in want of the substances necessary to make sauce : the
above composition of the several articles from which the
various gravies derive their flavour, will be found a very
admirable extemporaneous substitute. By mixing a large
table-spoonful with a quarter of a pint of thickened melted
butter, broth, or No. 252, five minutes will finish a boat of
very relishing sauce, nearly equal to drawn gravy, and as
likely to put your lingual nerves into good humour as any
thing I know.

To make a boat of sauce for poultry, &c. put a piece of
butter about as big as an egg into a stew-pan, set it on
the fire; when it is melted, put to it a table-spoonful oi'
flour ; stir it thoroughly together, and add to it two table-
spoonfuls of sauce y and by degrees about half a pint of
broth, or boiling water, let it simmer gently over a slow fire
for a few minutes, skim it and strain it through a sieve, and
it is ready. ''* ''



' Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth.
With such a fuU and ^withdrawing hand,
Covering the earth with odours, fruits, and flock?,
Thronging the sea with spawn innumerable ;
But all to please and sate the cuxioua taste 1"

MILTON.



280 ESSENCE OF ANCHOVY.

Quintessence of Anchvvy. (No. 433.)

The goodness of this preparation depends almost entirely
on having fine mellow fish, that have been in pickle long
enough (i. e. about twelve months) to dissolve easily, yet
are not at all rusty.

Choose those that are in the state they come over in, not
such as have been put into fresh pickle, mixed with red
paint,* which some add to improve the complexion of the
fish; it has been said, that others have a trick of /putting
anchovy liquor on pickled sprats ;f you will easily discover
this by washing one of them, and tasting the flesh of it,
which in the fine anchovy is mellow, red, and high-flavoured,
and the bone moist and oily. Make only as much as will
soon be used, the fresher it is the better.

Put ten or twelve anchovies into a mortar, and pound
them to a pulp ; put this into a very clean iron, or silver, or
very well tinned saucepan ; then put a large table-spoonful
of cold spring-water (we prefer good vinegar) into the
mortar ; shake it round, and pour it to the pounded anchovies,
set them by the side of a slow fire, very frequently stirring
them together till they are melted, which they will be in the
course of five minutes. Now stir in a quarter of a drachm
of good Cayenne pepper (No. 404), and let it remain by
the side of the fire for a few minutes longer ; then, while it
is warm, rub it through a hair-sieve,!, with the back of a
wooden spoon.

The essence of anchovy, which is prepared for the com-
mittee of taste, is made with double the above quantity of
water, as they are of opinion that it ought to be so thin as
not to hang about the sides of the bottle ; when it does, the
large surface of it is soon acted upon by the air, and becomes
rancid and spoils all the rest of it.

A roll of thin-cut lemon-peel infused with the anchovy,
imparts a fine, fresh, delicate, aromatic flavour, which is
very grateful; this is only recommended when you mako
sauce for immediate use ; it will keep much better without :
if you wish to acidulate it, instead of water make it with
artificial lemon-juice (No. 407*), or add a little of GoxwelPs.
concrete acid to it.

* " Several samples which we examined of this fish sauce, have been found
contaminated with lead." See Accusi on Adulteration, page 328.

t They may do very well for common palates ; but to imitate the fine flavour 01
the Gorgona fish, so as to impose upon a well-educated gourmand, still remains in
the catalogue of the sauce-maker's desiderata.

J The economist may take the thick remains that wont pass through the sieve.
and pound it with some flour, and make anchovy paste, or powder. See Nos, 434
and -135.



ESSENCE OF ANCHOVY. 281

Obs. The above is the proper way to perfectly dissolve
anchovy,* and to incorporate it with the water ; which, if
completely saturated, will continue suspended.

To prevent the separation of essence of anchovy, and
give it the appearance of being fully saturated with fish,
various other expedients have been tried, such as dissolving
the fish in thin water gruel, or barley-water, or thickening
it with mucilage, flour, &c. : when any of these things
are added, it does not keep half so well as it does without
them; and to preserve it, they overload it with Cayenne
pepper.

