re 
 
THE EPICURE’'S ALMANAC, 
 
 OR 
 
 DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 
 
—m 
 
 a 
 S 
 
THE 
 
 EPICURE’S ALMANAC; 
 
 OR 
 
 Dtary of Good Atbing; 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 A CHOICE AND ORIGINAL RECEIPT OR A VALUABLE HINT FOR 
 EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR. 
 
 THE 
 
 RESULT OF ACTUAL EXPERIENCE, 
 
 APPLICABLE TO THE ENJOYMENT OF THE GOOD THINGS OF THIS LIFF, 
 CONSISTENTLY WITH THE VIEWS OF THOSE WHO STUDY 
 GENTEEL ECONOMY. 
 
 BY 
 
 BENSON E. HILL, 
 
 AUTHOR OF ‘‘ RECOLLECTIONS OF AN ARTILLERY OFFICER,” 
 ‘©4 PINCH OF SNUFF,” &e. &c. 
 
 “ Pan shall remain.”—MIDAs. 
 
 LONDON: 
 HOW AND PARSONS, 1382, FLEET STREET. 
 
 1841. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 eae 
 
 - Axrnoven it may be said that no apology or expla- 
 nation is required, from one who attempts to serve 
 others, from the result of his own experience, still I 
 feel that I shall prove to the purchasers of this slight 
 manual, the value of the directions it contains, if I 
 account, however briefly, for the way in which I 
 became initiated into the mysteries of “culinary 
 chemistry.” 
 
 That I was born in a city renowned for good eating, 
 I have already recorded; and was, as a child, accus- 
 tomed to the comforts of a ‘good man’s board.” I 
 left the luxuries and delicacies of home to munch mut- 
 ton at Marlow, and feed at Woolwich on beef and 
 stick-jaw, for such was the inelegant, but appropriate 
 name applied to the baked suet-puddings, given as 
 a bonus by the housekeeper of the Royal Military 
 Academy, Leaving these for the Artillery mess, 
 where, if a man does not get his dessert, he is sure of 
 his three courses, 1 must have been deficient in taste 
 had I not acquired some little judgment as a gourmet, 
 or, to quote the learned Mr. Walker, an Aristologist. 
 From this daily banquet, which would have shamed 
 
vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 either Apicius or Lucullus, or forced sighs from Quin 
 or Alexander Pope,—by the way, not the poet who 
 said, 
 ‘To day be bread and peace my lot !”’ 
 
 but the actor, who, when dining with Dr. Kitchiner, 
 burst into tears on hearing that there was a haunch of 
 venison yet to come, fearing that he had not appetite 
 enough left to do it justice—I was, in due time, sent on 
 a tour of duty, to an out quarter, where I found no mess, 
 but any I might choose to prepare for myself, and a 
 soldier-servant, who thought a rasher of bacon with 
 bread, cheese, and onions, a feast for the gods. Often 
 has he given me strong and convincing proof of his ad- 
 oration to the tear-extracting bulb. ’Tis true I had 
 attached to my barrack-room, one kitchen, one ditto 
 chair, one ditto table, one ditto set of fire-irons,—and, 
 will it be believed that so considerate a thought should 
 have entered the hearts and heads of the Barrack- 
 board ?—one ditto bellows ! 
 
 My first directions, on viewing this state of things, 
 were to order such essentials to domestic comfort as a 
 teakettle, saucepan, frying-pan, and gridiron; though 
 who was to superintend the use of the two latter I 
 knew not at the moment. Finding that my man was 
 not a man cook, I began to experimentalize on my 
 
 own account; and as the labour brought its own 
 
INTRODUCTION, vil 
 
 reward, I acquired a certain taste for novelties not too 
 expensive or troublesome, and trying my hand at their 
 concoction. 
 
 Many of the recipes here given are the results— 
 improvements which suggested themselves to me in 
 the course of my fry and stewpan studies. These are 
 of the economical class. 
 
 Others, demanding an outlay not at all consistent 
 with a poor subaltern as I then was, or of a poor 
 author, as I now am, have been furnished me by 
 ladies at whose tables the various tempting prepara- 
 tions have been submitted to my judgment ; and as in 
 most cases I declared conscientiously their excellence, 
 my verdict was rewarded by the gratifying promise— 
 ‘You shall have the receipt.” 
 
 Among others who have performed this promise, 
 is Mrs. W. Sams, of Upper Sheen, to whom and to the 
 few like her, I here dedicate my grateful respect. 
 
 Foreign service also taxing my inventiveness to 
 make some variety in my rations, led me to the know- 
 ledge of many valuable hints connected with Con- 
 tinental dishes ; of these I have availed myself, in my 
 present Brochure ; a Gallic name more appropriate to 
 this than to many other works which bear it. 
 
 It will, I trust, be observed that my object has been 
 to render my directions perfectly lucid. I have, where 
 
Vill INTRODUCTION. 
 
 MS. receipts have been presented me, entirely removed 
 the old-fashioned phraseology of “Split your head in 
 half, take out your brains, and lay them on your 
 dish.” ‘“ Pick your nose, and cut out your tongue.” 
 Nay, so far had this strange figure of speech intruded 
 on the style of one of my fair contributors, that, in a 
 direction for fabricating black puddings, I found the 
 appalling words, ‘‘ Stuff your g—ts.”—A charge most 
 supererogatory to Britons with good fare before them. 
 
 In these days, when pictorial illustrations are so 
 much the rage, it is somewhat strange that I have 
 ventured to offer this Work, so intimately connected 
 with good dishes, without having furnished my readers 
 with plates. I trust, however, I shall suggest to their 
 minds some very agreeable cuts. 
 
 Let none who know me laugh at such a work from 
 
 my hands, but remember that those at whose tables 
 ‘¢'Your very good mutton’s a very good treat,”’ 
 
 have imaginations of the most civic sumptuousness. 
 The celebrated recipe for roasting a goose alive, and 
 forcing the bird to stuff and baste herself, emanated 
 from the cell of a monk, whose best banquets were 
 sauceless salt-fish, black bread, and raw carrots. 
 
 B. E. H. 
 
 Brompton, April, 1841. 
 
THE 
 EPICURH’S ALMANAC, 
 Wiarp of Groot Wibing. 
 <p 
 
 JANUARY. 
 
 Most people resolve upon “turning over a new 
 leaf” on the commencement of a new year, and mark 
 their determination by some special act of goodness on 
 the arrival of the 1st of January. It is, at least, right 
 to make a good beginning; and, as we are told that 
 ‘¢ Virtue is its own reward,” they cannot do better 
 than give directions for the following dish, which, if 
 properly dressed, would recompense any man for the 
 exercise of all the cardinal virtues :— 
 
 lest. StewED Berer-STeak. 
 
 Peel and chop two Spanish onions, cut into small 
 parts four pickled walnuts, and put them at the bottom 
 of a stew-pan; add a tea-cupful of mushroom catchup, 
 * two tea-spoonfuls of walnut ditto, one of shalot, and 
 B 
 
2 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 January 2—3. 
 
 one of Chile vinegar. See that the rump-steak be cut 
 of a proper thickness, about three quarters of an inch, 
 and beat it flat with a rolling-pin, place the meat on 
 the top of the onions, &c., let it stew for one hour and 
 a half, turning it every twenty minutes. Ten minutes 
 before serving up, throw in a dozen oysters, with their 
 liquor strained through a fine sieve. 
 
 2nd. CoFFEE. 
 
 I have tried nearly every method of preparing the 
 Arabian beverage; and find, after all, that there is no 
 surer way of having coffee clear and strong, than pur- 
 suing the plan here given. 
 
 Beat up an egg—two for a large pot, and mix it 
 well with the coffee till you have formed it into a 
 ball; fill the pot with cold water, allowing room enough 
 to putin the ingredients ; let it simmer very gently for 
 an hour, but do not think of stirring it on any account: 
 just before it is required put the pot on the fire and 
 warm it well; but as you value the true aroma, take 
 care that it does not boil. Pour it off gently, and you 
 will have as pure and as strong an extract of the Indian 
 berry as you can desire. Use white sugar candy, in 
 powder, in preference to sugar ; cream, if attainable; 
 if not, boiled milk. 
 
 ord. IckING FoR CAKES. 
 
 Reduce a pound of the best loaf sugar to a very fine 
 powder in a mortar; beat up the white of an egg; add 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 3 
 January 4—6. 
 
 this to the sugar, mixing it well, and then squeeze in 
 the juice of a lemon, mixing that also thoroughly. 
 With the blade of a knife spread this smoothly over the 
 top of the cake whilst hot. 
 
 Ath. Roast Meat. 
 
 That old fashioned implement the spit is fast falling 
 into disuse, and for the best of reasons,—the insertion 
 of such a body of steel or iron into the very centre of 
 the joint, naturally allowed the juices to escape; and 
 if the spit was not kept perfectly bright and clean, the 
 meat which came in contact with it would become 
 tainted. A cradle-spit is a sensible invention, but it is 
 seldom required, except for a haunch of venison, a very 
 large sirloin, or a roasting-pig. A good pendant jack, 
 with a collection of hooks, suited to the size of joints, 
 poultry, hare, &c., &c., answers every purpose. 
 
 5th. OystER Soup. 
 
 Get four pounds of skate, boil it down over a 
 slow fire, with abundance of water, till you have the 
 quantity you require to fill a tureen. When you have 
 made this consommé, add salt, spice, &c., to your taste, 
 and twenty minutes before serving throw in three 
 dozen oysters, with their liquor strained as before 
 directed. 
 
 6th. Hare In LARDER. 
 
 If you desire the shoulders or wings of your hare 
 “to take the fire,” hang puss by her head, instead of 
 B2 
 
4 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 January 7—8. 
 
 by her hind legs, the juices will be more equally dis- 
 tributed, and the cooking thereby rendered easier. 
 
 The sooner a hare is paunched after killing the 
 better, despite old prejudices, 
 
 7th. Catr’s Foor JELLy. 
 
 In three quarts of water let one neat’s foot simmer 
 a whole day ; skim the liquor when cold, and put it 
 into a stew-pan with a pint of sherry, one glass of 
 brandy, the whites and shells of eight eggs, the peel 
 of two lemons, the juice of six, and of two oranges, 
 one pound of sugar, and one ounce of isinglass. Boil 
 for twenty minutes, then strain through a jelly-bag, 
 stirring the ingredients during the process. 
 
 8th. Peprer Possekt, 
 
 This old English preparation is still used in many 
 parts of the country, as a sovereign sudorific. That it 
 was highly esteemed in the gay days which followed 
 the usurpation of Cromwell, we have no less an 
 authority than “ Glorious John,” as Dryden has been 
 designated by his admirers, and it appears by his 
 mention that it was regarded as a favourite remedy 
 even by the softer sex :— 
 
 ‘Or sick, a pepper posset was her cure.” 
 
 It is concocted as follows :—Put a dozen corns of 
 whole pepper, or, which is far preferable, a dozen all- 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING, 5 
 January 9—10. 
 
 spice, into a pint of milk, and let it simmer slowly ; 
 when it boils, pour in a gill of sherry, and let all boil 
 till the curd becomes hard ; strain off the whey, and 
 drink it hot. 
 
 It may be well to observe, that two good-sized wine- 
 glasses will hold a gill. 
 
 9th. SweEet Breap 
 
 Ts usually boiled and served with parsley and butter, 
 and in this form is an excellent and delicate dish for a 
 valetudinarian. If, however, you desire to have some- 
 thing more savoury at your board, let the sweet bread 
 be well secured with small twine, and roast it before a 
 good bright fire, taking care that it be constantly 
 basted with plenty of fresh butter, and that you allow 
 it twenty-five minutes or half an hour, 
 
 10th. -Yorx-Hovust Ham. 
 
 Any person who has breakfasted, lunched, dined, or 
 supped at the York-House, Bath, if ham formed part 
 of the repast, could not fail to be struck with its 
 peculiarly fine flavour. 
 
 The late Mr. Reilly was so obliging as to impart to 
 me the secret by which his hams had obtained such 
 celebrity, and I have now the satisfaction of giving it 
 to the public. After being well cleaned in fair water, 
 and all the exterior dirt, salt, &c., removed by a scrub- 
 bing-brush, the ham was soaked in warm water suffi- 
 
6 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 January 11. 
 
 _ ciently long to remove the outside skin; then trimmed, 
 placed in a large stew-pan, and slowly cooked, but 
 not in water,—and here lies the secret,—the liquid 
 used for the purpose was Sweer Wort. The effect 
 produced on the meat, both in firmness and flavour, 
 was absolutely superior to the miés-application of 
 Champagne. I have eaten in France ham boiled in 
 this expensive wine, and can only observe, that, in 
 my poor thinking, it was a wicked waste of a most 
 delicious creature-comfort, 
 
 11th. SoLUBLE CAYENNE. 
 
 All true gourmands acknowledge the supremacy of 
 Cayenne as the first of peppers ; but it is very annoy- 
 ing to have a particle of this delicious stimulant “ stick 
 in your throat,” like Macbeth’s “ Amen,” detaching 
 itself from the sauce, fish, or meat, to which it had 
 been applied. To avoid such drawback on the plea- 
 sure of the table, I recommend the adoption of this 
 simple plan :— 
 
 Infuse an ounce of genuine Cayenne in boiling water, 
 enough to cover it; let it stand on the hob for a couple 
 of hours, and then pour the liquor through a fine 
 sieve upon an ounce of basket-salt in a soup plate ; 
 cover this down, and let it cool. You will find the 
 new crystals have absorbed the liquid, and they can be 
 rubbed up to any size required, and placed in your 
 cruet-stand, with the advantage that the new grains 
 will dissolve, and are free from the husk and seed of 
 the pepper-pod, 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 7 
 
 January 12—14. 
 
 It may be well to observe, that whenever Cayenne 
 pepper is mentioned in these pages, the soluble pre- 
 paration is intended to be used. 
 
 12th. Friep Cop’s Tai. 
 
 The tail of a cod-fish, which is scarcely eatable if 
 boiled, can be rendered very palateable and firm by 
 being enveloped in oiled paper, and put in the frying- 
 pan with a sufficient quantity of lard. The process of 
 heating requires as much time as would be occupied 
 in boiling. 
 
 13th. Lec oF Mutton Curttets. 
 
 In winter, a small family may insure a variety of 
 fare by having a leg of mutton divided in half; hang 
 the knuckle, and cut the thick end into slices of about 
 three-quarters of an inch in thickness, sawing the bone 
 in the centre, but leaving the section in the meat. 
 These slices are to be dressed in the pan; two tea-cup- 
 fuls of water, and one of Harvey’s, Reading, Lopresti’s, 
 or any favourite sauce, with a small portion of Cayenne 
 and salt, and two drops of garlic vinegar. 
 
 This is not, I confess, a very economical dish, but a 
 change is often desirable. 
 
 14th. Rice For Curry. 
 
 Rice should never be immersed in water, except 
 that which has been used for cleaning the grain pre- 
 
8 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 January 15—16. 
 
 vious to use. It should be placed in a sieve, and 
 heated by the steam arising from boiling water, the 
 seive so placed in the sauce-pan as to be two or three 
 inches above the fluid. In stirring the rice, a light 
 hand should be used, or you are apt to amalgamate 
 the grains; the criterion of well-dressed rice being to 
 have the grains separate. 
 
 15th. Beet Root anp ONION. 
 
 A root of beet well boiled, and its outside coat 
 taken off, served to table with a Spanish onion boiled, 
 are admirable accompaniments to either beef or mut- 
 ton roasted. If you reside in the country, and can 
 easily procure cream, stew the onion in it: the beet 
 root requires only plain boiling. These vegetables 
 should be eaten with a little salt and Cayenne, with the 
 gravy of the joint poured over them. In dressing 
 them, you can judge by the outside skin of the beet 
 root being easily detached, and from the softness the 
 onion attains either in water or cream. 
 
 16th. Bortep Knuckie or Mutton, 
 
 The half leg mentioned on the 13th may now be 
 advantageously dressed, and sent to table with mashed 
 turnips and caper sauce, forming a contrasted dish to 
 the cutlets from the same joint. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 9 
 
 January 17—19. 
 
 7th. StEwED CHEESE. 
 
 - Good double Gloucester, whilst new, is the best 
 cheese for stewing. Chop the quantity required into 
 small portions, and put them in a basin, covering them 
 with strong ale. Set the basin on the hob, or into the 
 oven of a kitchen range, for three quarters of an hour, 
 stirring now and then. Toast some slices of bread, and 
 make some fresh mustard, then pour the stew over the 
 toast upon a hot plate. A little Cayenne pepper is an 
 excellent addition to this supper dish, 
 
 18th. Catr’s Heart. 
 
 Instead of the usual method of stuffing and roasting, 
 I recommend that the heart be cut open, and broiled 
 like a beef-steak. When thoroughly done, rub a bit 
 of fresh butter over it, and pour into the dish half a 
 tea-cupful of hot mushroom catchup, in which some 
 Cayenne has been dissolved. 
 
 19¢h. Rimo.ape, 
 
 This exquisite sauce, applicable to cold fowl, phea- 
 sant, or meat, is easily concocted. Chop very fine a 
 shalot, and four or five sprigs of parsley. Beat up, 
 quickly, the yolks of a couple of eggs, and on them 
 pour Florence oil till the mixture be as thick as new 
 butter. Add a tea-spoonful of French vinegar, a salt- 
 spoonful of salt, another of Cayenne, and then stir in 
 
 B 3 
 
10 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 January 20—22. 
 
 the shalot and parsley. You will find your trouble 
 well rewarded. 
 
 20th. For Four GERMAN PUDDINGS. 
 
 Mix a quarter of a pound of flour with a quarter of 
 a pound of butter, and thesame weight of loaf-sugar ; 
 beat up four eggs in halfa pint of milk; stir all the 
 materials well together, then divide into four parts ; 
 bake in tea-cups, and serve with sweet sauce or white 
 Wine, 
 
 21st. Burnt ONIons. 
 
 These give a deep colouring to soups and hashes, and 
 are now easily procured at the Italian warehouses. I 
 recommend their purchase, as their preparation is not 
 only tedious, and requiring considerable care, but cer- 
 tain to fill your house with a mal’ aria. 
 
 22nd. F'LOUNDERS. 
 
 Thames flounders are considered by many as very 
 delicate fish ; the objection I have to them is their ex- 
 treme insipidity and absence of flavour: however, to 
 those who think differently, I offer my notion of cook- 
 ing them. 
 
 Let the fish be carefully cleaned, the fins cut off, then 
 washed, and well dried in a cloth: put a handful of 
 salt in the water in which they are boiled, the time they 
 take must be regulated by their size and thickness ; 
 serve them with parsley and butter. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 11 
 January 23—25. 
 
 23rd. Roast Hare, 
 
 In the West of England, and I know no part of the 
 world where good living is better understood, a hare, 
 after being properly stuffed, is basted for the first seven 
 minutes with strong salt and water, a fresh dripping- 
 pan is then put under it, and milk is used, in which 
 about half a pound of butter has been dissolved. The 
 animal is dredged with flour occasionally, and it is cal- 
 culated by cooks who pursue this plan, that when the 
 eyes start from the sockets, the hare is fit to be sent 
 to table. 
 
 24th. Masuep TurNIPs. 
 
 You will very much improve the flavour of this justly 
 favourite dish, by having a table-spoonful of finely 
 powdered loaf-sugar beat up with the vegetable, after 
 it has been well pressed from the water. As the 
 process of mashing occupies some time, the turnips 
 should be warmed up a few minutes before sent to table, 
 by means of a small bit of butter, or half a tea-cup full 
 of cream. 
 
 25th. HasHep Hare. 
 
 Into a pint of beef gravy put a couple of silver 
 onions, and three or four cloves, witha small quantity 
 of Cayenne and salt ; let this boil slowly till you have 
 extracted the flavour of the spice and vegetables ; take 
 them out and add two table-spoonsful of red currant 
 
12 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, - 
 
 January 26—27. 
 jelly, and a good-sized wine-glass of port : when all is 
 quite hot, put in the hare, previously cut into small 
 pieces; and, should any of the stuffing be left, crumble 
 it into the saucepan. Do not suffer the meat to remain 
 long inthe sauce, Serve it hot with sippets and cur- 
 rant jelly. 
 
 26th. A West Inp1a EXPERIENCE. 
 
 If suffering from dyspepsia, and disposed for a glass of 
 punch, add a clove or two of preserved ginger and a 
 little of the syrup to your drink: and, my word for it, 
 you will find yourself better in the morning. 
 
 27th. Bortep Fown anp OystTER SAUCE. 
 
 A large bladder, which has been properly seasoned 
 with the liquor of boiled meat, mutton broth, or beef 
 tea, and thus rendered applicable for culinary purposes, 
 may be advantageously used in dressing the above. 
 Having your fowl properly trussed, let it be well floured, 
 rub the quarter ofa nutmeg, grated, in a piece of butter, 
 the size of a walnut; put this, a pinch of powdered 
 mace, and your fowl into the bladder, then pour in a 
 dozen oysters with their liquor; leave the body of the 
 bladder loose, but tie the neck of it very tight, and you 
 may then boil in a saucepan containing any other meat ; 
 about five-and-twenty minutes is quite time enough ; 
 have a deep dish ready, and you will find sufficient and 
 excellent sauce made to your hand, when you take the 
 fowl out of its case. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 13 
 January 28—80. 
 
 28th. Yeast Dumpiines. 
 
 To a dough of flour and water add a very moderate 
 allowance of salt, and sufficient yeast to render the 
 paste light ; as soon as this is well kneaded, set it be- 
 fore the fire in a deep dish, covered with a light cloth. 
 Tn half an hour it will be sufficiently raised. See that 
 the water you intend to use is boiling ; divide the dough 
 into small balls, flatten them on a trencher, put them 
 into the water, which must be kept up to boiling heat, 
 and five minutes will suffice for the cooking. Serve 
 with melted butter poured over the dumplings. 
 
 29th. VEAL Srock. 
 
 Boil, in two quarts of water, for four hours, four 
 pounds of veal; knuckle, neck, or breast are the best 
 joints, but be careful to have that weight of meat in- 
 dependent of the bones, which you can easily ascertain 
 by cutting it off; put into the saucepan an onion and 
 a carrot, with a tea-spoonful of salt ; strain it, and take 
 the fat off when cold. 
 
 30th. Baur a tA FLAMMANADE. 
 
 _ Select a rib of beef of sufficient thickness to weigh at 
 least eight pounds, Let the meat be well larded, and 
 braized over a slow fire; then add a pottle of fresh 
 mushrooms (forced, at this season), two pound of 
 truffles, two dozen forced meat-balls, made with plenty 
 
14 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 January 31. 
 
 of eggs, and half a pint of Madeira. This being an ex- 
 pensive dish is only applicable to state occasions ; or as 
 the sailors say, “ for birthdays or bonfire nights.” 
 
 81st. Puncu JELLY, 
 
 Make a good bowl of punch according to the direc- 
 tions you will find under that head, only a JUittle 
 stronger. To every pint of punch add an ounce and a 
 half of isinglass, dissolved in a quarter of a pint of 
 water (about half a tumbler full); pour this into the 
 punch whilst quite hot, and then fill your moulds, 
 taking care that they are not disturbed until the jelly 
 is completely set. 
 
 - Orange, lemon, or calf’s foot jelly, not used at din- 
 ner, can be converted into punch jelly for the evening, 
 by following the above directions, only taking care to 
 omit a portion of the acid prescribed in making the 
 sherbet. 
 
 This preparation is a very agreeable refreshment on 
 a cold night, but should be used in moderation ; the 
 strength of the punch is so artfully concealed by its 
 admixture with the gelatine, that many persons, par- 
 ticularly of the softer sex, have been tempted to partake 
 so plentifully of it as to render them somewhat unfit 
 for waltzing or quadrilling after supper. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. te 
 
 February 1. 
 
 FEBRUARY. 
 
 ee 
 
 1st. Haricot or Mutton. 
 
 In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the dish so 
 called is sent to table without the slightest reference 
 to the /égume after which it is named. I shall give 
 the English method of so dressing it, and annex the 
 true recipe, 
 
 Scrape and cut into thin slices a couple of good 
 sized carrots, put these into a saucepan containing a 
 couple of quarts of boiling water ; let it simmer over a 
 slow fire for twenty minutes. Meanwhile pare and cut 
 into squares, the size of dice, two turnips ; add a head 
 of celery cut small, and a little pepper and salt. Whilst 
 the vegetables are stewing, put half-a-dozen mutton 
 chops, with their fat cut off and well flattened, into 
 the frying-pan, with sufficient butter to fry them a 
 light brown, without risk of burning ; when this is 
 accomplished, put the meat with the vegetables, and 
 let all stew together for half an hour. 
 
 In France the mutton is prepared in a similar man- 
 ner to the foregoing ; but instead of turnip and carrot, 
 the white bean, the haricot véritable, is substituted ; 
 and during the season, asparagus tops and three or 
 four small silver onions are added, 
 
16 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, © 
 
 February 2—5. 
 
 2Qnd. Frencn Meruop or Dressing WHITING. 
 
 French cooks do not skin this fish, but slit them 
 down from head to tail, rub them inside and out well, 
 with flour, and fry them in a pan full of boiling lard. 
 
 3rd. Lemon Syrup. 
 
 Boil two pounds of loaf-sugar in one pound of 
 water. When you have clarified your syrup, add an 
 equal quantity of fresh lemon juice; mix both to- 
 gether, and let it simmer for ten minutes. 
 
 Ath. A Breaxrast REtisH. 
 
 The flesh of a cold roast fowl, and an equal quantity 
 of tongue, chopped into minute particles, and then 
 beat in a mortar, with a tea-spoonful of salt, half a one 
 of Cayenne, enough powdered mace to cover a six- 
 pence, and the same quantity of grated nutmeg, will 
 make an acceptable breakfast dish. When well mixed 
 in the mortar, place it in a flat dish, or oval gallipot, 
 and pour lard over the top to preserve it. 
 
 5th. StewED KIpNEYs. 
 
 Carefully remove the skin and vessels from the 
 kidneys, and cut the meat into small portions; put it 
 into a stewpan with a bunch of mixed sweet herbs, 
 and an onion tied up in a muslin bag. As soon as the 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 17 
 February 6—8. 
 
 meat is well browned, cover it with boiling water, and 
 let it simmer for three hours. Just before serving, 
 take away the bag, and sprinkle a table-spoonful of 
 mixed sweet herbs, in powder, over the meat. 
 
 6th. ORANGE SALAD. 
 
 ‘ This somewhat inappropriately named dish is made 
 by cutting oranges into quarters, removing the rind 
 with a fruit-knife, and adding equal quantities of 
 brandy and Madeira, in proportion to the quantity of 
 fruit thus dressed, strewing a liberal allowance of fine- 
 powdered sugar over the dish. 
 
 Tth. A Prarwn Caxke, 
 
 Rub together half a pound of butter and a pound 
 and a half of flour; then add half a pound of loaf- 
 sugar, a table-spoonful of carbonate of soda, half a 
 pound of caraway seeds ; mix all together in a pint of 
 new milk. Bake directly. An hour and a half in the 
 oven will be found sufficient. 
 
 8th. Roast Fowt. 
 
 Three or four slices of fat bacon, not too thick, may 
 be attached by skewers to your fowl for roasting ; it 
 answers all the purpose of larding, and saves the time 
 and trouble required for that operation. The frizzled 
 bacon makes an appropriate garnish for the dish. 
 
18 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 February 9—11. 
 
 9th. Sour Lorrarne. 
 
 Beat. up a pound of blanched almonds in a mortar, 
 with a small quantity of water; add to this the yolks 
 of four eggs boiled hard, and the white meat of a cold 
 roast fowl. Pound these ingredients well together, 
 seasoning with salt, mace, and nutmeg, to your taste. 
 Let the above be boiled over a slow fire in three quarts 
 of strong veal broth, perfectly free from fat. This 
 soup is fit for table when it has become the thickness 
 of cream. 
 
 10th. Baxep Cop’s Heap. 
 
 To eat cod’s head in perfection, you should place it 
 in an earthen shallow pan, and stick on, by means of 
 small wooden skewers, half a pound of fresh butter, 
 made into little pats. The time required for cooking 
 will depend upon the size of the fish, and also if to the 
 head there should be appended shoulders. All the 
 mucilaginous portions of the skull are rendered more 
 palatable by this method of dressing. Serve the fish 
 upon a proper dish; have melted butter, or oyster 
 sauce, aS an accompaniment; and if with a good 
 mealy potato you do not lay the foundation of an_ 
 excellent dinner, you must indeed be very hard to 
 please. 
 
 “11th. Potato CHEESE. 
 
 Twelve pounds of potatoes, if properly boiled, (and 
 you may learn how to do so by consulting the Index, ) 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 19 
 February 12—14. 
 
 will insure you nine pounds of floury ones. When 
 these are cold, rub them up with three pounds of 
 curd, and put it into a vat or vats, according to the 
 size desired. This cheese, after a little keeping, will 
 be found to possess a peculiarly mild and agreeable 
 flavour. 
 
 12th. CHESHIRE Pork Pie. 
 
 Divide a loin of pork into chops, and cut away the 
 skin and the greatest part of the fat; season the meat 
 with salt, Cayenne, and a little nutmeg. Peel and 
 core a dozen pippins, filling up the centres with fine 
 Lisbon sugar. Line your dish with a good crust paste, 
 then put in a layer of pork, then a layer of pippins, 
 and so on till you have filled your dish; pour in a 
 pint of sherry, and cover down with paste for top 
 crust. Two hours’ baking will not be too much to 
 insure the meat being perfectly done. 
 
 13th. A Cueapr anp Ligur Puppina. 
 
