\ « BREAKFAST, DINNER, AND TEA: VIEWED CONTAINING NUMEROUS CURIOUS DISHES AND FEASTS OF ALL TIMES AND ALL COUNTRIES. BESIDES THREE HUNDRED MODERN RECEIPTS. Cookery is an art Still changing, and of momentary triumph. Know on thyself thy genius must depend. All books of cookery, all helps of art Are vain, if void of genius thou wouldst cook. Athen^eus. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 346 & 348 BROADWAY. 1 860 . Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by P. APPLETON & CO., In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern Distriot of New York. PREFACE. De. Johnson says of Mrs. Carter that she could both translate Epictetus, and make a pudding; and write a Greek poem as well as embroider a handkerchief. In our own day, there may be found many an active, orderly housekeeper, who is also an intelligent, well-informed, even accomplished woman. For the entertainment of this class of persons, the present work has been compiled. While it will be found of great practical utility, it aims to be rather more than a mere cook book; since it contains much curious and instructive matter in relation to the gastronomic habits and peculiarities of all times and all countries. It must surely be a matter of interest, while preparing dishes to gratify the palates of the present generation, to notice what have pleased poets and philosophers, and races long past away, as well as to remark the great diversity of tastes, among the various nations now existing on the earth. Tliis work contains three hundred original receipts of a practical nature, suited to the every-day wants of an IV rEEFACE. American household. These receipts have been collected from experienced housekeepers, and may be relied upon. Partaking thus of both a classical and practical character, it will form a very appropriate and acceptable present to a young housekeeper. As poets, though often a half-starved race, have yet like other mortals had their favorite dishes, it has some¬ times happened, that warmed by the genial influences of a plentiful repast, they have made cookery and its acces¬ sories the theme for their muse. And since a good cook in preparing an entertainment for guests, first provides the substantial, solid food, with side-dishes to tickle the palate, and closes with the dessert which is to give a charm to the whole,—so we, to the solid facts vouched for by undoubted authority, have added some side-dishes of imaginary feasts, and embellished all with a dessert of rare and peculiar delights from the gardens of the Poets. TABLE OF CONTENTS. BREAKFAST. PAGE Breakfast Considered,. '6 The breakfast hour—Tobias Termer on breakfast—Izaak Walton on the Angler’s breakfast—Our English ancestors at breakfast—Duke of Xorthumber- ' land, and Queen Elizabeth at breakfast—Lord Fairfax's orders respecting this meal—Pepys at breakfast—The poet Bogers and the breakfast party—Miss Sedgwick, X. P. Willis, and Mrs. Stowe on the same—Practice of Maria Edge- worth—Breakfasts in Scotland and America—The favorite dishes of various nations mentioned. Coffee, Cocoa, and Chocolate,.9 Lines from Cowper—Introduction of coffee—Pope's fondness for it—Chic¬ ory, and how to detect it in coffee—The preparation of coffee— Cafe au lait — Cafe d la creme frappe de glace —Dandelion coffee—Cocoa—To prepare choco¬ late after the English, French, and German modes—Francesco Eedi’s dislike of coffee. Bread, . . . . * . « . • • . .19 Buies for making wheat bread and yeast cakes—Gallic yeast—To make stale bread fresh—Different kinds of meal—Steamed bread—To make Indian, and rye and Indian breads.—Ehode Island corn bread—Potato bread—Bice bread— Apple bread—Trial by ordeal—The “ Flat brod ” of the Xorwegians—Anecdote of Charles XII. of Sweden—The bread-fruit tree—Coronation gifts to the Em¬ perors of Bussia. Breakfast Cakes,.21 Breakfast corn cake—Corn bread—Corn cakes—The pancake bell—To make rice, hominy, Indian or buckwheat griddle cakes—Eye and Indian grid¬ dle cakes—Muffins—Missouri corn cake—Tortillas—Indian corn biscuit—John¬ ny-cake—Hoe-cake—Cakes of the Arabs—Morning biscuit—Buttered toast— Milk toast—“ Hot cross-buns ”—Oatmeal cake—Anecdote of bannocks. VI CONTENTS. PAGE Butter,.27 Orange county butter—Margarey More on churning—Butter-making charm —“ Buyd ur" —To preserve buttor—To restore rancid butter—Mode of pre¬ serving it fresh in India—Ghee—Clarified butter of the Arabs—The use of forks — Some peculiarities of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Meats, Fish, and Omelettes,.32 The Beef-steak Club—To cook beef-steak—Welsh mode of serving it—To make sausages—English mutton sausages—Mutton chop—Broiled veal—Grid¬ irons—The Escurial —Broiled ham and eggs—The Spanish dish, “ Grace of