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To Prepare Horse-Radish for Winter
In the fall, mix the quantity wanted in the following proportions: A coffee-cup of grated horse-radish, two table-spoons white sugar, half tea-spoon salt, and a pint and a half cold vinegar; bottle and seal. To make horse-radish sauce, take two table-spoons of the above, add one dessert-spoon olive oil (or melted butter or cream) and one of prepared mustard.
To avoid adulteration, buy coffee in the grain, either raw or in small quantities freshly roasted. The best kinds are the Mocha and Java, and some prefer to mix the two, having roasted them separately in the proportion of one-third of the former to two-thirds of the latter. West India coffee, though of a different flavor, is often very good.
Roast coffee with the greatest care for here lies the secret of success in coffee-making-and in small quantities, for there is a peculiar freshness of flavor when newly roasted. Pick over carefully, wash and dry in a moderate oven, increase the heat and roast quickly, either in the oven, or on top of the stove or range; in the latter case, stir constantly, and in the oven stir often, with a wooden spoon or ladle kept for this purpose. The coffee must be thoroughly and evenly roasted to a dark rich brown (not black) throughout, and must be free from any burnt grains, a few of which will ruin the flavor of a large quantity. It must be tender and brittle, to test which take a grain, place it on the table, press with the thumb, and if it can be crushed, it is done. Stir in a lump of butter while the coffee is hot, or wait until about half cold and then stir in a wellbeaten egg. The latter plan is very economical, as coffee so prepared needs no further clarifying. Keep in a closely-covered tin or earthen vessel. Never attempt other work while roasting coffee, but give it the entire attention. Do not grind too fine, and only in quantities as needed, for the flavor is dissipated if it is long unused after grinding, even when under cover. If properly roasted, coffee will grind into distinct, hard, and gritty particles, and not into a powder. (187)
Physicians say that coffee without cream is more wholesome, particularly for persons of weak digestion. There seems to be some element in the coffee which, combining with the milk, forms a leathery coating on the stomach, and impairs digestion.
If soft water is used for making tea, tea should be added as soon as it boils, as boiling expels all the gases from the water, but if soft water can not be had, and hard water is used, boil it from twenty to thirty minutes before using. The boiling drives off the gases in this case, but it also causes the lime and mineral matters, which render the water hard, to settle, thus softening it.
A vinegar-preserved grated horseradish, plus a quick sauce made from it. Note that the paragraph following the sauce belongs to an entirely separate entry on coffee roasting — a printer's run-on common in editions of this book — and has nothing to do with horseradish.
- The hinge: when you add the vinegarHorseradish heat comes from an enzyme reaction that begins the moment the root is cut and fades within minutes. Add the vinegar immediately after grating for a mild condiment, or let the grated root stand two or three minutes first if you want it fierce; vinegar halts the reaction where it stands.
- Coffee-cupIn this period a coffee cup runs smaller than a modern measuring cup — roughly 3/4 cup, though the usage is inconsistent and some books treat it as a full cup. Either reading works here; the proportion of root to vinegar is loose by design.
- Dessert-spoonTwo teaspoons. The sauce is therefore 2 tablespoons of the preserve, 2 teaspoons oil or cream, and 2 teaspoons prepared mustard — enough for two or three servings alongside beef.
- The vinegar is generousA pint and a half of vinegar to a single cup of grated root gives something closer to horseradish vinegar than to the stiff paste sold in jars today. If you want a spoonable condiment, use enough vinegar only to cover the grated root by a little.
- Bottle and seal, then refrigerate"Seal" here means a cork and wax or a tight lid in a cold cellar. The vinegar is a real preservative and the mixture will not spoil readily, but pungency drops off within weeks. Keep it in the refrigerator and treat a few months as the useful life.
- Grating the rootFresh horseradish releases volatile compounds far stronger than onion. Grate it in a food processor with the lid on, or work near an open window, and peel only what you will use — the root oxidises and darkens quickly.
- YieldClose to two pints, given the pint and a half of vinegar alone, which is a great deal of horseradish sauce. Halving the batch is sensible unless you are cooking a lot of boiled beef.
Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) reached American kitchens with northern and central European settlers, and by the late nineteenth century a jar of grated root in vinegar was, by many accounts, a common fixture in a well-run household — the ordinary accompaniment to boiled beef, roast beef, cold tongue and oysters. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, compiled in Ohio in the 1870s from the contributions of many women, is organised around exactly this kind of seasonal provisioning: the instruction to "mix the quantity wanted in the fall" reflects the traditional practice of digging horseradish after frost, when the roots are often said to be at their sharpest, and the fact that a household expected to put up its condiments once a year rather than buy them.