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E.F. LANGDALE'S PRIZE MEDAL.

Flavouring Essences and Domestic Specialities

FOR PIES, PUDDINGS, SOUPS, GRAVIES, ICES, &c.

Specially awarded Prize Medals, Great International Exhibition, London, 1851 and 1862.

Essence Lemon. Strong Essence Vanilla. Purified Essence Almonds Essence Noyau. " Raspberries. Essence Ginger. " Orange. " Ratafia. " Celery. " Strawberries.

E.F. LANGDALE'S

Fruit Pudding, Blancmange, and. Custard Powders

MAKE DELICIOUS PUDDINGS, CUSTARDS, & BLANCMANGE.

ALMOND. LEMON. VANILLA. RASPBERRY. PINE APPLE. RATAFIA. STRAWBERRY. NECTARINE. CHOCOLATE, &c.

E.F. LANGDALE'S Prepared Dried English Herbs, &c.

Garden Mint. Savoury. Parsley. Sage. Lemon Thyme. Basil. Mixed Sweet Herbs. " Soup " Tarragon.

E.F. LANGDALE'S REFINED JAMAICA LIME JUICE AND PURE LEMON JUICE.

Distilled Tarragon and Chill Vinegar for Salads and Sauces.

Sole Agent for

J. Delcroix & Cie. Concentrated Parisian Essence,

E. F. LANGDALE'S "Essence Distillery,"

Pamphlets, Recipes, &c., post free. All the above can be obtained of any leading Grocer. We will send name of nearest Agent on receipt of post card.

INTRODUCTION.

We wish it to be distinctly understood at starting, that the present work is purely a cookery-book, written on the principles generally adopted by vegetarians; and as, until quite recently, there seemed to be in the minds of many some doubt as to the definition of vegetarianism, we will quote the following explanation from the head of the report of the London Vegetarian Society:--"The aims of the London Vegetarian Society are to advocate the total disuse of the flesh of animals as food, and to promote a more extensive use of pulse, grains, fruits, nuts, and other products of the vegetable kingdom, thus propagating a principle tending essentially to true civilisation, to universal humaneness, and to the increase of happiness generally."

We have no intention of writing a treatise on vegetarianism, but we consider a few words of explanation necessary. Years back many persons were under the impression that by vegetarianism was meant simply an abstention from flesh-meat, but that fish was allowed. Such, however, is not the case, according to the rules of most of the Vegetarian Societies of the day. On the other hand, strictly speaking, real vegetarians would not be allowed the use of eggs and milk; but it appears that many use these, though there are a considerable number of persons who abstain. There is no doubt that the vegetable kingdom, without either milk or eggs, contains every requisite for the support of the human body. In speaking on this subject, Sir Henry Thompson observes:--"The vegetable kingdom comprehends the cereals, legumes, roots, starches, sugar, herbs, and fruits. Persons who style themselves vegetarians often consume milk, eggs, butter, and lard, which are choice foods from the animal kingdom. There are other persons, of course, who are strictly vegetarian eaters, and such alone have any right to the title of vegetarians."

In the following pages will be found ample recipes for the benefit of parties who take either view. In questions of this kind there will always be found conflicting views. We have no wish or desire to give opinions, but consider it will be more advisable, and probably render the book far more useful, if we confine ourselves as much as possible to facts.

One great motive for adopting a course of vegetarian diet is economy; and here we feel that we stand on firm ground, without danger of offending sincere opinions, which are often wrongly called prejudices. To a great extent, the majority of the human race are virtually vegetarians from necessity. Nor do we find feebleness either of mind or body necessarily ensues. We believe there are tens of thousands of families who would give vegetarianism a trial were it not for fear. Persons are too apt to think that bodily strength depends upon the nature of the food we eat. In India we have a feeble race, living chiefly on rice. On the other hand, in China, for bodily strength, few can compare with the Coolies. For many years in Scotland the majority lived on oatmeal, while in Ireland they lived on potatoes. We do not wish to argue anything from these points, but to bring them forward for consideration. Probably, strength of body and mind, as a general rule, depends upon breed, and this argument tells two ways--it does not follow that vegetarians will be necessarily strong, and will cease to be cruel; nor does it follow that those who have been accustomed all their lives to eat meat will cease to be strong should they become vegetarians. As we have said, the great motive that induces many to give vegetarianism a trial is economy; and if persons would once get rid of the idea that they risk their health by making a trial, much would be done to advance the cause.

