B
Bacon
to be boiled, must be put into plenty of cold water and brought slowly to the boiling point. It is then to be simmered, and it takes a long…
Bake
The chemist who will tell us what is the precise difference between baking and roasting will confer a benefit on mankind. We all see, or…
Banting
The following is the diet of Mr. Banting, by which in a year-fifty-two weeks-he reduced himself in weight 52 lbs., to his great advantage…
Barley Broth
Any soup with barley in it may be called barley broth. The French make it by simply boiling Batter barley and adding it to a clear gravy…
Basil
or sweet Basil, is a plant belonging to the labiate family, which abounds in pot-herbs-mint, marjoram, savory, and the rest. Its leaves…
Batter
for fritters and for frying meat and vegetables. Take equal quantities of flour and of liquid. Say there are ten ounces of flour-the liquid…
Bay Leaf
This is indeed poetry in the pot-Daphne at our lips. There is scarcely a savoury dish made which is not perfumed with a faggot of herbs and…
Beauvilliers
starting in 1782, was for many years the most famous restaurateur in Paris. He was the first to make the restaurant perfect in every detail…
Becafico
The fig-pecker, a small bird something like a nightingale which feeds on figs and grapes, that give to its flesh in the autumn a peculiar…
Beef
The influence of the ox on human society, and more especially on the temperament of Mr. John Bull, deserves a chapter to itself. There is…
Beetroot
The Greeks held the beet in such esteen that they used to offer it to Apollo at Delphi on silver, and they preferred its leaves to lettuce…
Bentley
Richard, one of the greatest scholars of modern times, and certainly the most learned man of his day. He made this incisive observation to…
Bigarade Sauce
Bigarade is the French name for a Seville orange, and the sauce is described under its English name of Orange Gravy Sauce. BISQUE is one of…
Black Butter
See Butter. BLACK COCK is a kind of Grouse and to be treated as such.
Blanch
To scald vegetables (but sometimes also meat) by placing them for a few minutes with salt in boiling water, after which they are passed…
Blancmanger
It is needless to give the old receipt for this, because nobody would eat it. In the days of the English king Richard II. it was a fowl…
Boarshead
even as a Christmas dish, has gone so completely out of use, that it is needless to give any receipt for its preparation. But one thing…
Boiling
If one might judge by the use of the word, there is no mode of cookery so common as boiling. As a matter of fact, however, true boiling is…
Bonne Femme
The name given to a remarkable soup in which an attempt has been made to paint the character of a good woman. Why not? Beethoven in his…
Borage
There is an old rhyme, Ego borago gaudia semper ago, which has been freely translated-" I borage bring courage." It had a wonderful repute…
Bordeaux
Bordelese. - The famous capital of the Gascon country has given its name to a sauce, to a method of serving the entrecôte or ribsteak, and…
Bourgeois
À LA BOURGEOISE. It has always been difficult to translate these phrases into English, and the attempt to do so now would be absurd. They…
Bouquet
The technical name for this in English is a Faggot of parsley-a little bunch of parsley and spring onions. See Faggot. Bouquet garni. A…
Brains
Hath a calf, which is the emblem of stupidity, brains? It is one of the glories of cookery that it recognises good in everything-good even…
Brandade
The first receipt for a brandade which appeared in print was written by Grimod de la Reynière, and is as follows:-"Among the provincial…
Brawn
One word about brawn, not for itself so much as for its connection with galantine. It is, in fact, a galantine of pig's head. In the oldest…
Bread
When Dr. Lister, the physician of Queen Anne, went to Paris in the beginning of last century, he declared that the French bread made in…
Breton
The Celts of Brittany have immortalised themselves and their mutton by means of a few onions and haricot beans. In the first place they…
Brill
Of all good fish, brill is the most odious, because it is used, either ignorantly or maliciously, to do duty for turbot. No doubt this is…
Brillat-Savarin
A French magistrate, born at Belley in 1775, dying at St. Denis in 1826. He is the most delightful and seductive of all the writers on…
Brioche
Nobody knows the origin of this name. is made of paste No. 9 in any shape which may be chosen, and baked in the oven for half an hour. It…
Broil
See Grill. Whichever the word, to both the rule of Macbeth applies : If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly.
Broth
The French appear to make some distinction between a soup and a potage, but I have never been able to define it. In England it is assumed…
Browning
On all occasions the best is caramel-it is the least apt to create an unlooked-for flavour. Roux and burnt onions are often enough in use…
Brunoise
CHIFFONNADE, CROÛTE AU POT, JARDINIÈRE, JULIENNE, PAYSANNE, SPRING SOUP.— The basis of all these soups is a brown clear broth or double…
Brussels Sprouts
To be boiled like cabbages in abundance of water and a little salt for fifteen minutes, to be drained and dried, to be tossed in butter…
Bubble and Squeak
Chop some boiled white cabbage, season it with pepper and salt, and toss it in butter. Pepper and broil some slices of cold salted beef-if…
Bumper
There is a fine distinction between a bumper and a brimmer which ought not to drop out of sight. A brimmer is a glass so full of wine that…
Burnet
called also Salad Burnet and Garden Burnet, to distinguish it from the Great Burnet, and by the French called pimpernel, -a plant quite…
Butter
On the whole it must be admitted that the English do not with all their rich pastures make good butter. All the best butter with the rich…
Baba, Bath Bun, Blanc, Bouillon & Brocoli
or Polish Cake. Use paste No. 9, mixed with two glasses of rum instead of water and tinted with saffron. Use paste No. 9.