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The String of Pearls

by Thomas Peckett Prest

THE STRING OF PEARLSTHOMAS PECKETT PREST
Our binding, not the publisher's

“"The pies are all very well," he said; "in fact, of course they are capital pies; and now that I see how they are made, and know that there is nothing wrong in them, I, of course, relish them more than ever; but one can't always live upon pies; it's quite impossible one can subsist upon pies from one end of the year to the other, if they were the finest pies the world ever saw, or ever will see. I don't say anything against the pies--I know they are made of the finest flour, the best possible butter, and that the meat, which comes from God knows where, is the most delicate looking and tender I ever ate in all my life."”

From a cookbook of 1852

A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.

1852  ·  Francatelli
No. 158. A RELISH FOR SUPPER

Prepare some oysters, as shown in No. 54, and when poured upon the toast in their dish, strew all over their surface equal quantities of bread raspings and grated cheese; hold a red-hot shovel over the top until it becomes slightly coloured, and eat this little delicacy while hot.

Sources: The passage is from Thomas Peckett Prest, The String of Pearls, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Francatelli, A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes of 1852, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — slate cloth, pear stamp.

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