Kit-Kat
Truly the name of this gentleman deserves to live, though it has had an evil influence on the muttonpies in which he excelled. Mr. Christopher Kattfamiliarly known as Kit-kat-was an admirable pastrycook. A celebrated club used to meet at his house- Addison and Steele among the number--and took the name of the Kit-kat Club. Their portraits were painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller of three-quarter size-hence any portrait of the same size is called a Kit-kat. But the mutton-pies of Mr. Katt were so good that they have raised an unhappy prejudice against all succeeding ones. People always asked for the mutton-pies of Katt. The sound of the name lived when its meaning was forgotten, and no one now ever sees a mutton-pie without wondering whether it comes of cat.
Kümmel KROMESKI is a Polish word, which means no more than the French croquette, and which in its first syllable might find a fair equivalent in the English crumb. If it were lawful to invent a word, it might be translated crumbikins. The kromeski or Polish croquette is made in the usual way with an addition. It is any croquette formed into a little roll and wrapped round with a thin slice of the udder of veal, or failing that with thin bacon. The veal udder (which is always best) or the bacon is boiled beforehand, is then sliced and wrapt round the croquette, which is finally dipped into batter and consigned to the frying-pan, from which it should come out crisp. This is the most seductive of all the forms of croquette.
KÜMMEL. There is a class of umbel flowers, including anise, caraway or carvy, cumin, dill and coriander, which have long had a reputation for their pungent flavour and for their medicinal virtues-the chief of these virtues being to correct flatulence. Dill-water was famous at one time in England; anise-seed is not unknown in English nurseries, and the Anisette of Bordeaux has a good name as an after-dinner liqueur on the Continent. Three hundred years ago caraways at English tables always came on with dessert, and were supposed to be carminative and digestive. Caraways in palpable form have now disappeared from our tables, but only to return in the spirit -in Russian bottles labelled Kümmel. Of all the liqueurs of this class, it is the only one which seems likely to hold its ground. It has a pleasant stimulating taste, and it is supposed to be wholesome. When Russian kümmel is old it forms crystals at the bottom of the bottle. The name, which is German, is probably derived from a confusion of the caraway or carvy with its neighbour cumin.
Ladies' Delight ADIES' DELIGHT-Put eight ounces of apples, eight of onions, and two of chilies, all chopped, into a pickle bottle. Pour over them a pint of white-wine vinegar which has been boiled with a dessertspoonful of salt. In a couple of days it is ready for use, and forms an agreeable pickle, to which oil may sometimes be added on the plate. Lady Harriet St. Clair gives this receipt as Gunner's Delight. Why Gunner's?
Two workable recipes sit inside this dictionary entry: the kromeski, a croquette wrapped and fried, and Ladies' Delight, a quick vinegar pickle. Both need a little translation.
- Veal udderThe wrapper Kettner prefers is not obtainable in any ordinary market and has long since dropped out of the British trade. Use thin streaky bacon or pancetta, as he allows, sliced almost transparently and blanched a minute or two so it stays pliable rather than shrinking off the roll.
- "Any croquette made in the usual way"He assumes you already have a thick, cold panada-bound mixture: minced cooked chicken, veal, sweetbreads or game folded into a very stiff bechamel, spread out and chilled until it can be cut. It must be firm and cold before wrapping or the roll will burst in the fat.
- Batter, not crumbsThe kromeski is dipped in a thin frying batter rather than egg and breadcrumb; Kettner himself names the wrapper of udder or bacon as the "addition" that distinguishes it. A light flour-and-water or beer batter, thin enough to run off a spoon, gives the crisp shell he describes.
- Frying temperatureDeep fat at 350-360F. Hotter and the batter colours before the filling warms; cooler and the batter drinks fat. Three to four minutes for a roll the size of a finger.
- Ladies' Delight quantitiesEight ounces of apples and eight of onions, most likely weighed before chopping; roughly two medium apples and two medium onions. Two ounces of chillies is a great deal by modern palates -- with today's cayenne or bird's-eye types this will be fiercely hot, and an ounce may suit better.
- A pint of vinegarKettner's pint is the imperial 20 fl oz, about 2 1/3 US cups. Boil it with the salt, then pour it over the fruit and vegetables and let it cool in the jar.
- StorageThis is a fresh, uncooked pickle, not a preserve. Keep it covered in the refrigerator and use it within a few weeks; the two days he specifies is simply the time the flavours need to marry.
- YieldAbout a quart of pickle, served by the spoonful as a relish with cold meat or curry. The oil added "on the plate" turns a portion of it into something very close to a dressing.
The entry is a good example of what Kettner's Book of the Table actually is: an alphabetical dictionary in which anecdote, etymology and working receipt sit side by side. Christopher Cat (or Katt) is traditionally said to have kept the pie house near Temple Bar where the Whig club of Addison, Steele and their circle met from the late 1690s, and the Kit-Cat Club is generally traced to his name; Kneller's portraits of the members, painted at a reduced 36-by-28-inch size, are said by tradition to have been cut down to fit the clubroom, and they gave the English language the "kit-cat" canvas. Whether the club was named for the man or for his mutton pies was already argued over in the eighteenth century. The kromeski, by contrast, was a living part of Victorian professional cookery -- a Polish-named croquette that entered English kitchens through the French repertoire, and Kettner recommends veal udder as a larder item. The last item, Ladies' Delight, is credited to Lady Harriet St Clair, whose Dainty Dishes (1866) drew on Scottish and Continental sources; she also calls it Gunner's Delight, though Kettner says he does not know why.