THE ART AND MYSTERY OF CURING, PRESERVING, AND POTTING ALL KINDS OF MEATS, GAME, AND FISH TEXT

then into dice and pound them in a mortar with fresh butter till you have got a nice, smooth, thick paste. Fill clean dry pots and jars, and leave them in a cool oven for two hours. Then press the meat down well, and next day cover with plenty of best clarified butter and tie white paper over. This is a quick method of getting a very excellent article of its sort, and as the same ingredients would perfect three or four tongues more in succession, it is economical in the end. POTTED BEEF’S HEART. You may not expect any thing particularly good as a relish from so common an article as a beef’s heart, but I often think there is more credit due to a person for producing a choice relish from what is considered an inferior base, than in spoiling an expensive natural production in the attempt to improve it. In this case I fear not to give satisfaction. The expense is really trifling, and the trouble reducible to a pleasure. Get a fine ox heart, with plenty of fat on it, hang it up a dry room, but not in an air current, for a week; then empty the cavities of the clotted blood, cut out the deaf ears as low down internally as your knife will reach, cut open a communication between the upper cavities and the lower ones, but on no account penetrate through the outside bark of the heart. Tie good string round and about it, so that the meat may be hung in various ways when needed, and rub it well for a quarter of an hour with the following: West India molasses ¼ lb. Strong vinegar ½ pint Eschalots, minced 2 oz. simmered for twenty minutes and let go cold. Hang up the heart point downwards, and fill the holes with the mixture. Rub it daily for a week, keeping the cavities filled. Then boil up the pickle, adding Jamaica pepper, ground 1½ oz. Garlic, minced 1 oz. Bay salt 3 oz. Black pepper, ground 1 oz. and for another week rub the heart daily and keep the holes filled. Then boil up again, adding Bay leaves, in powder 1 oz. Laurel leaves, shred ½ oz. Bay salt 4 oz. Water 1 quart and rub with this once. Take down the meat and let it lie on its broad end in a deep dish, and baste it every morning for a week longer. Then take it up, wipe it dry and hang it in a current of air for twenty-four hours, and then rub it twice daily for a week with Pure olive oil ½ pint Salpetre, in powder ¾ oz. Bay salt, in powder 2 oz. Now wipe it dry again, put it in a deep pot, tie paper over, and bake it in a slow oven until done enough. When cold cut it open lengthwise, select all the tender parts, pick them well from strings and films, and, cutting it into dice, pound it in a mortar into a nice smooth pulpy consistence. Consider now that it may be required to be kept, and if it needs salt add some, but unless you are in favour of any peculiar taste, I think we shall need no addition. Press the meat into pots and jars, cover with clarified butter, and tie paper over. If kept three months, or twelve months, I am pretty sure of your approbation. POTTED VENISON. Get a nice fat plump shoulder of mutton, cut it open three inches above the knuckle and also for three or four inches on the under side, and down to the bone, and filling these trenches with Twelve eschalots, minced Port wine lees ¼ pint Thyme, in powder 1 oz. Marjorum, in powder ¾ oz. sew the skin over, and hang the meat in a dry room to season for nine days; then rub it all over with Bay salt, in powder 1 lb. Coarse sugar ¼ lb. Allspice, ground 1 oz. Nutmeg, ground 1 oz. and let it lie, being turned and rubbed daily, for a week longer. It may now be baked, and when cold cut up in the way best calculated for embracing the tenderness of the joint. The lean should be pounded by itself, picking out all sinews and strings, and the fat, or such parts as will help to make the mass smooth; fresh butter must also be used if required, and when all is in readiness you may season it to your taste with Cloves, in fine powder 1 oz. Mace, in fine powder ½ oz. Cayenne, in fine powder ¼ oz. Bay leaf, in fine powder 1 oz. and adding salt as you relish, remembering that potted delicacies if seeming too salt at first lose that predominance by keeping, and it is the same, but in a less degree, with some