaroni " :
After it is boiled and drained put a layer of macaroni
in a deep dish, heated beforehand; sprinkle with browned
butter, and then with grated cheese ; add another |ta|jan
layer, sprinkle with butter and cheese, and con- recipe for
macaroni.
tinue until all the macaroni is used up. Do not
cover the dish, and serve at once. The proportions are gen-
erally two ounces of cheese and a quarter-pound of butter for
90 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
half a pound of macaroni ; but you may take less of butter
and cheese if you choose. Simple as this recipe is, I have
rarely found a cook who could prepare the dish as it should
be. There is judgment required to get the right proportions of
macaroni, butter, and cheese. If you have not got them in
your hands and eyes, no recipe can teach you. If to accom-
pany veal or poultry, which is less nutritious than beef, it is
best to have a " macaroni with gravy " (al sugo).
After the macaroni is ready for use, return it to the pot
and add a meat gravy, which is quickest made by reducing to
about a cupful (by sharp boiling) some broth made of a slice
each of beef and veal, a few scraps of ham, and a bouquet of
herbs, one onion, one clove, and a few pepper seeds. Shake
the macaroni until it is thoroughly moistened with this gravy ;
then serve in a hot dish, accompanied by grated cheese.
If a sufficient quantity of a dish of macaroni is left over,
you will do well to serve it for luncheon the following day in
this way : Take one-half can of tomatoes and put
A luncheon them on to boil with one saltspoonful of salt, a few
macaroni black pepper seeds, a bouquet of parsley, and one
Tauce! 0171 ^ small onion stuck with one clove. Let boil for
fifteen minutes, then add a heaped teaspoonful of
butter which you have mixed with a teaspoonful of flour and
formed into a ball ; allow to boil until this is dissolved, which
is sufficient time to cook the flour. Now pass the whole
through a wire sieve, and take of it what you need to moisten
well your macaroni. Heat the sauce over again, then add the
macaroni. If the latter is in a lump it will fall apart when
getting warm in the sauce. Do not let it boil, but set it covered
up on a hot place until thoroughly heated through. The tomato
sauce which is left will keep for several days, and is very useful
also as an addition to either mutton, chicken, rice, or a soup.
I intended to devote this single letter to rice and macaroni,
but I see how unjust to my theme I was ; I have only begun on
the latter, and my time is up for to-day. Still, I consider it so
important a subject, and I have such delicious recipes in store
for you, that I will venture to crowd them into my next.
LETTER XII
La decouverte d'un mets nouveau fait plus pour le bonheur du genre
humain, que la decouverte d'une etoile.
BRILLAT-SAVARIN.
THERE are accords and discords in the composition of
human food. As to macaroni, there is a striking harmony
in its union with the sweetest of butter and the spiciest of
Parma cheese. Now add to these the white meat and liver
of chicken, and fresh mushrooms ; moisten the whole with a
tomato sauce, and you will have almost an ambrosial symphony.
In this strain, at least, the praises are sounded of the dishes
of macaroni the great Rossini used to have served to his en-
thusiastic guests. He, however, when asked about the secret
of his culinary composition, was said to be mute " like Jupiter
Olympus." Why macaroni should have such great attractions
for musical genius I cannot tell, but we learn also that La-
blache, the great singer, was an expert in macaroni, and that
he took his secret with him to the grave. Then there was
Isouard, the composer, who invented the stuffed macaroni
pipes, and who used to prepare with his own hands the stuff-
ing, which consisted of beef suet, venison, goose liver, truffles,
and oysters. Rossini, however, it appears, was not always as
close-mouthed as stated, for, if we are to believe " Mile. Fran-
coise," she is in possession of a recipe in Rossini's own hand-
writing for a dish of macaroni of which she partook at his
villa at Passy, in company with Auber and Meyerbeer. I give
you this recipe here as published in her " One Hundred Rec-
ipes." It is called stufato a Fitalienne, with macaroni.
Cover the bottom of a stew-pot with half a pound of
chopped bacon ; when melted, brown in it four to five large
onions chopped fine. This done, remove the onions with a
92 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
skimmer, put them in a teacup, and fill it up with hot water ;
Recipe for then set aside. Take from four to five pounds of
85*****" the round of beef > p und St wel1 on a11 sides with
macaroni. a WO oden mallet, and lard it with square strips
of bacon half an inch wide, which have been turned over and
over in a mixture of salt, pepper, three cloves powdered, and a
minced clove of garlic. When thus prepared, put the beef into
the hot fat left in the stew-pot, and roast it uncovered on the
top of the stove, slowly for two hours. It must be of a nice
brown all over. Then add to the meat the onion water, a
pound of the knuckle of veal, and one cupful of thick tomato
sauce ; cover the pot with a sheet of paper, and then with the
pot-lid, and allow it to continue to stew very slowly for four
hours longer. Meanwhile boil your macaroni (we will say
half a pound) in salted water ; drain and serve in layers, each
of which you cover with part of the gravy left in the stew-pot
after the meat has been taken out and the fat removed, and
with plenty of grated Parmesan cheese. Meat and macaroni
are, of course, served together.
I give you now the recipe of Alexandre Dumas for " mac-
aroni a la menagere" (of the good housewife) : Boil your
Reci e for macaroni for three-quarters of an hour in salted
macaroni a \a water with a piece of butter and an onion stuck
menagere. . , , . ,, . ,
with a clove. Drain well, put it in a casserole
with a little butter, plenty of grated cheese, half Gruyere and
half Parmesan, a sprinkle of nutmeg and coarsely ground pepper,
a few teaspoonfuls of cream, and allow the whole to saute for a
couple of minutes ; then serve.
For "macaroni au gratin" fill a buttered dish with the
above macaroni, dust over it some sifted bread-crumbs and
Macaroni some grated cheese, and put it in the oven for fif-
eu gratin. teen m i nu tes to get light brown on top. Serve in
the same dish. This is also Dumas' recipe. You can improve
it by adding some boiled ham chopped fine.
If you have some meat-liquor to spare, you can enrich both
the flavor and nutritiousness of your macaroni by using the
broth instead of water. In that case you put it first in salted
LETTER XII 93
water and allow it to boil for ten minutes. Then you drain
and put it into the boiling broth, which ought to be no more
than sufficient to be absorbed by the macaroni at the time it
is done. Shake it occasionally to prevent its getting attached
to the bottom of the pot. .
Cook it in this way for preparing the following dish : Have
ready soaked for .a couple of hours half a cupful of dried
mushrooms (which are to be found at the Italian Another Italian
groceries), and boil for fifteen minutes in the dish of macaroni -
same water it has been soaking in. Use some chicken
broth for boiling half a pound of macaroni called spaghetti,
until properly done in the above way. Take the giblets of a
chicken, which you have cooked previously with an onion, six
pepper seeds, and one clove ; chop them fine, as well as some
small remnants of chicken meat, if you should have it. Make
a tomato sauce of about half a canful, and have it hot. Add a
piece of good butter, size of an egg, to the cooked spaghetti;
mix it thoroughly ; then add the mushrooms and a few table-
spoonfuls of the water in which they have cooked ; next add the
chopped meat and one ounce of grated Parmesan cheese ; and
lastly the tomato sauce, of which you stir into the whole just
enough to moisten and bind it sufficiently. Place it in the
oven with the door open for about ten minutes, then serve in
a deep dish previously heated. This is quite a meal in itself,
and very good. If you have it the day after you dined on a
chicken, you will find this dish a very economical one. Ap-
propriate the bones and giblets to furnish you with the broth
for the macaroni, and then stomach, heart, and liver, with
some remnants of the meat, are ready at hand for your needs.
I will add, lest you should not know, that while it takes an hour or
more to cook the stomach and heart of a chicken, the liver will be
done in five to ten minutes. More cooking would make it tough.
I call the above macaroni a la milanaise ; it is, however, a
recipe of my own, concocted from hearing enthusiastically
described a similar dish served at an Italian restaurant. I
have made it a number of times, and have been always success-
ful in pleasing whoever happened to dine at my table.
94 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
I now will give you a recipe for a macaroni pie for five
persons : Boil half a pound of macaroni in salted water ;
drain ; mix with five ounces of raw pork chopped
Macaroni pie.
fine, five ounces of raw ham cut into tiny squares,
one ounce and a half of grated Parmesan cheese, and two
ounces of melted butter in which a teaspoonful of minced
shallot (or onion) has been sauted until yellow. Take a deep
pie-dish, butter it and dust it over with fine cracker-crumbs. Line
this dish with puff-paste, and fill it with the above after mixing
it well. Cover the whole with puff-paste, and bake in a moder-
ately hot oven from one hour to one hour and a half. A gill
of cream added to the macaroni just before putting it inside
the crust, is a good addition. After the pie is baked turn
it out on a hot dish, and serve either with a tomato or a
white sauce.
An equally good and rather simpler recipe for baked maca-
roni is the following : Boil half a pound of macaroni in salted
water : drain, and let it get cool. Meanwhile,
Baked macaroni. '
take four ounces of butter, beat it to a cream, add
very gradually, stirring continuously in one direction, two
whole eggs, a gill of thick cream slightly sour, half a cupful of
cooked ham chopped fine, a saltspoonful of salt, half a tea-
spoonful of minced onion, two tablespoonfuls of grated cheese.
Last of all add the cooked macaroni. Pour this into a but-
tered baking-dish and bake half an hour. Turn out and serve.
A dish for Any portion of it left over may be cut into thick
slices on the following day, and sauted a light
brown. It makes a nice dish for luncheon, especially when
served with tomatoes or green salad.
To believe an Italian enthusiast on macaroni, it is the most
difficult thing in the whole art of cookery to produce a dish of
perfect macaroni. He exclaims, " If you only knew what
juices of meat, purees of tomato, delicate creamy paste, and
what point of cooking, what constant watching and minute
care this complicated dish exacts, you would never resort to
those piteous counterfeits which bring discredit on the French
cuisine the first one of the whole world ! "
LETTER XII 95
I quote this, not to discourage, but rather to spur you on,
and show what culinary genius may accomplish in any country
in the world, whether in France, Italy, or America.
In conclusion to my lessons on rice and macaroni, I have to
say something special in regard to mushrooms, the flavor of
which is essential for the production of a dish of About
either when of the highest order. Mushrooms, if mushrooms -
not found sprouting wild, are the product of painstaking cult-
ure and are correspondingly expensive to buy. They are
light, however, in weight, and a quarter of a pound will be
sufficient for your purposes. The cultivated mushrooms are
inferior to the wild ones in flavor and aroma, but they have
this great advantage, that you can be sure they are genuine,
while in gathering them in copse or field, you are always
in danger of confounding them with poisonous fungi, unless
your botanical knowledge and experience are a sufficient
safeguard. There are a large number of eatable fungi growing
wild, and their flavor is in most cases particularly spicy and
agreeable. But in our country we only know the mushroom,
which is one of the most delicate of eatable fungi. When
I was in the mountains of Thuringia, Germany, in summer
time, some little peasant girls came to offer me for sale several
kinds of strange-looking fungi, which they said were very good
to eat. On my asking them how they came to know that they
were not poisonous, they replied : "We learn that from our
schoolmaster ; he teaches us. He shows us which are the
good and which the bad ones." My trust in the schoolmas-
ter's teachings, and the intelligence of the pupils, did not mis-
lead me ; every one of these fungi was good and wholesome.
The wild mushroom (Agaricus campestris} is apt to sprout
up suddenly after a warm shower on meadows where cattle,
and especially horses, have been pasturing. They also appear
sometimes on the grassy bottom of a woodland, where it edges
out toward the open field. The mushroom comes up like a
little white ball, or button, and is at its best before it grows up
to have much of a stalk, which will be in a very short time,
since in the course of a day it passes through all the stages
96 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
from childhood to old age. It is all over white at first. Later
on, a white skin, ringed around the upper part of the stalk,
frees itself from the edge of the vaulted top, or button, and
the latter shows a lining of pinkish scales, which become
darker and at last black. As the mushroom grows older, the
outside of the top gradually spreads and flattens out. Its sur-
face is silky to the touch, and sometimes is covered with tiny,
hardly perceptible scales. The flesh of the stalk and top
is of a solid texture and exhales a peculiarly agreeable odor. 1
There is a toadstool, Agaricus muscarius, and a globular agaric
very similar to the mushroom, which are both poisonous. It is
said that both an onion and a silver spoon will turn black if
cooked with poisonous fungi ; but I am afraid this is more of a
legend than of truth.
The danger of confounding the poisonous and the eatable fungi
is so much the more to be regretted, since the latter are not
merely highly palatable, but also very nourishing. They have,
in fact, pretty much the same nutritive properties as meat.
On an average, they have as much as 3 to 8 per cent of pure
nitrogen, besides being rich in alkalies and phosphoric acid.
The canned mushrooms, which come either in tin or glass,
are not to be compared with the fresh ones. The most deli-
How to cook cious way to cook the latter is to put them in a
mushrooms. saucepan with a little butter, a taste of vinegar, an
onion halved, a few pepper seeds, a little salt, and to let them
stew for just five minutes. They must be served at once, with
all their juice. If they are to be added to a sauce, they may
be done in the same way ; and be sure to add their strained
liquor likewise.
I have, however, not told you as yet how to prepare the
How-to pre- mushrooms for cooking: Peel off carefully the
pare mushrooms thin, silky skin covering them on the outside, and
for cooking, . , n t i
scrape away with a small knife or teaspoon the
scales visible underneath the top. Now, since mushrooms are
1 The stalk, which must never be hollow, is eaten as well as the cap when
young, but had better be omitted after old age has set in. If the mushroom
has become wormy it is not fit for use.
LETTER XII 97
a luxury, we must make the most of them on those rare
occasions when we indulge in purchasing them. Therefore,
take the skins and scrapings, wash them in cold
. ... What to do
water, dram them, and dry them either in the sun with the skins
or in the oven after the fire gets low, and put a
them away either in a clean paper bag or a glass jar. They
will serve as a mushroom flavoring for soups, sauces, ragouts,
etc. Soak them in water over night before you use them, and
then simmer them in the same water for about an hour.
Strain, and use the water only, which will be of a rich brown
color.
Of the truffle, which is the costliest of all fungi, I have not
much to say, because it is in reality out of the reach of people
like you and me. Nor need we care : for the
tri 1.11 11 i About truffles.
truffles, which have to be brought to our country
from over the ocean, are generally of a very poor and adulter-
ated kind. Truffles grow as much as one foot deep underground
in France, Italy, and Germany, where sometimes dogs and some-
times pigs are used to " hunt " them up. Those of Pe"rigord
in France are considered the best. The recipes say, cook
them in wine, or in champagne. Brillat-Savarin calls the truffle
le diamant de la cuisine, and, to hear him and others, you might
think that a pheasant and even a turkey are not fit to be eaten,
unless stuffed with this precious growth.
Have I been digressing too much? Or will you charitably
consider this little deviation as my introduction to the vege-
tables, of which you will think it high time to speak ?
LETTER XIII
'Twas thought one hundred years ago
Good food for pigs (and that was all),
But now the gentry love them so,
The big, and eke the small.
GERMAN FOLK SONG.
OUR forefathers, the Anglo-Saxons, knew in the dark ages
that vegetables by themselves are poor food. They
liked them best accompanied by milk, butter and cheese how
correct the guide of instinct ! In our enlightened times we
have sure knowledge that vegetables are not able to nourish
man, unless complemented by other foods which contain what
they lack. On the other hand, also, vegetables are neces-
sary in connection with animal substances, since they furnish
the acids, the alkalies, and mineral matters of which the latter
contain but a scant measure. Vegetables are, in fact, indispen-
sable to a healthy diet. Their mild acids act as a dissolvent
on the albumen, often so hard to digest in its solid form, i.e.
after being cooked ; and green vegetables in
The value of 111
vegetables their cooling and refreshing effect are invaluable
in nutrition. ,, j-ir Ta_t-j 1.1
as a part of our daily fare. Last, but not least,
they are pleasing to the eye, as well as to the palate, since with
their gayer colors they are apt to relieve the sober hues of the
meats. Therefore, we may gladly be content with their pov-
erty in albuminoids and carbohydrates which is accentuated
by their enormous percentage of water as long as we do
not neglect to complement them by those nutrients they lack.
Of all vegetables, those styled pulse (shelled beans, dried
peas, lentils) are the most nutritious 1 so much so that they
furnish with very slight additions all that is needed to nourish a
1 See p. 22.
98
LETTER XIH 99
person. In their unripe state we know them as string-beans
and green peas. Lentils, on account of their indigestibility,
we will not take into account here.
Next to them in rank, but indeed far inferior, come potatoes.
They are, in reality, as " feeders " not the cheap food they are
commonly thought to be. This is chiefly owing
. . J . f . J , 3 About potatoes.
to their large percentage of water, i.e. refuse.
They contain 75.5 per cent of it. You see, it leaves but little for
the food-matter, which consists of 2 per cent albuminoids, 20.7
per cent carbohydrates, and no fat at all. This poor showing ac-
counts for the immoderate use of tea or coffee among the poorer
classes who feed on potatoes. Their craving for the lacking
nourishment leads them instinctively to make up for it in the
best way they can. You will know from this, that potatoes
are not worth their money, unless they are accompanied by
that kind of food which supplies the nitrogen they are
devoid of. Yet despite all this, potatoes are a general favor-
ite on our tables, and their prosaic nature does not prevent
their being transformed into a variety of very nice dishes. The
chapter on potatoes in the literature of cookery is quite a volu-
minous one, but I intend chiefly to tell you how to treat pota-
toes in boiling, roasting, and steaming, and then to give you a
few nice recipes not commonly known. You would smile, very
likely, at my wanting to teach you how to boil potatoes
"such a simple affair" if you had not complained that your
potatoes were not always what they should be, sometimes
watery instead of dry, and then again soapy rather than mealy.
Even poor potatoes can be made to be the proper thing if
properly cooked. Only you must know how.
To boil potatoes, wash them very clean through several
waters ; any dirt remaining will enter into the potato through
the medium of the water. Wash them only just Howtoboii
before boiling them. Cut away an inch wide of p tatoes -
the skin around the middle of each potato ; this facilitates the
escape of their poisonous substance called solanine, which is
next to the inside of the skin, and is most hurtful in potatoes
not entirely ripe, or in those sprouting toward spring. It is
100 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
this poison which causes the obnoxious smell of the water in
which potatoes have been boiled. Although they get done
sooner by being put on to boil in cold water, it is advisable to
put them into hot, or boiling water, because it saves as much
as possible of their small amount of nitrogenous substance.
Boil them in plenty of water and keep the steam in by covering
the pot tightly. Add some salt after they are half done. They
need a half-hour's boiling. Try them by sticking in a fork ; if
soft all through, remove them at once ; if you allow them to
boil longer than needful, they will take up more water than they
need to soften them and will get watery. Pour off all the
water and put them, with the pot-lid slightly to one side, on a
hot place for a short while to get entirely dry. Serve them at
once in a folded napkin. Another way to boil potatoes is to
peel the potatoes, have them very clean, put them in boiling
water, salted, and cover them tightly. They will be done in
about twenty-five minutes. Pour the water off at once ; do as
before to have them dry.
To steam potatoes, peel them, and when very clean put them
Howto in a colander over boiling water; cover tightly
steam potatoes. w j t h a \[^ an( } i eave them until done.
To bake potatoes, wash them very clean, dry them with a
towel and lay them in a good oven. They will need about one
HOW to bake hour to get done. By baking them the water
potatoes. evaporates, and you get all the nutriment they
contain. They are also the most wholesome, since in baking
a part of their starch is already turned into sugar, and thus
some of the work to be done by digestion is performed before-
hand.
For mashed potatoes, take potatoes boiled as in second
recipe ; add a good-sized piece of butter, some salt, if needed,
Afewvari- ^^ while mashing them, a little hot cream or
eties of mashed milk from time to time. Work them over and
over with the masher until quite smooth. If you
take cream instead of milk, you will need less butter. A very
wholesome variety is made with the addition of green herbs :
Take one half of spinach leaves, the other half equal parts of
LETTER XIII 101
sorrel, chervil, parsley, and tarragon (the latter is optional) ; par-
boil them with a little good broth,, but so .that they, keep their
green color. Then chop theiri, taJdi-jg; care to savVtheir juices,
and mix them into your mashed .potatoes,, ipwjaich jtou omit
cream or milk. Another varjefy^ , jfcei ' following V Press your
mashed potatoes through a colander into the dish they will be
served in. They are called a la neige. Mashed potatoes
ought always to be served at once, but most particularly the
latter kind.
If you have boiled potatoes left over, a very nice way to use
them a second time is this : Grate them into the dish they are
to be served in, put bits of butter here and there, Mashed pota .
and dust a little fine salt over them; then put ioesau 8 ratin>
them in a hot oven for five minutes.
New potatoes, boiled either in their skins and then peeled, or
peeled first and then boiled, are excellent served with a plain
bechamel sauce 1 poured over them. Or chop .
f A few other
some parsley, heat it in some melted butter, and varieties of po -
when it bubbles up take it off the fire and pour it
over the potatoes ready for serving.
For roasted potatoes, take either small potatoes, raw, of an
even size, and peel them ; or scoop little balls out of large
potatoes, with the help of a potato-cutter. Pour Howtoroast
boiling water over them, cover them up, and leave potatoes on
them standing for ten minutes. Then drain them,
put them in a large colander, and put them on a hot place till
they are dry. Put butter in a pan, about two ounces for one
quart of potatoes, and when very hot put in the potatoes, one
beside the other. Sprinkle some salt over them. Cover them
up at first, giving them a toss from time to time. When get-
ting too hot, leave off the cover, shake them frequently, and
turn them when brown on the under side. Finish them on a
slow fire. It will take from one to one and a half hours be-
fore they are done. If you wish them glazed, dust some fine
sugar over them after they are tender. These potatoes are
very nice for garnishing.
1 See p. 72.
102 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
From the untold number of recipes I know of, I select the
following ones !
Potato Pudding witfc CUvaesef. 4- Take one quarter-pound of
potatoes* boiled -in, their skins^ peej them, and, when they are
entirety cold, grate thent * add.on.e eunce of grated cheese, one-
half ounce of butter, and one-half pint of milk. Put all this
in a stew-pan, and stir over the fire until it turns into a stiff
mixture. Then pour it into a deep dish, let it get cold ; add
the yolk of one egg one scant tablespoonful of cream, and
beat the whole for a while in one direction. At last add the
stiff snow of the white of an egg. Butter a mould, dust it over
with fine cracker-crumbs, fill into it the above, and bake in a
slow oven. Serve as soon as done.
Potato Croquettes. Take butter the size of an egg, beat it
to a cream ; add gradually two eggs, one teaspoonful of flour,
one saltspoonful of salt, and six heaped tablespoonfuls of
grated potatoes which have been boiled and then peeled.
Form this mass into sausage-shaped croquettes the size of a
large thumb ; turn them in beaten egg, then in fine bread c/r
cracker-crumbs, and fry them in plenty of hot lard until of a
golden yellow.
Potato Noodles. Take six large potatoes, boil them, peel
them, and place them while hot on a baking-board ; mash
them with a rolling-pin. To one heaped soupplateful of them
add a good sprinkle of salt, two tablespoonfuls of flour, and
one egg. Make a stiff dough of it, which you manipulate
with your hands, until a long sausage-like roll about one and a
half inches in diameter is formed. This you cut into sections
of a finger's width, and these again you lightly roll with the
tips of your fingers until the ends are rounded off, by which
process the noodles get slightly longer and thinner. Now take
a large iron frying-pan, put into it nearly three tablespoonfuls
of lard, and when very hot put in your noodles side by side ;
let them get brown first on one side, and then on the other,
turning them with a fork. Take them out with a skimmer, and
place them on a piece of blotting-paper before serving. This
is a favorite dish in the south of Germany, and, when success-
LETTER XIII 103
ful, as nice as any Saratoga potatoes. They can also be warmed
over the following day by putting them in a hot oven for a few
minutes before serving.
Another delightful dish of the same origin is the following,
called " potato balloons." Make a thin batter of two cupfuls
of flour, half a pint of milk, the yolks of two egers.
, ' r i r i -n n 1i Potato balloons.
and a saltspoonful of salt. Beat it well ; then add
six potatoes which have been boiled the day before and grated
while warm. Add also at the last moment the stiff snow of
the two whites of egg. Take a spoonful at a time to drop into
plenty of boiling hot lard. It will form into balls, which are to
turn to a deep yellow before you remove them with a skimmer
to be served immediately.
I never throw away a single potato which is left over ; there
is always some use for it. If even one or two only are left, I
grate them and use them to thicken a soup. If How to use po _
more, they can be sauted the next morning for tatoes left over -
breakfast, or cut into dice and heated up with hot milk, to
which some salt and a piece of butter has been added. By put-
ting them in a hot oven and allowing the milk to be partly
absorbed by the potatoes, this makes a very good plain
dish.
Another way is to transform them into "potatoes a la maitre
d' hotel" : Cut your boiled potatoes into slices, fry them in hot
lard, then put them into a stew-pan with some Potatoes a ia
fresh butter, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and a ma ' ltre d ' h tel -
few squeezes of lemon juice. Let the whole get hot, and leave
it on the fire until well commingled ; then add a very little hot
cream, and serve. This latter is Alexander Dumas' recipe,
which warrants its excellence. You can also do the way I
learned in Switzerland and have " potatoes with cheese." Slice
some potatoes rather thin. Put them in layers into p t a t es with
a buttered dish, alternating with layers of thinly cheese -
sliced cheese, finishing with the latter. Put small pieces of
butter on top. Bake in a slow oven until of a light brown.
The cheese underneath ought to be no more than just
dissolved.
104 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
If you wish for one reason or another to render a dish of
potatoes more nourishing than ordinary, select either one of the
two following recipes :
Potatoes stewed in Milk. Peel raw potatoes and cut them
into slices ; put them in a saucepan, cover them up with milk,
add salt (a teaspoonful to a quart of milk) , and boil them slowly
until done. Be careful not to let the slices drop to pieces.
Meanwhile take some butter two ounces (or size of an egg),
for two pounds of potatoes add to it half an onion (whole),
and half a tablespoonful of flour ; mix over the fire, and when
quite smooth add the milk strained from the potatoes. Cook,
while stirring, for about five minutes, when you will have a
thickish sauce which you strain through a sieve over your po-
tato slices. Should your sauce be too thick, add a little more
milk, and some salt if necessary. Place the whole over the fire
once more, and let it get hot, without boiling, shaking the con-
tents of the saucepan every few seconds.
Potatoes in Broth. Take a neck piece of beef weighing
about a pound and a half. Put it on to cook with boiling water,
and treat it the way I have taught you. 1 When done, put it in
another pot with a little of its liquor, and keep it warm. Have
ready some potatoes boiled in their skins, but not quite done.
Peel and slice them, and put them into the beef broth with the
addition of a few onions thinly sliced (the latter are not
essential and can be omitted). Cook them until entirely
done, when add some minced parsley. Do not stir, but
toss the stew-pot so as to mix the contents. Serve with some
of the broth poured over the potatoes. Surround the latter
with the boiled beef sliced down. Have the dish accom-
panied by French mustard and cucumber pickles.
Both these recipes are well to remember on days when not
much attention can be paid to cooking. But the best of the
kind is the following, which in regard to nutrients gives you in
itself all that is required for a whole meal. Dr. Hermann
Klencke, from whose book on domestic chemistry I take the
1 See p. 17.
LETTER XIII 105
recipe, says this dish represents "nourishment of the highest
order." To prepare it, you will have to take a stew-
pot with a well-fitting lid, which you make air- and ^presenting
steam-tight by tying a folded and dampened towel ^I" 1316 * 6
right over and around the crack between pot and
lid, closing it up thereby completely. Before you do this, put
into your pot alternate layers of sliced raw potatoes and slices
of uncooked mutton. Sprinkle each layer with a little salt,
pepper, and minced shallots (or onions, but shallots are pref-
erable). Begin with a layer of potatoes and finish in the same
way when about three inches from the top, to leave room for the
swelling of the food. Finally add a scanty gill of cold water,
and close your pot as described. Put the latter into another
and larger pot in which a sufficient amount of water is boiling
to reach up to three-quarters of the height of the inside pot.
Now cover up the larger pot with a lid. Let it remain boiling
from two and a half to three hours, then take out the inside
pot, and allow it to get cooled off somewhat before removing
towel and lid. If you should open the pot at once, before the
steam had time to condense and form itself into a liquid, a
large part of the food-aroma would escape with the steam, and
the food-matter would become dry. The contents of the pot,
when served, will contain all the nutrients of meat and potatoes,
without loss of anything. Each will complement the other, and
satisfy both palate and appetite. The juice surrounding the
dish is the pure juice of the meat, and better than any broth
can be.
With this plain but excellent dish I will close my lesson on
potatoes ; for I know how anxious you are to have a variety
of vegetables from which to choose for your table.
LETTER XIV
Sameness in one's food brews mischief.
DR. WIEL.
I WILL now tell you of vegetables more delicate, which are
chiefly valuable on account of the various mineral matters
and alkalies contained in them. To give you a
comparative idea of their food-values, I will formu-
late for reference a table of those vegetables which have been
analyzed.
Vegetables and
their food-values.
Albumi-
noids.
Fats.
Carbo-
hydrates.
Water.
Cellu-
lose.
Mineral
Matters.
Green Peas
6. 4
o. =;
12. I
78. o
2. O
. O
String Beans (very young)
String Beans (older) . .
Kohlrabi
5-5
3- o
3. o
0.5
o. o
o. o
7- o
6- 5
8. o
84. o
89. o
86. o
2.
I.
2. O
. O
.
. o
Cauliflower
2 ^
o o
4. ^
QI O
o
. o
Spinach
2. C
o ^
6. o
88. o
. O
. o
Asparagus
2. O
o. o
2. 5
94-
. O
, d
Cabbage
2 O
o o
^. o
QO O
2 O
. o
Carrots (young ones) . .
Turnips
I. O
I. O
0.
o. o
9. o
7. 5
88. o
80. 5
. O
. O
.
. o
If you deduct the percentage of water all these vegetables
contain, you will know how small the amount is of their dry
substance in every hundred parts, and how necessary it is to
make good their shortcomings by combining them with com-
plementing nutrients. The elements of which they are com-
posed have to be economized so much the more because of
their small proportions. Their relatively large percentage of
mineral matters is most essential for supplying vital power
to the blood, and helping thus to restore day by day the waste
106
LETTER XIV 107
of our system. Therefore, like meat, they cannot afford to lose
any of their nutritive substances. Consequently we must not
keep them soaking in water, nor put them on to boil in cold
water. In regard to onions, cabbage, and string-beans, it is
advisable to throw away the first water, after they have boiled
up once or twice ; it renders them more wholesome, inasmuch
as these vegetables contain some sulphuric gases inimical to
digestion, which thus are got rid of. In all available cases,
however, I am in favor of serving the vegetables with the liquid
they are cooked in, for only in this way can we get the whole
benefit of their delicate and volatile mineral constituents, and
preserve their original and characteristic flavor.
The worst vegetables in the world are those prepared by
English rules, when they are boiled in water until done, and
the latter is thrown away, after having extracted all the good
the vegetable food contained, leaving it insipid and flat-tasting.
It was this style of vegetables which made a German author,
Ludvvig Boerne, who was condemned to a life of exile, say
that they reminded him of Etruscan vases, the designs of which
showed only the first and rudest principles of art an expres-
sion almost too good for that sort of misused food.
We will see now how to make the best of it. You notice
that among the vegetables enumerated in our table, green
peas make the best show as to nutrients. They are also the
most digestible of them all, if not too old. In
About peas,
our country they are generally too mature when and how to
picked for use. To get the best they contain
and have them tender, cook them as follows : After they are
rinsed in cold water put them in a saucepan in which a little
butter has been melted ; let them stew for several minutes,
shaking them a few times to prevent their sticking to the bottom ;
sprinkle with a little salt ; add some boiling water from time
to time not more than just enough to keep them moist.
This water must be for the most part absorbed, and the rest
served with the peas. If thrown away, the best of the latter
would be thrown away with it. Shake them occasionally, to
have all the peas come in contact with the liquid. They
108 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
ought to be done in fifteen to twenty minutes, if young. If
your water is hard, add a saltspoonful of baking-soda to it in the
beginning. Serve the peas with a piece of fresh butter on top.
I will mention here that, in order to preserve the beautiful
green of peas, string beans, spinach, etc., it is necessary to cook
them uncovered, and to add salt to them as soon as put on
to boil.
Green peas need no accessories of parsley or mint, as French
and German cookery prescribe. They are of such fine and
delicate flavor that any kind of spice, be it exotic or herby,
would merely deteriorate them.
It is a curious circumstance, which might interest you, that,
although the ancients knew them as pulse, peas were unknown
for culinary purposes in their green state until the time of
Louis XIV., when they at once enraptured the court circles.
Madame de Maintenon writes at the time (1696) : "The sub-
ject of peas continues: the impatience to eat them; the
pleasure to have eaten them ; and the delight to eat them
again, are the three points our princes talk about for the last
few days. It is a fashion, a craze ! "
They have continued favorites ever since, and deserve it.