 Three ounces of flour, an equal weight of butter 
 and loaf-sugar, the rind of a lemon chopped very fine ; 
 beat these up with two eggs for ten minutes. This 
 should be made just before it is required. 
 
 14th. Caur’s Heap Bonen. 
 
 From half a calf’s head, with the skin on, take out 
 the bones, egg the inside of the head well, put in the 
 
20 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 February 15—16. 
 
 tongue, and sew the top and bottom together. Put 
 this into a stew-pan, with the bones, a pound of gravy- 
 beef cut into bits, a bunch of parsley, a handful of 
 sweet herbs, a couple of onions chopped fine, and a tea- 
 spoonful of salt, and half that quantity of Cayenne. 
 Fill the stewpan three parts with fair water, and stew 
 the contents for three hours. When required for 
 table, take out the head, glaze it with egg, pour a 
 little of the liquor through a sieve into the dish, and 
 rely on it you will have an extremely savoury one. 
 
 15th. Pain a LA Ducnesse, or SpanisH Porrs. 
 
 Boil in a quarter of a pint of milk half the rind of a 
 a lemon, a small stick of cinnamon, and a bit of butter 
 the size of anut. Strain it, and set it on the fire in a 
 stewpan. When it boils, stir in two spoonfuls of 
 flour, and half a glass of brandy. Take it off and rub 
 it well together. When quite cold add four eggs, one 
 at a time, rubbing well all the while. Divide the mix~ 
 ture into tea-spoonfuls on a plate, let it stand to grow 
 firm, then fry in plenty of boiling lard. 
 
 16th. Risso.es. 
 
 A very pretty garnish for fish, flesh, or fowl, may be 
 made by chopping the cold fragments of either, as the 
 case may require, with some lemon-peel and salt ; 
 then stir into veal stock thickened with flour in the 
 stewpan. When cold, make the mixture into balls, 
 
 2 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 21 
 
 February 17—18. 
 
 and roll them in egg and bread-crumbs. Let these 
 balls be fried, and put round the dish. 
 
 17th. Hor Losster. 
 
 This especial delicacy is to be prepared after the fol- 
 lowing manner :—Separate the tail of the fish from the 
 body, tear away the shell to which the lower claws are 
 attached, abstract the interior, taking great care not to 
 disturb the stomach, politely denominated “the lady ;” 
 split the tail in half, and remove the intestinal canal, 
 a dark purple cord-like object, found in the centre of 
 the flesh ; shred up the meat of the tail and claws; 
 mix all well together, squeeze the juice of two lemons 
 over it, half a tea-spoonful of Cayenne, a tea-spoon- 
 ful of salt, and three ounces of fresh butter. Put 
 these into a saucepan; let it be well stirred for a 
 quarter of an hour, and serve it in adeep dish. A 
 good sized lobster thus cooked is enough for four 
 persons at supper. A liqueur glass of Cognac after it 
 will be found desirable. 
 
 . 4 
 
 18th. Hare Sovr. 
 
 To insure a good tureen of this delicious soup, two 
 hares are positively required. With this proviso it can 
 be thus obtained :—Choose the youngest and tenderest 
 of the two for the bowilli ; a venerable tough old Jack 
 makes a capital consommé. Let the aforesaid John be 
 properly paunched, and cut into pieces, the head split 
 
22 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 February 19—20. 
 
 in half. Put these into a saucepan three-fourths full 
 of water ; add to the meat a Spanish onion chopped 
 fine, a couple of anchovies, four cloves, a blade of 
 mace, a tea-spoonful of salt, and half that quantity of 
 Cayenne. Set the saucepan on a slow fire, and let it 
 simmer for at least four hours. Meantime roast the 
 other hare in the usual manner, until it is about half 
 done, then cut it into joints, and the meat off the 
 thighs or haunches, in large pieces; put the head, 
 spare bones, and stuffing of hare the second, into the 
 saucepan containing hare the first, and let all simmer 
 for another hour ; you may then strain off the liquor. 
 When the soup is required, put in the roast meat, 
 with a tumbler of port wine, and warm it on a quick 
 fire for about ten minutes. 
 
 19th. ApPpLE DUMPLINGS. 
 
 Select the large russet-coat fruit, pare and cut them 
 in half, take out the cores, and fill the cavities with 
 quince marmalade, and a couple of cloves to each. 
 Surround the apples with paste equally distributed ; 
 tie up in cloths ; boil for fifty minutes, or an hour, if 
 your dumplings are large. Have melted butter and 
 powdered sugar ready to serve with them. 
 
 20th. Ham Extract. 
 
 Cut away, from an undressed ham, all the skin and 
 fat, then take the meat from the bone; put the latter 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 23 
 
 February 21—22. 
 
 into a large saucepan, having plenty of water; and add 
 a couple of large carrots, and three onions, cut into 
 slices, a handful of sweet basil and parsley, two or 
 three cloves, and a table-spoonful of mushroom pow- 
 der ; let this stand over the stove for an hour, then 
 take out the bone, and put in the meat. Set the 
 saucepan, well covered, down on a slow fire, for a 
 couple of hours: stir the ingredients well together ; 
 taste the flavour, and judge of the thickness. It must 
 stew till the liquor, when cold, is in a good stiff jelly, 
 previously having been run through a sieve, to clear it 
 from the vegetables and meat. <A table-spoonful of 
 this extract is quite sufficient to flavour a tureenful of 
 winter pea or carrot soup, and a tea-spoonful in melted 
 butter makes an admirable sauce for a roast fowl. 
 
 21st. Brocortt to Bort. 
 
 Pare off the side leaves and the outside of the stalk, 
 which must be cut close to the bottom. See that the 
 water is boiling, throw in a table-spoonful of salt, and 
 let the heads boil fora quarter of an hour; when the 
 stalks are tender, the vegetables are done, and they 
 should be served without delay, on a slice of toast, 
 with a boat full of melted butter. 
 
 22nd. OystER Parties. 
 
 Should you desire a dish of these savoury little pies, 
 either for lunch, supper, or to make out the bill of fare 
 
24 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 February 23—24. 
 
 for your dinner, I recommend that you procure from 
 a pastrycook as many empty puff patties as required. 
 Beard and cut the oysters into four, stew them for a 
 few minutes in their own liquor, mixed with cream, 
 seasoned with a very small quantity of Cayenne, salt, 
 powdered mace, and lemon juice; when the fish is 
 ready, remove with a spoon the top of the patty, fill 
 with your stew, then rub the edges of the divided paste 
 with white of egg; put on the tops, and place the pat- 
 ties on a slow oven for ten minutes before they are re- 
 quired. 
 
 23rd. PRESERVED PINE-APPLE, 
 
 Cut off the rind, and divide the pine into tolerably 
 thick slices ; boil the rind in half a pint of water, with 
 a pound of loaf sugar, in powder, and the juice of a 
 lemon for twenty minutes. Strain this liquor and boil 
 the slices in it for a quarter of an hour; next day pour 
 off the syrup; boil it, taking care to remove the scum 
 as it rises, and pour the liquor quite hot over the fruit ; 
 tie down the jar with bladder, having brandied paper 
 over the preserve. 
 
 24th. SIRLOIN oF BzeEr, 
 
 This glorious dish, which well-merited the honour of 
 knighthood, conferred on it by some discriminating 
 monarch, will require as many quarters of an hour be- 
 fore the fire, as it weighs pounds ; it should be covered 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 25 
 
 February 25—26. 
 
 with clean paper, (that on which printer’s ink has been 
 used should be studiously avoided) ; well basted, and 
 sent to table with newly made mustard, soluble horse- 
 radish, some mealy potatoes, and now and then, by 
 way of variety, a well-made Yorkshire pudding. A 
 reference to the index will tell you how to concoct the 
 last named. 
 
 25th. Nortu Wiutshire CHEEseé. 
 
 If you desire to eat this excellent cheese in perfec- 
 tion, cut off the top rind quite flat, and then take out 
 a small cone from the centre, fill the space with Bell’s 
 Edinburgh, or any other strong sweet ale ; as soon as 
 the malt liquor is absorbed, repeat the process, taking 
 care that the top is carefully adjusted after it, the cheese 
 enveloped in sheet lead, and kept ina damp place. A 
 fortnight or three weeks will be time enough to ripen 
 the cheese thus treated. 
 
 26th. Capinet PuppinG. 
 
 Add a quarter of a pound of grated bread to the same 
 quantity of cut and stoned raisins. Boil a small quan- 
 tity of lemon peel, cinnamon, and sugar, in half a pint 
 of milk, strain it off, and add four eggs well beaten up, 
 then pour in a glass of Madeira and another of brandy. 
 Butter a mould capable of holding a pint and three 
 quarters, put in the ingredients, place a piece of writ- 
 
 c 
 
26 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 February 27—28. 
 
 ing-paper at the bottom of the mould, and steam it for 
 an hour. 
 
 27th. Rep CaBBAGE AND CELERY SALAD. 
 
 An excellent winter salad may be prepared with the 
 above-named vegetables. ‘Tear away the outside leaves 
 of a red cabbage, and cut thin slices from it, till you 
 have half filled your salad bowl ; pour vinegar over the 
 cabbage, and let it stand for halfan hour. Five minutes 
 before you require to serve, shred celery into a plate ; 
 into another pour off the vinegar from the bowl, and 
 mix it with oil, salt, and Cayenne ; return the mixture 
 to the bowl, put in the celery, stir all well together, 
 and you will find this a very piquant relish at a season 
 when other salads are scarce. 
 
 28th. Mincep VEAL. 
 
 To have this a white dish, let the cold veal be cut 
 into slices, pare off the brown edges and fat, and then 
 chop the meat into square pieces, flour these well, and 
 put them into a saucepan, with a teacupful of cream, 
 the juice of a lemon, a little peel chopped very fine, a 
 very small quantity of salt, mace, and white pepper ; 
 keep shaking it over the fire, but do not let it boil for 
 more than a minute, or you will render the meat hard. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 27 
 
 March 1—3. 
 
 MARCH. 
 
 —— > 
 
 ist. Roast TonGue. 
 
 A fresh ox-tongue, stuck with cloves, roasted, and 
 sent to table with port-wine sauce, and currant jelly, 
 is a pleasant variety to the routine of ordinary dishes. 
 
 2nd. CoLtLEGE PuppIna, 
 
 Break five eggs into a basin, and whisk the yolks 
 and whites well together ; add, by degrees, a couple of 
 ounces of flour, three of pounded white sugar, as much 
 powdered ginger as will cover a shilling, an equal 
 quantity of grated nutmeg, and a table-spoonful of 
 cream, or good milk. When you have mixed all these 
 completely together, put in six ounces of well-washed 
 currants, four of finely chopped suet, an ounce of 
 candied orange peel cut very fine, and a wine-glass of 
 brandy. Fill as many pattepans as your mixture will 
 allow, and bake for twenty minutes. 
 
 3rd. FRIED SOLEs. 
 
 - Soles, for frying, should be divested of both the 
 upper and under skin, rubbed over with the white of 
 c 2 
 
28 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 March 4—5. 
 
 ege well beaten up and laid on the fish with a flat 
 brush ; next strew the soles with bread crumbs, re- 
 duced to a very fine powder, and be sure that the lard 
 in the pan is boiling before you put them in. Paying 
 proper attention to these simple directions, the fish will 
 be served to table of a beautiful auburn tint. Garnish 
 with slices of lemon. 
 
 Ath. [risH Metuop OF DRESSING Marrow. 
 
 It is the custom in many parts of Ireland, particu- 
 larly in the victualling districts, instead of sending up 
 marrow in the bone, as is commonly the practice in 
 this country, to extract it undressed; and having rolled 
 it in as much fine flour as will stick together, to boil it 
 just before required, taking great care to remove the 
 thick scum which the flourand minute bones will send 
 to the surface. The marrow becomes perfectly transpa- 
 rent, and is served in a tureen, floating in a portion of the 
 water in which it has been boiled. Slices of toasted 
 bread are placed leaning against the vessel, the heat 
 keeping them warm and fitter for the spreading of the 
 delicate preparation within. 
 
 5th. GuINEA Fow1: 
 
 Slices of fat ham should be skewered over this bird 
 whilst roasting, and it should also be plentifully basted, 
 the meat being peculiarly dry. A guinea fowl and 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 29 
 March 6—7. 
 
 pheasant are advantageously dressed together when 
 the latter is in full season, 
 
 Cth. Sweet-Breap Pre. 
 
 Boil over a slow fire, in four quarts of water, half a 
 neck of veal, and two pounds of gravy beef, with half 
 a tea-spoonful of grated nutmeg, equal quantities of 
 mace in powder, and Cayenne, and a tea-spoonful of 
 salt; let this simmer till the liquor is reduced to about 
 half a pint, strain this off. Have a good puff paste 
 ready placed round the dish you intend to use, and put 
 therein half a dozen sweet-breads stuffed with green 
 truffles, a dozen of oysters with their liquor, taking 
 care that the fish and meat are properly distributed, 
 then fill the dish with the gravy before made, as above 3 
 put on the top crust and bake ina quick oven, for an 
 hour and a quarter. This pie should be eaten hot, it 
 will be found especially delicious. 
 
 Tth. To Bort Porarors. 
 
 Simple as the process may appear, few cooks under- 
 stand the boiling of potatoes. The method is easy 
 enough if proper attention be paid. 
 
 Put the required number, well washed, but noé 
 peeled, into a saucepan, and cover them with water 
 about an inch above those at the top. Let them boil 
 on a fire not too fierce, so that the process be a slow 
 
30 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 March 8—9. 
 
 one. Take off the saucepan and let it stand on the 
 edge of the hob till a fork easily penetrates the vege- 
 table ; you may now drain off the water, and let the 
 steam evaporate ; when you perceive that the vapour 
 has ceased to rise, put a clean cloth over the top of the 
 saucepan, and let it stand in a warm corner till the 
 potatoes are required. Five-and-twenty minutes are 
 quite sufficient time for their dressing. 
 
 8th. Loxpster Soup. 
 
 Make a consommé aa directed for oyster soup, add to 
 this the interior, coral, and pea of the lobster; cut 
 the meat of the claws and tail into small bits, about 
 the size of dice ; strain the liquor, put in the meat, 
 and serve quite hot. Two lobsters are necessary for an 
 ordinary-sized tureen. 
 
 9th. Eneuish Rum Survs. 
 
 To three gallons of best Jamaica rum add a quart of 
 orange juice, a pint of lemon juice, with the peels of 
 the latter fruit cut very thin, and six pounds of pow- 
 dered white sugar. Let these be covered close, and re- 
 main so all night; next day boil three pints of fresh 
 milk, and let it get cold, then pour it on the spirit and 
 juice, mix them well, and let it stand for an hour. 
 Filter it through a flannel bag, lined with blotting- 
 paper, into bottles ; cork down as soon as each is filled. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. ol 
 March 10—12. 
 
 10th. To Riven New Srizuton CHEESE. 
 
 Take off the top, and scoop out of the centre a piece 
 about two inches in depth; put into this cavity a piece 
 of ripe cheese having abundance of the blue mould 
 upon it; replace the top, and cover up the cheese. In 
 three weeks’ time you will find the advantage of your 
 inoculation, as the cheese will be completely impreg- 
 nated with a ripe flavour. 
 
 11th. Pork Kasos, 
 
 This is a simple but savoury preparation, and made 
 as follows :—Select four pork chops, not too fat; peel a 
 couple of dumpling apples, and cut a couple of slices 
 from the centre of each, avoiding the core; cut a 
 Spanish onion into slices, select four of the largest ; 
 attach with small skewers to each chop a slice of apple 
 and a slice of onion; fasten them together with twine, 
 and roast before a bright fire for half an hour, basting 
 well. Serve them quite hot, with some fresh mustard, 
 Cayenne, salt, and mashed potatoes. 
 
 12th. Srewrep Breast oF VEAL. 
 
 Put the joint into a stewpan two-thirds filled with 
 water, next half a handful of dried marjoram and 
 lemon thyme, and an equal quantity of fresh parsley, 
 four small onions, a tea-spoonful of powdered mace, 
 four cloves, the peel of a lemon chopped fine, a table- 
 
Se THE EPICURE’S ALMANAt, 
 
 March 138—15. 
 
 spoonful of mushroom catchup, and a tea-spoonful of | 
 salt; let it stew, very gently, for an hour and three 
 quarters; take out the meat, run the gravy through a 
 sieve ; and if it is not as thick as you desire, you may 
 add butter and flour till you have made it of the proper 
 consistency ; pour as much as necessary over the joint, 
 and keep the rest by. as agood foundation for any made 
 dish of white meat. 
 
 13th. CareR SAUCE. 
 
 Chopping capers fine with a steel knife, and then 
 boiling them in melted butter, is the certain method 
 for destroying the true flavour of this delicate importa- 
 tion from the Mediterranean. Capers should invariably 
 be sent to table whole. The French strew them over 
 turbot, and introduce them into salads; but never 
 dream of suffering them to come in contact with the 
 knife. 
 
 14¢h, SaLt-F isu, 
 
 Should be soaked for four hours in water into which 
 a gill of strong vinegar has been poured, and then in 
 fresh water for six hours. Boil according to the size 
 and weight of your fish, and serve with egg-sauce, par- 
 snips, potatoes, and fresh mustard. 
 
 15th. Twice Lar. 
 
 For this excellent dish we are indebted to some 
 clever “sea cook,”—a Ude afloat; and if, under the dis. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 30 
 
 March 16. 
 
 advantages of being prepared at a ship’s galley, it can 
 be rendered palateable, how much better is it on shore! 
 where we have a command of fresh butter, eggs, and 
 vegetables ; things rarely enjoyed by “those who go 
 down to the sea in ships.” 
 
 My shore-going method of preparing this seafaring 
 seafare is this:—If during Lent more salt-fish has been 
 dressed than eaten, I have the meat carefully taken off 
 the bones; yesterday’s parsnips, potatoes, and egg=sauce 
 chopped up with the fish ; the whole put into a pie-dish 
 and placed in the oven for half an hour. It should be 
 looked to occasionally during the baking, and if it 
 appears too dry, put a little fresh butter over the top. 
 
 Cold codfish, well sprinkled with salt, with the 
 addition of oyster sauce, and some mashed potatoes, 
 may be treated in the same manner as above, and 
 makes a very good dish; but for the marine gourmand, 
 salt-fish against the field. 
 
 16th. Beer-SteEak, 
 
 The cook who would profane her calling by frying 
 beef-steaks, should be condemned to eat nothing else 
 for life. A fine tender rump-steak, if properly dressed, 
 is a dish worthy of an Englishman. A bright clear 
 fire is essential; let the gridiron be carefully cleaned, 
 rub the bars with suet, and put it over the fire until 
 quite hot ; the steak should be more than half an inch 
 thick ; whilst dressing, turn it backwards and forwards 
 
 c3 
 
34 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 March 17—18. 
 
 till done, rub it over with butter, and pour over it, 
 quite hot, two tea-spoonfuls of shalot vinegar, in which 
 some soluble horse-radish has been dissolved. In the 
 season you may also serve it with oyster sauce. 
 
 17th. AutmMonp CusTaRDs. 
 
 Beat up in a mortar, a quarter of a pound of sweet 
 almonds, previously blanched ; when these are rendered 
 very fine, stir in two tea-spoonfuls of rose-water, the 
 yolks of four eggs well whisked, and a pint of cream 3; 
 then sweeten with powdered sugar to your taste, Put 
 this over a slow fire, and keep it constantly stirred till 
 it has reached its proper thickness, it will then be fit 
 to be put into cups. 
 
 18th. SHALOT AND GaRuic VINEGAR. 
 
 These essentials to a well-regulated table are easily 
 made, by putting small quantities into jars in size pro- 
 portionate to your expected consumption, and pouring 
 boiling vinegar into them; they should stand on the 
 hob a week or ten days, carefully corked, and they will 
 then be fit for immediate use, 
 
 Shalot and garlic both require to be peeled and 
 broken into fragments. One root of the latter will 
 serve for a twelvemonth, and the jar containing its 
 vinegar should be kept in a detached cupboard, as its 
 perfume is somewhat of the strongest. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 35 
 March 19—21. 
 
 19th. ORANGE JELLY. 
 
 Dissolve three ounces of powdered white sugar in a 
 pint of spring water; add the rind of an orange peeled 
 very thin, a pinch of saffron, a stick of cinnamon 
 broken up, and an ounce and a half of isinglass; boil 
 all these together. When you see the isinglass is quite 
 dissolved, pour in a pint of juice made from three 
 Seville, and the rest from sweet oranges; stir the mate- 
 rials well together, and strain through a fine sieve intoa 
 bowl ; as the jelly congeals fill your mould, and set it 
 in a cold place to grow firm. Before turning it out 
 for use, be sure to dip the shape into warm water. 
 
 20th. Lorn oF Mutton. 
 
 This joint, from the quantity of bone and flap, is by 
 no means an economical dish; but I notice it as one 
 very constantly seen at table. One thing I strongly 
 recommend, and that is, let the cook be cautioned 
 against spoiling the joint by running the spit through 
 it. A jack and hook will best serve the purpose, and 
 care should be taken that the ends are well browned 
 before sending the meat to table. 
 
 21st. SWEET OMELETTE. 
 
 In half a pint of new milk mix well a table-spoonful 
 of fine flour, then whisk together the yolks and whites 
 of four eggs, add these to the thickened milk, Over a 
 
36 THE EPICURE'S ALMANAC, 
 
 March 22—23. 
 
 clear fire see that the frying-pan be quite hot, and put 
 into it as much fresh butter as will serve for frying the 
 omelette; about a quarter of a pound will be enough. 
 Pour into the boiling butter half the milk and eggs, 
 and when these are a little set, put four table-spoon- 
 fuls of red currant jelly in the centre of the batter ; 
 cover the jelly with the remainder ; and as soon as the 
 upper portion is fixed, you should send the dish to 
 table. A very few minutes are required for this ac- 
 ceptable and elegant preparation, . 
 
 22nd. Ee. Pre. 
 
 Four eels, of half a pound weight each, are enough 
 for a good-sized pie. Let these be skinned and the 
 fins cut away, and then washed in fair water; divide 
 the fish into lengths of about two inches; rub these 
 over with equal parts of Cayenne pepper and salt. 
 When you have placed the eels in a pie-dish, pour in 
 as much veal stock as will fill it to the brim. Cover 
 with a light paste, and bake for an hour. Before 
 sending it to table, make a small aperture in the top 
 crust, and pour in a teacupful of veal stock, in which 
 a glass of sherry and the juice of a lemon have been 
 mixed. 
 
 23rd, Frrep Parsnips, 
 
 Parsnips parboiled whole, then cut into pieces and 
 fried in butter, are much more delicious, and easier of 
 digestion, than when sent to table plain boiled. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 37 
 
 March 24—26. 
 
 24th. Bakep Copiinc Puppine. 
 
 Roast half a dozen large codling apples, and take out 
 the pulp. Beat up the yolks of eight and the whites 
 of four eggs; add half a pound of powdered white 
 sugar, the same weight of clarified butter, the juice of 
 a lemon, its rind cut very small, an ounce of candied 
 orange and lemon peel cut into small portions, a wine- 
 glass of brandy, and the crumb of a French roll finely 
 grated. Mix up these ingredients well together. Line 
 a pie-dish with paste, put in the materials, and send to 
 the oven. Before serving, cover the top with pow- 
 dered sugar, and garnish the sides with candied fruit. 
 
 25th. Wuire Wine WHEY. 
 
 Pour into a pint of boiling milk a gill of white wine 
 and a small quantity of lemon peel; let it continue 
 on the fire till the curd hardens; strain through a 
 muslin sieve, sweeten with white sugar to your taste, 
 and grate a little nutmeg on the top of the whey. 
 This should be taken just before stepping into bed, 
 and will be found an excellent remedy in cases of low 
 fever, or heat of skin. 
 
 26th. Irish Meruop or Dresstne Harty Lamp. 
 Parboil a neck or breast of house-lamb ; have ready 
 
 bread crumbs, sweet herbs, pepper, and salt ; beat these 
 
 up with as many eggs, both white and yolk, as will 
 
38 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 March 27—28. 
 
 make the mixture sufficiently thick to adhere to the 
 meat. Score the joint all over deeply, and rub the 
 seasoning well into the scores; place it on a dish ina 
 Dutch oven, before a good bright fire, turning it fre- 
 quently for above half an hour,—the time will depend 
 on the size of your joint. You will find this a pecu- 
 liarly delicate dish, the egg and bread crumbs absorb- 
 ing the fat which is so blended with the lean of young 
 lamb. 
 
 27th. Enauisnh CHATNA. 
 
 An admirable imitation of the true Bengal sauce 
 may be made by finely scraping half the kernel of a 
 cocoa-nut, adding the juice of three lemons, a tea- 
 spoonful of Cayenne pepper, and three drops of garlic 
 vinegar. This should be placed in a small jar, and set 
 on the hob for a couple of days, to insure a proper 
 amalgamation of the ingredients. 
 
 28th. Oysters FRIED In BATTER. 
 
 Select good-sized oysters for this purpose. Beat up 
 the yolks of three or four eggs; add to these a table- 
 spoonful of flour, a spoonful of salt, enough pounded 
 mace to cover a sixpence, and the fourth of a tea- 
 spoonful of Cayenne. Cover the oysters well in this 
 batter, and fry in boiling lard till they are of a light 
 brown; then grate toasted or brown bread over the 
 fish, and place them before the fire in a Dutch oven or 
 bonnet for two or three minutes before serving. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 39 
 
 March 29—81. 
 
 29th. Rice Cake, 
 
 Beat up nine eggs, then mix six ounces of ground 
 rice, six ounces of flour, three quarters of a pound of 
 white sugar in powder, and half an ounce of caraway 
 seed. These ingredients must be very well mixed, 
 then placed in a tin, and baked in a quick oven. 
 
 30th. Mincep Coxwors. 
 
 In North Britain this is an extremely popular pre- 
 paration, and is very unlike the savoury dish known 
 in England under the title of ‘‘ Scotch collops,” as, 
 par exemple :—The coarse beef usually used for mak- 
 ing gravy is chopped fine, and put into a saucepan, 
 with a little water and some pepper and salt, stirred 
 for about ten minutes over the fire, and then sent to 
 table. 
 
 Homely as it appears, it is by no means a Aespveable 
 dish for a bachelor, as it requires little time in cooking, 
 or cost in its materials. There is no reasen why prime 
 beef should not be thus treated. 
 
 31st. GREEN Apricot PuppiING. 
 
 A very delicious and peculiarly fine-flavoured pud- 
 ding can be made by putting a pottle of green apricots 
 into paste, in a good-sized basin, filling up with white 
 sugar powdered, and water ; add the usual top crust and 
 boil the ordinary time. 
 
40 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 April 1—2. 
 
 APRIL. 
 
 —o-—— 
 
 1st. Fore-QUARTER OF LAMB. 
 
 Twelve minutes roasting should be allowed for every 
 pound the joint weighs ; it should be well basted with 
 fresh butter, and a light sprinkling from the flour 
 dredger. The usual method of carving it is to separate 
 the shoulders from the ribs, squeeze a Seville orange 
 over the newly cut meat, sprinkle it with Cayenne pep- 
 per and salt, and put two or three small pats of butter 
 between the joints; these melt and amalgamate with the 
 orange juice and the gravy, and form a piquant sauce 
 for the dish, whilst mint sauce is served separately. 
 
 2nd. Sea-Kate. 
 
 Thirty years ago this delicate and delicious vegetable 
 was very little known in England ; it had long been a 
 favourite dish in Ireland, the soil of that island being 
 peculiarly suited for its cultivation. An abundant 
 supply is now afforded ; and at this time of the year, 
 sufficient for a good-sized dish may be purchased in 
 Covent-Garden Market for a shilling. Care should be 
 taken by the buyer to ascertain its perfect freshness, 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 41 
 
 April 3—4. 
 
 easily known by the crispness and bright pink colour 
 of the upper leaves. The roots having been pared, the 
 kale should be washed, tied in a bundle, and put into 
 boiling water, in which a couple of table-spoonfuls of 
 salt has been thrown. Ten or twelve minutes boiling 
 will be found sufficient. Serve on a toast, and have a 
 boat full of melted butter ready to send to table with it. 
 
 4 
 3rd, VERMICELLI Soup, 
 
 Break up the quantity of vermicelli you require—an 
 ounce and a half, or a couple of ounces, will be found 
 quite enough for a large tureen; soak it in boiling 
 water till perfectly white and free from dust. A quar- 
 ter of an hour before dishing up your first course, add 
 the vermicelli to the soup. Rich beef gravy, in which 
 vegetables have been stewed, and the liquor well 
 strained, will be found most appropriate. 
 
 4th. SPANISH CUSTARDS. 
 
 Peel a couple of Seville oranges thin, so as to avoid 
 the white spongy portion that surrounds the fruit ; 
 boil the rind till itis quite tender ; beat it up in a mor- 
 tar into a pulp, then squeeze the juice of the oranges 
 upon it, through a sieve to avoid the pips; add a glass 
 of Cognac brandy, half a pound of loaf-sugar in pow- 
 der, and the yolks of eight eggs. Beat these well to- 
 gether till completely mixed, then by degrees pour it 
 
42 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 April 5—6. 
 
 into a quart of cream made boiling hot. Stir well till 
 all the ingredients are nearly cold, then pour the mix- 
 ture into appropriate cups, and set them in a vessel 
 with cold water reaching within half an inch of their 
 tops, the custards by this means will speedily become 
 set, and fit for use. 
 
 5th. Fisu Stew. 
 