Another great reason for persons hesitating to make a trial is the revolution it would create in their households. Here again we are beset by difficulties, and these difficulties can only disappear gradually, after long years of patience. We believe the progress towards vegetarianism must of necessity be a very slow one. No large West End tradesman could possibly insist upon his whole establishment becoming vegetarians because he becomes one himself. We believe and hope that the present work will benefit those who are undergoing a slow but gradual change in their mode of living. This is easiest in small households, where no servants are kept at all, where the mistress is both cook and mother. It is in such households that the change is possible, and very often most desirable. In many cases trial will be made gradually. The great difficulty to contend with is prejudice, or, rather, we may say, habit. There are many housekeepers who feel that their bill of fare would instantly become extremely limited were they to adopt vegetarian ideas. There are few better dinners--especially for children--than a good basin of soup, with plenty of bread; yet, as a rule, there are few housekeepers who would know how to make vegetarian soup at all. In our present work we have given a list of sixty-four soups. At any rate, here is no lack of variety, as small housekeepers in this country are not famed for their knowledge of soup making, even with gravy-beef at their disposal.

There are many soups we have given in which cream is recommended; for instance, artichoke soup, bean soup, cauliflower soup, and celery soup. After partaking of a well-made basin of one of these soups, followed by one or two vegetables and a fruit pie or stewed fruit, there are many persons who would voluntarily remark, "I don't seem to care for any meat." On the other hand, were the vegetables served in the old-fashioned style, but without any meat, there are many who would feel that they were undergoing a species of privation, even if they did not say so--we refer to a dish of plain-boiled potatoes and dry bread, or even the ordinary cabbage served in the usual way. Supposing, however, a nice little new cabbage is sent to table, with plenty of really good white sauce or butter sauce, over which has been sprinkled a little bright green parsley, whilst some crisp fried bread surrounds the dish--the cabbage is converted into a meal; and if we take into account the absence of the meat, we still save enormously. The advice we would give, especially to young housekeepers, is, "Persuasion is better than force." If you wish to teach a child to swim, it is far easier to entice him into shallow water on a hot summer's day than to throw him in against his will in winter time.

Another point which we consider of great importance is appearances. As far as possible, we should endeavour to make the dishes look pretty. We are appealing to a very large class throughout the country who at all cost wish to keep up appearances. It is an important class, and one on which the slow but gradual march of civilisation depends. We fear that any attempt to improve the extreme poor, who live surrounded by dirt and misery, would be hopeless, unless they still have some lingering feeling of this self-respect. For the poor woman who snatches a meal off bread-and-dripping, which she eats without a table-cloth, and then repairs to the gin-shop to wash it down, nothing can be done. This class will gradually die out as civilisation advances. This is seen, even in the present day, in America.

We have endeavoured throughout this book to give chiefly directions about those dishes which will replace meat. For instance, the vast majority of pies and puddings will remain the same, and need no detailed treatment here. Butter supplies the place of suet or lard, and any ordinary, cookery-book will be found sufficient for the purpose; but it is in dealing with soups, sauces, rice, macaroni, and vegetables, sent to table under new conditions, that we hope this book will be found most useful.

As a rule, English women cooks, especially when their title to the name depends upon their being the mistress of the house, will often find that soups and sauces are a weak point. Do not despise, in cooking, little things. Those who really understand such matters will know how vast is the difference in flavour occasioned by the addition of that pinch of thyme or teaspoonful of savoury herbs, and yet there are tens of thousands of houses, where meat is eaten every day, who never had a bottle of thyme at their disposal in their lives. As we have said, if we are going to make a great saving on meat, we can well afford a few trifles, so long as they are trifles. A sixpenny bottle of thyme will last for months; and if we give up our gravy beef, or piece of pickled pork, or two-pennyworth of bones, as the case may be, surely we can afford a little indulgence of this kind.