Now let us see what they agree with and what are their com-
plements. They assort with asparagus, cauliflower, young
squash, and young carrots, in which they find increase of their
mineral and other values, besides harmonizing with them in
taste ; while lamb, mutton, and poultry not only are in harmony
with, but complement peas in regard to fats and albuminoids.
To obtain a dish of almost perfect composition you might do
as follows :
Take a round platter, place in the middle of it a fine head of
cauliflower boiled in salted water with the addition of a piece
of butter the size of half an egg. Encircle it with
composed a wreath of green peas, which in turn you sur-
of vegetables round by a rim of boiled rice. Put outside of it
and meat. *
a circle of boiled carrots cut into wheels, and
surround the whole either with lamb chops, or stewed sweet-
breads.
LETTER XIV 109
Next to green peas come string beans when quite young, which,
however, if maturer, are surpassed in their nutritive quali-
ties by kohlrabi, a vegetable introduced from stringbeans
Germany. Cook string beans thus : String them and how to '
- ,,..-. , , cook them.
from each end twice, i.e. four times altogether.
For nothing is more disagreeable than to eat beans not
entirely freed of their strings. Wash them very well through
several waters, rubbing them through your hands to get rid
of parasites which are apt to cling to them, and are invisible
to the naked eye. This done, you cut them slantwise into
pieces an inch wide, and parboil them as stated before ; then
drain and put them into boiling mutton or beef broth enough
to cover them. They need more or less boiling according to
their kind or age ; not less than one hour. Some need two
hours, some even more ; but I would say the latter are not
fit to eat because too hard to digest. By slow boiling and
evaporation the most of the liquid ought to disappear ; the rest
must be served with the beans. They need more fat than
peas, not having any themselves. Serve them with beef, mut-
ton, or pork.
In the tables at my disposal some of our most favored vege-
tables are missing. I cannot, therefore, give you the nutritive
values of Lima beans and some others, but I judge from the
mealiness of the Lima bean that it must have a large percentage
of carbohydrates. Cook them in boiling water, slightly salted.
Do not take any more water than will cook them, HOW to cook
and when tender add a little hot milk, in which a Lima beans -
good-sized piece of butter has been melted. Add some salt.
Leave them standing in a hot place for a short while to get
saturated with the milk.
Kohlrabi are only fit to eat when quite young ; later they con-
tain much fibrous matter which is indigestible. Peel them,
halve them, cut them into thin slices, parboil in HOW to cook
salted water, and drain them. Stew them slowly kohlrabi -
in some light-colored broth. When they begin to get tender
add the heart of the green leaves growing at the top of the
kohlrabi, after cutting them into shreds. They are of fine
110 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
flavor, and will color the dish slightly green. When done,
drain the vegetable and use the liquid in which they have
cooked for a bechamel sauce, which you pour over your kohl-
rabi. Let them get right hot in it, and serve.
Taking into consideration the downward ratio of nitrogenous
substance which is the guiding standard I have next to
mention spinach, then cauliflower, cabbage, aspar-
About spinach. , . _,. f
agus, carrots, and turnips. Ihe two latter show
more carbohydrates owing to the sugar contained in them
than any of the foregoing, except green peas. Spinach is a
highly valuable vegetable because of its mineral matters, espe-
cially iron and lime. Therefore, you must be most careful not
to waste its precious juices by throwing away the water it is
cooked in, or pressing its leaves before chopping it fine. Some,
indeed, prefer not to chop it at all, and they are no doubt
right; but table fashion will have it chopped.
For a puree of spinach, pick the leaves over carefully, omit-
ting the coarse and thick-ribbed ones ; wash them several times,
A puree throw them in plenty of boiling water, well salted ;
of spinach. j eave them in a few moments, then drain, and
cool them off in cold water, from which drain them again. Now
chop them very fine in a wooden bowl. Take a saucepan, put
in a piece of butter, and when hot add to it your spinach. Stew
very gently in its own juice, merely adding a little boiling
water, if necessary, to prevent scorching. When done, which
will be in about one-half hour, the spinach ought to have suffi-
cient consistency to serve it heaped up in a dish, or to use it
as a garnish around any kind of meat.
If spinach is served as a course by itself, a garnish of croutons,
or quarters of hard boiled eggs, or both is in place. A puree
Spinach as an of spinach is suitable for an entremets a course
entremets. between the roast and dessert and as such is
nice accompanied by either poached eggs, or pancakes * rolled up.
A cupful of spinach puree left over will furnish you with
material for a spinach pudding on the following day.
1 See p. 169.
LETTER XIV 111
Take butter the size of half an egg, and when melted and
hot, add to it a slice of onion and some parsley, both minced ;
one stale French roll, of which the crust is A S p inac h
grated off, and which has been soaked in milk P uddm g-
and pressed dry. Mix well over a moderate fire, and let
it stew for about five minutes. Have some remnants of
cooked meat chopped fine half a cupful is sufficient
and beat the yokes of four eggs until light. Add both meat
and yokes to the foregoing. Taste it, and see that it is salted
just right. Finally, add the whites of the four eggs beaten to
a stiff snow. 1 Put the whole into a well-buttered pudding
form, and either steam it, covered up in a vessel with boiling
water for one hour, or bake it in a moderate oven until by
inserting a broom-straw nothing will adhere to the latter when
pulled out.
This excellent dish requires a sauce for serving with it. A
white sauce with a flavor of lemon juice answers the purpose.
An addition to it of mushrooms is, of course, better. Still
better is a thickening of coarsely chopped chicken, cooked
beforehand.
Spinach will bear warming up the next day ; although I do
not quite agree with the French canon, who ate spinach only after
it had been cooked up for six consecutive days, with the addi-
tion, each time, of a fresh lump of butter. This canon's name
was Chevrier, who also invented the hermetically closed stew-
pot.
A very pleasant combination is that of spinach and sorrel ;
especially, in spring, when the young leaves of the latter are
not as acid as the later growth. Sorrel by itself is a delight-
fully refreshing vegetable for those who like the So ^
acidity of it. You treat it exactly like spinach, but
to bind it, add the yoke of an egg beaten up in a little cream,
at the last moment.
To boil cauliflower, put it upside down into cold water strongly
salted ; this destroys the insects apt to vegetate between the
1 See p. 183.
112 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
roses or flowerets. Leave the head in but a short time, then
rinse it off, and put it into boiling water slightly salted, top
downward. See that it is fully covered with water,
Cauliflower. , , .,. . , ' ,,,-,
and boiling continuously. It will be done in
twenty to thirty minutes. It gets tasteless if you cook it after
it is tender, which you can test with a larding-needle thrust
through the middle. Lift it out carefully, and place it on a
platter, then pour over it a bechamel sauce for which you use
some of the water it was boiled in. Or you may use the fol-
A sauce for lowing sauce : For a small head of cauliflower
cauliflower. take ha jf a p int Q f the water j n ^^ it Was
boiled (or the same amount of veal broth) ; add to it two
ounces of butter, a teaspoonful of flour, a taste of nutmeg, and
the yokes of two eggs beaten beforehand. Stir the whole over
the fire until it just comes to a boil, and no longer. Continue
to stir for several minutes after you have taken it off the fire,
to avert all danger of curdling.
To cook cauliflower with cheese, take a dish and moisten
it with a thick bechamel sauce ; dust over it some grated
Parmesan cheese ; then arrange on it a layer of
Cauliflower au . v/j ? -i j i c \ i
gratin, with large flowerets of cauliflower boiled beforehand,
and spread over them more of the sauce, and
cheese thickly sprinkled ; put in a hot oven until of a golden
yellow, and serve in the same dish.
A head of cauliflower divided into its different roses before
Cauliflower, being boiled, and then served on the same dish
with lobster. w ifa b ii e( i lobster, produces a good effect, and
tastes well. Serve it with an herb sauce, 1 to which add the
minced coral of the lobster.
Cauliflower served with either pigeons, chickens, veal cut-
lets, or roast beef, is a good combination.
To prepare asparagus for boiling, shave off with a sharp
knife the fine outside fibres, beginning below the
head downward, and cut away the woody end
below. Do it just before needed. Rinse in cold water, then tie
i See p. 74.
LETTER XIV 113
the stalks together by the dozen, and put them in plenty of
boiling water slightly salted. They ought to be done in twenty
minutes. If left boiling too long, they will harden, and, more-
over, lose their flavor together with their delicate mineral mat-
ters, which render asparagus so valuable. Remove the strings
after they are placed on the dish they are to be served in.
Have with them some melted butter, or a bechamel sauce
made slightly acid, and thickened with the yoke of one or more
eggs. A sauce Hollandaise^ agrees well with them. But
whatever sauce you make, always use for it some of the water
in which the asparagus was boiled, because it absorbs part of
its flavor and wholesome properties.
There is a great deal of difference in asparagus, for it is
very particular as to the soil in which it grows. It likes
sandy soil much better than clayey soil, and fashions itself
accordingly. In southern Germany the asparagus of Ulm on
the Danube is especially famous ; but at the town itself the
highest priced is that grown on the left bank of the river,
because superior to the asparagus grown on the opposite bank.
When asparagus begins to appear, and is high in price, the
thin kind, which is cheapest, may be appropriated with advan-
tage for a dish of asparagus en petits pois (in shape Asparaguses
of peas). Cut the asparagus into sections as large P etits P is -
as full-grown peas. Cook them in salted water, drain them
when tender, and take the water to make a sauce in this way :
Melt a tablespoonful of butter, mix with half a tablespoonful of
flour, to which add, when bubbling, asparagus water sufficient
to make a slightly thick sauce. Add the yolks of one or two
eggs at the last moment. Pour this sauce over your asparagus,
and allow it to stand in a warm place covered up for about
ten minutes before serving.
Asparagus assorts best with the more delicate kinds of meat,
but it is also acceptable with boiled ham.
Among the cabbages, Brussels sprouts are the aristocratic
branch of the family. They are a very sweet and delicate
1 See p. 131.
114 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
vegetable. Take the little roses, rinse them in cold water, and
throw them into boiling water salted. Let them boil up once,
Brussels an( l no m ore. Drain and pour cold water over
s P routs - them ; then melt a small piece of butter, in which
you stew them gently until tender. If they should get too dry,
add a very little beef broth. They go with any kind of dark
meat, as well as with boiled ham or tongue. They are deli-
cious, accompanied by boiled chestnuts, either as a, puree or
whole as a garnish. 1
To boil cabbage, cut the heads into quarters, taking out
the stalks inside. Treat it like cauliflower in cleansing it.
Boil it in broth ; that obtained from pork is the
best, for cabbage needs plenty of fat to make
it digestible. The most economical way is to stew it with ribs
of pork, covering both meat and cabbage with boiling water, and
cooking them gently for two hours, allowing the water gradually
An economical to be absorbed and serving the pork on top of the
dish - cabbage. By adding a few small sausages, which
also garnish well, this dish, followed by a pudding or some
sweet pancakes, is quite a dinner for days when time is precious.
For cabbage, au gratin, I use what is left over, and put it in
a buttered china dish ; then I pour over it a white sauce mixed
Cabbage w^h the yolk of an egg. On top of it I put a thin
au gratin. layer of fine bread or cracker-crumbs, over which
I dust some grated cheese. A few flakes of butter distributed
over the whole, finish the dish, which has to be put in a hot
oven to get brown. It is served in the same dish it is baked in.
A more delicate kind, and much more to be recommended,
is Savoy cabbage. It is especially good prepared in the follow-
ing way :
Take young and firm heads, and after removing the coarser
outside leaves, cleanse them well, and parboil them. Then
Savoy cabbage cut them in halves, take out the woody insides,
Wlth rice> and fill them with rice cooked in boiling water for
five minutes. Put a good-sized piece of butter in a stew-pan,
1 See pp. 125, 126.
LETTER XIV 115
and when hot put in your halves, rice uppermost, side
by side. Put some bits of butter on top of the rice,
and dust over the whole a little salt. Let it stew, with
the addition of some beef broth, until quite tender, then
serve carefully, either by itself, or around your dish of
meat.
To prepare a stuffed head of cabbage is more troublesome,
but pays well. For it you may take either kind, but Savoy cab-
bage is preferable. Take a large head. Boil it
Stuffed cabbage.
whole in salted water until the outside leaves get
tender. Then pour off the water, taking care not to injure the
head. Place it on a meat-board, and carefully unfold the leaves
turning them backward leaf by leaf, until you get to the
heart. Remove it as well as the hard inside part. Chop the
tender leaves of the heart, and add to the stuffing, which you
make of two ounces of fat pork and two ounces of beef, both
chopped fine (any remnants of meat partly fat will do) ; one
ounce of butter beaten to a cream ; l the yolks of two eggs ; a
teaspoonful of minced onion ; a scant teaspoonful of salt ; the
same of minced parsley ; one French roll soaked in milk and
pressed dry. Mix the egg and bread, and add them to the
butter ; add the other ingredients last, and heap up the whole
in the centre of the cabbage head. Turn back now each leaf
in its proper place, thus enveloping the stuffing and reshaping
the entire head. Now take a baking-pan, heat in it a piece of
butter the size of an egg, place the cabbage in it, and bake in
a moderately hot oven. Baste from time to time, and add a
little water when there is danger of scorching. It will take
from two to three hours to get done. Serve on a round
platter, and pour over it the gravy which will be in
the bottom of the pan. Besides, you may serve with this
dish a white sauce, made slightly piquant by the addition
of a small amount of anchovy paste and lemon juice.
The head is to be carved in sections cut, like a cake, from
the centre towards the outer circumference.
l See p. 183.
116 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
The famous "Bombe a la Sardanapale" which was served
one day to Frederick the Great, of Prussia, by his chef Sieur
Noels, was nothing more nor less than a stuffed cabbage head,
with slices of cooked ham and bacon underneath and on
top of it, and a small sausage folded up in each leaf. The
king was as great a gourmet as he was a great leader,
and felt so delighted with this surprise prepared by his
chef, that he wrote and dedicated to him a poem of 137
lines.
Red cabbage is finer and more delicate than the white kind.
In Germany it is cooked in the way which follows, when it is
served with partridges in their proper season. It
Red cabbage.
is very good, also, with roasted pork, or boiled
ham. Cut a large head, or two small ones, into quarters,
and after removing the hard parts, shred fine with a sharp
knife. Put it in a stew-pan, in which a tablespoonful of lard,
or the same amount of pork-drippings, has been heated.
Cover it up, and let it stew over a moderate fire, shaking it and
tossing it from time to time, for half an hour. Then add half
a cupful of beef broth, and an hour later a wineglassful of cider-
vinegar and twice as much claret. Add also a teaspoonful of
salt and the same amount of granulated sugar, and continue
stewing until quite tender. The longer you boil this dish of
cabbage, the better it will be ; only be sure and do not add
the vinegar and wine too long before serving, since they lose
by cooking. If you prefer not to use wine, you will have to
double the quantity of vinegar, and increase that of sugar also.
The claret, however, gives this dish a special flavor, which is
very pleasant. I can also recommend adding a Baldwin or
Spitzenberg apple peeled, cored, and quartered half an
hour before the cabbage is done.
In many families the great objection to boiled cabbage
is the odor which it is apt to send to the upper regions
of the house. I have already mentioned that cabbage gets
rid of some of the obnoxious gases if parboiled before cook-
ing it. But, to fully prevent any odor penetrating further
than the pot in which the cabbage is being cooked, place
LETTER XIV 117
over it a towel folded treble or quadruple. I can vouch for
its effectiveness.
Here I am at the end of my letter and a whole string of
vegetables waiting for me to discourse on. You have, however,
plenty on hand now, to secure a variety for your table until I
continue the theme in my next.
LETTER XV
Dis-moi ce que tu mange, et je te dirai ce que tu es.
BRILLAT-SAVARIN.
I BEGIN at once with the root vegetables, which contain
the least nourishment. Still, they come in for their share
of usefulness also. Carrots make the best show among
them. Next I would place salsify or oyster plant,
which is certainly the most agreeable of all the
roots. Carrots are generally discarded as a vegetable by
themselves, but if treated in the proper way they are both
palatable and wholesome as long as they are not too old.
Scrape them clean with a sharp knife, and rinse them in water.
If quite young cut the carrots into little wheels, but if grown
large cut them first into thin wheels and then into narrow
strips. Put them into boiling water, barely enough to cover
them, and add a piece of butter as soon as they begin to boil.
Allow the liquid to soak in gradually. They will be done in
an hour's time, if young. Add some minced parsley and
serve. You may cook turnips in the same way as carrots, merely
cutting them thicker ; or stew them in mutton broth, leaving out
the butter, and omit in any case the parsley. To press the water
out of boiled turnips is to rob them of all the good which is
in them. They are about the poorest vegetable as it is, and
though for the sake of variety I allow them on my table, it is only
when cooked in the following manner, which I learned in Italy.
Cut them into slices, stew them in water, adding
a little butter and salt. When tender drain off
what liquid is left and use it for a sauce, which you make of a
heaped teaspoonful of flour and the same of butter. Now
grease a dish, put in a layer of the sliced turnips, dust with
pepper and spread some of the sauce over it, then another
US
LETTER XV 119
layer of turnips, and so on until they are used up. Dust some
grated Parmesan cheese over the top, and put flakes of butter
here and there. Bake in the oven until light brown and serve
in the same dish.
I have also eaten cucumbers cooked in this way, and found
them very good. They were quartered and had the seeds
taken out.
Salsify is invaluable in winter, when fresh vegetables are
scarce. It is both delicate and easily digested. One might
call it the winter asparagus. To have it of a pure ^^
white, throw it into cold water made slightly acid
by the addition of some vinegar. Add also a teaspoonful of
flour to it. Before you do this, however, you have to scrape
off the black outside. Cut the roots into pieces one inch long.
Leave them in the above water for a little while before you
throw them into the boiling water. To make Sa | si f y d /a
"salsify a la poulette" boil your salsify in water P ulette -
with a little salt and butter. It needs one hour to get tender.
Then drain and put in a sauce made of chicken broth and
white roux in the usual way. At the very last add the yellow
of two eggs, beaten up with some cream. A slight addition of
lemon juice is an improvement. Have the same quantity of
small pieces of boiled chicken as you have of salsify, and add
it also to the sauce. You can, of course, leave out the chicken
if you want to use it for something else. Or you can make
your sauce with cream instead of broth, and leave out the
egg-
You know that salsify fritters are similar to fried oysters in
taste, hence the name of oyster plant. They are, of course,
not nearly as wholesome as the vegetable when
merely boiled or stewed, yet, if sauted with care,
they are not any more risky for a sound digestion than other
food cooked in fat. For fritters, boil the salsify until soft ;
drain, and mash it with the addition of a lump of butter, salt
and pepper. (To a dozen roots take a tablespoonful of butter.)
Form into small cakes, turn them in flour, and fry them in
butter or lard.
120 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
The root vegetables all need to be complemented by fat
meat.
A highly medicinal root is celery, i.e. the soup or turnip-
rooted celery. According to Liebig, it contains the astonishing
amount of sixteen to twenty per cent of mineral
matters and alkalies in one hundred parts of its
dry substance. Its taste is a peculiarly spicy one, very agreeable
to some persons and distasteful to others. It is certainly very
wholesome when young, and devoid of coarse woody fibres. To
eat celery root as a vegetable, have it well scraped and cleaned
and thrown into the boiling liquor for soup, to which it will
impart its flavor at the same time. When nearly tender remove
from the soup-pot, cut into slices, and put them to stew in
either some broth or cream (a gill to two good-sized roots).
If cream is used a teaspoonful of butter, mixed with a little
flour, will have to be added. Serve with the liquid around
them.
Parsnips, like carrots, contain a good deal of sugar. In the
case of carrots, parsley mollifies their sweetish taste ; parsley,
however, is out of harmony with parsnips : they
Parsnips. * J
need cream, and are better in taste for being
boiled in slightly salted water which throw away until
tender. Then, prepare a cream or plain bechamel sauce, and
allow the parsnips, which you have cut either into wheels or
thick strips, to be steeped in this sauce for a while before serv-
ing. -Parsnips are best, perhaps, as a frititrel Or, take one
A dish of parsnip, one small celery root, and half a dozen
mixed roots. salsify roots j cut them into even dice and stew
with a piece of veal and a few slices of salt pork or bacon, in a
little water. Serve the veal in the middle of a dish, and the
vegetables around it. The juice remaining in the stew-pot will
serve to be poured over the whole. A squeeze from a sour
orange added to it will improve this dish.
The root containing the most sugar is the beet. There are
several varieties, of which I prefer for a vegetable the dark red
1 See p. 77.
LETTER XV 121
kind. When quite young they are very tender and delicious.
Later in the year and in the winter the large red beets will
make a nice salad. To preserve their color, you
must prevent their " bleeding " by carefully keeping
intact their skin, and not interfering with their tops and tails
before they are cooked. Wash them very clean, put them into
plenty of salted and boiling water, and let them boil for one to
three hours, according to size. Test one of your roots with a
skewer to see if tender to the core. Drain, peel, place in a
hot dish, and pour over them some melted butter. Slice them
if they are not very young and small. In Italy they put the
beets in the oven after the bread has been baked, and leave
them in until tender. They are best in this way.
I will say a few words here about sweet potatoes. I have
not seen them analyzed, but judge from their components of
starch and sugar that their nutritive properties
Sweet potatoes.
might be slightly superior to the common or
white potato. It is to be regretted, therefore, that they are
heavy to digest, and, in the same measure, decrease in. value as
food ; for only in so far as we digest food are we nourished by
it. Boil or bake sweet potatoes as directed about white pota-
toes. They need, however, a longer time to get done. They
are nice cut into slices lengthwise after being boiled and
sauted until light brown.
Green corn and egg-plant ought both to have good nourish-
ing properties, if we consider how they satisfy one's appetite.
The former, after being freed of its husks and
,...._- . .. Green corn.
tassels, is done in fifteen to twenty minutes after
being put into boiling water salted, and allowed to boil unin-
terruptedly.
For corn fritters which also taste a good deal like fried
oysters grate the green corn off the cob, and for half a pint
of it take the volk of one ess. a heaped table-
i r Corn friers.
spoonful of flour, a tablespoonful of cream, and a
saltspoonful of salt. Mix well, and saute in lard, dropping into
it a tablespoonful at a time.
For canned corn take half a cupful of cream (or milk) for
122 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
half a can. When it boils, add butter the size of half an egg,
mixed with a teaspoonful of flour. When dissolved pour it
over the corn, which you heat in a separate sauce-pan. Let
the whole simmer together for a few minutes.
In summer, when you do not care for much meat, egg-plant
furnishes you with a nice breakfast dish. Cut it into slices
Egg-plant, about B. quarter of an inch thick ; sprinkle each
aauteed. s ji ce w j t h sa i t . h ea p up the slices, one above the
other ; put a board on top, and press it down by the weight of
a heavy flatiron. Let them remain thus for about an hour,
when most of their bitter flavor will have oozed out. Now
turn each slice in some flour, and saute in a little hot butter or
drippings to a dark brown, first on one side, then on the other.
Serve very hot.
For baking egg-plant take either one large or two small
ones. Pare them, cut them into thick slices, and boil in salted
Egg-plant, water until quite soft. Then drain and mash
them. Add half a cupful of bread-crumbs soaked
in milk, a scant tablespoonful of butter, a teaspoonful of minced
parsley, half as much of minced onion, a little pepper, and salt
to taste. Beat together, and put into a buttered ^ra&Vz-dish.
Cover the top with bread-crumbs, and bake until nice and
brown.
Before speaking of our great favorite the tomato I will
hurriedly mention the summer squash, sometimes called patty-
pan squash, on account of its shape. Although
not much more than water, squash, for a change,
is quite refreshing. When it is very young and tender, you
need not pare it, nor take out the seeds. Wash your squashes,
and quarter them ; cover them with boiling water, slightly
salted, and boil them until they mash easily, which will be in
about half an hour. Then put them into a sieve, and, with a
large and flat spoon, press the water out of them. Return
them to the stew-pan with a good-sized piece of butter, a little
salt, and some cream, if you choose. They need a good deal
of butter to make them palatable.
Now for tomatoes, this always welcome and refreshing vege-
LETTER XV 123
table. Like the potato, it belongs to the family of night-
shades ; but how different from that common-place relative
it is, both in nature and in looks, drawing nurture
. .. . Tomatoes and the
and color from the rays of the sun, while the various ways of
i ,1 i j j cooking them.
meaner cousin is sticking to the clod and
vegetating in darkness. The sunny offspring, to be sure,
does not give us nearly the amount of actual food we get
from the darkling ; but what other vegetable is there so cool-
ing on hot summer days, so refreshing always, whether summer
or winter, so much so, as to tempt us to call it a fruit rather
than a vegetable ?
If you pour boiling water over the tomatoes and allow them
to stand awhile, you can easily remove their skins. Then take
each between your hands, and press out some of the watery
inside and as many of the hard seeds as possible. Don't rob
them of too much of their juice; it contains highly valuable
mineral matters and the very acid which produces their refresh-
ing and cooling effect. Put your tomatoes prepared in the
above way into a skillet, and allow them to cook twenty min-
utes, no longer. Add plenty of salt, and shortly before they
are done a good-sized piece of butter and a sprinkle of pepper.
If you like them thickened, add some water-cracker dust or
fine bread-crumbs.
To bake tomatoes, cut them into halves and place them, with
end downward, side by side on a layer of bread-crumbs in a
buttered gratin-dish. Sprinkle with plenty of salt and a little
white pepper. Cover up with a layer of bread-crumbs, and
put over it as many little pieces of butter as you have halves of
tomatoes. Bake them in a moderate oven for from half to
three-quarters of an hour.
Fried tomatoes are most delicious for breakfast or supper.
I have eaten them in perfection in southern Pennsylvania and
Delaware, where there is a wealth of rich cream. Cut the
tomatoes into rather thick slices. Have some hot butter, or
the best beef drippings, in a large frying-pan ; put your slices
into it, one beside the other, and saute until brown on both
sides. Then pour over them plenty of rich cream to make a
124 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
gravy. When bubbling up, remove the tomato slices carefully
with a skimmer into a hot platter. Do not heap them up, but
place them side by side. Now take the yolks of two or three
eggs, beaten up in a little cream, which you have gotten ready
beforehand, and stir into the cream gravy after it has been
removed from the stove. After stirring it well, replace it on
the stove for a few minutes to get hot, without boiling, stirring
all the time. At last pour it over the tomatoes, and serve.
It was Grimod de la Reyniere who invented stuffed toma-
toes. I give you his own famous recipe : Make an opening at
the stem end of the tomatoes, press the latter, so as to relieve
them as much as possible of their seeds without injury to their
shape. Fill into the cavity thus obtained a stuffing of either
sausage meat or chopped meat of any kind, or of different
meats. Mix with this stuffing a soup^on of garlic (or rather
rub the dish in which you mix the stuffing with the inside of a
clove of garlic), some minced parsley, shallot, and tarragon.
Put the tomatoes side by side into a buttered gratin-&\s\\, which
they must fill out. Dust bread-crumbs over the top to cover
the whole ; place bits of butter on it, one for each tomato.
Bake in a hot oven for about half an hour. The top ought to
be of a light brown.
Stewed tomatoes left over can be served again in many ways.
They may be added to rice, or macaroni, or eaten with eggs,
or added to a soup or a hash. They are always in place, with
whatever meat or cereals you serve them ; and they are pre-
eminently suited to go with eggs in any shape.
To make my list of vegetables complete I must not omit
onions. If you like them, you will do well to have them now
and then with roast poultry. Boil them in two
waters, salted. Throw away the first water after
they have boiled about five minutes, and renew it. They will
be milder in taste this way. Boil them for an hour or more,
until they are perfectly tender. Drain them. Boil some cream,
to which add a piece of butter, salt, and pepper, and pour over
the onions for a dressing. Steep them in it for a little while.
Then serve. Or, make a puree of them, by chopping them fine
LETTER XV 125
after they are boiled and tender, which moisten with the same
dressing, adding to it a little thickening of flour.
For a garnish of roast duck or beefsteak, do as follows :
Take a dozen small onions, all of one size. Be careful in peel-
ing not to cut them too close at the root end, or they may fall
to pieces in cooking. Boil them in the above manner for half
an hour, then drain, and put them in a sauce-pan with butter
the size of a walnut, a scant teaspoonful of sugar, two or three
tablespoonfuls of good broth, and a little salt. Keep them over
a lively fire for about ten minutes, shaking the sauce-pan fre-
quently to prevent scorching. Then remove them to a mod-
erate fire, and let them stew until they become brown and
glazed over. They must be perfectly tender.
I would be at the end of enumerating the different vegetables
for table use were it not for my classifying chestnuts with them
rather than with fruit. In our country we have chestnuts and
not yet made such use of them in connection with howto usethem -
meat or other vegetables as is done in Europe. One reason
for it, no doubt, is the high price paid for the large imported
chestnuts, and the tediousness of peeling for cooking purposes
the puny little ones growing wild on this continent. The chest-
nut, on account of its mealiness (starch) and sweetness (sugar),
is very much like the sweet potato in its compounds. Its
flavor, however, is far superior, and its fibre much more deli-
cate. In the south of Europe, where chestnuts grow large and
abundantly, they are part of the daily food of the common
people. On the Isle of Corsica the latter make them serve as
bread, and speak of the bread tree when they mean the chest-
nut tree.
Chestnuts assort especially well with cabbage, Brussels sprouts,
and other greens. They need fat to make them easier of diges-
tion. For a garnish do as follows : Peel the chestnuts, throw
them into boiling water, cover them up and allow to stand for
five minutes. Then remove the inner skin by rubbing it off
with a clean towel, and throw the peeled chestnuts into cold
water. Drain and rub dry with another towel ; then put them
into a sauce-pan side by side with a little salt, a good sprinkle
126 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
of granulated sugar, a small piece of butter, and broth half an
inch deep. Cover them up well, shake them from time to
time, and cook over a moderate fire until they are light brown
and tender.
They make a very nice puree by preparing them as above,
and cooking them until quite tender in broth sufficient to cover
them (veal or chicken broth is best). Then mash them well,
adding some boiling hot cream, a good-sized piece of butter,
and a little salt. This puree is particularly good with duck,
mutton, and meat croquettes.
Before closing I will repeat what I indicated in the begin-
ning when speaking of vegetables : that two or more of
different kinds will make with ingenuity and judgment,
a most appetizing-looking mixed vegetable dish, 1 or what
is called a macedoine. It will give you some extra trouble,
to be sure, and also cause a certain expense. But once in a
while, for some desired guests, you would take this upon your-
self willingly, and the effect produced will repay you. At the
time of spring and early summer, when vegetables are freshest
and in plenty, a macedoine is in its proper place : Take only
A macedoine the best and freshest you can get : carrots, turnips,
of vegetables. green peas, asparagus, string-beans or any other
vegetables which will match. Cut the roots into fancy shapes,
the beans into lozenges, the asparagus into one-and-a-half-
inch pieces. Cook each by itself in salted water until just
done. Drain them ; put a good-sized piece of butter into a
stewing-pan ; when melted, put in your vegetables and stir
them gently over a not too lively fire. There must not be any
more butter than sufficient to encase with it the vegetables.
When they are thoroughly heated, moisten them with some
thick bechamel sauce and serve them heaped up, pyramid-
shaped, on a hot dish.
This is Dumas' recipe, on which you may improve by stew-
ing each vegetable, after parboiling it, in butter and a little
water, except asparagus and cauliflower, which you boil in
i See also filet of beef, p. 47.
LETTER XV 127
some broth. Then you might either mix your vegetables in
the above way, or what would look nicer arrange them
wreath-like, each vegetable by itself, as demonstrated before ;
or in different sections around some kind of meat, or a head
of cauliflower. By adding stewed mushrooms, shrimps, or lob-
ster claws, you will raise it to a first-class dish.
If from the abundance of vegetables at your command you
make wise selections, and have a variety for your daily fare
accompanied by well-assorted meat, you will not run the
danger of being reproached one day by a squib like that of the
boy averse to turnips :
Turnips, turnips day by day,
Drove me surely off and away.
If for dinner mother had
Meat, good meat, at home I'd staid.
LETTER XVI
So many fishes of so many features.
Du BARTAS.
YOU have reminded me in good time that I have not said
anything as yet about fish. It is not equivalent to beef,
and hardly as nourishing as the lower grades of meat ; still, it
contains nutritives enough to warrant using it in place of meat.
It also produces a pleasant change in one's diet,
Food value of fish. .... f
and is enticing to the appetite, often much more
so than meat is. Then, it offers a variety incomparable to the
latter. The Neapolitans, who eat everything living or breathing
within the briny deep, call \\.frutti di mare (fruit of the sea), a
fit figure of speech, it seems to me, for shell-fish of any sort.
In thinking about the abounding food offered by sea and river
salt and sweet water and the succulent meals to be de-
rived therefrom, one might rather wish for the strict Lenten fare
of former times. We owe many a first-rate recipe to those days.
To make it clear to you what nutrients you have in different
kinds of fish, I again give you a table :
ALBUMINOIDS. FATS. WATER. MINERAL MATTERS.