God ”—Broiled pigeons—Veal bewitched—Tripe—Pickled goose—Meat biscuit —Pemmican—Liver cheese—Broiled chickens—Broiled fish—The callipeva— Indian mode of broiling fish—Preserving fish—Potted shad—Pried, broiled, and pickled oysters—Remark on frogs—To cook them—Queen Elizabeth’s brooch— To cook eels—Thomas a Becket’s dish of eels—Lines on stewed lampreys— Pope’s fondness for them—Fried fish—Peruvian chantisa—To detect poor eggs — ReceUe de la Fondue —Omelette or French egg-cake—Soyer’s omelette— Colored eggs—To cook an ostrich egg—Leigh Hunt on breakfast. Call to Breakfast,.43 Mrs. Sigourney’s “ Breakfast, come to breakfast ”—Charles Lamb on saying grace—Bishop Hall’s habit in regard to his meals. Cooks and Cookery,.45 The progress of the culinary art—Rebecca’s skill—King of Bithynia’s cook —Queen of Caria’s present to Alexander—Sicilian cooks—Athemeus on the chief cook at Athens—Trials of Antony’s and Napoleon’s cooks—The suicide of Vatel—Rewards conferred upon cooks by various monarchs—Strife between an English and French cook—Writers on cookery—Careme, tlio famous cook— Louis Eustacke Ude on cookery as a science—The principles of cooking—Ef¬ forts of Charles the Second and Prince de Condo in cooking—M. Soyer. -• e •- DINNER. Dinner Considered,.61 Ben Jonson’s lines to Penhurst—Dinner in general—Dinners of policy— Sayings of Lady M. W. Montague and Lady Hardwicke—Dr. Johnson upon poor dinners—The dinner-hour—Luncheon—Roman and English dining-halls—Cis¬ terns in the same—Dining tables—King Arthur's “round table”—Japanese and Chinese tables, and Pliny’s in the garden of his villa—The dinner-party— Selection of guests—Talkers—Boswell and Johnson on conversation at table— Caprices of guests—Well-trained servants—Pepys in search of a cook—Mrs. Stowe on the exertions of American women—Ease and calmness in the host and hostess—John Hancock’s coolness—Lady Blessington's powers of entor- CONTENTS. Vli PAGE taining—Rules for courses and dishes—Spirit of hospitality illustrated—Eve’s repast to the Angel—Telemachus’reception of Minerva—An instance of Ara¬ bian hospitality—Burleigh's precepts to his son—Pope and Matthew Greene on welcoming a guest—Vulgar hospitality—Invitation to dinner from Thomas Moore to Lord Lansdowne. Soups,. 83 Making of soups—Nudels—Cooking in a coach—A saying of Beau Brum- mel’s—Pea, beef, and gumbo soups—Drying okra—Sydney Smith on uertZ-soup —Chicken, lamb, and oyster soups— Soupe d la Cussy —Turtle and mock-tur¬ tle soups—The turtle—Origin of marking the king’s dishes with the cook’s name. Fish,.90 Izaak Walton and Smellie on various fish—Eeceipt for cooking a fish in the seventeenth century—Walton’s mode of dressing trout and chub—A herring- pie—Tradition respecting the red herring—To boil fish—Fish-sauces—Lobsters —Dr. Paley—Scolloped oysters—Philip II. of Spain—Oyster-pies—Legend re¬ specting oyster-eating—Chowder—Caviar, fish-maws, botargo—“ Stappit- heads ”—The Apostle’s fish—Piroga—The sardine—Tamarind fish—Anchovy —To bake fish—Cardinal Fesch and the turbots—Egyptian abhorrence of fish— Poissardes. Meats,. 104 Advice to a cook—To roast or bake meats—Louis XI. and the turnspit— Eoast beef—The sirloin and baron of beef—Eoast venison—A singular spit— Boast mutton—Egyptian custom—Kit-Kat Club—Roast veal—A cook’s tri¬ umph over the difficulties of veal—Veal cutlet—Commons—Eoast pig—Charles Lamb on roast pig—A masterpiece of cookery—Eoast pork—Baked beans and pork—Eoast turkey—Saying of Sydney Smith—Roast chickens—Master late at dinner—Eoast goose after both the German and English modes—“ Pates de foies gras ”—Eoast ducks—Boiled turkey—Boiled chicken with rice—A Span¬ ish sauce—Eoast partridges—Canadian receipt for cooking game—Snipe— Moore’s dining-out—To boil meats—A calf s head, boiled—To cure beef—To boil corned beef—Dr. Johnson’s favorite dishes—Boiled ham and pork—Anec¬ dote of Charles II.—Scotch aversion to pork—Roman skill in cooking a pig— To pack and salt pork—To cure hams—A flitch of bacon—To cure mutton— Boiled lamb or mutton—Dr. Johnson’s last dinner at Mrs. Thrale’s—To cure beeves’ tongues—To boil the same—To pickle sheep’s tongues—Salt—The grand Parmetier —A Christmas pie in 1770—Chicken pie—Pigeon or veal pies—The effect of pies upon courtiers—Live birds in a pie—A dwarf in a pie —An artificial hen—To fricassee chickens—Potted pigeons—“ Un roti sans pareil ”—Carving. Vegetables, ........... 