Of the wholesomeness of fresh fruit all are agreed; and as people become more advanced vegetarians, the desire for fruit and nuts will follow in due course. In future years, as the demand increases, the supply will increase; but this is a question of time. Lookers-on often see more of the game than the players. It is not because the sudden change might not be beneficial, but because sudden changes are only likely to be effected in rare instances, that we have taken the view we have. Prejudice is strong, and it would be very difficult to persuade persons, unless they had been gradually brought to the change, to regard nuts in the light of food. To suggest a meal off Brazil nuts would to many have a tendency to put vegetarianism in a ridiculous light, and nothing kills so readily as ridicule.

In conclusion, it will be observed that from time to time we have used the expression, "if wine be allowed." There is no necessary connection between vegetarianism and teetotalism, but it would be affectation to deny the fact that they are generally connected. Of the numerous arguments brought forward by the advocates of vegetarianism, one is that, in the opinion of many who speak with authority, a vegetarian diet is best adapted to those--of whom, unfortunately, there are many--who, from time to time, have a craving for more stimulant than is beneficial to their health. Many medical men are of the opinion that large meat-eaters require alcoholic stimulant, and that they can give up the latter more easily by abstaining from the former. This is a question for medical men to decide, as it does not properly come into the province of the cook.

VEGETARIAN COOKERY

SOUPS.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.

We think these few preliminary observations necessary as we have to overcome a very strong English prejudice, which is too apt to despise everything of which the remark can be made--"Ah! but there is very little nourishment in it." Vegetarian soups, as a rule, and especially the thin ones, must be regarded as a light and pleasant flavouring which, with a small piece of white bread enables the most obstinately delicate stomach to commence a repast that experience has found best adapted to its requirements.

Again, practically, we must avoid giving too many ingredients. Novices in the art of cooking are, of course, unable to distinguish between those vegetables that are absolutely essential and those added to give a slight extra flavour, but which make very little difference to the soup whether they are added or not. We are often directed to add a few leaves of tarragon, or chervil, or a handful of sorrel. Of course, in a large kitchen, presided over by a Francatelli, these are easily obtainable; but in ordinary private houses, and in most parts of the country, they are not only unobtainable but have never even been heard of at the greengrocer's shop.

In making soups, as a rule, the four vegetables essential are, onion, celery, carrot and turnip; and we place them in their order of merit. In making vegetarian soup it is very important that we should learn how to blend these without making any one flavour too predominant. This can only be learnt by experience. If we have too much onion the soup tastes rank; too much celery will make it bitter; too much carrot often renders the soup sweet; and the turnip overpowers every other flavour. Again, these vegetables vary so much in strength that were we to peel and weigh them the result would not be uniform, in addition to the fact that not one cook in a thousand would take the trouble to do it. Perhaps the most dangerous vegetable with which we have to deal is turnip. These vary so very much in strength that sometimes even one slice of turnip will be found too strong. In flavouring soups with these vegetables, the first care should be to see that they are thoroughly cleansed. In using celery, too much of the green part should be avoided if you wish to make first-rate soup. In using the onions, if they are old and strong, the core can be removed. In using carrot, if you are going to have any soup where vegetables will be cut up and served in the soup, you should always peel off the outside red part of the carrot and reserve it for this purpose, and only use the inside or yellow part for flavouring purposes if is going to be thrown away or to lose its identity by being rubbed through a wire sieve with other vegetables. With regard to turnip, we can only add one word of caution--not too much. We may here mention, before leaving the subject of ingredients, that leeks and garlic are a substitute for onion, and can also be used in conjunction with it.

As a rule, in vegetarian cookery clear soups are rare, and, of course, from an economical point of view, they are not to be compared with thick soups. Some persons, in making stock, recommend what is termed bran tea. Half a pint of bran is boiled in about three pints of water, and a certain amount of nutriment can be extracted from the bran, which also imparts colour.

