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Preserving (Bruise a quantity)

Bruise a quantity of well-grown flaps of mushrooms with the hands, and then strew a fair proportion of salt over them; let them stand all night, and the next day put them into stewpans; set them in a quick oven for twelve hours, and strain them through a hair sieve. To every gallon of liquor put of cloves, black pepper, and ginger 1 ounce each, pound of common salt; set it on a slow fire, and let it boil till half the liquor is wasted; then put it into a clean pot, and when cold bottle it for use.

Cucumbers.

Let them be as free from spots as possible.

Take the smallest that can be got, put them into strong salt and water for nine days, till they become yellow; stir them at least twice a day; should they become perfectly yellow, pour the water off and cover them with plenty of vineleaves. Set the water over the fire, and when it boils, pour it over them, and set them upon the earth to keep warm. When the water is almost cold make it boil again, and pour it upon them; proceed thus till they are of a fine green, which they will be in four or five times; keep them well covered with vine-leaves, with a cloth and dish over the top to keep in the steam, which will help to green them.

When they are greened put them in a hair sieve to drain, and then to every 2 quarts of white-wine vinegar put an ounce of mace, 10 or 12 cloves, 1 ounce of ginger cut into slices, 1 ounce of black pepper, and a handful of salt. Boil them all together for five minutes; pour it hot on the pickles, and tie them down for use. They may also be pickled with ale, ale vinegar, or distilled vinegar, and adding 3 or 4 cloves of garlic and shallots.

Walnuts White.

Pare green walnuts very thin till the white appears, then throw them into spring-water with a handful of salt; keep them under water six hours, then put them into a stewpan to simmer five minutes, but do not let them boil; take them out and put them in cold water and salt; they must be kept quite under the water with a board, otherwise they will not pickle white; then lay them on a cloth and cover them with another to dry; carefully rub them with a soft cloth, and put them into the jar, with some blades of mace and nutmeg sliced thin. Mix the spice between the nuts and pour distilled vinegar over them; when the jar is full of nuts pour mutton fat over them, and tie them close down with a bladder and leather, to keep out the air.

Artificial Anchovies.

To a peck of sprats put 2 pounds of salt, 3 ounces of bay salt, 1 pound of saltpetre, 2 ounces of prunella, and a few grains of cochineal; pound all in a mortar; put into a stone pan first a layer of sprats and then one of the compound, and so on alternately to the top. Press them down hard; cover them close for six months, and they will be fit for use, and will really produce a most excellent-flavored sauce. Salmon.

Boil the fish gently till done, and then take it up, strain the liquor, add bay leaves, pepper corns, and salt; give these a boil, and when cold add the best vinegar to them; then put the whole sufficiently over the fish to cover it, and let it remain a month at least.

To Preserve Fish with Sugar.

Fish may be preserved in a dry state, and perfectly fresh, by means of sugar alone, and even with a very small quantity of it.

Fresh fish may be kept in that state for some days, so as to be as good when boiled as if just caught. If dried, and kept free from mouldiness, there seems no limit to their preservation; and they are much better in this way than when salted.

The sugar gives no disagreeable taste.

This process is particularly valuable in making what is called kippered salmon; and the fish preserved in this manner are far superior in quality and flavor to those which are salted or smoked.

If desired, so much salt may be used as to give the taste that may be required; but this substance does not conduce to their preservation.

In the preservation it is barely necessary to open the fish, and to apply the sugar to the muscular parts, placing it in a horizontal position for two or three days, that this substance may penetrate.

After this it may be dried; and it is only further necessary to wipe and ventilate occasionally, to prevent mouldiness.

A tablespoonful of brown sugar is sufficient in this manner for a salmon of five or six pounds weight; and if salt is desired, a teaspoonful or more may be added. Saltpetre may be used instead, in the same proportion, if it is desired to make the kipper hard.

To Salt Hams.

For three hams pound and mix together peck of salt, ounce of salt prunella, 14 ounces of saltpetre, and 4 pounds of coarse salt; rub the hams well with this, and lay what is to spare over them, let them lie three days, then hang them up. Take the pickle in which the hams were, put water enough to cover the hams with more common salt, till it will bear an egg, then boil and skim it well, put it in the salting tub, and the next morning put it to the hams; keep them down the same as pickled pork; in a fortnight take them out of the liquor, rub them well with brine, and hang them up to dry.

To Dry-salt Beef and Pork.

Lay the meat on a table or in a tub with a double bottom, that the brine may drain off as fast as it forms, rub the salt well in, and be careful to apply it in every niche; afterwards put it into either of the above utensils, when it must be frequently turned; after the brine has ceased running, it must be quite buried in salt, and kept closely packed.

Meat which has had the bones taken out is the best for salting. In some places the salted meat is pressed by heavy weights or a screw, to extract the moisture sooner.

To Pickle in Brine.

A good brine is made of bay salt and water, thoroughly saturated, so that some of the salt remains undissolved; into this brine the substances to be preserved are plunged, and kept covered with it. Among vegetables, French beans, arti. chokes, olives, and the different sorts of samphire may be thus preserved, and among animals, herrings.

To Salt by another method.

Mix brown sugar, bay salt, common salt, each 2 pounds; saltpetre, 8 ounces; water, 2 gallons; this pickle gives meat a fine red color, while the sugar renders them mild and of excellent flavor.

Large quantities are to be managed by the above proportions.