Pike 18.5 0.5 80.0 1.0
Salmon 16.0 6.5 76.5 i.o
Codfish 17.0 0.4 81.0 1.6
Eel 13.0 28.5 57.3 1.0
Green herring 17.8 10.3 70.0 1.9
Pickled herring 19.0 18.0 46.4 16.5
Smoked salmon 24.2 12.3 51.5 12.0
Sardines, salted 23.0 3.0 54.0 20.0
Salted codfish 30.0 0.4 49.6 20.0
Dried codfish, not salted. . 80.0 i.o 17.5 1.5
Smoked herring 21.0 8.5 69.3 1.5
You will notice that fresh fish contains a larger percentage
of water than does meat, while cured fish makes a strikingly
128
LETTER XVI 129
good show of albuminoids and mineral matters. The latter,
however, are largely owing to the salt used in preserving them.
The highest percentage of nutrients is found in dried codfish,
and both it and herring furnish the greatest amount of nour-
ishment for the least amount of money. They have, however,
to be accompanied by an adequate percentage of carbohy-
drates to satisfy the demands of the human system. Thus the
poorer classes of Europe instinctively eat their salted herring
with potatoes ; while in this country we have the codfish-balls,
consisting of part potatoes.
You will also notice the large percentage of fats which is
found in some fish, especially eel. Fish of that sort is harder
to digest, and on that account not rated as high for nourishing
a tender stomach as fish less fat (for instance, pike), even if
their nitrogenous substance should be of a lower grade.
Fish is either boiled, broiled, baked, or fried. In all cases
it is to be treated on the same principle as meat. When put
to boil in cold water, fish, like meat, will part with
. ' . .11 How to cook fish.
its best substances, which will go to enrich the
water it is cooked in. To make a soup of it or a fish-jelly
(which is very delicate), this would be the right way; but to
boil fish which is to be eaten, it is necessary to put it into boil-
ing water. To know the right moment when a fish is done, is
not such an easy affair as you might think. It depends not
merely on the size of the fish, but also on its kind, on the
nature of the water it has lived in, on the time passed since it
was killed, and on the water in which it is boiled. An under-
done fish is disgusting, while an over-done one is tasteless and
mostly tough. After fifteen minutes from the time a fish has
been put on the fire, one has to be on the watch. If the fish
is small or thin, it most likely will not stand a second's longer
cooking. If large, it may need half an hour to be well done,
or even more. Experience and a certain fine instinct have to
guide you. One sign and a pretty safe one is to try a fin.
If it gives way easily to a slight pull, the fish is done. Fish,
like meat which is to be dished up, has to be kept simmering
rather than boiling after its first immersion in lively boiling
130 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
water. After it is cleaned, it must not be kept soaking in
cold water. Some salt-water fishes are better for sprinkling
them with salt inside and outside for about one hour before
cooking them. The salt, of course, has to be washed off again.
Be sure that your fish is always as fresh as possible. It decom-
poses quickly, and then is very harmful. Never buy a fish
whose eyes are dull-looking, or the gills of which are not of a
fine red color. It is best, of course, when put on the fire as
soon as caught and killed ; but this luxury is within the reach
of but a minority of people.
To boil fish, well-salted water with the addition of a cupful
of vinegar is generally the right medium. In some cases, how-
ever, the addition of a bouquet of herbs, an onion, and a little
spice is preferable. A good recipe for this "cradle " of boiled
fish, as Grimod de la Reyniere calls it, is the following :
Court-Bouillon to boil Fish in. For three pints of water
take one-half pint of cider vinegar, one large carrot, two onions,
two cloves, one teaspoonful of pepper seeds, two bay leaves, and
enough salt to make it strongly taste of it (about three table-
spoonfuls). When it boils put in your fish.
Keep this in mind, and all I have said before, and you will
be able to boil pretty nearly all kinds of fish without trouble.
Fish is nice enough boiled whole, well garnished, and served
with potatoes and a good sauce ; but it is pleasant to vary the
method, for the sake of which I proceed to give you some
special recipes which will enable you to diversify the process by
applying the given methods to other kinds of fish, or to alter
them according to your needs and likings. A few of them
will be convenient for breakfast. I take for granted, of course,
that you get your fish of the fish dealer, well prepared and
cleaned.
Striped Bass, stuffed and baked. Make a stuffing of one
stale breakfast roll, one tablespoonful of butter, the roes of the
fish (or if it has none, of a carp or some other sweet-water
fish), two eggs, a teaspoonful of minced parsley, and a salt-
spoonful of salt. Soak the roll in milk, and press it until dry
in a napkin ; melt the butter, and pour it over the bread. Mix
LETTER XVI 131
well ; then add the eggs, stir until light, after which you add
the roes chopped beforehand, the parsley, and salt. Try a
little of this stuffing by putting it into boiling water for five
minutes. If too soft, add some bread-crumbs, if too stiff, a
little cream. Fill it into the fish, and sew it up. Now put
a tablespoonful of butter into a dripping-pan, slice one onion,
one carrot, one celery root, and add to it some bunches of
parsley ; arrange so as to make a bed of them for the fish to
lie on, and cover the latter up with a sheet of paper buttered
on both sides. Bake for one hour in a slow oven, adding a
little water from time to time, and baste the fish frequently.
When done, lift it on a hot platter, carefully remove the stitches,
and garnish with parsley, pieces of lemon, and anything else
your taste dictates. Serve it with a sauce ; we
will say a Hollandaise. To make it, put the yolks Hoiiandaise
of two eggs into a skillet, which you place in a
vessel with boiling water. Add a cupful of the liquid left in
the fish-pan, after it has been strained and the fat taken off.
Stir all the while with a wire whisk. Cut a tablespoonful of
butter into little pieces, and add them one by one ; salt to
taste ; put in a sprinkle of nutmeg, and the juice of half a
lemon, if liked. Stir until thick ; do not let it curdle, and serve
as soon as done.
In the same way you can bake red-snapper, carp, shad, and
lake-pike.
The best lake-pike I have ever eaten was in Switzerland,
near the lake of Geneva. I asked for the recipe, and here
it is :
Stewed Pike. Take a good-sized fish ; put it whole into a
fish-kettle with about a quart of good rich broth, two onions,
each stuck with one clove, a bunch of parsley, and four or five
thick slices of bread as large as the palm of your hand. Cover
it up well. When half done that is, in about a quarter of
an hour from the time it began to boil add a pint and a half
of some good white wine (cold). When entirely done, place
the fish carefully on a hot platter, remove onions and parsley
from the liquor in which the fish was boiling, and add to it the
132 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
yolks of about three eggs beaten light in a little cream (or
milk). Do not let it curdle, and do not break up the bread
any more than you can help. Put the latter around the fish
by means of a cake-lifter, and pour as much of the sauce over
it as the dish will hold. The rest you serve in a boat. I have
cooked shad this way, and also found it delicious.
By boiling pike simply in salted water, you can have a very
pretty dish, if you put the tail of the fish into its mouth, thus
shaping it into a ring. You have to do this when
raw, before putting the fish into boiling water. In
this case you need, of course, a round pot in which to boil your
fish. When done, serve it on a round platter, and fill the space
inside the ringed fish with small round potatoes cooked in salted
water. Pour over them some melted butter, in which a table-
spoonful of minced parsley has been cooked for one or two
seconds.
Boil codfish or haddock in salted water, with the addition
only of a little vinegar. Of cod the tail-piece is the favorite
part. It is nicest served whole, with oyster sauce.
haddock; how to For stewed codfish, cut a small cod into three or
stew ' four equal-sized pieces, wash them in salt water,
and put them into a kettle with no more water than will cling
to them. Add a blade of mace, a wineglassful of white cook-
ing-wine, and two tablespoonfuls of butter divided in halves,
one of them having a scant tablespoonful of flour rubbed into
it. Add salt to taste, and at the very last a little white pepper
(powdered). Let it cook slowly and well-covered for fifteen
to twenty minutes, and serve the fish and sauce in the same
dish.
For a sauce to accompany either pike, cod, or haddock, I
would recommend a mustard sauce. It is made simply by
mixing and stirring over the fire two tablespoon-
Mustard sauce. r i r i i i r i r T- i
fuls of butter and one tablespoonful of French
mustard, until just before the point of boiling.
For boiled salmon take a middle piece, because there is
little waste. Two pounds will be sufficient for eight persons.
Take a heaped tablespoonful of butter, work one heaped tea-
LETTER XVI 133
spoonful of flour into it, and place it in the hollow side of the
fish. Tie a napkin around it with twine, and boil it covered
up with court-bouillon, to which add some wine,
... i j i 11 / c i Boiled salmon
if you wish to indulge in such luxury (for, accord- with parsley
ing to Grimod, salmon which he called the s
prince of the sea is somewhat addicted to the use of spirits,
and only cares for the best) . Your salmon needs about twenty-
five minutes' gentle boiling. Take it out of the napkin, place
it in the middle of a platter, and garnish with the finest sprigs
of curled parsley you can get, to which you may add some
pieces of lemon, little potato balls, lobster claws, or anything
harmonizing in taste and color. Serve it with a
Parsley Sauce. Take the yolks of two eggs, half a table-
spoonful of flour, two tablespoonfuls of rninced parsley, and one
heaped tablespoonful of butter. Melt the butter, put in the
rest and stir, with a little water, until quite smooth ; then add
gradually, stirring all the while, three-quarters of a pint of the
boiling-hot liquor in which the fish has been cooked. Allow
to boil up just once, and serve in a boat.
Another most delicious sauce for salmon is the following, the
recipe of which I owe to the wife of the landlord at Bad Gries-
bach, in the Black Forest,. Germany. She called Sauce G noise
it sauce Genoise. Chop the lower tail-end of a for salmon -
salmon into several pieces, and saufe it in a little butter, with
the addition of one small onion, half a carrot (both sliced), a
little bunch of parsley, half a bay leaf, two pepper seeds, one
clove, and a mite of garlic. Take it off the fire before it gets
brown ; pour off the butter, add one pint of good red wine, one
salted sardine, and let it boil continuously for a quarter of an
hour. Then pass the whole through a wire sieve, stir into it a
piece of butter the size of half an egg, and serve. If a salted
sardine cannot be had, a little anchovy paste added at the last
will do instead.
If any cooked salmon is left over, use it next day in this
way : Divide it into nicely trimmed pieces, saute A | unc hcon dish
them quickly on both sides in a little hot butter, of salmon -
then serve them with a cold
134 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
Sauce Remoulade. Take the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs ;
when cold, press them flat with a spoon, and stir them with a
teaspoonful of vinegar until smooth. Add little by little one
tablespoonful of olive oil and two tablespoonfuls of French
mustard, then one teaspoonful of minced onion, two teaspoon-
fuls of minced parsley, a pinch of white pepper, salt to taste,
and, if not sufficiently sour, the juice of a lemon. This sauce
will keep for days.
Filet of Flounder a la Joinville is an extremely nice dish.
Take two flounders, skin them, and cut the flesh off the bones
with a sharp-pointed knife. Divide it into eight filets, which
you roll up into eight little turbans. Fasten each with a wooden
toothpick, to be removed before serving. Stew them slowly in
one tablespoonful of butter, to which add a wineglassful of
cider champagne, one small onion, a little lemon juice, three
pepper seeds, and a pinch of salt. When done (in about fif-
teen minutes) take out your filets carefully with a skimmer and
arrange them on a hot dish. Place a button mushroom, heated
in its own liquor, on top of each turban. Now throw a ball of
butter and flour the size of half an egg into the boiling liquid,
and when dissolved strain this sauce. Pour some of it around
the filets and serve the rest in a boat. A very nice addition is
to have some oysters cooked in their own juice with which to
trim the filets. You may also color your sauce with a table-
spoonful of melted crayfish or lobster butter. 1
Fried fish is very good turned in salted flour, or salted egg
and bread-crumbs, and then put into boiling hot fat to get
brown. But most fish are really too fat to be
To broil fish. - . . . f , , ., i
treated in this way ; they are much better broiled,
as, for instance, shad, if not too large, mackerel, and eel.
In broiling you follow the same rule I gave you for broiling
meat, merely seeing that the fire is rather slow
Broiled mackerel. , _ , . . ... . .
and keeping the fish roasting on it until thoroughly
done. Mackerel is best in the spring. The Spanish mackerel,
coming up from the Southern States, is the most delicious,
1 See p. 146.
LETTER XVI 135
but also the most expensive. Even the common kind is very
acceptable when broiled. Wipe it dry with a towel after
washing it. Rub the inside with some salt and pepper ; brush
the fish on both sides with some olive oil (or melted butter) ;
wrap it in a piece of white paper which is well oiled or but-
tered, and put it on the gridiron. It will take from twenty
to twenty-five minutes to get done. Then remove the paper,
put the fish on a hot dish, and serve it with maitre d'hdtel
butter 1 spread over the top.
To broil bloaters, soak them in half milk, half water, for an
hour ; then pull off the skin. Wrap them in buttered paper
and broil on a slow fire for five minutes on each
. , , . . , . , , i n Broiled bloaters.
side ; or divide them down the middle, remove
the bones, put them on a flat dish, and pour on them some
olive oil. At the time for serving put them on the gridiron and
keep them on the fire for one or two minutes on each side.
A halibut steak turned in salted Indian meal, Fish steak
and sauteed in hot lard, is a nice dish, espe- saut ^ ed -
cially when served with oyster sauce.
As it is a matter of importance to an economical house-
keeper to know what to do with remnants of fish, HOW to use
I mention the following ways in which to use mnantsoffish.
fish left over :
No. i. Butter a dish ; put into it in alternate layers thinly
sliced boiled potatoes and fish picked into small pieces.
Spread over each layer some plain bechamel sauce. Dust
bread-crumbs over the top, and put in the oven to get brown
for ten or fifteen minutes. Serve in the same dish.
No. 2. Remove carefully skin and bone of boiled fish;
cut it into nice little pieces and pile it up pyramid-shape on a
flat dish. Now pour over it a bechamel sauce, made with cream
or milk, to which a saltspoonful of anchovy paste has been
added. Dust over the whole some grated Parmesan cheese,
and sprinkle with melted butter. Put in a quick oven for a few
minutes, or until of a nice brown color.
i See p. 74.
136 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
No. 3. Put mashed potatoes rim-like in a dish ; place some
nice large pieces of boiled fish in the middle ; drop flakes
of butter between the pieces here and there ; pour over it some
thick cream, and dust it over with two-thirds bread-crumbs
and one-third grated cheese. Put it into the oven to get
heated and take color.
No. 4. To a cupful of shredded fish take a cupful of
mashed potatoes. Put both into a wooden bowl, and work
them to a paste with a potato masher, adding to it successively
one egg, a tablespoonful of butter, and a cupful of milk. Add
salt to taste, and continue working the whole until quite light.
Fill it into a buttered gratin-d\$h and bake in a quick oven
until light brown. Serve it either with a green salad, French
dressing, or with a sauce of your choosing.
No. 5. After your cooked fish is freed of all bones and
skin, cut it into small dice, and put these into shells. Make a
white roux, thin it with broth and a little white wine (which
may be replaced by lemon or orange juice) ; add salt, a sprinkle
of white pepper, a little minced parsley, and a few mushrooms
also minced. Cover up the fish with this sauce, put on top of
each shell a flake of butter, and put in the oven for five minutes.
There are some excellent French ways of stewing fish which
we might appropriate to our use. Famous among them is the
Bouille-abaisse of Southern France, which inspired
Bouille-abaisse. . . x
1 hackeray to write his ballad of that name. But
this dish, after all, seems to have been more a convivial memory
than a real enthusiasm, or he would have done better in describ-
" A sort of soup, or broth, or brew,
Or hotchpotch of all sorts of fishes,
That Greenwich never could outdo."
It sounds much more appetizing when we read of it in Me"ry's
long poem, given by Monselet, which begins :
" Pour le vendredi maigre, un jour, certaine abbesse
D'un couvent marseillais crea la bouille-abaisse,
Et jamais ce bienfait n'a trouve des ingrats
Chez les peuples marins, qui n'aiment point le gras.
Ce plat est un poeme."
LETTER XVI 137
[For a Friday's fast one day the abbess gocd
Of a convent in Marseilles created bouille-abaisse,
And the boon she conferred is remembered with praise
By the men of the sea, who are partial to fish.
The dish is a poem. ]
Then he goes on and describes in the most enticing man-
ner how, at first, a wonderful coulis is made of numerous little
fish and spice, and how, in this carefully prepared liquor,
about half a dozen different kinds of fish are cooked and
then served. The vulgarized recipes for bouille-abaisse are
nothing compared to it, and, on the whole, since we do not
live on the borders of the Mediterranean, we had better leave
this dish alone, and turn to the simpler and less expensive
matelote, for which I will give you two different recipes to
choose from.
Bliiefish en Matelote. Cut the fish into pieces, put it into
a stew-pan, add a bay leaf, six pepper seeds, a sprinkle of salt,
one clove, and pour over it sufficient cheap claret to cover the
fish. Let it come to a boil as quickly as possible. Meanwhile
take a dozen small onions and saute them in butter until turned
light brown. Take also a dozen small button mushrooms, a
saltspoonful of salt, a sprinkle of pepper, a teaspoonful of
lemon juice and the juice of the mushrooms; add all this to
the onions, and allow the whole to stew until about three-
quarters done. Now, when the fish has come to a boil, skim
it, and add to the liquor about a tablespoonful of butter, and
as much of flour, both kneaded into a ball. This makes the
sauce, which must neither be too thin, nor too thick, but have
the right consistency. After the butter and flour have dis-
solved, you add the onions, the mushrooms, and their liquor to
the sauce, and allow the whole to simmer until the pieces of
fish are quite done. You may add some shrimps at the last.
Serve the pieces of fish wreath-wise on a round dish, and pour
the sauce over it and into the centre. You may cook other
kinds of fish in the same way. Or make a matelote of several
kinds of fish. Take one fat, and the other lean, as for instance
pike and whitefish, or salmon-trout and shad.
138 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
Matelote of Perch. Melt some butter in a stew-pan, and
add some minced parsley and onion, and then your fish. Pour
over it a pint of cider champagne, and when nearly done add
a dozen or more oysters, a dozen clams, and some shrimps if
you choose ; then let the whole simmer until done. This is
a French recipe (called matelote normande), as is also the
foregoing one.
I end this letter with a recipe for fish in jelly, which is well
worth the trouble of trying. I have found it useful many
a time, when I wanted a pretty dish other than
Fish in jelly. L J
meat on my tea or luncheon table. You can
make this dish also of remnants of boiled fish, if they are
left in good shape. Cut your fish into thick slices and boil
them with several onions, pepper seeds, a bay leaf, salt, and
some vinegar. When done and cool, arrange the pieces in a
mould, placing in the bottom of the latter first of all some thin
slices of lemon. Allow the liquor in which the fish was boiled
to continue cooking, with head and tail of the fish added.
After an hour's lively boiling strain it, add a cupful of good
broth in which you have dissolved a heaped saltspoonful of
Liebig, and the juice of half a lemon. Taste it if salt is needed.
Place a tablespoonful of it on ice to see if it will jelly. If not,
add some gelatine to stiffen it. Clear it, 1 and pour over the
fish in your mould. If you should be able to procure some
branches of fresh tarragon, you will produce a very pretty effect
by arranging them inside your mould, but outside of the fish,
in the form of a light wreath. This you do before you fill up
the mould with your jelly. The tarragon in addition will add
its flavor to the dish.
Of all the wealth of the fish-market, and the abundance of
good recipes, I have shown you but a glimpse. You will learn
by experience, and, to guide you on the road to it, I believe
I have told you what is needful.
1 See p. 80.
LETTER XVII
A dish that I do love to feed upon.
SHAKESPEARE.
I WOULD rather commence at once to tell you of shell-fish
a delightful subject if my conscience would let me. For
I have not given you any instruction as yet about the prosaic,
but very useful, cured cod. To prepare it for use, Cured cod
put it in cold water (skin upward, to allow the and HOW to
salt to leave the fish), which change a few times,
and soak for from twelve to twenty-four hours, according to
the thickness of the fish. To cook it, put it in plenty of cold
water (no salt), and place it on the stove, where it will get hot
very slowly. It must not boil, or it will be tough. When quite
hot, move the pot with the fish to a place still further removed
from the fire, and let it steep there for half an hour longer. If
the piece is from a fine large cod, it is to be served whole with
a sauce Hollandaise. 1 At a New England coast town I have
eaten it thus cooked, when it was exceedingly nice. It was
served with two sauces, one of drawn butter, and the other
consisting of the pure fat rendered from salt pork, cut in small
dice, and the cracklings left in. Besides, there were the
mealiest of potatoes (cooked in salted water), sliced beets in
vinegar, and hard-boiled eggs. It was a perfect meal.
In a Capuchin monastery in southern Germany, dried codfish,
after being freshened and cooked, is served with onions cut fine
and fried in butter until yellow, and with a puree of dried peas.
You may also shred salt codfish, after being cooked, into
small pieces, and treat it like recipe No. 4 for using up rem-
nants of fish. 2
i See p. 131. 2 See p. 136.
139
140 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
For Codfish Balls, chop even quantities of cooked fish and
potatoes. Cut fat salt pork into dice, and render until partly
melted ; then chop fine what is left of them and mix with the
fish and potatoes. Form into balls and fry in the fat rendered
from the pork scraps. This recipe will also make a nice hash.
I owe it likewise to a good New England housewife.
What has been said in praise of codfish as a nutrient cannot
be said in favor of oysters ; and yet who would be willing to do
without this "fruit of the sea"? Their large percentage of
water (from 80 to 85 per cent) is the reason why oysters rank
low in this respect. Still they make a show of about equal
percentages of albuminoids and carbohydrates a little more
perhaps of the former than the latter and a very fair show as
to fat and mineral matter in proportion to them. If eaten in
quantities they do very well for nutriment. They are easily
digested if eaten raw, but less so when cooked. Oysters, there-
fore, ought never to be more than just made hot ; the longer
they stay on the fire the more the albumen they contain will
harden, and be apt to interfere with a comfortable digestion.
Oysters may be cooked in so many different styles, and are
so easily gotten ready, that they are most convenient, and at
the same time always welcome, for helping out
when an unexpected guest comes to share a meal
with us, or when provisions happen to run short for
our daily fare. They are so delicious in taste and
flavor that I would prefer to have them cooked mostly in their
own liquor ; and if spice is to be used, to take a blade of mace
only, since it seems to harmonize better with the aroma of the
oyster than other kinds of spice. The addition of a little lemon
juice, however, is to be recommended, since a slight acid helps
to digest the albumen.
The one way in which the flavor of the oyster when exposed
to heat is preserved almost intact, is to roast them. To do
this, get them on the half-shell with whatever juice they have,
and place them side by side on a gridiron over a bright fire.
Leave them on it just long enough to get hot and plump ; then
serve on their shells. The next best way is to pan them.
LETTER XVII 141
Take the oysters with the juice that will adhere to them and
put them in a shallow pan, in which a piece of butter has been
melted. Put them in a moderately hot oven, and leave them in
it until the beards begin to curl ; then serve. Always taste the
oysters to see whether salt is needed. For broiled or panned
oysters, a slight dusting over with white pepper might be liked.
For tea or supper a dish of scalloped oysters is very nice.
Drain your oysters, and see that no fragments of shell are left
clinging to them. Take a gratin-dish. ; butter it ; put in a thin
layer of rather coarse bread-crumbs, then a layer of the oys-
ters with some bits of butter, some more bread-crumbs, and
so on, until the oysters are all used up. Put a thick layer of
crumbs on the top and sprinkle with melted butter. If the
oysters appear rather dry, add some of their juice before put-
ting on the top layer of crumbs. Some substitute a small
wineglassful of sherry for the oyster liquor ; but this is a matter
of taste. Bake the oysters in a moderately hot oven for about
one hour.
To make a plain oyster stew, boil and skim the oyster liquor
first. Add a thickening of flour and butter rubbed together,
or one of cracker-dust, adding the butter afterwards. Some
like milk added to the juice of the oysters, and some do not.
By adding milk you increase, of course, the nourishing proper-
ties of the oyster stew. After the liquid is ready, put in
your oysters, and let them get hot. If you intend to have a
more perfect oyster stew, proceed in this way : Cut the
beards off two dozen oysters. Sprinkle some lemon juice over
the latter. Put the juice of the oysters and the beards on to
boil, and skim well ; then add a blade of mace, a few pepper
seeds and the peel of half a lemon shaved off; let it boil slowly
for half an hour from the time it was put on the fire ; then
strain the liquid and when boiling again put in a scant table-
spoonful of butter, into which as much flour has been rubbed.
Add also half a pint of cream (or milk) made hot beforehand.
When the butter and flour is dissolved and the sauce quite
smooth, put in your oysters. Allow them to get hot, but do
not let them boil, and serve at once.
142 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
If you wish to fry oysters, take large ones, drain them, turn
them first in some flour, then in an egg beaten up, and lastly
in some bread or cracker crumbs. Throw them into some boil-
ing hot lard and leave in only long enough to turn light brown.
For broiling oysters also take large ones ; turn them in bread-
crumbs, and put them on a well-greased, double wire gridiron.
Have a bright coal fire, and broil them for one or two minutes,
first on one side, then on the other. Have a hot dish, with a
piece of butter melting on it, to receive them, and serve at once.
For an oyster fricassee proceed as for the oyster stew second
in number, with this difference, that you. add the yolks of two
or three eggs, beaten up beforehand, to the liquid, and stir it
over the fire until it thickens. Add also a little lemon juice.
Do not let it boil, or it will curdle. This recipe you may use
likewise for oysters on scallop-shells. Strew bread-crumbs over
the oysters and sauce with which you have filled your shells,
and place them in the oven to brown on top. Or fill with
them some puff-paste patties, which are exceedingly nice.
You may serve an oyster stew on pieces of toast, which makes
a nice breakfast dish. If you have some 'oyster liquor left,
thicken it with flour and butter rubbed together, add milk or
cream, and pour it over some hot toast for breakfast or lunch-
eon. If you wish to keep the oyster liquor until the following
day, be sure and scald it, or it will not keep. You may also
add it to a soup made of broth. If cooked oysters are left
over, they give a pleasant flavor to a hash made of meat, if
chopped fine with it.
For oyster sauce, make a bechamel with the juice of the
oysters and add some cream. Season with a little
Oyster sauce. , , . -111
mace and white pepper, and when done put in
some oysters, taking care that they do not harden.
Clams have the advantage of being fit to eat when oysters
are not. They afford a good broth, especially for invalids ;
but clams themselves are hard to digest, unless
Clams.
they are boiled just two or three minutes, and
then even the soft part only is fit to eat. A clam chowder
is delicious when made as I once ate it in New England.
LETTER XVII 143
Clam Chowder. Take a quarter of a pound of fat salt
pork, cut it into small dice, and put it on the fire until brown
and crisp. Chop a small onion, and throw into the pork fat
to turn yellow. Have ready a soup-plateful of raw potatoes
very thinly sliced. Put them into a deep stew-pan, strain over
them the fat from the pork, and add the liquor from a quart of
clams. Boil slowly until the potatoes are quite done. Mean-
while take your clams and boil them for three minutes and no
longer in one pint of water, adding one teaspoonful of salt.
Drain them; but keep the water. Cut off the hard part of
the clams and chop, then put them back into the strained
water, and let boil for at least a quarter of an hour longer ;
then drain them again, adding the water to the potatoes and
clam liquor, and throwing away the hard part of the clams.
Take their soft parts, and chop them also, but coarsely. Add
a gill of boiling milk (or cream) to the potatoes, half a
dozen water crackers, and lastly the chopped clams (soft
parts). Season with pepper if you like, and a little powdered
thyme.
A lobster furnishes you with a very ornamental and palatable
dish. To boil a lobster, have a large kettle three-quarters full
of boiling water ; add four onions halved, a large Ho w to boii a
bouquet of parsley, twenty pepper seeds, two bay lobster>
leaves, salt at the rate of one heaped tablespoonful to every
quart of water. Put in your lobster. Do it quickly, head
foremost, which will kill it and end its torture at once. Let
it boil for fifteen to twenty-five minutes, according to its size.
When done, take it out, twist off the claws and tail, cleave
into halves (lengthwise) body and tail, and remove from the
latter the dark, stringy vein called " lady-fingers," which is
poisonous. Crack the claws on their lower sides and be care-
ful not to disfigure them. Thus prepared, you may serve the
lobster hot or cold, scalloped, as salad, croquettes, or in
various other ways. If you wish to serve the lobster whole,
you reconstruct it from its separate pieces, masking the flaws
with sprigs of parsley. Serve it on a folded napkin in the
middle of an oval platter ; garnish with parsley laid wreath-
144 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
like around, and have either a tartar sauce or a mayonnaise
accompany it. 1
I will now give you some specified recipes for dishes made
of lobster.
Lobster Cutlets. Take the meat of a boiled lobster and
pound it in a mortar with one ounce and a half of butter (size
of an egg), a saltspoonful of salt, half as much white pepper,
and the coral of the lobster (if there is any). When it has
turned to a smooth paste, it is ready to be formed into small
cutlets, with a small lobster claw stuck in each. Dip into a
beaten-up egg, and then turn them in some fine bread-crumbs.
Repeat this after a minute or two, then saute the cutlets in hot
butter, and serve them as a course by themselves.
Lobster Stew. Cut the meat of a boiled lobster into
slices, put it into a stew-pan with a saltspoonful of salt, a
teaspoonful of French mustard, a tablespoonful of good cider
vinegar, and two ounces of butter. Cover it up, and allow
to stew over a moderate fire for about six minutes. Then add
a wineglassful of white wine, and let stew another four to five
minutes. At the last, sprinkle over with white pepper, then
serve, and garnish with parsley and slices of lemon.
Lobster Fricassee. Cut a boiled lobster into pieces about
an inch square, and break up the shells- into little pieces by
means of pestle and mortar. Melt and make hot three ounces
of butter ; add to it the shells, and when the whole bubbles up
stir into it a heaped tablespoonful of flour. After it thickens,
add broth sufficient to give it the consistency of a sauce, and
let all boil slowly for half an hour, then strain through a hair
sieve. Return it to the fire, add the meat of the lobster and
the yolks of two eggs beaten up in a little cream. Stir over
the fire until hot, but do not let it come to a boil. You may
add to the sauce some asparagus points cooked beforehand in
salted water, or some balls made of bread-crumbs 2 or fish; or
both, balls and asparagus. The fish balls you make in this
way : Take three tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs ; moisten
1 See pp. 74 and 153. 2 See p. 27.
LETTER XVII 145
them with broth, and stir over the fire until bubbling up. Then
remove from the fire, and mix into them about six ounces of
cooked fish freed from skin and bones, one whole
i i n r i 11 Fish balls.
egg and the yolk of another one, some salt and
pepper, a little grated nutmeg, and a teaspoonful of minced
parsley. Make a thick and smooth paste of all this by working it
over and over with a wooden pestle. Then form into little balls,
which boil in some broth for about five minutes, or until done.
Baked Lobster. Chop the meat of a boiled lobster. Chop
also two or three shallots (or a slice of onion) and put into
three ounces of melted and boiling hot butter. Then remove
to the side of the stove, and let the shallots simmer until soft,
when you add the chopped lobster, a saltspoonful of salt, a
sprinkle of pepper, a teaspoonful of minced parsley, a little
minced tarragon, if you have any ; and, lastly, four eggs beaten
light beforehand. Stir and mix over the fire, without allowing
it to boil. Put this mixture into a buttered gratin-dish, cover
it with bread-crumbs, sprinkle with melted butter, and bake
in a moderately hot oven. You may serve with it a sauce Hol-
landaise * colored with some of the lobster coral. Should you
have the right number of lobster-shells one for each person
fill them with the mixture, and bake it in them.
Creamed Lobster. Chop the meat of the boiled lobster, put
it into a sauce-pan, add a saltspoonful of salt, half as much
white pepper, a tablespoonful of white wine, and as much vinegar.
Let it get hot, then add one ounce of butter (size of half an egg)
mixed with a heaped teaspoonful of flour and a gill of cream.
Stir the whole over the fire, allowing it to cook gently for ten min-
utes. You may serve this also in lobster-shells, but do not bake.
Lobster is delicious with a mayonnaise sauce, and as a salad.
But I defer giving you the recipe for it until I talk to you about
salads in general and in particular. I will add, however, the
recipe for a
Lobster Sauce. Chop very fine the coral of a boiled lob-
ster, together with two anchovies. Moisten it with some broth,
i See p. 131.
146 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
and add a piece of butter the size of a walnut. Rub it through
a hair sieve. Take as much of the coral as will give a fine red
color to a bechamel sauce. Flavor with a little lemon juice, and
add to it a heaped tablespoonful of the lobster meat cut into
small dice. If you cannot procure any anchovies, take anchovy
paste the size of a large pea. What is left of the
Lobster butter.
lobster coral you may mix with some more melted
butter and set away for further use. It will do instead of cray-
fish butter which I recommended to you for some recipes.