MEM. You cannot make essence of anchovy half so
cheap as you can buy it. Thirty prime fish, weighing a
pound and a quarter, and costing 4s. 6tZ., and two table-
spoonfuls of water, made me only half a pint of essence ;
you may commonly buy that quantity ready-made for 2s., and
we have seen an advertisement offering it for sale as low as
2s. 6d. per quart.

It must be kept very closely stopped; \vhen you tap a
bottle of sauce, throw away the old perforated cork, and put
in a new taper velvet cork; if the air gets to it, the fish takes
the rust,f and it is spoiled directly.

Essence of anchovy is sometimes coloured^ with bole
armeniac, Venice red, &c; but all these additions dete-
riorate the flavour of the sauce, and the palate and stomach
suffer for the gratification of the eye, which, in culinary
concerns, will never be indulged by the sagacious gour-
mand at the expense of these two primum mobiles of his
pursuits.

*** Essence of anchovy is sometimes made with sherry
or Madeira wine, or good mushroom catchup (No. 439),
instead of water. If you like the acid flavour, add a little
citric acid, or dissolve them in good vinegar.

N.B. This is infinitely the most convenient way of using
anchovy, as each guest may mix sauce for himself, and
make it strong or weak, according to his own taste.

It is also much more economical, as plain melted butter
(No. 256) serves for other purposes at table.

* Epicure Q.UIN used to say, " Of all the banns of marriage I ever heard, none
gave me half such pleasure as the union of delicate ANN-CHOW with good JOHN-
DORY."

T "Rust in anchovies, if I 'm not mistaken,
Is as bad as rust in steel, or rust in bacon."

YOUNG'S Epicure, page 14.

| If you are not contented with the natural colour, break some lobsters' eggs into
if, and you will not only heighten the complexion of your sauce, but improve il*
flavour. This is the only rouge we can recommend. See note to No. 284.

A a 2



282 CATCHUPS.

Anchovy Paste, or le Beurre d'Anchois. - (No. 434.)

Pound them in a mortar; then rub it through a fine sieve ;
pot it, cover it with clarified butter, and keep it in a cool
place.

N.B. If you have essence of anchovy, you may make
anchovy paste extempore, by rubbing the essence with as
much flour as will make a paste. Mem. This is merely
mentioned as the means of making it immediately ; it will
not keep.

Obs. This is sometimes made stiffer and hotter by the
addition of a little flour of mustard, a pickled walnut, spice
(No. 460), curry powder (No. 455), or Cayenne; and it then
becomes a rival to " la veritable sauce cTenfer" (No. 528"), or
vatt a la diable for deviling biscuits (No. 574), grills (No.
538), &c. It is an excellent garnish for fish, put in pats
round the edge of the dish, or will make anchovy toast (No.
573), or devil a biscuit (No. 574), &c. in high style.

Anchovy Powder. (No. 435.)

Pound the fish in a mortar, rub them through a sieve, and
make them into a paste with dried flour, roll it into thin
cakes, and dry them in a Dutch oven before a slow fire ;
pounded to a fine powder, and put into a well-stopped bottle,
it will keep for years ; it is a very savoury relish, sprinkled
on bread and butter for a sandwich, &c. See Oyster Powder
(No. 280).

Obs. To this may be added a small portion of Cayenne
pepper, grated lemon-peel, and citric acid.

Walnut Catchup. (No. 438.)

