Read Ebook: The complete servant Being a practical guide to the peculiar duties and business of all descriptions of servants from the housekeeper to the servant of all-work and from the land steward to the foot-boy. With useful receipts and tables by Adams Samuel Servant Adams Sarah

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r use. It will keep six months; when wanted to be used, take a piece about the size of an egg, and mix it with half a pint of water, and squeeze it through a napkin.

Take of decoction of marshmallow roots, 4 oz. water, 1 gallon. Boil 4 pints and strain: then add gum arabic, half a pound, refined sugar, 2 lbs. Evaporate to an extract, then take it from the fire, stir it quickly with the whites of twelve eggs, previously beaten to a froth: then add, while stirring, half an oz. of orange-flower water.

Take of very white gum arabic, and white sugar, each 2 1/4 lbs. with a sufficient quantity of boiling water. Dissolve, strain, and evaporate without boiling, to the consistence of honey: beat up the whites of six eggs with four drachms of orange-flower water, which mix gradually with the paste, and evaporate over a slow fire, stirring it continually till it will not stick to the fingers, it should be very light, spongy, and extremely white.

Take of raisins stoned, 1 lb. currants picked, jujubes, opened, each 4 oz. water, a sufficient quantity. Boil; strain with expression, add sugar, 2 1/2 lbs. gum arabic, 2 1/2 lbs. previously made into a mucilage with some water, and strain; evaporate gently, pour into moulds, finish by drying in a stove and then divide it.

TO PRESERVE FRUITS.

Some rules are necessary to be observed in this branch of confectionary.

In the first place, observe, in making syrups, that the Sugar is well dissolved before it is placed on the fire, otherwise the scum will not rise well, nor the fruit obtain its best colour.

When stone fruits are preserved, cover them with mutton suet rendered, to exclude the air; as air is sure to ruin them.

All wet sweet-meats must be kept dry and cool to preserve them from mouldiness and damp.

Dip a piece of writing paper in brandy, lay it close upon the sweetmeats, cover them tight with paper, and they will keep well for any length of time; but they will inevitably spoil without these precautions.

Put damsons, before they are too ripe, into wide-mouthed bottles, and cork them down tight; then put them into a moderately heated oven, and about three hours will do them; observe that the oven is not too hot, otherwise it will make the fruit fly. All kinds of fruits that are bottled may be done in the same way, and they will keep two years; after they are done, they must be put away with the mouth downward, in a cool place, to keep them from fermenting.

Set an equal quantity of barberries and sugar in a kettle of boiling water, till the sugar is melted and the barberries quite soft; let them remain all night. Put them next day into a preserving pan, and boil them fifteen minutes, then put them into jars, tie them close, and set them by for use.

Take close bunches, whether white or red, not too ripe, and lay them in a jar. Put to them a quarter of a pound of sugar candy, and fill the jar with common brandy. Tie them up close with a bladder, and set them in a dry place.

Having stoned the desired quantity of morello cherries, put a pound and a quarter of fine sugar to every pound; beat and sift it over the cherries, and let them stand all night. Take them out of their sugar, and to every pound of sugar, put two spoonsful of water. Boil and skim it well, and then put in the cherries; boil the sugar over them, and next morning strain them, and to every pound of syrup put half a pound more sugar; boil it till it is a little thicker, then put in the cherries and let them boil gently. The next day strain them, put them in a stove and turn them every day till they are dry.

The best kind is clarified by merely melting it in a water bath, and taking off the scum; the middling kind by dissolving it in water, adding the white of an egg to each pint of the solution; and boiling it down to its original consistence, skimming it from time to time. The inferior kind requires solution in water, boiling the solution with one pound of charcoal, to 25 pounds of honey, adding, when an excess of acid is apprehended, a small quantity of chalk or oyster-shell powder; next by straining it several times through flannel, and reducing the solution to its original consistence by evaporation.

Free them from their cups, stamina, and pistils, put four ounces into one pound of sugar boiled to a candy height, and poured on a slab, so as to be formed into cakes.

Gather plums, apricots, cherries, peaches, and other juicy fruits, before they are perfectly ripe, and soak them for some hours in hard, or alum water, to make them firm; as the moisture of the fruit weakens the spirit, it ought to be strong, therefore, add five ounces of sugar to each quart of spirit.

