“Devons heard him say that, or he would not have believed it. He could not remember ever having had all he wanted to eat—except in his dreams. The time Reed gave him that ten thousand dollars he had gone to Delmonico’s and ordered oysters on the half-shell, a soup, a bit of fish, a big steak with hashed-brown potatoes, and asparagus, and an ice, and concluded with coffee and cheese. Only something happened before it got to him. Probably something would happen this time.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
I. 113. INGREDIENTS.--5 lbs. of lean beef, 3 slices of bacon, 1/2 pint of pale ale, a few leaves of white beet, spinach, 1 cabbage lettuce, a little mint, sorrel, and marjoram, a pint of asparagus-tops cut small, the crust of 1 French roll, seasoning to taste, 2 quarts of water. _Mode_.--Put the beef, cut in pieces and rolled in flour, into a stewpan, with the bacon at the bottom; cover it close, and set it on a slow fire, stirring it now and then till the gravy is drawn. Put in the water and ale, and season to taste with pepper and salt, and let it stew gently for 2 hours; then strain the liquor, and take off the fat, and add the white beet, spinach, cabbage lettuce, and mint, sorrel, and sweet marjoram, pounded. Let these boil up in the liquor, then put in the asparagus-tops cut small, and allow them to boil till all is tender. Serve hot, with the French roll in the dish. _Time_.--Altogether 3 hours. _Average cost_ per quart, 1s. 9d.
Sources: The passage is from Frederick Orin Bartlett, Joan and Co., free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Beeton, The Book of Household Management of 1861, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — ochre cloth, oyster stamp.