The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual Part 58

_Horseradish Vinegar._--(No. 399*.)

Horseradish is in highest perfection about November.

Pour a quart of best vinegar on three ounces of sc.r.a.ped horseradish, an ounce of minced eschalot, and one drachm of Cayenne; let it stand a week, and you will have an excellent relish for cold beef, salads, &c.

costing scarcely any thing.

N.B. A portion of black pepper and mustard, celery or cress-seed, may be added to the above.

_Obs._--Horseradish powder (No. 458*).

_Garlic Vinegar._--(No. 400.)

Garlic is ready for this purpose from midsummer to Michaelmas.

Peel and chop two ounces of garlic, pour on them a quart of white wine vinegar, stop the jar close, and let it steep ten days, shaking it well every day; then pour off the clear liquor into small bottles.

_Obs._--The cook must be careful not to use too much of this; a few drops of it will give a pint of gravy a sufficient smack of the garlic, the flavour of which, when slight and well blended, is one of the finest we have; when used in excess, it is the most offensive.

The best way to use garlic, is to send up some of this vinegar in a cruet, and let the company flavour their own sauce as they like.

N.B. The most elegant preparation of the onion tribe is the eschalot wine, No. 402.

_Eschalot Vinegar_,--(No. 401.)

Is made in the same manner, and the cook should never be without one of these useful auxiliaries; they cost scarcely any thing but the little trouble of making, and will save a great deal of trouble in flavouring soups and sauces with a taste of onion.

N.B. Eschalots are in high perfection during July, August, and September.

_Eschalot Wine._--(No. 402.)

Peel, mince, and pound in a mortar, three ounces of eschalots, and infuse them in a pint of sherry for ten days; then pour off the clear liquor on three ounces more eschalots, and let the wine stand on them ten days longer.

_Obs._--This is rather the most expensive, but infinitely the most elegant preparation of eschalot, and imparts the onion flavour to soups and sauces, for chops, steaks, or boiled meats, hashes, &c. more agreeably than any: it does not leave any unpleasant taste in the mouth, or to the breath; nor repeat, as almost all other preparations of garlic, onion, &c. do.

N.B. An ounce of sc.r.a.ped horseradish may be added to the above, and a little thin-cut lemon-peel, or a few drops of No. 408.

_Camp Vinegar._--(No. 403.)

Cayenne pepper, one drachm, avoirdupois weight.

Soy, two table-spoonfuls.

Walnut catchup, four ditto.

Six anchovies chopped.

A small clove of garlic, minced fine.

Steep all for a month in a pint of the best vinegar, frequently shaking the bottle: strain through a tamis, and keep it in small bottles, corked as tightly as possible.

_Cayenne Pepper._--(No. 404.)

Mr. Acc.u.m has informed the public (see his book on Adulterations) that from some specimens that came direct to him from India, and others obtained from respectable oil shops in London, he has extracted lead!

"Foreign Cayenne pepper is an indiscriminate mixture of the powder of the dried pods of many species of capsic.u.ms, especially of the bird pepper, which is the hottest of all. As it comes to us from the West Indies, it changes the infusion of turnsole to a beautiful green, probably owing to the salt, which is always added to it, and the red oxide of lead, with which it is said to be adulterated." DUNCAN'S _New Edinburgh Dispensary_, 1819, Article _Capsic.u.m_, p. 81.

The Indian Cayenne is prepared in a very careless manner, and often looks as if the pods had lain till they were decayed, before they were dried: this accounts for the dirty brown appearance it commonly has. If properly dried as soon as gathered, it will be of a clear red colour: to give it the complexion of that made with good fresh-gathered capsic.u.ms or Chilies, some annatto, or other vegetable red colouring matter, is pounded with it: this, Mr. A. a.s.sures us, is frequently adulterated with Indian red, _i. e._ "red lead!"

When Cayenne is pounded, it is mixed with a considerable portion of salt, to prevent its flying up and hurting the eyes: this might be avoided by grinding it in a mill, which may easily be made close enough, especially if it be pa.s.sed through a second time, and then sifted through a fine drum-headed sieve, to produce as fine a powder as can be obtained by pounding; however, our English chilies may be pounded in a deep mortar without any danger.

The flavour of the Chilies is very superior to that of the capsic.u.ms, and will be good in proportion as they are dried as soon as possible, taking care they are not burned.

Take away the stalks, and put the pods into a colander; set it before the fire; they will take full twelve hours to dry, then put them into a mortar, with one-fourth their weight of salt, and pound them, and rub them till they are fine as possible, and put them into a well-stopped bottle.

N.B. We advise those who are fond of Cayenne not to think it too much trouble to make it of English Chilies; there is no other way of being sure it is genuine, and they will obtain a pepper of much finer flavour, without half the heat of the foreign.

A hundred large Chilies, costing only two s.h.i.+llings, will produce you about two ounces of Cayenne, so it is as cheap as the commonest Cayenne.

Four hundred Chilies, when the stems were taken off, weighed half a pound; and when dried, produced a quarter of a pound of Cayenne pepper.

_Essence of Cayenne._--(No. 405.)

Put half an ounce of Cayenne pepper (No. 404) into half a pint of brandy or wine; let it steep for a fortnight, and then pour off the clear liquor.

This is nearly equal to fresh Chili juice.

_Obs._--This or the Chili vinegar (No. 405*,) is extremely convenient for the extempore seasoning and finis.h.i.+ng of soups, sauces, &c., its flavour being instantly and equally diffused. Cayenne pepper varies so much in strength, that it is impossible to season soup any other way to the precise point of _piquance_.

_Chili Vinegar._--(No. 405*.)

This is commonly made with the foreign bird pepper; but you will obtain a much finer flavour from infusing fifty fresh red English Chilies (cut in half, or pounded) in a pint of the best vinegar for a fortnight, or a quarter of an ounce of Cayenne pepper, No. 404.

_Obs._--Many people cannot eat fish without the addition of an acid, and Cayenne pepper: to such palates this will be an agreeable relish.

_Chili, or Cayenne Wine._--(No. 406.)

Pound and steep fifty fresh red Chilies, or a quarter of an ounce of Cayenne pepper, in half a pint of brandy, white wine, or claret, for fourteen days.

_Obs._--This is a "_bonne bouche_" for the lovers of Cayenne, of which it takes up a larger proportion of its flavour than of its fire; which being instantly diffused, it is a very useful auxiliary to warm and finish soups and sauces, &c.

_Essence of Lemon-peel._--(No. 407.)

Wash and brush clean the lemons; let them get perfectly dry: take a lump of loaf sugar, and rub them till all the yellow rind is taken up by the sugar: sc.r.a.pe off the surface of the sugar into a preserving pot, and press it hard down; cover it very close, and it will keep for some time.