_Mode_.--Rub the b.u.t.ter into the flour, add the sugar, and mix the whole as lightly as possible to a smooth paste, with the yolks of eggs well beaten, and the milk. The proportion of the latter ingredient must be judged of by the size of the eggs: if these are large, so much will not be required, and more if the eggs are smaller.
_Average cost_, 1s. per lb.
SUGAR AND BEETROOT.--There are two sorts of Beet,--white and red; occasionally, in the south, a yellow variety is met with.
Beetroot contains twenty parts sugar. Everybody knows that the beet has competed with the sugar-cane, and a great part of the French sugar is manufactured from beet. Beetroot has a refreshing, composing, and slightly purgative quality. The young leaves, when cooked, are a subst.i.tute for spinach; they are also useful for mixing with sorrel, to lessen its acidity. The large ribs of the leaves are serviceable in various culinary preparations; the root also may be prepared in several ways, but its most general use is in salad. Some writers upon the subject have expressed their opinion that beetroot is easily digested, but those who have taken pains to carefully a.n.a.lyze its qualities make quite a contrary statement. Youth, of course, can digest it; but to persons of a certain age beet is very indigestible, or rather, it does not digest at all. It is not the sugary pulp which is indigestible, but its fibrous network that resists the action of the gastric organs. Thus, when the root is reduced to a puree, almost any person may eat it.
FRENCH SUGAR.--It had long been thought that tropical heat was not necessary to form sugar, and, about 1740, it was discovered that many plants of the temperate zone, and amongst others the beet, contained it. Towards the beginning of the 19th century, circ.u.mstances having, in France, made sugar scarce, and consequently dear, the government caused inquiries to be inst.i.tuted as to the possibility of finding a subst.i.tute for it.
Accordingly, it was ascertained that sugar exists in the whole vegetable kingdom; that it is to be found in the grape, chestnut, potato; but that, far above all, the beet contains it in a large proportion. Thus the beet became an object of the most careful culture; and many experiments went to prove that in this respect the old world was independent of the new. Many manufactories came into existence in all parts of France, and the making of sugar became naturalized in that country.
COMMON SHORT CRUST.
1212. INGREDIENTS.--To every pound of flour allow 2 oz. of sifted sugar, 3 oz. of b.u.t.ter, about 1/2 pint of boiling milk.
_Mode_.--Crumble the b.u.t.ter into the flour as finely as possible, add the sugar, and work the whole up to a smooth paste with the boiling milk. Roll it out thin, and bake in a moderate oven.
_Average cost_, 6d. per lb.
QUALITIES OF SUGAR.--Sugars obtained from various plants are in fact, of the same nature, and have no intrinsic difference when they have become equally purified by the same processes. Taste, crystallization, colour, weight, are absolutely identical; and the most accurate observer cannot distinguish the one from the other.
b.u.t.tER CRUST, for Boiled Puddings.
1213. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 6 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1/2 pint of water.
_Mode_.--With a knife, work the flour to a smooth paste with 1/2 pint of water; roll the crust out rather thin; place the b.u.t.ter over it in small pieces; dredge lightly over it some flour, and fold the paste over; repeat the rolling once more, and the crust will be ready for use. It may be enriched by adding another 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter; but, for ordinary purposes, the above quant.i.ty will be found quite sufficient.
_Average cost_, 6d. per lb.
DRIPPING CRUST, for Kitchen Puddings, Pies, &c.
1214. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 6 oz. of clarified beef dripping, 1/2 pint of water.
_Mode_.--After having clarified the dripping, by either of the recipes No. 621 or 622, weigh it, and to every lb. of flour allow the above proportion of dripping. With a knife, work the flour into a smooth paste with the water, rolling it out 3 times, each time placing on the crust 2 oz. of the dripping, broken into small pieces. If this paste is lightly made, if good dripping is used, and _not too much_ of it, it will be found good; and by the addition of two tablespoonfuls of fine moist sugar, it may be converted into a common short crust for fruit pies.
_Average cost_, 4d. per pound.
WATER:--WHAT THE ANCIENTS THOUGHT OF IT.--All the nations of antiquity possessed great veneration for water: thus, the Egyptians offered prayers and homage to water, and the Nile was an especial object of their adoration; the Persians would not wash their hands; the Scythians honoured the Danube; the Greeks and Romans erected altars to the fountains and rivers; and some of the architectural embellishments executed for fountains in Greece were remarkable for their beauty and delicacy. The purity of the water was a great object of the care of the ancients; and we learn that the Athenians appointed four officers to keep watch and ward over the water in their city. These men had to keep the fountains in order and clean the reservoirs, so that the water might be preserved pure and limpid. Like officers were appointed in other Greek cities.
SUET CRUST, for Pies or Puddings.
1215. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 5 or 6 oz. of beef suet, 1/2 pint of water.
_Mode_.--Free the suet from skin and shreds; chop it extremely fine, and rub it well into the flour; work the whole to a smooth paste with the above proportion of water; roll it out, and it is ready for use. This crust is quite rich enough for ordinary purposes, but when a better one is desired, use from 1/2 to 3/4 lb. of suet to every lb. of flour. Some cooks, for rich crusts, pound the suet in a mortar, with a small quant.i.ty of b.u.t.ter. It should then be laid on the paste in small pieces, the same as for puff-crust, and will be found exceedingly nice for hot tarts. 5 oz. of suet to every lb. of flour will make a very good crust; and even 1/4 lb. will answer very well for children, or where the crust is wanted very plain.
_Average cost_, 5d. per lb.
PATE BRISEE, or FRENCH CRUST, for Raised Pies.