Now, before closing my lesson on fish, I want to say some-
thing about a generally discarded amphibians, the frog, of
Fro s 1 i e s which the hind legs alone come in question. They
are said to be nourishing and very easily digested.
Dr. Wiel, who was a famous specialist for diseases of the
stomach, recommends them highly for invalid diet, either
stewed or in soup. I give you the following recipe for stewed
frogs' legs, which I take from a German cook-book devoted to
Lenten fare :
Remove the toes of the frogs' legs and wash them clean.
Make a sauce of butter and flour, thinned with water and fla-
vored with lemon peel and juice. Put the frogs' legs into this
sauce and let them stew until tender. When done, add the
yolks of two eggs.
They are also good this way : Cook the frogs' legs until
tender in some water, to which you add salt, a bunch of thyme,
an onion, and a little vinegar. Do not use any more water
than just enough to cover them. Strain the liquid and pour
over the frogs' legs before you serve them. Sau/e some
bread-crumbs in a little butter, and, when brown, spread them
on the top.
You may also treat them as a friture, either dipping them
in batter, 1 or merely turning them in egg and fine bread-crumbs,
before frying them. But, of course, cooked in this way they
are less digestible.
" Basta!" says the Italian "enough for to-day."
1 See p. 78.
LETTER XVIII
Let olives, endives, mallows light
Be all my fare.
HORACE.
Eat cress, and have more wit.
GREEK PROVERB.
I AM glad to hear that now you think yourself prepared with
all my teachings to give a dinner party. There is, how-
ever, one thing more which you have first to learn, and that is
to plan and dress a salad. I have a long lesson in store for
you, a pleasant task, for I count it a very important part
of culinary art, and a delightful accomplishment, to make a
salad in perfection.
There are raw, cooked, and mixed salads. But lettuce is
the salad par excellence, and cannot be recommended suffi-
ciently for its refreshing, its wholesome, and cool- Genera , re _
ing qualities. Cooked vegetables, fish, and meats, marks about
when made into salads, either by themselves or
mixed, can be made very tempting ; but for a healthy diet I
would recommend only the green salads and the cooked vege-
tables simply dressed. They yield material for a large variety
of salads and give you an opportunity for testing your talent.
In our country, with its succulent vegetables, green salad is
not yet introduced as generally as it deserves. During our hot
summers especially it ought to be part of the principal meal, at
least. Brillat-Savarin says : " Salad refreshes without debili-
tating, and comforts without irritating. I am in the habit of
saying that it is rejuvenating." We find, however, a much
earlier appreciation of salad the lactuca of the Romans
in Greek authors, where it is praised as soothing, fortifying the
stomach, and favoring sleep.
148 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
This latter, by the by, reminds me of a little incident occur-
ring years ago. It was June time. We lived in the country
and had a guest at our table, a distinguished pioneer and
general. At dinner I had served with the roast a lettuce salad,
which was fresh from the garden, and prepared and dressed
with my own hands, as I thought, in the most tempting way.
But, when offered, our guest declined to take it, remarking that'
the opium contained in the lettuce leaves was apt to make him
inopportunely drowsy. This was news to me ; nor do I find it
stated anywhere that opium really exists in lettuce. The milky
juice of the stem, because resembling that of poppies, se&ms to
have led to this belief. This juice, most likely, is the vehicle
for the nutritives contained in salad, and the fresher the latter,
the juicier and consequently the more nutritious it is. Accord-
ing to Liebig, lettuce has of alkalies 23 to 24 per cent of its
dry substances. But when we consider that it has 94 parts of
water in every 100, we cannot place it very high as a nutritive.
Its usefulness, like that of other green and vegetable salads, lies
in another direction, as indicated above ; while the defect of it,
and of all of them, is easily remedied, if we add the nutri-
ents they are deficient in. The best accompaniment, there-
fore, for green salad is eggs in any form you please ; and is
there a prettier sight, on the table, than a dish full of green
curly leaves of lettuce set off with quarters of hard-boiled
eggs?
Aside from lettuce, we have herbs for salad. An old parch-
ment volume of 1691, in my possession, enumerates sixty-two
kinds of them for a famous herb salad. I would not want you
to go to that extent ; nor would you be able to procure most
of them in our days. I merely wish to call your attention to
certain tender herbs which our markets now afford. They are
principally water-cress, peppergrass, field salad, borage, chicory,
dandelion, and they make a nice salad each by itself, as well as
intermixed ad libitum. With the exception of dandelion they
also garnish beautifully every kind of salad. The latter in its
wild state makes a wholesome salad in the spring, when the
first fresh shoots appear on meadows and fields, and you dig
LETTER XVIII 149
for the plant deep enough to get part of the root. The tender,
clover-like leaf of the oxalis (pxalis acetosella}, which is to
be found in the woods during the summer, will also furnish
you with a slightly acid and refreshing salad. The following
herbs are what the French call "fournitures de salade "
(trimmings for salad): water-cress, peppergrass, chervil, chives,
tarragon, pimpernel (garden burnet), balm-mint and borage.
Add to all these the orange- tinted flowers of nasturtium and
the blue blossoms of borage, which you may either make into
a salad by themselves, dressing them with oil, vinegar, and
salt, or use for a garnish, and you must acknowledge that
you never need be in trouble about having an enticing and
even artistic dish of salad on your table. The Italians, who
are extremely fond of salad, use for it almost anything green
they can find. When in Northern Italy once in early spring,
I met during my walk a little black-eyed peasant girl rilling her
apron full of the sprouting shoots of clematis growing on a
hedge. I curiously inquired the purpose of it, to which she
replied, " 'Per far insalata" (to make salad of). But the
French were the first to excel in salad-making. Many a distin-
guished Frenchman prided himself on his proficiency in this
art ; and let me tell you here of my belief that it takes the
fine sensibilities of a gentleman or a lady to make a really good
salad. Ordinary cooks and servants are incapable of compre-
hending even the first principles of it. When the French Revo-
lution drove the aristocrats from their country, some of them
made their living, and even their fortunes like D'Albignac
by the making of salads.
" Tu sais que pour la salade
J'ai les soins d'un emigre "
(You know I have for the salad
The emigrant's cares),
writes Monselet in " Le diner que je veuxfaire " (the dinner I
want to devise).
To dress a salad is not as easy a task as you might think.
The so-called " French dressing," of oil, vinegar, and salt, seems
150 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
to be such a simple affair ; but unless you take each of these
elements in exactly the right proportion to each other and the
salad to be dressed, the result will not be the desired one.
To be an expert, you have to divine by instinct how much
to take of each. I never allow a servant even
HOW to prepare to touch the leaves of the salad I have served at
lettuce for salad,
and how to table, for to have the salad to perfection the touch
' must be light, the fingers to trim and arrange
must be nimble. First take leaf by leaf, throwing
away the outside and coarse ones, and removing all imperfec-
tions of those fit for use ; then put them in a deep dish full of
cold water to rinse them, one by one, transferring them at the
same time into a large colander. This done, take the latter
with both hands and toss the leaves lightly up and down in it,
which will free them from the water clinging to them. Now
put the colander on a plate and remove the whole to the re-
frigerator ; but do not let it come in contact with the ice, which
would chill the salad to such a degree as to rob it of its char-
acteristic flavor. There you leave it standing for an hour, or
until near dinner-time, when it will have turned deliciously
crisp. Then take up once more leaf after leaf, dividing the
larger ones carefully into halves and arranging them in a salad-
bowl, wreath within wreath, like a full-blown rose. It will
depend on your skill and inspiration to vary your salad by
intermingling or garnishing it with one or more herbs of a
darker green, the white and yellow of eggs, the tender pink of
radishes, the pale green of thinly sliced cucumbers, the flowers
of nasturtium, etc. Suppose you have done this to your sat-
isfaction, you put your salad-bowl once more in the refriger-
ator, with distinct orders to leave it there until the time comes
for placing it on the table, to be dressed dexterously with your
own hands, to the delight of your husband and your guests, if
guests there be. As to the dressing itself. I have told you
already that instinct will have to teach you more than any
recipe can do, but, in a general sense, I can recommend the
following proportions for a plain French dressing : Take, for
a heaped soup-plateful of salad, a heaped saltspoonful of salt,
LETTER XVIII 151
three tablespoonfuls of oil, and one tablespoonful of vinegar.
Put the salt in your spoon first, then the oil (which must be of
the best) ; mix the two with your salad-fork, and pour over
the salad ; then mix with the latter, and after adding the vine-
gar, mix again thoroughly. If the vinegar is not very sharp,
add the juice of half a lemon. A sprinkle of white pepper
mixed in with the oil is also recommendable, as well as a slight
addition of mushroom catsup mixed in with the vinegar.
Whenever I want to add some other ingredients to the plain
dressing, I mix them beforehand with the vinegar needed, and
pour the mixture, ready for use, in the empty vinegar-cruet of
the caster.
If you wish to dress your lettuce salad with mayonnaise, it
is best to put the latter in the bottom of the salad-bowl and to
arrange the salad on top of it, allowing the sauce to show in
the centre. In that case you have but to mix the salad after
it comes to the table. I will give you some recipes for mayon-
naise and other salad sauces by and by.
A salad of herbs endives (of which the escarol is the best
kind), water-cresses, dandelion, and field (or corn) salad is
always at its best when merelv dressed with salt,
* *., ' About the dress-
vmegar, and oil. Endives are improved by put- m g of herb
ting them into warm (not hot) water for a short s
time, then rinsing them in cold water. It somewhat lessens their
bitter flavor. Dandelion ought always to be a salad by itself.
Its bitter and pungent flavor does not harmonize with any other
herb or vegetable. Tarragon vinegar, substituted for plain vine-
gar, is the only deviation in the above dressing which is per-
mitted. Field (or corn) salad does not allow as much oil as
other salads do. It is improved by the addition of a cooked
potato, grated and mixed into the plain dressing. Water-cresses
are spoiled by too much vinegar ; they bear but a sprinkle of it.
A famous firm of gardeners in Germany, who make the culture
of water-cresses one of their specialties, give the following direc-
tions for dressing them : Pick and rinse them two or three hours
before meal-time. Shake them dry, and squeeze the juice of
half a lemon over a quart of them. Add one tablespoonful
152 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
of oil, and a small onion minced fine. No vinegar. Mix well
and let stand in a cool place until served.
Apart from the exceptions stated, you may, of course, vary
your dressing as much as the composition of your salads. I
More substantial will gi ye vou n ow a small number of varied salad
dressings. dressings or sauces to use at your own discretion.
I begin with the -oft repeated, because never to be forgotten,
recipe of Sydney Smith :
" Two boiled potatoes pressed through kitchen sieve
Smoothness and softness to the salad give.
Of mordant mustard add a single spoon,
Distrust the condiment that bites too soon;
But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault
To add a double quantity of salt.
Three times the spoon with oil of Lucca crown,
And once with vinegar procured from town;
The flavor needs it, and your poet begs
The pounded yellow of two well-boiled eggs.
Let onion atoms lurk within the bowl,
And scarce suspected animate the whole.
And lastly, o'er the flavored compound toss
A magic spoonful of anchovy sauce;
Then, though green turtle fail, though venison's tough,
And ham and turkey are not boned enough,
Serenely full, the epicure may say,
4 Fate cannot hurt me I have dined to-day.' "
This recipe, in its quaint form, gives you the base for other
varieties of salad dressing when you lack time to make a
mayonnaise, and yet wish to have something more than a plain
dressing. A very excellent variety is the following :
Take two or three hard-boiled eggs, rub them to a paste,
and add gradually about five tablespoonfuls of oil, one tea-
spoonful of French mustard, a sprinkle of white pepper, three
to four tablespoonfuls of vinegar, and either a tablespoonful of
minced cives, or capers. You may also leave out the mustard,
take less oil and vinegar, and add half a cupful of cream.
A very excellent dressing, also, is the following :
Take the yolks of one hard-boiled and one raw egg, one tea-
spoonful of French mustard, one saltspoonful of salt, three to
LETTER XVIII 153
four tablespoonfuls of oil, one tablespoonful each of cider and
of tarragon vinegar, half a teaspoonful each of anchovy essence
and mushroom catsup, and one heaped tablespoonful of minced
parsley, chervil, pimpernel (garden burnet) and tarragon mixed.
Stir until perfectly smooth. The herbs you may omit, if you
choose.
The mayonnaise dressing or sauce has to be prepared with
greater care to make it a success. For a fish or meat salad
I prefer the following mayonnaise : Boil four eggs
-i- i i Three different
for fifteen minutes ; put them in cold water, and mayonnaise
when cool take the yolks and mash them to a d
paste. Now take two ounces of freshest butter ; let it get soft
enough to beat it to a cream (always beating in the same
direction) . Add to it, little by little, the above egg ; and
afterward, also very gradually, the raw yolks of three eggs,
stirring vigorously all the time. See that the raw eggs are not
cold, lest your butter should curdle. If it does, add the raw
yolk of another egg. Add salt and vinegar (or lemon juice)
to taste. If the mixture has not enough consistency, add some
olive oil, drop by drop.
Another very excellent recipe is this : Take four raw yolks
and put them into a porcelain dish. Place this dish on ice.
Stir into the yolks half a pint of olive oil by taking a teaspoon-
ful at a time and allowing it to mix drop by drop with the egg.
Just as soon as the latter begins to thicken, add a few drops
of lemon juice ; then proceed to mix in another teaspoonful
of oil and more of the lemon juice, until all the oil is absorbed.
The occasional adding of the lemon juice prevents the curdling
of the sauce. Add salt to taste, and, if you like, a little tarragon
vinegar. Keep in a cold place until used.
For a quickly made mayonnaise I can recommend the fol-
lowing recipe :
Take the yolks of two eggs and the juice of half a lemon.
Stir until thickening, when add salt, oil, and vinegar in pro-
portions given above. If made in this way you need not
be particular about adding the oil drop by drop : be care-
ful only not to add it in larger quantities than a teaspoonful
154 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
at a time. This is the best mayonnaise dressing for green
salads.
All these recipes you had better follow closely at first, until
by and by you may vary them at your needs, or as your
inspiration leads you.
A slight addition of wine is often a great improvement.
Some experts also will put a small piece of brown or rye bread
in the bottom of the dish to give a peculiar flavor to the
salad, and for those who like a taste of onion, or garlic, you
may either rub the bread or the sides of the salad-dish with a
slice of onion or a bit of garlic. These little fine touches, and
how and when to apply, you have to learn by yourself. This
is the case also in regard to mixed salads, for which I will give
you a few recipes merely as suggestions upon which to produce
your own variations and "compositions."
I begin with some plain ones and keep the more elaborate
recipes for the last : Take some endives, well blanched ; sepa-
rate the branches from the stem, cleanse and rinse well, then
put in warm water for a short time. Drain well, and arrange
in the centre of a salad-bowl. Then surround it with water-
cress dressed beforehand in the shape of a wreath. Finish the
dish with an outside rim of beet salad.
The latter ought to be always at hand in your store-closet.
In winter, when green salad is scarce, beets can be resorted to.
combinations in They make a salad, either by themselves, or in
salads, and how combination with potatoes, celery root, meat, or
to pickle beets. _ . _, . . . . . , , .
fish. Take for this purpose the large, dark red
beets, and boil them as indicated in my instructions on vege-
tables. 1 When cool, peel them and cut them into slices a
quarter of an inch thick. Have a stone jar ready, and place
into it your beets layer-wise, putting between each layer a few
scraps of horse-radish, and two or three black pepper seeds.
Pour boiling vinegar enough over the whole to cover it. It will
keep for months, if put in a cool place. When needed for use,
take out with a silver fork the desired number of slices, and dress
with salt, vinegar, and oil.
1 See p. 121.
LETTER XVIII 155
A combined beet and celery root salad is very palatable.
Boil the latter, after cleansing it well, in slightly salted water.
Do not let it get too tender. Drain and remove all specks and
fibrous matter on the outside. Cut into slices like beets, and
pour over them while still warm a dressing of a good deal of
oil and vinegar, and a sprinkle of pepper and salt. If kept in
a cool place, this salad will keep for two or three days.
Celery root, on the other hand, combines well with red
cabbage, which you shred as fine as possible after removing
the thick ribs. Mix into it a plain dressing. Do About ca bba g e
it a few hours before use, which will improve the salads>
salad. Heap up the cabbage in the middle of a dish, and let
the wheels of celery root form the outer rim. This, also, is a
nice winter salad, when green things fail or are too high-
priced.
A cheap salad is made of white cabbage. Take a firm head
only. For a family of three, one-quarter of it will be sufficient
to make a good dishful. Shred it fine, and, if very young,
dress it a couple of hours before meal-time with a plain dress-
ing. Some boiled potatoes sliced and minced with it are a
good addition. You may also combine white and red cabbage
in different rims, and have the potato salad in the centre. In
winter, when cabbage is old, it is better to scald the white
cabbage by pouring over it some boiling water, in which to
leave it for about fifteen minutes. Then drain the water off,
and pour over your shredded cabbage, while still warm, the
mayonnaise dressing quickly made, for which I gave you
the recipe. This is a slight variation on the " cold slaw " (the
proper name in Dutch is koolsla), known among our country
population, especially in Pennsylvania.
Other vegetables, also, may be appropriated for salads after
they are boiled. Some roses of cauliflower left over, some
asparagus, string-beans, even carrots, green peas,
and dried beans, you may use, either by them- forsaiad, and
selves or in combination, for an attractive-looking
salad. Be sure, however, to have all these vegetables dressed
a while beforehand, in order to have them impregnated by
156 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
their dressing. If you omit this, they will taste flat. And
never have them icy cold. It kills their flavor. A certain
medium between cold and warm favors them best. Keep the
latter rules in mind, also, for potato salad, for which I will give
you some recipes in my next letter. For the present I close
with one more recipe and a very good one for a com-
bination salad, which will at the same time teach you a few
more things.
Take cucumbers, string-beans, and lettuce of equal propor-
tions. Peel and slice cucumbers from the stem downward.
When you get near the end, taste it to see that it
An excellent J
combination is not bitter ; it is generally the end only which is
salad, and how , 1-11 r > i ni-
to treat apt to be so, while the rest is perfectly good. Slice
them very thin. Do not follow the old-fashioned
way of salting the slices and extracting the juice. The latter
is the only really useful and digestible part of the cucumber and
the very substance of it which is so refreshing and cooling
when eaten. The rest is merely fibrous matter. On account
of its highly cooling quality, the cucumber sometimes causes
catarrh of the stomach ; therefore do not increase this danger
by chilling it through contact with ice, but rather alleviate it
by a free use of pepper. Use cucumbers only which you
know are fresh, and prepare them just before dinner. The
string-beans must be fresh also and very young. String them
well on both sides, and, after washing them, throw them
into boiling water, slightly salted, and boil until just tender.
Then drain, and cut into lozenge-shaped pieces one or two
inches long. Dress them while warm with oil, salt, and vinegar.
Do it a couple of hours before meal-time, and when arranging
your salad for the table remove the beans to the salad-bowl
without their dressing. Stir into the latter one or two grated
potatoes boiled the day before, and use it with some additional
oil, salt, and vinegar for the dressing of your well-arranged
dishful of the above ingredients.
LETTER XIX
Let none assume the art of entertaining at table,
If he has not penetrated into the secret of tastes.
HORACE.
WHEN I began to tell you about salads, I meant to have
done with them in one letter. But very soon I found
that to do it justice, and instruct you thoroughly, another letter
would have to be written. If I read your mind rightly, you
will submit to this infliction with grace I hope, maybe, with
gladness.
Now, to lose no time, I at once proceed to teach you how
to make the homely potato salad, which during the last thirty
years has found so many friends in our country.
, *_ f i c 11 Various ways of
It serves as a base for a number of excellent making a potato
combinations. There are two ways of making
a potato salad : one is to have it in distinct slices, when
you have to make it of cold boiled potatoes ; the other is to
slice and dress the potatoes while hot, which is rather apt to
break up the slices into smaller fragments. The latter method
renders the salad mellower, and certainly wholesomer than the
former. Yet this is rather a matter of taste. It is my way of
doing. In either case you have to take potatoes of a certain
firmness I mean not too mealy and boil them in their
jackets. When drained, peel and slice them into a rather flat
dish, and pour over them enough of hot meat broth to moisten
them. It gives them a better flavor, and makes them more
nourishing. Cover them up and let them steep for about five
minutes. Have a little onion minced fine, add it to the
potatoes, and dress the latter now with plenty of vinegar, oil,
pepper, and salt. Add the vinegar before the oil. To mix the
salad without breaking it up too much, place a platter over
158 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
the dish which holds the salad, and give it a good tossing.
Then remove the salad into the dish you mean to serve it
in, and trim it according to your fancy. To vary the dress-
ing, add a teaspoonful of French mustard, or some capers, or
both. Or replace half of the vinegar by as much claret. In
that case, beets cut in small dice are a good addition. So are,
at another time, white celery stalks cut into shreds. A sprinkle
of minced parsley will accentuate the color and flavor. Part
of a salt herring, skinned and boned, and cut into small dice,
will give to potato salad a pleasant piquancy, as will also pickled
cucumbers cut into shreds. There are, in fact, very few things
which you cannot add to a potato salad. This makes it an
economical one, since remnants of food will serve for its
composition.
Potatoes are necessary also for an Italian and a Portuguese
A Portuguese salad. For the latter take stewed mushrooms,
salad< boiled potatoes, and raw tomatoes. Cut into thin
slices ; dress with oil, salt, and pepper, and add last of all a
small glassful of sherry, but no vinegar.
The following is one of a number of recipes for "Italian
salad " : Take boiled potatoes, sour apples, pickled cucumbers,
An Italian salad aiK * CO k e d VCa ^ ( OnG CU P ^ eacn ) j Cut mt
small dice. Add half a cupful of beets, three
hard-boiled eggs, and ten anchovies, also cut into dice. Mix
all this with one and a half cupfuls of oil, one small glassful of
sherry, one to two tablespoonfuls of tarragon vinegar, salt, and
pepper. Cover up the whole and allow it to stand in a cool
place for about three hours ; then mix it once more thoroughly,
put it in your salad-dish and garnish with anchovies, pickles,
capers, and corned beef or ham cut into even shreds.
The following is an excellent appetizer : Take the breast
An a etizer ^ * roast cmc ^ en one sa ^ herring, one anchovy,
some boiled ham or tongue, and two hard-boiled
eggs ; chop fine and dress with oil and vinegar.
I must not fail to give you the recipe for a real sardine salad.
The sardines needed for it are the salted ones, which come in
little kegs and are sold by weight. For a large dishful of salad
LETTER XIX 159
take half a pound of them. Soak them in water for about an
hour, changing the water several times. Then divide them
into halves by pulling them apart from head downward, remov-
ing the spine. Take about half of the filets thus obtained, and
cut them into narrow strips an inch and a half long. The rest
you roll up turban-shaped, and set aside for garnishing. Take
also small gherkins, pickled mushrooms, crayfish-tails (which
come in little glass jars), smoked salmon, some mixed pickles,
and cut them likewise into strips. Add capers, and mix the
whole with oil and vinegar. Heap it up on a salad-dish, and
garnish with small triangles of smoked salmon, the sardines
rolled up, capers, pickled cherries, stoned olives, and pickled
oysters, 1 finishing at the base with a rim of boiled tongue cat
in imitation of cocks' combs, alternating with thin slices of
lemon similarly frayed.
As a sample fish salad I will give you a Venetian one : Take
two herrings out of brine, and after they have been well soaked,
skin and bone them ; take also one pound of Venetian fish
pickled eel, half a pound of salted sardines, which salad>
soak and then halve, and cut all this into small dice. Mix
with part of a mayonnaise sauce. Now take the middle piece
of a cauliflower, a handful of tiny green peas, about as much
of small string-beans, and boil in salted water until done. Take
half a carrot, and a small celery root, slice them, and with a
tube cut them into cylindrical pieces as large as your peas.
Boil them also until tender. Then drain, and cool them off in
cold water, drain again, and dress all these vegetables with oil,
salt, and vinegar. Now heap up your mayonnaise salad in the
centre of a dish, cover it up with more mayonnaise sauce, and
trim it all over with your vegetables, arranging them symmetri-
cally and well assorted as to color. Place the cauliflower on
the very top, and garnish the edge of the salad with quarters
of hard-boiled eggs, allowing their whites only to show.
Now, suppose you take boiled salmon (canned will do pretty
nearly as well) instead of salt and pickled fish, as above, and you
1 See p. 201.
160 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
will have an extremely nice variation. Salmon harmonizes par-
ticularly well with mayonnaise, and if you relieve it by a rim
A salmon salad ^ C S P> green lettuce leaves, and inside of it
put a border of broken-up amber-colored aspic,
you will have a most refined as well as a beautiful-looking
dish of salad. By adding to a mayonnaise for salmon a little
anchovy paste or essence, you will give it a slight piquancy,
well in accord with that fish. Instead of salmon, any other
kind of cooked fish will do for a salad ; and a sauce tartare,
ravigote l or remoulade 2 will serve instead of a mayonnaise.
If you wish to try a lobster salad, ask your fish dealer for a
female lobster. Take the eggs, which will give a fine flavor
A lobster salad. and color to ^ our dressing, pound them in a
mortar with as much oil as they will take up,
and add them either to a mayonnaise or the following dress-
ing : Rub to a paste the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, add
three tablespoonfuls of oil, one tablespoonful of tarragon vine-
gar, a teaspoonful of English mustard, two or three minced
shallots, a teaspoonful of minced tarragon leaves, salt to taste,
and a sprinkle of white pepper. If not acid enough add some
lemon juice, and stir the whole until thoroughly mixed and
smooth. Cut your lobster into small pieces, saving some of
the claws for garnishing, dust them over with a very little salt
and white pepper, and pour over them some tarragon vinegar.
Let them stand for about an hour ; then heap up on a flat dish,
pour the dressing (which meanwhile has been kept on ice)
over and around the lobster. Then trim, using crisp lettuce,
or endive, stoned olives, slices of hard-boiled eggs, tiny pickled
cucumbers, capers, etc., etc. I might suggest here also for an
outer rim to use nasturtium flowers arranged wreath-like, and
leave it for you to go on improving on this suggestion.
You know already how good a salad can be made of cooked
vegetables. You may dress it plain or with a mayonnaise. In
the latter case I advise to have the dressing served separately,
while the vegetable's are kept in a marinade of lemon juice and
1 See p. 74. 2 See p. 134.
LETTER XIX 161
salt for about an hour's time, and then drained, previous to
serving. In Switzerland the carrots boiled with the meat are
frequently served as a plain salad with the bouilli, cooked vegetable
the boiled beef, and eaten while still warm. They salads -
are quite good. But a plain vegetable salad served to us at
a cosey little restaurant at Paris, at a time when the Anglo-
Saxons had not invaded its secluded precincts, was by far a
superior one. It consisted of green peas, carrots, and celery
root, the two latter cut into very small dice, which were
arranged in three sections of a circle, running to a point in
the centre. A mayonnaise would have completely hidden this
pretty effect of geometry and color ; but it might have been
a tasty accessory, if it had been served with it. We, however,
did not miss it, for it was palatable enough without. I would
suggest to improve this salad, by placing some roses of cauli-
flower put together like the centre of a head in the middle,
and then having the other vegetables start from this centre
piece, widening towards the rim of the dish. You might try
this some day when you have some cauliflower left over. Then,
in winter, when an open can of vegetables will keep for several
days, you might take some green peas from one can, some
string-beans from another, some asparagus tops from a third,
a carrot from the soup-kettle, and a boiled potato from the
day before, cut and trim it all in the right shape, and you
would have a salad in a very short time, and at little expense.
Still another variation is the salad a la Nostiz, called after
a German nobleman : Take equal quantities of asparagus tops
and roses of cauliflower, about half the quantity of young
string-beans cut into lozenge-shaped pieces, and as much of
carrots and celery root, cut into small dice. Boil all these in
salted water until tender, drain and cover them with vinegar
and oil dressing, then set them aside for an hour. Take
meanwhile about half a dozen heads of lettuce and remove all
the leaves, making use only of their firm and white hearts.
Dress them separately with plain French dressing. Put them in
the centre of a salad-dish, and arrange around them the
cooked vegetables. Garnish the whole with hard-boiled eggs
162 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
cut into quarters, and with claws of lobster. Cover with a
mayonnaise sauce.
The Dumas, father and son, have been inventors of salads.
To the Japanese salad of the younger Dumas is attached both
literary and culinary celebrity. It belongs to the extravagant
ones, which are not within the scope of my advice. But as a
A Dumas salad ^ r sam P^ e ^ a Dumas salad I give you this
recipe : Take one egg for each person, and boil
hard the number needed. Rub the yolks to a paste ; chop
the whites, and mix both with a spoonful of minced chervil.
Add some French mustard dissolved in a little vinegar, oil,
pepper, and salt. Cut into fine shreds a pickled cucumber, an
anchovy or two, a small red beet, to which add some capers.
Finally have some crisp lettuce washed and well drained, mix
all together and serve.
Of all meat salads, that made of chicken or turkey is the
best. To be economical, however, you can take part veal or,
Chicken salad better still, rabbit, and mix with the former. It
will hardly be detected. Take equal parts of
meat cooked tender and cut into dice. Cut celery stalks into
thin pieces. Keep some of the tender white celery leaves for
garnishing. Mix the meat and celery, add a good sprinkle of
salt, a little white pepper, and the juice of a lemon. Let stand
for about two or three hours in a cool place. Make a thick
mayonnaise, adding some cream at the last to make it as white
as possible. Take a few tablespoonfuls of it to mix with the
salad, which heap on a dish, and cover with the rest of the
mayonnaise. Garnish with celery and lettuce leaves, beets,
stoned olives, capers, little pickled cucumbers, or anything else
that will be pleasing.
Any other cold meat will make a nice salad. You can mix
with it almost any pickled fish, cucumbers, beets, as well as
other varieties of potatoes, herbs, mushrooms, etc. A bit of dark
meat salad. meat i e f t over j s S p eec ijiy transformed into a nice
salad by cutting it into small dice or thin shreds, and making
a dressing for it of a saltspoonful of mustard, a tablespoonful
of sour cream, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, some pepper,
LETTER XIX 163
salt, a bit of minced onion, minced tarragon, and any other
herb you may have at hand. Trim with peppergrass or water-
cress if convenient.
I was about to close, when it occurred to me that in all these
pages I have mentioned tomatoes but once (in the Portu-
guese salad). It does not require, to be sure, any especial art
to slice tomatoes, and pour over them a plain dressing or a
mayonnaise. Still, it would seem to me that I ought to give
you a few hints about making a perfect tomato salad. Select
firm ripe tomatoes of equal size. Pour boiling T
o Tomato salad.
water over them, and after a few minutes change
to cold water. Peel them, and cut out the hard parts of the
stem with a sharp, pointed knife. Then place the tomatoes on
ice to get thoroughly cold, and, just before serving, slice them
with a very sharp knife, and not too thin. Place the slices in
a glass dish, sprinkle them thick with salt and some pepper, and
pour over them oil and vinegar in great moderation. In the
South of Europe the bottom and sides of the dish in which
tomato salad is served are rubbed with the inside of a halved
clove of garlic. A mixed salad of tomatoes and lettuce has
found great favor of late years, and is so delightful to look at
that we often do not realize the actual incongruity between
the two as to flavor and taste. Their union is improved, how-
ever, by the binding quality of a thick mayonnaise. A very
pretty way to serve the three combined is to take a flat dish,
place the skinned and cold tomatoes on it whole, each on some
crisp leaves of lettuce curling around it, while the top of the
tomato is hooded with a teaspoonful of thick mayonnaise.
If, after all the foregoing, you are in need of a deep breath
of relief, I am ready to grant it by closing this long chapter on
salads.
LETTER XX
Man cannot accomplish much on an empty stomach.
GERMAN PROVERB.
YOU have been waiting patiently all this while for a lesson on
eggs, this very important article of food. For its corn-
Food value of ponents are not very different from those of fairly
eggs - well-fed beef. In the white we get mostly albu-
minous substance, in the yolk chiefly the fat contained in the
egg. The minerals are principally sulphur and phosphate of
lime. But I had better give you a little table to make it more
comprehensible and exact :
ALBUM. CARBOH. FATS. WATER. MINERALS.
Eggs (whole) . . 12.5 o.o 12.0 74.5 i.o
Whites i i.o o.o o.o 87.5 0.5
Yolks 16.0 o.o 30.0 51.5 i.o
Dr. Wiel says that a man can hold his own on a daily diet of
eight eggs and four-fifths of a pound of bread. This ought to
be taken into consideration by the provider of a family. Eggs
are also easily digested, if not cooked too much.
Jh?eh*to*cek They are best when boiled soft. A good diges-
t gg d S d how tion, however, can manage even hard-boiled eggs.
The former need three minutes' boiling if put into
boiling water ; the latter five minutes. If you wish them neither
too soft nor too hard, allow them four minutes. Eggs to be
used for mayonnaise or to be stuffed, have to be boiled ten to
fifteen minutes. All this, however, is no sure guide in cold
weather, unless the eggs have been allowed to remain in a warm
place for a while beforehand, to take off the chill.