Take six half-sieves of green walnut-shells, put them into
a tub, mix them up well with common salt, (from two to
three pounds,) let them stand for six days, frequently beating
and mashing them ; by this time the shells become soft and
pulpy ; then by banking it up on one side of the tub, and at
the same time by raising the tub on that side, the liquor will
drain clear off to the other ; then take that liquor out : the
mashing and banking-up may be repeated as often as liquor
is found. The quantity will be about six quarts. When
done, let it be simmered in an iron boiler as long as any
scum arises ; then bruise a quarter of a pound of ginger, a
quarter of a pound of allspice, two ounces of long pepper,
two ounces of cloves, with the above ingredients; let it
slowly boil for half an hour ; when bottled, let an equal



CATCHUPS. 283

quantity of the spice go into each bottle ; when corked, let
the bottles be filled quite up : cork them tight, seal them
over, and put them into a cool and dry place for one year
before they are used.

N.B. For the above we are indebted to a respectable oil-
man, who has many years proved the receipt.

Mushroom Catchup. (No. 439.)

If you love good catchup, gentle reader, make it your-
self,* after the following directions, and you will have a
delicious relish for made-dishes, ragouts, soups, sauces, or
hashes.

Mushroom gravy approaches the nature and flavour of
meat gravy, more than any vegetable juice, and is the super-
lative substitute for it: in meagre soups and extempore
gravies, the chemistry of the kitchen has yet contrived to
agreeably awaken the palate, and encourage the appetite.

A couple of quarts of double catchup, made according to
the following receipt, will save you some score pounds of
meat, besides a vast deal of time and trouble ; as it will fur-
nish, in a few minutes, as good sauce as can be made for
either fish, flesh, or fowl. See No. 307.

I believe the following is the best way of extracting and
preparing the essence of mushrooms, so as to procure and
preserve their flavour for a considerable length of time.

Look out for mushrooms from the beginning of Sep-
tember.

Take care they are the right sort, and fresh gathered.
Full-grown flaps are to be preferred : put a layer of these
at the bottom of a deep earthen pan, and sprinkle them with
salt ; then another layer of mushrooms, and some more salt
on them ; and so on alternately, salt and mushrooms : let
them remain two or three hours, by which time the salt will
have penetrated the mushrooms, and rendered them easy to
break ; then pound them in a mortar, or mash them well with
your hands, and let them remain for a couple of days, not
longer, stirring them up and mashing them well each day;
then pour them into a stone jar, and to each quart add an
ounce and a half of whole black pepper, and half an ounce
of allspice ; stop the jar very close, and set it in a stew-pan
of boiling water, and keep it boiling for two hours at least.

* "The mushrooms employed for preparing ready-made catchup, are generally
those which are in a putrefactive state. In a few days after those fungi have been
gathered, they become the habitations of myriads of insects." ACCUJI on Culinarv
Poisons, 12mo. 1820, p. 350.



-1



284 CATCHUPS.

Take out the jar, and pour the juice clear from the settlings
through a hair-sieve (without squeezing* the mushrooms)
into a clean stew-pan ; let it boil very gently for half an hour :
those who are for superlative catchup, will continue the
boiling till the mushroom-juice is reduced to half the quan-
tity ; it may then be called double cat-sup or dog-sup.

There are several advantages attending this concentra-
tion ; it will keep much better, and only half the quantity be
required; so you can flavour sauce, &c. without thinning it :
neither is this an extravagant way of making it, for merely
the aqueous part is evaporated; skim it well, and pour it
into a clean dry jar, or jug; cover it close, and let it stand ijt
a cool place till next day ; then pour it off as gently as pos-
sible (so as not to disturb the settlings at the bottom of the
jug,) through a tamis, or thick flannel bag, till it is perfectly
clear; add a table-spoonful of good brandy to each pint of
catchup, and let it stand as before ; a fresh sediment will be
deposited, from which the catchup is to be quietly poured off,
and bottled in pints or half pints (which have been washed
with brandy or spirit) : it is best to keep it in such quantities
as are soon used.

Take especial care that it is closely corked, and sealed
down, or dipped in bottle cement.

If kept in a cool, dry place, it may be preserved for a long
time ; but if it be badly corked, and kept in a damp place,
it will soon spoil.