132 Effect of cultivation—The Irish potato—Potatoes “ with the bone in ”—The sweet potato—Indian corn ; to dry for winter use—Succotash—Green corn |1 — viii CONTENTS. TAGE cakes, oysters, and dumplings—Anecdote of the Khan of Tartary—Turnips, squashes, and onions—The latter among the ancients—Sancho Panza's prefer¬ ences—Artichokes—Asparagus; M. Hue’s substitute for it—The cabbage and the cabbage-palm—Cauliflower, kale, and kohl-rabis— Vin-aigre —Parsnips, dandelions, spinach, peas and beans—Fried cucumbers—Fried oyster-plant— Salsify toast—To keep celery through the winter—Tomato sauce, and toast, and to prepare tomato for winter use—Egg-plant, green melons cooked to re semble it—Mushrooms—Macaroni and rico. Salads and Pickles,. 145 A Roman peasant’s salad—Sydney Smith's receipt for dressing salads— “ Moult me tarde ”—Spanish salad—Dressed lettuce—Mustard and cress—Salad sauce—Chicken and lobster salads—Remarks upon pickles—To pickle peaches, pears, apples, cherries, plums, cucumbers, beets, cauliflowers, cabbage, nastur¬ tiums, walnuts, butternuts, onions, eggs, and tomatoes—Pepper—Mangoes— Higdom—The clove-tree. Drinks,. 155 Francesco Eedi on wine—Greek poet on drinking the same—To make cur¬ rant, gooseberry, elderberry, parsnip, and raspberry wines—Cleopatra’s costly drink—Fountains of wine—Whortleberry wine—“ Kirch-wasser ” and “ mares- chino ”—The two secrets—To make- metheglin and ginger-beer—Effect of cli¬ mate on drinks—To make raspberry vinegar, imperial, sherbet, lemon water, and egg-flip or posset—The thirst of Tantalus—Old English beverages, as “ but¬ tered ale,” “bristol milk,” “ la mas ub hal," orange and wormwood wines, ipocras, and sack-posset—Drinking cups—Toasts with Celtic honors—The loving cup. Dessert,. 166 Desserts of the olden time—“ Subtleties ”>—Destruction of Troy—The “march-pane”—Quaking custard—Pyramids—Duchess of Kingston’s dessert —Designs in use in 1745 —Chasse at Herenhausen—Devices in pastry in 1787— Confectionery at Queen Charlotte’s table. Pies,. 170 To make puff-paste—Mince pie, an ode to the same—Apple pie, Lord Dud¬ ley respecting it—Puffets—Menzikoff a pastry-cook—To make the following pies, viz : mock apple, jelly, custard, farina, cocoanut, pumpkin, (fresh, dried, or grated), peach, cherry, plum, berry, squash, rhubarb, and currant— Southey's ode to gooseberry pie. Puddings,. 179 Eules for boiling puddings—To make plum-pudding—French prejudice against it—English gooseberry, raspberry, and roly-poly puddings—King Arthur’s pudding—Apple dumplings—Remark on Mrs. Carter—Boiled potato, and corn puddings—Rich boiled Indian pudding—Date or prune ditto—The date and sago-palms—Tapioca and sago puddings (with and without apples) CONTENTS. ix PAGE —Whence tapioca is obtained—Baked apple, corn starch, gypsy’s hatter, co- coanut, family, corn-meal, and cracked-wheat puddings—Rice, almond, hom¬ iny, potato, pumpkin, orange, bread and butter, jelly, and applo ditto—Lady Bustle’s orange pudding—Apple dessert-cako—To make the following croams : snow rice, Isabella, Bohemian, white, almond, lemon, and ice—Curds and cream—Flummery—Cocoanut for dessert—Charlotte de Russo—Spanish Char¬ lotte—Custard—Potato blanc-mange—A southern trifle—Lemon kisses—A delicate dessert—Thomson on the fruits. Jellies, .. 197 To make apple, crab-apple, grape, cranberry, red currant, and four-fruit jellies—The grape and pomegranate—To save currant juice when, from mis¬ management, it will not form a jelly—Green and black currant jellies—Cur¬ rants, why so called—To make also calf’s foot, chicken, wine, and dried-apple jellies—Apple Florentine—Macaroons—Comfit-boxes—Address to guests. Table Habits and Peculiar Dishes of various Nations, . . . 204 Old English Living. —Christmas song—Thomson on dinner—Profusion at old English tables—The crane and peacock much honored—Peacock “ en- kakyll ”—Dishes for certain days—A carol to the Boar's head—A game pie in 1394—Private dinner in Shakspeare’s day—The carte or bill of fare—Lord Fairfax’s orders to his servants respecting dinner—Pepys’ dinners. Scottish HospitdUty. —Customs in some of the families—Profusion at fu¬ neral feasts—Parliamentary restrictions on hospitality—Customs at Highland entertainments—Lord Lovat—Diet of the Highlanders of the present day— National dishes—Burns’ poem to the “ haggis ”—Receipt for making a haggis, by Mrs. Grant, of Laggan. Irish Customs.— Four kings of Ireland at dinner—Coshering feasts of the old Irish. French Entertainment. —Ariamnes’ entertainment to his countrymen— Gallic cookery—Progress in the arts of the cuisine —Introduction of new arti¬ cles of food; the frog, the snail, and horse-flesh—Satirical review of the names of French dishes. Table Habits of the Germans. —Family dinners in Hamburg and Berlin —Old German hospitality. Spanish Hospitality of the present day. —Evening receptions—To make olla podrida. Old Roman Customs. —Courses at dinner, and favorite dishes—Diomed’s banquet. Articles of food in Italy. Grecian Customs. —Athenian practices—Dinner illustrated—Athenian dishes—Public meals of Sparta. Russian Dinners. —Custom at a dinner-party—Dinner at a restaurant in Moscow—Peculiar dishes—The Russian cook. Swedish Dishes. Dinners in Turkey. Dinners among the Circassians. Shah of Persia at Dinner. X CONTENTS. PAGE Arab Dishes. Customs in India. —The habits of the Parsees during their repasts—A Ilindoo meal. Siamese Customs. A Burmese Dainty. Chinese Dishes. —Chou-chou, baliehung, birds’ nests, and beche-de-mer. Japanese Customs and Dishes. —Serving a repast, tables and dishes. Abyssinian Dinner. Native Cooking and Eating in the Pacific Islands. Food of the Arctic Regions. Savage Food. Dinners and Feasts of various Persons,. 