 Make a strong consommé of skate, then boil a pair of 
 soles till nearly done, and cut off the fillets; put the 
 bones and fins to the skate, add the juice of a lemon, a 
 tea-spoonful of salt, half a salt-spoonful of mixed 
 Cayenne and powdered mace; let all simmer for half 
 an hour over a slow fire, then strain off the liquor 
 through a fine sieve, and warm up the fillets in it. 
 Serve with parsley and butter. This method is also 
 applicable to haddock, hake, or any other dry firm 
 fish, that require additional flavour. 
 
 6th. Riss oF Beer. 
 
 The best method of dressing ribs of beef is to hang 
 the joint till quite tender, cut away the bones, cover 
 the fresh-cut meat with an egg well beaten up, and 
 then sprinkle a mixture of bread crumbs finely pow- 
 dered, and chopped sweet herbs; roll the meat up as 
 round as possible, securing it with skewers and twine. 
 Remember that, in this form, the meat must have 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING, 43 
 
 April 7—8. 
 
 more roasting than if dressed in the ordinary manner; 
 an allowance of twenty minutes for each pound must be 
 given to insure its being perfectly done, and throughout 
 the roasting the joint should be kept at least a foot 
 from the fire, that the interior may be properly 
 cooked, 
 
 7th. Poacuep Ecas. 
 
 To prevent the unsightly admixture of the yolk with 
 the white, so often observed in poached eggs, I recom- 
 mend the following simple method:—Use a large sauce- 
 pan, nearly filled with boiling water ; pour a couple of 
 table-spoonfuls of hot water into a saucer; break the 
 ege carefully into the centre of the saucer, then gently 
 lift it and place it on the surface of the water in the 
 saucepan; the instant you perceive the yolk set, take 
 out the saucer, and remove the egg with a slice to the 
 dish required. Dress the number you wish for sepa- 
 rately; as the time occupied is so short, there is little 
 risk of the spinach, bacon, or whatever else you are 
 about to use, becoming cold. 
 
 8th. Rice Dump.inas. 
 
 Soak the quantity of rice required in lukewarm 
 water till it is quite white ; then parboil it, and drain 
 off the water. Spread the rice upon a cloth, about an 
 inch thick, and in a circle large enough to envelop a 
 dumpling apple. The fruit must be peeled, cored, and 
 
44 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 filled with Lisbon sugar and a couple of cloves, and the 
 rice carefully placed round it ; as soon as this is done 
 tie the cloth tightly at the top, boil for half an hour, and 
 serve with melted butter or wine sauce. This is a very 
 delicate dish, and well adapted for an invalid. 
 
 Oth. ORANGE MARMALADE. 
 
 Take the pulp out of four dozen China and one 
 dozen Seville oranges, mash this well together in a 
 large pan, then abstract the pips. Cut half the peel 
 of the China, and all of the Seville, in small stripes ; 
 put these into a stewpan with the juice, and let it 
 stand by a slow fire till the peel is quite soft, which 
 will be in about four hours ; then add four pounds of 
 loaf sugar, and boil until the sugar is perfectly dis- 
 solved, stirring occasionally. Have gallipots ready, fill 
 and cover with brandied paper, and tie down with 
 bladder. Home-made marmalade ought not to cost 
 more than eight pence a pot. 
 
 10th. Turnip Tors. 
 
 This homely vegetable possesses some claim on our 
 attention at this season of the year, and only requires 
 care in its cooking to prove acceptable at table. Let 
 them remain for a full hour before dressing in cold 
 water ; be sure to dress them in a capacious saucepan 
 full of boiling water, into which three table-spoonfuls 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 45 
 
 April 11—12, 
 
 of salt has been thrown; give them twenty minutes on 
 the fire, drain off the water through a colander; put 
 the vegetables on a sieve, bottom upwards, and gently 
 press them with a hot plate. 
 
 11th. Eve’s Puppine. 
 
 This delicacy,~which some aver was originally con- 
 cocted by our first mother, whilst others, with modest 
 dissent, trace its title to a celebrated confectioner of 
 Bath,—may be made after the following directions. 
 Pare and chop half a dozen apples, take six ounces of 
 finely grated bread crumbs, the same weight of picked 
 and washed currants, six ounces of loaf sugar, a salt- 
 spoonful of salt, and a quarter of a nutmeg finely pow- 
 dered, half a dozen eggs beat up, a table-spoonful of 
 lemon peel cut very fine, and a tumbler of brandy. 
 Mix all these well together. Boil in a cloth for six 
 hours, and pour melted butter over the pudding just 
 before serving: 
 
 12th. Srewep KNucKLE OF VEAL. 
 
 The lively author of “The Beggar’s Opera” has 
 handed down to posterity a poetical recipe for preparing 
 this dish. We will endeavour to supply, in prose, more 
 copious directions than those we owe to the elegant 
 fabulist. 
 
 Into a stewpan, capable of holding a couple of 
 
46 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 April 13—14. 
 
 quarts of water besides the joint, put the meat, having 
 two or three incisions made in it, with half a table- 
 spoonful of salt, a blade of mace, and a pinch of 
 Cayenne pepper, a head of celery chopped up, a small 
 bunch of parsley, a few leaves of dried thyme, a couple 
 of endives well washed and picked, and a table-spoon- 
 ful of dried marigold leaves. Clear away the scum as 
 it rises, let it stew for three hours, take out the meat, 
 run the liquor through a sieve, pour it over the joint, 
 and serve with fresh parsley and butter, and some 
 boiled gammon bacon, or knuckle of ham, 
 
 13th. BroitEp SALMON. 
 
 Cut the quantity required from the fish in slices of 
 an inch and a half thick, wipe them perfectly dry with 
 a cloth, and sprinkle a very small quantity of salt over 
 the slices. Rub clean writing paper over with Florence 
 oil, and fold up each slice of salmon separately; see that 
 your fire be clear, the gridiron quite hot, and its bars 
 some six inches from the fire; turn the fish every five 
 minutes, and twenty will be sufficient for the dressing. 
 Take off the paper envelopes before sending to table; 
 serve with shrimp or anchovy sauce, Indian soy, 
 Cayenne, and a fresh lemon. 
 
 14th. Common CakE. 
 
 Into three pounds of baker’s dough mix well with 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING, 47 
 
 April 15. 
 
 the hands, a pound and a half of currants, three quar- 
 ters of a pound of butter, a pound of Lisbon sugar, an 
 ounce of caraways, a tea-spoonful of powdered ginger, 
 and half an ounce of candied citron. 
 
 15th. Scotch Bartey Brora. 
 
 This Caledonian concoction is at once frugal and 
 nutritive; and a man need not be born north of Tweed 
 to enjoy it, if properly made. Procure a shin of beef 
 of about eight pounds weight, and have it divided into 
 four pieces, your butcher, if he be a civil person, will 
 do this for you; take half a pound of Scotch barley, 
 and wash it free from husk or dust, in lukewarm 
 water ; select a large saucepan, put in your beef and 
 barley, and cover them with cold water; as soon as the 
 water boils take away the scum; and then add a couple 
 of heads of celery, two small turnips, and two onions, 
 all chopped up; you may now season the liquor with 
 salt, to your taste; let it stew over a slow fire for three 
 hours ; take out the meat, place it on a dish, and then 
 pour the broth into an earthen vessel, where it should 
 remain all night, to enable you to take away the fat. 
 Next day warm up the meat and soup, and serve it to 
 table, either with or without the douzlli and vegetables, 
 as your fancy dictates. If you choose to have it clear, 
 remember how many poor souls will be glad of the 
 other portion. 
 
48 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 April 16—17. 
 
 16th. Picton PIs. 
 
 Place at the bottom of a dish a rump-steak well 
 flattened and cut to the size, sprinkle a salt-spoonful of 
 mixed salt and Cayenne over the steak. Stuff half a 
 dozen pigeons with bread crumbs well mixed with 
 sweet herbs and egg; rub the birds over with fresh 
 butter, and place them on the meat, filling up the 
 spaces with the yolks of eggs boiled hard ; when this is 
 done pour in veal stock till you nearly reach the brim ; 
 put on the top crust, and bake in a slow oven for an 
 hour and a half. Before sending to table make a small 
 hole in the crust, and pour in some richly seasoned 
 gravy, boiling hot. 
 
 It is usual to distinguish a pigeon pie, by placing a 
 pair of claws in the centre of the top paste. In imitation 
 of their betters, the Irish cotters, when they make 
 a pie of herrings and potatoes, stick the head of one of 
 the fish upon the top; and as it is generally placed 
 quite perpendicular, poor Pat dignifies his fare by the 
 high sounding title of “a Star-gazing Pie!” 
 
 17th. CREAMS. 
 
 Dissolve an ounce of isinglass, beat up three quarters 
 of a pound of loaf sugar, in a pint of rich (or as it is 
 sometimes called in London “ Double”) cream, mix 
 all together, throw in a glass of noyeau, and the juice 
 of a lemon and a half; beat it up with a whisk, and put 
 it into a mould. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 49 
 April 18—19. 
 
 18th. Crrron SPIce-CAKE. 
 
 Put halfa pound of treacle into a large basin, and add, 
 by slow degrees, three quarters of a pound of flour very 
 finely sifted ; mix well with these two ounces of candied 
 citron chopped small, a quarter of a pound of best Lis- 
 bon sugar, a quarter of a pound of melted butter, the like 
 weight of ground allspice and ground ginger; having 
 stirred the ingredients till all are properly mixed, let 
 them remain in the basin all night. Next morning, 
 strew a little flour over the paste board, and roll out 
 _ the ingredients till you have them quite flat and 
 nearly the thickness of half an inch. Divide into the 
 usual size, and place them on an iron plate for baking ; 
 before you put them into the oven, smear each over 
 with the yolk of an egg well beat up, and laid on with 
 a brush: from twelve to twenty minutes will be time 
 enough, according to the temperature of the oven ; it 
 should not be too fierce. If you wish to give the cakes 
 a higher glaze, apply the egg as before whilst the con- 
 fection is quite hot. 
 
 19th. Wuisky FoR LIqueEUrRs. 
 
 In the manufactory of imitation noyeau, ratafia, 
 curagoa, and other liqueurs, I recommend good whis- 
 ky as the foundation. It matters not whether it be 
 Scotch or Irish, so long as you obtain a pure malt 
 spirit. 
 
 D 
 
50 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 April 20—21. 
 
 20th. EnGuisH Curacoa. 
 
 Cut away the peel of Seville oranges very thin, until 
 you have obtained half a dozen ounces of it ; put these 
 into a quart bottle, and then pour in a pint of genuine 
 whisky ; if this is not to be had, use strong rectified 
 spirit, to be procured at any respectable distillery. 
 Cork the bottle down tightly, and let the rind remain 
 infused for ten or twelve days, giving the bottle a good 
 shake as often as you have an opportunity for so 
 doing ; at the end of this period take out the orange 
 peel, and fill the bottle with clarified syrup, shake it 
 well with the spirit, and let it remain for three days. 
 Pour a tea-cupful of the liqueur into a mortar, and 
 beat up a drachm of powdered alum and an equal 
 quantity of carbonate of potash ; pour this, when well 
 mixed, into the bottle, shake it well, and in a week 
 you will find the curacoa perfectly transparent, and 
 equal in flavour to that imported from Malines, or any 
 other place in the universe. 
 
 21st. BrEEr TRA. 
 
 Chop up half a pound of gravy beef quite free from 
 fat, and put it into a pint and a half of water, cold; 
 let it simmer over a slow fire for half an hour, skim it 
 constantly, season it with salt to your taste, put in four 
 cloves, and keep it over the fire for another half hour; 
 strain through a muslin sieve, and serve with toasted 
 bread. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 51 
 
 22nd. BrorteD MACKEREL. 
 There is a senseless jingle extant, that 
 
 “ A leg of mutton boil’d, 
 Is a leg of mutton spoil’d.” 
 
 However inapplicable the rhyme may be to mutton, 
 it is strictly true as regards mackerel. Nothing can be 
 more woolly, flat, and tasteless than boiled mackerel ; 
 as a proof of the absence of all flavour, that most hor- 
 rid abomination fennel sauce is served with it. Nowa 
 good-sized fish, with a hard roe, split, broiled, rubbed 
 over with fresh butter, and eaten with Reading sauce, 
 Cayenne, and salt, is by no means unsavoury; and I 
 feel certain when once this mode of dressing has been 
 tried, the usual method will be entirely superseded. 
 
 23rd. SPINACH, 
 
 Few vegetables require more care in their prepara- 
 tion for table than spinach. It should be quite fresh, 
 in the first place, and taken leaf by leaf from the 
 stalks; by this means a peculiar vegetable fibre, resem- 
 bling hair, and constantly found on spinach beds, will be 
 avoided. Wash the leaves in two or three large panfuls 
 of water, drain through a colander, and then dry them 
 well in acoarse cloth. Select a good-sized saucepan, 
 put three table-spoonfuls of salt into the water ; as soon 
 as it boils clear away the scum, and then throw in the 
 spinach which, being light, will float on the surface, 
 
 D 2 
 
52 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, © 
 
 April 24—25. 
 
 and will require to be forced into the water with a 
 large fork or spoon. Ten minutes’ boiling is enough. 
 Drain off the water, place the spinach between two 
 wooden trenchers, and squeeze out as much water as 
 possible ; then chop it quite fine, after which give it 
 another pressure with the trenchers. As it is essential 
 to serve it to table quite hot, put it into a stewpan 
 with the juice of a lemon squeezed over it, and half 
 a tea-spoonful of salt. Let it be spread equally on a 
 dish for serving, and divided into portions. 
 
 24th. Boitep Lee or Lamp. 
 
 Take care to immerse the joint in cold water, and 
 let it boil very slowly. A leg of six pounds will re- 
 quire two hours and twenty minutes before it is pro- 
 perly done. Cauliflower or broccoli are both applicable 
 vegetables ; but you cannot do better than send this 
 tender and delicious meat to table, reposing on a ver- 
 dant bed of spinach dressed as above. 
 
 25th: Ravpars Pre. 
 
 The homely and somewhat unpoetical appellation of 
 this pie has been refined into “ Spring tart.” 
 
 ‘¢ A rose by any other name will smell as sweet ;”” 
 
 but really the association of ideas connected with 
 pulvis rhei is anything but appetitizing. Spring tart be 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 53 
 April 26—27. 
 
 it then ; and let me recommend, as a vast improvement 
 to its flavour, that a table-spoonful of green lime juice 
 be poured over the stalks before the crust is put on. 
 In default of this, squeeze the juice of a lemon, and 
 that of a Seville orange. 
 
 26th. LAVER. 
 
 To a pound of laver add a bit of fresh butter the 
 size of a walnut, the juice of half a lemon, a salt-spoonful 
 of Cayenne pepper, and a small dessert-spoonful of glaze. 
 Stew for half an hour, and take care to serve very hot. 
 The dish should be placed over a spirit lamp on table. 
 In Treland dilosk, or laver, is constantly served during 
 the season, with roast beef or roast mutton. The taste 
 for it must be acquired, as its appearance is by no 
 means in its favour. I never heard a more apt quota- 
 tion than one used by a friend of mine, who, lifting the 
 cover off a dish of laver, exclaimed in the language of 
 Cornet Ollapod, when about to lead Miss Lucretia to 
 the stile, ) 
 
 ‘‘Curse ’em! the cows have been here.” 
 
 27th. Fintet oF VEAL. 
 
 Veal requires a good bright fire for roasting, and 
 twenty minutes for every pound should be allowed. 
 Before cooking, let the flap be stuffed. with a force- 
 
54 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 April 28—29. 
 
 meat, composed of two ounces of finely powdered bread 
 crumbs, half a lemon-peel chopped fine, a salt-spoonful 
 of salt, and the same quantity of mixed mace in pow- 
 der, and Cayenne pepper, the leaves of half a dozen 
 stalks of parsley, and a tea-spoonful of dried sweet 
 herbs ; break up an egg, and mix these ingredients well 
 together. Baste your joint with fresh butter, and send it 
 to table well browned. A nice bit of streaky bacon, 
 or gammon, should invariably be served with fillet of 
 veal, unless ham be provided. 
 
 28th. CustarpD PuppIna. 
 
 If you cannot easily procure cream, boil a pint and a 
 half of new milk, and when quite hot, thicken it by 
 stirring in finely sifted flour; these must be well mixed, 
 then add two table-spoonfuls of powdered sugar, a 
 quarter of a nutmeg grated, a tea-spoonful of lemon peel 
 chopped very small, a gill of Cognac brandy or Ma- 
 deira, and five eggs well beat up. When all these 
 materials have been properly stirred together, place 
 some light puff paste round the sides of a dish, pour in 
 the custard, and give it half an hour’s baking, ina 
 moderately quick oven. 
 
 29th. Iriso Stew. 
 
 Cut the fat off half a dozen mutton chops, peel and 
 divide into quarters two pounds of potatoes, peel and 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 55 
 April 30. 
 
 cut into thin slices three good-sized onions ; mix two- 
 thirds of a tea-spoonful of salt with one-third of 
 Cayenne, rub the chops over with this on both sides. 
 Place part of the potatoes at the bottom of a stewpan, 
 and lay the chops on the vegetables, covering with the 
 remainder. Pour in water till both are covered; you 
 may use veal stock or mutton broth, if you have it 
 made, instead of water. Set your stewpan on a slow 
 fire for two hours, now and then lifting the cover and 
 pouring off the water attached to it. 
 
 30th. Soup a v Aurore, 
 
 This favourite Parisian soup can only be made when 
 carrots are young. They must be scraped, cut into thin 
 slices, and stewed in beef or veal gravy, then forced 
 through a sieve, seasoned with salt and pepper to the 
 taste, and warmed again for use. 
 
 There is something very ludicrous and very French, 
 in giving such a high-flown name to this simple pre- 
 paration. Doubtless some chef de cuisine, struck by 
 the ardent colour of the soup, compared it with the 
 clouds which precede the appearance of the sun; and 
 being a man of classical attainments, gave proof of his 
 superiority by naming the dish as we have given it. 
 
56 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 May 1—3. 
 
 MAY. 
 —— 
 
 Ist. BRvussELs SPROUTS, 
 
 These delicious miniature cabbages are strangely 
 enough called in Brussels, “ Choux de Milan.” They 
 should be put into boiling water, in which a table- 
 spoonful of salt has been dissolved ; twenty minutes 
 on the fire will be sufficient. Drain them well, and 
 serve with melted butter. 
 
 2nd. AncHuovy Toast. 
 
 Make as many slices of toast as required ; let these be 
 fried in fresh butter, and whilst quite hot, spread the 
 fish upon them. Before making your toast, wash two 
 anchovies for each slice, bone them, and force the meat 
 through a coarse sieve. 
 
 3rd. Lams Pre, 
 
 Cut the meat off in slices from a loin of lamb. Put 
 the bones into a saucepan with a spoonful of salt, half 
 that quantity of pepper, and a pinch or two of dried 
 sweet herbs; cover these with cold water. An hour 
 and a half will be sufficient to draw a well-seasoned 
 gravy ; strain this through a sieve. Brown the meat 
 by frying it lightly in fresh butter; line a pie-dish 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 57 
 May 4—6. 
 
 with light paste, place the lamb in the dish, then fill 
 it with the gravy from the bones; squeeze half a lemon 
 over it, put on the top crust, and bake in a slow oven 
 for an hour. 
 
 Ath. BroitEpD ALLICE. 
 
 Should any of your friends residing on the “‘ Severn’s 
 sedgy side” forward to you a basket of these fish, 
 better known in London by the name of Shad, let me 
 adyise that you have them broiled, and eat them with 
 caper sauce a la Francaise. 
 
 5th. Grounp Ricr Puppine. 
 
 In a pint of new milk boil three ounces of ground 
 rice, with half a stick of cinnamon, and the peel of half 
 a lemon chopped fine ; keep it well stirred whilst boil- 
 ing, set the saucepan on the hob, and then beat up 
 four eggs, and two table-spoonfuls of powdered sugar ; 
 mix these with the rice-milk ; butter a pie-dish, pour 
 the ingredients into it, taking out the spice, and grate 
 nutmeg over the top. Half an hour’s baking will be 
 enough. 
 
 6th. VEAL CUTLETs, 
 
 Care should be taken that the meat be cut at least 
 half an inch thick, and well flattened with the rolling- 
 pin; smear them over with egg, and then cover them 
 with finely powdered bread crumbs. Fry them in 
 
 D3 
 
58 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 May 7—9. 
 
 fresh butter for a quarter of an hour, turning them till 
 both sides are well browned. Send them to table with 
 a fresh lemon, and some mushroom catchup. 
 
 Vth. To Rieen Borritep Porter or ALE. 
 
 This being a good season for bottling malt liquor for 
 autumn or winter drinking, I recommend that a couple 
 of raisins, or half a dozen grains of rice, be put into 
 each bottle, which will mainly assist in generating the 
 required effervesence. 
 
 Sth. YORKSHIRE CAKES. 
 
 Boil three pints of milk, and pour it into a large 
 earthen vessel ; stir in half a pint of yeast, and add 
 finely sifted flour, by slow degrees, till you have a good 
 stiff batter. Cover this over, and place it before the fire 
 to rise. Mix, in a separate pan, three quarters of a pound 
 of butter, with as much flour as it will hold, and half a 
 dozen eggs beat up ; when the yeast has risen, add all 
 together, divide into the required size for cakes, put 
 them on tins, and bake very gently in a slow oven. 
 
 9th. LoBsTER FOR AN ENTREE. 
 
 Chop the meat of a good-sized lobster fine, and add 
 to it half a salt-spoonful of powdered mace, the same 
 quantity of Cayenne, and a spoonful of salt; beat up 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 59 
 May 10—11. 
 
 three eggs, rub two ounces of butter into an ounce of 
 bread crumbs, mix all well together, and boil, in a well- 
 buttered mould, for an hour. Sprinkle the pea over it, 
 and garnish with the small claws. 
 
 10th. New PotatorEs in CREAM. 
 
 When potatoes first make their appearance, and are 
 about the size of a large marble, a very dainty dish can 
 be sent to table, by having a dozen or so of the young 
 esculents fried in cream, until they are of a deep auburn 
 colour. 
 
 11th. PRESERVED GINGER IMITATED. 
 
 Procure some young carrots of a yellow colour, let 
 them be well scraped, split in halves, and then cut into 
 the size and shape of the cloves of West India preserved 
 ginger. Parboil carefully, not to allow them to break, 
 or lose their shapes, drain well from the water, and 
 set them on the back of a sieve all night. Next day 
 weigh them, and put them into a stewpan with their 
 own weight of syrup of ginger (to be purchased at 
 Apothecaries’ Hall), and let it simmer very gently over 
 a low fire for four hours. Fill your preserve pots, 
 taking care to distribute the vegetable and the liquor 
 in fair proportions. Tie down with bladder, and let 
 the jars stand on the hob for a couple of days. 
 
 This preserve improves by keeping, and will be found 
 an excellent substitute for the real importation. 
 
60 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 May 12—14. 
 
 12th. GREEN GOOSE. 
 
 Instead of the stuffing of sage and onions given to the 
 more mature bird, bread crumbs mixed with pepper 
 and salt are used. Three quarters of an houyr’s roast- 
 ing will be sufficient. Send it to table with a boat of 
 gravy, another of apple sauce, and some newly made 
 mustard. 
 
 13th. Ipswich Puppinc. 
 
 Steep, in a pint and a half of cream, three ounces of 
 fine white bread crumbs. Pound into a paste half a 
 pint of blanched almonds in a small quantity of orange- 
 flower water. Beat up the whites of four, and the 
 yolks of eight eggs, with a quarter of a pound of lump 
 sugar in powder. Mix these together with a quarter 
 of a pound of butter melted. Stir well over a slow fire 
 till the mixture is tolerably thick. Place puff paste at 
 the bottom and round the sides of your dish, pour in 
 the ingredients, and bake for half an hour, 
 
 14th. Roast Brer-HEARt. 
 
 If your digestive organs be at all impaired, let me 
 advise you not to partake of this dish ; in rude health 
 you may venture with impunity. The heart must be 
 stuffed with the same materials used for fillet of veal, 
 well basted with fresh butter, and allowed twenty-five 
 minutes to the pound. Make some beef gravy to serve 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 61 
 
 with it, and melt a pot of red currant jelly in a gill of 
 port wine, to be sent quite hot to table. 
 
 15th. Hasuep Heart. 
 
 Cut the meat into slices, not too thick. Put what 
 remains of the stuffing, jelly, &c., into sufficient beef 
 gravy to cover the meat; warm this up quickly, and 
 when it is quite hot, put in the slices; but if you suffer 
 the sauce to boil you will render the meat too hard for 
 mastication. 
 
 16th. CHEESE CAKES. 
 
 Boil a quart of milk, pour it quite hot into a basin, 
 and mix well with it a table-spoonful of runnet. In 
 about an hour, break up the curd, drain off the whey, 
 and spread the curd on the back of a sieve till it is 
 quite free from liquid. Dissolve a couple of ounces of 
 powdered sugar in an ounce and a half of butter, then 
 add the yolks of a couple of eggs, a glass of sherry or 
 Madeira, and a quarter of a nutmeg grated; have an 
 ounce of currants well washed and picked ; let all these 
 be now mixed with the curd. Line your pattepans 
 with light paste, pour the mixture into each, and bake 
 in a slow oven for twenty-five minutes. 
 
 17th. CoLuARED EEIts. 
 
 The march of humanity has taught modern cooks 
 how to avoid putting these fish to unnecessary torture. 
 
62 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 May 18. 
 
 A three-pronged iron fork, inserted close to the back of 
 the head, will penetrate the spinal marrow, and deprive 
 them at once of life and motion; this done, skin the 
 fish, cut off the heads and tails, take out the bones, and 
 press the flesh quite flat with a wooden trencher. Put 
 the bones, heads and tails, into a saucepan half filled 
 with water, add a tea-spoonful of salt, enough Cayenne 
 to cover a sixpence, half a dozen cloves, a tea-spoonful 
 of powdered mace, and a bay leaf ; let this stew for an 
 hour and a half. Meantime take a dozen sage leaves 
 and reduce them to powder, mix these with half a 
 grated nutmeg, and a spoonful of salt ; rub the fish well 
 over with this powder both inside and out, cut them 
 into lengths of about three inches, place them close 
 together, and tie them tightly up in a coarse open 
 cloth, securing the top and bottom. When the stew 
 has been on long enough, take out the bones and put in 
 the fish, let them simmer in the liquor till perfectly 
 tender, then take them out, boil up the liquor again, 
 strain it through a sieve, and pour it quite hot over the 
 eels, placed in a deep dish, and divested of the cloth. 
 
 18th. NetryLe Tors. 
 
 The leaves of the common hedge nettle, which at this 
 season will be found young and tender, well boiled, 
 form a dish very nearly equal to spinach. They should 
 be well pressed and rewarmed, with a lump of butter 
 and the juice of a lemon. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 63 
 May 19—21. 
 
 19th. Riss oF Lams. 
 
 “The nearer the bone the sweeter the meat,” is an old 
 adage, and this joint is sufficient to prove the truth of 
 the saying ; it is, however, one of the most troublesome 
 dishes for the carver, unless the cook will take especial 
 care that the ribs be cracked in the centre, so as to let 
 the joint lie quite flat, and also that it has been pro- 
 perly chopped at the union of the bones with the ver- 
 tebre. 
 
 20th. GINGER BEER. 
 
 Pour four quarts of boiling water upon one pound of 
 loaf sugar, oné ounce of powdered ginger, and the rind of 
 a lemon chopped fine, cover it over and let it stand for 
 six hours; then add an ounce of cream of tartar, the 
 juice of a lemon, and a table-spoonful of yeast ; three 
 hours after you can begin to bottle, tying the corks well 
 down. If kept ina warm place, it will be fit for use in 
 twenty-four hours. 
 
 21st. RASPBERRY TOURTE. 
 
 The difference between tarts and fourtes is, that the 
 first are always covered with paste, whilst the latter 
 are sent to table open, or with a slight network, or 
 trellice, of paste over the fruit. Puff paste having been 
 laid in a proper tin, pour in enough jam to fill the dish, 
 place strings of paste across, let it bake for half an 
 hour, but never serve it hot. 
 
64 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 May 22—24. 
 
 22nd. Cop Sounps A LA TRIPE. 
 
 Soak the sounds in lukewarm water till they are 
 perfectly clean and white, then boil them in milk and 
 water until quite tender. Have ready a small Spanish 
 onion that has been boiled in two waters, cut the onion. 
 into half a dozen parts, then warm it up with the 
 sounds in cream, seasoned with three-fourths of a spoon- 
 ful of salt and a fourth of pepper, and a small quantity 
 of nutmeg. Serve with fresh mustard and a lemon, 
 
 23rd. Brisket oF BEEF. 
 
 A brisket of beef of eight pounds will require some- 
 what more than half a pound of salt well rubbed in, to 
 corn it. The sooner it is salted after killing the better; 
 it should be turned and rubbed well with the salt for 
 four days, that time is quite sufficient. Boil for an 
 hour and a half, and remove the scum as it rises. 
 
 24th. Sprina CaBBAGES. 
 
 These should be carefully looked over to remove 
 worm or grub, and washed very clean. Have plenty 
 of boiling water ready, in which a table-spoonful of 
 salt has been mixed; boil for twenty minutes, and if 
 due care be taken the vegetables will retain their 
 proper tint of green. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 65 
 May 25—27. 
 
 25th. Naa’s Heap Cake. 
 