Soups owe their thickness to two processes. We can thicken the soup by adding flour of various kinds, such as ordinary flour, corn-flour, &c., and soup can also be thickened by having some of the ingredients of which it is composed rubbed through a sieve. This class of soups may be called Purees. For instance, Palestine soup is really a puree of Jerusalem artichokes; ordinary pea soup is a puree of split peas. In making our ordinary vegetarian soups of all kinds, as a rule, all the ingredients should be rubbed through a sieve. The economy of this is obvious on the face of it. In the case of thickening soup by means of some kinds of flour, for richness and flavour there is nothing to equal ordinary flour that has been cooked. This is what Frenchmen call roux.

As white and brown roux are the very backbone of vegetarian cookery a few words of explanation may not be out of place. On referring to the recipe for making white and brown roux, it will be seen that it is simply flour cooked by means of frying it in butter, In white roux each grain of flour is cooked till it is done. In brown roux each grain of flour is cooked till it is done brown. We cannot exaggerate the importance of getting cooks to see the enormous difference between thickening soups or gravy with white or brown roux and simply thickening them with plain butter and flour. The taste of the soup in the two cases is altogether different. The difference is this. Suppose you have just been making some pastry--some good, rich, puff paste--you have got two pies, and, as you probably know, this pastry is simply butter and flour. Place one pie in the oven and bake it till it is a nice rich brown. Now taste the pie-crust. It is probably delicious. Now taste the piece of the pie that has not been baked at all. It is nauseous. The difference is--one is butter and flour that has been cooked, the other is butter and flour that has not been cooked.

One word of warning in conclusion. Cooks should always remember the good old saying--that it is quite possible to have too much of a good thing. They should be particularly warned to bear this in mind in adding herbs, such as ordinary mixed flavouring herbs, or, as they are sometimes called, savoury herbs, and thyme. This is also very important if wine is added to soup, though, as a rule, vegetarians rarely use wine in cooking; but the same principle applies to the substitute for wine--viz., lemon juice. It is equally important to bear this in mind in using white and brown roux. If we make the soup too thick we spoil it, and it is necessary to add water to bring it to its proper consistency, which, of course, diminishes the flavour. The proper consistency of any soup thickened with roux should be that of ordinary cream. Beyond this point the cooked flour will overpower almost every other flavour, and the great beauty of vegetarian cookery is its simplicity, it appeals to a taste that is refined and natural, and not to one that has been depraved.

STOCK.--Strictly speaking, in vegetarian cookery, stock is the goodness and flavouring that can be extracted from vegetables, the chief ones being onion, celery, carrot, and turnip. In order to make stock, take these vegetables, cut them up into small pieces, after having thoroughly cleansed them, place them in a saucepan with sufficient water to cover them, and let them boil gently for several hours. The liquor, when strained off, may be called stock. It can be flavoured with a small quantity of savoury herbs, pepper, and salt, as well as a little mushroom ketchup. It can be coloured with a few drops of Parisian essence, or burnt sugar. Its consistency can be improved by the addition of a small quantity of corn-flour. Sufficient corn-flour must be added not to make it thick but like very thin gum. In a broader sense, the water in which rice, lentils, beans and potatoes have been boiled may be called stock. Again, the water in which macaroni, vermicelli, sparghetti, and all kinds of Italian paste has been boiled, may be called stock. The use of liquors of this kind must be left to the common sense of the cook, as, of course, it would only be obtainable when these materials are required for use.

In the houses of most vegetarians more white roux will be used than brown, consequently more than half should be removed if this is the case when the roux first commences to turn colour. When the brown roux gets cold it has all the appearance of chocolate, and when you use it it is best to scrape off the quantity you require with a spoon, and not add it to soups or sauces in one lump.

N.B.--The onion and celery that was strained off can be used again for flavouring purposes.

APPLE SOUP.--This is a German recipe. Take half a dozen good-sized apples, peel them and remove the core, and boil them in a quart of water with two tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs; add the juice of a lemon, and flavour it with rather less than a quarter of an ounce of powdered cinnamon; sweeten the soup with lump sugar, previously having rubbed six lumps on the outside of the lemon.