266 Coronation feast for the queen of Henry Y.—Banquet in Henry YII.’s reign at the enthronization of Archbishop Warliam—Coronation dinner for Anne (Boleyn) queen of Henry YIII.—Montezuma at table—The Earl of Athol’s entertainment to James V.—Queen Elizabeth's dinners, with the feast of the Earl of Leicester at Utrecht—Dinner of James I. to a Spanish ambassador—Louis XIV.’s meals and feasts at Versailles—A dinner at Mo- liere’s—Coronation dinner of Charles II.—Sir Richard Steele at dinner—Din¬ ner at Mr. Sheridan’s on “swilled mutton ”—Madame De Stacil and her din¬ ners—Napoleon I. and Josephine at dinner—Dinners of M. De Talleyrand— General Washington’s dinners in camp ; also his style of living during his pres¬ idency—General Marion’s entertainment to a British officer—Rev. Sydney Smith’s account of a certain dinner—General Urquiza's hospitality to Ameri¬ can officers and gentlemen—Sancho Panzaat Camacho’s wedding-feast—Rejoic¬ ings upon the New Year’s coming of age. TEA. Tf.a Considered,.299 Lines from Cowper—The Voide of nenry VII.’s time—Tea in fashionable life, and as a meal—Dutch country tea-table—Evening receptions—The intro¬ duction of tea into England and America—Different varieties—Dr. Kano and Dr. Johnson on its virtues—Modes of steeping it—Practice in Germany—Syd¬ ney Smith and the tea-kettle. Tea-Biscuits and Cakes,.303 Soda biscuits, strawberry biscuit, patent tea-cakes, rye drop cakes, and rusk—The following cakes: sponge, pound, rich fruit, silver, golden, federal, lemon, delicate, mountain, cocoanut, cup, jelly, cake without eggs, plain, nelly, and raisin; pound, almond, drop, loaf, tea, ginger, black, soda, and cream— Motto at Newstead Abbey—Sally Lunn and Siblett cakes—Mrs. Grundy’s cake —The nutmeg—Vanity balls—Cookies—Ginger-nuts—Tea ginger-cakes—Mo¬ lasses cookies—Krullers—Olecokes. CONTENTS. xi PAGE Preserves,. 314 Lines from Tusser—Directions for the use of air-tight eans in preserving fruits—To preserve strawberries—Saying of Izaak Walton respecting them— Dr. Johnson’s partiality for berries—To preserve cherries, gooseberries, grapes, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, pears, quinces, currants, and pine-apples— The pine-apple—To preserve citron or watermelon, pumpkin, oranges, and plums—Stewed prunes, baked quinces, and boiled pears—To bottle gooseber¬ ries and currants—Whence various fruits are obtained—Fruits in Ilenry VIII.'s time—Thomson on various fruits. Suppers and Fetes,. 322 “ Triall of Feasting ”—Suppers of Alexander the Great—Anecdote of Ju¬ lius Ca?sar—Rival feasts of Antony and Cleopatra—Suppers of the Count de Foix in 1350—The ante-suppers of the Earl of Carlisle—Entertainments in Charles I.’s reign— A May-day collation to Christina, queen of Sweden— Dean Swift’s reckoning with his guests—A fCste given by tho Prince Regent at Carleton House—A surprise-banquet to La Fayette—Sydney Smith’s sup¬ pers—Evening meal of Cedric the Saxon—The feast of the Bermccide. Conclusion,. 337 PART 1. BREAKFAST. CONTENTS. 1. Breakfast Considered. 2. Coffee—Cocoa—Chocolate. 3. Breads. 4. Breakfast-Cakes. 5. Butter. 6 . Meats—Fish—Omelettes. 7. Call to Breakfast. 8. Cooks and Cookery. BREAKFAST. When dressed, I to the yard repair, And breakfast on the pure, fresh air; But though this choice Castilian cheer Keep both the head and stomach clear, For reasons strong enough for me, I mend the meal with toast and tea.” When the refined poet, Montgomery, thus admits the necessity of refreshing himself upon something more hearty than the pure, fresh air, it is not strange that beings of less poetic mould should find a substantial meal in the early morning a matter of essential importance. The hour for taking this first meal varies even among people of the same nation, as much as do their circum¬ stances and tastes. The industrious, hardy farmer who rises be¬ fore the sun, having performed his wonted tasks, sits down to his breakfast at five o’clock with a strong appetite. The enterprising citizen, not called forth quite as early by his business, yet still desirous of making each day as profitable as possible, breaks his fast at