 This cake, so well known and highly prized in the 
 west of England, is made in the following manner :— 
 Boil half an ounce of saffron in a pint of water ; strain 
 it and dissolve a pound of lump sugar in it, then beat 
 up half a dozen eggs in the sugar and water; rub half 
 a pound of fresh butter in a pound of flour, mix this 
 with the above materials, adding also half a pound of 
 currants, and an ounce of mixed candied orange and 
 lemon peel cut small. Shape it like a large bun, put it 
 on an iron plate, and bake for two hours and a quarter. 
 
 26th. Srewep Ox-TalIts. 
 
 Cut these into joints and parboil them, put them 
 into a stewpan with enough cold water to cover them ; 
 add a spoonful of salt, a spoonful of mixed powdered 
 allspice, powdered mace, and Cayenne pepper, four 
 cloves, and an onion chopped fine. Stew gently for an 
 hour and three quarters, strain off the liquor, boil it 
 up, and pour it, quite hot, over the meat. Garnish 
 with sippets of toast, and serve with a fresh lemon and 
 Reading sauce. 
 
 27th. ASPARAGUS. 
 
 Instead of sending this vegetable to table in the or- 
 dinary way, I recommend that they be boiled, the tops 
 cut off when done, and served in melted butter. All 
 
66 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 May 28—29. 
 
 necessity for taking them up with your fingers, drag- 
 ging them through your teeth, and returning the white 
 stringy stalk to the edge of the plate, is by this means 
 avoided. 
 
 28th. BrorteD Bones. 
 
 If you desire a relish, either for supper, or to make 
 out a bachelor’s dinner, and have in your larder either 
 roast beef or mutton bones not too closely carved, score 
 the meat, rub it over with walnut catchup, and sprinkle 
 it with Cayenne and salt. Set them in a bonnet before 
 the fire, when they begin to smoke rub a little fresh 
 butter over them, let them be turned now and then, 
 but take care they are not burnt. Beef cinders and 
 broiled bones are very distinct affairs. Although ori- 
 ginally dressed upon the gridiron, the above method 
 will be found the most satisfactory. 
 
 29th. SaucE PIQUANTE. 
 
 The late Michael Kelly, whose dinners and suppers 
 were themes of admiration to those who were fortunate 
 enough to enjoy his friendship, made no secret of the 
 preparation of a sauce, the result of experience. I have 
 seen it often in MS., long before the appropriately 
 named Doctor Kitchener wrote his “ Oracle,” and it is 
 thus composed :—Put as many parsley leaves as will 
 fill a table-spoon into a mortar, add a table-spoonful of 
 capers, and pound these well together, then a table- 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 67 
 May 30—31. 
 
 spoonful of fresh mustard, and three hard yolks of eggs ; 
 pound away on these till they are properly mixed; 
 wash, bone, and force through a sieve half a dozen 
 anchovies, to this add a table-spoonful of vinegar, two 
 of oil, a shalot chopped very fine; add these to the 
 former ingredients, and when about to be used stir 
 them all into half a pint of melted butter, or strong 
 beef gravy. 
 
 30th. BREAD AND Burrer PuppIna. 
 
 Cut some thin slices of buttered French roll; have an 
 ounce and a half of currants well washed, picked, and 
 dried ; thickly strew currants over these; beat up the 
 yolks of three and the whites of two eggs in rather 
 more than half a pint of new milk ; add three ounces 
 of powdered sugar. [ill the bottom of the dish with a 
 thin layer of currants, then put some of the bread and 
 butter, then a layer of currants, and so on till your dish 
 be filled ; pour the milk and eggs over the bread, grate 
 enough nutmeg to cover the surface, and bake for forty 
 minutes, 
 
 3lst. CAPILLAIRE, 
 
 Put a wine-glass of curacoa into a pint of clarified 
 syrup, shake them well together, and pour it into the 
 proper-sized bottles. A tea-spoonful in a glass of fair 
 water makes a pleasant eau sucré. 
 
68 _THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 June 1—4. 
 
 JUNE. 
 ~~ 
 
 1st. Diet Breap. 
 
 Beat up the yolks of fourteen and the whites of seven 
 egos for twenty minutes, then very gradually add nine 
 ounces of rice flour, a pound of powdered sugar, and an 
 ounce of caraway seeds, mix all well together; be 
 sure that the oven be ready, line a tin with thin paper, 
 put in the ingredients, and bake for an hour. 
 
 2Qnd. ASPARAGUS SoUP. 
 
 To any good and well seasoned consommé you may 
 add asparagas tops, boiled separately, and put into the 
 tureen when you pour in the soup for serving. 
 
 ord. GOOSEBERRY CREAM. 
 
 Boil gooseberries in milk till they are quite soft, beat 
 them up ina bow], and force the pulp through a coarse 
 sieve. Sweeten cream with sugar to your taste, then 
 mix it with the pulp; when quite cold place it in 
 glasses for use. 
 
 Ath. MIxTURE FoR SALAD. 
 
 The yolks of two eggs, boiled for at least an hour, 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 69 
 
 June 5. 
 
 must first be rubbed up with a tea-spoonful of salt, and 
 two of flour of mustard, into a perfect powder, three 
 table-spoonfuls of fine Florence oil must be added, a 
 few drops at a time, and well amalgamated with the 
 egg, salt, and mustard; as soon as this mixture is quite 
 smooth, add two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, in the 
 same manner as you have applied the oil. 
 
 It is advisable before you make the mixture, to see 
 that your vegetables are properly prepared. Let your 
 lettuces be carefully picked leaf by leaf, and cleaned 
 with a dry cloth ; the common process of soaking them 
 in water destroys the true flavour. Small salad may be 
 washed, but should be well dried before putting into 
 the bowl. Beet root in thin slices, young onions if 
 agreeable, lamb salad, endive, celery, &c. &c., accord- 
 ing to the season. Having cut up your vegetables and 
 made the dressing as above, grate a small quantity of 
 Parmesan cheese over your “green meat,”? and then 
 pour on the mixture, stirring it well together with a 
 wooden fork and spoon. 
 
 An excellent substitute for the yolk of eggs is a good- 
 sized very mealy potato, beaten up in the same manner 
 as directed. 
 
 5th. Cotp Lams. 
 
 Let me advise that your joint be dressed over night, 
 carefully covered with a fine wire safe; and be it fore 
 quarter, leg, shoulder, or ribs, eaten with the above 
 salad it will be found most fitting for the season. 
 
70 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 June 6—7. 
 
 6th. Mitx Puncu. “ 
 
 This seductive and nectareous drink can be made by 
 the directions herewith given :— 
 
 To a couple of quarts of spring water add one quart 
 of genuine milk. Mix one quart of old Jamaica rum 
 with two of French brandy, and put the spirit to the 
 milk, stirring it for a short time; let it stand for an 
 hour, but do not suffer any one of delicate appetite to 
 see the mélange in its present state, as the sight might 
 create a distaste for the punch when perfected. Filter 
 through blotting-paper into bottles; and should you find 
 that the liquid is cloudy, which it should not be, you 
 may clarify by adding a small portion of isinglass to 
 each bottle. The above recipe will furnish you with 
 half a dozen of punch. 
 
 Vth. To RenpER MEAT TENDER. 
 
 If you dip venison, beef, mutton, or pork, into chlo- 
 ride of lime in a liquid state, for a second, you may 
 hang it for many days without fear of taint; for such is 
 the effect of the chloride, that no flies will pitch upon 
 meat that has been immersed in it. 
 
 Again, if you desire to dress a joint that you know 
 has not been killed long enough to insure its being 
 tender, cover it with a coarse cloth, and let it stand on 
 the hearth of the kitchen fire, during the whole of the 
 evening preceding the day on which you mean to 
 dress it. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 71 
 June 8—10. 
 
 —... never be hung where the light of the 
 moon can fall on it; as it is well known, from no less 
 an authority than Lord Byron, that 
 
 ‘¢ The Devil’s in that moon for mischief ; ”’ 
 
 and one of chaste Dian’s vagaries is, engendering cor- 
 ruption in undressed meat and stored fruit, 
 
 8th. Hopnaer-Ponce. 
 
 A breast of lamb, young green or squash peas, small 
 onions, and spring carrots, stewed all together for an 
 hour and a half, makes the savory dish so called. It is 
 most easily prepared at this season. 
 
 Oth. ComMMoN VINEGAR. 
 
 Boil three quarters of a pound of coarse moist sugar 
 in a gallon of water, for half an hour, skimming it well 
 all the time; let it cool, and put in a table-spoonful of 
 yeast. Next day pour it into a stone bottle, and add 
 an ounce of cream of tartar. Let it be exposed to the 
 sun until the heat has turned it to vinegar. 
 
 10th. Fruit PIE FoR THE DELICATE, 
 orn L’ AMI DES ENFANS, 
 
 Children and invalids are often forbidden the use of 
 pastry, the crust being considered as indigestible ; in 
 
72 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 June ll, . 
 
 such cases I recommend the following substitute, which 
 entirely does away with the objection :—Divide, into 
 two slices each, as many sponge cakes as will be required 
 for the size of your dish; put a layer of these, with 
 the brown side downwards, at the bottom of the pie- 
 dish, then fill with currants and raspberries, plums, 
 damsons, green gages, or whatever fruit the season 
 affords ; sprinkle well with fine Lisbon sugar, and pour 
 in water nearly to the brim ; place a portion of the cut 
 cakes upon the fruit as an upper crust, and let the dish 
 be put in the oven for forty minutes. 
 
 Slices of toasted bread are equally applicable as 
 sponge cakes; but the latter is the more elegant method 
 of avoiding the forbidden pie-crust. 
 
 11th. SALMON. 
 
 In purchasing salmon avoid split fish, and select the 
 mniddle part in preference. Besure that the kettle con- 
 tains sufficient water to cover the fish ; when it boils put 
 in a good handful of salt, and as the scum rises skim it 
 carefully off, then put in the fish, properly secured 
 with twine or tape, and boil gently in the proportion 
 of a quarter of an hour to every pound of salmon. 
 Some cockney admirers of this fine fish will pretend to 
 tell you the precise part of the river Thames in which 
 the fish was caught, by some peculiar flavour. For my- 
 self, I classify salmon thus :—Wye, Severn, Shannon, 
 Tay, Dee, Thames, and Newcastle, the first-named — 
 being the best, the last worst. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 73 
 June 12—13. 
 
 12th. PickLED SaLMON. 
 
 Let me advise you always to purchase more fish than 
 
 will be eaten when first sent to table, and for this es- 
 pecial reason :— ; 
 _ Two things going by the same name cannot be more 
 unlike each other than pickled salmon bought at an 
 oyster shop, and that made at home. ‘To do this is as 
 simple and easy as possible. Place what remains of 
 your fish in a vegetable dish ; strew half a salt-spoonful 
 of Cayenne and a tea-spoonful of salt over it; boil a 
 dozen allspice in a pint of white-wine vinegar, and 
 pour the liquor scalding hot over the salmon: it is 
 quite good the same day on which you have made the 
 pickle, but infinitely improved by keeping it for a day 
 ortwo. Itshould be put away in a cold place, and 
 securely covered down, or you will run the hazard of 
 a visit from cats, whose partiality for this preparation 
 is a proof of their extremely good taste. 
 
 13th. Surimp Sauce. 
 
 The flavour of this is much improved by boiling the 
 shells and pea, after the fish have been picked, straining 
 the water off, and using it with an equal proportion of 
 milk, to warm up the butter and flour. The shrimps 
 will require only two minutes on the fire. 
 
 E 
 
74 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 June 14—16. 
 
 14th. GINGER WINE. 
 
 Put twelve pounds of loaf sugar and six ounces of 
 powdered ginger, into six gallons of water ; let it boil 
 for an hour, then beat up the whites of half a dozen 
 eggs with a whisk, and mix them well with the liquor. 
 When quite cold put it into a barrel, with six lemons 
 cut into slices, and a cupful of yeast; let it work for 
 three days, then put in the bung. In a week’s time 
 you may bottle it, and it will be ready for immediate 
 use. 
 
 15th. Lams CuHops AnD ASPARAGUS SAUCE. 
 
 Lamb chops carefully fried in egg and bread crumbs, 
 and sent to table with asparagus, dressed as before 
 directed, is about as toothsome a dish as you need wish 
 for. 
 
 16th. STRAWBERRIES A LA F'RANCAISE. 
 
 Our Gallic neighbours, instead of eating “ straw- 
 berries smothered in cream,” or with the addition of 
 white wine, as we do, carefully take away the leaves and 
 stalks, then make a layer of the fruit, about an inch and 
 a half in height, this is covered with powdered sugar 
 somewhat liberally applied ; another layer of fruit is 
 added, the same quantity of sugar as before, till the 
 whole dish is used up : when this isdone, lemon juice 
 is squeezed over the heap, and it is beat up together. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 75 
 June 17—18. 
 
 The delicate acid is said to bring out the true flavour 
 of the berries. 
 
 17th. Bortine Peas on FrRencu BEAns. 
 
 The jocose directions given to a bad cook, to “send 
 her peas to Hammersmith, as the certain way to 
 Turn’em Green,” need no longer be adopted; a less 
 - inconvenient method (although omnibuses are to be 
 found every five minutes, on their way to the mentioned 
 goal), is to use half a tea-spoonful of sub-carbon of 
 soda, thrown into the water a minute before you put 
 the vegetables into the saucepan. This will assuredly 
 preserve the colour of peas and French beans, and may 
 be used with good effect on cauliflower and broccoli, 
 obtaining thereby a fine contrast in colour between the 
 vegetable and its stalk. 
 
 18th. Savoy .Biscurts. 
 
 Beat up half a dozen eggs, add three quarters of a 
 pound of finely powdered white sugar, and the same 
 weight of sifted flour; mix these well together. Lay 
 thin paper upon iron plates, and place the batter, with 
 a tea-spoon, about four inches long and one broad, 
 keeping each separate ; just before putting them into the 
 oven, strew powdered sugar over them. The paper, 
 which will adhere to the backs of the biscuits, is easily 
 
 E 2 
 
76 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 June 19—21. 
 
 removed, by the application of cold water on a soft 
 brush. 
 
 19th. To Ensoy a Gtass oF CLARET. 
 
 Instead of sherry or Madeira, usually taken after 
 fish, drink Claret when you have eaten salmon, and you 
 will allow that you never tasted the true flavour of the 
 wine in greater perfection. 
 
 20th. ASPARAGUS OMELETTE. 
 
 Boil a dozen of the largest and finest asparagus, cut 
 off the green portion, and chop it in thin slices; season 
 with a spoonful of salt and about a fourth of that quan- 
 tity of Cayenne ; beat up half a dozen eggs in cream ; 
 melt in the frying-pan a quarter of a pound of butter ; 
 pour half the batter into the centre of the pan, as soon 
 as the butter is quite hot; then place the asparagus 
 tops upon the eggs, and cover the vegetable over with 
 the remainder. Let this omelette be sent to table on 
 a round of buttered toast. 
 
 21st. Batter Puppine. 
 
 Beat up, with a whisk, four new-laid eggs; when the 
 yolks and whites are well mixed, gently crumble in 
 four ounces of finely sifted flour, in which half a tea- 
 spoonful of salt has been mixed ; pour upon the flour 
 and egg half a pint of cream or new milk, and adda 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 17 
 
 June 22. 
 
 table-spoonful of powdered white sugar, and enough 
 grated nutmeg to cover a sixpence. See that the 
 mould be well buttered ; pour in the batter, cover the 
 bottom with buttered paper, and secure all with a pro- 
 percloth. This pudding will require an hour and a 
 quarter’s boiling. Pour wine sauce over it before 
 sending to table. 
 
 22nd. Puncu a LA Forp, 
 
 The late General Ford, who for, many years was the 
 commanding engineer at Dover, kept a most hospitable 
 board, and used to make punch on a large scale, after 
 the following method :—He would select three dozen of 
 lemons, the coats of which were smooth, and whose 
 rinds were not too thin; these he would peel with a 
 sharp knife into a large earthen vessel, taking care that 
 none of the rind should be detached but that portion 
 in which the cells are placed, containing the essential 
 oil ; when he had completed the first part of the pro- 
 cess, he added two pounds of lump sugar, and stirred the 
 peel and sugar together with an oar-shaped piece of wood, 
 for nearly half an hour, thereby extracting a greater 
 quantity of the essential oil. Boiling water was next 
 poured into the vessel, and the whole well stirred, until 
 the sugar was completely dissolved. The lemons were 
 then cut and squeezed, the juice strained from the 
 kernels,—these were placed in a separate jug, and boil- 
 ing water poured upon them, the General being aware 
 
78 THE EPICURES ALMANAC, 
 June 23. 
 
 that the pips were enveloped in a thick mucilage, full 
 of flavour ; half the lemon juice was now thrown in; 
 and as soon as the kernels were free from their trans- 
 parent coating, their liquor was strained and added. 
 
 The sherbet was now tasted; more acid or more 
 sugar applied as required, and care taken not to render 
 the lemonade too watery. “Rich of the fruit, and 
 plenty of sweetness,” was the General’s maxim. The 
 sherbet was then measured, and to every three quarts 
 a pint of Cognac brandy and a pint of old Jamaica 
 rum was allotted, the spirit being well stirred as 
 poured in; bottling immediately followed, and, when 
 completed, the brewage was kept in a cold cellar, or 
 tank, till required. At the General’s table I have fre- 
 quently drunk punch thus made, more than six 
 months’ old ; and found it much improved. by time and 
 a cool atmosphere. 
 
 23rd. LopstER SALAD. 
 
 Prepare the meat as directed in the recipe for “ Hot 
 lobsters” previous to warming it ; amalgamate it well 
 with the salad mixture also already named, omitting 
 the beet-root, and the use of Parmesan cheese, using in- 
 stead a table-spoonful of capers, thrown in whole. 
 
 Cold turbot or boiled sole are excellent materials 
 for salad, both are improved by the introduction of 
 a few prawns; a well washed-anchovy, boned and 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 79 
 June 24—25. 
 
 shredded, may be added by those who do not object to 
 the flavour of this fish. } 
 
 QAth. STRAWBERRY CREAM. 
 
 A quart of cream will be required for two pottles of 
 strawberries; the small pines should be selected, as 
 possessing most flavour. Carefully pick away the 
 leaves and stalks, and mash up the fruit in a basin; 
 boil the cream, and add the fruit whilst it remains hot; 
 sweeten with powdered sugar to your taste; let it be- 
 come quite cold before you put it into glasses, 
 
 25th. Breer a LA Mone. 
 
 The buttock is the most applicable for this savoury 
 dish ; procure about ten pounds’ weight of it, and cut 
 it into bits of about a quarter of a pound each, Chop 
 a couple of large onions very fine, and put them into 
 a large stewpan, with a quarter of a pound of fresh 
 butter, or fresh and well clarified beef-dripping :. whilst 
 this is warming, cover the pieces of beef with flour ; 
 put them into the pan, and stir them for ten minutes, 
 adding a little more flour by slow degrees, and taking 
 great care the meat does not burn. Pour in, a little 
 at a time, agallon of boiling water, then add a couple 
 of drachms of ground allspice, one of black pepper, and 
 a couple of bay leaves. Let all this stew, on a low 
 
80 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 June 26—27. 
 
 fire and very gently, for three hours and a quarter ; 
 ascertain with a fork if the meat be tender; if so, you 
 may serve it in a tureen or deep dish. A well-dressed 
 salad is the proper accompaniment of Beuf a la Mode. 
 
 26th. ORGEAT. 
 
 This extremely pleasant preparation is not so popu- 
 lar now-a-days as “ when George the Third was king.” 
 Its being out of fashion does not prevent my recom. 
 mending it, as applicable to this thirst-generating 
 season. 
 
 Blanch an ounce of bitter, and a pound of Jordan 
 almonds; put them into a mortar with a wine-glass of 
 orange-flower water, and beat them up into a paste; 
 add, by degrees, a pint and a half of rose water, and half a 
 pint of distilled water, pass this through a coarse sieve, 
 and then boil it up for one minute in three pints 
 of clarified syrup. Bottle and cork down well. A 
 tumbler of spring water, with a table-spoonful of the 
 above, makes a delicious and perfectly harmless drink. 
 Be careful to shake the bottle before you use the 
 orgeat. 
 
 Bythe wr: TARRAGON VINEGAR. 
 
 Gather the tarragon upon a dry day; pluck the 
 leaves from the stalks, and put them ina plate upon 
 the hob for about half an hour. Fill a good-sized open- 
 mouthed bottle with the dried leaves, and pour upon 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 81 
 June 28—29. 
 
 them as much white-wine vinegar as the bottle will 
 hold ; cork down tightly, and let the leaves steep for a 
 fortnight ; then strain through a flannel-bag, and put 
 the clear liquid into sauce bottles for use, carefully 
 corked. Keep your store in a dry cupboard. 
 
 28th. STtEwED CUCUMBER. 
 
 Select straightly grown cucumbers for this purpose ; 
 cut off the peel, and divide them into quarters long 
 ways, take away the seeds, and place the quarters on 
 a sieve to drain ; when perfectly dry, cover them with 
 flour. Melt half a pound of fresh butter in the frying- 
 pan ; when it boils put in the vegetables, and fry them 
 till they are of a light brown; lift the slices carefully 
 with a tin slice, and set them on a sloping slab to drain 
 off the fat. Have ready some rich beef gravy, in which 
 onions have been used; put the cucumbers into a stew- 
 pan covered with gravy, and let them simmer slowly 
 till quite tender. Before serving take out the cucum- 
 bers again, thicken the gravy with flour and butter, 
 season it to your taste with salt and pepper, boil it, and 
 pour it quite hot over the slices. 
 
 29th. PotteD SHRIMPS. 
 
 After boiling in water, with abundance of salt in it, 
 pick the fish carefully ; for a pound use a salt-spoonful 
 of mace in powder, the same quantity of allspice, a 
 
 E3 
 
82 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC. 
 
 June 30. 
 
 quarter of a grated nutmeg, and three-fourths of a tea- 
 spoonful of salt, and one-fourth of Cayenne pepper; 
 put all this into a mortar with a bit of butter the size 
 of a walnut, and pound it till it be reduced to a thick 
 and well-mixed paste. You may now pot it, and take 
 care to cover the surface with clarified butter, and 
 tie down with bladder. 
 
 30th. GREEN Pea Sovpr. 
 
 You cannot make a good-sized tureen of soup with 
 less than a peck of peas. Half fill a large saucepan 
 with water; as soon as it. boils put in three table- 
 spoonfuls of salt, skim the scum off, and then put in 
 the peas; let them boil for five-and-twenty minutes, 
 drain off the water. Put three quarts of broth, made 
 from mutton or veal, but without herbs or spices, into 
 a stewpan; add the peas to this with a dozen leaves 
 of mint, cover down tightly, and let all stew for an 
 hour and a quarter; season to your taste with pepper 
 and salt, rub it through a coarse sieve with a wooden 
 spoon, and serve it quite hot with toasted bread cut 
 into dice. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 83 
 
 July 1. 
 
 JULY, 
 ———— 
 
 1st. SatmMon at Limerick anD KILLARNEY. 
 
 It is the custom of the good people of Limerick to 
 visit, at certain seasons of the year, and early in this 
 month in particular, a large salmon weir, a few miles 
 from the city, on the beautiful banks of the Shannon, 
 and see the fish speared, and borne alive to a caldron 
 of boiling water, into which it is immersed for a few 
 minutes. The salmon is dressed on the spot, for the 
 appointed dinner-hour, conveyed home to be cooked, 
 or put into a tin case, and carefully soldered down, in 
 which state it can be sent to any friend residing at a 
 distance. The sudden death of the fish fixes between 
 its flakes the delicious white curd, and renders the 
 flavour very superior to that of any of the species that. 
 have been conveyed alive in a well-boat, or dead in ice, 
 for any length of time, 
 
 At Killarney, the dwellers by the margin of the 
 lakes cut freshly caught salmon into slices, and broil 
 these over a fire of arbutus wood, in the ashes of which 
 potatoes are placed, not only for roasting, but that they 
 may receive the fat and juices extracted from the fish: 
 whilst undergoing the operation of cooking. 
 
84 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 July 2—A. 
 
 2nd. Frencn Beans, a tA Marrre p’ Hore. 
 
 Having boiled beans as usual, warm them up again 
 in parsley and butter; and this very simple process in- 
 sures to your dish a fine foreign name. 
 
 ord. CorFreE IceE. 
 
 Make a good strong pot of coffee, as previously di- 
 rected, pour it into a bowl, add sufficient sugar-candy 
 and cream, and then place it in an ice-pail till quite 
 frozen. Serve it in proper glasses. This is one of the 
 most elegant and appropriate refreshments you can pos- 
 sibly offer your friends during the summer season. 
 
 Ath. Roast Ducks. 
 
 See that the birds be properly picked, and after 
 - drawing let the interior be carefully cleaned with a soft 
 towel, Boil a couple of onions in two waters, and 
 then chop them up very small, half a tea-cupful will 
 be sufficient ; mix the onion with about one-half the 
 quantity of fresh sage leaves, a couple of ounces of 
 finely powdered bread crumbs; a spoonful of salt, and 
 the third of a spoonful of Cayenne; beat up the yolk of 
 an egg, and rub the stuffing materials well together in 
 it. With a brisk fire, five and thirty minutes’ roasting 
 will be sufficient. Serve with gravy sauce. 
 
% 
 
 AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING, 85 
 
 5th. SausaGE Rotts. 
 
 Take equal portions of cold roast veal and ham, or 
 cold fowl and tongue; chop these together very small, 
 season with a tea-spoonful of powdered sweet herbs, 
 and a spoonful of mixed salt and Cayenne pepper ; mix 
 well together; put three table-spoonfuls of the chopped 
 and seasoned meat well rolled together into enough 
 light puff paste to cover it; when you have used up 
 the whole of your material, bake for half an hour in a 
 good brisk oven. These rolls are excellent eating either 
 hot or cold, and are especially adapted for travelling, 
 gipsy, or boating parties. 
 
 6th. CHERRY JELLY. 
 
 This exquisite jelly is prepared as follows :—Dissolve 
 an ounce and a half of isinglass in a quarter of a pint 
 of water, to another quarter of a pint add as much 
 powdered loaf sugar as will make a good thick syrup; 
 squeeze the juice out of a bottleful of Morella cher- 
 ries; add to it a glass of brandy, a glass of noyeau, 
 and the juice of a lemon and a half: mix all these 
 together; strain through a muslin sieve, and pour it 
 into a shape, which should be kept in a very cold place 
 till the jelly is required. 
 
86 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 July 7—9. 
 
 Tth. StEwED STURGEON. 
 
 A. good-sized slice of sturgeon, stewed for an hour 
 over a slow fire, in a rich and well-seasoned. beef gravy,. 
 is an excellent dish. 
 
 8th. Baur Royatez. 
 
 Take the bones out of a brisket of beef, and scoop 
 holes in the meat about an inch asunder; fill one with 
 small rolls of fat bacon, a second with chopped parsley 
 and sweet herbs seasoned with pepper and salt, and 
 the third with oysters cut small and powdered with a 
 very little mace and nutmeg. When all the apertures 
 are stuffed, tie up the meat in a roll, put it into a 
 baking-pan, and pour over it, quite hot, a pint of 
 sherry, in which half a dozen cloves have been boiled ; 
 flour the meat well, and set it in a slow oven for three 
 hours. Pour off the gravy and set it by to cool, that 
 you may skim away the fat; if it is not already in a 
 jelly, which it should be, add enough glaze to make 
 it so. Serve the beef cold, and the jelly round it. 
 This is a very savoury dish, and well adapted for warm 
 weather, not being liable to taint. 
 
 9th. Gin Puncu. 
 
 Following General Ford’s plan, as already described 
 for making sherbet, add good Maidstone gin, or Hol- 
 lands if you can procure it, in the proper proportion 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 87 
 
 July 10—12. 
 
 before prescribed; this bottled and kept in a cool cellar 
 or cistern, will be found an economical and excellent 
 summer drink, 
 
 10th. Enauisoh Curry Pownper. 
 
 An admirable imitation of the Oriental stimulant 
 can be concocted by reducing to powder the following 
 materials, mixing them well together, and keeping 
 them in a tightly corked bottle :— 
 
 Three ounces of turmeric, the same of coriander 
 seeds, one ounce of ground ginger, the like quantity of 
 ground black pepper, a quarter of an ounce of cinna- 
 mon, the same weight of cummin seed and of Cayenne, 
 and half an ounce of cardamoms. 
 
 11th. To Rieen Batu CHEESE. 
 
 Cream cheese is rarely admired by the epicure till 
 it begins to exude; to effect this speedily, lay the 
 cheese upon a bed of nettles, in a cool cellar, and you 
 will be agreably surprised at the effect of this simple 
 process. 
 
 12th. CUCUMBER. 
 
 Those who are at all afraid of eating cucumber may 
 venture without danger, if to the dressing of salt, 
 Cayenne, oil, and vinegar, a table-spoonful of strong 
 mustard be added. 
 
88 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 July 13—15. 
 
 13th. Rep Mutter. 
 
 These fish, called by some “ sea woodcocks,” are, like 
 their feathered namesakes, dressed entire. They should 
 be enveloped in oiled paper, and put into boiling lard in 
 the frying-pan, and turned occasionally for a quarter of 
 an hour; before serving take off the paper, and garnish 
 the dish with slices of lemon. 
 
 14th. Drink FoR THE Doe Days. 
 
 A bottle of soda water poured into a large goblet in 
 which a lemon ice has been placed, forms a deliciously 
 cool and refreshing draught; but should be taken with 
 some care, and positively avoided whilst you are very 
 hot. 
 
 15th. Various HiperNIAN PREPARATIONS OF 
 “HE CRATURE.”’ 
 
