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

all the meat, and chop up the bones small; put half a pound of the best butter you can get into a pan with six or seven heads of celery sliced, and from which the tops have been cut off, seven or eight anchovies, two ounces of mace, four eschalots, minced, and four large carrots cut into small pieces; set these on the fire and shake them often to prevent their burning until the butter and juices have attained a brown colour, then pour in as much water as will cover them, and let it simmer four or five hours; then strain it through a hair sieve into another saucepan; darken the colour if you think proper, and let it simmer by the fire till it becomes glutinous. Great care must be taken that it does not adhere to the pan and become burnt. You may now add cayenne pepper and salt to your taste, and pour it out on to dishes a quarter of an inch thick, and when nearly cold cut it into cakes, which may be packed in tin cases between writing paper, and kept in a cool dry place. A pint of boiling water poured into a basin on one or two of these cakes, will immediately produce soup of very superior flavour, which will be found a great convenience, especially in travelling. It will keep well for many months, unimpaired in taste and quality. SMOKED GEESE. After the Christmas festivals, geese may be had somewhat cheaper than usual. Take eight fresh fine geese, clean picked and drawn, wash them in strong salt and water, then take Coarse sugar 1 lb. Bay salt ¾ lb. Saltpetre 2 oz. Sage 1 handful Three eschalots, sliced Bay leaves 2 handfuls Water 2 quarts Boil these fifteen minutes, and skim well, and when cold, rub the birds well inside and outside, and let them lie, being turned and rubbed with the pickle three days; then wipe them dry, and with two ounces of ground black pepper, rub the insides until the spice adheres firmly. Hang them up in a free current of air for two days, and then smoke them a fortnight with Oak sawdust 2 parts Fern 2 parts Beech chips 2 parts Keep them in paper bags well defended from the fly. BUCANED BEEF KIDNEYS. Take half a dozen beef kidneys, cut them open lengthwise, take out the pipes and skins, lay them in a deep dish and pour boiling water over them; in two hours take them up and dry with cloths, then rub well in all parts with Parsley, chopped coarsely 4 tablespoonfuls Eight eschalots, minced Coarse sugar ½ lb. Bay salt, in fine powder 1 lb. Let them be rubbed and turned twice a day for two days, then hang in a brisk air current for twenty-four hours, and rub them well with best olive oil three or four times in twenty-four hours. They must again be hung to dry, and when ready must be subjected to a gentle heat in your chimney for forty-eight hours, or until the surfaces on both sides are a little shrivelled, the proper embers being of Beech chips 2 parts Fern or grass turfs 2 parts Oak dust 1 part Peat 1 part When cold you can coat them with gelatine composition, or, cutting into appropriate pieces, put them in oblong pots and cover them with olive oil; wait two days, fill up again with oil and tie wetted bladder over them. Pigs and sheep’s kidneys may be done in a similar manner.――The above have been much praised. BUCANED BEEF UDDER. Get seven pounds of the udder of a prime five years old beast――when much older it is worthless for this purpose――and one that has been quickly fed up on grass; cut it in slices two inches thick and lay it in the pickle made as follows: Coarse sugar ½ lb. Bay or rock salt 1½ lb. Saltpetre 1 oz. White pepper 1 oz. Water 2 quarts boiled and well skimmed. Let the meat lie in this thirty-six hours, being well rubbed and turned occasionally, then wipe dry, and hang in a quick draught of air for two days, after which it must be plentifully rubbed all over with olive oil, and put into your chimney to be dried, rather than smoked, forty-eight hours with Oak sawdust 1 part Beech chips 3 parts Fern 2 parts cut it now in pieces, and coat them nicely with the gelatine composition. In two months it will be mellow and beautiful. BUCANED CALF’S LIVER. This is a beautiful preparation, and in my opinion not in any degree inferior to the buzzards and storks’ livers of the Pampas of South America. Take a couple of healthy fine livers, cut away all the pipes――blood-vessels――and skins, and rub them well with Juniper berries, bruised 1 oz. Jamaica pepper, bruised 1 oz. Parsley, chopped roughly 1½ oz. Bay salt 1½ lb. Treacle 1 lb. and let them lie, turned and rubbed twice daily, for two days and nights, or rather more if thick livers. Now wipe them dry, and cut them into pieces (some for being coated and others to be put in pots), hang them on wires until the surfaces warrant your proceedings, then with embers, not too powerfully hot, dry, and towards the end of the third day smoke them with Oak lops 1 part Beech chips 3 parts Fern or turfs 1 part Peat 1 part In two months these rashers will be splendid, rubbed well with olive oil and broiled on a clear fire. A lemon squeezed over, or served with good lemon pickle, is highly recommended. BUCANED BEEF SKIRTS. Take six pounds of skirts of prime beasts, beat them with a cleaver or rolling pin, but not so heavily as to start the gravy, and rub them thoroughly with Black pepper, finely ground 1 oz. Allspice, finely ground 1 oz. Shalots, minced 1½ oz. Bay salt, finely beaten 2 oz. Coarse sugar 3 oz. Sal prunelle, finely beaten 1 oz. Let them lie so, turned and rubbed, four days and nights, then wipe dry, take away the skins, but not piercing the meat, and hang them to dry