of the finer spices. Fill your pots and little jars, and cover with clarified butter and paper, and keep them in a dry cool room, and where there is nothing to be feared from damps. MARINATED VEAL. Beat a fine large cutlet with the rolling-pin, put butter, eggs, and flour into a pan, and when hot lay in the cutlet and let it stew; the mixture will penetrate to the very inside, and your olfactory sense is delighted and palate refreshed with veal, not insipid as veal generally is, but with a morsel moist with odoriferous juices. When cold it may be cut in pieces, placed in oblong pots, and covered with the best olive oil. It must be eaten with tomato sauce. ANOTHER METHOD. Chop a pound and a half of veal fine, with half a pound of lean ham and half a pound of sweet fat bacon to be minced along with Two eschalots Green parsley 1 teaspoonful Mushrooms 1 teaspoonful Marjorum, in powder 1 teaspoonful Thyme, in powder 1 teaspoonful Mace, in fine powder ¼ oz. Cayenne pepper ½ teaspoonful Salt 1 dessert-spoonful Put these into a mortar after they have been well mixed, and bring the whole to a nice thick plastic consistence; put it into a mould lined with thin slices of fat bacon, and let it remain pressed down heavily for a week; then take it out, cut it into rather thick slices, which fry in boiling olive oil until done through, and of a nice brown colour, set them aside, and when cold put them into proper pots and fill up with best olive oil; tie bladder over the pots and keep in a dry cool room. MARINATED SALMON ROES. As soon as they are taken out of the fish wash them in salt and water for a minute, and dry them well with cloths. Smear the inside of an earthenware jar with sweet lard, put in the roes, tie leather over and subject them to the action of a water bath for three hours, then let them cool and divide them, pick out all the films and specks, and mix the following with the mass according to your taste: Mace, in finest powder ¼ oz. Nutmeg, in finest powder ½ oz. Bay leaf, in finest powder ½ oz. Table salt, in finest powder 4 oz. Cayenne pepper, in finest powder ¼ oz. Dry small white jars and pots and fill them to within three quarters of an inch of the top with the fish, press closely down, set the jars near the door of an oven for twenty minutes, and when cold fill up with olive oil, which replenish the next day, and then tie bladder closely over. Keep in a cool dry room. ESSENCE OF LOBSTERS. Boil six pounds of live lobsters thus: Throw them into salt and water and with a brush clean them well, tie up the tails, and pop them into a pan of boiling water, in which a good handful of salt and half an ounce of saltpetre have been dissolved; then set them to cool, take out all the meat and coral, which, when it has been cleared of the skins, chop up into dice, and set it on the fire in a clean pan, with a pound and a half of bay salt and two quarts of water, and let it simmer twenty minutes. Then take out the fish, pound it in a mortar with half an ounce of cayenne pepper and the same quantity of finely powdered mace, bring it to a nice paste with some of the water last used, and put it again into the pan with the remainder of the water and let it simmer half an hour. When cold, or nearly so, fill your clean glass jars with it, cork them well and seal them. ESSENCE OF SHRIMPS. Put a gallon of live shrimps into a pan of three quarts of boiling water, in which a pound and half of bay salt or rock salt has been dissolved, skim them well and boil them ten minutes, strain off the water through a sieve, and while the shrimps are warm pull off the heads, which with unsound ones put aside. Boil one pound of bay salt with two quarts of water ten minutes, skimming it well, and set it by to get cold. Pound the shrimps in a mortar with their skins to a paste, using a little of the last water, and when it has been well worked add the remainder of the water, boiled and strained, with this mixture: Red sanders, in powder 1 oz. Cayenne pepper ½ oz. Mace, bruised ½ oz. Bay leaf, shred ¾ oz. Two anchovies, shred Pass the pulp through a sieve, and, when cold, bottle it, corking and sealing securely. ESSENCE OF ANCHOVIES. Boil fourteen pounds of Gorgona fish for ten or twelve minutes with ten quarts of river water, rub