Examine it from time to time, by placing a strong light
behind the neck of the bottle, and if any pellicle appears
about it, boil it up again with a few peppercorns.

We have ordered no more spice, &c. than is absolutely
necessary to feed the catchup, and keep it from ferment-
ing, &c.

The compound, commonly called catchup, is generally an
injudicious combination of so many different tastes, that the
flavour of the mushroom is overpowered by a farrago of
garlic, eschalot, anchovy, mustard, horseradish, lemon-peel 4
beer, wine, spice, &c.

Obs. A table-spoonful of double catchup will impregnate
half a pint of sauce with the full flavour of mushroom, in
much greater perfection than either pickled or powder of
mushrooms.

* The squeezings are the perquisite of the cook, to make sauce for the second
table : do not deprive her of it ; it is the most profitable save-all you can give hei ,
and will enable her to make up a good family dinner, with what Would otherwise
be wasted. After the mushrooms have been squeezed, dry them in the Dutch oven,
and make mushroom powder.



CATCHUPS. 285

Quintessence of Mushrooms. (No. 440.)

This delicate relish is made by sprinkling a little salt over
either flap or button mushrooms ; three hours after, mash
them; next day, strain off the liquor that will flow from
them ; put it into a stew-pan, and boil it till it is reduced to
half.

It will not keep long, but is preferable to any of the
catchups, which, in order to preserve them, must have spice,
&c., which overpowers the flavour of the mushrooms.

An artificial mushroom bed will supply this all the year
round.

To make sauce with this, see No. 307.

Oyster Catchup. (No. 441.)

Take fine fresh Milton oysters ; wash them in their own
liquor ; skim it ; pound them in a marble mortar ; to a pint of
oysters add a pint of sherry ; boil them up, and add an ounce
of salt, two drachms of pounded mace, and one of Cayenne ;
let it just boil up again ; skim it, and rub it through a sieve,
and when cold, bottle it, cork it well, and seal it down,

Obs. See also No. 280, and Obs. to No. 278.

N.B. It is the best way to pound the salt and spices, &c.
with the oysters.

06s. This composition very agreeably heightens the
flavour of white sauces, and white made-dishes ; and if you
add a glass of brandy to it, it will keep good for a considera-
ble time longer than oysters are out of season in England.

Cockle and Muscle Catchup, (No. 442.)

May be made by treating them in the same way as the
oysters in the preceding receipt.

Pudding Catchup. (No. 446.)

Half a pint of brandy, "essence of punch" (No. 479), or
" Curagoa" (No. 474), or " Noyeau," a pint of sherry, an
ounce of thin-pared lemon-peel, half an ounce of mace, and
steep them for fourteen days, then strain it, and add a
quarter of a pint of capillaire, or No. 476. This will keep
for years, and, mixed with melted butter, is a delicious relish
to puddings and sweet dishes. See Pudding Sauce, No. 269,
;md the Justice's Orange Syrup, No. 392:



286 POTATO FLOUR.

Potato* Starch. (No. 448.)

Peel and wash a pound of full-grown potatoes, grate them
on a bread-grater into a deep dish, containing a quart of
clear water ; stir it well up, and then pour it through a hair-
sieve, and leave it ten minutes to settle, till the water is quite
clear : then pour off the water, and put a quart of fresh
water to it ; stir it up, let it settle, and repeat this till the
water is quite clear ; you will at last find a fine white powder
at the bottom of the vessel. (The criterion of this process
being completed, is the purity of the water that comes from
it after stirring it up.) Lay this on a sheet of paper in a hair-
sieve to dry, either in the sun or before the fire, and it is ready
for use, and in a well-stopped bottle will keep good for many
months.

If this be well made, half an ounce (i. e. a table-spoonful)
of it mixed with two table-spoonfuls of cold water, and stirred
into a soup or sauce, just before you take it up, Avill thicken
a pint of it to the consistence of cream.

