The Book of Household Management Part 52

THE GOOSEBERRY.--This useful and wholesome fruit (_Ribes grossularia_) is thought to be indigenous to the British Isles, and may be occasionally found in a wild state in some of the eastern counties, although, when uncultivated, it is but a very small and inferior berry. The high state of perfection to which it has been here brought, is due to the skill of the English gardeners; for in no other country does it attain the same size and flavour. The humidity of the British climate, however, has doubtless something to do with the result; and it is said that gooseberries produced in Scotland as far north as Inverness, are of a very superior character. Malic and citric acid blended with sugar, produce the pleasant flavour of the gooseberry; and upon the proper development of these properties depends the success of all cooking operations with which they are connected.

GLAZE FOR COVERING COLD HAMS, TONGUES, &c.

430. INGREDIENTS.--Stock No. 104 or 107, doubling the quant.i.ty of meat in each.

_Mode_.--We may remark at the outset, that unless glaze is wanted in very large quant.i.ties, it is seldom made expressly. Either of the stocks mentioned above, boiled down and reduced very considerably, will be found to produce a very good glaze. Put the stock into a stewpan, over a nice clear fire; let it boil till it becomes somewhat stiff, when keep stirring, to prevent its burning. The moment it is sufficiently reduced, and comes to a glaze, turn it out into the glaze-pot, of which we have here given an engraving. As, however, this is not to be found in every establishment, a white earthenware jar would answer the purpose; and this may be placed in a vessel of boiling water, to melt the glaze when required. It should never be warmed in a saucepan, except on the principle of the bain marie, lest it should reduce too much, and become black and bitter. If the glaze is wanted of a pale colour, more veal than beef should be used in making the stock; and it is as well to omit turnips and celery, as these impart a disagreeable bitter flavour.

TO GLAZE COLD JOINTS, &c.--Melt the glaze by placing the vessel which contains it, into the bain marie or saucepan of boiling water; brush it over the meat with a paste-brush, and if in places it is not quite covered, repeat the operation. The glaze should not be too dark a colour. (_See_ Coloured Cut of Glazed Ham, P.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: GLAZE-KETTLE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BAIN MARIE.]

GLAZE-KETTLE.--This is a kettle used for keeping the strong stock boiled down to a jelly, which is known by the name of glaze. It is composed of two tin vessels, as shown in the cut, one of which, the upper,--containing the glaze, is inserted into one of larger diameter and containing boiling water. A brush is put in the small hole at the top of the lid, and is employed for putting the glaze on anything that may require it.

THE BAIN MARIE.--So long ago as the time when emperors ruled in Rome, and the yellow Tiber pa.s.sed through a populous and wealthy city, this utensil was extensively employed; and it is frequently mentioned by that profound culinary chemist of the ancients, Apicius. It is an open kind of vessel (as shown in the engraving and explained in our paragraph No. 87, on the French terms used in modern cookery), filled with boiling or nearly boiling water; and into this water should be put all the stewpans containing those ingredients which it is desired to keep hot. The quant.i.ty and quality of the contents of these vessels are not at all affected; and if the hour of dinner is uncertain in any establishment, by reason of the nature of the master's business, nothing is so certain a means of preserving the flavour of all dishes as the employment of the bain marie.

GREEN SAUCE FOR GREEN GEESE OR DUCKLINGS.

431. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 pint of sorrel-juice, 1 gla.s.s of sherry, 1/2 pint of green gooseberries, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 oz. of fresh b.u.t.ter.

_Mode_.--Boil the gooseberries in water until they are quite tender; mash them and press them through a sieve; put the pulp into a saucepan with the above ingredients; simmer for 3 or 4 minutes, and serve very hot.

_Time_.--3 or 4 minutes.

_Note_.--We have given this recipe as a sauce for green geese, thinking that some of our readers might sometimes require it; but, at the generality of fas.h.i.+onable tables, it is now seldom or never served.

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

SORREL.--We gather from the pages of Pliny and Apicius, that sorrel was cultivated by the Romans in order to give it more strength and flavour, and that they also partook of it sometimes stewed with mustard, being seasoned with a little oil and vinegar. At the present day, English cookery is not much indebted to this plant (_Rumex Acetosa_), although the French make use of it to a considerable extent. It is found in most parts of Great Britain, and also on the continent, growing wild in the gra.s.s meadows, and, in a few gardens, it is cultivated.

The acid of sorrel is very _p.r.o.nonce_, and is what chemists term a binoxalate of potash; that is, a combination of oxalic acid with potash.

GENERAL STOCK FOR GRAVIES.

