“Eric Scambester had done all that man could do to supply the full means of diverting the ennui of the morning meal. The board groaned with rounds of hung beef, made after the fashion of Zetland--with pasties--with baked meats--with fish, dressed and cured in every possible manner; nay, with the foreign delicacies of tea, coffee, and chocolate; for, as we have already had occasion to remark, the situation of these islands made them early acquainted with various articles of foreign luxury, which were, as yet, but little known in Scotland, where, at a much later period than that we write of, one pound of green tea was dressed like cabbage, and another converted into a vegetable sauce for salt beef, by the ignorance of the good housewives to whom they had been sent as rare presents.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
(Cold Meat Cookery). 612. INGREDIENTS.--2 or 3 dozen small button mushrooms, 1 oz. of butter, salt and cayenne to taste, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, mashed potatoes, slices of cold roast beef. _Mode_.--Wipe the mushrooms free from grit with a piece of flannel, and salt; put them in a stewpan with the butter, seasoning, and ketchup; stir over the fire until the mushrooms are quite done, when pour it in the middle of mashed potatoes, browned. Then place round the potatoes slices of cold roast beef, nicely broiled, over a clear fire. In making the mushroom sauce, the ketchup may be dispensed with, if there is sufficient gravy. _Time_.--1/4 hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the meat, 8d. _Seasonable_ from August to October.
Sources: The passage is from Walter Scott, The Pirate: Andrew Lang Edition, 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 — plum cloth, teapot stamp.