twenty-four hours. Now rub the best olive oil all over them, and dry with gentle heat (mind, be careful not to start the gravy), of the embers of Oak lops 1 part Beech or birch 2 parts Fern or turfs 2 parts Peat 1 part and coat them with gelatine composition, or cut in fitting pieces and pot them with olive oil, and tie bladder over. The fire must be backened, if too hot, by sawdust a little damped, or remove the meat into a corner of your chimney for a while. POTTED OX CHEEK. Take the half head of a well-fed beast, chopped into four pieces, cut out the gullet, the small bones and cartilages, and wash it in salt and water, dry with cloths, and rub it well in all parts with Allspice, ground ¾ oz. Coarse sugar ¼ lb. Saltpetre, in powder ½ oz. Bay salt 4 oz. then let it lie three days, occasionally turning it, and rubbing. Then place the pieces in a wide stone jar or stewing pot, along with Thyme 1 handful Marjorum 1 handful Lemon thyme ½ handful Water 1 pint Tie double paper over, and send it to the baker’s oven, to be baked four or five hours, then turn it out into a dish, and when cool enough, separate all the meat from the bones, and chop coarsely, and mixing the pieces of fat equally throughout the mass. Press the meat now into a dish that will about hold it, and using what part of the liquor you may require to moisten the meat, and leave a plate or dish over the meat, with weights to keep it pressed down. Next day, when it has settled into a dense mass, pour clarified butter all over it, a quarter of an inch thick. It is eaten cold, and in winter season will keep well some weeks. POTTED SHRIMPS, DIABLE. Follow the directions for preparing the fish as for potted shrimps, until you arrive at the seasoning department, when mix Table salt ½ lb. Sifted loaf sugar ¼ lb. Cayenne pepper 1 oz. Durham mustard 1 oz. Make four or five tablespoonfuls of olive oil boiling hot in a stewpan, throw a handful of the shrimps at a time into it, and in less than a minute take them out, season them well with the mixture and lay them on dishes to cool. Continue thus to treat all the rest, and when done fill your pots and press the fish down closely. Next day cover with clarified butter, and afterwards the pots may be made secure with bladder, white or coloured paper over that. Keep them in a dry airy room. They will be much liked if taken with wine, and rectify a vitiated palate. POTTED PIGEONS. Take a couple of dozen of pigeons, which should be hung up a full week in cold weather. They must be drawn of the intestines and nicely picked of pen-feathers. Cut off the necks and pinions and lay them open at the backbones, wiped clean out and washed in salt and water, being dried quickly. Season them well with Nutmeg, grated 1 oz. Cloves, in fine powder 1 oz. White pepper, in fine powder 2 oz. Table salt, in fine powder 6 oz. Bay leaves, in fine powder 1 oz. inside, particularly on the backbone and vent, and let them lie put down in a jar and covered over for a week, turning them daily. Then place them singly, or in halves, if a small family; put a lump of fresh butter inside of each, and, tying thick paper over the pots, bake them slowly until done. While they are yet warm pour off any gravy that may have been produced, which must be set by, and when cold the butter taken off and added to the quantity which will be required to be clarified, and with which the birds must be covered, when cold, to the thickness of at least half an inch in each pot. These will be excellent, taken cold. RUSSIAN POLONY. Your success in this undertaking chiefly depends upon the choice of the meats made use of. Take of The lean of Belfast smoked hams, 1 year old 3 lb. The fat of Belfast smoked hams, 1 year old 3 lb. High flavoured hung beef 3 lb. Smoked ox tongues 3 lb. Hard back fat of bacon 4 lb. Peel the tongues after being boiled and reject the roots and tips. Cut the four first of the above up into dice and pound them separately into smooth pastes, with mucilage of gum tragacanth and fresh butter. Next cut the fat bacon into dice or cubes as large as the finest growth of peas, no rind or gristles to be retained; then mix intimately together, Garlic, minced 1½ oz. Shalots, minced 6 oz. Juniper berries, in fine powder 3 oz Jamaica pepper, in fine powder 3 oz. Black peppercorns 3 oz. Bay salt, in fine powder 1 lb. Coarse sugar ¾ lb. and blending all the meats well, season highly with the mixture, and put it down in a jar for a week to mellow. Then work the mass well for half an hour. Get some of the largest ox intestines, and soak them in luke-warm salt and water, wipe them dry and proceed to fill them, keeping out the air as much as possible, which you will effect by regular and even pressure, and pricking, only where necessary, with a stocking-needle. Make your polonies about a foot long each, and put them aside as done until the next day; then repeat the pressure and tie them up finally. They must be put into boiling-water with a little salt and saltpetre, and after once boiling, simmer only for half an hour. Then take them up, wipe dry, and hang in a current of air for a week, being turned daily without fail. Then smoke them with Oak lops 2 parts Beech chips 2 parts Fern 1 part Peat 1 part for a month. Stow them away in malt cooms. They will be prized by those persons who delight in high flavours. They need no coating; nay, many foreigners prefer them mouldy on the outsides. GERMAN SAVELOYS. Take rough Hambro’ smoked beef 2 lb. Neats’ tongues, smoked 1 lb. Smoked ham 1 lb. Fat of bacon 2 lb. Boil the tongue moderately, peal and cut off