six or seven. The professional man whose hours of labour may have encroached on those devoted to sleep, rises later in the day; and eight, or it may be nine o’clock, will find him with weary head, and but little appetite, sipping his cup of coffee. Ten is considered an early hour by the fashionable lady ; the lux- 4 BREAKFAST. urious nobleman of London is scarcely prepared for it by mid- day ;—and the shadows of evening may begin to fall before his first meal is partaken of by the effeminate epicure of Paris. Dr. Tobias Venner, of Shakspeare’s time, in writing upon diet, recommends to students and persons of sedentary life that they omit breakfast entirely, and take but two meals in the day. But he says of those who use much exercise that they should not altogether go fasting till dinner, but break their fast, with this threefold caution—that they find their stomachs to be clean and empty,—that the breakfast be slender,—of meats of light di¬ gestion, and that it be taken four hours before dinner. He adds, “ If any man desire a light, nourishing, and comfortable breakfast^ I know none better than a couple of poached eggs , seasoned with a little sauce, and a few corns of pepper, eating therewithal a little bread and butter , and drinking after, a good draught of cla¬ ret wine” The doctor lived before the days of tea and coffee. Isaac Walton pleasantly says : “My honest scholar, it is now past five of the clock; we will fish until nine, and then go to breakfast. Go you to yonder sycamore tree, and hide your bot¬ tle of drink under the hollow root of it; for about that time, and in that place, we will make a brave breakfast with a piece of powdered beef , and a radish or two, that I have in my fish-bag. We shall, I warrant you, make a good, honest, wholesome, hun¬ gry breakfast. * * * Now let us say grace and fall to breakfast. What say you, scholar, to the providence of an old angler 1 Does not this meat taste well ? and was not this place well chosen to eat it'? for this sycamore tree will shade us from the sun’s heat.” Scholar : “ All excellent good, and my stomach excellent good too.” But little mention is made of breakfast in ancient history ; it being a simple meal, in striking contrast to the luxurious dinner. The Greeks ate but two meals; the first at mid-day, the second at evening. The first was generally composed of fruits and light BREAKFAST. 5 wines ; the heat of the climate rendering more hearty food dis¬ tasteful. Our English ancestors in the 13th and 14th centuries had four meals in a day; breakfast at seven, dinner at ten, supper at four, and livery at eight or nine; soon after which they went to bed. The tradespeople and laboring men had only three meals : breakfast at eight, dinner at twelve, and supper at six. As a specimen of the family breakfasts in Great Britain in the lGth century, we will give that of the Duke of Northumberland. “ The family rose at six, and took breakfast at seven. My Lord and Lady sat down to a repast of two pieces of salted fish , and half a dozen of red herrings , with four fresh ones, or a dish of sprats and a quart of beer, and the same measure of wine. This was on meagre days. At other seasons, half a chine of mutton or of boiled beef, graced the board. Capons at 2d. a piece and plovers (at Christmas) were deemed too good for any digestion that was not carried on in a noble stomach.” “ Queen Elizabeth’s breakfast usually consisted of fine wheaten loaves and cakes, ale, beer and wine, pottage made with mutton or beef, chines of beef, (probably cold,)—rabbits and butter. In one of her yirogrcsses through the country, three oxen and one hundred and forty geese were furnished for the Sunday morning’s breakfast for the maiden monarch and her brilliant retinue.” In Lord Fairfax’s orders to the servants of his household, he says : “ The clerk of the kitchen must appoynt the cooks what must be for breakfasts, for the ladyes in their chambers, and likewise for the gentlemen in the hall or parlour, which must be served by eight of the clock in the morninge and not after.” Pepys, of Charles II.’s reign, having company to breakfast, mentions: “ I had for them a barrel of oysters, a dish of neat’s tongues, and a dish of anchovies; with wine of all sorts, and ale.” The poet Rogers, whose hospitality is proverbial, has the 6 BREAKFAST. credit of establishing the breakfast party as a link in London so¬ ciety. The “mornings” at his house are famous among the lit¬ erati of England. Miss Sedgwick writes of the English breakfast party , that the hour appointed is from ten to eleven o’clock. “ The number of guests is never allowed to exceed twelve. The entertainment is little varied from our eight o’clock breakfasts. There are coffee, tea, chocolate, toast, rolls, grated beef and eggs, and in place of our solid beef-steaks,—broiled chickens, reindeers’ tongues, sweet¬ meats, fruit and ices. These are not bad substitutes for heavier viands, and for our variety of hot cakes. You see none of these unless it be a ‘ muffin.’ ” “ Breakfast in England,” says Willis, “ is a confidential and unceremonious hour, and servants are generally dispensed with. The coffee and tea were on the table, with toast, muffins, oat-cakes, marmalade, jellies, fish; on the side-board stood cold meats for those who liked them, and they were expected to go to it and help themselves. Nothing could be more easy, unceremonious, and affable than the whole tone of the meal. One after another rose and fell into groups in the windows, or walked up and down the long room.” Mrs. LI. B. Stowe in mentioning a breakfast at which she was a guest in England, relates some conversation with Mr. Macaulay upon breakfast parties. She says: “ Looking around the table, and seeing how everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves, I said to Macaulay that these breakfast parties were a novelty to me; that we never had them in America, but that I thought them the most delightful form of social life. Lie seized upon the idea as he often does, and turned it playfully inside out, and shook it upon all sides, just as one might play with the lustres of a chan¬ delier—to see them glitter. lie expatiated on the merits of breakfast parties as compared with all other parties. He said, ‘ L ou invite a man to dinner because you must invite him; be- BREAKFAST. 1 cause you are acquainted with his grandfather, or it is proper you should; but you invite a man to breakfast because you want to see him. You may be sure if you are invited to breakfast, there is something agreeable about you.’—This idea struck me as very sensible; and we all, generally, having the fact before our eyes that we were invited to breakfast, approved the sentiment.” A very graceful practice at breakfast, and one especially agreeable in the heat of a summer morning, is thus described by Mrs. S. C. Hall as characteristic of Miss Edgeworth: “ I thought myself particularly good to be up and about at half-past seven in the morning; but early as it was, Miss Edgeworth had preceded me, and a table heaped with early roses, upon which the dew was still moist, and a pair of gloves too small for any hands but hers, told who was the early florist. There was a rose or a little bouquet, of her arranging, always by each plate on the breakfast table, and if she saw my bouquet faded, she was sure to tap at my door with a fresh one before dinner. And this from Maria Edgeworth—then between seventy and eighty—to me! These small attentions enter the heart and remain there.” “ A breakfast in Scotland consists chiefly of cold grouse, sal¬ mon, cold beef, marmalade, jellies, honey, five kinds of bread, oatmeal cakes, coffee, toast and tea.” Breakfast in America is peculiarly a family meal. At this, more than any other, there is an unrestrained enjoyment of the home circle. The breakfast •party is almost unknown among us, being confined to a very limited circle of the fashionable class; not that we are less socially inclined than the English, but that the busy, active life of this new country forbids the devoting the early hours of the day to merely social enjoyment. It is usually a hearty meal, consisting of coffee, meats, fish, toast, a variety of hot cakes, and in the Southern States, hominy and rice, cooked in various ways, and several kinds of hot bread. Southey alludes to the different preferences of various nations 8 BREAKFAST. in regard to food when he describes a man of universal taste, as one who would have eaten “ sausages for breakfast at Norwich, sally lunns at Bath, sweet butter in Cumberland, orange marma¬ lade at Edinburgh, Findon haddocks at Aberdeen, and drunk punch with beef-steaks to oblige the French if they insisted upon obliging him with a dejeuner a VAnglaise. He would have eaten squab- pie in Devonshire, sheep’s-head with the hair on in Scotland, and potatoes roasted on the hearth in Ireland; frogs with the French, pickled herrings with the Dutch, sour-krout with the Germans; maccaroni with the Italians, aniseed with the Spaniards, garlic with anybody ; horse-flesh with the Tartars ; ass-flesli with the Persians ; dogs with the North-Western Indians, curry with the Asiatic East Indians, birds’ nests with the Chinese, mutton roasted with honey with the Turks, pismire cakes on the Orinoco, and turtle and venison wflth the Lord Mayor ; and the turtle and venison he would have preferred to all the other dishes, because his taste, though catholic, ivas not indiscriminating.” COFFEE. 