06s. This preparation much resembles the " Indian arrow
root," and is a good substitute for it ; it gives a fulness on
the palate to gravies and sauces at hardly any expense, and
by some is used to thicken melted butter instead of flour.

As it is perfectly tasteless, it will not alter the flavour of
the most delicate broth, &c.

Of the Flour of Potatoes.

" A patent has been recently obtained at Paris, a gold medal
bestowed, and other honorary distinctions granted, for the
discovery and practice, on a large scale, of preparing from
potatoes a fine flour ; a sago, a flour equal to ground rice ;
and a semolina or paste, of which lib. is equal to l^lbs. of
rice, lUbs. of vermicelli, or, it is asserted, Slbs. of raw po-
tatoes.

"These preparations are found valuable to mix with
wheaten flour for bread, to make biscuits, pastry, pie-crusts,
and for all soups, gruels, and panada.

" Large engagements have been made for these prepara-
tions with the French marine, and military and other hos-
pitals, with the approbation of the faculty.



* " Potatoes, in whatever condition, whether spoiled by frost, germination,
provided they are raw, constantly afford starch, differing only in quality, the round
gray ones the most ; a pound producing about two ounces." PARMENTIER mt-JVutri-
five Vegetables, 8vo. p. 31.

" lOOlb. of potatoes yield lOlb. of starch." S. GRAY'S Supplement to the Pharma-
topceia, 8vo. 1821, p. 198.



CURRY POWDER. 287

" An excellent bread, it is said, can be made of this flour,
at half the cost of wheaten bread.

" Heat having been applied in these preparations, the ar-
ticles will keep unchanged for years, and on board ship, to
China and back ; rats, mice, worms, and insects do not in-
fect or destroy this flour.

" Simply mixed with cold water, they are in ten minutes
fit for food, when fire and all other resource may be wanted ;
and twelve ounces are sufficient for a day's sustenance, in
case of necessity.

" The physicians and surgeons in the hospitals, in cases
of great debility of the stomach, have employed these pre-
parations with advantage.

" The point of this discovery is, the cheapness of prepa-
ration, and the conversion of a surplus growth of potatoes
into a keeping stock, in an elegant, portable, and salubrious
form."

Salad or piquante Sauce for cold Meat, Fish, #c. (No. 453.)
See also No. 372.

Pound together

An ounce of scraped horseradish,

Half an ounce of salt,

A table-spoonful of made mustard, No. 370,

Four drachms of minced eschalots, No. 409,

Half a drachm of celery-seed, No. 409,

And half ditto of Cayenne, No. 404,

Adding gradually a pint of burnet (No. 399), or tarra-
gon vinegar (No. 396), and let it stand in a jar a week, and
then pass it through a sieve.

Curry Powder. (No. 455.)

Put the following ingredients in a cool oven all night, and
the next morning pound them in a marble mortar, and rub
them through a fine sieve.

a.

Coriander-seed, three ounces 3

Turmeric, three ounces 6

Black pepper, mustard, and ginger, one ounce

of each 8

Allspice and less cardamoms, half an ounce

of each . . 5

Cumin-seed, a quarter of an ounce ... 1
Thoroughly pound and mix together, and keep them in a
well-stopped bottle.



288 EAOOUT POWDER.

Those who are fond of curry sauces, may sleep three
ounces of the powder in a quart of vinegar or white wine
for ten days, and will get a liquor impregnated with all the
flavour of the powder.

Obs. This receipt was an attempt to imitate some of the
best Indian curry powder, selected for me by a friend at the
India house : the flavour approximates to the Indian powder
so exactly, the most profound palaticians have pronounced
it a perfect copy of the original curry stuff.

The following remark was sent to the editor by an East
Indian friend.

" The ingredients which you have selected to form the
curry powder, are the same as are used in India, with this
difference only, that some of them are in a raw green state,
and are mashed together, and afterward dried, powdered,
and sifted." For Curry Sauce, see No. 348.