Try your eggs as to freshness before you boil them ; put
them into cold water, and if they sink to the bottom they are
164
LETTER XX 1G5
fresh. An egg more than a week old will not sink, but swim
on top. Wash and clean them before boiling. This is very
important, because the dirt clinging to them will enter the
inside through the many small pores of the shell. When in
doubt as to their freshness, it is best to open your eggs and
use them for poaching, frying, scrambling, etc. They will thus
furnish you with the daintiest of breakfast dishes.
To poach eggs take a wide, flat stew-pan and put into it one
quart of water, one cupful of vinegar, one tablespoonful of salt ;
when it comes to a boil, open your eggs one by one into a cup ;
drop them into the boiling water ; but not more than two or
three at a time. Take a spoon, and try to keep each egg in
shape, by pushing the whites toward the yolk. As soon as the
whites are firm, take out the eggs carefully with a skimmer.
Place each on a slice of buttered toast. Now, if you have a
tomato sauce at hand, and pour it around the eggs and toast,
you will have a most delicious dish to serve. But you may
also pour hot milk over the toast, in which some butter has
been melted, and, of course, omit the tomato sauce.
Fried eggs are best and nicest done in little egg-moulds,
which are made for the purpose. They come in pairs or
threes, and so on up to six and more. I have a mould of six,
and if I have fewer eggs to fry, I fill the other forms with
water. Put a tiny little piece of butter in each mould, drop
in the eggs, and, while cooking, loosen the whites at the edges
every few seconds to prevent the under side from getting too
much done. Sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper, if you
like. As soon as the whites are firm, take out the eggs with a
spoon. They are nice with spinach, sorrel, and green salads,
the acids of the two latter, especially, helping to digest the
albuminous matter of the egg, each one complementing the
other in a very desirable and palatable way.
For "panned eggs," take a porcelain pie-plate, butter it,
pour in thick cream enough to fill it half full, drop in some
egffs (four or five) side by side ; place on each _
v ' J Panned eggs.
yolk a few capers ; dust over them some minced
parsley (or cives) and some fine bread-crumbs, and put flakes
166 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
of butter here and there. Place in the oven and let the eggs
get firm and slightly brown on top.
For "eggs on shells," butter some scallop-shells, fill them
partly full with smoked salmon or bloaters cut in small dice,
and drop an egg on top of each without break-
Eggs on shells. . *"
ing the yolk. Put in the oven until the whites
have set, and serve at once.
And now you want to try your hand at an omelet. This is
no easy undertaking, but I do not see why you should be less
HOW to make an successful than others who have tried and come
omelet. ou |. victorious. First of all, have a good, brisk
fire, and a frying-pan well heated,. Break your eggs into
a basin, add a small pinch of salt, and a teaspoon ful
of cream (or milk) for each one. Whisk them until whites
and yolks are mixed ; it makes the omelet light. Put a piece
of butter (very fresh) the size of half an egg for every three or
four eggs into your pan, and when sizzling hot pour in your
eggs. Be quick now, and shake your pan with one hand,
while with the other, holding a silver fork, you turn up the egg
which is coagulating. When every part is equally cooked and
creamy, you allow the eggs at the bottom to get firm, but not
brown. To prevent the latter you have to keep shaking the
pan, and with it the omelet, which must stay creamy on top.
Then with a spatula you turn one-half of the omelet over the
other half and, placing a hot plate over your pan, you toss
your omelet upside down into the middle of the plate. Thus
you will have the omelet " charnue et doree " (fleshy and golden
yellow), of which a French poet sings.
This plain omelet you can diversify in very many ways, of
which I mention a few to indicate how to do it. Make thus
A variety of an omelet ciux fines herbes : Mince some parsley,
omelets. tarragon, and shallots or parsley and cives
and mix with your eggs. Or chop fine equal quantities of
spinach, sorrel, parsley, chervil, and cives ; saute them for a
few minutes in a little butter, let them get cool, and then
add your eggs before making the omelet. For an omelet
with bloaters, skin and take the bones out of a fine Yarmouth
LETTER XX 167
bloater ; cut the flesh in tiny dice. Mix it with some parsley
and one shallot minced, which slightly saute beforehand in
a little butter. Then moisten the whole with one tablespoonful
of brown gravy, heat it up and place it in the middle of your
omelet before turning it over.
Here is an omelet with bacon : For four eggs take two
ounces of breakfast bacon, cut it into small dice, saute it until
light brown, and mix with your eggs before baking. And here
is an omelet with tomatoes a la Proven<;ale : Take two middle-
sized, very firm tomatoes, and cut them into dice. Put one
teaspoonful of minced onion into a frying-pan in which you
have heated one teaspoonful of butter and one of olive oil.
As soon as the onion turns yellow, add the tomatoes. Cook
them on a quick fire until their watery substance is somewhat
reduced; then season them with salt and pepper, and lastly
add a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, with a taste of garlic
(the latter to be obtained by rubbing the board, on which the
parsley is chopped, with the inside of a clove of garlic). Make
an omelet of five eggs for the above. The recipe says to take
olive oil for it, but in our country I prefer to take butter. Put
the tomato in the middle of the omelet, and take care when
you fold it that the rims are closed tightly. Serve it on an
oval dish, with parsley or water-cress around.
After you have mastered these different omelets, you will be
able, with a little thought, to make any other kind you wish,
only taking care that the ingredients blend. Such are : ham,
kidneys, mushrooms (all cut into small dice), green peas,
asparagus points, and others. All these, suitable for omelets,
will do also for stirred (or scrambled) eggs. I prefer the
latter to the former for every-day fare, because they are quicker
done can, in fact, be cooked in a chafing-dish at table, where
they are best, because served as soon as done.
Stirred eggs also are more wholesome than omelet, which
requires more butter to get it perfected, and does not permit
the same creamy consistency of the egg all through
it. This is the recipe for stirred eggs : Break the
eggs into a bowl, add a little pinch of salt and a scant table-
168 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
spoonful of milk for each egg. Give it two vigorous beats for
each egg, with a spoon ; melt a little butter about the size
of a small hazel-nut for each egg in a hot pan; pour in
your eggs, and with a spoon loosen them from the bottom as
soon as they begin to thicken ; do it only in one direction,
toward the handle of the pan (which you hold with your left
hand), and each time in another place. In this way your eggs
turn out in large flakes, as they should. Remove them from the
fire just before the eggs are all coagulated and while some liquid
is left. Unless you catch- this very moment, your eggs will be
either too soft or too hard for perfection. Whatever ingredi-
ents you wish to add you mix with your eggs while raw ; or
put them into the melted butter first, and then pour in the
egg-
A nice way to serve stirred eggs is to heap them in the
middle of a platter, and garnish them all around with thin
slices of smoked salmon, which have been dipped into melted
butter and then allowed to saute slightly on a slow fire.
After you have mastered the omelet, it will be easy for you
to produce a nice, tender Roman fritata and wafer-like pan-
A Roman cakes. Here are the recipes : For fritata, whisk
five or six eggs until light ; add two tablespoonfuls
of raw ham cut in small dice or chopped coarsely, some
minced parsley, or parsley and cives. Pour the mixture into a
hot pan, in which a good-sized piece of butter has been heated.
Shake to prevent its sticking, and when slightly brown on one
side, turn it with the help of a warm plate, and brown also on
the other side. The fritata ought to be thick, not thin like a
pancake ; the pan, therefore, must be of small circumference
for the quantity given above.
As for the pancakes, a small iron frying-pan is the best to
bake them in. To make four or five pancakes, take half a pint
of milk, three eggs, about four tablespoonfuls of flour, and a
little salt. If the batter is too thin, add a little more flour.
Whisk until light. Put a piece of butter the size of a walnut
into your pan, and when quite hot, pour into it about a cupful
of the batter. Shake it ; and from time to time lift it at the
LETTER XX 169
edges with the round point of a knife to prevent its sticking.
When light brown on the lower side, give the cake a toss with
the pan to fling it upside down, this is the correct
. . Pancakes.
way ; but as long as you have not practised it, you
had better turn your cake with the help of a plate. Slip
another little piece of butter about half the quantity as
before under the turned cake and let it get light brown.
Put it on a hot plate, and place it where it will keep hot. Put
the other cakes on top of it as they are finished, and serve.
If you wish your pancakes sweet, add a tablespoonful of sugar
to the above quantity. This recipe is a first-rate one. You
can make very good pancakes, however, by taking but one or
two eggs for the same amount. I have even made them
in winter with a few heaped tablespoonfuls of clean snow
and no egg at all. They were pale, to be sure, but light
and good.
A very nice dish for breakfast or luncheon is the follow-
ing :
Pancakes Filled with Meat. Mix, for pancakes, three-quar-
ters of a pint of flour, three eggs, two tablespoonfuls of olive
oil (the very best), a little salt, one tablespoonful of brandy,
and half milk, half water, to set a batter not too
i f i 11 11 i /- Pancakes
thin. After beating it well allow it to stand for fined with
two or three hours. When baked let the pancakes
get cold. Meanwhile take some remnants of any kind of meat
(or of several kinds), chop them fine; mince one small onion
(or a shallot), some parsley, and a little cives. Take a little
piece of butter, heat it in a pan ; put in the onion first, and
when it gets light brown, add the meat, parsley, and cives.
Stir until hot. Allow this hash, too, to get cold. Then spread
one or two tablespoonfuls of it on each pancake and roll it up
so as to make it look like a sausage. Now heat some butter
in a pan, put the rolled pancakes in, side by side, and brown
them slowly all around. Do it only just before serving, allow-
ing about fifteen to twenty minutes to saute them. They must
be very hot when served. They are excellent with a tomato
sauce, or even with plain stewed tomatoes.
170 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
For a mere relish I can recommend the following :
Farcied Eggs a la Fauvel. Boil eggs hard ; put them in
cold water; they will shell better. Take them out before
_ . , quite cold, and when shelled, cut off the tips in
Farcied eggs. * . , ,
order to stand them up ; then cut them into
halves, take out the still warm yolks ; mash them ; mix them
with some oil, a very little vinegar, season with salt and
pepper, add a taste of onion, and a little minced parsley. The
mixture must be stiff and smooth. Fill it back into the whites
and serve nicely garnished. I call them "Fauvel" after an
American boy in England, who taught me this recipe.
There is one combination that of eggs and cheese in
favor of which I can merely say that it is a very
About cheese. J J . . J
palatable one. For, although rich in nutriments,
as the following table will show you, it seems somehow to
be in league with nightmares.
ALBUM. CARBOH. FATS. WATER. MINERALS.
Cheese, rich 25,0 2.2 29.0 39.2 4.6
" middling rich . 27.2 1.5 23.7 43.2 4.4
" least rich 30.0 5.1 13.4 46.5 5.0
Although cheese is prized as a digester, it is equally certain
that " cheese digests everything but itself." If, however, a kind
is used which is neither too rich nor too poor (such
A fondue. ^
as Parmesan, Gruyere, Chester, or our American
imitation of the latter), and great care is taken to cook it no
more than just to melt it, the dishes made partly of cheese
may be partaken of with impunity by persons of tolerably good
digestion. I give you a few recipes because your husband,
like other men of intellect, may be fond of such piquant deli-
cacies : For a fondue take three eggs, beat them well ; add
two ounces of grated Gruyere, one ounce of melted butter, and
one tablespoonful of cream. Pour the butter into the cream
to cool it, before adding to the cheese and eggs. After it is
well mixed, pour the whole into a china gratin-dish or into
little paper boxes and put into a slow oven until of the
firmness of custard. Serve immediately.
LETTER XX 171
This is not the famous fondu of Brillat-Savarin, which you
find in most cook-books of modern date, but equally good if
done with due care.
To Toast Cheese. Take three eggs, a cupful of milk, and a
teaspoonful of flour ; beat and mix well. Melt a small piece
of butter in a skillet ; put in about two ounces of n
Toasted cheese.
cheese cut into thin slices ; pour the above mix-
ture over it (it ought just to cover the cheese) and stir over a
slow fire until the cheese is melted and the mixture has thick-
ened. You can do this in a chafing-dish at the table, which
will insure its success. In Chester County, Penn., I have eaten
this dish mixed with "cottage cheese" (curds), instead of
flour, which is a great improvement. In this case more of
the cottage cheese and less of the real cheese is to be
taken.
For ramequins, put a tablespoonful of butter into a gratin-
dish, then a layer of bread cut into thin slices ; on top of it
put a layer of sliced cheese, and over the whole ,
. - , - Hamequms.
pour a mixture of three eggs and a cupful of milk.
Bake in the oven until light brown on top. It needs very little
heat underneath and ought to brown in fifteen minutes. It is
delicious if the oven is in the right condition.
You would not wish me to continue, and give you all the
543 different dishes made of eggs which Grimod invented, or
tell you how J. J. Rousseau excelled in cooking eggs in various
ways, nor of the dish of eggs the Duke of Soubise placed
before Louis XV., which cost him 75 louts (for. I hear you
say, " Oh, no, please do not."
I might now leave you to your own devices altogether ; for I
believe you are equipped sufficiently with material to furnish
your table so as to please a capricious as well as a rational
stomach, and at the same time provide what is needed to keep
the physical and spiritual man alive and in good condition.
But I have said nothing as yet of desserts, and although in my
opinion fruit is the best dessert at all times, to which ices
and cream may be added on special occasions, you do wish
to know of, at least, a restricted number of light desserts.
172 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
Some of them are quite wholesome. They also are the means
of adding agreeably to the necessary variety in our daily
food, and as such, as well as in an economical view, are
even to be recommended. For to-day, however, I will not
keep your attention any longer, but close this already too am-
plified epistle.
LETTER XXI
Lo, as at English feasts, so I regreet
The daintiest last, to make the end most sweet.
SHAKESPEARE.
IF I am opposed to pies and heavy puddings, it is principally
for hygienic reasons. But, aside from this, I deem them
wasteful, inasmuch as the outlay for their production far ex-
ceeds the nourishment derived from them for the human sys-
tem. To make good pies and all the old-fashioned English
puddings, we need much butter, suet, raisins, almonds, and
similar fruit, all of which is high-priced, and sure to tax one's
digestive powers. And you know that only such food nour-
ishes as is properly digested. It is different, however, with the
lighter kinds of farinaceous food, and all the delightful trifles I
comprise under the head of light desserts. To prepare them
we use milk, eggs, cereals, and fresh fruit, all of them nourish-
ing, pleasant to the palate, and easily digested. If any fat is
needed for their production, it is butter, and not much of it.
You will remember that in indicating to you the daily rations
for adults, I mentioned Professor C. Voit's dictum, that the
required 6.9 ounces of pure muscle (meat) can be Valuation of food .
replaced by dairy produce and eggs. I would matters for light
advise that, especially in hot summer weather, a
more frequent use should be made of this sort of diet. To
give you a comparative idea of the food-values you would thus
deal with, I note down the following schedule :
ALBUM.
Eggs 12.5
Milk (new) 3.4
" (skimmed) 3.1
Butter 0.6
CARBOH.
FATS.
WATER - MATTERS. CELLULOSE.
O.O
I2.O
74-5
I.O
0.0
4.8
3-6
87.5
0.7
0.0
4.8
0.7
90.7
0.7
o.o
0.6
83.3
14-5
I.O
0.0
173
174 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
ALBUM. CARBOH. FATS. WATER. MATTE'RS CELLULOSE.
Wheat flour. ... 10.5 72.5 1.5 14.5 i.o 0.5
" bread . . 7.0 55.2 0.5 36.0 I.o 0.3
Cornstarch i.o 83.6 15.0 0.4
Farina li.O 71.5 1.5 15.0 0.5 0.5
Rice 8.0 76.5 i.o 13.0 i.o 0.5
Sugar 99.0 i.o
Fruit (fresh) ... 0.5 lo.o 85.0 0.5 4.0
" (dried)... 2.5 55.0 i.o 30.0 1.5 lo.o
You will find some repetitions in the above, while other sub-
stances are added to aid you in gaining a clearer valuation of
The most eco- tne foods employed in the following recipes. I
nomicai dessert. \) e g{ n w ith the simplest and at the same time
the most economical of all desserts with a German recipe
for Arme Ritter, poor knights, dating from the middle ages,
when it sometimes was also called " Beggar-man." Let us sup-
pose that since then it has gained by transformation ; but, at
any rate, I never saw it go begging when placed on the family
table. I make it when slices of stale bread have accumulated
in the bread-box. I shape them as evenly as possible, and
not larger than the palm of my hand. Then I place them side
by side on some large platters, and pour over them a thin bat-
ter consisting of milk, one egg, a pinch of salt, and a little flour,
about a scant tablespoonful for a pint of milk, but no more
than the bread will take up. This batter I beat with an egg-
beater, and take one-half of it in which to soak the slices of
bread for about half an hour ; then I turn the slices with the
cake-lifter, and pour the rest of the batter over them. After
another half-hour's soaking they are ready to be browned in a
large frying-pan by means of a little butter over a brisk fire.
The pan and butter must be hot before putting in the bread.
Put in as many at a time as the pan will hold ; turn them
as soon as they are of a golden brown underneath, and
brown them on the other side as well, adding a little more
butter. When done, heap them on a hot dish, dust some
sugar over them, and serve with a fruit sauce or some stewed
fruit.
LETTER XXI 175
Another simple dessert is pancakes. I have already given
you a recipe for them in my last, when speaking about eggs. 1
They may be served with powdered sugar and p an cakes; HOW
lemons quartered, the juice to be eaten squeezed to serve them -
on the sugared pancakes ; or with stewed fruit, as well as a
fruit sauce ; or you may spread some fruit jelly or jam on each
cake separately, and roll it up by means of a silver fork. You
then serve them lying side by side.
Some of the most delicate of desserts are made and served in
cups. There are cups on purpose for them, but small coffee-
cups will do instead. For a custard take as many Desserts served
cupfuls of milk as you have cups to fill. Place in CU P S -
the milk over a moderate fire, and when it begins to boil add
for each cup a scanty tablespoonful of sugar and a few drops
of almond essence. Take also one egg for each cup, beat
light, and stir into the milk. Now fill your cups and place
them into a bain-marie, i.e. in a shallow pan, which you fill
with boiling water from the tea-kettle, up to three-quarters the
height of the cups. Cover the pan with a second one, and
leave it standing where the water keeps boiling moderately.
When the surface of the mixture begins to thicken, which will
be in about ten minutes, you quickly remove the pan from the
fire and take the cups out of the water ; for, if the water is
allowed to boil too rapidly or too long, the custards will be
spoiled. Serve cold.
For coffee crime in cups take three-quarters of a pint of
milk, let it come to a boil, then pour into it two ounces of
ground mocha. Cover up and put in a warm place, where it
will draw not boil. Leave it there for about ten minutes,
then strain, and add the yolks of five eggs beaten light before-
hand, and two ounces of sugar. Beat the whole vigorously,
fill into cups, and finish in the bain-marie. For chocolate
creme take two and a half ounces of chocolate, one pint of
milk, four eggs, and two and a half ounces of sugar. Let
the chocolate dissolve in the hot milk, and proceed as before.
1 See p. 168.
176 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
When you happen to have saved the whites of three eggs,
try this dessert, which I will call Mount Blanc : Take one pint
Recipe for of milk and put it on to boil. Meanwhile beat
Mount Blanc. y OUr three wn i tes to a st {ff snow g^ff- enough for
a spoon to stand in it upright. 1 When the milk boils, add one
ounce of sugar, some vanilla essence, and one and a half
ounces of cornstarch dissolved in a little milk. Stir over the
fire until large bubbles make their appearance. Remove from
the fire, and mix into it the snow of the whites, not by stirring,
which would undo it, but by mixing it from side to side. Fill
into a mould previously dipped into cold water, and set away
to get cold. Turn it out on a dish, and serve with either a
fruit or a wine sauce.
Here is a snow creme, quickly made : Take one pint of
cream, the whites of two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of sweet
Snow creme white wine (or one of arrack), sugar to taste, a
pinch of grated lemon or orange peel, and beat
the whole until stiff. Fill into glass cups or stem glasses.
Another delicacy which you serve in glasses, is raspberry
Raspberry foam f am - Take three tablespoonfuls of raspberry
syrup or jelly, the whites of six eggs, and three
tablespoonfuls of sugar. Beat with the egg-beater until quite
stiff. Then fill into glasses and serve. This is sufficient for
ten persons.
In berry time you will find the following a very acceptable
recipe : Take one pint of juice squeezed either from raspber-
Recipe for a " CS Or IQ ^ Currants J a <ld four OUllCCS of SUgar,
very delicate and water sufficient to make altogether one quart
of liquid. Let it come to a boil, then stir into it
one cupful of fine farina, soaked previously in cold water, the
superfluous water being poured off. Stir well, to avoid lumps,
and keep stirring until the farina is done (about five to ten
minutes) . Fill into a mould dipped in cold water, and when
cool set on ice. Serve with cream. If wanted particularly
nice, fill into a ring mould, and when turned out heap some
1 See p. 183.
LETTER XXI 177
whipped cream up in the centre. This recipe hails from Den-
mark, where it is called Rodgrod, red groats.
Some of the finest dessert dishes are made with the addition
of whipped cream. In the cities it can be bought at the
confectioners, but the best is always made at home. You
need for it fresh cream, not over a day old. Put .,
f j > Whipped cream,
it in a large bowl or tureen, and set it on the ice and how to make
for at least one hour. Then beat with an egg-
whip, and as the foam forms remove it with a skimmer into a
colander which has been placed over another bowl. Return the
liquid cream which drops into the latter to the cream you whip,
and continue in this way until all your cream has turned to
foam. If the cream should not get as stiff as desirable, add to
it a pinch of pulverized gum tragacanth bought at a reliable
druggist's. It eases the whipping considerably, and does not
detract from the taste of the cream. If you wish, you may
now sweeten your whipped cream and flavor it. To do the
latter there is vanilla, grated chocolate, fruit marmalade or
jelly, fresh raspberries or strawberries, etc., which A dish of
you mix with your cream by stirring gently, whipped cream
Such flavored cream is a nice dessert in itself,
when heaped up pyramid-like on a dish and served with fruit
or cake. One pint of cream will make whips enough for six
persons. A very pretty dish is obtained, for instance, in this
way : Heap berries up in a crystal bowl, dust sugar over them
freely, and then cover them up with sweetened whipped cream
(take five ounces of sugar for one pint of cream). Put on the
ice for one or two hours, and before serving garnish with a rim
of extra large berries.
To make a Russian crane you also need whipped cream.
Take three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and two eggs.
Put in a large bowl and stir for half an hour, Recipe for
when it will be quite thick. Add one tablespoon- Russian cr * me '
ful of best brandy (or arrack), and one pint of whipped cream.
Mix gently, and serve at once. This is enough for five or six
persons.
For a chocolate bavaroise (or creme) take one pint of milk,
178 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
boil with half a pound of chocolate and a quarter of a pound
of sugar. Flavor with vanilla. When cold acid one ounce of
chocolate gelatine, which previously has been dissolved in
bavaroiae. water. Whip until the mixture begins to stiffen,
then add a pint or a little more of whipped cream, which stir
into it lightly. Put on ice.
As to gelatine, it is a pretty safe rule to take one cupful to
one and a half of cold water for every ounce of gelatine.
Proportions for ^ x tne two > anc ^ P ut m a warm place. Stir from
the use of time to time until the gelatine is quite dissolved.
For stiffening a pint of liquid you generally need
a scant ounce of gelatine in summer, while during the cold
season a little over half an ounce is sufficient. This rule
applies especially to jellies. For a creme less will do.
To vary, I will now give you a recipe for Russian rice.
Take a quarter of a pound of rice. You will remember how to
boil it, with all the seeds left whole, and yet
Kussian rice. ' ' J
tender. 1 When you have thus cooked it in water
(no salt), put it on a sieve to get dry and cold. Then transfer
it to a crystal dish. Take a quarter of a pound of sugar,
moisten it with a gill of water, and boil it until a thickish sirup
is obtained (about fifteen to twenty minutes). When some-
what cool add to it a wineglassful of Jamaica rum, or arrack,
and pour over the rice in the glass dish. Garnish with pre-
served or canned fruit, peaches, apricots or cherries, or
with different kinds of fruit.
A very pretty dessert dish is a macedoine of fruit. You
will very likely make it only when you expect invited guests.
It will be then worth the trouble. You can do it
ke a in different ways. Take either fresh, or canned,
or preserved fruit ; and you may make it with a
jelly or without. Anyway, take the prettiest fruit
at your command, and of different colors. Stone the cherries,
leave the berries whole, but cut the larger fruit into nice pieces,
either in halves, quarters, or halved quarters. Put all your
l See p. 85.
LETTER XXI 179
fruit into a deep dish, pour over it a bottle of a light white
wine, and set aside. Now take half a pound of sugar, and
cook with one glassful of water until it makes a thick sirup.
If your fruit is fresh, drop it little by little into the boiling
sirup, and let it simmer for a little while ; if canned or pre-
served, drop it in after the sirup has been removed from the
fire, and merely let it steep for a while. Then take out the
fruit with a skimmer, put into a large bowl, pour over it the
wine in which previously it has soaked, and finally add the
sirup. Let stand for four hours, when put in a vessel filled
with ice, to chill thoroughly, and when served add small pieces
of ice to the macedoine. This is Mademoiselle Frangoise's
recipe.
I will give you another one made with jelly. Take three-
quarters of a pound of sugar, and cook it with half a pint of
water for fifteen minutes. Add the grated peel of three lemons,
and their juice ; a pint and a half of California Marsala, and
two ounces of gelatine. Put through a flannel bag until clear.
Have a mould ready packed in ice, pour in some of the jelly ;
when stiff, add a layer of fruit ; pour in some more jelly ; let it
get stiff; add more fruit, and so on until all is used up. Finish
with jelly, and turn out when ready to be served. If you
take fresh fruit for this dish, do not cook it; if canned or
preserved fruit, see that it is well drained of its juice. Save
the latter, and use it, when you have occasion, for fruit sauces,
jellies, etc.
If made with preserved fruit, you might put as a first layer
(after the jelly) some macaroons, as a second some candied
orange peel arranged in a star-like pattern, and as a third layer
slices of quince or any other dark red fruit.
It will take some time before you have tried all these
recipes. If you are successful, you will be able hereafter to
avail yourself of any other recipe which may strike your
fancy. A little practice is all you need. I will add now
merely a few more recipes for baked puddings of a light kind.
This apple pudding is exceedingly delicate : Peel, core,
and quarter some tart apples. Boil them with a little water
180 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
until soft. Mash them with a spoon, and take as much of
them as will make a quarter of a pound. Add the same
A light apple weight of butter and sugar while still hot. Then,
puddmg. after it gets cool, mix with it three eggs beaten to
a foam, and the grated peel of one lemon. Butter a pudding-
form, dust it over with powdered sugar, and fill into it your
mixture. The form must be high enough to allow the rising of
the pudding. Bake in a quick oven for about half an hour.
Try by inserting a straw (or a wooden toothpick) into the
centre. If nothing attaches to it when pulled out, the baking
is done. Remember this for other occasions. Serve at once.
For a white of egg pudding take four whites and beat them
to a stiff snow. Now mix two tablespoonfuls of apricot (or
White of egg some other) marmalade with an ounce and a half
pudding. O f SU gar, and add it carefully to the snow. Fill
the whole into a buttered china dish, and bake in a slow oven
for about half an hour. Serve immediately in the dish baked in.
For a simple custard pudding take one pint of milk, stir
into it gradually one tablespoonful of flour, the yolks of six
Custard pudding. C ^ S beatCn l *& ht > SU ^ T tO taStC > E flavoring of
vanilla or lemon, and a teaspoonful of brandy.
Finally mix with it a teaspoonful of melted butter (which may
be warm, but must not be hot), and pour into a buttered dish.
Bake in a moderately hot oven.
A lemon pudding also is a simple affair. Take for it a quar-
ter of a pound of sugar, and mix with the yolks of five eggs,
stirring continually. When quite foamy add
Lemon pudding. * * J
quickly the juice ot one lemon, and then the
whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff snow. Put into a buttered
form, which it must not fill any more than three-quarters, since
the mixture will rise considerably. Bake about fifteen to
twenty minutes, and serve at once.
Finally, I give you this recipe for a rice pudding: Take a
quarter of a pound of rice, and boil it in a pint of milk until
thick. Meanwhile beat half a pound of butter to a cream, 1
1 See p. 183.
LETTER XXI 181
add one by one the yolks of eight eggs, a quarter of a pound
of sugar, the grated peel of half a lemon, and last of all the rice,
which must be cold. When thoroughly mixed,
* ' Rice pudding.
add the whites of the eggs beaten to a snow.
Bake in a buttered form, and turn out on a cake- plate. Serve
warm with a fruit sauce. This is a very nice pudding. It may
also be made of farina instead of rice.
I must not close this letter before giving you a few recipes
for the sauces mentioned. For a wine sauce, take one whole
ecrg and the yolks of two. a heaped teaspoonful ,
J A wine sauce.
of flour, two ounces of sugar, and half a pint of
white wine. Beat with an egg-whip over the fire until just
before the point of boiling. Serve hot or cold, as you please.
A very simple sauce is made by first sweetening some cream,
then adding the juice of a lemon, which will thicken the cream.
For fruit sauces, the easiest way is to take home-made fruit
sirup, and thin it with cold water. Or, if the sauce is to be
hot, thin the sirup first with water, and when it ,
^ r ^ r Frult SauCeS -
comes to a boil add a teaspoonful of cornstarch
dissolved in water. Stir while boiling until the cornstarch is
done, which will be in two or three minutes.
This last recipe for a claret sauce is excellent : Take one
tablespoonful of powdered sugar, as much of C|aret oauce
raspberry or currant jelly, and one glassful of
claret. Stir until it slightly thickens. But do not put it on the
fire.
From the almost endless number of nice recipes for light
desserts, I have chosen for you what I consider easy for a be-
ginner, and withal good and wholesome. May it give you as
much pleasure to carry out these recipes as it gave me pleasure
to write them down.
LETTER XXII
Wouldst thou both eat thy cake and have it ?
SHAKESPEARE.
ONE thing brings forth another. Therefore, when I made
up my mind to teach you some simple desserts, I as
much as bound myself to add a lesson about cakes, since
some of the former do seem to call for some kind of cake to
complete the course. It is also, in fact, a great convenience
for a hospitably inclined housewife to have cake ready at all
hours. If put in a porcelain crock well covered, or in a tin
box, cake of all sorts will keep for days and weeks, and is
always at hand to be offered to unexpected guests, or ready for
any other emergency. To produce good cake is, however, an
art by itself, and not so easy as people generally suppose. But
if you set about to do it methodically, and are observant of
certain strict rules, there is no reason why you should not in
time excel in it as well as in the other culinary branches.
Only do not devote to the baking of cakes any more time than
is necessary to keep yourself reasonably well supplied. For
cake, as your judgment will tell you after all my teachings, is
not actual food ; it is merely one of those pleasant auxiliaries
by which we bring variety into the routine of our indispensable
fare.
As to the rules, the flour to be used must be the finest and
best. See that it is dry, and yet not so dry as to make it
Rules for baking seem like dust when taken up in your hand and
cake - allowed to sift through your fingers. Flour, if
kept in a damp place, or a warm one, will spoil easily, and thus
be unfit to use. Get the other ingredients also of the purest
and best. Your sugar likewise has to be dry and well pow-
dered ; your butter must be the freshest, and if too much
182
LETTER XXH 183
salted will have to be worked over in cold water, in order to
sweeten it. Break each egg separately into a cup before using
it, so as to test its freshness. Be careful in breaking eggs and
separating the yolks and whites, for any particle of the former
mixed with the latter will prevent these from getting stiff when
whipped. To whip the whites to a snow, put them into a deep
bowl or, better still, into an open-mouthed pitcher. By then
using an egg-beater and plying it without stopping, a stiff snow
will readily form. Test its stiffness by introducing a table-
spoon : if it will stand up by itself, your snow is just right.
Do not touch it again until mixed into the cake batter. It is
better to have one person stir the batter, and another whip the
whites, and have the snow done the minute it is wanted. But
if this is impracticable, whip your snow before you stir your
batter, and set it in a basin of cold water to keep. When a
recipe tells you to beat butter to a cream, do as follows :
Weigh your butter first, then put it in the dish in which your
cake is to be stirred. Place it near the stove for about an
hour beforehand to get soft, but do not let it melt. Use a flat
wooden spoon with a long handle for stirring, and do it vigor-
ously in one and the same direction, until the butter is white
and foamy. When adding eggs, let them have about the same
temperature as the butter, or the latter might curdle. To fur-
ther avoid this, add one egg at a time, alternating with a spoon-
ful of sugar, and mix thoroughly before adding the next. Beat
all cake batter in one direction, and with uniform alacrity.
Your success depends a good deal on this. The snow of the
whites is not added until the last moment. Do not stir it in,
but mix from the sides of the vessel toward the middle by gen-
tle strokes. The batter when finished must be baked at once.
Another important factor in baking is the fire. It ought to be
looked after at least an hour beforehand, and be in such a
condition as to need no handling during the time of baking.