9 COFFEE. “ The morning finds the self-sequestered man Fresh for his task, intend what task ho may ; Whether inclement seasons recommend His warm hut simple home, where he enjoys With her who shares his pleasures and his heart, Sweet converse,—sipping calm tho fragrant drink Which neatly sho prepares ; then to his book W r ell chosen, and not sullenly perused In selfish silenco, but imparted, oft As aught occurs that she may smile to hear Or turn to nourishment, digested well.”— Cowpee. “ Mocha's berry, from Arabia, pure, In small, fine, china cups, came in at last.”—B yron. Coffee is an evergreen shrub, that grows to the height of six¬ teen or eighteen feet, the berries growing in clusters like cherries. About the time America was discovered, this plant was first known and used. It grew in Arabia and Ethiopia. It is said, that the superior of a monastery in the East, having heard from the shepherds, that their flocks were more lively after browsing upon this plant, determined to try its effects, and made his monks drink an infusion of coffee, to prevent their sleeping during the nocturnal services. That the experiment proved successful, may be inferred from the reputation which the plant soon obtained in the adjacent countries. Coffee was not introduced into England until the middle of the seventeenth century. Sir Henry Blount, who visited Turkey in 1G34, thus speaks of it: “The Turks have a drink called Cav.phe , made of a berry as big as a small bean, dried in a fur¬ nace, and beat to a powder of a sooty color, in taste a little bitter¬ ish, that they seethe and drink hot as may be endured; it is good at all hours of the day, but especially morning and evening, when 10 BREAKFAST. to that purpose, they entertain themselves two or three hours in C r awp/te-houses, which, in Turkey, abound more than inns and ale¬ houses with us. It is thought to be the old black broth used so much by the Lacedemonians. It drieth ill-humors in the stomach, comforteth the brain, never causeth drunkenness, nor any other surfeits, and is a harmless entertainment of good fellowship.” An English merchant, trading in Turkey, in 1652, brought home with him to England a Greek servant, who knew how to roast the coffee and make it, and opened a house to sell it pub¬ licly. In spite of the many prejudices which prevailed for the first twenty years after its introduction, the coffee-houses increased, and became universally established. They were the common assemblies of all classes of society. The mercantile man, the man of letters, and the man of fashion, had their appropriate coffee¬ houses. In 1668, a Turkish ambassador at Paris made the beverage of coffee fashionable. The elegance of the equipage, recommended it to the eye, and charmed the women; the brilliant porcelain cups in which it was poured, the napkins fringed with gold, and the Turkish slaves, on their knees presenting it to the ladies seated on the ground on cushions, turned the heads of the Parisian dames. This elegant introduction, made the exotic beverage a subject of conversation, and in 1672, an American in Paris opened a coffee-house. Plis example was quickly followed, beer and wine being also sold at these places. The mixture of indifferent company which frequented these coffee-houses, led a Florentine, noted for his taste in this depart¬ ment, to organize a superior establishment, and to introduce ices; he embellished his apartments; and here literary men, artists, and wits, resorted to inhale the fresh and fragrant steam. This and other coffee-houses held a distinguished place in the literary his¬ tory of the times. The high favor with which coffee came at length to be re- COFFEE. 11 garded in the houses of the great, may be perceived from the fact that the quantity provided for the daughters of Louis XV. of France, is said to have cost £3,000 sterling a year. Pope was extremely fond of coffee, often calling up his servant in the night to prepare it for him. It was the custom in his day, to grind and prepare it upon the table, of which practice he gives the following glowing description:— “ For lo! the board with cup and spoons is ci’owned, The berries crackle, and the mill turns round; On shining altars of Japan they raise The silver lamp; the fiery spirits blaze. From silver spouts the grateful liquors glide, While China’s earth receives the smoking tide. At once they gratify their sense and taste, And frequent cups prolong the rich repast. Straight hover round the fair her airy band; Some, as she sipped, the fuming liquor fanned ; Some o’er her lap their careful plumes display’d, Trembling, and conscious of her rich brocade. Coffee (which makes the politician wise, And see through all things with his half-shut eyes) Sent