Cut a hole at the stem end of the oranges, the size of sixpence, take out all the pulp, put the oranges into cold water for two days, changing it twice a day; boil them rather more than an hour, but do not cover them, as it will spoil the colour; have ready a good syrup, into which put the oranges, and boil them till they look clear; then take out the seeds, skins, &c. from the pulp first taken out of the oranges, and add to it one of the whole oranges, previously boiled, with an equal weight of sugar to it and the pulp; boil this together till it looks clear, over a slow fire, and when cold fill the oranges with this marmalade, and put on the tops; cover them with syrup, and put brandy paper on the top of the jar. It is better to take out the inside at first, to preserve the fine flavour of the juice and pulp, which would be injured by boiling in the water.

Take large cucumbers, green, and free from seed, put them in a jar of strong salt and water, with vine leaves on the top, set them by the fire side till they are yellow; then wash and set them over a slow fire in alum and water, covered with vine leaves; let them boil till they become green; take them off, and let them stand in the liquor till cold: then quarter them, and take out the seed and pulp; put them in cold spring water, changing it twice a day for three days. Have ready a syrup made thus: to one pound of loaf sugar, half an ounce of ginger bruised, with as much water as will wet it; when it is quite free from scum, put in, when boiling, the rind of a lemon and juice; when quite cold, pour the syrup on the melons. If the syrup is too thin, after standing two or three days, boil it again, and add a little more sugar. A spoonful of rum, gives it the West-Indian flavour. Girkins may be done the same way. One ounce of alum, when pounded, is sufficient for a dozen melons of a middling size.

Take an equal weight of fruit and double refined sugar, lay the former in a large dish, and sprinkle half the sugar in fine powder; give a gentle shake to the dish, that the sugar may touch the under side of the fruit. Next day make a thin syrup with the remainder of the sugar; and allow one pint of red currant juice, to every three pounds of strawberries; in this simmer them until sufficiently jellied. Choose the largest scarlets, not dead ripe.

Infuse young apricots before their stones become hard, into a pan of cold spring water, with plenty of vine leaves; set them over a slow fire until they are quite yellow, then take them out and rub them with a flannel and salt to take off the lint; put them into the pan to the same water and leaves, cover them close at a distance from the fire, until they are a fine light green, then pick out all the bad ones. Boil the best gently two or three times in a thin syrup, and let them be quite cold each time before you boil them. When they look plump and clear, make a syrup of double refined sugar, but not too thick; give your apricots a gentle boil in it, and then put them into the pots or glasses, dip a paper in brandy, lay it over them, tie them close, and keep them in a dry place.

The stalks are to be boiled for a quarter of an hour in water, to take away their bitterness, and some of the strong scent; they are then to be put into syrup, boiled to a full candied height, and kept on the fire, until they appear quite dry, and then taken out and drained.

Is prepared nearly in the same manner as candied angelica, but the roots are only slit, and washed three or four times in cold water, before they are put into the syrup.

Put an ounce of roche alum beat very fine, into a large pan of boiling hard water; place a few gooseberries at the bottom of a hair sieve, and hold them in the water till they turn white. Then take out the sieve, and spread the gooseberries between two cloths; put more into the sieve, and repeat it till they are all done: Put the water into a glazed pot until the next day, then put the gooseberries into wide-mouthed bottles; pick out all the cracked and broken ones, pour the water clear out of the pot, and fill the bottles with it, cork them loosely, and let them stand a fortnight. If they rise to the corks, draw them out and let them stand two or three days uncorked, then cork them close again.

PICKLING.

This branch of domestic economy comprises a great variety of articles which are essentially necessary to the convenience of families.

It is too prevalent a practice to make use of brass utensils to give pickles a fine colour. This pernicious custom is easily avoided by heating the liquor and keeping it in a proper degree of warmth before it is poured upon the pickle. Stone or glass jars are the best adapted for sound keeping.

Pickles should never be handled with the fingers, but taken out by a spoon, with holes in it, kept for the purpose.

The articles to be pickled should be perforated with a larding pin, in several places, by which means they will the more readily imbibe the flavour of the pickle.