ARTICHOKE SOUP.--Take a dozen large Jerusalem artichokes about as big as the fist, or more to make up a similar quantity. Peel them, and, like potatoes, throw them into cold water in order to prevent them turning colour. Boil them in as little water as possible, as they contain a good deal of water themselves, till they are tender and become a pulp, taking care that they do not burn, and therefore it is best to rub the saucepan at the bottom with a piece of butter. Now rub them through a wire sieve and add them to a pint of milk in which a couple of bay-leaves have been boiled. Add also two lumps of sugar and a little white pepper and salt. Serve the soup with fried or toasted bread. This soup can be made much richer by the addition of either a quarter of a pint of cream or a couple of yolks of eggs. If yolks of eggs are added, beat up the yolks separately and add the soup gradually, very hot, but not quite boiling, otherwise the yolks will curdle.

ASPARAGUS SOUP.--Take a good-sized bundle of asparagus, and after a thorough cleansing throw them into a saucepan of boiling water that has been salted. When the tops become tender, drain off the asparagus and throw it into cold water, as by this means we retain the bright green colour; when cold cut off all the best part of the green into little pieces, about half an inch long, then put the remainder of the asparagus--the stalk part--into a saucepan, with a few green onions and a few sprigs of parsley, with about a quart of stock or water; add a teaspoonful of pounded sugar and a very little grated nutmeg. Let this boil till the stalks become quite tender, then rub the whole through a wire sieve and thicken the soup with a little white roux, and colour it a bright green with some spinach extract. Now add the little pieces cut up, and let the whole simmer gently, and serve fried or toasted bread with the soup.

BARLEY SOUP.--Take two tablespoonfuls of pearl barley and wash it in several waters till the water ceases to be discoloured. Put this in a saucepan with about two quarts of water, two onions sliced up, a few potatoes sliced very thin, and about a saltspoonful of thyme. Let the whole boil gently for four or five hours, till the barley is quite soft and eatable. Thicken the soup very slightly with a little white roux, season it with pepper and salt. Before serving the soup, add a tablespoonful of chopped blanched parsley.

BEETROOT SOUP.--This soup is better adapted to the German palate than the English, as it contains both vinegar and sugar, which are very characteristic of German cookery. Take two large beetroots and two good-sized onions, and after peeling the beetroots boil them and mince them finely, adding them, of course, to the water in which they were boiled, or still better, they can be boiled in some sort of stock. Add a very small quantity of corn-flour, to give a slight consistency to the soup, as well as a little pinch of thyme. Next add two tablespoonfuls of vinegar--more or less according to taste--a spoonful of brown sugar, and a little pepper and salt.

BEAN SOUP, OR PUREE OF RED HARICOT BEANS.--Put a quart of red haricot beans into soak overnight, and put a little piece of soda in the water to soften it. The next morning put the beans on to boil in three quarts of water, with some carrot, celery and onion, or the beans can be boiled in some stock made from these vegetables. After the beans are tender, pound them in a mortar, and then rub the whole through a wire sieve, after first removing the carrot, celery and onion. Add a teaspoonful of pounded sugar and about two ounces of butter. Fried or toasted bread should be served with the soup. If the soup is liked thin, of course more water can be added.

BEAN SOUP, OR PUREE OF WHITE HARICOT BEANS.--Proceed exactly as in the above recipe, only substituting white haricot beans for red. It is a great improvement to add a little boiling cream, but of course this makes the soup much more expensive. Some cooks add a spoonful of blanched, chopped parsley to this puree, and Frenchmen generally flavour this soup with garlic.

CABBAGE SOUP.--Take a white cabbage and slice it up, and throw it into some stock or water, with some leeks and slices of turnip. Boil the whole till the vegetables are tender, flavour with pepper and salt. This is sometimes called Cornish broth, though in Cornwall a piece of meat or bones are generally boiled with the vegetables. As no meat, of course, is used, too much water must not be added, but only sufficient liquor must be served to make the vegetables thoroughly moist. Perhaps the consistency can best be described by saying that there should be equal quantities of vegetables and fluid.

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