 The Irish housewives are in the habit of putting 
 currants both red and black, raspberries, and even the 
 humble blackberry, into whisky. These fruits all 
 add to the flavour of “a jug of punch ;” a glass or two 
 of the black currant gives a fine colouring to “a syl- 
 labub warm from the cow,” and a wine-glass of the 
 blackberry infusion is often administered medicinally 
 with good effect. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 89 
 
 July 16—17. 
 
 16th. To Preserve ARTICHOKES. 
 
 Having cut the tips of the leaves, boil the artichokes 
 for five minutes, then set them bottom upwards; let 
 them drain all night, put them in paper bags, and 
 keep them in a dry place. 
 
 17th, TURBOT. 
 
 This is one of the few, if not the only, fish whose 
 flavour is improved by keeping ; but to guard against 
 mischief in this sultry season, let me advise you to rub 
 the turbot over with salt very lightly, and to hang it 
 up in a cool safe. Two hours before you intend to 
 cook it, let it be put into fresh spring water ; and just 
 as you are about to put it into the kettle, make a couple 
 of incisions half way down to the bone, upon the back of 
 the fish, this will prevent the cracking of the skin, as the 
 fish swells in hot water. Fill your kettle three parts 
 with cold water, and then throw in a liberal handful 
 of salt ; place the turbot upon a tin or earthenware 
 strainer, and put it into the water ; as it begins to boil 
 take off the scum, and then set your kettle by the side 
 of the fire, so that the water boils very slowly, for 
 twenty minutes or a quarter of an hour, according to 
 the size of your fish; a turbot of nine pounds will 
 require at least twenty minutes, and so in proportion. 
 Take it out of the water very carefully, and place it 
 on a coarse cloth, then cover the dish you mean to send 
 to table with a napkin, place the turbot upon it, strew 
 
90 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 whole capers over it, and serve with lobster sauce and 
 slices of lemon. You may, if you prefer it, strew the 
 fish with the pea of lobster forced through a sieve. 
 
 18th. Rep CurRANT JELLY. 
 
 Be sure to gather the fruit upon a dry day; pick 
 it carefully from the stalks, into a jar; when this is 
 filled cover it down closely, and put it into a sauce- 
 pan more than half full of cold water; set this on a 
 slow fire, and let it simmer for thirty or forty minutes; 
 pour the contents of the jar into a jelly bag, and let the 
 juice run into a bowl, but avoid pressing the bag. A 
 pound and a half of finely powdered lump sugar must 
 be added to each pint of juice ; as soon as the sugar is 
 dissolved, set the syrup on the fire in a stewpan, and 
 keep it well-stirred and skimmed ; continue skimming 
 till the scum has ceased to rise : you have now only to- 
 fill your gallipots with the warm jelly, and when quite 
 cold fasten brandied paper securely over the tops of the 
 jars. 
 
 19th. Hasuep Beer. 
 
 Put the gravy of the meat into a stewpan with a 
 pint of water, a tea-cupful of mushroom catchup, half 
 an onion chopped very fine, half a tea-spoonful of salt, 
 and a third of Cayenne; boil for about ten minutes, 
 dip out a cupful of the liquid, and rub a table-spoon- 
 ful of flour in it, then stir it well into the stewpan, 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 91 
 
 July 20—22. 
 
 and let all boil for ten minutes; pass it through a sieve, 
 return it to the pan, put in the slices of beef, and just 
 before taking up throw in half a wine-glass of tarragon 
 vinegar. 
 
 20th. CRAB. 
 
 Although deficient in flavour compared with its 
 curly-tailed sea-side acquaintance, crab may be dressed 
 with the same ingredients as named for “ Lobster salad,” 
 omitting the eggs; but this fish will not bear the pro- 
 cess named for “ Hot lobster ”—it should invariably be 
 eaten cold. 
 
 21st. RasPBERRY VINEGAR. 
 
 To six pounds of fresh fruit carefully picked, add 
 four pints of the best French vinegar ; macerate for four 
 days in a glazed earthen pan, stirring frequently, but 
 taking care not to crush the seeds. Filter the vinegar 
 from the fruit, and to each pint of juice add two pounds 
 of loaf sugar. Place it in a glazed pan, in a hot water 
 bath, and let the juice boil until it is as thick as syrup; 
 it is then fit for bottling, when cool. 
 
 22nd. Frencn BrEAans ror WINTER USE. 
 
 Throw them into boiling water for one minute, then 
 into cold, drain them immediately, and dry them sepa- 
 rately and thoroughly in cloths. Put a layer of salt, 
 about half an inch thick, in the bottom of a large 
 
92 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 July 23—24., 
 
 earthen pan, then a layer of beans of about two inches 
 thick, then salt as before, and beans, till the pan is 
 filled, taking care to have the upper layer of salt. The 
 pan should be covered down with a large slate, and 
 kept in a dry place. When you require a dish, take 
 out the quantity and fill the gap up with salt. Soak 
 the beans all night and morning previous to dressing, 
 and add a little sub-carbon of soda, as before directed. 
 
 23rd. ANotHeR Metuop or Maxine GIncGER BEER. 
 
 Boil, for ten minutes, ina gallon of water, half an 
 ounce of white ginger sliced, anda pound of loaf sugar; 
 pour this upon the peel of one lemon, and the juice of 
 two; let it stand covered till nearly cold, then add a 
 dessert-spoonful of good yeast. In twelve hours strain 
 through a cloth, bottle it off, securing the corks as 
 before directed, This will be ready for use in a couple 
 of days, 
 
 24th. Trish PIKE. 
 
 Many people consider pike so coarse as not to be worth 
 the trouble of dressing; let those who think so treat the 
 fish as our Irish neighbours do, and they will change 
 their minds. After it has been carefully cleaned, the 
 belly is filled with the same kind of stuffing you would 
 prepare for roast veal, and this by two or three stitches 
 is prevented from falling out. If you attempt to roast 
 it, the weight of the body is apt to separate it from the 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 93 
 July 25—26. 
 
 head, by which it is hung; to prevent this, send it to 
 the oven, with butter placed in the same manner as 
 directed in “ Baked cod’s head.” Of course you must 
 regulate the time employed in baking by the weight 
 of your fish. In Ireland, I have seen pike run to 
 twenty-five, thirty, and even thirty-five pounds weight ; 
 and yet these “‘monsters of the Shannon,” when 
 brought to table, were found to be as delicately fla- 
 voured as a common-sized trout. The late Lord Cas- 
 tlemaine, when Colonel Handcock, sent a pike as a 
 present to the Royal Artillery mess, at Athlone, that 
 absolutely weighed forty-two pounds! 
 
 25th. CAULIFLOWER. 
 
 After trimming the outside leaves, and cutting off the 
 stalk, put them in a panful of salt and water for an hour 
 before cooking. Put three table-spoonfuls of salt into 
 the water in the saucepan, let it boil, and skim it 
 most carefully ; put in your vegetable, and allow from 
 fifteen to twenty minutes, according to the size.— 
 Remember that those of moderate growth, neither too 
 large nor too small, are always the best. 
 
 26th. Havuncu oF VENISON. 
 
 After the haunch has been well rubbed, till quite 
 dry, with a coarse cloth, envelop it completely in but- 
 tered white paper, then lay a paste of flour and water, 
 
94 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 July 27. 
 
 about half an inch in thickness over the fat portion ; 
 secure this by other sheets of paper, and tie them on 
 with flat narrow tape; put the haunch into a cradle 
 spit, and be sure that the fire is strong and bright; 
 begin to baste with clarified dripping immediately, or 
 the paper will be destroyed. You may allow from ten 
 to fifteen minutes to every pound, according to the 
 size of the joint. Twenty minutes before it is com- 
 pletely roasted, take off the papers and paste, and baste 
 with fresh butter, using flour to froth it. It is usual 
 to put a paper frill round the knuckle ; but no one has 
 ever been bold enough to assert that such an ornament 
 improved the flavour of the joint. Serve with gravy- 
 sauce quite plain, and dissolved currant jelly. 
 
 27th. Frogs. 
 
 Englishmen have a national distate to these delicious 
 little fellows, considering them as the favourite dish 
 of our French neighbours, who, it has been said and 
 sung, prefer a fricassee of Grenowilles to “ Rost bif a la 
 G—dam.” Such a notion should be combatted. With 
 all due reverence for the noble sirloin, I cannot but 
 think that the hind legs of some half dozen good-sized 
 frogs, taken out of a fine crystal pool, fried with an 
 abundance of cream and parsley, well crisped, would 
 make a convert of the most bigotted John Bull, pro- 
 vided you did not tell him the name of the dish 
 until he had accustomed himself to its flavour. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 95 
 
 July 28—30. 
 
 28th. GREEN Gace Tart. 
 
 Select fruit not quite ripe, but perfectly sound ; fill 
 a pie-dish with them; beat up a quarter of a pound of 
 powdered sugar, in as much spring water as will dis- 
 solve it; pour this over the fruit, cover with puff 
 paste, and bake in a moderate oven. Lay on a coating 
 of yolk of egg with a brush, over your crust ; put the 
 tart back in the oven for a few minutes, and sprinkle 
 powdered sugar over the top before serving. 
 
 29th. Porter Cup. 
 
 Mix in a tankard or covered jug, a bottle of por- 
 ter, and an equal quantity of table-ale ; pour in a glass 
 of brandy, a dessert-spoonful of syrup of ginger, add 
 three or four lumps of sugar, and half a nutmeg grated. 
 Cover it down, and expose it to the cold for half an 
 hour; just before sending it to table, stir in a tea- 
 spoonful of carbonate of soda. In many parts of 
 England, cup is not considered perfect without the 
 introduction of burrage, an excellent substitute for it 
 is the fresh cut rind of a cucumber. 
 
 30th. Ox-Tait Soup. 
 
 For a moderate-sized tureen a couple of tails will 
 suffice ; but if you are about to entertain, let me recom- 
 mend the same number to be used as, we were taught 
 
96 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 July 31. 
 
 in the nursery, were carried before the terrific Blue 
 Beard. Joint them, and soak in lukewarm water. 
 Chop up acouple of Spanish onions; put these in a 
 stewpan, with half a drachm of Cayenne pepper and 
 the same quantity of allspice; add the tails, and pour in 
 cold water till you have covered the meat, skim con- 
 stantly as the water boils; when the scum has ceased 
 to rise, cover the stewpan close, and simmer for two 
 hours. Strain the liquor through a sieve, add two 
 table-spoonsful of mushroom catchup, a couple of glasses 
 of sherry, season with salt to your taste, return the 
 meat to the soup, warm up all together, and serve 
 with toasted bread. 
 
 31st. Carrot Puppine. 
 
 Scrape raw carrots very fine, till you have a pound 
 weight of them, grate white bread fine till you have an 
 equal quantity ; in half a pint of cream beat up the 
 yolks of eight and the whites of four eggs, melt half a 
 pound of fresh butter in a pint of sherry, and a couple 
 of spoonfuls of orange-flower water ; add half a grated 
 nutmeg, and sweeten to your taste. Mix all the in- 
 gredients well together, and pour them into a dish 
 previously lined with a light paste. It will require 
 one hour’s baking in a moderately heated oven. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 97 
 
 August 1. 
 
 AUGUST. 
 ee 
 
 1st. TuRTLE, - 
 As dressed at the Montague Tavern, Bristol. 
 
 Mr. Burnham, the late proprietor of the above cele- 
 brated house, dressed, during his life, more turtle than 
 any other individual in the kingdom, and from him 
 the following receipt was purchased by a relative of 
 my own. The never-to-be-forgotten host of the Mon- 
 tague, though accustomed to the preparation of “ heca- 
 tombs of turtle,” as an Irish gentleman once said or 
 him, wrote the succeeding remarks as applicable to a 
 solitary specimen of the “ green and lively.” 
 
 Two days before you intend to dress the turtle, cut 
 off his head, and to do this properly you should hang 
 up the victim with his head downwards; use a sharp 
 knife, and make the incision as close to the head as 
 possible. You must not be surprised at seeing, many 
 hours after the decollation, the creature exhibit extra- 
 ordinary signs of muscular motion, by the flapping of 
 his fins. Separate the upper from the lower shell, and 
 in this operation be very careful not to touch the gall 
 bladder, which is very large, and if penetrated would 
 completely destroy the flesh over which its contents 
 
 F 
 
98 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 August 1. 
 
 ran. Cut the meat of the breast into half a dozen 
 pieces, abstract the gall and entrails, and throw them 
 away at once. Separate the fins as near the shell as 
 possible, abstract the green fat, and put it on a dish 
 separate from the white meat. Let the upper and 
 lower shells boil sufficiently long to enable you to take 
 away the bones, and remove, with a spoon, the mucil- 
 age that you find adhering to the shells, put this also 
 in a separate dish. Into the largest stewpan your 
 kitchen range affords, put the head, fins, liver, lights, 
 heart, and all the flesh, a pound of dressed ham, nine 
 or ten cloves, a couple of bay leaves, and a good-sized 
 bunch of mixed sweet herbs, such as winter savory, 
 marjoram, basil, lemon thyme, a Spanish onion cut 
 into slices, and a bunch of parsley. Cover all these 
 with the liquor in which you have boiled the shells, 
 and let it simmer till the meat be thoroughly done, 
 which you can easily ascertain by pricking it with a 
 fork, and observing if any blood exudes; when none 
 appears, strain the liquor through a fine sieve, and re- 
 turn it to the stewpan, which may remain at some dis- 
 tance from the fire. Cut the meat into square bits of 
 about an inch. Put the herbs, onion, &c., into a sepa- 
 rate saucepan, with four ounces of butter, three or four 
 lumps of sugar, and a bottle of Madeira, let this boil 
 slowly ; whilst this is doing, melt in another saucepan, 
 half a pound of fresh butter, and when it is quite dis- 
 solved, thicken it with flour, but do not make it too 
 thick, then add a pint of the liquor from the shells, let 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 99 
 
 August 2—3. 
 
 this boil very gently, skimming off the scum as it 
 rises. When both these saucepans are ready, strain 
 _ the contents of the first through a sieve, and this done, 
 add both to the stewpan. Warm up, in the liquor 
 from the shells, the green fat and mucilage, put these 
 with the meat into the stewpan also, with the yolks of 
 a dozen eggs boiled hard, the juice of ten green limes, 
 and a dessert-spoonful of Cayenne. Gently warm up 
 the whole together, and you may regard your cookery 
 as complete. Fill as many tureens as your soup will 
 permit, and as these are required for table, take especial 
 care to warm the turtle in its tureen, by putting it in 
 a hot water bath ; boiling it up a second time would 
 deprive this delicious preparation of its true flavour. 
 
 2Qnd. Normanpy Piprptns Strewerp. 
 
 Put half a pound of Normandy pippins into a stew- 
 pan, and the peel of half a lemon cut thin; dissolve a 
 quarter of a pound of loaf-sugar in a pint of spring water, 
 pour this over the fruit, cover down the pan close, 
 and set it on a slow fire for two hours and a half. 
 
 3rd. RasPBERRY OR STRAWBERRY JAM. 
 
 Be sure that your fruit be sound, free from mildew, 
 and fresh gathered; rub it through a cane sieve, put 
 as many pounds of finely powdered sugar as you have 
 pints of pulp, set it on the fire in a stewpan, stir it 
 
 F 2 
 
100 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 August 4—5. 
 
 well, and as it becomes hot, take off the scum ; twenty 
 minutes slow boiling will be sufficient. Put it in 
 pots as before directed, in the making of currant jelly. 
 For strawberry jam, select the small scarlet pine. 
 
 Ath. Herss FoR WINTER USE. 
 
 At this season you can procure the following herbs :— 
 knotted marjoram, winter savory, summer savory, 
 thyme, lemon and orange thyme, chevril and burnet : 
 let these be well dried, take the leaves from the stalks, 
 and press them closely together, then wrap them in 
 stout paper, having the name of each written on the 
 outside. 
 
 Herbs preserved in a compact form will retain their 
 flavour for two or three years; but if merely kept in 
 loose bundles, as is the usual method, they soon loose 
 their fragrance. Orange and elder flowers may be pre- 
 served in the same manner, though it is best to distil 
 them whilst quite fresh. Basil is not in a state for 
 drying till the latter end of August. 
 
 5th. To Hasn VENISON. 
 
 Parboil a small onion and stick it with cloves ; well 
 wash and chop small an anchovy : put these in a stew- 
 pan with half a pint of port-wine, a table-spoonful of 
 mushroom catchup, another of Lopresti’s, “ Duke of 
 Gloster’s sauce,” and two table-spoonfuls of currant 
 jelly ; as soon as these boil, take out the onion and put 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 101 
 August 6—8. 
 
 in the slices of venison, which should be cut moderately 
 thin ; five minutes will be quite time enough to warm 
 the meat. 
 
 6th. Brown Breap Icer. 
 
 Sweeten a quart of cream with sugar, add finely 
 powdered brown-bread crumbs till you have thickened 
 the cream sufficiently, and let this be iced in the usual 
 manner. Simple as the ingredients are, this ice pos- 
 sesses a remarkably agreeable flavour. 
 
 Tth. Arrack Puncn Imrratep, 
 
 The introduction of sweet tamarinds, two pods to a 
 small bowl, and so on in proportion, will give to punch 
 a flavour so closely resembling arrack, that it would 
 require the Supreme Council of Bengal assembled in 
 full mote, to detect the difference. Be careful to strain 
 the punch when the tamarinds are quite dissolved, or 
 a West Indian might detect your Oriental imitation. 
 
 8th. Botoena SAausaGE SALAD. 
 
 A very pretty and acceptable dish may be formed 
 by peeling and cutting into slices a Bologna sausage, 
 and placing it round a dish, with alternate slices of egg 
 boiled hard, filling the centre with a well-dressed salad, 
 aecording to the directions before given. 
 
102 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 August 9—11. 
 
 9th. StewED MusHRooms. 
 
 Take away the skin and stalks, strew a little pepper 
 and salt over the mushrooms, then put them into a 
 stewpan with half a pint of cream. Keep stirring 
 constantly, but with a gentle hand not to break them ; 
 when nearly done, add a little butter rolled in flour, 
 to thicken the sauce. 
 
 10th. Masuep Poratoes. 
 
 For a dish of mashed potatoes select those which are 
 floury, peel and rub them through an earthen colander 
 into a basin, carefully removing any specks or imper- 
 fections; a quarter of an ounce of butter, and three 
 table-spoonfuls of cream, or good milk, will be enough 
 for half a pound of potatoes. 
 
 If you desire to send them to table brown, smear 
 the surface with the yolk of an egg well beaten up, 
 and put the dish close to the fire, or use a red hot sala- 
 mander, 
 
 11th. CHAMPAGNE A LA MINUTE, 
 
 If you are about to drink sharp cider, let me advise 
 you to put half a tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda, and 
 a dessert-spoonful of finely powdered sugar at the bot- 
 tom of your glass ; have the cider poured on this, and 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 108 
 | August 12—18. 
 
 you will allow that it isa very pleasant, though hum- 
 ble, imitation of champagne. 
 
 12th. ARTICHOKE Bottoms. 
 
 These are an admirable addition to hashes and stews, 
 and may be either dried at home, or purchased at the 
 Italian warehouses, the former being fifty per cent, the 
 cheapest method, 
 
 13th. HERRINGsS, 
 
 Should you happen to be on the coast at the period 
 of the herring fishery, and witness the arrival of a 
 boat load of these exquisite fish, by all means pro- 
 cure half a dozen, and have them dressed for your 
 dinner or supper, which ever meal shall follow the 
 time of day at which the boats reach the shore, The 
 sooner you eat them after their being caught, the more 
 flavour you will find. The most approved method of 
 dressing them is as follows :—With a sharp penknife 
 make three or four incisions across the fish on each 
 side, cut an onion in thin slices, place both on the 
 gridiron, and turn them occasionally till done. Have 
 melted butter ready, in which two table-spoonfuls of 
 mushroom catchup has been poured, and a little fresh 
 mustard ; eat your herrings hot, with the prescribed 
 sauce, and you will ask yourself, why people have made 
 a fuss about John Dories. 
 
104 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 August 14—17. 
 
 14th. SorREL SAUCE. 
 
 French cooks use great quantities of sorrel in their 
 made dishes, deeming its flavour very piquant; but 
 thanks to the March of Chemistry, it has been ascer- 
 tained that sorrel contains an abundant quantity of 
 oxalic acid, and it should therefore be studiously 
 avoided. 
 
 15th. VEGETABLE Marrow. 
 
 In boiling never pierce the vegetable with a fork, or 
 you render it watery directly ; you may judge when 
 it is sufficiently dressed by the ease with which you 
 can rub off the outside skin. The best mode of cook- 
 ing it is to stew it in a good rich sauce ; it is also very 
 palateable cut into quarters, when half grown, and fried 
 either in batter or butter. This vegetable is increasing 
 in popularity every season. 
 
 16th. BEIGNET DES PoMMEs. 
 
 Use the same ingredients as named in the construc- 
 tion of “Spanish puffs; add to them apples boiled, 
 peeled, and chopped fine, and as much . powdered 
 sugar as will sweeten the dish to your taste. These 
 directions will give you the confection above-named. 
 
 17th. Driep Maricops, 
 
 The use of the marigold flower in soup, or broth, 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 105 
 
 August 18—20. 
 
 has for some reason gone out of fashion with modern 
 cooks. The flowers well dried, and the leaves reduced 
 to powder, will be found to impart a very agreeable 
 and delicate flavour, with the advantage of the mate- 
 rial being cheaply and easily procured. 
 
 18th. APPLE Piz. 
 
 Pare, core, and cut into quarters, nine or ten pippins, 
 or russet-coats, pack them closely in a proper dish, 
 add the peel of half a lemon chopped fine, half a dozen 
 cloves, two table-spoonfuls of quince marmalade, four 
 ounces of powdered sugar, and enough rose-water to 
 moisten the whole ; put on atop crust of puff paste, 
 and give it an hour and a quarter’s baking. This pie 
 is best warm, but by no means to be despised when 
 cold. 
 
 19th. Bortep HERRINGs, 
 
 Herrings that have been well powdered with salt 
 for three days, and then plain boiled, will be found 
 extremely delicate, seryed with parsley and butter. 
 This is an excellent dish for an invalid, 
 
 20th. GROUSE, 
 
 Will require at least fifteen minutes’ roasting before 
 
 a bright fire. Some persons send them to table with 
 
 their craws stuffed like partridges ; but these birds, if 
 F 3 
 
106 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 August 21. 
 in good condition, do not require any addition to their 
 
 own exquisite flavour, except a little gravy and a 
 
 squeeze of lemon. ¥ 
 
 21st. Oxrorp Puncu. 
 
 We have been favoured by a Christ Church man 
 with the following recipe for the concoction of punch, 
 as drunk at the University of Oxford :— 
 
 Rub the rinds of three fresh lemons with loaf sugar 
 
 till you have extracted a portion of the j juice. Cut the 
 peel finely off two lemons more, and two Seville 
 oranges. Use the juice of ten lemons, and four Seville 
 oranges. Add six glasses of calf’s-foot jelly ; let all 
 be put in a large jug and stirred well together. Pour 
 in two quarts of water boiling hot, and set the jug 
 upon the hob for twenty minutes. Strain the liquor 
 through a fine sieve into a large bowl ; pour in a bottle 
 of capillaire, half a pint of Sherry, a pint of Cognac 
 brandy, a pint of old Jamaica rum, and a quart of 
 orange shrub ; stir well as you pour in the spirit. If 
 you find it requires more sweetness add sugar to sind 
 taste. . 
 Such is the beverage of Alma Mater, and doubtless 
 very seductive and delicious drink it is; but if taken 
 too freely, the agony endured in the region of the pia 
 mater would be sufficient, we should imagine, to make 
 a man forswear punch for evermore. 
 
 The derivation of the name given to this old fashioned 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 107 
 . August 22. 
 
 and still popular drink, has occupied the attention of 
 the learned and curious. The Persians call it pancha, 
 a word signifying five, the number of ingredients re- 
 quired in its construction, One sweet, two sour, three 
 and four spirits, five water. We have no right to 
 claim it as an English production, seeing that our own 
 country furnishes but the water. In Sicily I remem- 
 ber to have heard that a learned padre, who had im- 
 bibed a somewhat immoderate quantity over night, 
 declared, whilst suffering from headach the next day, 
 that it must owe its name to Pontius; for, added the 
 priest, shaking his head and looking devoutly peni- 
 tent, “ He was a traitor.” | 
 
 22nd. PRESERVED GHERKINS, 
 
 See that the gherkins intended for use be sound and 
 free from external blemish; soak them in salt and — 
 water for two days, then scald them in fresh water, 
 and let them remain in it till the next day, Drain 
 them well, and let them boil for three minutes in a 
 thin syrup ; put them into a glazed vessel, and on the 
 following day boil them for five minutes in a strong 
 syrup. For the three following days, drain off the 
 syrup, make it boil, and pour it over the gherkins. 
 Place brandied paper over the pots in which you have 
 put your preserve. 
 
 N.B. French beans can be treated in the same man- 
 ner as above. 
 
108 _ THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 es ch ee ee ee 
 
 August 23—25. 
 
 23rd. PaTRiciAN BUBBLE AND SQUEAK. 
 
 Cold roast veal, divested of the outside skin, cut into 
 bits of about an inch long, with the white parts only 
 of cauliflowers, previously dressed, and also cut up 
 small ; these warmed up in a frying-pan, in half a pint 
 of cream, and seasoned with a slight sprinkling of salt 
 and Cayenne, make a very delightful réchauffée. 
 
 24th. MARMALADE OF QUINCES, 
 
 The fruit intended to be used for marmalade ought 
 to be perfectly ripe. Pare and core the quantity re- 
 quired, then cut each into four parts. Put both the 
 fruit and parings, with half a dozen cloves, into a stew- 
 pan, and fill it nearly with spring water ; let it simmer 
 over a slow fire till the fruit is soft. Take out the 
 fruit, weigh it, and beat it into a pulp in a mortar. 
 Dissolve white sugar, the same weight as the quinces, 
 in part of the liquor in which the fruit and parings 
 were stewed, boil the syrup and skim it very carefully ; 
 put in the fruit and let it stew very gently for three 
 quarters of an hour, stirring it well all the while, to 
 prevent its burning. 
 
 25th. Musuroom CatcHup. 
 
 I find the following method will produce the best 
 extract. Carefully examine the lot of mushrooms, and 
 remove any that are unsound, or have the worm; pluck 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 109 
 August 26. 
 
 out the stalks, and place the mushrooms selected for 
 use in a deep dish, with their tops downwards, strew a 
 liberal handful of salt over them; in two hours you 
 will perceive a quantity of dark-coloured liquid at the 
 bottom of the dish, and the brown interior of the fungus 
 undergoing a rapid dissolution; with a silver dessert 
 spoon remove the interior from its leathern top, throw- 
 ing away the latter. As soon as you have completed 
 this, add a tea-spoonful of Cayenne, half a dozen all- 
 spice, and boil the liquor till you have thoroughly dis- 
 solved all the mushroom. Strain and bottle for use. 
 
 This may appear an extravagant method, but let any 
 one try to extract flavour from the stalks and tops, and 
 it will be acknowledged that the trouble might have 
 been spared. | 
 
 26th. Arrcu Bone oF BEEF. 
 
 This joint requires abundance of water, and to be 
 boiled very slowly, allowing an hour for every five 
 pounds, or, in short, twelve minutes for each pound. 
 You may rely on it, that the meat can only be ren- 
 dered tender by the water boiling very gently. It is 
 an admirable dish, either hot or cold; and at this sea- 
 son of the year may with advantage be dressed over 
 night, and served next day with a salad or pickles. 
 
 Much has been said as to the correct name of this 
 joint, and various writers have applied various titles. 
 I have seen it denominated ache-bone, hook-bone, 
 
110 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 August 27—28. 
 
 natch-bone, ridge-bone, each-bone, H-bone, edge-bone, 
 and haunch-bone. : 
 “Who shall decide when doctors disagree ?”’ 
 
 27th. Borrtep Fruit. 
 
 Currants, gooseberries, greengages, and other fruits, 
 may be preserved by putting them, after being carefully 
 picked, into open-mouthed glass bottles, shaking them 
 so as to have each bottle well filled, and then placing 
 the bottles, slightly corked, into an oven, nearly cold, 
 for five hours; when you observe the fruit get into 
 wrinkles, you may take out the bottles, cork well down, 
 and cover with leather and wax. Be sure to keep the 
 bottles in a dry place. 
 
 28th. Roastine Pre. 
 
 If you desire to eat this dish in perfection, let your 
 suckling be killed early in the morning of the day on 
 which you mean to have him brought to table ; but if 
 my advice can have weight with you, let no persuasion 
 on the part of the cook, backed as she may be even by 
 the mistress of the house, induce you to send the animal 
 to the oven. Roast, as you shall be directed, and after 
 dinner read Charles Lamb’s delightful paper on the 
 subject, which will assist your digestion. 
 
 The butcher having left the pig properly prepared 
 for the cook, the first thing to be done is to make some 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING, lil 
 August 28. 
 
 appropriate stuffing. An ounce and a half of onion 
 finely chopped, two ounces of sage-leaf cut small, must 
 be mixed in five ounces of finely powdered bread crumbs, 
 the yolk of an egg, a spoonful of salt, and a third of one 
 of Cayenne pepper; fill the abdomen, “ for belly is 
 grown vulgar,” with the stuffing, and sewit up. As 
 the extremities will require more fire than the middle, 
 hang a flat-iron in the centre of your grate, and be sure 
 to have a fine brisk fire for roasting ; an hour and a 
 half will be time sufficient. Baste with fresh butter, or 
 best Florence oil, the latter will insure a browner tint 
 to your crackling, but some delicate eaters object to its 
 use. The most rigid attention must be paid to the pig 
 whilst roasting ; if left for a second it may be blistered 
 or burnt, and very soon spoiled for the table. About ten 
 minutes before the time has elapsed allowed for cook- 
 ing, cut off the head, the body still remaining before the 
 fire, Split the skull in half, take out the brains, and 
 beat them up finely with a dozen sage leaves, previously 
 boiled and chopped small ; this can be moistened into 
 sauce with the juices that followed the cutting off of the 
 head, if the cook has been prudent enough to place a 
 basin under the neck, Split the body down the back, 
 lay the sides flat upon a dish, with half the head at 
 the top, and the other half at the bottom. Serve with 
 currant sauce, and a sauce-boatful of good gravy. 
 