432. Either of the stocks, Nos. 104, 105, or 107, will be found to answer very well for the basis of many gravies, unless these are wanted very rich indeed. By the addition of various store sauces, thickening and flavouring, the stocks here referred to may be converted into very good gravies. It should be borne in mind, however, that the goodness and strength of spices, wines, flavourings, &c., evaporate, and that they lose a great deal of their fragrance, if added to the gravy a long time before they are wanted. If this point is attended to, a saving of one half the quant.i.ty of these ingredients will be effected, as, with long boiling, the flavour almost entirely pa.s.ses away. The shank-bones of mutton, previously well soaked, will be found a great a.s.sistance in enriching gravies; a kidney or melt, beef skirt, tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of meat, &c.

&c., answer very well when only a small quant.i.ty is wanted, and, as we have before observed, a good gravy need not necessarily be so very expensive; for economically-prepared dishes are oftentimes found as savoury and wholesome as dearer ones. The cook should also remember that the fragrance of gravies should not be overpowered by too much spice, or any strong essences, and that they should always be warmed in a _bain marie_, after they are flavoured, or else in a jar or jug placed in a saucepan full of boiling water. The remains of roast-meat gravy should always be saved; as, when no meat is at hand, a very nice gravy in haste may be made from it, and when added to hashes, ragots, &c., is a great improvement.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GRAVY-KETTLE.]

GRAVY-KETTLE.--This is a utensil which will not be found in every kitchen; but it is a useful one where it is necessary to keep gravies hot for the purpose of pouring over various dishes as they are cooking. It is made of copper, and should, consequently, be heated over the hot plate, if there be one, or a charcoal stove. The price at which it can be purchased is set down by Messrs. Slack at 14s.

GRAVY FOR ROAST MEAT.

433. INGREDIENTS.--Gravy, salt.

_Mode_.--Put a common dish with a small quant.i.ty of salt in it under the meat, about a quarter of an hour before it is removed from the fire.

When the dish is full, take it away, baste the meat, and pour the gravy into the dish on which the joint is to be served.

SAUCES AND GRAVIES IN THE MIDDLE AGES.--Neither poultry, butcher's meat, nor roast game were eaten dry in the middle ages, any more than fried fish is now. Different sauces, each having its own peculiar flavour, were served with all these dishes, and even with the various _parts_ of each animal.

Strange and grotesque sauces, as, for example, "eggs cooked on the spit," "b.u.t.ter fried and roasted," were invented by the cooks of those days; but these preparations had hardly any other merit than that of being surprising and difficult to make.

A QUICKLY-MADE GRAVY.

434. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of s.h.i.+n of beef, 1/2 onion, 1/4 carrot, 2 or 3 sprigs of parsley and savoury herbs, a piece of b.u.t.ter about the size of a walnut; cayenne and mace to taste, 3/4 pint of water.

_Mode_.--Cut up the meat into very small pieces, slice the onion and carrot, and put them into a small saucepan with the b.u.t.ter. Keep stirring over a sharp fire until they have taken a little colour, when add the water and the remaining ingredients. Simmer for 1/2 hour, skim well, strain, and flavour, when it will be ready for use.

_Time_.--1/2 hour. _Average cost_, for this quant.i.ty, 5d.

A HUNDRED DIFFERENT DISHES.--Modern housewives know pretty well how much care, and attention, and foresight are necessary in order to serve well a little dinner for six or eight persons,--a dinner which will give credit to the _menage_, and satisfaction and pleasure to the guests. A quickly-made gravy, under some circ.u.mstances that we have known occur, will be useful to many housekeepers when they have not much time for preparation. But, talking of speed, and time, and preparation, what a combination of all these must have been necessary for the feast at the wedding of Charles VI. of France. On that occasion, as Froissart the chronicler tells us, the art of cooking, with its innumerable paraphernalia of sauces, with gravy, pepper, cinnamon, garlic, scallion, brains, gravy soups, milk _potage_, and ragots, had a signal triumph. The skilful _chef-de-cuisine_ of the royal household covered the great marble table of the regal palace with no less than a hundred different dishes, prepared in a hundred different ways.

A GOOD BEEF GRAVY FOR POULTRY, GAME, &c.

435. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of lean beef, 1/2 pint of cold water, 1 shalot or small onion, 1/2 a teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper, 1 tablespoonful of Harvey's sauce or mushroom ketchup, 1/2 a teaspoonful of arrowroot.