Most cakes need a moderately hot oven, and some even a
cool one. A good old test is, to put a piece of thick paper
into the oven, to shut the door, and open it again after five
minutes. If the paper is light brown, the oven is moderately
184 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
hot ; and if yellow, the oven is cool. Now, as to forms for bak-
ing, it is advisable to have one or, better, two sheet-iron pans
with low rims, just fitting into your oven, for small cakes either
to be put directly upon them or for holding a number of small
cake moulds ; besides, to have a round tin form with a
straight rim an inch to an inch and a half high, and another
one with a rim as high as your forefinger. Lastly, have one of
copper (or tin) fluted and turban-shaped. Your forms must
be kept immaculately clean, perfectly dry, and, to receive the
cake batter, must be well buttered inside and dusted over
either with cracker-dust or powdered sugar, except when
directed otherwise. For buttering the form, I first melt a
little butter, then I use a soft painter's brush (kept for this sole
purpose) to give the form a coating of the butter. Get ready
your form (or forms) before beginning with the cake, so as to
have no delay when the latter is to be baked. After the bak-
ing is done, do not turn out your cake until it has stood a while
to cool off, or it might not come out unharmed. Even when
turned out, do not let it get cold all at once, for fear it might
settle down. Keep all these rules in your mind, for I shall not
reiterate them.
The recipes I have selected for your benefit are mostly old
and tried ones, handed down in the family for generations.
They are the most wholesome, too, as far as cake goes. The
first, a very simple one, is associated with mother's and grand-
mother's cake-box, readily opened to the sesame of bright eyes
begging and little chubby hands outstretched. I will call the
German drop recipe German drop cakes. Take half a pound
cakes - of sugar, half a pound of flour, two eggs, and the
yolks of another two. Beat sugar and eggs together for half an
hour, then add the flour, and stir until thoroughly mixed. In-
stead of all wheat flour, you may take half and half wheat flour
and cornstarch, which will make the cakes somewhat more deli-
cate. Have ready a sheet-iron pan, give it a very thin coating
of butter, and from a teaspoon drop upon it little heaps of
batter. Have sufficient space between them, for they will run
and get, at least, double the original size. Bake in a slow
LETTER XXII 185
oven in about half an hour. They must not get brown, but
look a pale yellow. Loosen them with the blade of a knife
after they have somewhat cooled off, and let them get quite
cold on a platter before removing them to the cake-box. They
will keep for a month.
Another cake which may be kept for a long time is Israel
cake. Take for it half a pound of butter, half a pound of
sugar, half an ounce of cornstarch, three-quarters |srae| cake
of a pound of wheat flour (both good weight), and
three eggs. Beat the butter to a cream, add eggs and sugar,
and the flour at the very last. Stir for half an hour. The batter
ought to be rather stiff. Butter a shallow pan ; fill into it the
batter, which smooth evenly with the blade of a knife, then
dust over it some sugar, and, if you wish it, some almonds cut
into fine shreds. Bake in a slow oven for about half an hour.
The cake must be of a light yellow. Cut it into squares, or
strips an inch and a half by three inches, while warm.
A plain cake made very quickly is called Jenny Lind cake.
The reason why it was called after the great singer is not evi-
dent to me. That it should have been because Jenny Und cakg
she was plain of features, I am not willing to be-
lieve ; let us rather suppose that her sweet and simple nature
suggested it. Take for this cake, two cups of flour, one and a
half of sugar, a half a cup of butter, one of cream, two eggs,
one teaspoonful of baking powder. Mix the latter with the
flour. Beat the butter to a cream, and add the rest in quick
succession. Stir until light, and bake in a deep form, and in a
hot oven for about half an hour.
This latter cake would be much more deserving the name
of the following, called Lightning cake. Take a quarter of
a pound of butter ; beat to a cream ; add one Lightning cake>
after the other a quarter-pound of sugar, the yolks
of three eggs, a quarter-pound of flour, a flavoring of lemon
peel, and the stiff snow of the whites of three eggs. Put into
a round form and bake a quarter of an hour. When cold,
powder sugar over the cake, and ornament it with preserved
fruit. Or cover it with icing, of which later. You also may
186 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
bake two such cakes, place one on top of the other, and spread
jelly or marmalade between. A little later I will give you the
recipe of another layer cake ; but first I wish to make you
acquainted with a most excellent sponge cake and a sand
cake, so called from its fine crumbly texture.
For Sponge cake take half a pound of sugar, the yolks of ten
eggs, and stir for half an hour. Add the grated peel of half a
lemon (or any other flavoring), and a quarter of
Sponge cake. \ *
a pound of cornstarch, and lastly the stiff snow
of five eggs. Bake in a high form in a moderately hot oven,
for from half to three-quarters of an hour. The top must feel
firm and dry to the touch.
For Sand cake, which will keep in good condition for many
days, take half a pound of butter ; beat to a cream, when add
Sand cake ^ Y ^ 8 f ^ ve e gg s an & na lf a pound of SUgaF.
Stir for half an hour, and then add gradually half
a pound of cornstarch, one sherry-glassful of Jamaica rum, the
grated peel of half a lemon, and lastly the stiff snow of three
eggs. Bake like the sponge cake. It is best made a couple
of days before cutting it.
This Chocolate cake also is very good : Take a quarter of
a pound of butter, beat to a cream, add the yolks of six eggs,
a half a pound of sugar, and stir for half an hour.
Chocolate cake.
Then add a quarter of a pound of grated choco-
late, two tablespoonfuls of cocoa powder, some vanilla flavoring,
four scant ounces of cornstarch, and at last the stiff snow of
the six whites of egg. Bake in a form like the preceding
cakes, but have the oven hot. It will take about three-quarters
of an hour before it is done.
Now for the layer cake, which I deem an extra good one.
Its name is Vienna cake. Take for it one pound of butter,
Vienna cake beaten to SL cream, the yolks of seven eggs, and
seven whole eggs. Add one yolk and one whole
egg at a time, and after all are mixed in, add gradually one
pound of sugar. Stir for half an hour, then add one pound of
the finest possible wheat flour, and the grated peel of one
lemon. This cake requires a hot oven. Baked in a large,
LETTER XXII 187
round, and shallow form, it will make four to five layers, each
baked separately until of a light brown. You might, however,
divide the above amount of batter into six or eight smaller
layers (for which of course smaller forms are required two
being put in the oven at one time), and thus make two layer
cakes with different filling and icing for each. After the layers
are cold, trim them so as to fit nicely one on top of the other,
and if too much browned in places, shave off what is objec-
tionable. Now spread a thin layer of fruit jelly or marma-
lade (raspberry is the nicest), or some other kind of filling,
between each layer of cake, and finish the top with icing.
Spread it evenly over the entire outside of the cake, except, of
course, its bottom. You are now no longer bound by strict
rules, weights, and measures. Your fancy comes into play to
select, decorate, and even invent. You may make a cake fill-
ing of any of the whipped creams I have indicated to you in
my last letter. Or you may use for it the cremes I gave you
the recipes for, adding, perhaps, a little gelatine to prevent
their running. But, mind you, the creams will not keep any
longer than a day or two. After that they will get sour.
You might also take some of the icing you mean to use and
fill your cake with it. I will speak about icings presently,
but wish to give you first the recipes for two particularly nice
fillings.
The first is a Nut filling : Take two ounces of sugar, and
make a boiled sirup of it with three tablespoonfuls of water,
to which add three ounces of walnuts (or hazel- Two n j ce ca |< e
nuts), peeled and pounded fine in a mortar, with fillin g s -
the addition of a tablespoonful of cream. Add half a tea-
spoonful of vanilla essence, and one ounce of candied orange
peel minced. Stir until thick.
The second is an Orange filling, for which take the peel of
one orange, cut off very thin and soak it in the juice squeezed
from the orange for fifteen minutes. Remove the peel, and add
the juice to two ounces of sugar; add the yolks of two eggs,
beaten to a foam. Add also one teaspoonful of flour, and
one gill of white wine. Stir the whole over the fire until it
188 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
thickens. Then let get somewhat cool, and mix with it the
stiff snow of one white of egg.
A simple icing is made by taking two ounces of powdered
sugar and one white of egg, stirring both together for fifteen
Cake icings and minutes. Add either lemon, orange, or any
ornamenting. other kind of fruit juice, according to your
fancy. When done, spread it over your cake in a thin
sheet, and put in a place where it will dry. A Chocolate icing is
easiest made thus : Take a quarter of a pound of chocolate,
break up, and soften in a warm place ; mix with two ounces
of sugar and, stirring well, gradually add the whites of two
eggs.
To ornament your cakes after they are iced, you take one
or more kinds of preserved or candied fruit, arrange them in
patterns, with leaves cut out of candied citron or orange rind.
Add, if you will go to that extent, some beading and
arabesquing of icing (of a different color if you prefer) by
putting a teaspoonful at a time into a funnel-shaped paper bag,
with an opening about as large as a pinhead.
To make the most of my remaining space, I now give you
in quick succession a number of recipes of small cakes and
Small cakes or tidbits, which you may ornament likewise as
tarts< your fancy leads you. First of all I will mention
that you may use the recipes for sponge and sand cakes
to make pretty little tarts, baked in small tin or copper
moulds, which come with raised patterns. The only difference
I would counsel is, to take all the whites for the snow, instead
of part of them. It will make the tarts lighter. For that
reason you must be particular not to fill the moulds more than
three-quarters full. After turning out the tarts, ice them, and
dust over them, before the icing hardens, some chopped pista-
chio-nuts (or almonds). This is merely in the way of a sug-
gestion.
For Chocolate tarts take a quarter of a pound of sugar, an
ounce and a half of grated chocolate, and the yolks of six
eggs. Stir for a quarter of an hour; add three ounces of
cornstarch and the whites beaten to a snow.
LETTER XXII 189
Portuguese Drop Cake. Take butter, eggs, sugar, and
flour, of equal weight. Beat the butter to a cream, add the
eggs, sugar, and flour. Stir for half an hour, and drop in little
heaps size of a walnut on a sheet-iron pan, which previously
you slightly dust over with flour. Then take a preserved
cherry for each drop cake, place it in the centre, and press
down far enough to fix it in its place. Bake in a moderately
hot oven.
Sugar Wafers. Take sugar the weight of two eggs, and
flour the weight of one egg. Stir the sugar with the addition
of three eggs for a quarter of an hour, then add the flour and
half a teaspoonful of minced orange peel, or candied orange
flowers. Put in little heaps on a very thinly buttered sheet-
iron pan, three inches apart. Dust them over with granulated
sugar, and bake in a moderately hot oven. Remove them from
the pan while hot, and bend them over a rounded stick in the
shape of a scroll. Or shape them like a cornucopia and fill
with whipped cream just before serving.
To make Macaroons take half a pound of blanched and
skinned almonds, of which five or six may be bitter. Pound
them to a paste in a mortar with the addition
of the whites of three eggs. Add to this paste
ten ounces of sugar, and stir for a quarter of an hour. Put
in little round or oblong heaps on a sheet of white paper dusted
over with flour. Dust granulated sugar over them, and bake
in a slow oven.
Filets de Vent. Take six ounces of sugar, the white of one
egg, the grated peel of half a lemon (or some vanilla flavor-
ing), and stir until like a thick icing. Bake in little heaps on
paper, and in a slow oven.
Kisses. Take one tablespoonful of sugar to every white
of one egg ; flavor with cinnamon, vanilla, lemon, or whatever
you choose. Beat with a spoon until quite light. Drop in tiny
heaps on a sheet of white paper, and bake in a very cool oven.
They must not brown, but get hard on top.
Meringues. Proceed in the same way, with this difference :
beat the whites to a stiff snow first, then add the sugar little by
190 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
little. Put oval heaps the size of half an egg on paper.
Have a board underneath the paper, and place both board and
paper into a very slow oven to bake the meringues. After
they get glazed on top, which will be in about twenty-five to
thirty minutes, remove them from the paper, and if not hollow
inside, take out from below what is soft with a teaspoon. Fill
the space left with fruit jelly, or whipped cream flavored.
Put two and two together, and serve.
Little bits of cake or confectionery are called bouchees (mouth-
fuls). They make a nice show and are not difficult to get up.
Especially, if you should happen to have some
remnants of sand cake, or any other kind of a rather
solid texture. Cut them into slices three-quarters of an inch
thick, spread with marmalade or some other filling, place two
and two together, cut into pieces about an inch and a half
square, or into lozenges, and cover over with icing. Dust
minced pistachio-nuts, almonds, or candied orange peel on
top, or garnish in some other way.
For bouchees of another kind take the yolks of three eggs, add
seven teaspoonfuls of sugar, and three heaped tablespoonfuls of
flour. Stir until foamy, then add the snow of the three whites.
Rub flour over a baking-board and roll out to a thin sheet.
Rub flour also over the rolling-pin you use. Then take a sherry
glass, dip it into flour, and cut out round pieces, which you bake
on buttered paper. Place two and two upon each other, with
a filling between, and cover with a thick chocolate icing. Or
fill with raspberry jelly, and cover with icing made with rasp-
berry sirup thickened by mixing with sugar sirup. Dip the
bouchees into it, and put in the oven for about two minutes to
dry.
I would count candied fruit also as bouchees. It is easily made,
and, both by itself as well as for ornamenting, is a great delicacy
HOW to candy f r those who like sweets. But you understand
fruit - that all this is a luxury, in which to indulge only
occasionally. Take any kind of fresh fruit, divide those which
are too large into halves, and boil in water until tender. Drain,
and make a sirup a pint of water to a pound of sugar which
LETTER XXII 191
boil until by dipping a wooden skewer into cold water, then into
the boiling sirup and back again into the cold water, you can
whirl the sirup sticking to the skewer into a globule, which will
crack in breaking off. In this sirup you drop your fruit, allow-
ing it to boil up a few times. Then remove from the fire, and let
the fruit remain in the sirup for twenty-four hours, when place
the fruit side by side on a wide colander by means of a skim-
mer. Dust powdered sugar over it, and set the colander in a
lukewarm oven over night. When dry, the fruit is done. For
nuts, oranges, and chestnuts, you do somewhat differently. The
oranges you divide into sections, the walnuts you cut into halves,
the chestnuts you boil and peel ; and one like the other you
merely immerse into the sirup described, then take them out
again, and put aside for the sugar to dry.
To candy orange peel, take the whole thickness. Cut into
even sections before peeling ; boil in water until tender, then
put into cold water, and let it remain in it for two or candied orange
three hours. Drain, and for each half a pound of peel<
peel take ten ounces of sugar. Add water to the latter, and
boil for about five minutes, then pour over the peel, and let
stand over night. On the following day boil peel and sirup
until the former gets transparent, and the latter thick. Remove
the peel on to some paper, and let it get dry. You may also
put it into glass jars, pour the sirup over it, and keep it tied up.
In any case, save the sirup ; it will do you good service for one
thing or another.
Will this do for you? There are hundreds more of nice
recipes for cakes and sweetmeats, but too much of a good thing
is merely embarrassing. Therefore I close this subject.
LETTER XXIII
O, 'tis most sweet.
SHAKESPEARE.
IN the last two letters I made mention more than once of
preserves, especially jellies, marmalades, and sirup, neces-
sary for carrying out certain recipes for cake and light desserts.
I deem it good policy to have a store laid in of those pre-
serves, each kind in its season, and home-made. It is done
with comparatively little expense, and, moreover, they are far
better than those bought at the dealers'. I will give you here
a restricted number of recipes for putting up fruit ; as many
as I think you will need for the present. They are recipes
well-tried many a time over. First of all, however, I have to
Rules for putting en J oin on y ou the following precepts : For putting
up stores of ' up any kind of stores, be sure that the strictest
preserves. IT -i
cleanliness prevails in regard to the food you
use, as well as to everything coming in contact with it. The
more rigidly this rule is carried out, the more certain you
will be to exclude all germs disastrous to your complete suc-
cess. See that your preserving-kettle be porcelain-lined, and
never used for any other purpose. Your skimmer also ought
to be of porcelain, and the spoon you use of shining silver.
Whatever it is you put up must be of the freshest and best.
Cleanse it carefully, and drain it well after washing in cold
water. The sugar also must be. the best and purest, and if
vinegar is used, buy only prime cider vinegar which is neither
too mild nor too strong. If a recipe calls for sirup in which
to cook the fruit, you prepare it by putting a pint of water to
every pound of sugar into your preserving-kettle. Put it on
the fire and, stirring from time to time, let it come to a boil.
Take off the scum that rises, and continue to do so until your
sugar is clear, when it will be ready for further use.
192
LETTER XXIII 193
Have your glassware for receiving your preserves ready at
hand when they are done. It also will have to be scrupulously
clean, and dry at the same time. I put my glass jars or jelly-
glasses in a place where they will get thoroughly hot, and fit to
receive the boiling fruit, when intended to be put up air-tight.
You must make sure, however, that no draft of cool air
strikes the glass, or it will crack in spite of former care. Wipe
the edges of it clean with a towel dipped into hot water ; then
secure the lids to keep out the air, and after the glass gets cool
tighten the screws once more.
The first of all fresh fruit are strawberries, but they are diffi-
cult to preserve on account of their volatile aroma, which
makes them so delicious when eaten fresh from the vines.
They are not the fruit for you to waste time and money on.
When cherries come, however, get some of the Sour cherries put
dark, sour kind, and put them up air-tight. They U P *"-***
are delicious as a compote in winter, and far more whole-
some than fruit put up in the over-sweet, old-fashioned
way. Stone your fruit, then weigh it, and for every pound of
it take half a pound of sugar. Put both together into your
kettle, and place over a moderate fire. Let boil for about
twenty minutes, stirring from time to time, and taking off the
scum which rises. If you have more juice than needed for
filling your jars with fruit, add to every pint of juice which is
left half a pound more of sugar ; boil it for a minute or two
longer, and fill into bottles, which seal up. It makes an excel-
lent pudding sauce, and will do for some desserts, when fruit
sirup is mentioned.
To put up blackhearts I can recommend the following :
Take them whole, merely removing the stems, and for every
three pounds of cherries take one pound of sugar eiackhearts put
and one cupful of vinegar. When boiling, watch U P air - t! g ht -
the cherries, and just as soon as they get tender, which will be
in about ten or fifteen minutes, take them off the fire, skim,
and fill them hot into air-tight jars. They ought to look plump
and natural. They are delicious for use in winter. You can
put up plums the same way, if they are fully ripe. If you wish
194 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
them perfect, you peel them before cooking. By pouring boil-
ing water over the plums, and letting them remain in it until
you can bear your hand in the water, the skins will peel off
without much trouble.
After cherry time we have raspberries, blackberries, and cur-
rants to gather in for future use. The following recipe is
Raspberry and equally good for raspberry and for blackberry
blackberry jam. j am . r f a k e three-quarters of a pound of sugar
for every pound of berries. Put over a slow fire, and allow to
boil for twenty minutes from the time boiling commences.
Fill hot into air-tight jars. The raspberry jam is improved by
taking part currants, one-third of the latter and two-thirds of
raspberries.
To make raspberry sirup squeeze the berries through a nap-
kin until all the juice is extracted. Boil the latter for fifteen
HOW to make minutes, skimming continually, and then add one
raspberry sirup, pound of sugar for every pint of juice. Let boil
up once with the sugar, and take off the fire. Fill into bottles,
cork up, and seal. This sirup retains all the flavor of the ber-
ries, and is delicious as a beverage, mixed with water, and for
cooking purposes. For jelly you proceed in the
berries, bS' same way, except that you allow the juice to boil
cuSs and f r frdty two mm utes longer after the sugar has been
added. Fill in jelly-glasses ; cover them loosely
with sheets of white paper, and let the jelly get firm. Then cut
round pieces of white paper to fit into the apertures of the
glasses. Moisten these pieces with brandy, and place directly
over the jelly. Finally, paste white paper over the tops of the
glasses, and your jelly is ready to store away. Blackberry jelly,
which is very good and wholesome, is made in the same way.
For currant jelly I can recommend this recipe : Squeeze all the
juice out of some red currants, and for every pint of it take
one pound of sugar. Choose the best granulated, and pound
it in a mortar to a powder. Pass it through the finest sieve
you can procure, so as to be quite sure that no coarse particles
remain. Then put the sugar in a deep porcelain bowl, and
into a heated oven to get dry and hot, but not so hot as
LETTER XXIII 195
to melt. When quite hot, take it out and, while stirring the
sugar incessantly, pour your juice into it by degrees, a small
quantity at a time. As soon as the juice is all absorbed and
the sugar entirely dissolved, the jelly will be ready to fill into
glasses, and to be put away. If done carefully this jelly sur-
passes every other kind in color and flavor. It will keep as
long as three years. I will mention here that it is a good plan
to mark all your preserves with your name, what kind it is, and
the date, especially the latter.
When peaches make their appearance in plenty, I counsel
you to buy several basketfuls at a time, and select the most
perfect ones for putting up " fresh," while of the H ow to put up
specky or inferior ones you make a thin marma- P eaches -
lade, or rather a compote, for which I have my own recipe.
Free the peaches of their skins and stones. The perfect ones
you cut into halves, and make a sirup for them. To every
pound of fruit you take one-quarter of a pound of sugar, and
to every pound of the latter a very scanty pint of water.
After the sirup is clear, drop into the boiling liquid your halves
of peaches, and allow them to boil up just once. Then remove
the kettle from the fire, and as quickly as possible drop your
fruit, piece by piece, into your hot jars, fill them up with the
sirup, and screw the lids down on them. Peaches done in
this way will have almost the full aroma of the fresh fruit, when
opened in winter. The same is the case with finely flavored
pears, which I peel, cut into halves, take out the cores, but
let the stems remain on the corresponding halves. Then I
proceed in the same manner as stated in regard to peaches.
I have done even cantelope in this way with success.
For the peach marmalade you proceed thus : After your
fruit is peeled and stoned you cut it into small pieces, which
may be as irregular as you please. Then weigh it, and for
every pound of it take one-quarter of a pound of sugar, pro-
vided the peaches are fully ripe. If not, take two ounces more
of sugar for each pound of fruit. Put the latter into a tureen
and mix it with your sugar. Put in a cool place until the next
day. Open four peach stones out of every dozen stones you
196 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
have taken from your fruit, and take out the kernels. Free
them of their brown skins, which you can do easily after hav-
ing scalded them with boiling water. Keep the kernels until
you put your sugared peaches over the fire next morning.
Then add them to the peaches, which will have plenty of juice
of their own by this time. Boil them over a moderate fire for
twenty minutes, stirring and skimming frequently. Fill into
air-tight jars. This mild preserve has never failed to find
favor when placed on my table.
I add a first-rate recipe for brandy peaches, of which you
might do well to put up a half-gallon jarful. Accompanied
A recipe for by ice-cream they furnish you with a choice des-
brandy peaches. sert course f or a ii tt i e dinner party. Take fruit
which is fully ripe, and yet firm and speckless. Pour boiling
water over it, and leave it covered over for a few minutes.
Then take out one peach after another, and with a clean crash
towel rub as much of the skin off as you can without seriously
breaking it. Have ready some large, open-mouthed glass jars,
fill them with your peaches, sprinkling granulated sugar over
them sufficient to cover them slightly. Put a thick sprinkling
of sugar on top, and then fill the jars up with the best white
California brandy. Screw up air-tight, and set away.
Tedious as it is to put up quinces, I consider them fully
worth the trouble they cause, and would advise you to try the
following way of making a fine preserve of sliced quinces, a
jelly, and a stiff marmalade, all out of the same fruit at the same
HOW to preserve time. Peel your quinces, quarter and core them,
quinces. keing careful to save the seeds. Take all the
perfect parts and divide in even slices. Make a sirup, taking
equal parts of sugar and fruit, and when ready drop into the
boiling liquid the sliced quinces. Cook slowly, and skim well.
When the quinces turn red and look clear, they are done.
Remove them with a skimmer, and put into jars. Boil the
sirup until thick, and almost like a jelly, when pour over the
fruit, and screw up the jars. Some add a lemon sliced thin,
and freed from all seeds, to the quinces as soon as they begin
to turn red. This is a matter of taste. While the slices are
LETTER XXIII 197
cooking, take a second kettle or pan, put into it the parings,
cores, and seeds, add water sufficient to cover them. When
perfectly soft strain through a clean napkin. Meanwhile cut
up all remaining imperfect parts of your quinces into small
pieces, and when your kettle is empty put them in, add the
liquor drained from cores and parings, and cook until quite
soft. Drain again, mash the quince through a sieve, weigh it,
and put once more into your kettle. Add sugar, three-quarters
of a pound to a pound of the quince, and a cupful of the
drained liquor for every pound of fruit. Boil until thick, stir-
ring pretty much all the time to prevent scorching. Fill into
cups and glasses. It will turn out firm, and, eaten with cream,
is delicious. Now have your kettle cleaned, in order to make
your jelly. Take the remaining liquor from parings, etc., and
for every pint of it add one pound of sugar. Boil, skimming
frequently, until it jellies. Test it by letting a drop from your
spoon fall on a cold plate. If it turns into jelly remove your
kettle from the fire at once. Quinces jelly easily ; be careful,
therefore, to watch the right moment, lest your jelly should
turn to sirup.
I believe this is all you will need of sweet preserves, with-
out running the risk of being extravagant. There are but a
few recipes for pickles which I would like you to know. The
material for them is cheap, and you will not find the like of
these pickles in any market. Aside from being refreshing
when eaten with meat, they will serve you for making and
trimming salads and various dishes. They are of the wholesome
kind, too, not overcharged with hot spice. The recipe for
pickled beets I gave you before, when speaking about salads. 1
I now have for you
The Sea-captain's Pickled Cucumbers. You will find them
the best you ever ate. For fifty cucumbers take half a
pint of salt. Put into a vessel large enough to hold them ;
add the salt, and pour boiling water over them sufficient to
cover them up. Let stand over night, then wipe them dry,
i See p. 154.
198 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
and arrange in large stone jars or crocks. Boil vinegar suf-
ficient to cover your cucumbers. Just before it comes to
a boil throw in your spice, viz. for every two quarts of vinegar
half an ounce of mace, one ounce of black pepper seeds, one
ounce of mustard seeds, and a quarter of a horseradish root
cut into slices. Pour vinegar and spices over your cucumbers
boiling hot, and when cold tie up and keep in a cool place.
The following is a recipe for
Tarragon Gherkins. Take cucumbers not larger than
your little finger, wash them, and rub them all over with a fine
brush, then put them in brine strong enough to bear an egg,
for twenty-four hours, when drain, and dry them with a clean
towel. Arrange them in either glass or small stone jars layer-
wise, and put between each layer about half a dozen black pepper
seeds and a sprig of tarragon. You may also add a bit of summer
savory, and some shallots, or tiny onions whole, but this is not
necessary. Now boil vinegar and pour it over the cucumbers
boiling hot. Lay a few shavings of horseradish on top of each
jar ; it will help to keep the pickles. Tie paper over them
when cold, and in a week try a pickle. If lacking in salt, add
some to the vinegar. They will keep all winter if kept in a
cool place.
A good old-fashioned relish, which looks appetizing in a glass
dish, and will also serve as part of a mixed winter salad, is
Pickled Cabbage. Take a firm head of cabbage. Cut it into
the thinnest shreds, as for salad ; then chop fine. Put into a
large bowl, and mix a heaped tablespoonful of salt with it. Let
stand over night ; and next morning drain well. Mince one
small onion ; chop two red bull-nose peppers (of which first
remove the seeds) ; add one tablespoonful of white and one
of black mustard seed, a sprinkle of celery seed, a few
whole cloves, and a dozen or more black pepper seeds. Mix
all this with the chopped cabbage ; pack into a stone jar ; cover
the whole with a cabbage leaf, and fill up with boiling hot
vinegar.
I add the recipe for a very nice sweet pickle, to eat with
cooked ham or any other kind of salt or cured meat.
LETTER XXIII 199
Spiced Pumpkin. Peel the pumpkin, remove the seeds, and
cut the marrow into pieces about half an inch wide, two inches
long, and as thick as wide. Cover with vinegar in a porcelain
vessel. Let stand over night in a cool place. The following
day drain off the vinegar, and throw it away. Then take half a
pound of sugar and four tablespoonfuls of vinegar for every
pound of pumpkin, and place on the stove to boil until the
latter begins to look clear and glassy. Add the following spice
before it is quite done : three cloves, a small stick of cinnamon,
and the peel of half a lemon for every pound of pumpkin.
Put into glass jars, and if the sirup is not thick enough when
the pumpkin is done, cook it a while longer, before pouring it
over the latter. The rinds of watermelon may be done in the
same way, after peeling off the hard green outside.
Of the various catsups which can be made at home, I coun-
sel you to make but the following, since it is easiest, and better
than any you buy.
Tomato Catsup. After washing ripe tomatoes, scald and
peel them ; then measure, and for half a peck of them take
one scant cupful of salt, two roots of horseradish grated, one
ounce each of black and white mustard seed ; four red peppers,
three onions, one ounce of nasturtiums, all chopped fine ; half
an ounce of celery seed, one teaspoonful each of ground black
pepper and cloves ; and one tablespoonful of ground cinna-
mon. Press off the juice of the tomatoes, and add to the latter
all the other ingredients. After mixing thoroughly, pour over
the whole one quart of vinegar \ fill into bottles, and cork and
seal well. You will notice that no cooking is needed to make
this catsup. You may leave out the nasturtiums, if more con-
venient, and also the celery seed, since some people object to
the latter.
There is one more item you might add to your stores,
and that is tarragon vinegar, since you can make it with little
trouble so much cheaper than you buy it.
Tarragon Vinegar. Take a quart bottle, fill it with the best
cider vinegar, and add about five ounces of tarragon leaves,
after having stripped them off their stems, and dried in a warm
200 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
but shady spot. If you choose, you may also add a teaspoon-
ful of salt, a few shallots, and a little pimpernel. In France
they add instead, some lemon peel and a few cloves. But this
as good as neutralizes the flavor of tarragon. Your vinegar
once prepared, you cork your bottle, and put it for a fortnight
in a place where it will be exposed to the sun. After that time
filter your vinegar through a clean piece of flannel or linen, and
put it away, tightly corked, for use.
It seems to me that now I might safely leave you to your-
self. You have succeeded already, with the help I lent you in
these letters, in giving a dinner party, which has delighted every
one permitted to be your guest ; your husband, I am told, looks
well and cheerful, thanks to his wife's art, and his purse, as you
write to me, is not the loser for the good fare on your table.
Well, my friend, is there anything still to add to my teachings ?
I will await your answer.
LETTER XXIV
Unsightly dishes always spoil
The most delicious morsel,
Serve it, though modestly, with grace :
Your guests will sup with pleasure.
YOUR wish is granted : I will give you all the assistance I
can, to get up an evening entertainment which does not
overstep your means, and yet will please the most fastidious of
your friends. I will suggest to you various dishes and relishes
the cost of which is moderate, while it remains for you to act
on these suggestions, and with your taste and skill to make the
most of them, not forgetting to serve your menu in the most
tempting manner possible. No pains must be spared, of course,
but head and hands be devoted to the task.
I have always found that pickled oysters were welcome at
evening parties. Panned or scalloped oysters also are very
nice but, they require the presence of a good _
, . , , ., . , Pickled oysters.
cook in the kitchen, while pickled oysters can be
made a day or so before the entertainment. I have here for
yon a very good recipe : To pickle a hundred oysters, drain
off the liquor ; put it on the fire to boil ; remove the scum
rising, and when clear add the necessary salt (which you must
prove by tasting), a teacupful of vinegar, a tablespoonful of
black pepper seeds, and two or three blades of mace. Let
boil up, then add the oysters after having picked them over
carefully to remove fragments of shell. Let simmer for five
minutes, and put either in glass jars or a large tureen covered
up. Serve in a large glass bowl.
I merely need to remind you here of the mixed salads
chicken, Italian, lobster, etc. which you have learned to
make by this time. The chef-d'oeuvre which, I am sure, you
201
202 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
will produce, is a fit centre-piece for your table, and will serve
you better than an expensive mass of flowers. Now you have
oysters and a salad ; and, to set off these two chief dishes, I
counsel to have several plates with sandwiches of different
kinds, both inviting to the eye and appetizing to the palate.
It is about as much of an art to make the sandwiches I mean
as it is to compose a salad. But, after once mastering the art,
you will never be at a loss to give your supper or lunch table
an enticing aspect.
To prepare yourself for these sandwiches you have to go to
Sandwiches, and work in several wa ys. First of all you have the
tluSm 10 mal * e cn i ce f several kinds of mixed butter for spread-
ing them, which can be made days beforehand,
since that sort of preparation will keep. Here are three
recipes.
Mustard Butter. Take two tablespoonfuls of mustard (I
would choose the French) for every piece of butter the size of
an egg. See that the butter is soft not hard and work
the two ingredients together, by means of a stone mortar and
pestle, until perfectly blended. The two following you work
in the same way.
Anchovy Butter. Take one teaspoonful of anchovy paste
to butter the size of an egg. If you should find that the
anchovy flavor were not predominant enough, add a little
more paste.