112 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAG, . 
 August 29—31. 
 
 29th. Cotp Roastine Pie. 
 
 Those who object to roast pig as being too rich, may 
 with safety partake of it cold; as in that state the fat 
 can be cut away, and the crackling only eaten with the 
 lean. A little fresh mustard is an admirable adjunct, 
 and a glass of Curagoa may be taken with advantage 
 after your repast. 
 
 30th. CELERY SEED. 
 
 When you cannot procure the vegetable itself, a tea- 
 spoonful of the seed, introduced into gravy or pea soup, 
 during the process of making, will be found to impart 
 the required flavour. 
 
 31st. Reat Casrinet Puppine. 
 
 Break four sponge cakes into small pieces, add three 
 or four bunches of raisins cut and stoned, a table- 
 spoonful of candied citron, two ounces of ratafia cakes, 
 beat up five eggs with two glasses of brown sherry, and 
 one of brandy, add enough fine Lisbon sugar to sweeten 
 it; boil a pint of milk, with half a dozen cloves and a 
 quarter of a stick of cinnamon; strain and add the 
 milk to the above. See that the mould be well but- 
 tered, as before directed, and boil for the same time. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 113 
 
 September 1—2. 
 
 SEPTEMBER, 
 ane 
 
 lst. GRAPE JELLY. 
 
 Mix together equal quantities of the juice of ripe 
 grapes and dissolved isinglass ; should it require sweet- 
 ening, which is rarely the case, add powdered sugar to 
 your taste ; pour in two glasses of Madeira, strain, and 
 put it into moulds, 
 
 This jelly will be found a delightful addition to an 
 autumn repast, the only season of the year when it can 
 be made without the use of hot-house grapes. 
 
 2nd. PRESERVED BARBERRIES. 
 
 Boil, in a quart of water, for twenty minutes, two 
 pounds of loaf sugar, then put in the barberries, let 
 them simmer for an hour, and pour them into a glazed 
 pan. Next day strain the syrup, add to it another 
 pound of sugar, and let it simmer for half an hour, put 
 in the fruit again, and when the syrup is about to boil 
 take it off; when quite cool, put the preserve into pro- 
 per jars, and tie down with leather or bladder, having 
 brandied paper on the top of the fruit, 
 
114 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 September 3—5. 
 
 ord. Onton Sour. 
 
 The proportions for making this soup are as fol- 
 low :—To a quart of beef gravy add one large onion, 
 that has been previously boiled in three waters, and 
 then finely chopped; season with Cayenne and salt, 
 put in the vegetables, let all simmer for an hour, strain 
 before serving. 
 
 It is a well-known fact, that persons who have some- 
 what exceeded in their potations on the previous day, 
 have found no better restorative from the effects of a 
 late sitting than a basin of onion soup, followed by a 
 small morsel of broiled or roast meat, abstaining from 
 malt liquor or wine, and drinking instead a moderate 
 quantity of weak brandy and water. 
 
 Ath. Tomata, oR Love APPLE. 
 
 This valuable auxiliary to made dishes does not hold 
 sufficient estimation amongst the respectable classes of 
 society. At royal and noble boards the use of the to- 
 mata is frequent. The latter end of August and during 
 September they are to be purchased in high perfection : 
 as the foundation for certain hashes the flavour is un- 
 rivalled. We shall speedily give directions for its use, 
 
 5th. Roast Leg or Mutton, 
 
 Procure, if possible, four-years’ old meat, and let the — 
 leg hang for five or six days in a cool place, and de- 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 115 
 
 September 6—7. 
 
 fended from flies by a wire safe. Allow a quarter of an 
 hour per pound, and roast by a brisk fire. One of the 
 most savoury sauces you can use with roast mutton is 
 made by putting two glasses of port wine, one of Read- 
 ing sauce, and a tea-spoonful of garlic vinegar, into 
 a small saucepan, and pouring the contents over the 
 joint just before serving; this, as it mixes with the 
 gravy of the meat, for mutton should never be over- 
 roasted, will tempt the weakest appetite, 
 
 6th. Cotp Roasr Morton. 
 
 Can be either eaten with a salad, made as directed, 
 with the sauce piquante before named, but used cold; 
 or with pickles, walnuts, red cabbage, or mixed West 
 India, according to the taste of the diner. 
 
 7th. HasHep Murton a ta ToMATE. 
 
 The meat having been cut off over night, and 
 covered with flour, let the bones be broken, and put 
 into a saucepan early the next morning, with plenty of 
 water, and an onion that has been boiled in three 
 waters ; let your liquor evaporate till you have about 
 half a pint of good strong gravy, which must be carefully 
 skimmed when cold. 
 
 Twenty minutes before your dinner hour, strain the 
 gravy from the bones, and break into it four or six to- 
 matas, having taken away their stalks; set this on the 
 
116 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 September 8—9. 
 
 fire, and five minutes before you mean to serve up put 
 the slices of mutton into the saucepan, with a salt- 
 spoonful of salt, and a third of that quantity of 
 Cayenne. 
 
 It will thus be seen that a more profitable or palata- 
 ble joint than a leg of mutton cannot well be desired 
 in a small family, or for a batchelor’s consumption, 
 particularly if the foregoing directions meet proper 
 attention. 
 
 8th. Cuerry BRANDY. 
 
 Put into a wide-necked bottle as many Morella cher- 
 ries as it will hold ; add a few peach or nectarine ker- 
 nels, or bitter almonds; fill the bottle with the best 
 French brandy, and cork down. In a month after, add» 
 a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar to every pint of 
 brandy. 
 
 Oth. PARTRIDGES. 
 
 If killed on the first of the month you may dress 
 your birds to-day. They will be all the better for 
 having been drawn as soon after they come to hand as 
 possible. I recommend the cook to abstain from the 
 common custom of sticking one leg through the other, 
 as it renders the carving difficult. A good rich gravy 
 sauce is essential with partridge, which, with all its fla- 
 vour, isa very dry-meated bird. Some folks use bread- 
 sauce, or an abomination so called, being, in fact, 
 nothing more or less than spiced pap! 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 117 
 September 10—11. 
 
 10th. ELperR WINE. 
 
 In two gallons of water boil one gallon of elder ber- 
 ries for one hour, or until the berries sink. For every 
 gallon of liquor provide three pounds and a half of 
 sugar; strain the liquor over the sugar; when nearly 
 cool adda little yeast. The next day put it into a cask, 
 and let it work till it has ceased to make any hissing 
 noise. Boil two or three cloves of ginger, a few cloves, 
 and some allspice, for a short time ; then put them in a 
 muslin bag, adding a pebble, that the spice may sink to 
 the bottom of the cask. Bung down close. If you 
 make nine gallons of wine, you will require about four 
 and a half ounces of the above spice for that quantity. 
 The addition of a few sloes or damsons will be found a 
 great improvement. 
 
 ‘lth. Birp’s Eyr, or Cuite VINEGAR. 
 
 _ This is the best season for procuring the small cap- 
 sicums, called Bird’s eye, they will be found in abund- 
 ance in Covent Garden Market. I recommend your 
 purchasing enough to fill half a dozen bottles, as Chile 
 vinegar is justly a favourite addition, not only to fish, 
 but cold meat, hashes, stews, and many made dishes. 
 Fill your bottles, which should be open-mouthed, with 
 as many peppers as they will hold; then pour in the 
 best white wine vinegar, cork down tightly, and set 
 them on the hob for at least ten days. At the end of 
 
118 — _ THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 September 12—14. 
 
 that time, this piquante vinegar will be ready for use, 
 but it is much improved by age. 
 
 12th. Bortep Duck. 
 
 A duck boiled, and smothered in onions, is a delicacy 
 fit for the table of an empress. Twenty minutes is 
 quite sufficient time, and be sure that the onions have 
 been twice boiled before you make them into sauce. 
 
 13th. Damson CHEESE. 
 
 Place rive damsons in a jar, and put it in a saucepan 
 of boiling water, let it simmer over the fire till the fruit 
 becomes soft ; when quite done, rub them through a 
 fine wire sieve, crack the stones, blanch the kernels, 
 and mix them well with the pulp; weigh it, and add 
 an equal quantity of lump sugar. Boil very gently, 
 stirring all the while, until it is of a sufficient thick- 
 ness, then pour into oval flat preserve pots; put bran- 
 died paper on the tops, and tie down with bladder. 
 
 14th. FRICANDEAU OF VEAL. 
 
 Let the veal be well larded, and place it in the stew- 
 pan with the larded side uppermost ; then add two large 
 tumblers of water, two carrots in slices, two onions 
 also sliced, a bunch of parsley, and a couple of cloves. 
 Boil slowly for three hours and a half. Brown the 
 
a AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 119 
 
 nt vats September 15—16. 
 
 os 
 
 _yeal with a red hot salamander before serving, and add 
 some stewed mushrooms. 
 
 & 
 15th. Pain DE Pomme. 
 
 Boil a dozen dumpling apples till they are soft, peel 
 and core them, break them up, and force the pulp 
 _ through a coarse sieve ; mix this with twice its weight 
 of dough ; make the whole into small loaves, and bake 
 in a slow oven. 
 
 16th. Carrot Sour. 
 
 The liquor in which you have boiled mutton or veal, 
 or a gravy drawn from beef bones, will make sufficient 
 foundation for this excellent soup; put a couple of 
 quarts of either of these into a stewpan, then scrape 
 six large carrots, and cut off the red portion ; put that, 
 with a head of celery and onion both cut up, into the 
 stewpan, cover down close, and set it near the fire, or 
 on a very slow one, for two hours and a half; if you 
 do not find the carrots quite soft by this time, give them 
 another half hour’s simmering; force the vegetables 
 through a sieve by the aid of a wooden spoon, and if 
 you find that the pulp mixed with the liquor is too 
 thick for soup, add more broth ; season with salt and 
 pepper to your taste. It must be warmed up again 
 before sending to table. Serve with toasted bread. 
 
120 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, F 
 September 17—19. x 
 Se ties 
 17th. TAINTED GAME. | 
 
 Should grouse or partridge reach you that are, as 
 Pedrigo Potts observed of his fish, “ Decidedly on the 
 go!” have them carefully picked and drawn, and im- 
 mersed in new milk; let the birds remain in their lac- 
 tean bath till the next day, when they will be found 
 quite fit for cooking. One thing I have observed, that 
 the milk in which “high game” has been placed be- 
 comes so noxious, that neither cat or dog, in the pangs 
 of hunger, can be tempted to taste it. 
 
 18th. JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. 
 
 These are usually plain boiled, cut, and peeled, and 
 
 served with parsley and butter; but a great improve- 
 ment in their flavour will be obtained by baking them 
 in their coats for about twenty minutes, then peeling 
 and cutting them into slices of about two-tenths of an 
 inch, and warming them up in arich brown sauce, well 
 seasoned. 
 
 19zh. Tomata Sauce, 
 
 Take away the stalks, and break up into a stewpan 
 a dozen and a half Tomatas ; let them be placed on a low 
 fire till perfectly dissolved, then force the pulp through 
 a coarse hair sieve, pour it back into the pan, with a 
 table-spoonful of mint in powder, four shalots, chopped 
 fine, half a dozen allspice, a couple of cloves, a table- 
 
bah. ee _- September 20—2). 
 
 AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 121 
 - 
 
 poonful of Chile vinegar, and a gill of sherry. Boil 
 for two hours, stirring occasionally ; bottle when cold, 
 and tie leather over the corks. 
 
 20th. Savoury Happock. 
 
 Haddock must be allowed to be a somewhat taste- 
 less fish ; the favourite breakfast accompaniment, the 
 ** Findhorn Haddy,” can be successfully imitated by 
 
 soaking a deal shaving in fresh butter, and rubbing it 
 
 over, with salt and pepper. A fresh fish may be sent to 
 table worthy of notice, if dressed as follows :— 
 
 After cleaning the interior, dry it with a cloth, and 
 stuff the fish with the same force-meat you would use 
 for a fillet of veal ; tie the tail to the mouth, and place 
 the haddock in a deep pie-dish ; rub it over with flour, 
 and half fill the dish with veal stock ; then let it: bake 
 in a slow oven for forty minutes, 
 
 21st. Marrow Puppine. 
 
 Blanch eight ounces of sweet almonds, and beat them 
 up in amortar with a table-spoonful of rose-water, chop 
 up six ounces of candied orange and citron, beat up the 
 yolks of half a dozen eggs, and add a glass of sherry or 
 Madeira to them, shred very fine a pound of beef mar- 
 row free from the minute bones, wash and pick half a 
 pound of currants, grate up the crumb of a French 
 roll; these things done, boil a quart of cream, and 
 
 @ 
 
122 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 September 22—23. 
 
 whilst it is quite hot stir in the ingredients, mixing all 
 well together, Rub the sides of a pie-dish with butter, 
 put in the above materials, and bake for half an hour ; 
 before serving, strew powdered sugar over the top. 
 
 22nd. RUMFUSTIAN. 
 
 This is the singular name bestowed upon a drink 
 very much in vogue with Oxford men, after their re- 
 turn from a day’s shooting over a heavy country, and 
 is concocted thus :— 
 
 The yolks of a dozen eggs are well whisked up, and 
 put into a quart of strong beer; to this is added a pint 
 of gin; a bottle of sherry is put into a saucepan, with 
 a stick of cinnamon, a nutmeg grated, a dozen large 
 lumps of sugar, and the rind of a lemon peeled very 
 thin ; when the wine boils, it is poured upon the gin 
 and beer, and the whole drunk hot. 
 
 23rd. Rassit Pre. 
 
 Parboil and cut into joints a couple of rabbits. Chop 
 up the livers very fine, and add to them a quarter of a 
 pound of fat bacon boiled, enough Cayenne and pow- 
 dered mace to cover a shilling, a spoonful of salt, the 
 leaves of half a dozen sprigs of parsley, and a shalot 
 finely chopped ; mix these well together, and lay them 
 at the bottom of the dish; place the joints over the 
 force-meat, pour in two table-spoonfuls of ham extract, 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 123 
 September 24—25. 
 
 and fill up with veal stock; cover with puff paste, and 
 bake for an hour and a half. This pie should be eaten 
 hot. 
 
 24th. Maccaront. 
 
 If you wish to eat this Italian dainty in perfection, 
 let it be boiled in milk, and when quite tender drain off 
 the liquid; place the maccaroni upon the dish you in- 
 _ tend to send to table, put it before the fire whilst you 
 rub fresh butter over the top, and then cover the sur- 
 face with grated Parmesan cheese, about a quarter of 
 an inch thick ; put it into a Dutch oven, and let it re- 
 main for ten minutes before sent to table. Some epi- 
 cures have maccaroni plain boiled, and instead of cheese 
 use a good rich brown gravy. 
 
 25th. HomeE-MADE FisH Sauce. 
 
 I find the following mixture much less expensive 
 than purchasing sauce at an Italian warehouse. It is 
 easily made, and will be found full of flavour:—A gill 
 of India soy, a wine-glassful of shalot vinegar, half 
 a pint of mixed mushroom and walnut catchup in equal 
 proportions, the juice of a lemon, and its peel chopped 
 very fine, a couple of anchovies boned, two tea-spoon- 
 fuls of Cayenne pepper, a table-spoonful of horse-radish 
 vinegar, and a tumbler of port wine. Let all these be 
 put into a bottle and corked down close; place it where 
 it will be constantly seen, and whenever opportunity 
 
 G 2 
 
124 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 September 26—28. 
 
 arises give the bottle a good hearty shaking, but do 
 not think of using the contents till they have been at 
 least a month mixing ; you may then fill small sauce 
 bottles with the mixture, strained. 
 
 26th. Braziuian Burtrer. 
 
 Happy is the man who can obtain a pot of this deli- 
 cacy in a pure state ; it is manufactured from turtle’s 
 eggs, and is rich in flavour, without the slightest ran- 
 cidness. 
 
 27th. Lemon Sponge-CakE. 
 
 Beat up the whites of four and the yolks of eight 
 egos, add by degrees three quarters of a pound of loaf 
 sugar, then gently sprinkle in half a pound of flour ; 
 when done add the peel of a lemon finely chopped, and 
 the juice of half a lemon. 
 
 28th. Branc Manee. 
 
 Boil an ounce of picked isinglass, till it is quite dis- 
 solved, in a pint and a half of milk ; add the peel of half 
 a lemon cut fine, half a stick of cinnamon broken up, a 
 blade of mace, two ounces and a half of finely powdered 
 white sugar ; blanch and pound in a mortar ten bitter 
 and half an ounce of sweet almonds, beat together in a 
 spoonful of rose-water; mix all these with the milk 
 whilst quite hot, and let it simmer very gently for five 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 125 
 
 September 29. 
 
 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve, let it stand for 
 half an hour, and then pour into a mould. 
 
 29th. Roast Goose. 
 
 Although geese are fit for the table as early as the 
 middle of July, I have chosen Michaelmas-day as the 
 one on which the majority of families are in the habit 
 of first ordering it for table. As it would be a “ scandal 
 on Queen Elizabeth ” to doubt for a moment that her 
 Majesty was employed upon this savoury bird when 
 she heard the glad tidings of the Armada’s defeat, Anno 
 Domini, 1588, though certainly somewhat earlier than 
 the 29th of September, be that as it may, it has been 
 gravely stated, that, to commemorate the event, those 
 of her subjects who were no ways ambitious of submit- 
 ting to Catholic invasion, caused divers and sundry 
 geese to be slaughtered and eaten upon the anniversary 
 of that glorious day, which is doubly impressed upon 
 the minds of epicures by the motto Elizabeth selected 
 for the commemorative medal :—-“ Dux femina facti.” 
 
 Having paid due attention to the cleaning, picking, 
 and singeing of the bird, let the following stuffing be pre- 
 pared :—T' wo ounces of undressed onion, and one of sage 
 leaves, must be first chopped small ; a salt-spoonful of 
 salt, and a third of that quantity of pepper, must be 
 mixed with four ounces of finely grated crumbs of 
 bread, the whole moistened with the yolk and white of 
 an egg well whisked. In putting the stuffing into the 
 
126 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 September 30. 
 
 bird, give it space wherein to swell, under the action 
 of the fire ; when you have put the goose upon the spit, 
 secure the neck and Pope’s nose with twine, to prevent 
 the stuffing from falling out, and to keep the bird steady. 
 A large goose will require somewhat more than an hour 
 and a half’s roasting; be sure it be well basted, and 
 sent to table of a rich brown hue, with a boat full of 
 gravy sauce, another of apple sauce (which see), and 
 some newly made mustard. 
 
 30th. | Sopa Negus. 
 
 A most refreshing and elegant beverage, particularly 
 for those who do not take punch or grog after supper, 
 is thus made :— 
 
 Put half a pint of port wine, with four lumps of 
 sugar, three cloves, and enough grated nutmeg to cover 
 a shilling, into a saucepan; warm it well, but do not 
 suffer it to boil, pour it into a bowl or jug, and upon 
 the warm wine decant a bottle of soda water. You will 
 have an effervescing and delicious negus by this means. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 127 
 
 October 1—2. 
 
 OCTOBER. 
 —p— 
 1st. A Hauncu or Morton, “ Bristot Fasuton.” 
 
 The West India merchants of Bristol often cause a 
 haunch of mutton to be buried in a hogshead of brown 
 sugar for three weeks or a month ; and if the meat so 
 treated be five or six years old, it may very easily be 
 mistaken for venison. 
 
 The natives of Ceylon are in the habit of covering 
 down newly killed venison with honey in large earthen 
 pots; these are not opened for three years, and the meat 
 so preserved is said to be of the most exquisite flavour. 
 
 Qnd. Tratian CREAM. 
 
 Put into a pint and a half of boiling milk, a tea- 
 spoonful of coriander seeds, a quarter of a stick of cin- 
 namon broken small, the peel of a lemon cut very thin, 
 three ounces of finely powdered sugar, and three or 
 four grains of salt; let all these boil till the milk is 
 reduced one half, meantime beat up the yolks of half a 
 dozen eggs, and thicken these with a little fine flour; 
 add this to the milk by degrees, stirring well all the 
 while; strain through a fine sieve into the dish you 
 intend to send to table, and place it in a hot bath on 
 
128 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 October 3—5. 
 
 the hob till the cream is set. Grate a little nutmeg 
 over the top, and brown the surface with a salamander. 
 
 3rd. CuRRANT AND APPLE PUDDING. 
 
 Of each of the following materials take six ounces, 
 grated bread, chopped apples, loaf sugar, currants, suet ; 
 to these add six eggs, two table-spoonfuls of candied 
 orange, lemon, and citron peel mixed, half a nutmeg 
 grated, and a glass of brandy. Boil for two hours ina 
 well buttered mould. 
 
 4th. Huitres au CITRON. 
 
 Instead of vinegar and black pepper, squeeze fresh 
 lemon juice over the fish, and use Cayenne; and, like 
 William Tell, you will “ wonder you did not think of 
 that before.” 
 
 5th. GisBuet Pre. 
 
 Two sets of giblets are requisite to make a moderately 
 sized pie: let these be properly cleaned and half stewed, 
 eut the liver into three pieces, the gizzard into four, 
 and divide the neck into joints, separate the feet from 
 the legs; strain off the liquor, and put both that and 
 the meat by till perfectly cold ; strew a moderate al- 
 lowance of pepper and salt over the giblets, and do the 
 same by a piece of rump-steak the size of the bottom of 
 your pie dish; arrange the gizzard, &c. &c., over the 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 129 
 
 October 6—7. 
 
 steak, pour in about a tea-cupful of veal stock, cover 
 with puff paste, and bake in a slow oven for an hour 
 and a half. The liquor from the stew will by this time 
 be quite cool enough to skim away the fat, thicken it 
 with a tea-spoonful of flour, a bit of butter the size of a 
 walnut, and add the juice of a lemon ; boil this up, and, 
 when the pie is sufficiently baked, strain it through a 
 fine sieve, make a hole in the crust, pour in the liquor, 
 replace the paste you have removed, smear the top with 
 the yolk of an egg, and set the pie before the fire for a 
 few minutes, This is an admirable dish hot or cold. 
 
 6th. Pracuets In Branpy. 
 
 Peel and cut half a dozen peaches, not too ripe, into 
 quarters, blanch and bruise the kernels; put these and 
 the fruit into a large jar, with a quart of French brandy 
 half a pint of syrup, a tea-spoonful of cinnamon, half a 
 dozen cloves, and a blade of mace, all reduced to pow- 
 der. Close the jar very tightly, shake it as often as 
 possible, and at the end of a month strain the liquor 
 through a jelly-bag, and divide your fruit and syrup 
 into smaller jars. 
 
 Tth. Wuitt Potato-Sovupr. 
 
 Cut a moderately sized breast of mutton into small 
 pieces, and put them into three quarts of water, make 
 it boil, skim it carefully, and season the broth with salt 
 
 G 3 
 
130 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAG, | 
 October 8. 
 
 and pepper to your taste; peel and cut into quarters 
 half a dozen large and sound potatoes, and three tur- 
 nips; slice up four onions, chop up three heads of 
 celery, and throw these into the broth with a liberal 
 handful of sweet herbs. Some cooks add three leeks ; 
 but, with onions already in use, I deem these Cambrian 
 insignia unnecessary. Let all stew for four hours and 
 a half over a low fire; strain off the liquor, take out 
 the mutton, and force as much of the vegetable as pos- 
 sible through a sieve with a wooden spoon. Beat up 
 the yolks of a couple of eggs in a quarter of a pint of 
 cream, stir all well together, and warm it up for send- 
 ing to table. 
 
 8th. Watnut CatcuHur. 
 
 From this period to the first week in November you 
 may purchase green walnut shells for the purpose of 
 making catchup. Three half sieves will be enough to 
 supply a small family for a twelvemonth. Put these 
 into a large earthen pan or pans, with a pound and a 
 half of common salt; let them soak for three weeks, 
 stirring them often; when you perceive that the shells 
 have become soft, drain off the liquor, put the husks. 
 into a press, and get as much from them as possible. 
 Let this juice simmer very gently, and continue to 
 skim it as long as any scum rises; put in an ounce of 
 cloves, and another of long pepper, two ounces of 
 ground ginger, and the same quantity of allspice; boil 
 for half an hour, and then pour off to cool. Be careful 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 131 
 
 October 9—10. 
 
 in bottling that the spice be equally distributed, that 
 you fill to the top, and that the corks be sound ; secure 
 them with common wax. Keep the catchup in a cool 
 place, and do not think of using it for at least nine 
 months. 
 
 9th. PHEASANT, 
 
 This bird enjoys a reputation far beyond its intrinsic 
 merit ; a capon or well-fed barn-door fowl is preferable 
 as regards flavour. This may appear in the eyes of 
 - many epicures rank heresy, but we know 
 
 ‘* What a deform’d thing that fashion is ;’’ 
 
 and therefore offer the succeeding directions to those 
 who differ in opinion :— 
 
 Let the bird be carefully picked and drawn; after 
 hanging some eight or ten days, take out the craw by 
 cutting a slit in the back of the neck, leave the head 
 on, and truss as you would a fowl for roasting, with 
 this difference, that you do not cut off the feet, but 
 merely divest them of the claws. From half an hour 
 to three quarters’ roasting will be sufficient, the time 
 depending upon the size. Baste with fresh butter, send 
 it to table properly browned, with some rich gravy 
 sauce in which a tea-spoonful of ham extract has been 
 mixed. 
 
 10th. STEwED Pears. 
 
 Carefully peel, cut in half, and take the cores out of a 
 
132 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, » 
 October 11—12. 
 
 couple of dozen of winter pears; fill a stewpan more 
 than three parts full with spring water, put in the 
 peels and cores, and let them boil for twenty minutes, 
 then strain the water off, throw it back into the pan, 
 with as much loaf sugar as will make arich syrup ; put 
 in the pears, with a salt-spoonful of cochineal, more will 
 turn the fruit brown ; add a dozen cloves, and the peel 
 of a lemon chopped fine ; let the pears simmer till they 
 are quite soft, looking to them constantly ; when nearly 
 done put in four wine-glasses of port, stirring it care- 
 fully, so as not to break the fruit. Flat preserve pots 
 are most appropriate for keeping stewed pears. 
 
 11th. Curry oF Cow-HEEL, 
 
 It is a common mistake to devote dry meats to the 
 purpose of a dish of curry. Rabbit, chicken, veal, are all 
 out of place. Lobster is passable, but the best material 
 that can be used is the homely but excellent article 
 cow-heel, Its mucilaginous nature absorbs the flavour 
 of the Indian condiment ; and the meat, being cut into 
 small pieces, no one detects to what source they are 
 indebted for so capital a dish. 
 
 12th. To Dress a Curry. 
 
 If, after the last valuable hint, you choose to make a 
 curry of dry meat, you should do so as follows :—Cut 
 the fowl or rabbit into small pieces, melt a quarter of a 
 
Ee 
 Fes 
 
 AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 133. 
 October 138. 
 
 pound of fresh butter in astewpan, and, when quite dis- 
 solved, put in the meat, and a Spanish onion cut into thin 
 slices ; when the meat becomes brown, pour in about 
 half a pint of veal stock, and stew over a gentle fire for 
 a. quarter of an hour. Mix a table-spoonful of flour 
 with a spoonful of salt in water, then add three tea- 
 spoonfuls of curry-powder, and the juice of a lemon to 
 the meat; stir all well together, and give it twenty 
 minutes’ more stewing. The directions for boiling rice 
 have already been given. 
 
 13th. Savoury OMELETTE. 
 
 Cold fowl, veal, or veal kidney, are the best ingre- 
 dients for this excellent dish ; whichever you select 
 must be chopped very fine, with an equal quantity of 
 the lean of ham ; add one shalot, a little parsley, and 
 pepper and salt. Mix the yolk of three eggs, and two 
 tea-spoonfuls of flour, in a teacupful of milk. Beat 
 up the whites of egg separately, see that the frying-pan 
 be quite hot, and the lard boiling, before you put in the 
 meat and yolks, well mixed together ; as soon as you 
 begin to fry, add the whites, and mix them well with 
 the other ingredients. Ten minutes over a slow fire 
 will be sufficient. Brown with a salamander before you 
 send it to table, 
 
134 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 October 14—15. 
 
 14th. ScALLOPED OYSTERS. 
 
 Pastrycooks, ay and some professed cooks too, send 
 to table what they call scalloped oysters, when, in fact, 
 the dish is nothing more than the fish made into sauce, 
 poured into shapes, brown bread crumbs strewed over 
 them, and kept in the oven till required. The true 
 method of making this savoury winter dish is to have 
 the scallop well buttered, then a thin coat of finely 
 powdered crumbs of white bread, on this place as many 
 bearded oysters as the shape will hold ; over these strew 
 a little salt and Cayenne, and two or three morsels of 
 butter ; then make a second layer of crumbs, and pro- 
 ceed as before directed till the shape be filled, then pour 
 the liquor of the oystersover, put them into the oven 
 for half an hour, and just before serving to table brown 
 the top with a hot salamander. 
 