_Mode_.--Cut up the beef into small pieces, and put it, with the water, into a stewpan. Add the shalot and seasoning, and simmer gently for 3 hours, taking care that it does not boil fast. A short time before it is required, take the arrowroot, and having mixed it with a little cold water, pour it into the gravy, which keep stirring, adding the Harvey's sauce, and just letting it boil. Strain off the gravy in a tureen, and serve very hot.

_Time_.--3 hours. _Average cost_, 8d. per pint.

BROWN GRAVY.

436. INGREDIENTS.--2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 2 large onions, 2 lbs. of s.h.i.+n of beef, 2 small slices of lean bacon (if at hand), salt and whole pepper to taste, 3 cloves, 2 quarts of water. For thickening, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 3 oz. of flour.

_Mode_.--Put the b.u.t.ter into a stewpan; set this on the fire, throw in the onions cut in rings, and fry them a light brown; then add the beef and bacon, which should be cut into small square pieces; season, and pour in a teacupful of water; let it boil for about ten minutes, or until it is of a nice brown colour, occasionally stirring the contents.

Now fill up with water in the above proportion; let it boil up, when draw it to the side of the fire to simmer very gently for 1-1/2 hour; strain, and when cold, take off all the fat. In thickening this gravy, melt 3 oz. of b.u.t.ter in a stewpan, add 2 oz. of flour, and stir till of a light-brown colour; when cold, add it to the strained gravy, and boil it up quickly. This thickening may be made in larger quant.i.ties, and kept in a stone jar for use when wanted.

_Time_.--Altogether, 2 hours. _Average cost_, 4d. per pint.

CLOVES.--This very agreeable spice is the unexpanded flower-buds of the _Caryophyllus aromaticus_, a handsome, branching tree, a native of the Malacca Islands. They take their name from the Latin word _clavus_, or the French _clou_, both meaning a nail, and to which the clove has a considerable resemblance. Cloves were but little known to the ancients, and Pliny appears to be the only writer who mentions them; and he says, vaguely enough, that some were brought to Rome, very similar to grains of pepper, but somewhat longer; that they were only to be found in India, in a wood consecrated to the G.o.ds; and that they served in the manufacture of perfumes. The Dutch, as in the case of the nutmeg (_see_ 378), endeavoured, when they gained possession of the Spice Islands, to secure a monopoly of cloves, and, so that the cultivation of the tree might be confined to Amboyna, their chief island, bribed the surrounding chiefs to cut down all trees found elsewhere. The Amboyna, or royal clove, is said to be the best, and is rare; but other kinds, nearly equally good, are produced in other parts of the world, and they come to Europe from Mauritius, Bourbon, Cayenne, and Martinique, as also from St. Kitts, St. Vincent's, and Trinidad. The clove contains about 20 per cent. of volatile aromatic oil, to which it owes its peculiar pungent flavour, its other parts being composed of woody fibre, water, gum, and resin.

BROWN GRAVY WITHOUT MEAT.

437. INGREDIENTS.--2 large onions, 1 large carrot, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 3 pints of boiling water, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, a winegla.s.sful of good beer; salt and pepper to taste.

_Mode_.--Slice, flour, and fry the onions and carrots in the b.u.t.ter until of a nice light-brown colour; then add the boiling water and the remaining ingredients; let the whole stew gently for about an hour; then strain, and when cold, skim off all the fat. Thicken it in the same manner as recipe No. 436, and, if thought necessary, add a few drops of colouring No. 108.

_Time_.--1 hour. Average cost, 2d. per pint.

_Note_.--The addition of a small quant.i.ty of mushroom ketchup or Harvey's sauce very much improves the flavour of this gravy.

RICH GRAVY FOR HASHES, RAGOUTS, &c.

438. INGREDIENTS.--2 lbs. of s.h.i.+n of beef, 1 large onion or a few shalots, a little flour, a bunch of savoury herbs, 2 blades of mace, 2 or 3 cloves, 4 whole allspice, 1/4 teaspoonful of whole pepper, 1 slice of lean ham or bacon, 1/2 a head of celery (when at hand), 2 pints of boiling water; salt and cayenne to taste.

_Mode_.--Cut the beef into thin slices, as also the onions, dredge them with flour, and fry of a pale brown, but do not allow them to get black; pour in the boiling water, let it boil up; and skim. Add the remaining ingredients, and simmer the whole very gently for 2 hours, or until all the juices are extracted from the meat; put it by to get cold, when take off all the fat. This gravy may be flavoured with ketchup, store sauces, wine, or, in fact, anything that may give additional and suitable relish to the dish it is intended for.

_Time_.--Rather more than 2 hours.