Sardine and Herb Butter combined is the best looking, as
well as the best flavored of the three. The ingredients are
salted sardines three ounces, butter a quarter of a pound,
minced parsley a scant tablespoonful, and minced tarragon a
teaspoonful. Wash the sardines well, but do not soak them ;
split them and remove the bones ; then cut them into fine
strips, and finally chop them as fine as possible. Mix and rub
together all the ingredients until thoroughly blended.
The two latter kinds of butter, when spread on bread, are
palatable enough without anything else. But, used as a founda-
tion or envelope for meat, fish, salad, etc., all three kinds will
lend a delightfully piquant flavor to either substance.
LETTER XXIV 203
Next, order your bread the day before you need it, lest it
will be too spongy to slice down nicely. Order some long,
round loaves of French bread, and some square and oblong
loaves of home-made (or Vienna) bread. The former, when
sliced, will furnish you with small, disk-like pieces, surrounded
by a crisp brown crust, which many persons like. For those
who do not, you will have the other kind of bread, of which
you may trim off the crust, after slicing it. All slices must, of
course, be as thin as possible. I would, however, take part
of the trimmed slices, and toast them slightly on the under side.
I will tell you later for what purpose. The slices from the
home-made bread are too large to use whole. Therefore, cut
them either crosswise, so as to form two triangular pieces,
or lengthwise, which will give you two oblong ones. Now
butter some with butter pure and simple, and some with one
or another kind of mixed butter ; and then set about to finish
them in different ways, something for the individual taste of
each guest. Have ready boiled tongue, ham, veal, etc., all
chopped up fine, and each by itself. Make use of boiled or
roasted meat you may have on hand. In the large cities you
can buy any quantity of cooked ham, tongue, etc., which saves
work. Or buy the potted meats, of which some, however,
are very highly spiced. With them you can do nothing more
than spread over buttered bread. But the chopped meat
you may heap up on the latter ; and you may mix it with a
mayonnaise, or a sauce ravigote} thickened by a little gelatine.
Then, provide some capers, pickled cucumbers, both chopped
fine, some olives (of the small kind), some hard-boiled eggs,
grated cheese, and, if you will take the additional trouble,
some amber-colored aspic, either chopped or cut into dice,
and use for garnishing. Cut the eggs into slices ; keep the
rings of whites thus obtained intact, excepting the end pieces,
which you mince ; and rub the yellow into fine crumbs. All
this and more which I have not mentioned is your material
with which to do what you please, provided you produce the
1 See p. 74.
204 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
most enticing and satisfactory bouchees your guests have ever
tasted. I will suggest a way of doing it. Have two large
round plates and two smaller ones; have each covered with
a fringed napkin or doily. Put in the centre of the large
plates (or dishes), respectively, a little pyramid of olives and
pink radishes. Surround them with disk-like pieces of buttered
bread. Put in the centre of each of these pieces a ring of
white of egg (hard-boiled), and in the centre of it some minced
tongue, while on the outside you rim the white of egg with the
crumbled yolk, with a caper set on top of it in short intervals,
like so many beads. Put, also, a caper in the very centre, on
top of the minced tongue. These sandwiches you surround
by others of triangular shape. It takes two rows of them to
form a ribbon-like rim : the first row you place point outward ;
the second row point inward (toward the centre of the plate).
Have the first row of triangles toasted on the under side ;
spread caviare on the upper side, and place upon it one-half
of a thin slice of lemon. For the second row of triangles, I
advise ham and white of egg, both minced and kept separate,
so as to form two smaller triangles on each of the larger trian-
gles of bread. (Do not forget that each piece of bread must
first of all be buttered.) Around this double row I would
place a band of oblong pieces of bread, toasted on the under
side, spread with fresh butter on top, and the latter covered
with grated cheese of two kinds ; for instance, Gruyere on one
slice and Chester on the next. Take a knife, and with it
smooth over and press down all minced and chopped ingredi-
ents, so as to make them cling to the buttered bread. Finally,
garnish with a few sprigs of tarragon, little bunches of water-
cress, or a wreath of smilax and some stray flowers of migno-
nette, and your sandwiches will look tempting enough even
for a person who has dined. The two smaller plates I would
fill with doubled sandwiches, i.e. two and two put together,
the inside of each piece of bread being spread with mixed
butter of one kind or the other. Between these two covers
I would put some chopped meat, either by itself, or mixed
with a mayonnaise, or with the simple addition of some
LETTER XXIV 205
chopped pickles. Arrange these sandwiches symmetrically,
one above the other, either forming a high square, or an
octagon, or pyramid. Garnish with greens, and a flower here
and there.
If you think your guests would like to treat themselves to
an indigestion by following the fashion and munching some
salted almonds, which certainly are very palatable, Reci p e for
I will be your accomplice, and give you here the salted almonds -
recipe : Take the best and largest almonds in market.
Scald them with boiling water ; let stand until cool, when the
brown skins will pull off readily. Wash them in cold water,
put on a clean towel, and rub them dry. For a pint of them,
take two teaspoonfuls of olive oil (or of melted butter) ; mix
and put them on a shallow sheet-iron pan ; distribute evenly,
and dust them over with a tablespoonful of salt. Place them
in a slow oven ; and, after about five to ten minutes, stir them
up, add another tablespoonful of salt, and put back in the
oven until they have turned slightly brown. Stir again, and
remove on a sheet of paper, to get cool.
You now will have to deliberate whether it might be best for
you to order ice-cream for \hQfatale of your entertainment, or
to get up yourself a sweet and yet cooling dish. If not in a
position to get a really good ice-cream, I would rather do the
latter. For this purpose I recommend to you a macedoine of
fruit, for which I gave you more than one recipe. 1 To accom-
pany it, have some nice cake, or bouchees of cake, and be
sure to choose some in which you have succeeded before. Or
have simply some sweet wafers, which you buy in small tin
boxes. Now, if you add to all this a cooling beverage, you
may consider your menu complete for the evening. I know
of several rather inexpensive beverages, the recipes of which
might be of use to you now and on future occasions. They
are the following :
Tea Punch. Take five heaped teaspoonfuls of black tea.
Have your teapot hot before you put it in. Pour over it
i See p. 178.
206 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
enough boiling water to cover. Allow to draw for three min-
utes, then fill up with boiling water. Let draw for two min-
utes, and pour through a tea sieve into a pitcher which will
hold two quarts. Fill the teapot up with boiling water again
and again, allowing it each time to draw for two or three min-
utes, until your pitcher is full. Meanwhile, heat a bottle of
California table claret (which need not cost any more than
twenty cents a bottle), until just before boiling; put half a
pound of sugar into the punch-bowl, add the peel and juice
of one lemon, and pour over it the hot claret and the tea.
Finally, add half a pint of arrack. This economical punch is
equally good cold or hot. If you wish it cold, set it in ice for
several hours before serving.
Cardinal Punch. Take three bottles of light Rhine or
Moselle wine, and pour it over a small soup- plateful of fresh
fruit which has been sugared for about an hour beforehand.
The best fruit to take is either oranges, peaches, pineapple, or
strawberries the three former to be divided into even slices.
Add sugar to taste. Do not sweeten too much about one
pound of sugar altogether. Let stand, covered up, for two
hours, then add half a bottle of cheap claret. Put in ice to
chill thoroughly, and when being served add the recipe says
a bottle of champagne, which I convert into a bottle of
Apollinaris kept on ice. The latter has the same sparkling
effect, and the punch does not lose by it in quality.
Snow Punch. Take two pounds of sugar, and boil with
one quart of water for twenty minutes ; then pour over the
peels of three oranges shaved off very thin ; cover up, and
let stand for one hour. Add the juice of four lemons, and
pour through a hair sieve. Put into a covered vessel and pack
in ice and salt for several hours. Before serving, add the
whites of six eggs, and whip until quite foamy, when finally
add, still whipping, six tiny glassfuls of Jamaica rum or mara-
schino cordial. Serve from a bowl, or in glasses filled in the
pantry.
Ambrosia. Take one quart of milk, add vanilla extract suf-
ficient to give it a pleasant flavor, half a wineglassful of cherry
LETTER xxrv 207
brandy (Kirsch), half a small pineapple cut into very small
pieces, and sugar to taste. Let stand covered up and on ice
for three hours. This drink is served in small glasses at court
parties in Berlin.
A very refreshing drink also, when kept on ice, is Almond
Milk. To make it, take one pound of sweet and one dozen
bitter almonds. Scald, skin, and drop them into .
7 L Almond milk.
cold water. Dram, and pound them, with the
addition of some water, in a mortar until in very small frag-
ments. Put them into a bowl and mix with cold water to the
consistency of thin mush. Let stand for about fifteen minutes,
then squeeze the liquid through a very clean napkin (there
must be no starch or indigo in it) . Put more water on the
almonds ; let stand, and squeeze again. Add the liquid you
obtain to the former. The almonds are now of no further
use. Sweeten the almond milk to taste, and flavor with
orange-flower essence, rose water, or vanilla. By adding a
little fresh milk, the color is improved.
But if you will not go to the extent of all this trouble and
expense, a beverage made simply of raspberry juice or sirup
mixed with water, and chilled on ice, is also an agreeable and
refreshing drink.
Now, before ending my advisory correspondence on the art
of cooking, which has taken a larger scope than I at first
intended, I will note down, for your guidance, a few menus
for small lunch and dinner parties, keeping in view the limited
means you have to deal with, in league with your art.
MENUS FOR LUNCHEONS
No. i
Amber-colored broth, in cups, with cheese crusts.
Lobster cutlets.
Salpicon royal, on shells.
Chicken croquettes, with celery salad, mayonnaise dressing.
Coffee creme, in cups, with small cakes.
208 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
NO. 2
Velvety soup, in cups.
Minced veal kidneys on sauteed bread.
Risotto.
Backhaendl (fried chicken), with fried parsley.
Salad of lettuce, string-beans, and beets,
French dressing.
Snow creme, with bouchees of cake.
No. 3
Raw-meat soup, in cups.
Oyster patties.
Sweetbreads stewed in sauce allemande.
Chicken in jelly, with green salad, French dressing.
Raspberry water ice, with sweet wafers.
No. 4
Chicken puree soup, in cups.
Eggs on shells.
Beefsteak with mushrooms in brown sauce.
Meringues rilled with whipped cream.
MENUS FOR DINNERS
No. i
Flour soup No. I., with asparagus tips.
Boiled salmon, with sauce genoise, small potatoes,
pickled gherkins (or cucumber salad).
Ragout of sweetbreads in a ring of croutons.
Cauliflower surrounded by green peas, boiled rice,
and broiled lamb chops.
Roast chickens stuffed with oysters, lettuce salad,
French dressing.
Russian creme, with macaroons.
Neufchdtel cheese, crackers.
Fruit.
Coffee.
LETTER XXIV 209
NO. 2
Green pea soup, with dice of custard.
Ringed pike, small potatoes with melted butter and parsley,
mustard sauce.
Macaroni a la Milanaise.
Roast beef, small roasted potatoes,
puree of spinach.
Game birds, with green salad, French dressing.
Raspberry foam, with sugar wafers.
Edam cheese, crackers.
Fruit.
Coffee.
No. 3
Julienne soup, with marrow balls.
Panned oysters on shells.
Chicken fricassee.
Saddle of mutton, mashed potatoes with green herbs,
chestnut puree, currant jelly.
Cauliflower with boiled lobster, sauce ravigoie.
Salad of lettuce and water-cress,
French dressing.
Macedoine of fruit, with small sponge cakes.
frontage de Brie, crackers.
Fruit.
Coffee.
No. 4
Soup with moulded rice.
Striped bass, stuffed and baked, potatoes,
sauce hollandaise.
Mixed ragout in pastry shell.
Filet of beef a la jardiniere.
Scalloped oysters, green salad, French dressing.
Ice-cream, bouchees.
Gorconzola, crackers.
Fruit.
Coffee.
210 LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
I leave it to your judgment to change or modify these menus
in relation to the guests you are going to entertain. You will
not have less than three and no more than nine at table a
number between that of the Graces and the Muses (according
to the old saying), and they will be either intimate friends, or
friends farther removed whom you wish to compliment. Your
bill of fare will have to be regulated to suit these different cir-
cumstances.
And now I have, indeed, come to the end.
For my farewell I present you with a motto full of wisdom
to put over your kitchen mantel :
" Es kommt alles auf die Bereitung an,
Sagte Hans, und spickte eine Kroete."
(It all depends on how it's done,
Quoth Jack, a-larding of a toad.)
INDEX
Acid dissolves gelatine, 79.
Albuminoids, in general, 9 ; in daily
rations, 9 ; in Rumford Soup, 21 ;
in various soups, 22 ; in various
meats, 43 ; in rice, 84; in vege-
tables, 106 ; in different fish, 128 ;
in eggs, 164; in cheese, 170;
in light desserts, 174.
Almonds, salted, 205 ; milk, 207.
Ambrosia, 207.
Anorganic substances, 9.
Anne Ritter, 174.
Asparagus, soup, 31 ; shavings, dried,
34; how to cook , 113; difference
in , 113 ; en petits pois, 113 ;
combines well with, 113.
Aspic, uses of, 79; recipe for , 79;
in a. plat de gout, 79.
B
Backhaendl. See Chicken.
Baked rice, 87; potatoes, 100;
lobster, 145.
Baking. See Cake.
Balls, bread, 27; sponge , 28; mar-
row , 28 ; forcemeat , 28 ; cod-
fish , 140 ; fish for lobster fricas-
see, 145.
Barley, nutritive value, n ; soup No.
i, 24; soup No. 2, 25.
Baronius, Cardinal, 2.
Batter for frying, 78.
Bavarian recipe for ham dumplings, 28 ;
for potato noodles, 102 ;
for potato balloons, 103.
Bavaroise. See Creme.
Beans, dried, nutritive value, n ; string
.nutritive value, n ; black or Mexi-
can soup, 33 ; dried soup, 34 ;
to cook string , 109 ; to cook Lima
, 109.
Bechamel, 72.
Beef, roast, 44; braised, 46; value
of different cuts of , 47 ; filet of
a la jardiniere, 47 ; how to use rem-
nants of , 48 ; en matelote, 48 ;
loss in weight, 49; stufato a I'ita-
lienne, with macaroni, 92.
Beefsteak, how to broil, 44 ; to use rem-
nants of , 48.
Beef-tea, nutritive value, n.
Beets, as a vegetable, 121 ; how to
pickle , 154.
Beverages, fermented, nutritive value,
ii.
Blackberry jam, 194; j e lly, 194-
Bloaters. See Herring.
Bluefish en matelote, 137.
Boil, how to, meat, 14; mutton, 56;
ham, 62; tongue, 63; rice,
85; macaroni, 89; cauliflower,
112; fish, 130; lobster, 143;
loss of weight in boiling, 49.
Bombe a la Sardanapale, 116.
Bones, left over, 7 ; waste material,
49-
Bouchees, 190.
Bouille-abaisse, 136.
Braise, how to, meat, 45 ; beef, 46.
Bread-box, the, 7; stale added to
soups, 19 ; as accessories to soups,
27; balls, for soup, 27; wheat ,
nutritive value, n ; 174 ; for sand-
wiches, 203.
Breast of mutton. See Mutton.
211
212
INDEX
Brillat-Savarin, 2; on soup, 20; on
serving pheasant, 22 ; on the truffle,
97; about salad, 147.
Broil, how to, beefsteak, 44 ; oysters,
142.
Broth without fuel, 15 ; amber-colored
, 18 ; imitation No. i, 34 ; imi-
tation No. 2, 34; old recipes for
, 39 ; how to clear for aspic, 80 ;
potatoes in , 104.
Brussels sprouts, how to cook, 114.
Butter, lobster, 146; nutritive value,
174 ; for cake, 182 ; to beat to
a cream, 183 ; mustard , 202 ; an-
chovy , 202 ; sardine and herb ,
202.
Cabbage, nutritive value, n; to boil
, 114; an economical dish, 114;
augratin, 114 ; Savoy , with rice,
114; stuffed , 115; red , 116;
how to avoid the smell of , 116;
pickled , 198.
Cake, to keep, 182; rules for baking ,
181 ; 182; German drop , 184; Is-
rael , 185 ; Jenny Lind , 185 ;
lightning , 185; sponge , 186;
sand , 186 ; chocolate , 186 ; Vi-
enna , 186; fillings for , 187;
icing and ornamenting , 188 ; small
, 188, see also tarts ; Portuguese
drop , 189; sugar wafers, 189;
macaroons, 189; filets de vent, 189;
kisses, 189 ; meringues, 190 ; bou-
chees, 190.
Calf s brain soup, 38 ; head, 52 ;
head, baked, 53 ; head en tortue,
54; tongue, 54; head-cheese,
82.
Candied fruit, 190 ; orange peel, 191.
Carbohydrates, in general, 9 ; in
daily rations, 9 ; in Rumford Soup,
21 ; in various soups, 22 ; in va-
rious meats, 43 ; in rice, 84 ; in
vegetables, 106 ; in eggs, 164 ;
in cheese, 170; in light desserts,
174.
Cardinal punch, 206.
Carrots, raw, left over, 8 ; , nutritive
value, ii ; soup, 31 ; how to cook
, 118.
Cauliflower, nutritive value, n;
added to soup, 19 ; how to boil ,
112; sauce for , 112; au gratin,
112; with lobster, 112.
Celery, left over, 8; how to dry
leaves for winter use, 42 ; root as
a vegetable, 120.
Cellulose, in vegetables, 106 ; in light
desserts, 174.
Cheese, nutritive value, 11; crusts,
with soup, 27; composition of ,
170 ; a fondue, 170 ; toasted , 171 ;
ramequins, 171.
Cherries, sour, put up air-tight, 193 ;
blackhearts, air-tight, 193.
Chestnut stuffing, 67 ; about , 125 ;
as a garnish, 125 ; puree of chestnuts,
126.
Chevrier, how he ate spinach, in.
Chicken, puree soup, 37; loses in
weight, 49 ; how to buy , 63 ; how
to cook young , 64; stewed
with rice, 64 ; fricassee of , 65 ;
young fried in lard (Backhaendl),
65 ; remnant of as ragout, 69 ;
in jelly, 81; as pilaff, 86 ; salad,
162.
Chocolate, nutritive values, 11;
creme, 175; 178; cake, 186;
tarts, 188.
Chops, mutton, see Mutton ; pork ,
see Pork.
Clams, nutritive value, n; 142;
chowder, 143.
Claret sauce, 181.
Cod, nutritive value, n, 130; , boiled
and stewed, 132 ; various ways of pre-
paring salt , 139 ; fish balls, 140.
Coffee, nutritive value, 11 ; creme,
175-
Convalescents. See Sickness.
Cooking, a severe task, i ; an art, 2 ;
not confined to women, 2; Lie-
big's influence on ,6; principles
INDEX
213
of meat demonstrated, 44; ra-
gouts a valuable chapter of , 73.
Cooking-school, during reign of Louis
XIV., 6.
Corn, meal, nutritive value, n ;
meal, n; soup, 32; green ,
121 ; fritters, 121 ; canned , 122.
Cornstarch, nutritive value, n ; 174.
Court-Bouillon to boil fish in, 130.
Cream, to make whipped, 177 ; whipped
and fruit, 177.
Creme, coffee, in cups, 175 ; chocolate
, 175 ; snow , 176 ; Russian ,
177 ; chocolate , or bavaroise, 178.
Croquettes, how to make, 77; potato
, 102.
Croutons, in soups, 27 ; for ragouts,
73-
Cucumbers as a vegetable, 119 ;
salad, 156 ; sea-captain's pickled cu-
cumbers, 197 ; tarragon gherkins,
198.
Currant jelly, 194.
Custard for soup, 25 ; in cups for
dessert, 175 ; pudding, 180.
Cutlets, veal, 51.
Dairy, favor the, 12.
Danish recipe for rodgrod, 176.
Desserts, food value of light, 174; the
most economical of , 174 ; in
cups, custard, 175; coffee creme,
175 ; chocolate creme, 175 ; Mount
Blanc, 176; raspberry foam, 176;
rodgrod, 176; whipped cream with
fruit, 177; Russian rice, 178; some
ways to make a macedoine of fruit,
179. See also Cremes, Puddings.
Dressing, plain, "French," for salad,
150; Sydney Smith's for salad,
152 ; two more , 152 ; three recipes
for mayonnaise , 153 ; slight vari-
ation of , 154.
Drumsticks, devilled, 66.
Duck, loses in weight, 49 ; a la Por-
tugaise, 49 ; how to buy , 63.
Dumas' recipe for beef en matelote,
48 ; for a breakfast dish of cold
tongue, 63 ; for sauce tartare,
74; two recipes for macaroni,
92; for potatoes a la maitre
d' hotel, 103 ; for macedoine of
vegetables, 126 ; salad, 162.
Dumont, Abbe, 2.
Dumplings, ham, 28.
Eggs, nutritive value, n; 164; to boil
, 164 ; test your eggs before using,
165 ; poached , 165 ; fried , 165 ;
panned , 165 ; on shells, 166 ;
an omelet, 166 ; various omelets, 166 ;
omelet with bacon, 167 ; various ac-
cessories to omelets, 167 ; stirred ,
167; Roman fritata, 168; pancakes,
169 ; pancakes filled with meat, 169 ;
farcied , 170 ; and cheese, 170 ;
171 ; expensive dishes, 171 ; pancakes
for dessert, 175 ; white of egg pud-
ding, 180 ; for cake, 183.
Egg-plant, sautez&, 122 ; au gratin,
122.
Emperor William I. of Germany liked
a dish of stewed turkey, 66.
English recipe for rice-flour soup, 25 ;
soups too much spiced, 42.
Farina, nutritive value, n ; 174 ; soup,
23-
Fat, how to use, 7 ; taken off soup-
liquor, 16.
Fats, in general, 9 ; in daily rations,
9 ; in Rumford Soup, 21 ; in vari-
ous soups, 22; in various meats,
43 ; in rice, 84 ; in vegetables,
106 ; in different fish, 128 ; in
eggs, 164; in cheese, 170; in
light desserts, 174.
Filet of beef, 47 ; of pork, 60 ; of
flounder, 134.
Filets de vent, 189.
214
INDEX
Filling, nut, for cake, 187 ; orange ,
187.
Fire, importance of, 4; for baking
cake, 183.
Fish, nutritive value, n ; food value
of , 128 ; nutritive value of differ-
ent kinds of , 128; 129; how to
cook , 129 ; to boil , 130 ; Court-
Bouillon to boil in, 130; to broil
, 134; steak, 135; five recipes
for using remnants of , 135 ; 136 ;
Bouille-abaisse, 136 ; in jelly, 138 ;
balls for lobster fricassee, 145 ;
salad, 159.
Flounder, filet of, a la Joinville,
134.
Flour, unbolted, nutritive value, n ;
, wheat, ii ; 174; soup No. i,
23 ; soup No. 2, 24 ; for cake,
182.
Food, how to prepare, 8 ; , two classes
of, 8 ; , chemistry of, 9 ; , daily
rations of, 9 ; , nutritive values of
different, n; , necessary amount
according to Voit, n ; .variety very
important, 12; value of soups, 22;
salt contained in , 40 ; waste ma-"
terial in , 49.
Forcemeat balls, 28.
Forms for baking cake, 184.
Franfoise's, Mile., recipe for raw meat
soup, 37 ; for braised beef,
46; gives a recipe of Rossini,
91 ; for macedoine of fruit,
179.
French excel in salad dressing, 149.
French recipe for soup, 24 ; two
for matelotes offish, 137; 138.
Fricassee of chicken. See Chicken.
Fritata. See Eggs.
Frogs' legs, three recipes, 146.
Fruit, nutritive value, n, 174; whipped
cream with , 177 ; macedoine of ,
179 ; sauce, 181 ; to candy , 190 ;
preserves, see 192.
Fry, difference between and saute,
76 ; how to , 77 ; batter for , 78 ;
oysters, 142.
Game, puree soup, 38.
Gelatine, in general, 78 ; nutritive qual-
ity of , 79; dissolved by acids, 79;
substances yielding , 79 ; in what
proportions to use , 178.
Georgia recipe for gumbo soup, 33.
German recipe for rice-flour soup, 25 ;
for Lenten soup, 34 ; South
recipe for sauce genoise with salmon,
133 ; South way of preparing cod-
fish, 139; for frogs' legs, 146;
for Arme Ritter, 174 ; drop
cakes, 184.
Golden dice in soups, 27.
Gouffe, 75.
Greek cooks, ancient, 4.
Gumbo soup, 33.
H
Haddock, boiled and stewed, 132.
Ham dumplings, 28 ; loses in weight,
49 ; , general remarks, 61 ; sauce
for cold , 61 ; how to use boiled
, 62 ; boiled , 62 ; roast , 62.
Head-cheese. See Calf.
Herbs, how to preserve, 42; for
salads, 148, 149 ; dressing of salad,
I 5 I -
Herring, nutritive value, n; 130;
broiled bloaters, 135.
Horseradish sauce. See Sauce.
Invalids. See Sickness.
Israel cake, 185.
Italian soup, 32; recipe for maca-
roni, 89; another macaroni dish,
93 ; enthusiast on macaroni, 94 ;
salad, 158.
Jenny Lind'cake, 185.
Julienne soup, 30.
INDEX
215
K
Kale, nutritive value, n.
Kidneys, veal, 50 ; , mutton, 58.
Kisses, 189.
Klencke, Dr. Hermann, gives a recipe
for a dish containing an entire meal,
105.
Kohlrabi, to cook, 109,
Lamartine, 2.
Lamb loses in weight, 49; spring ,
56.
La Reyniere's descriptive name for
calf, 50 ; descriptive name for pig,
59 ; on macaroni, 88 ; recipe for
stuffed tomatoes, 124 ; on salmon,
133-
Larochefoucauld, Duke of, pupil in
cooking-school, 6.
Leeks, nutritive value, n.
Leg of mutton. See Mutton.
Lemon peel, how to preserve for use,
42 ; pudding, 180.
Lentils, nutritive value, n; soup,
34-
Lettuce, nutritive value, n. See Chap-
ter on Salads.
Liebig's influence on cooking, 6;
recipe for making broth with his
extract, 18.
Lightning cake, 185.
Lobster, cauliflower with, 112; how to
boil a , 143; cutlets, 144;
stew, 144 ; fricassee, 144 ; baked
145 ; creamed , 145 ; sauce,
146 ; butter, 146 ; salad, 160.
Loin of mutton, see Mutton ; tender
of pork, 60 ; fore of pork, 60.
M
Macaroni, nutritive value, u; general
remarks, 88; how to boil , 89;
Italian recipe for , 89 ; al sugo,
go; with tomato, 90; praises of
, 91 ; slufato & ritalienne, with ,
gi t 92; a la menagere, 92; au
gratin, 92 ; , another dish, 93 ;
pie, 94 ; baked , 94.
Macaroons, 189.
Macedoine of vegetables, 126; of
fruit, 179.
Mackerel, broiled, 134.
Maintenon, Madame de, writes of peas,
108.
Marketing, buy the best material, 8.
Marrow balls, 28.
Mazarin, Cardinal, 2.
Meat, how to buy, 3 ; relative value of
different pieces, 3; the best, cheap-
est, 3 ; how long should be hung,
4; fat .nutritive value, n ; lean
, nutritive value, n; we eat too
much , 12; Dr. Wiel's recipe for
good soup and , 16 ; Liebig's ex-
tract of in soup, 17 ; soups of
chopped , 36 ; 37 ; 38 ; relative
value of different kinds of , 43;
principle involved in preparing ,
43 ; precautions in handling , 45 ;
stewed or braised , 45 ; 46 ; time
for roasting , 46 ; jelly, see As-
pic; two recipes of Dr. Wiel for
jelly for invalids, 82 ; 83 ; dish of
vegetables and , 108 ; salads,
162.
Men cooks, 2.
Menus for luncheons, 207, 208 ; for
dinners, 208, 209.
Meringues, 189.
Mery on bouille-abaisse, 136.
Mexican beans. See Beans.
Milk, nutritive value, II ; 174.
Mineral matters, in food, 9 ; in vari-
ous meats, 43 ; in vegetables, 106 ;
in spinach, no; in fish, 128;
in eggs, 164 ; in cheese, 170 ;
in light desserts, 174.
Monselet, recipe for duck a la Portu-
gaise, 49 ; on salad, 149 ; quotes
Mery's poem on bouille-abaisse, 136.
Motto for kitchen, 210.
Mount Blanc dessert, 176.
216
INDEX
Mushrooms, nutritive value, n ; gen-
eral remarks, 95 ; description of
champignon, or edible , 96; how
to cook , 96 ; how to prepare ,
96 ; what to do with scrapings, 97.
Mustard sauce, 132; butter, 202.
Mutton loses in weight, 49; general
remarks, 55 ; boiled , 56 ; roast ,
56 ; shoulder of , 57 ; breast of ,
57; chops, 57; kidneys, 58;
as pilaff, 85 ; a dish which is a
meal in itself, 105.
N
New England recipe for boiled cod-
fish, 139 ; for codfish balls,
140.
Nut filling for cake, 187.
Okra, 32.
Omelet soup, 24 ; , for recipes, see
Eggs.
Onions, nutritive value, n ; , stewed,
124; puree of , 125; as a gar-
nish for a roast, 125.
Orange, peel, how to preserve for use,
42 ; filling for cake, 187 ; to candy
peel, 191.
Oriental pilaff, 85.
Oysters, nutritive value, n ; stuffing,
67 ; general remarks, 140 ; roast ,
140 ; panned , 141 ; scalloped ,
141 ; stew, 141 ; fried , 142 ;
broiled , 142; fricassee, 142;
sauce, 142; pickled , 201.
Oyster plant. See Salsify.
Pancakes, 169; 175.
Panned oysters, 141.
Parsley, left over, 8 ; added to soup,
19 ; how to preserve for winter
use, 42 ; fried , 66 ; sauce, 133.
Parsnips, nutritive value, n ; how to
cook , 1 20.
Peaches, in halves, 195; marma-
lade, 105 ; brandy , 196.
Peas, dried, nutritive value, n ; ,
green, nutritive value, n ; green
soup, 32 ; dried soup, 34 ;
pod soup, 36 ; to cook green , 107 ;
historical, 108.
Perch, matelote of, 138.
Pickled cucumbers, 197; cabtage,
198 ; oysters, 201.
Pie, macaroni, 94; indigestible and
wasteful, 173.
Pigeons, how to buy, 63; how to cook
, 67 ; with rice, 67 ; stuffing for
.68.
Pike, nutritive value, 130; , stewed,
131 ; , ringed, 132.
Pilaff. See Rice.
Plat de go&t. See Aspic.
Plato's opinion, 2.
Poor family, to feed, 21.
Pork, salt, nutritive value, n ; general
remarks, 59 ; roast , 59 ; filet of
, 60 ; foreloin of , 60 ; chops,
61.
Portuguese, salad, 158 ; drop cakes,
189.
Potage veloute. See Velvety Soup, 24 ;
aux voyageurs, 26.
Potatoes, nutritive value, n ; , sweet,
ii ; 121 ; soup, 35; general re-
marks, 99; how to boil , 99; to
steam , 100 ; to bake , 100 ; some
kinds of mashed , 101 ; mashed
au gratin, 101 ; other dishes, 101 ;
roast , 101 ; pudding with cheese,
102; croquettes, 102; noodles,
102; balloons, 103; remnants of
, 103 ; a la maitre d 'hotel, 103 ;
stewed in milk, 104; in broth,
104 ; a dish which contains a whole
meal, 105 ; salads, 157 ; 158.
Poultry, in general and how to buy, 63 ;
remnants of , 66 ; stuffings for ,
67.
Preserving, rules for, 192.
INDEX
217
Pudding, spinach, in ; , English, in-
digestible, 173; apple , 180; white
of egg , 180 ; custard , 180 ; lemon
, 180; rice , 181.
Pulse. See Beans, Peas, and Lentils.
Pumpkin, spiced, 199.
Punch, tea, 205 ; cardinal ,206; snow
, 206 ; ambrosia , 206.
Puree, 36 ; chicken soup, 37 ; game
soup, 38; of spinach, no;
of onions, 124 ; of chestnuts, 126.
Quinces, preserved, 196; 197.
Ragotit, the principle demonstrated, 69 ;
difference between salpicon and ,
70; brown sauce, 71; mixed
in pastry shell, 72.
Raspberry, foam, 176; jam, 194;
sirup, 194 ; jelly, 194.
Red cabbage. See Cabbage.
Remnants, how to use economically, 7 ;
of vegetables in soups, 27 ; of
roast beef and beefsteak, 48; of
boiled ham, 62; of tongue for
breakfast, 63 ; of poultry, 66 ;
as rago&ts, 69 ; fried in batter, 78 ;
of macaroni, 94; of potato,
103; of spinach as spinach pud-
ding, in; of tomatoes, 124;
of salmon, 135 ; of fish, 135 ; 136 ;
138 ; of oysters, 142 ; in salads,
see Salads.