1216. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 1/2 saltspoonful of salt, 2 eggs, 1/3 pint of water, 6 oz. of b.u.t.ter.
_Mode_.--Spread the flour, which should be sifted and thoroughly dry, on the paste-board; make a hole in the centre, into which put the b.u.t.ter; work it lightly into the flour, and when quite fine, add the salt; work the whole into a smooth paste with the eggs (yolks and whites) and water, and make it very firm. Knead the paste well, and let it be rather stiff, that the sides of the pie may be easily raised, and that they do not afterwards tumble or shrink.
_Average cost_, 1s. per lb.
_Note_.--This paste may be very much enriched by making it with equal quant.i.ties of flour and b.u.t.ter; but then it is not so easily raised as when made plainer.
WATER SUPPLY IN ROME.--Nothing in Italy is more extraordinary than the remains of the ancient aqueducts. At first, the Romans were contented with the water from the Tiber. Ancus Martius was the first to commence the building of aqueducts destined to convey the water of the fountain of Piconia from Tibur to Rome, a distance of some 33,000 paces. Appius Claudius continued the good work, and to him is due the completion of the celebrated Appian Way. In time, the gigantic waterways greatly multiplied, and, by the reign of Nero, there were constructed nine princ.i.p.al aqueducts, the pipes of which were of bricks, baked tiles, stone, lead, or wood. According to the calculation of Vigenerus, half a million hogsheads of water were conveyed into Rome every day, by upwards of 10,000 small pipes not one-third of an inch in diameter. The water was received in large closed basins, above which rose splendid monuments: these basins supplied other subterranean conduits, connected with various quarters of the city, and these conveyed water to small reservoirs furnished with taps for the exclusive use of certain streets. The water which was not drinkable ran out, by means of large pipes, into extensive inclosures, where it served to water cattle. At these places the people wished their linen; and here, too, was a supply of the necessary element in case of fire.
COMMON CRUST FOE RAISED PIES.
1217. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 1/2 pint of water, 1-1/2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1-1/2 oz. of lard, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt.
_Mode_.--Put into a saucepan the water; when it boils, add the b.u.t.ter and lard; and when these are melted, make a hole in the middle of the flour; pour in the water gradually; beat it well with a wooden spoon, and be particular in not making the paste too soft. When it is well mixed, knead it with the hands until quite stiff, dredging a little flour over the paste and board, to prevent them from sticking. When it is well kneaded, place it before the fire, with a cloth covered over it, for a few minutes; it will then be more easily worked into shape. This paste does not taste so nicely as the preceding one, but is worked with greater facility, and answers just as well for raised pies, for the crust is seldom eaten.
_Average cost_, 5d, per lb.
LARD OR FLEAD CRUST.
1218. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 1/2 lb. of lard or flead, 1/2 pint of water, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt.
_Mode_.--Clear the flead free from skin, and slice it into thin flakes; rub it into the flour, add the salt, and work the whole into a smooth paste, with the above proportion of water; fold the paste over two or three times, beat it well with the rolling-pin, roll it out, and it will be ready for use. The crust made from this will be found extremely light, and may be made into cakes or tarts; it may also be very much enriched by adding more flead to the same proportion of flour.
_Average cost_, 8d. per lb.
NUTRITIOUS QUALITIES OF FLOUR.--The gluten of grain and the alb.u.men of vegetable juices are identical in composition with the alb.u.men of blood. Vegetable caseine has also the composition of animal caseine. The finest wheat flour contains more starch than the coa.r.s.er; the bran of wheat is proportionably richer in gluten. Rye and rye-bread contain a substance resembling starch-gum (or dextrine, as it is called) in its properties, which is very easily converted into sugar. The starch of barley approaches in many properties to cellulose, and is, therefore, less digestible. Oats are particularly rich in plastic substances; Scotch oats are richer than those grown in England or in Germany. This kind of grain contains in its ashes, after deduction of the silica of the husks, very nearly the same ingredients as are found in the ashes of the juice of flesh.
Fine American flour is one of the varieties which is richest in gluten, and is consequently one of the most nutritious.
ALMOND CHEESECAKES.
1219. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of sweet almonds, 4 bitter ones, 3 eggs, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, the rind of 1/4 lemon, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 3 oz. of sugar.
_Mode_.--Blanch and pound the almonds smoothly in a mortar, with a little rose- or spring-water; stir in the eggs, which should be well beaten, and the b.u.t.ter, which should be warmed; add the grated lemon-peel and -juice, sweeten, and stir well until the whole is thoroughly mixed. Line some pattypans with puff-paste, put in the mixture, and bake for 20 minutes, or rather less in a quick oven.
_Time_.--20 minutes, or rather less.
_Average cost_, 10d.
_Sufficient_ for about 12 cheesecakes.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ALMOND AND BLOSSOM.]
ALMONDS.--Almonds are the fruit of the _Amygdalus commenis_, and are cultivated throughout the whole of the south of Europe, Syria, Persia, and Northern Africa; but England is mostly supplied with those which are grown in Spain and the south of France. They are distinguished into Sweet and Bitter, the produce of different varieties. Of the sweet, there are two varieties, distinguished in commerce by the names of Jordan and Valentia almonds. The former are imported from Malaga, and are longer, narrower, more pointed, and more highly esteemed than the latter, which are imported from Valentia. Bitter almonds are princ.i.p.ally obtained from Morocco, and are exported from Mogador.
ALMOND PASTE, for Second-Course Dishes.
1220. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of sweet almonds, 6 bitter ones, 1 lb. of very finely sifted sugar, the whites of 2 eggs.