N.B. Chickens, rabbits, sweetbreads, breasts of veal, veal
cutlets, mutton, lamb, or pork chops, lobster, turbot, soles,
eels, oysters, &c. are dressed curry fashion, see No. 497 ; or
stew them in No. 329 or No. 343, and flavour with No. 455.

Obs. The common fault of curry powder is the too great
proportion of Cayenne (to the milder aromatics from which
its agreeable flavour is derived), preventing a sufficient quan-
tity of the curry powder being used.

Savoury ragout Powder. (No. 457.)

Salt, an ounce,

Mustard, half an ounce,

Allspice,* a quarter of an ounce,

Black pepper ground, and lemon-peel grated, or of No. 407,
pounded and sifted fine, half an ounce each,

Ginger, and

Nutmeg grated, a quarter of an ounce each,

Cayenne pepper, two drachms.

Pound them patiently, and pass them through a fine hair-
sieve ; bottle them for use. The above articles will pound
easier and finer, if they are dried first in a Dutch ovenf before
a very gentle fire, at a good distance from it ; if you give
them much heat, the fine flavour of them will be presently

* If you like the flavour, and do not dislike the expense, instead of allspice, put
in mace and cloves. The above is very similar to the powder-fort used in King
Richard the Second's kitchen, A. D. 1390. See " Pegge Forme of Cury," p. xxx.

t The back part of these ovens is so much hotter than that which is next the fire,
that to dry things equally, their situation must be frequently changed, or those at
ihe back of the oven will be done too much, before those in the front are done enough.



HORSERADISH POWDER, &C. 289

evaporated, and they will soon get a strong, rank, empyreu-
matic taste.

N.B. Infused in a quart of vinegar or wine, they make a
savoury relish for soups, sauces, &c.

Obs. The spices in a ragotit are indispensable to give it a
flavour, but not a predominant one ; their presence should be
rather supposed than perceived; they are the invisible spirit
of good cookery : indeed, a cook without spice would be as
much at a loss as a confectioner without sugar : a happy
mixture of them, and proportion to each other and the other
ingredients, is the " chef-d'oeuvre" of a first-rate cook.

The art of combining spices, &c., which may be termed
the " harmony of flavours," no one hitherto has attempted
to teach : and " the rule of thumb" is the only guide that
experienced cooks have heretofore given for the assistance
of the novice in the (till now, in these pages explained, and
rendered, we hope, perfectly intelligible to the humblest ca-
pacity) occult art of cookery. This is the first time re-
ceipts in cookery have been given accurately by weight or
measure ! ! !

(See Obs. on " the education of a cook's tongue," pages
.53 and 53.)

Pease Powder. (No. 458.)

Pound together in a marble mortar half an ounce each of
dried mint and sage, a drachm of celery-seed, and a quarter
of a drachm of Cayenne pepper ; rub them through a fine
rfieve. This gives a very savoury relish to pease soup, and
to water gruel, which, by its help, if the eater of it has not
the most lively imagination, he may fancy he is sipping good
pease soup.

Obs. A drachm of allspice, or black pepper, may be
pounded w r ith the above as an addition, or instead of the
Cayenne.

Horseradish Powder. (No. 458*.)

The time to make this is during November and December;
slice it the thickness of a shilling, and lay it to dry very
gradually in a Dutch oven (a strong heat soon evaporates its
flavour) ; when dry enough, pound it and bottle it.

Obs. See Horseradish Vinegar (No. 399*).

Soup-herb Powder, or Vegetable Relish. (No. 459.)

Dried parsley.

Bb



29-0 TO DHST SWEET HERBS.

Winter savoury,

Sweet marjoram,

Lemon-thyme, of each two ounces ;

Lemon-peel, cut very thin, and dried, and

Sweet basil, an ounce of each.