The English Housekeeper/Chapter 17
Except in the matter of plain roasting, boiling, or baking, the test of good cooking is the taste and skill displayed in giving flavour to the composition. Care is not all that is required here; there needs study, and practice. No rules can be given, except to avoid over flavouring, and to suit the ingredients, as much as possible, to the compound which is to be flavoured. In order to be able always to do this, some forethought is requisite on the part of the housekeeper, who will save herself much vexation and trouble by keeping a small assortment of seasonings always ready for use in her Store Room; and by taking some little pains, to have a sufficient variety.
Many prefer cayenne made from English chilies to any other: they are in season in September and October; cut off the stalks, and lay them before the fire to dry for twelve hours. When dry, pound them in a mortar with one fourth their weight in salt, till they are as fine as possible, and put the mixture into a close stopped bottle.
Before spices are rubbed into meat, they should be pounded, and well mixed. For the convenience of the cook they may be kept prepared in the following manner.
Fill little square bottles with an equal quantity of finely ground or pounded ginger, nutmeg, black pepper, allspice, cinnamon and cloves. Keep these corked tight, and when "kitchen pepper" is required, take the proper proportion of each, and mix them, with common salt. For white sauces, use white pepper, nutmeg, mace, lemon peel (dried), ginger and cayenne; pounded or grated, and kept in bottles.
1 oz. of salt, ½ oz. mustard, ¼ oz. allspice, ¼ oz. ginger, ¼ oz. nutmeg, ½ oz. black pepper, ½ oz. lemon peel, and 2 drachms cayenne; grate and pound well together, pass the mixture through a fine sieve and bottle it.—Some leave out allspice and ginger, substituting mace and cloves.
Take 12 oz. of coriander seeds, 2 oz. cummin seeds, 1 oz. fenugreek seeds, 1 oz. ginger, 1 oz. black pepper, 4 oz. cayenne, and 2 oz. pale turmeric. Pound the whole and mix well together. Put these ingredients before the fire, stir and rub them frequently, till quite dry. Then set them by to get cold, rub through a hair sieve, and put them into a dry bottle, cork close, and keep in a dry place. A table-spoonful will make curry sufficient for one fowl.—Another: Take ¼ lb. coriander seed, 2½ oz. turmeric, 1 oz. cummin seed, ½ oz. black pepper, and cayenne to taste; then proceed in the same way.—Another: 2 oz. coriander seeds, ¼ lb. turmeric; of black pepper, flour of mustard, cayenne and ginger, each 1 oz.; of lesser cardamoms ½ oz., cummin seed ¼ oz., and fenugreek seeds ¼ oz.—Another: 4 oz. turmeric in powder, 4 oz. of coriander, 2 oz. carraway seeds in powder, 2 oz. fenugreek, and cayenne to taste.—Curry paste is very good, but it may be better to prepare curry powder at home; for different curries require different flavouring; as fish and veal require more acid than fowls, rabbit, &c., &c. The ingredients may be kept in bottles, and mixed when used.
As these cannot always be procured green, it is convenient to have them in the house, dried and prepared, each in the proper season. The common method is to dry them in the sun, but their flavour is better preserved, by being put into a cool oven, or the meat screen, before a moderate fire, taking care not to scorch them. They should be gathered when just ripe, on a dry day. Cleanse them from dirt and dust, cut off the roots, put them before the fire, and dry them quickly, rather than by degrees. Pick off the leaves, pound and sift them; put the powder into bottles, and keep these closely stopped.
- Basil, from the middle of August, to the same time in September.
- Winter and Summer Savory, July and August.
- Knotted Marjoram, July.
- Thyme, Orange Thyme, and Lemon Thyme, June and July.
- Mint, end of June and through July.
- Sage, August and September.
- Tarragon, June, July, and August.
- Chervil, May, June, July.
- Burnet, June, July, August.
- Parsley, May, June, July.
- Fennel, May, June, July.
- Elder Flowers, May, June, July.
- Orange Flowers, May, June, and July.
The following mixture of herb powder is good for soups or ragouts: 2 oz. each of parsley, winter savory, sweet marjoram, and lemon thyme, 1 oz. each of sweet basil and lemon peel, cut very thin. For made dishes, the cook may keep this mixture, with one fourth part of savory powder mixed in it. Dried herbs may be infused in spirits of wine or brandy ten days or a fortnight; then strained, the spirit closely corked, and put by for use.—Some recommend the following mixture: infuse in 1 pint of wine, brandy, vinegar, or spirits of wine, ½ oz. each of lemon thyme, winter savory, sweet marjoram, and sweet basil, 2 drachms grated lemon peel, 2 drachms minced eschalots, and 1 drachm celery seed: shake it every day for a fortnight, then strain and bottle it.
In November and December, slice horse-radish the thickness of a shilling, and dry it, very gradually, in a Dutch oven; pound and bottle it.
This gives a relish to pea soup. Pound 1 drachm celery seed, ¼ drachm cayenne pepper, ½ oz. dried mint, ½ oz. of sage; when well mixed, rub through a fine sieve, and bottle it.
Wash ½ a peck of large mushrooms, quite fresh, and wipe them with a piece of flannel; scrape out the black clean, and put them into a saucepan without water, with 2 large onions, 4 cloves, ¼ oz. mace, and 2 tea-spoonsful of white pepper, all in powder; simmer and shake them till all the liquor be dried up, but do not let them burn; lay them on tins or sieves, in a slow oven, till dry enough to beat to a powder, then put it in small bottles, and keep them in a dry place. Cayenne, if you choose; a tea-spoonful sufficient for a tureen of soup. To flavour gravy for game, and for many made dishes. Mushrooms to Dry.—Wipe them clean, and take off the brown and skin; dry them on paper, in a cool oven, and keep them in paper bags. They will swell, when simmered in gravy, to their own size.
Pound the anchovies, rub them through a hair sieve, then work them into thin cakes with flour, and a little flour of mustard. Toast the cakes very dry, rub them to a powder, and bottle it. For sauces, or to sprinkle over toasts, or sandwiches.