 15th. Mutton Brotn. 
 
 For the sick room mutton broth should be prepared 
 as follows :—Take off the skin and fat from a pound of 
 the neck, put it into a quart of cold water, and let it 
 boil very gently, skimming constantly; when you 
 have removed as much scum as possible, put on the 
 cover, and let the saucepan stand close to the fire for an 
 hour, then pour out the liquor through a sieve ; let it 
 become quite cold to remove the slightest vestige of fat, 
 season very moderately with pepper and salt ; warm it 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 1385 
 
 October 16. 
 
 up again, and serve it with sippets of toasted bread. 
 For those in the enjoyment of man’s greatest blessing, 
 health, it is thus made :—Cut the fat off half a dozen 
 chops from the loin ; put these into a quart of cold water, 
 with a couple of turnips peeled and cut into slices, an 
 enion chopped fine, and a table-spoonful of mixed sweet 
 herbs; set a stewpan over a moderate fire; when the 
 broth boils skim it well, cover down and let it simmer 
 for an hour; take out the meat and vegetables, and 
 pour the broth into a shallow dish ; when quite cold 
 take off the fat, and season the liquor with salt, enough 
 Cayenne and powdered mace mixed to cover a six- 
 pence. Pour back the liquor, put in the chops, &c., let 
 all stew for half an hour longer, and serve both broth 
 and meat in a tureen. 
 
 16th. Rasstits. 
 
 Many persons are in the habit of eating rabbits that 
 have been fed in some wretched cellar or garret, off any 
 vegetable offal the proprietors could afford to give the 
 poor animals. Let such feeders once try the flesh of 
 the wild one, that has bounded over downs redolent of 
 wild thyme, and “other sweet meats,” and they will 
 never attempt to eat the flabby, tasteless, unwholesome 
 mess called a tame rabbit. 
 
 The wild is easily known by the small quantity of 
 fat, its firmness, and the closeness of its flesh. 
 
136 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 October 17—18. 
 
 For boiling, take out the liver and dress it separately ; 
 and to insure the desirable whiteness of flesh, let the 
 rabbits soak for ten minutes in lukewarm water. Half 
 an hour’s boiling will be sufficient for those of moderate 
 size, more if they are larger. Smother with onion 
 sauce, chop the liver very fine, and serve it in a sauce- 
 boat ; if you place the sauce round it, it may prevent 
 those who dislike the flavour from partaking of the 
 dish. 
 
 17th. SAUCE FoR Roast Mutton. 
 
 Wash, bone, and chop small an anchovy ; add the 
 juice of a lemon, half a spoonful of salt, and a third of 
 that quantity of Cayenne, a table-spoonful of dissolved 
 glaze, a tea-spoonful of garlic vinegar, and a glass of 
 port wine; warm all up, and pour it boiling over the 
 joint just before dishing up. 
 
 18th. Saao. 
 
 A very pleasant supper dish, and an acceptable one to 
 an invalid, is sago properly prepared. Soak the quan- 
 tity intended for use for an hour in cold water, pour 
 this off, and wash it in fresh spring water; let it sim- 
 mer slowly till it becomes transparent ; to every tea- 
 cupful add a glass of port wine, and three lumps of 
 sugar ; boil it up with a stick of cinnamon, and serve it 
 with dry toast. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 137 
 October 19—20. 
 
 19th. APPLE SAUCE. 
 
 Peel off the rinds and cut the cores out of four 
 baking apples, divide each into four pieces, put them 
 into a saucepan with half a tumbler full of cold water, 
 and a table-spoonful of lemon peel chopped small, close 
 to the fire, but not on it, for an hour and a half, longer 
 if you do not find that you can easily beat the apples 
 into a pulp ; when this can be done, put in an ounce of 
 butter, and a dessert-spoonful of fine Lisbon sugar. 
 
 20th. Porrep PuEasant, Parrripcr, Grouse, 
 oR SNIPE, 
 
 It is absolutely essential that the birds intended for 
 potting should be quite fresh ; let them be carefully 
 boned. Make a force-meat in the proportion of a pound 
 of fillet of veal to a pound and a quarter of fat bacon ; 
 let these be chopped and pounded very fine, and then 
 rubbed through a wire sieve, to take away the sinews, 
 &c. Place the force-meat again in the mortar, and beat 
 up spice, Cayenne, and salt, to your taste; be careful 
 not to use too much of the latter, if your bacon be well 
 cured. Have some half dozen fresh green truffles 
 washed, peeled, and warmed in butter; mix all the 
 ingredients. Place a layer of force-meat at the bottom 
 of each of your pots, then put in the birds, well stuffed 
 with the same ; line the sides of the pots with slices of 
 bacon, and cover with force-meat. Bake in a slow oven 
 for an hour and a quarter. When perfectly cold, pour 
 
138 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 October 21—23, 
 
 mutton suet and lard, melted, in equal quantities over 
 the top of each pot, and tie them down with bladders. 
 Some cooks add a little calf’s liver to the force-meat, to 
 produce an additional flavour ; but I do not approve of 
 the introduction. 
 
 21st. Roast Rump or Beer. 
 
 This joint is seldom seen at table, although full of © 
 flavour. The directions, as to cooking it, are similar 
 to those given under the head of “ Sirloin.” It should 
 be invariably eaten hot ; what remains will form an ex- 
 cellent foundation for soup. 
 
 22nd. CRANBERRY TART, 
 
 Wash a quart of berries in several waters, dry them 
 on a coarse cloth, and pick them carefully. Mix them 
 in a basin with a quarter of a pound of finely powdered 
 white sugar, and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over 
 the fruit. Put all into a pie-dish, have a light paste 
 ready for the top, and bake for forty minutes. Sweden, 
 Russia, and America supply us with these berries ; 
 those from the first-named country possess most flavour. 
 
 23rd. MULLAGATAWNY Soup. 
 
 Parboil, in two quarts of water, a couple of fowls or 
 rabbits, cut the meat off the bones, put these and the 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 139 
 October 24. 
 
 livers into the water ; add a couple of shalots chopped 
 fine, two tea-spoonfuls of powdered mace and salt, and 
 a salt-spoonful of Cayenne pepper ; let the bones, &c., 
 boil for an hour and a quarter over aslow fire. Cut 
 four moderate-sized onions into thin slices, and fry 
 them with the meat in fresh butter till they are pro- 
 perly browned. When the broth has been on the time 
 directed, skim it carefully, strain it through a fine sieve, 
 and put in the meat and onion, and let all simmer for 
 five-and-twenty minutes; rub together a table-spoon- 
 ful of fine flour, and an equal quantity of curry-pow- 
 der, stir these by degrees, and after ten minutes’ more 
 slow simmering the soup will be ready for table. 
 Boiled rice is sometimes added, but that renders the 
 dish more like a stew than a soup. 
 
 Q4th. Sver Dumptines. 
 
 Put a tea-spoonful of salt into eight ounces of fine 
 flour, and mix well with half a dozen ounces of finely 
 chopped suet ; beat up, in a teacupful of milk, a cou- 
 ple of eggs, and stir these with the other ingredients. 
 This will make eight small dumplings; they can be 
 either tied up separately in cloths covered with flour, 
 or put in “naked,” and boiled for an hour, with beef 
 or mutton. 
 
140 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 October 25—27. 
 
 25th. ANOTHER West InpIA EXPERIENCE. 
 
 To a tumbler filled with two-thirds of lemonade, add 
 a wine-glass of brandy, and fill to the brim with green 
 lime shrub. This is very pretty tipple. 
 
 26th. Pork JELLY. 
 
 Let a fresh leg of pork be cut into large pieces, the 
 bone broken, and put into three gallons of soft water, 
 with half an ounce of nutmeg, and half an ounce of 
 mace. Boil for three hours over a slow fire, strain off 
 the liquor, and skim the fat when quite cold. The 
 eminent Dr. Radcliffe used to prescribe a wine-glassful 
 of this made warm, to be taken fasting in the morning 
 and just before going to bed, as a powerful check to 
 consumptive symptoms. 
 
 27th. WHITE SAUCE. 
 
 Put a pound of veal, and a quarter of a pound of the 
 lean of dressed ham, into a stewpan, with an ounce of 
 butter ; let the fire be very low, and be careful that the 
 meat does not burn; as soon as it is quite warm, mix, 
 in .a pint and a half of water, two table-spoonfuls of 
 flour ; add this, beating it up quite smooth ; putin also 
 a small onion, a tea-spoonful of mixed powdered mace, 
 bruised cloves, and Cayenne pepper, a table-spoonful of 
 mushroom powder, the leaves of four sprigs of parsley, 
 
2) 
 
 AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 141 
 October 28—29. 
 
 and two of thyme ; let. all simmer gently for two hours ; 
 the sauce should by this time be reduced to a pint ; 
 strain through a coarse sieve, take the fat off when 
 cold, and warm it up again for use with half a pint of 
 cream. This is called by French cooks Bechamel. 
 
 28th. Roast Lee or Pork. 
 
 Allow from twenty to five-and-twenty minutes per 
 pound for roasting; do not suffer the joint to be too 
 close to the fire. Let the knuckle be stuffed with sage 
 and onion minced fine, bread crumbs, salt and pepper, 
 as before directed. Score the crackling, and rub it over 
 with some Florence oil upon a brush, this will assist in 
 giving it a deep brown colour, and prevent it from rising 
 in blisters. Serve with apple-sauce, fresh mustard, 
 and mashed potatoes. 
 
 29th. CHESTNUTS. 
 
 The most elegant method of serving chestnuts is to 
 dress them as follows :—Let them be well roasted, and 
 the husks taken off; dissolve a quarter of a pound of 
 sugar in a wine-glassful of water, and the juice of a 
 lemon ; putthis and the chestnuts into a saucepan over 
 a slow fire for ten minutes ; serve in a deep dish, and 
 grate sugar over the top. 
 
142 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 October 30—81. 
 
 30th. ZIDER AN’. 
 
 Such is the name given by the farmers of Somerset and 
 Gloucester shires to a beverage which they recommend 
 to the especial notice of gentlemen who brave the cold 
 in pursuit of sport. “Cider and” (brandy under- 
 stood) is composed of two-thirds of cider and one of 
 brandy, sweetened with loaf sugar, and an aromatic 
 flavour given by a plentiful allowance of grated nut- 
 meg. 
 
 lst. Morton Pre a tA PERiIcorRD. 
 
 Cut the fat off half a dozen mutton chops, and season 
 them with pepper and salt. Line the bottom of a pie- 
 dish with paste about the tenth of an inch thick, put 
 five peeled truffles in the centre, and arrange the chops, 
 with thin rashers of bacon between them, round the 
 dish; two ounces of butter cut into thin slices are 
 placed at the top, and half a teacupful of veal stock 
 poured in. Cover with paste, and bake for three hours 
 in a slow oven, make a small orifice in the top crust, 
 and pour in a couple of glasses of brown sherry or 
 Madeira. The top of the pie can be rendered ornamen- 
 tal if desired, and glazed, as before directed, with egg. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 143 
 
 November 1—3. 
 
 NOVEMBER. 
 a 
 
 lsé. BroitED BuapE-Bone oF VEAL. 
 
 A blade-bone of veal carefully broiled till it is per- 
 fectly done, and sent to table with some stewed mush- 
 rooms and a fresh lemon, is a very savoury dish. 
 
 2Qnd. Baxep Apprte Puppia. 
 
 Peel and slice half a dozen apples, scald them, and 
 steam off the water; beat them up with two ounces of 
 butter, the juice of a lemon and its peel grated, sweeten 
 to your taste ; when cold, add the whites of three eggs, 
 and the yolks of five; put a thin crust in the dish, 
 and bake in a slow oven. 
 
 ord. OystER Savcnr, 
 
 Beard the oysters, and stew them in their own 
 liquor, with enough mace to cover the point of a knife. 
 Beat up the yolk of an egg in melted butter, and then 
 add the oysters and liquor. 
 
144 THE EPICURES ALMANAC, 
 
 November 4—6. 
 
 Ath. CREAM FOR GLASSES. 
 
 Dissolve a quarter of an ounce of isinglass, melt in a 
 wine-glassful of brandy about half a dozen lumps of 
 loaf-sugar, whip some cream well; add the above, and 
 just before putting into the glasses squeeze the juice of 
 a lemon into your mixture. ) 
 
 5th. Brown FRICASSEE OF RABBITS. 
 
 Cut a couple of rabbits into joints, fry these in a little 
 fresh butter till they become a light brown colour. Put 
 the meat into a stewpan, with a pint of spring water, 
 two table-spoonfuls of lemon juice, mushroom catchup, 
 and Reading sauce, a couple of burnt onions, a little 
 Cayenne and salt. Stew over a slow fire till perfectly 
 done, then take out the meat, strain the gravy, and 
 thicken it with a little flour if necessary ; make it quite 
 hot, and pour it over the rabbits. 
 
 6th. SMELTs IN JELLY. 
 
 A very tasteful supper dish may be thus prepared :— 
 Select half a dozen fine smelts, rub their interiors well 
 with salt and powdered mace; put them into a flat 
 earthen pot, with a layer of butter above and below 
 them, and set them in a slow oven for forty minutes; 
 take them carefully out, and let them drain on a slant- 
 ing board, or white tile, till quite cold. Choose a mould 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 145 
 
 November 7. 
 
 sufficiently large to hold them, pour in savoury jelly, 
 nearly cold, and place the fish horizontally, with their 
 backs downwards, in the mould ; as soon as it is com- 
 pletely filled, set it in a cold place; when required, 
 turn it out on a dish, and garnish it with pickled bar- 
 berries. It is at once elegant in appearance and piquant 
 in flavour. 
 
 Tth. Mock Turtie Sovpr. 
 
 Parboil, in separate saucepans of a large size, and well 
 filled with water, half a calf’s head with the skin on, 
 and half a pig’s head. Skim the water constantly in 
 which the first is boiling. Take both out, cut the 
 meat off in oblong squares, about an inch and a quarter 
 long, and slice the tongues ; put the bones of both into 
 the liquor in which the calf’s head has been boiled, 
 with a table-spoonful of sweet herbs in powder, the 
 juice of two lemons, and the peel of one, chopped fine, 
 half a dozen cloves, a table-spoonful of mushroom pow- 
 der, and achalot chopped fine ; let it all simmer slowly 
 over the fire for a couple of hours. Make a couple of 
 dozen savoury forcemeat balls, and boil a dozen eggs 
 very hard. Pour the liquor through a sieve at the 
 expiration of the two hours, and let it be quite cold 
 before you remove the fat and scum ; the liquor ought 
 to be ina jelly, but not too stiffa one. Put this into a 
 stewpan, with the meat, the forcemeat balls, the yolks 
 of the eggs, a spoonful of salt, and a third of Cayenne, 
 
 H 
 
146 THE EPICURES ALMANAC, 
 November 8—10. 
 
 with half a pint of sherry. Stew for an hour anda 
 half, and it will be fit for table. 
 
 This preparation, both in appearance and flavour, 
 more closely resembles real Turtle than any other I have 
 ever eaten. 
 
 Sth. CorNED SHOULDER OF Mutton. 
 
 A shoulder of mutton, not too fat, well powdered with 
 salt for four days, boiled, and sent to table with plenty 
 ‘of onion sauce, is a dish often found at good men’s 
 boards in Ireland. 
 
 9th. YoRKSHIRE PuppDING. 
 
 Whisk up four eggs, then add three spoonfuls of 
 salt, mix gradually eight table-spoonfuls of fine flour 
 with a pint and a half of new milk, add the eggs, &c. ; 
 put a tin dish under your joint; let it become quite 
 hot, and well covered with the fat of the meat; two 
 hours before dinner, pour the batter into the tin, turn 
 the pudding every half hour, so as to have both sides 
 well browned ; be careful to brush away immediately 
 any coal or cinders that may fall out, or the appearazice 
 of the pudding will be destroyed, 
 
 10th. Brown Mincep VEAL. 
 
 For a bachelor’s table, or a small family, an econo- 
 mical method. of preparing minced veal is as follows :— 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 147 
 November 11—12. 
 
 Cut the meat off the bones, and put them into a 
 saucepan with a quart of water; stew till you have 
 about half a pint of liquor left. Whilst the gravy is 
 drawing, chop the meat, both fat and lean, small, season* 
 with pepper and salt, the juice of a lemon, and a little 
 peel as before directed, add a table-spoonful of mush- 
 
 room-catchup, warm it up in the same manner as the 
 white mince, and garnish with sippets. 
 
 11th. STEWED OYSTERS. 
 
 Strain off the liquor from a dozen and a half of fine 
 oysters, thicken it with flour and butter, add a table- 
 spoonful of cream, a tea-spoonful of mace in powder, a 
 very little salt: as soon as you have well mixed these, 
 pour them into a stew-pan, and put in the oysters. 
 Shake the pan over the fire, but do not let the sauce 
 boil, or you will render the fish hard. Serve in a deep 
 dish, and garnish with toasted bread in sippets. 
 
 12th. Hontine Beer. 
 
 Rub well into a round of beef a quarter of a pound 
 of saltpetre finely powdered. Next day mix half an 
 ounce of cloves, an ounce of black pepper, the same 
 quantity of ground allspice, with half a pound of salt; 
 wash and rub the beef in the brine fora fortnight, adding 
 every other day a table-spoonful of salt. Have ready 
 an earthen pan deep enough to hold the joint, and lay 
 
 H 2 
 
148 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 November 13. 
 
 suet an inch deep at the bottom ; rub the beef in coarse 
 cloths till perfectly free from the salt and spice ; put it 
 into the pan with a quart of water, some more suet on 
 *the top, and cover with a thick coarse crust. Bake for 
 seven hours, pour off the gravy, and place the meat 
 upon a proper dish; do not cut it till cold; at this 
 season of the year, it will keep for a couple of months. 
 
 13th. Satty Lunn Cake. 
 
 The original concocter of this favourite tea-cake, 
 Mrs. Sarah Lunn, “Sally with her familiars,” resided 
 in the gay city of Bath, close to its venerable abbey. 
 I well remember in my youth seeing the antique 
 domicile ; house and occupant have long been swept 
 away, but the worthy dame’s name is insured to a 
 grateful posterity, as connected with the delicacy thus 
 made. 
 
 Put a pint of boiling milk into a pan, and when it 
 has become lukewarm, pour half a tumbler of yeast 
 upon it; stir well and add as much flour as will form ~ 
 a good stiff batter, cover the pan with a cloth, and 
 place it before the fire for two hours. Beat up four 
 eggs with a couple of ounces of powdered sugar; after 
 allowing the time specified, mix a quarter of a pound 
 of butter, the eggs and sugar, with the dough ; let all 
 remain in the pan for half an hour Divide into cakes, 
 put them on tins, and bake in a well heated oven. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 149 
 November 14—16. 
 
 14th.  Murron CurLets. 
 
 Chop the leaves off half a dozen stalks of parsley, 
 and a couple of chalots very fine; season with small 
 quantities of salt and Cayenne, and mix all together in 
 a table-spoonful of Florence oil; cover the cutlets on 
 both sides with these ingredients, shake them in finely 
 powdered bread crumbs, and fry in fresh butter, turn- 
 ing them till quite done. 
 
 15th. A Bow. or BisHor a ta PrRusse. 
 
 Stick a Seville orange with cloves, and roast it for 
 half an hour, then put two bottles of Hermitage (or 
 Port), and one of Hock (or Sherry), into a saucepan, 
 sweeten with white sugar to your taste, and add a 
 stick of cinnamon broken up ; stir the sugar and spice 
 well in the wine ; when that is nearly boiling, put it 
 into a bowl, then immerse the roast orange, and stir it 
 about for five minutes, a delicate bitter and aromatic 
 flavour is produced by its introduction. 
 
 16th. STEWED WINTER SPINACH. 
 
 Boil and squeeze the vegetable as before directed, 
 mix three ounces of butter with a spoonful of salt, and 
 as much flour as it will hold; put this and the spinach 
 into a stewpan, and stir it well for a quarter of an 
 hour. Before serving, add a teacupful of cream, or of 
 
150 THE EPICURES ALMANAC, 
 November 17—18. 
 
 veal or beef gravy ; this dish is applicable to any joint 
 of roast meat. 
 
 17th. Beer-Steak Puppine. 
 
 Line a basin with a well made light paste, not 
 too thick, put in half the quantity of beef re- 
 quired, each piece having been seasoned with a little 
 salt and Cayenne pepper, then put in a dozen oysters 
 with their liquor, two table-spoonfuls of mushroom 
 catchup, two tea-spoonfuls of chalot vinegar, and the 
 rest of the meat ; let your top crust be well secured to 
 _the basin, the whole carefully tied up. Boil according 
 to the size of your pudding, and depend on it you will 
 find this a very toothsome dish. 
 
 18th. Pork LozenceE. 
 
 A keen sportsman of my acquaintance, whenever a 
 roast leg of pork came to table, was sure to partake of 
 it, not only from his affection for pig-meat, but to 
 enable him to cut away the crackling, scrape it quite 
 free from fat, and divide it into lengths of about an 
 inch, fold these morsels in paper, and fill his waistcoat 
 pocket with them whenever he rode to hounds, or 
 handled his double-barrelled Manton ; and he has often 
 assured me that he derived great sustenance and sup- 
 port by allowing these “ Pork Lozenges,” as he was 
 pleased to call them, to dissolve in his mouth. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 151 
 November 19—21. 
 
 19th. ORANGE PUDDING. 
 
 Beat up the yolks of eight eggs, grate the rinds of a 
 couple of Seville oranges ; add to these a quarter of a 
 pound of finely powdered sugar, the same weight of 
 fresh butter, three spoonfuls of orange flower-water, 
 two glasses of Sherry, a couple of Naples biscuits, and 
 a teacupful of cream ; line the bottom, sides, and rim 
 of a dish with puff paste, pour in the ingredients, and 
 bake for half an hour. 
 
 20th. LivER AND Bacon, 
 
 Chop up finely a chalot, and half a dozen sprigs of 
 parsley, roll a piece of butter the size of a walnut in 
 flour, season a teacupful of veal stock with salt and 
 pepper ; put these and a calf’s liver cut into slices into 
 a stewpan for three quarters of an hour. Having 
 soaked the required number of slices of bacon in luke- 
 warm water for an hour, fry them, and place them 
 round a dish alternately with the slices of liver, pour 
 the liquor from the stewpan, through a sieve; into the 
 centre of the dish. 
 
 21st. Roast Rassrr. 
 
 Clear out the interior and fill it with the same 
 stuffing used for hare, baste it with abundance of fresh 
 butter, and use flour occasionally ; thirty minutes’ 
 
152 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 November 22—23. 
 
 roasting will be sufficient for a small rabbit; five or 
 ten more if larger. Boil the liver with a dozen sprigs 
 of parsley; when quite tender, chop both up fine, 
 and add them to melted butter as a sauce, but be 
 sure to have another boat with plain gravy sauce to 
 send to table. 
 
 22nd. Vea AND Ham Pre. 
 
 Take the meat off an undrest breast of veal, by 
 cutting it in pieces about an inch and a half long, and 
 an inch broad. Put the bones into a saucepan, with 
 plenty of water, and a bundle of sweet herbs; extract 
 about half a pint of strong gravy, strain this through a 
 sieve. Line a pie-dish with thin paste, envelop every 
 piece of veal in a thin slice of drest ham, not too fat, 
 have ready half a dozen hard boiled eggs, distributing 
 the yolks of these amongst your meat. Season the 
 gravy extracted from the bones with pepper and salt, 
 and pour it over the meat till the dish be completely 
 filled, then cover with top crust. This pie will require 
 more time in baking than those of beef-steak, mutton, 
 or fruit. 
 
 23rd. A Hint From BaRrBADOES. 
 
 If you desire to render a glass of punch more than 
 usually acceptable at this season of the year, add a 
 table-spoonful of Guava jelly to it, and when you 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 153 
 
 November 24—25. 
 
 drink it, you will bless your stars, smack your lips, 
 and thank me for having told you to try it. 
 
 24th. SteEwED Rump or BEEr. 
 
 Having prepared a rich gravy, in which plenty of 
 sweet herbs have been infused, let the bone be taken 
 out, and your beef larded with fat bacon, put it in the 
 stewpan with carrots, turnips, celery, parsley, pepper 
 and salt. Stew for as many hours as your beef weighs 
 pounds. 
 
 25th. Venison Pasty. 
 
 A neck, or breast of doe venison, can be rendered 
 very savoury by treating it thus :—Take off the skin, 
 and cut the meat off the bones into pieces of about an 
 inch and a half square ; put these, with the bones and 
 skin, into a stewpan, cover them with veal or mutton 
 broth, add a tea-spoonful of powdered mace, half a 
 dozen allspice, four chalots chopped fine, a tea-spoonful 
 of salt, a fourth of Cayenne, and a tumbler of Port 
 wine ; stew over a slow fire until the meat is half done, 
 then take it out and let the gravy continue on the fire 
 whilst the crust for the pasty is preparing ; line a good 
 large dish, arrange your meat in it, pour the gravy 
 upon it through a sieve, adding the juice of a lemon, 
 put on the top crust, and bake for a couple of hours 
 in a slow oven, 
 
 H 3 
 
154 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 November 26—28. 
 
 26th. VEGETABLE Sour. 
 
 Scrape and cut into thin slices four carrots, peel and 
 slice three turnips, chop up three heads of celery, and — 
 the hearts of two lettuces ; slice a Spanish onion thin. 
 Put these, with half a pound of butter, two table- 
 spoonfuls of salt, and one of black pepper, into a stew- 
 pan, set it on a slow fire, stir well to prevent burning ; 
 and when the vegetables are nearly warmed through, 
 pour boiling water over them till the pan is filled. 
 Let all boil slowly for three hours and a half, then rub 
 it through a hair sieve ; if properly cooked it should 
 be the thickness of cream, and of a rich yellow colour.. 
 
 Q7th. Roast Larks. 
 
 These should be enveloped in thin slices of ham or 
 bacon, and well basted ; fifteen minutes’ roasting will 
 be sufficient. Before serving, take off the bacon, and 
 strew bread crumbs over the birds, brown them with a 
 salamander, and send them to table with melted butter 
 and a fresh lemon, 
 
 28th. PickitED Pork. 
 
 No meat requires so much cooking as pickled pork, 
 I do not say boiling, for it should be suffered to 
 simmer only, and that very gently. Let it be inva- 
 riably well washed, and scraped free from the brine 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 155 
 November 29—30. 
 
 before dressing. For a leg allow at least five-and- 
 twenty minutes per pound, for other joints twenty, 
 and be sure that the water be constantly skimmed. 
 It is equally good hot or cold. Serve with peas pudding 
 and fresh mustard, 
 
 29th. Peas Puppine. 
 
 - Tie up, loosely, in a cloth, a quart of split peas, 
 put them into a saucepan of cold water, and let them 
 boil for two hours and a quarter, rub them through a 
 coarse sieve into a dish, stir in an ounce of butter, a 
 spoonful of salt, and a few grains of Cayenne; beat 
 up the yolks of a couple of eggs, and mix these well with 
 the peas, &c. Tie up the pudding, in a well floured 
 cloth, as tightly as you can, and give it another hour’s 
 boiling. 
 
 30th. Snow PANCAKES. 
 
 Beat up a quarter of a pound of flour in milk till 
 you have a stiff batter, add a spoonful of salt, a quarter 
 of anutmeg grated. Divide the batter into as many 
 pancakes as you require, and to each portion add three 
 table-spoonfuls of pure snow. Fry in fresh butter, 
 and you will find them as light as though you had 
 used eggs in their composition. 
 
156 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 December 1. 
 
 DECEMBER. 
 a Ns 
 
 lsf. Mince Meat, 
 
 It is now a fitting time for the preparation of mince 
 meat, which is much improved by being well mixed 
 for some days before use. Peel, core, and chop fine, a 
 pound of sound apples, wash and pick a pound and a 
 half of currants, stone half a pound of raisins, and let 
 both these be chopped small; take away the skin and 
 gristle from a pound of cold roast beef, and carefully 
 pick a pound of beef suet; chop these well together. 
 Cut into small bits three quarters of a pound of mixed 
 candied orange, citron and lemon peel ; let all these 
 be well stirred up in a large pan. Grind into powder 
 a nutmeg, half an ounce of ginger, and a quarter of an 
 ounce of cloves, the same quantity of allspice, and 
 coriander seeds, add half an ounce of salt, and put these 
 into the pan, mixing thoroughly. Grate the rinds of 
 three lemons, and squeeze the juice over half a pound 
 of fine Lisbon sugar, mixed with the lemon peel, pour 
 over this two gills of Brandy and half a pint of Sherry. 
 Let these ingredients be stirred for twenty minutes, 
 cover the pan with a slate, and when about to use the 
 mince-meat, take it from the bottom of the pan. 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 157 
 December 2—A4. 
 
 2nd. APPLE FRITTERS. 
 
 _ Peel and core a dozen dumpling apples, boiled quite 
 soft, force the pulp through a sieve, add sugar to your 
 taste. Thicken, moderately, a quart of new milk with 
 fine flour, beat up eight eggs with a small quantity of 
 grated nutmeg, powdered mace, a tea-spoonful of salt, 
 and a glass of brandy ; mix well all together. Let 
 the frying-pan be quite hot, and melt a quarter of a 
 pound of butter in it ; place the batter in the pan in 
 separate quantities of about two spoonfuls each, put a 
 spoonful of apple pulp on every portion, and cover 
 with two more spoonfuls of batter. Grate sugar over 
 them, and serve with a fresh lemon. 
 
 8rd. CornepD Cop F isu. 
 