the fish through a sieve, saving the water to again boil any of the fish that will not pass. When the bones are all dissolved, strain, add the water to the pulp of the fish along with Bay salt 1 lb. Wheaten flour 1 lb. Cayenne pepper ½ oz. Mushroom catsup ¼ pint. Put it into bottles, which cork and seal well. TOMATO PASTE. Scald and peel twenty large fine tomatoes, put them in a stone jar, tie paper over, and leave them in a warm oven for an hour. Take off the liquid that floats on the top and press the fruit through a sieve. Add to every quart of the tomatoes half a pint of good sharp vinegar, and seasoning to your taste with this mixture, viz. Bay salt 6 oz. Mace, in powder ¾ oz. Cayenne, in powder ½ oz. Cloves, in powder 1½ oz. Bay leaf 1 oz. Put it into a clean saucepan, stir it continually from the bottom for three hours and until you have got a smooth nice thick mass, which when cold put into jars and cover well with bladder. It will be found of essential service in seasoning soups, &c., when tomatoes are not to be had. TOMATO CATSUP. Take twenty fine tomatoes and scatter over them, upon a dish, twelve ounces of table salt, so let them lie three days. Next boil together Mace, bruised ¼ oz. Cloves, bruised ¼ oz. Black pepper, bruised ½ oz. Jamaica pepper, bruised ½ oz. Long pepper, bruised ½ oz. Ginger ½ oz. Mustard seed, bruised ¾ oz. Two dozen capsicums Six heads of garlic One stick of horseradish, sliced Best London pickling vinegar 1 quart The boiling and skimming should continue half an hour. Peel the fruit, add them, and boil together half an hour longer; strain through a sieve and bottle it the next day; cork well and seal. This is an excellent receipt, as will be proved by a trial. The catsup should be six months old to attain its prime. BENGAL CHETNA Sub-acid apples, pared and cored ½ lb. Malaga raisins, stoned ¼ lb. Coarse sugar ¼ lb. Bay salt 2 oz. Best ginger, powdered 2 oz. Cayenne pepper 2 oz. Eschalots, minced 1 oz. Best pickling vinegar, as much as required. Pound these ingredients well together, adding the vinegar by degrees until it comes to a smooth pulp. Let this remain six hours covered up. If the vinegar has risen to the top clear, it must be further blended with the spices by well rubbing with some surface of wood, for example, a potato masher; then add the whole of the vinegar, pass all through a sieve and bottle it, corking and sealing well. AN EXCELLENT FISH SAUCE. Take two dozen genuine anchovies, neither wipe nor wash them, and add them to the following: Eschalots, peeled and sliced 1 dozen Fresh horseradish, scraped finely 3 tablespoonfuls Mace, beaten 2 drachms Cloves, beaten 2 drachms Two lemons, sliced Anchovy liquor 8 oz. Rhenish wine 1 quart Water 1 pint Boil all together until reduced to one quart, skim it well, and afterwards strain through a sieve. When cold bottle it, and seal the corks. A PROVOCATIVE. Black pepper, ground 2 oz. Bay or rock salt 2 oz. Ground allspice 1 oz. Horseradish, scraped 1 oz. Eschalots, minced 1 oz. Walnut pickle, or mushroom catsup 1 quart Infuse for fourteen days in a gentle heat, strain and bottle for use, corking and sealing well. FRENCH SAUSAGE SPICE. Black pepper, finely powdered 5 lb. Mace, finely powdered 3 oz. Cloves, finely powdered 1½ lb. Nutmeg, finely powdered 1½ lb. Jamaica ginger, finely powdered 2½ lb. Coriander seeds, finely powdered ¾ lb. Aniseeds, finely powdered ¾ lb. Mix them thoroughly, sift, bottle, cork well and seal. TO PREPARE SYRUP FOR PRESERVING FRUIT. The best refined sugar, which will require no clarifying, should invariably be used for this process; but when inferior qualities are chosen they must be prepared in the following manner: To clarify six pounds of sugar, break it into large lumps, put it into a preserving pan, and pour upon it five pints of cold spring water; in another pint of water beat up lightly the white of one small egg, but not frothing it very much, add it to the sugar, and stir it to mix it well with the whole. Set the pan over a gentle fire, when the sugar is nearly dissolved, and let the scum rise without being disturbed; when the syrup has boiled five minutes, take it off the fire, let it stand two minutes, and then skim it very clean, let it boil again, then throw in half a