the gross root tip. Cut up the whole of the meat into large dice, and pound it thoroughly, mixing the fat in equally in all parts of the mass. Pick out all skins, sinews, &c., and mix a pound of good moist sugar throughout it, so let it lie two days. Then take Sage leaves, in fine powder 3 oz. Garlic, minced finely 2 oz. Shalots 2 oz. Bay leaf, in powder 2 oz. Chillies, or capsicum, in powder 3 oz. mix them well and then sift them, and blend them well with the meat, so that all parts may partake of the flavour alike; put it into a jar, which bung up close and set it aside for a week to get mellow. Now try a small quantity of it: if it suits your taste, well and good, if not add seasoning. Now fill your sausage skins, and when nice and solid prick them a little, and put them into a pan of boiling water to simmer slowly three quarters of an hour. Then take them out and let go cold, and next day wipe them and smoke them three weeks with Oak lops and dust 3 parts Fern or grass turfs 3 parts then hang them up in a dry room and keep them with hams, tongues, &c. These will be excellent in a month, just popped into boiling water for five minutes, or fried in olive oil and eaten cold. JERSEY BLACK PUDDINGS. In France, in the Channel Islands, and Belgium these delicacies are introduced at the tables of the highest families, a distinction which they richly deserve, while in England very few persons make them at home, but purchase at the shops an indescribable mass of groats, blood, bread, herbs, &c., and frequently, to cover the indolence of the pork-butcher, loaded with such an amount of the commoner spices, as to render the whole anything but palatable. Then, again, the fat, which seems to be the only recommendation, is found here and there in lumps so large, that before they become heated through, it is certain the other of part of the mass must be burnt nearly to a cinder. I think that we can produce an article well worthy of the trouble and slight expense incurred by the trial. Take a couple of dozen of large onions, peel them, cutting off the bottoms, cut them into small pieces, and put them into a stewpan along with ten ounces of sweet lard, and stew them slowly till of a light brown colour. Cut three pounds of pig’s leaf that is perfectly sweet and dry into dice, pick out all the skins. Boil half a dozen heads of endive, chop them fine and add to the fried onions; season them with Table salt 2 oz. White pepper ¾ teaspoonful Parsley, finely chopped 4 tablespoonfuls Thyme, in fine powder 1 tablespoonful Bay leaves 2 tablespoonfuls Half a nutmeg, grated Now add three quarts of pig’s blood――calf’s, or sheep’s is as good――that has not been long taken from the animal, and if still warm is preferable. Mix all intimately, and if you find the mixture is too thin to work well, add a handful or two of stale bread crumbs, or half to three quarters of a pound of rice, boiled just tender but not mashed. Take now the smaller pudding skins which have been properly scraped and cleaned, wash them in salt and water, and with a tin funnel tie one end of the skin tightly upon it, and the other end up in a knot, two feet or a yard will be a convenient length. Proceed now to fill your skins by pressing the meat through the funnel, pricking with a pin to let out the air. When nicely and firmly filled, tie up the end, and put the puddings into a flat large pan, with plenty of water tasting slightly of salt, and already boiling, and let them simmer twenty minutes, or rather more, attentively watching and pricking them to prevent bursting. When the blood oozes out no longer, they are fully cooked, then take them up and let them lie all night on a sieve. Cut them into pieces four to six inches long, and when wanted for table wipe them lightly over with a linen rag dipped in olive oil, and broil them ten minutes. Serve them plain, but very hot. If you cannot procure endive, you may substitute celery, which must be boiled along with three or four laurel leaves; the tender parts only must be used. Leeks also are generally liked, but in that case part of the onions must be omitted. MARINATED SALMON. Take six or eight pounds of the middle of a large fish, in preference to a similar weight of the whole of a grilse or salmon trout, scale it and cut off the fins, split it open at the back and reserve the roe and liver; wipe the fish out nicely, and strew moist sugar all over the red side, put it away on a dish until the next day. Then make the following mixture, Bay leaf, in powder 1 oz. Mace, in powder ½ oz. Cloves, in powder ¾ oz. White pepper, in powder ¾ oz. Table salt 1¼ lb. Take out the backbone neatly and rub the fish on both sides well with the mixture and the former sugar; lay three or four laurel leaves upon the red face of the thick side, turn the thin side over upon them, and set it away in a cool place for twenty-four hours. Then take it up, wipe dry, and cut the sides into fitting pieces, and place them in a deep dish upon the spices, and half a pint of Rhenish wine or Cape Madeira; tie double paper over and bake it in a slow oven till done enough. Pour off the pickle while yet warm, and set the pieces on a sieve to drip until the next day――covered close with a cloth to prevent the action of the air upon it, and thus to preserve the colour. Now choose your pots according to the size of your family, and into each one place a piece of the fish, the red face downwards, and fill up with genuine olive oil, let remain until the next day, when add more oil, and again on the third day replenishing what has been absorbed by the