The spices, &c. generally used, are those mentioned in the following receipt for walnuts.

Make a brine of salt and water, with a quarter of a pound of salt to a quart of water. Soak the walnuts in this for a week, and if you wish to have them ready the sooner, run a larding pin through them, in half a dozen places, which will make them much softer and better flavoured. Put them into a stew-pan with the brine, and give them a gentle simmer. Lay them on a sieve to drain, then put them on a fish plate in the open air, a couple of days, or till they turn black. Put them into unglazed or stone jars, about three parts full, and fill up the jars with the following pickle; and when they have been done about a week, open them and fill them up again, and so on continually, or else they will be spoiled.

Put a sufficient quantity into salt and water for nine days, observing to change the water every day; next put them into jars and pour fresh boiling salt and water over them, cover them close up till they are cold, then make a second decoction of salt and water, and pour it on boiling. When it is cold drain the onions on a hair sieve, and put them into wide-mouthed bottles; fill them up with distilled vinegar; put into every bottle a slice or two of ginger, a blade of mace, and a tea-spoonful of sweet oil, which will keep the onions white. Cork them well up, and keep them in a dry place.

In boiling it for the table, two hours is the period for it to be on the fire. It forms an excellent nutritious and antiscorbutic food for winter use.

This consists of all kinds of pickles mixed and put into one large jar--girkins, sliced cucumbers, button onions, cauliflowers, broken in pieces. Salt them, or put them in a large hair sieve in the sun to dry for three days, then scald them in vinegar for a few minutes; when cold put them together. Cut a large white cabbage in quarters, with the outside leaves taken off and cut fine, salt it, and put it in the sun to dry for three or four days; then scald it in vinegar, the same as cauliflower, carrots, three parts boiled in vinegar and a little bay salt; French beans, rock-samphire, reddish pods, and nastertiums, all go through the same process as girkins, capsicums, &c. To one gallon of vinegar put four ounces of ginger bruised, two ounces of whole white pepper, two ounces of allspice, half an ounce of chillies bruised, four ounces of turmeric, one pound of the best mustard, half a pound of shalots, one ounce of garlic and half a pound of bay salt. The vinegar, spice, and other ingredients, except the mustard, must boil half an hour; then strain it into a pan, put the mustard into a large basin, with a little vinegar; mix it quite fine and free from lumps, then add more; when well mixed put it to the vinegar just strained off, and when quite cold put the pickles into a large pan, and the liquor over them; stir them repeatedly so as to mix them all; finally, put them into a jar, and tie them over first with a bladder, and afterwards with leather. The capsicums want no preparation.

Put what quantity is wanted into a clean pan, throw over it two or three handsful of salt, and cover it with spring water for twenty-four hours; next put it into a clean saucepan, throw in a handful of salt, and cover it with good vinegar. Close the pan tight, set it over a slow fire, and let it stand till the samphire is green and crisp; then take it off instantly, for should it remain till it is soft, it will be totally spoiled. Put it into the pickling pot and cover it close; when it is quite cold tie it down with a bladder and leather, and set it by for use. Samphire may be preserved all the year by keeping it in a very strong brine of salt and water, and just before using it, put it for a few minutes into some of the best vinegar.

Put the smallest that can be got into spring water, and rub them with a piece of new flannel dipped in salt. Throw them into cold water as they are cleaned, which will make them keep their colour; next put them into a saucepan with a handful of salt upon them. Cover them close and set them over the fire four or five minutes, or till the heat draws the liquor from them; next lay them betwixt two dry cloths till they are cold; put them into glass bottles and fill them up with distilled vinegar, with a blade of mace, and a teaspoonful of sweet oil in every bottle; cork them up close and set them in a dry cool place; as a substitute for distilled vinegar, use white wine vinegar, or ale. Allegon will do, but it must be boiled with a little mace, salt, and a few slices of ginger, and it must be quite cold before it is poured upon the mushrooms.

Bruise a quantity of well-grown flaps of mushrooms with the hands, and then strew a fair proportion of salt over them; let them stand all night, and the next day put them into stew-pans; set them in a quick oven for twelve hours, and strain them through a hair sieve. To every gallon of liquor put of cloves, Jamaica black pepper, and ginger, one ounce each, and half a pound of common salt; set it on a slow fire, and let it boil till half the liquor is wasted; then put it into a clean pot, and when cold bottle it for use.