cupful of cold water, which will bring the remainder of the scum to the surface; skim it until it is perfectly clear, strain it through a thin cloth, and it will be ready for use, or for further boiling. All _unripe_ fruit must be rendered perfectly tender by gentle scalding, before it is put into syrup, or it will not imbibe the sugar; and the syrup must be _thin_ when it is first added to it, and be thickened afterwards by frequent boiling, or with sugar added, or the fruit will shrivel instead of becoming plump and clear. A pound of sugar boiled for ten minutes in a pint of water will make a very light syrup, but it will gradually thicken if rapidly boiled in an uncovered pan. Two pounds of sugar to the pint of water will become thick with little more than half an hour’s boiling, or with three or four separate boilings of eight or ten minutes each; if too much reduced it will candy, instead of remaining liquid. WEST INDIA PRESERVED GREEN GINGER. Take half a dozen middle-sized cucumbers, cut them open lengthwise, take out the seeds, cut off the pulpy part, and soak them three days in strong salt and water, and weighted down so as to be completely submerged. Next, take them out and wash them in cold water, and put them, with plenty of cold water, into a pan on the fire, and when it comes to the boiling point, take them off, pour off the water, and add more cold water with a quarter of an ounce of bicarbonate of potash to each quart of water. Now boil them half an hour, and set by in the water they were boiled in till next day. Then take out, and set them to drain on a sieve, covered with a cloth. Then take Best ginger, bruised 10 oz. Best cloves, bruised 1 oz. Cinnamon, bruised ½ oz. Rain or soft water 5 pints which boil five minutes, then simmer for half an hour, in a closely covered pan, strain the liquor through a flannel bag, and add to each pint of it one and a quarter pounds of sifted loaf-sugar, making a syrup, which must be clarified with the white of egg. Boil this, and skim with care till no scum rises. Peel the cucumbers, and cut them in pieces the size and shape of a pigeon’s egg. Simmer two ounces more of bruised ginger, tied in a piece of muslin, in a pint of water, till reduced to a moderate sized teacupful, and add it to the syrup. Take the ginger you first used, put it with the syrup and cucumbers into a clean pan, and boil for ten minutes. Empty all into a clean earthenware jar, and let stand two days and nights. Next pour off the syrup, boil it five minutes, taking off the scum if any arises; then add the cucumbers, boil five minutes longer, and put all back again into the jar, and let stand three days. Return the syrup and the whole of the ginger tied in muslin into the pan, and boil until the syrup adheres to the spoon. Then put in the cucumbers, and boil, a quarter of an hour, when return all into the jar, and let remain twenty-four hours uncovered. Then tie wet bladder well over, and in a month it may be removed into small wide-mouthed glass jars and covered with bladder, and green paper over that. This, as dessert, is an excellent stomachic, assisting digestion in weak habits. CURRANTS FOR TARTS. The fruit for these purposes should be gathered on fine days, and only the best used for preserves. Press the juice from the rejected currants, and strain it clear. To each pound of fruit you must allow a pound of the best refined sugar, and make a fine clear syrup of the currant juice and sugar. When it is cold put in your fruit and let it boil until beautifully clear, when you may put it into pots and glass jars, covering with brandy paper and wetted bladder. TOMATOES. The fruit here must be taken before it is quite ripe, and if not having lost its green hue quite may be preferable; and for three pounds of fruit take off the thin yellow rinds of two large lemons, and, squeezing out the juice, strain it and put it aside for awhile. Put the juice with the thin rinds into a clean saucepan, with two or three blades of mace, a few peach leaves and a dessert-spoonful of ginger sliced thinly; cover the tomatoes with water barely, and set the pan on a clear fire to simmer half an hour. Then take out the fruit carefully with a spoon and set them on a sieve to cool. Add to the water they