Rice, nutritive value, ii ; 174; flour
soup, 25 ; soup with moulded , 25 ;
stewed chicken with , 64; pigeons
with ,67; a ring, 73; general
remarks, 84 ; how to boil , 85 ; Ori-
ental pilaff, 85; Turkish pilaff, 86;
risotto, 87; baked , 87; Russian
, 178 ; pudding, 181.
Richelieu, Cardinal, 2.
Risi-pisi, 32.
Risotto. See Rice.
Roast, how to, beef, 44 ; loss of weight
in ,49; mutton, 56; pork,
59; tenderloin of pork, 60;
ham, 62 ; potatoes, 101 ; oys-
ters, 140.
Rodgrod, 176.
Rossini's praises of macaroni, 91 ; stu-
fato a I'italienne, 91.
Roulade of veal, 54 ; instead of boned
turkey, 55.
Rousseau, expert in cooking eggs, 2.
Rumford, invented a soup, 2; recipe
for it, 21.
Sable 1 , Madame de, establishes a cook-
ing-school, 6.
Saddle of mutton. See Mutton.
Sago, nutritive value, n.
Salad, general remarks, 147; opium
in , 148 ; herbs for , 148 ; 149 ;
how to make a plain lettuce , 150 ;
dressing of herb , 151 ; combina-
tions of , 154; 155; cabbage ,
155; vegetables for , 155; excel-
lent combination , 156 ; cucumber
, 156 ; potato , 157 ; 158 ; Portu-
guese , 158 ; Italian , 158 ; an
appetizer, 158 ; real sardine , 159 ;
Venetian fish , 159; salmon ,
160 ; lobster , 160 ; two vegetable
, 161 ; Dumas , 162 ; chicken ,
162; other kinds of meat , 162;
tomato , 163.
Salmon, nutritive value, n ; 130 ; boiled
, 133; two sauces for , 133;
left over, 133 ; salad, 160.
Salpicon royal, 70 ; a la Conde, 70.
Salsify, how to cook, 119; a la pou-
lette, 119; fritters, 119.
Salt is contained in most foods, 40;
adulteration of , 40 ; how to , 41 ;
assists digestion, 41; raises
boiling-point of water, 41 ; in his-
tory, 41.
Sand cake, 186.
Sandwiches, 202 ; 203 ; 204.
218
INDEX
Sardines, nutritive value, n ; 130; real
salad, 159 ; butter, 202.
Sauce, Cumberland, 60; for cold
ham, see Ham; horseradish , 61;
how is made, 70; stock for ,
71 ; brown ragout , 71 ; plain
bechamel , 72 ; allemande, 72 ;
maltre d'hbtel, 74 ; tartar e, 74 ;
herb , 74; for spinach pudding,
in; for cauliflower, 112; hol-
landaise, for fish, 131 ; mustard ,
132 ; parsley, 133 ; genoise, 133 ;
remoulade, 134; oyster , 142;
lobster , 146 ; mayonnaise , see
Dressing ; wine , 181 ; fruit , 181 ;
claret , 181. .^
Sausage stuffing, 67.
Savoy cabbage. See Cabbage.
Scalloped oysters, 141.
Shoulder of mutton. See Mutton.
Sickness, old fowl for broth, 63; two
recipes for meat-jelly, 82 ; 83 ; frogs'
legs, 146.
Snow punch, 206.
Sorrel with spinach as a vegetable,
in.
Soup, how to make broth for, 14 ;
recipe for ordinary liquor, 16;
Dr. Wiel's recipe for , 16 ; made
of Liebig's extract, 18; adding egg
to , 18 ; remnants added to ,
19 ; Rumford , 21 ; recipe for fa-
rina , 23; for flour No. i, 23;
for flour No. 2, 24 ; velvety , 24 ;
omelet , 24 ; barley No. I, 24 ;
barley No. 2, 25 ; rice-flour , 25 ;
custard for , 25 ; with moulded
rice, 25; travellers' , 26; accesso-
ries to , 27 ; vegetable , 30 ; Ju-
lienne , 30; Easter , 31; carrot
, 31 ; asparagus , 31 ; green pea
, 32; Italian , 32; corn , 32;
okra , 32 ; tomato , 32 ; gumbo
, 33 ; black bean , 33 ; made
of pulse, 33 ; 34 ; water , 34 ; po-
tato , 35; green , 35 ; pea-pod ,
36; of chopped meat, 36 ; 37; 38;
raw meat , 37 ; chicken puree ,
37 ; game puree , 38 ; sweetbread
, 38 ; calf s brain , 38.
Spaghetti. See Macaroni.
Spice, use sparingly, 41; too much
hurtful, 42 ; buy whole, 42 ; how
to keep , 42.
Spiced pumpkins, 190.
Spinach, nutritive value, n ; or
green soup, 35 ; about , no ; puree
of , no; as an entremets, no;
pudding, in ; warmed up, n i ;
and sorrel, in.
Sponge, balls, for soup, 28 ; cake, 186.
Squash, to cook, 122.
Stewed, mutton, see Braised; tur-
key, 66; potatoes in milk, 104.
Striped bass, stuffed and baked, 130.
Stufato a I' italienne. See Macaroni.
Stuffings, for poultry, 67 ; for pigeons,
68.
Sugar, nutritive value, n; 174; for
cake, 182.
Sweetbread, soup, 38 ; , 52.
Swiss recipe, potatoes with cheese, 103 ;
, stewed pike, 131.
Sydney Smith's recipe for salad dress-
ing, 152.
Tarragon, gherkins, 198 ; vinegar,
199.
Tarts, 188 ; chocolate , 188.
Tea, nutritive value, 11 ; punch, 205.
Thackeray, poem on douille-abaisse,
136-
Thompson, Benjamin. See Rumford.
Tomato, soup, 32; macaroni with ,
90 ; belongs to nightshades, 123 ;
stewed , 123 ; baked , 123 ; fried
, 123 ; stuffed , 124 ; left over,
124 ; salad, 163 ; catsup, 199.
Tongue, how to boil, 63 ; breakfast dish
of cold , 63.
Truffles, 97.
Turkey, loses in weight, 49 ; roulade of
veal instead of , 55 ; how to buy ,
63 ; stewed , 66.
Turkish pilaff, 86.
INDEX
219
Turnips, nutritive value, n; how to
cook , 118.
Veal, general remarks, 50; kidneys,
50; cutlets, 51; a la parmen-
tiere, 51; miroton of ,52; roulade
of 54-
Vegetables, value in nutrition, 98 ; nu-
tritive value of , 106; dish of
and meat, 108 ; dish of mixed roots,
120; macedoine of , 126; in
salads, see Salads.
Venetian fish salad, 159.
Vermicelli, nutritive value, n ; soup,
26.
Vienna Schnitzel. See Veal Cutlet.
cake, 186.
Voit, C., sets down daily rations, II.
Vol au vent. See Ragotit.
W
Water, as refuse matter, n ; soups,
34 ; salt raises the boiling-point of ,
41 ; waste material, 49 ; large per-
centage of in potatoes, 99 ; in veg-
etables, 106; in different fish, 128;
in eggs, 164 ; in cheese, 170 ; in light
desserts, 174.
Wiel, Dr., how to buy meat, 3 ; recipe
for better meat and good soup, 16;
two recipes for meat-jelly, 82; 83;
recommends frogs' legs, 146 ; about
eggs, 164.
Wine sauce, 181.
Typography by J. S. Gushing & Co., Boston, U.S.A.
Presswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston, U.S.A.
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and 2s. Gd.
Shadowed Home, n. ed. 5s.
BIGELOW, JOHN, France and
the Confederate Navy, .an inter-
national episode, 7s. 6d.
BILBROIJGH, 'Twixt France
and Spain, 7s. 6cf.
BILLROTH, Care of the Sick, 6s.
BIRD, F. J., Dyer's Companion,
42s.
F. S., Land of Dykes and
Windmills, 32s. Gd.
H.E., Chess Practice, 2s.6d.
BISHOP . See Nursing Record
Series.
BLACK, ROBERT, Horse Racing
in France, 14s.
W., Donald Ross of
Heimra, 3 vols. 31s. Gd.
Novels, new and uniform
edition in monthly vols. 2s. Gd. ea.
' See Low's Standard Novels.
BLACKBURN, C. F., Cata-
logue Titles, Index Entries, &c. 14s.
H., Art in the Mountains,
new edit. 5s.
Artists and Arabs, 7s. Qd.
Breton Folk, new issue,
10s. Gd.
Harz Mountains, 12s.
Normandy Picturesque,
. 16s.
Pyrenees, illust. by Gus-
tavo Dore, new edit. 7s. Qd.
BLACKMORE,R.D., Georgics,
4s. 6d. ; cheap edit. 1*.
Lorna Doone, edit, de luxe,
35s., 31s. Gd. & 21s.
Lorna Doone, illust. by
W. Small, 7s. 6d.
Springhaven, illust. 12s. ;
new edit. 7s. Gd. & 6s.
See also Low's Standard
Novell.
BLAIKIE, How to get Strong,
new edit. 5s.
Sound Bodies for our Boys
and Girls, 2s. 6d.
BLOOMFIELD. See Choice
Editions.
Bobby, a Story, by Vesper, Is.
B OCK, Head Hunters of Borneo,
36s.
Temples $ Elephants, 21s.
BONAPARTE, MAD. PATTER-
SON, Life, 10s. Gd.
BONWICK, JAMES, Colonial
Days, 2s. 6d.
Colonies, Is. ea. ; 1 vol. 5s.
Daily Life of the Tos-
manians, 12s. 6d.
First Twenty Years of
Australia, 5s.
Last of the Tasmanians, 1 6s.
Port Philip, 21s.
Lost Tasmanian Race, 4s.
BOSANQIJET, C., Blossoms
from the King's Garden, 6s.
Jehoshaphat, Is.
Lenten Meditations, I.
Is. Gd. ; II. 2s.
Tender Grass for Lambs,
2s. Gd.
BOULTON, N. W. Rebellions,
Canadian life, 9*.
BOURKE, On the Border with
Crook, illust., roy. 8vo, 21s.
SnakeDance of Arizona, 21s.
BOUSSENARD. See Low's
Standard Books.
BOWEN, F., Modern Philo-
sophy, new ed. 16s.
BOWER. See English Philo-
sophers.
Law of Electric Lighting,
12s. Gd.
BOYESEN, H. H., Against
Heavy Odds, 5*.
History of Norway, 7*. Qd.
In all Departments of Literature,
BOYESEFT, ModernViUngs, 6s.
Boy's Froissart, King Arthur,
Mabinogian, Percy, see " Lanier."
BRAD SHAW, New Zealand
as it is, 12s. 6rf.
New Zealand of To-day, 1 4*.
BRANNT, Fats and Oils, 35s.
Soap and Candles, 35s.
Vinegar, Acetates, 25s.
Distillation of Alcohol,
12s. 6d.
Metal Worker's Receipts,
12s. 6d.
Metallic Alloys, 12s. 6d.
and WAHL, Techno-
Chemical Receipt Book, 10s. 6d.
BRASSEY, LADY, Tahiti, 21s.
FREMONT. See Low's Stan-
dard Novels.
BRETON, JULES, Life of an
Artist, an autobiography, 7s. 6d.
BRISSE, Menus and Recipes,
new edit. 5s.
Britons in Brittany, by G. H. F.
2s. 6d.
BROCK- ARNOLD. See Great
Artists.
BROOKS, NOAH, Boy Settlers,
6s.
BROWN, A. J., Rejected of
Men, 3s. 6cZ.
A. S. Madeira and Canary
Islands for Invalids, 2s. 6d.
Northern Atlantic, for
travellers, 4s. 6d.
ROBERT. See
Low's
Standard Novels.
BROWNE, LENNOX, and
BEHNKE, Voice, Song, fy Speech,
15s. ; new edit. 5s.
Voice Use, 3s. Qd.
Sm T. See Bayard Series.
BRYCE, G., Manitoba, 7s. 6d.
Short History of the
Canadian People, 7*. 6d.
BUCHANAN, E. See Bayard
Series.
BULKELEY, OWEN T., Lesser
Antilles, 2s. 6d.
BUNYAN. See Low's Stan-
dard Series.
BURDETT-COUTTS, Brook-
field tud, 5s.
BURGOYNE, Operations in
Egypt, 5s.
BURNABY, F. See Low's
Standard Library.
MRS., High Alps in Win-
ter, 14s.
BURNLEY, JAMBS, History of
Wool, 21s.
BUTLER, COL. Sm W. F M
Campaign of the Cataracts, 18s.
Red Cloud, 7s. 6d. $ 5s.
See also Low's Standard
Books.
BUXTON, ETHEL M. WILMOT,
Wee Folk, 5s.
See also Illust Text Books.
BYNNER. See Low's Stan-
dard Novels.
CABLE, G. W.,Bonaventure, 5s.
CADOGAN, LADY A., Drawing-
room Comedies, illust. 10s. 6d.,
acting edit. 6d.
Illustrated Games of
Patience, col. diagrams, 12s. Qd.
New Games of Patience,
with coloured diagrams, 12s. 6d.
CAHUN. See Low's Standard
Books.
CALDECOTT, RANDOLPH,
Memoir, by H. Blackburn, new
edit. 7s. 6d. and 5s.
Sketches, pict. bds. 2s. Qd.
CALL, ANNIE PAYSON, Power
through Repose, 3s. 6d.
CALLAN, H., M.A., Wander-
ings on Wheel and Foot through
Europe, Is. 6cZ.
Cambridge Trifles, 2*. 6&
A Select List of Books
Cambridge Staircase, 2s. 6d.
CAMPBELL, LADY COLIN,
Book of the Running Brook, 5s.
T. See Choice Editions.
CANTERBURY, ARCHBISHOP.
See Preachers.
CARLETOX, WILL, City
Ballads, illust. 12s. Gd. '
City Legends, ill. 12s. Gd.
Farm Festivals, ill. 12s. 6^.
See also Rose Library.
CARLYLE, Irish Journey in
1849, 7s. Gd.
CARNEGIE, ANDREW, Ameri-
can Four-in-hand in Britain,
10s. Gd. ', also Is.
Round the World, 1 Os. Qd.
Triumphant Democracy,
6s. j new edit. Is. Gd. ; paper, Is.
CAROVE, Story without an
End, illust. by E. V. B., 7s. Gd.
Celebrated Racehorses, 4 vols.
126s.
CALIBRE. See Low's Stan-
dard Books.
Changed Cross, &c., poems, 2s. Qd.
Chant-book Companion to the
Common Prayer, 2s. ; organ ed. 4s.
CHAPIN, Mountaineering in
Colorado, 10s. Gd.
CHAPLIN, J. G., Bookkeeping,
2s. Gd.
CHATTOCK, Notes on Etching
new edit. 10s. Gd.
CHERUBIM. See Great
Musicians.
CHESTERFIELD. See Ba-
yard Series.
Choice Editions of choice booJcs,
illustrated by C. W. Cope, E.A.,
T. Creswick, R.A., E. Duncan,
Birket Foster, J. 0. Horsley,
A.R.A., G. Hicks, R. Redgrave,
R.A., 0. Stonehouse, F. Tayler,
G. Thomas, H, G. Townsend,
Choice Editions continued.
E. H. Wehnert, Harrison Weir,
&c., cloth extra gilt, gilt edges,
2s. Gd. each ; re-icsue, Is. each.
Bloomfield's Farmer's Boy.
Campbell's Pleasures of Hope.
Coleridge's Ancient Mariner.
Goldsmith's Deserted Village.
Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield.
Gray's Elegy in a Churchyard.
Keats' Eve of St. Agnes.
Milton's Allegro.
Poetry of Nature, by H. Weir.
Rogers' Pleasures of Memory.
Shakespeare's Songs and Sonnets.
Elizabethan Songs and Sonnets.
Tennyson's May Queen.
Wordsworth's Pastoral Poems.
CHREIMAN, Physical Culture
of Women, Is.
CLARK, A., A Dark Place of
the Earth, 6s.
Mrs. K. M., Southern
Cross Fairy Tale, 5s.
CLARKE, C. C., Writers,
and Letters, 10s. Gd.
PERCY, Three Diggers, Gs.
Valley Council; from T.
Bateman's Journal, 6s.
Classified Catalogue of ^English-
printed Educational Works, 3rd
edit. 6s.
Claude le Lor rain. See Great
Artists.
CLOUGH, A. H., Plutarch's
Lives, one vol. 18s.
COLERIDGE, C. R., English
Squire) Gs.
S. T. See Choice Editions
and Bayard Series.
COLLINGWOOD, H. See
Low's Standard Books.
COLLINSON, Adm. SIR R.,
H.M.8. Enterprise in Search of
Franklin, 14s.
CONDER, J., Flowers of Japan;
Decoration, coloured Japanese
Plates, 42s. nett.
In alt Departments of Literatiire.
CORREGGIO. See Great
Artists.
COWLEY. See Bayard Series.
COX, DAVID. See Great Artists.
COZZENS, F., American
Yachts, pfs. 211. ; art. pfs. 311. 10s.
See also Low's Standard
Books.
CRADDOCK. See Low's
Standard Novels.
CREW, B. J., Petroleum, 21s.
CRISTIANI, R. S., Soap and
Candles, 42s.
Perfumery, 25s.
CROKER, MRS. B. M. See
Low's Standard Novels.
CROUCH, A. P., Glimpses of
Feverland (West Africa), 6s.
On a Surf-bound Coast,
7s. Gd. ; new edit. 5s.
CRUIKSHANK, G. See
Great Artists.
CUDWORTH, W., Abraham
Sharp, 26s.
CUMBERLAND, STUART,
Thought-reader's Thoughts, IQs. Gd.
See also Low's Standard
Novels.
CUNDALL, F. See Great
Artists.
J., Shakespeare, 3s. Qd.,
5s. and 2s.
CURTIN, J., Myths of the Rus-
sians, 10s. Gd.
CURTIS, C. B., Velazquez and
Murillo, with etchings, 31s. Gd.
and 63s.
GUSHING, W., Anonyms, 2-
vols. 52s. 6d.
Initials and Pseudonyms,
25s. ; ser. II., 21s.
CUTCLIFFE, H. C., Trout
Fishing, new edit. 3s. 6d.
DALY, MRS. D., Digging,
Squatting, <$fc., in N. 8. Australia,
123.
D'ANVERS, N., Architecture
and Sculpture, new edit. 5s.
Elementary Art, Archi-
tectiire, Sculpture, Painting, new
edit. 10s. Gd.
-Elementary History of
Music, 2s. 6d.
Painting, by F. Cundall,
6s.
DAUDET, A., My Brother
Jack, 7s. 6d. j also 5s.
Port Tarascon, by H.
James, 7s. 6d. j new edit. 5s.
DAYIES, C., Modern Whist,
4s.
DAVIS, C. T., BricTcs, Tiles,
Sfc., new edit. 25*.
Manufacture of Leather,
52s. Gd.
Manufacture of Paper, 28s.
Steam Boiler Incrustation,
8s. Gd.
G. B., International Laiv t
10s. Gd.
DAWIDOWSKY, Glue, Gela-
tine, frc., 12s. Gd.
Day of my Life, by an Eton boy,
new edit. 2s. Gd. ; also Is.
DEJOIFVILLE. See Bayard
Series.
DE LEON, EDWIN, Under the
Stars and Under the Crescent,
2 vols. 12s. ; new edit. 6s.
DELLA ROBBIA. See Great
Artists.
Denmaa^k and Iceland. See
Foreign Countries.
DENNETT, R. E., Seven Years
among thv Fjort, 7s. Gd.
DERRY (Bishop of). See
Preachers.
DE WINT. See Great Artists.
DIGGLE, J. W., Bishop Fra-
ser's Lancashire Life, new edit.
12s. Gd. ; popular ed. 3.?. Gd.
Sermons for Daily Life, 5s
8
A Select List of Books
DOBSON, AUSTIN, Hogarth,
with a bibliography, /fee., of
prints, illust. 24s. ; 1. paper 52s. 6d.
See also Great Artists.
DODGE, MRS., Hans Brinker,
the Silver Skates, new edit. 5s.,
3s. 6cL. 2s. 6d. ; text only, Is.
DONKIN, J. G., Trooper and
Redskin ; N. W. mounted police,
Canada, 8s. 6d.
DONNELLY, IGNATIUS, Atlan-
tis, the Antediluvian World, new
edit. 12s. 6d.
Ccesar's Column, authorized
edition, 3s. 6d.
Doctor Huguet, 3s. 6d.
Great Cryptogram, Bacon's
Cipher in Shakespeare, 2 vols.
30*.
RagnaroJc : the Age of
Fire and Gravel, 12s. Gd.
DORK, GUSTAVB, Life and Re-
miniscences, by Blanche Roose-
velt, fully illust. 24s.
DOS PASSOS, J. R., Law of
Stockbrokers and Stock Exchanges,
35s.
DOUDNEY, SARAH, Godiva
Durleigh, 3 vols. 31s. 6d.
DOUGALL, J. D., Shooting
Appliances, Practice) $"c., 10s. 6<i.j
new edit. 7f. 6d.
DOUGHTY, H. M., Friesland
Meres and the Netherlands, new
edit, illust. 10s. 6rf.
DOVETON, F. B., Poems and
Snatches of Songs, 5s. ; new edit.
3s. 6d.
DU CHAILLU, PAUL. See
Low's Standard Books.
DUNCKLEY ("Verax.") See
Prime Ministers.
DUNDERDALE, GEORGE,
Prairie and Bush, 6s.
Durer. See Great Artists.
DYKES, J. OSWALD. See
Preachers.
Echoes from the Heart, 3*. 6d
EDEN, C. H. See Foreign
Countries.
EDMONDS, C., Poetry of the
Anti-Jacobin, new edit. 7s. 6<I.
and 21s.
Educational Catalogue. See
Classified Catalogue.
EDWARDS, American Steam
Engineer, 12s. 6d.
Modern Locomotive En-
gines, 12s. Qd.
Steam Engineer's Guide,
12s. 6d.
H. SUTHERLAND. See
Great Musicians.
M. B., Dream of Millions,
&c., Is.
See Low's Standard Novels.
EGGLESTON, G. GARY, Jug-
gernaut, 6s.
Egypt. See Foreign Countries.
Elizabethan Songs. See Choice
Editions.
EMERSON, DR. P. H., East
Coast Yarns, Is.
English Idylls, new ed. 2s.
Naturalistic Photography,
new edit. 5s.
Pictures of East Anglian
Life ; plates and vignettes, 105s.
and 147s.
and GOODALL, Life on
the Norfolk Broads, plates, 126s.
and 210s.
Wild Life on a Tidal
Water, copper plates, ord. edit.
25s. ; edit, de luxe, 63s.
- R. W., by G. W. COOKE,
8s. 6d.
Birthday Booh, 3s. 6d.
In Concord, a memoir,
7*. 6d.
English Catalogue, 1863-71,
42s. ; 1872-80, 42s. j 1881 -U,
52s. 6d. j 5s. yearly.
In all Departments of Literature.
English Catalogue) Index vol.
1837-56, 26s. j 1856-76, 42s.;-
1874-80, 18s.
Etchings, vol. v. 45s. ; vi.,
25s. ; vii., 25s. ; viii., 42s.
English Philosophers, edited by
E. B. Ivan Miiller, M.A., 3s. 6cZ.
each.
Bacon, by Fowler.
Hamilton, by Monck.
Hartley and James Mill, by Bower.
Shaftesbury& Hutcheson ; Fowler.
Adam Smith, by J. A. Farrer.
ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN.
See Low's Standard Books.
ERICHSON, Life, by W. C.
Church, 2 vols. 24s.
ESMARCH, F., Handbook of
Surgery, 24s.
Essays on English Writers.
See Gentle Life Series.
EVANS, G. E., Repentance of
Magdalene Despar, <Sfc., poems,
5s.
S. & F., Upper Ten, a
story, Is.
W. E., Songs of the Birds,
n. ed. 6s.
EVELYN, J., An Inca Queen,
5s.
JOHN, Life of Mrs. Godol-
phin, 7s. 6d.
EVES, C. W., West Indies,
n. ed. 7s. 6cL
FAIRBAIRN, A. M. See
Preachers.
Familiar Words. See Gentle
Life Series.
FARINI, G. A., Kalahari
Desert, 21s.
FARRAR, C. S., History of
Sculpture, $"c., 6s.
MAURICE, Minnesota, 6.
FAURIEL, Last Days of the
Consulate, 10s. 6d.
FAY", T., Three Germany*, 2
Tola. 35s.
FEILDEN, H. ST. J., Some
Public Schools, 2s. 6d.
Mrs., My African Home,
7s. 6d.
FENN, G. MANVILLE. See
Low's Standard Books.
FENNELL, J. G., Book of the
Roach, n. ed. 2s.
FFORDE, B., Subaltern, Police-
man, and the Little Girl. Is.
Trotter, a Poona Mystery ,
Is.
FIELD, MAUNSELL B., Memo-
ries, 10s. 6ci.
FIELDS, JAMES T., Memoirs,
12s. 6d.
- Yesterdays with Author 8 t
16s. ; also 10s. 6d.
Figure Painters of Holland.
See Great Artists.
FINCK, HENRY T., Pacific
Coast Scenic Tour, 10s. 6d.
FITCH, LUCY. See Nursing
Record Series, Is.
FITZGERALD. See Foreign
Countries.
PERCY, Book Fancier, 5*.
and 12s. 6d.
FITZPA.TRICK, T., Autumn
Cruise in the ^Egean, 10s. 6d
Transatlantic Holiday,
10s. 6d.
FLEMING, S., England and
Canada, 6s.
Foreign Countries and British
Colonies, descriptive handbooks
edited by F. S. Pulling, M.A.
Each volume is the work of a
writer who has special acquaint-
ance with the subject, 3s. 6d.
Australia, by Fitzgerald.
Austria-Hungary, by Kay.
Denmark and Iceland, by B. C.Otte".
Egypt, by S. L. Poole.
France, by Miss Eoberts.
Germany, by L. Sergeant.
Greece, by 3. Baring Gould.
IO
A Select List of Books
Foreign Countries, &c. cont.
Japan, by Mossman.
Pern, by R. Markham.
Kussia, by Morfill.
Spain, by Webster.
Sweden and Nor\A r ay, by Woods.
West Indies, by C. H. Eden.
FOREMAN", J., Philippine
Islands, 21s.
FOTHERINGHAM, L. M.,
Nyassaland, 7s. 6d.
FOWLER, Japan, China, and
India, 10s. Qd.
ERA ANGELICO. See Great
Artists.
ERA BARTOLOMMEO, AL-
BERTINELLI, and ANDREA
DEL SARTO. See Great Artists.
FRANC, MAUD JEANNE, Seat-
rice Melton, 4s.
Emily's CJioice, n. ed. 5s.
Golden Gifts, 4s.
Hall's Vineyard, 4s. '
Into the Light, 4s.
John's Wife, 4s.
Little Mercy; for better,
/or worse, 4s.
Marian, a Tale, n. ed. 5s.
Master of Ralston, 4s.
Minnie's Mission, a Tem-
perance Tale, 4s.
No longer a Child, 4s.
Silken Cords and Iron
Fetters, a Tale, 4s.
Two Sides to Every Ques-
tion, 4s.
Vermont Vale, 5s.
A plainer edition is published at
2s. 6d.
France. See Foreign Countries.
FRANCIS, F., War, Waves,
and Wanderings, 2 vols. 24s.
See also Low's Staridard
Series.
Frank's Ranche ; or, My Holi-
day in the Rockies, n. od. 5,
FRANKEL, JULIUS, Starch
Glucose, Sec., 18*.
FRASER, BISHOP, Lancashire
Life, n. ed. 12s. Qd.; popular ed.
3s. 6d.
FREEMAN, J., Melbourne Life,
lights and shadows, 6s.
FRENCH, F.,/fowe Fairies and
Heart Flowers, illust. 24s.
French and English Birthday
BooJc, by Kate D. Clark, 7s. 6d.
French Revolution, Letters from
Paris, translated, 10s. Gd.
Fresh Woods and Pastures New,
by the Author of "An Angler's
Days," 5s., Is. 6d., Is.
FRIEZE, Dupre, Florentine
Sculptor, 7s. Qd.
FRISWELL, J. H. See Gentle
Life Series.
Froissart for Boys, by Lanier,
new ed. 7s. Gd.
FliOIJDE, J. A. See Prime
Ministers.
Gainsborough and Constable.
See Great Artists.
GASPARIN, Sunny Fields and
Shady Woods, 6s.
GEFFCKEN, British Empire,
7s. 6d.
Generation of Judges, n. e. 7s.6d.
Gentle Life Series, edited by J.
Ham Friswell, sm. 8vo. 6s. per
vol.; calf extra, 10s. 6d. ea.; 16mo,
2s. Qd., except when price is given.
Gentle Life.
About in the World.
Like unto Christ.
Familiar Words, 6s. ; also 3s. 6d.
Montaigne's Essays.
Sidney's Arcadia, 6s.
Gentle Life, second series.
Varia; readings, 10s. 6d.
Silent hour ; essays.
Half-length Portraits.
Essays on English Writers.
Other People's Windows, 6s. &2s. 6d.
A Man's Thoughts.
In all Departments of Literature.
ii
George Eliot, by G. W. Cooke,
10s. Qd.
Germany. See Foreign Coun-
tries.
GESSI, ROMOLO PASHA, Seven
Years in the Soudan, 18s.
GHIBERTI & DONATELLO.
See Great Artists.
GILES, E., Australia Twice
Traversed, 1872-76, 2 vols. 30s.
GILL, J. See Low's Readers.
GILLESPIE, W. M., Survey-
ing, n. ed. 21s.
Giotto, by Harry Quilter, illust.
15s.
See also Great Artists.
GIRDLESTONE, C., Private
Devotions, 2s.
GLADSTONE. See Prime
Ministers.
GLENELG, P., Devil and the
Doctor, Is.
GLOVER, R., Light of the
World, n. ed., 2s. Qd.
GLTJCK. See Great Musicians.
Goethe's Faustus, in orig. rhyme,
by Huth, 5s.
Prosa, by C. A. Buchheim
(Low's German Series), 3s. 6d.
GOLDSMITH, 0., She Stoops
to Conquer, by Austin Dobson,
illust. by E. A. Abbey, 84s.
See also Choice Editions.
GOOCH, EANNY C., Mexicans,
16s.
GOODALL, Life and Land-
scape on the Norfolk Broads, 126s.
and 210s.
. : &EMERSON, Pictures of
East Anglian Life,5 5s. and 7 7s.
GOODMAN, E. J., The Best
Tour in Norway, 6s.
N. & A., Fen Skating, 5s.
GOODYEAR,W. H., Grammar
of the Lotus, Ornament and Sun
Worship, 63s, nett.
GORDON, J. E. H., Physical
Treatise on Electricity and Mag-
netism. 3rd ed. 2 vols. 42s.
Electric Lighting, 18$.
School Electricity, 5s.
Mrs. J". E. H., Decorative
Electricity, illust. 12s.
GOWER, LORD RONALD, Hand-
book to the Art Galleries of Belgium
and Holland, 5s.
Northbrook Gallery, 63s.
and 105s.
Portraits at CastleHoivard.
2 vols. 126s.
See also Great Artists.
GRAESSI, Italian Dictionary,
3s. Qd.-, roan, 5s.
GRAY, T. See Choice Eds.
Great Artists, Biographies,
illustrated, emblematical bind-
ing, 3s. 6d. per vol. except where
the price is given.
Barbizon School, 2 vols.
Claude le Lorrain.
Correggio,2s. Qd.
Cox and De Wint.
George Cruikshank.
Delia Eobbia and Cellini, 2s. Qd.
Albrecht Diirer.
Figure Paintings of Holland.
Fra Angelico, Masaccio, &c.
Fra Bartolommeo, &c.
Gainsborough and Constable.
Ghiberti and Donatello, 2s. Qd.
Giotto, by H. Quilter, 15s.
Hogarth, by A, Dobson.
Hans Holbein.
Landscape Painters of Holland.
Land seer.
Leonardo da Vinci.
Little Masters of Germany, by
Scott ; ed. de luxe, 10s. 6d.
Mantegna and Francia.
Meissonier, 2s. Qd.
Michelangelo.
Mulready.
Murillo, by Minor, 2s. 6d.
Overbeck.
Raphael.
12
A Select List of Books
Great Artists continued.
Rembrandt.
Reynolds.
Romney and Lawrence, 2s. 6<J.
Rubens, by Kett.
Tintoretto, by Osier.
Titian, by Heath.
Turner, by Monkhouse.
Vandyck and Hals.
Velasquez.
Vernet & Delaroche.
Watteau, by Mollett, 2s. 6<Z.
Wilkie, by Mollett.
Great Musicians, edited by
F. Hueffer. A series of bio-
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20
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21
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22
A Select List of Books
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SPRY. SeeLow'sStand.Library.
28
A Select List of Books
SPURGEON, C. H. See
Preachers.
STANLEY, H. M., Congo, 2
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In Darkest Africa, 2 vols.,
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Emin's Rescue, Is.
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Mathias Sandorf
Lottery Ticket
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Adrift in the Pacific ....
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