Let them be as free from spots as possible; take the smallest that can be got, put them into strong salt and water for nine days, till they become yellow; stir them at least twice a day; should they become perfectly yellow, pour the water off and cover them with plenty of vine leaves. Set the water over the fire, and when it boils, pour it over them, and set them upon the earth to keep warm. When the water is almost cold make it boil again, and pour it upon them; proceed thus till they are of a fine green, which they will be in four or five times; keep them well covered with vine leaves, with a cloth and dish over the top to keep in the steam, which will help to green them.

When they are greened put them in a hair sieve to drain, and then to every two quarts of white wine vinegar put half an ounce of mace, ten or twelve cloves, an ounce of ginger cut into slices, an ounce of black pepper, and a handful of salt. Boil them all together for five minutes; pour it hot on the pickles, and tie them down for use. They may also be pickled with ale, ale vinegar, or distilled vinegar, and adding three or four cloves of garlic and shalots.

To a peck of sprats put two pounds of salt, three ounces of bay-salt, one pound of salt-petre, two ounces of prunella, and a few grains of cochineal; pound all in a mortar, put into a stone pan first a layer of sprats, and then one of the compound, and so on alternately to the top. Press them down hard; cover them close for six months, and they will be fit for use, and will really produce a most excellent flavoured sauce.

Boil the fish gently till done, and then take it up, strain the liquor, add bay leaves, pepper corns, and salt; give these a boil, and when cold add the best vinegar to them; then put the whole sufficiently over the fish to cover it, and let it remain a month at least.

Fish may be preserved in a dry state, and perfectly fresh, by means of sugar alone, and even with a very small quantity of it.

Fresh fish may be kept in that state for some days, so as to be as good when boiled as if just caught. If dried, and kept free from mouldiness, there seems no limit to their preservation; and they are much better in this way than when salted. The sugar gives no disagreeable taste.

This process is particularly valuable in making what is called kippered salmon; and the fish preserved in this manner are far superior in quality and flavour to those which are salted or smoked. If desired, as much salt may be used as to give the taste that may be required; but this substance does not conduce to their preservation.

In the preparation, it is barely necessary to open the fish, and to apply the sugar to the muscular parts, placing it in a horizontal position for two or three days, that this substance may penetrate. After this it may be dried; and it is only further necessary to wipe and ventilate it occasionally, to prevent mouldiness.

A table spoonful of brown sugar is sufficient in this manner for a salmon of five or six pounds weight; and if salt is desired, a tea spoonful or more may be added. Saltpetre may be used instead, in the same proportion, if it is desired to make the kipper hard.

For three hams pound and mix together half a peck of salt, half an ounce of salt prunella, three ounces of salt-petre, and four pounds of coarse salt; rub the hams well with this, and lay what is to spare over them, let them lie three days, then hang them up. Take the pickle in which the hams were, put water enough to cover the hams, with more common salt, till it will bear an egg, then boil and skim it well, put it in the salting tub, and the next morning put it in the hams; keep them down the same as pickled pork; in a fortnight take them out of the liquor, rub them well with brine, and hang them up to dry.

Lay the meat on a table or in a tub with a double bottom, that the brine may drain off as fast as it forms, rub the salt well in, and be careful to apply it to every niche; afterwards put it into either of the above utensils; when it must be frequently turned, after the brine has ceased running, it must be quite buried in salt, and kept closely packed. Meat which has had the bones taken out is the best for salting. In some places the salted meat is pressed by heavy weights, or a screw, to extract the moisture sooner.

A good brine is made of bay salt and water, thoroughly saturated, so that some of the salt remains undissolved; into this brine the substances to be preserved are plunged, and kept covered with it. Among vegetables, French beans, artichokes, olives, and the different sorts of samphire, may be thus preserved, and among animals, herrings.

Mix brown sugar, bay salt, common salt, each two pounds, saltpetre eight ounces, water two gallons; this pickle gives meats a fine red colour, while the sugar renders them mild and of excellent flavour.--Large quantities are to be managed by the above proportions.

BRITISH WINES.

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