 Cod fish, that has been for a couple of days well 
 rubbed with salt, gains a firmness very desirable to the 
 true lover of this excellent and fortunately abundant 
 fish. 
 
 Ath. SoLuBLE Horsrt RapisnH, 
 
 Scrape a stick of horse-radish, and boil it in vine- 
 gar ; when you find that the liquor is strongly flavoured 
 with the piquancy of the root, pour it upon salt, as 
 directed in making “Soluble cayenne.” I have known 
 many persons obliged to leave the table from the 
 unpleasant fact of a long string of horse-radish having 
 
158 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC. ° 
 
 December 5—7. 
 
 become entangled in their teeth, and descending, with 
 the mouthful into the throat, but not going farther, 
 and thus causing a sensation of suffocation. Such a 
 trial of temper will be avoided by using the above 
 preparation. 
 
 5th. Mustarp FoR KEEPING. 
 
 To a quart of horse-radish vinegar made as just 
 directed, add three ounces of salt, and as much of the 
 best flour of mustard as will form a good thick paste, 
 let it be mixed till perfectly smooth, then put it into 
 an open-mouthed bottle. 
 
 6th. Inp1an Meruop oF Dressing Curry. 
 
 Stew, but not too long, whatever meat you select, 
 in water enough to cover it. Mix the curry powder 
 with milk, salt, and lemon juice; add this to the 
 liquor of the meat ; fry a few onions of a light brown, 
 and put in these just before dishing. 
 
 Vth. CELERY SAUCE. 
 
 Take the inside leaves of two or three heads of 
 celery, wash them well, and cut them across into 
 slices about a quarter of an inch thick, then boil for 
 five minutes, and drain off the water. Beat up a tea- 
 cupful of cream, two tea-spoonfuls of flour, and two 
 ounces of butter; as soon as this is warm, put in the 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 159 
 December 8—10. 
 
 celery, and keep it well stirred over the fire for ten 
 or twelve minutes. This is an admirable sauce for 
 boiled fowl or Turkey. 
 
 8th. Woopcocks AND SNIPES. 
 
 These birds should be roasted by the aid of a jack, 
 or bird-spit, the thighs closely secured to the body 
 by an iron skewer, let them be well basted, and have a 
 bright fire; place toast under them to receive the 
 trails ; twenty minutes roasting is sufficient for wood- 
 cocks, a quarter of an hour for snipes. Serve with 
 lemon juice and Cayenne. 
 
 Oth. FRANGIPANE, 
 
 Beat up six eggs and add two spoonfuls of flour, a 
 spoonful of grated lemon-peel, another of powdered 
 sugar, a table-spoonful of orange flower-water, and 
 half a dozen macaroons broken up; put these and a 
 pint of milk into a stewpan over a slow fire, stir it 
 well for twenty minutes; have ready some pattipans 
 lined with puff paste, pour in the ingredients and 
 bake for twenty minutes. 
 
 10th. JuaeeD Hare. 
 
 Divide an undrest hare into joints; let them be 
 larded with bacon. Mix well, upon the dish on which 
 
160 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 December 11—12. 
 
 you have made the dissection, a spoonful of salt, and 
 half a one of Cayenne and pounded mace, a few leaves 
 of mixed sweet herbs; add to these four silver onions, 
 half a dozen cloves, a gill of port wine, half a pint of 
 spring water, and a table-spoonful of currant jelly. 
 Put all into a jug with a close fitting top, and place it 
 in a saucepan of boiling water for three hours. Lay the 
 meat on a dish before the fire, strain the liquor, boil 
 it up, and pour it over the hare just before sending to 
 table. 
 
 11th. Pork Broru. 
 
 Cut the fat off some four, or half dozen delicate pork 
 chops, then separate the outward skin from the fat, 
 and put it with the bones and meat into a stewpan, 
 add a little rice whole, a few sweet herbs, some 
 pepper and salt; let it simmer over a slow fire for 
 an hour, skimming every ten minutes. Strain it be- 
 fore serving. This preparation should be, if properly 
 made, perfectly transparent, and if intended for an 
 invalid, its delicacy entirely depends on the attention 
 paid to its skimming. 
 
 12th. WuitE Oyster SAUCE. 
 
 Rub two table-spoonfuls of flour into a piece of 
 butter the size of an egg, melt these gently in a stew- 
 pan, and add three quarters of a pint of stock to 
 thicken, with half a spoonful of salt, the juice of half 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 161 
 December 18—15. 
 
 a lemon, and a gill of cream. The oysters should be 
 bearded and stewed in their own liquor separately ; 
 when the sauce is as thick as melted butter, add the 
 fish, and stir them well together. This is applicable 
 for boiled Turkey, fowl, or cod-fish. 
 
 13th. Witp Ducks. 
 
 A brisk fire is necessary for roasting these birds ; 
 baste and dredge them well, allow twenty minutes for 
 cooking, if you desire to have them full of gravy. 
 Serve with gravy-sauce, to which a chopped chalot, 
 and the juice of a Seville orange has been added. 
 
 14th. VERMICELLI PupDING. 
 
 Chop up the rind of half a lemon, and break a stick 
 of cinnamon into bits; boil these in a pint of milk, 
 then sweeten with sugar to your taste, and strain 
 through a sieve; put a quarter of a pound of vermi- 
 celli into the milk, and let it boil for ten minutes ; 
 beat up the yolks of six eggs, add half the whites, 
 pour all into a dish and bake for half an hour. 
 
 15th. Hasnep Wipceon, Treat, orn Witp Duck. 
 
 It is not possible to make a good hash of wild fowl 
 over roasted ; to eat this dish in perfection, the birds 
 should be half dressed expressly for the purpose. Cut 
 
162 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAG, © 
 
 December 16. 
 
 them into joints, mix the juice of two Seville oranges 
 with two table-spoonfuls of Reading or home-made 
 sauce, a gill of port wine, a tea-spoonful of mushroom- 
 powder, and four artichoke bottoms, broken into bits ; 
 see that you have enough to cover the flesh, adding a 
 little more of each liquid if necessary; make it boil, 
 and ten minutes before the hash is required, put in the 
 meat, and let it simmer gently for that time. | 
 
 16th. Rep Rovwunp. 
 
 Corn a round in the manner directed for * Hunting 
 Beef,” only using double the quantity of saltpetre 
 named in that recipe ; at the expiration of a fortnight, 
 wipe it quite free from the brine, and stuff every inter- 
 stice that you can find with equal portions of chopped 
 parsley, and mixed sweet herbs in powder, seasoned 
 with ground allspice, mace, salt, and Cayenne; do not 
 be sparing of this mixture, put the round into a pan, 
 fill it with strong ale; and bake in a very slow oven 
 for eight hours, turning it in the liquor every two 
 hours, and adding more ale if necessary. 
 
 This is an excellent preparation for the approaching 
 festive season, and is usually sent to table enveloped in 
 ornamented writing paper. Scarcely a family of any 
 respectability in the Green Isle but has a red round to 
 assist in the “‘ keeping of Christmas.” 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 163 
 
 December 17—18. 
 
 17th. OMELETTE SOUFLEE. 
 
 Break up half a dozen eggs, separating the whites 
 from the yolks, into the latter mix two tea-spoonfuls of 
 grated lemon-peel, and four of finely powdered sugar ; 
 whisk up the whites for ten minutes, add the froth to 
 the yolks just before frying. Melt a quarter of a pound 
 of butter in a pan, and put in the eggs ; as soon as they 
 are quite set, slant the frying-pan and turn them over. 
 Have the dish, on which you mean to serve, well but- 
 tered, strew powdered sugar over the omelette, and 
 brown the top with a salamander. 
 
 18th. SteweED EEtLs. 
 
 After killing, as before directed, skin and cut the 
 fish into lengths of about two inches; fill a frying-pan 
 with fresh parsley, and place the eels upon it over a 
 slow fire, extract as much of the oily fat from the fish 
 as possible, keeping them turned, and having sufficient 
 parsley to prevent their touching the pan. Place them 
 on a slanting board, to drain for a couple of hours. 
 Have ready some rich beef gravy, into which put two 
 table-spoonfuls of mixed sweet herbs in powder, two 
 glasses of sherry, a third of Cayenne pepper to three- 
 fourths of a spoonful of salt, and a dozen small silver 
 onions; let the fish stew in these ingredients over a 
 slow fire for an hour. Strain the gravy through a 
 sieve ; should it require thickening, add a little flour, 
 
164. THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 December 19—20. 
 
 beat up with the yolk of an egg, lay the onions on the 
 dish, and pour the sauce, quite hot, over the fish. Gar- 
 nish with slices of lemon. 
 
 19th. Wuattet FRicassEE oF Raspits. 
 
 Be careful to take away all the interior of the rabbits 
 usually left after casing, and cut off the heads; wash 
 them repeatedly in cold water, till the flesh is perfectly 
 white. Put them into a saucepan of boiling water, 
 and, as soon as it boils up again, take out the rabbits, 
 and cut them into joints. Thicken a pint of milk with 
 flour and butter; add a little mace, nutmeg, lemon- 
 juice, salt, and white pepper; put this into a stewpan 
 with the flesh, cover carefully down, and let it simmer 
 for half an hour. 
 
 The sauce should be as thick as cream, and as white 
 as snow, if properly dressed. 
 
 20th. Pie’s Heap Roastep. 
 
 Divide the head of a young porker in half, take out 
 the brains, and cleanse the interior thoroughly “par le 
 moyen dune petite canule.’ Put stuffing of bread- 
 crumbs, sweet herbs, and lemon-peel, elsewhere given, 
 into the space once occupied by the brains of the sapient 
 animal ; tie the head together carefully ; a stitch or two 
 is advisable to render all secure; let it roast according 
 to its size, and serve with brain and currant sauce. ' 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 165 
 December 21—22. 
 
 It is scarcely possible, in these enlightened days, 
 when our scullions jabber French, that any part of this 
 direction should require translation ; but as I wish on 
 all occasions to be clearly understood, I beg leave, in 
 the event of an English meaning being desired, to refer 
 the reader to the first volume of Tristram Shandy, 
 where, in the sixtieth page, Lawrence Sterne puts the 
 meaning of the phrase beyond all possible doubt. 
 
 21st. Arrow Root. 
 
 The practice of boiling arrow-root. in milk is at once 
 wasteful and unsatisfactory ; the best mode of preparing 
 enough for an invalid’s supper is as follows :—Put a 
 dessert-spoonful of the powder, two lumps of sugar, into 
 a chocolate cup, with a few drops of Malaga or any 
 other sweet wine ; mix these well together, and add, in 
 small quantities, more wine, until a smooth and thick 
 paste is formed. Pour boiling water by slow degrees, 
 stirring all the while, close to the fire, until the mix- 
 ture becomes perfectly transparent. 
 
 22nd. Pitum PorRripGE For CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES. 
 
 Make a good strong broth from four pounds of veal, 
 and an equal quantity of shin of beef; strain and skim 
 off the fat when cold. Whilst the consommé is prepar- 
 ing, wash and stone three pounds and a half of raisins 
 of the sun, wash and well dry the same weight of best 
 
166 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 December 23—24. 
 
 Smyrna currants, take out the stones from two pounds 
 and a half of French plums, and grate up the crumbs of 
 two quartern loaves, squeeze the juice of eight oranges 
 and four lemons ; put these, with a stick of cinnamon 
 reduced to powder, a grated nutmeg, half a dozen 
 cloves, and five pounds of lump sugar into your broth ; 
 stir well together, and then pour in a dozen of sherry, 
 put the vessel over a slow fire, that is, if you have 
 one large enough for the purpose, if not, you must 
 have recourse to the copper; when you perceive that 
 the ingredients are soft, pour in six bottles of hock, 
 stir the porridge well, and, as soon as it boils, it is fit 
 for use. 
 
 23rd. Lamp’s Heap, Fry, &c. 
 
 As every part of house lamb is considered somewhat 
 dainty at this season, I recommend that the head be 
 split in half, cleaned, and, as well as the fry, rubbed 
 over with finely powdered bread crumbs, mixed sweet 
 herbs, a little mace, Cayenne, and salt, beat up in a 
 couple of eggs, then. fried in fresh butter, and sent to 
 table garnished with crisp parsley. 
 
 24th. Pium Puppine. 
 
 An excellent pudding can be made with the follow- 
 ing ingredients :—Half a pound of flour, half a pound of 
 grated bread, a pound of currants, well washed and 
 dried, a pound of raisins stoned and cut, the peel of. a 
 
AND DIARY OF GOOD LIVING. 167 
 December 25—27. 
 
 lemon finely chopped, an ounce and a half of mixed 
 Spice, an ounce of butter, two ounces of sweet almonds 
 cut small, six ounces of candied orange, lemon, and citron 
 peel, four eggs, a tea-spoonful of salt, two of sugar, 
 and three wine glasses of brandy. Mix all these toge- 
 ther well, adding as much milk as necessary to make 
 the mixture of a proper consistency. Boil in a melon- 
 shaped mould for eight hours. — 
 
 25th. SAUCE FOR Pium PuppiInec. 
 
 Into a quarter of a pint of thick melted butter, put a 
 table-spoonful of powdered sugar, a quarter of a nutmeg 
 grated, a tea-spoonful of lemon syrup, two glasses of 
 Madeira, and one of Curagoa; stir all well together, and 
 pour it quite hot over the pudding. 
 
 26th. Roast TuRKEY. 
 
 A turkey of eight pounds will require two hours’ 
 roasting, and constant basting. I recommend, instead 
 
 of the ordinary stuffing, that sausage-meat be substi- 
 tuted. 
 
 27th. CHINE. 
 
 Observe the same directions as those given under the 
 head of ‘‘ Pickled pork,” making due allowance for the 
 difference of weight. 
 
168 THE EPICURE’S ALMANAC, 
 
 December 28—31. 
 
 28th. DEVILs. 
 
 The gizzard of a turkey scored, and rubbed with 
 fresh butter and Cayenne, is esteemed an admirable 
 provocative to drinking deep. The back-bone of macke- 
 rel similarly treated makes the best devil I know of. 
 
 29th. PIGEONS. 
 
 These birds cannot be dressed too fresh ; let them be 
 stuffed with chopped parsley and seasoned bread crumbs, 
 and roast for five-and-twenty minutes; serve with 
 gravy sauce. 
 
 30th. Winter Peas Sovr. 
 
 Into three quarts of the liquor in which you have 
 boiled pork, beef, or mutton, put a quart of split peas, 
 two heads of celery, two onions in slices, and a table- 
 spoonful of mixed sweet herbs; let it simmer slowly 
 for three hours ; skim it, force it through a sieve, and 
 add spice to your taste before warming up for use. 
 
 3lst. Eee Furr. 
 
 Beat up, ina jug, four new laid eggs, omitting two of 
 the whites ; add half a dozen large lumps of sugar, and 
 rub these well in the eggs ; pour in dozling water, about 
 half a pint at a time, and when the jug is nearly full 
 throw in two tumblers of Cognac brandy, and one of 
 old Jamaica rum, 
 
 THE END. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Anchovy Toast, 56. 
 
 Apple Fritters, 157. 
 
 Arrow Root, 165. 
 Artichoke Bottoms, 103. 
 
 , Jerusalem, 120. 
 Asparagus, 65. 
 
 Baked Cod’s Head, 18. 
 Beef, Aitch Bone of, 109. 
 —— ala Mode, 79. 
 ——, Brisket of, 64. 
 —., Hunting, 147. 
 ——, Ribs of, 42. 
 
 ——, Sirloin of, 24. 
 
 —— Steak, 33. 
 
 Beignet de Pommes, 1(4. 
 
 Boeuf a la Flammande, 13. 
 
 ——-- Royale, 86. 
 
 Blane Mange, 124. 
 
 Boiled Brocoli, 23. 
 
 Duck, 118. 
 
 Fowl and Oyster Sauce, 12. 
 Herrings, 105. 
 
 Knuckle of Mutton, 8. 
 Leg of Lamb, 52. 
 
 Boiling Peas or French Beans, 75. 
 - Potatoes, 29. 
 
 Bottled Fruit, 110. 
 
 Bow! of Bishop 4 la Prusse, 149. 
 Brazilian Butter, 124. 
 
 Breakfast Relish, 16. 
 
 Broiled Allice, 57. 
 
 - Blade-Bone of Veal, 143. 
 Bones, 66. 
 
 ———- Mackerel, 51. 
 
 Broiled Salmon, 46. 
 Broth, Mutton, 134. 
 
 » Pork, 160. 
 
 » Scotch Barley, 47. 
 Brown Bread Ice, 101. 
 Brussels Sprouts, 56. 
 Burnt Onions, 10. 
 
 Cake, Citron Spiced, 49. 
 ——-, Common, 46. 
 
 ——-, Nag’s Head, 65. 
 —-, Lemon, Sponge, 124. 
 —-, Plain, 17 
 
 -—-, Rice, 39. 
 
 ——-, Sally Lunn, 148. 
 ——-, Yorkshire, 59. 
 
 Calf’s Heart, 9. 
 
 Head Boned, 19. 
 Capillaire, 67. 
 
 Catchup, Mushroom, 108. 
 —_—,, Walnut, 130. 
 Cauliflower, 93. 
 
 Celery Seed, 112. 
 Champagne a la Minute, 102. 
 
 | Cherry Brandy, 116. 
 
 Chestnuts, 141. 
 Cheesecakes, 61. 
 
 Chine, 167. 
 
 Cod’s Sounds a Ja Tripe, 64. 
 Coffee, 2. 
 
 Ice, 84. 
 
 Cold Lamb, 69. 
 
 - Roast Mutton, 115, 
 
 | Collared Eels, 61. 
 
 Corned Cod Fish, 157. 
 Crab, 91. 
 Cranberry Tart, 138. 
 
170 
 
 Creams, 48. 
 
 Creams for glasses, 144. 
 Cream, Gooseberry, 68, 
 ———, Italian, 127. 
 
 , Strawberry, 79. 
 Cucumber, 87. 
 
 Curry of Cow-Heel, 132. 
 , to dress a, 132. 
 Custards, Almond, 34. 
 ————,, Spanish, 41. 
 Cutlets, Leg of Mutton, 7. 
 -, Mutton, 149. 
 
 -, Veal, 57. 
 
 Damson Cheese, 118. 
 Devils, 168. 
 
 Diet Bread, 68. 
 
 Dried Marigolds, 104. 
 Drink for the Dog Days, 88. 
 Dumplings, Apple, 22. 
 
 -, Rice, 43. 
 
 —-, Suet, 139. 
 ——-, Yeast, 13. 
 
 Egg Flip, 168. 
 
 Elder Wine, 117. ~ 
 
 English Chatna Sauce, 38. 
 —-—— Curacoa, 50) 
 ———— Curry Powder, 87. 
 —-— Rum Shrub, 30. 
 
 Fish Stew, 42. 
 
 Flounders, 10. 
 
 Frangipane, 159, 
 
 French Beans a la Maitre d’HOtel, 
 
 ——— for winter use, 91. 
 French Method of Dressing Whit- 
 
 ing, 16. 
 Fricassée of Rabbit, brown, 144. 
 , white, 164. 
 Fried Cod’s Tail, 7. 
 
 Parsnips, 36. 
 
 Sole, 27. 
 
 Frogs, 94. 
 
 Garlick Vinegar, 34. 
 
 Ginger Beer, 63. 
 
 , another Method, 92. 
 Ginger Wine, 74. 
 
 Gooseberries, Bottled, 110. 
 Greengage Tart, 95. 
 
 Greengoose, 60. 
 
 Grouse, 105. 
 
 Guinea Fowl], 28. 
 
 Ham Extract, 22. 
 Hare in Larder, 3, 
 —--, Jugged, 159. 
 Harrico of Mutton, 15. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Hashed Beef, 90. 
 
 ~ Heart, 61. 
 
 - Hare, ll. 
 
 ——- Mutton a la Tomate, 115. 
 
 ——- Venison, 100. 
 
 - Widgeon, Teal,orWild Duck, 
 161 
 
 Haunch of Mutton Bristol Fashion, 
 Venison, 93. 
 
 Herbs for Winter use, 100. 
 Herrings, 103. 
 
 Hint from Barbadoes, 152. 
 
 Hodge Podge, 71. 
 
 Huitres au Citron, 128. 
 
 Iceing for Cakes, 2. 
 Indian Method of preparing Curry, 
 158. 
 
 Irish Pike, 92. 
 
 ——- Stew, 54. : 
 
 ——- way of dressing early Lamb, 
 3 i 
 
 ee Marrow, 238. 
 
 Jelly, Calf’s Foot, 4. 
 ——-, Cherry, 85. 
 —-, Grape, 113. 
 ——-, Orange, 35. 
 ——-, Pork, 140. 
 
 ——-, Punch, 14. 
 ——-, Red Currant, 90. 
 
 Lamb Chops and Asparagus sauce, 
 
 -——--, Fore Quarter of, 40. 
 ——--, Leg of, boiled, 52. 
 
 -, Ribs of, 63. 
 
 Lamb’s Head, Fry, &c., 166. 
 Laver, 53. 
 
 Lemon Syrup, 16. 
 
 Liver and Bacon, 151. 
 Lobster for an Entrée, 58. 
 --, Hot, 21. 
 
 Maccaroni, 123. 
 
 Mashed Potatoes, 102. 
 
 -- Turnips, 11. 
 Mince-Meat, 156. 
 
 Minced Veal, brown, 146. 
 , white, 26. 
 Minched Collops, 39. 
 Mustard for keeping, 158. 
 Mutton, roast Jeg of, 114. 
 ————,, corned Shoulder of, 146. 
 ————.,, Loin of, 35. 
 
 Nettle Tops, 62. 
 New Potatoes in Cream, 59. 
 North Wiltshire Cheese, 25. 
 
INDEX, 
 
 Omelette, Asparagus, 76. 
 ———-, Savoury, 133. 
 ———.-, Souffiée, 163. 
 —_——., Sweet, 35. 
 Orange Marmalade, 44, 
 Orgeat, 80. 
 
 Oyster Patties, 23. 
 
 Oysters Fried in Batter, 38. 
 -, Scalloped, 134, 
 
 Pain a la Duchesse, 20. 
 
 — de Pomme, 119. 
 Partridges, 116. 
 
 Patrician Bubble and Squeak, 108. 
 Peaches in Brandy, 129. 
 
 Pepper Posset, 4. 
 
 Pheasant, 131. 
 
 Pickled Pork, 154. 
 
 -- Salmon, 73. 
 
 Pie, eb 105. 
 
 ——, Cheshire Pork, 19. 
 
 —-., Eel, 36. 
 
 ——, Fruit, for the delicate, 71. 
 —, Giblet, 128, 
 
 ——, Lamb, 56. 
 
 ——, Mutton, 4a la Perigord, 142. 
 ——, Pigeon, 48. 
 
 ——, Rabbit, 122. 
 
 —., Rhubarb, 52. 
 
 ——, Sweet Bread, 29. 
 
 ——, Veal and Ham, 152, 
 Pigeons, 168. 
 
 Plum Porridge for Christmas, 165. 
 Poached Eggs, 43. 
 
 Pork Kabob, 31. 
 
 ——- Lozenge, 150, 
 
 Porter Cup, 95. 
 
 Potato Cheese, 18. 
 
 Potted Pheasant, Grouse, &c., 137. 
 
 Shrimps, 81. 
 
 Preserved Artichokes, 89. 
 Barberries, 113. 
 Gherkins, 107. 
 
 ———- Ginger imitated, 59. 
 
 ——_——- Pine Apple, 24. 
 
 Pudding, Baked Apple, 143. 
 
 ————, Batter, 76. 
 
 ——_——, Beef Steak, 150. 
 
 ————, Bread and Butter, 67. 
 
 ————,, Cabinet, 25. 
 
 ——_——,, College, 27. 
 
 ———-, Carrot, 96. 
 
 ————, Cheap and Light, 19. 
 
 ——_——,, Codling, Baked, 37. 
 
 , Currant and Apple, 128. 
 
 ———,, Custard, 54, 
 
 ————., Eves, 45. 
 
 ————., German, 10. 
 
 , Green Apricot, 39. 
 
 ———, Ground Rice, 57. 
 
 171 
 
 | Pudding, Ipswich, 60. 
 
 » Marrow, 121. 
 
 , Orange, 151. 
 
 a, Peas. 155. t 
 ——, Plum, 166. 
 
 ———,, Real Cabinet, 112, 
 ———,, Vermicelli, 161. 
 
 ——,, Yorkshire, 146. 
 
 Punch a Ja Ford, 77. 
 
 , Oxford, 106. 
 Quince Marmalade, 108. 
 
 Rabbits, 135. 
 
 Raspberry Jam, 99. 
 Tourte, 63. 
 Red Mullet, 88. 
 
 —- Round, 162. 
 
 Rice for Curry, 7. 
 Rimolade, 9. 
 
 Risoles, 20. 
 
 Roast Beef Heart, 60. 
 Ducks, 84. 
 
 Fowl, 17. 
 
 Goose, 125. 
 
 Hare, 11. 
 
 Larks, 154. 
 
 Meat, 3. 
 
 Mutton, Leg of, 114. 
 Pork, Leg of, 141. 
 —— Pig’s Head, 164. 
 Rabbit, 151. 
 Rump of Beef, 138. 
 Tongue, 27. 
 Turkey, 167. 
 Roasting Pig, 110. 
 
 -, cold, 112, 
 Rumfustian, 122. 
 
 Sago, 136. 
 
 Salad, Bologna Sausage, 101. 
 
 , Lobster, 78. 
 
 , Mixture for, 68. 
 
 , Orange, 17. 
 
 , Red Cabbage and Celery, 26. 
 Salmon, 72, 
 
 ———— at Limerick and Killarney, 
 
 Salt-Fish, 32. 
 Sauce, Apple, 137. 
 , Asparagus, 74. 
 , Caper, 32. 
 s pang te 158. 
 for Plum Pudding, 167. 
 for Roast Mutton, 136. 
 » Home Made Fish, 123. 
 , Oyster, 143. 
 
172 
 
 Sauce, Piquante, 66. 
 
 » Shrimp, 73. 
 
 , Sorel, 104. ; 
 
 ,; Tomato, 120. 
 
 , White, 140. 
 
 , White Oyster, 160. 
 Sausage Rolls, 85. 
 Savoy Biscuits, 75. 
 Savoury Haddock, 121. 
 Sea-Kale, 40. 
 
 Smelts in Jelly, 144. 
 Snow Pancakes, 155. 
 Soda Negus, 126. 
 Soluble Cayenne, 6. 
 
 - Horse-radish, 157. 
 Soup, Asparagus, 68. 
 —- a|!’Aurore, 55. 
 ——-, Carrot, 119. 
 
 ——-, Green Pea, 82. 
 ——-, Hare, 21. 
 
 ——-, Lobster, 30. 
 ——-, Lorraine, 18, 
 —-, Mock Turtle, 145. 
 
 ——-, Mullagatawney, 138. 
 
 —-, Onion, 114. 
 
 —-, Oyster, 3. 
 
 —-, Ox Tail, 95. 
 
 ——-, Vegetable, 154. 
 —-, Vermicelli, 41. 
 ——-, White Potato, 129. 
 ——-, Winter Peas, 168. 
 Spinach, 51. 
 
 Spring Cabbages, 64. 
 Stewed Beef Steak, 1. 
 
 - Breast of Veal, 31. 
 - Cheese, 9. 
 ——- Cucumbers, 81. 
 ——- Eels, 163. 
 ———- Kidneys, 16. 
 
 ——- Knuckle of Veal, 45. 
 
 ——- Mushrooms, 102. 
 
 ——- Normandy Pippens, 99. 
 
 ———- Oysters, 147. 
 - Ox Tails, 65. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Stewed Pears, 131. ¢ 
 —— - Rump of Beef, 153. — 
 
 - Sturgeon, 86. | 
 ——- Winter Spinach, 149. 
 Strawberries a la Francaise, 74. 
 Strawberry Jam, 99. 
 
 Sweet Bread, 5. ur 
 
 Tainted Game, 120. 
 
 Tomato, or Love Apple, 114. 
 
 To Enjoy a Glass of Claret, 76. 
 
 —- Render Meat Tender, 70). 
 
 —~- Ripen Bath Cheese, 87. 
 
 ——Bottled Porter, 58. 
 
 ——New Stilton Cheese, 31. 
 
 Turbot, 89. 
 
 Turnip Tops, 44. 
 
 Turtle as Dressed at the Montagu, 
 Bristol, 97. 
 
 Twice laid, 32. 
 
 Various Hibernian Preparations, 88. 
 Veal, Fillet of, 53. 
 
 —, Fricandeau of, 118. 
 
 — Stock, 13. 
 
 Vegetable Marrow, 104. 
 
 Venison Pasty, 153. 
 
 Vinegar, Bird’s Eye, or Chili, 117. 
 ——_——,, Chalot, 34. 
 
 ————,, Common, 71. 
 
 ————, Garlic, 34. 
 
 ———-, Raspberry, 91. 
 
 —-——, Tarragon, 80. 
 
 West India Experience, 12. 
 
 , another,140. 
 Whisky for Liqueurs, 49. 
 
 White Wine Whey, 37. 
 
 Wild Ducks, 161. 
 
 Woodcocks and Snipes, 159. 
 
 York-House Ham, 5. 
 
 Zider’ An, 142. 
 
 a 
 ee 
 
pee gue ee 
 MNF ABA SIOEL Mv e 
 
 OUP inion 
 SPREE Aa 
 Winer 
 
 EP Wash 7! SERRA 
 pase ee tr 
 Beth yter 
 
 wae 
 
 2 Kray 
 = 
 
 va i 
 deyiiota\) 
 
 he 
 
 Gee 
 ibe 
 
 on