up in vapors to the baron’s brain New stratagems the radiant lock to gain.” The leaf of the coffee-tree is used in the Eastern Archipelago, as a substitute fbr tea; the leaves are roasted over a clear smoke¬ less fire, after which they are picked from the twigs, and when immersed in boiling water, form an agreeable beverage. There are many substitutes for coffee—the roasted acorn, the roasted seeds of a yellow water iris, the .chick pea, beans, rye and other grains, nuts, almonds, and even wheaten bread; besides the dried and roasted roots of the turnip, carrot and dandelion. To detect Chicory in coffee, put the powder in cold water; chicory gives a colored infusion in the cold water, whereas coffee does not, and by the depth of the color, the proportion of chicory may be guessed at. COFFEE. 13 water, allowing three pints of water to seven spoonfuls of coffee. Let it boil gently ten or fifteen minutes ; then set it where it will keep hot, (but not simmer,) that it may settle. M. Soyer’s mode of making coffee, is an original one, and one worthy of note. He puts the dry coffee in the pot, stirs it while heating, then pours the boiling water over it, which is a quart to one ounce of coffee , and sets the pot where it will keep hot, but not boil. It stands ten minutes, when it is ready for drinking. Where cream cannot be had, boiled milk serves well as a substitute, in making a good cup of coffee. Cafe au Iciit is made by nearly filling a cup with boiled milk, sweetening to the taste, and flavoring with coffee. The following receipt by M. Roques, makes a delightful beverage for breakfast, during the heat of the summer: Cafe, d la Crime fraqypb de glace. —Make an infusion of strong Mocha coffee, put it in a china bowl, sweeten it agreeably to your taste, and add to it an equal quantity of boiled milk, or a third of rich cream; surround the bowl with broken ice, and let it stand till icy cold. In Germany and France, the coffee is prepared at the table by the ladies, by pouring boiling water over it, and letting it drain a few minutes in a machine for the purpose; care being taken to drain it slowly through a sieve and tissue paper. Dandelion Coffee. —This coffee is of excellent flavor, and without any of the deleterious effects of the Arabian berry. When drank at night, it produces an inclination to sleep, the plant being of a soporific nature. To prepare it for drinking, wash the roots carefully, without removing the brown skin, since that contributes much to the aroma which so strongly resembles coffee. Cut the roots into small pieces, and roast them brown and crisp. Grind and prepare it as you would coffee, boiling it a few minutes. 14 BREAKFAST. COCOA. When the Spaniards first established themselves in Mexico, they found a beverage in common use among the inhabitants, which was prepared from the seed of the cacao. They brought the seed to Europe in 1520, and it has since been introduced more or less extensively into every civilized country. Linnaeus was so fond of it, that he gave to the tree, the generic name of “ Theobroma ”—food of the gods. There is also the Brazilian cocoa; and in South Carolina, a kind of oily under-ground pea is roasted, and then prepared in the same way as chocolate. In Spain the root of the earth chestnut is used as a substitute for coffee or chocolate. (Chem¬ istry of Common Life.) CHOCOLATE. In preparing Chocolate for family use, cut off about two inches of the cake to one quart of water ; stir it first in a little cold water, till it is soft, then pour on the boiling water. After it has boiled a short time, add a pint of milk, boil up and serve. Sweeten to taste. The French rule for making chocolate, is to put two cups of boiling water to one cup of chocolate; cook it in a silver sauce¬ pan, throw the chocolate in just as the water commences to boil; let it reduce a part, pour it into the cups and serve. It is well to stir it with a spoon when it commences to boil. To make it CHOCOLATE. 15 very good, add two cups of good milk after it has boiled, boil then again until reduced somewhat, and then serve. A German receipt for preparing chocolate is as follows : To half a pound of chocolate, allow two quarts of milk and the yelks of six eggs. The chocolate is to be grated, and when the milk boils, poured into it; boil them together for ten minutes, then stir in the yelks of the eggs, and dish it.— Vollmer. An Italian poet of the seventeenth century, Francisco Redi, while warmly extolling the virtues of wine, thus expresses his disgust at other beverages :— “ Talk of chocolate! Talk of tea! Medicines made—ye gods!—as they are, Are no medicines made for me. I would sooner take to poison Than a single cup set eyes on Of that bitter and guilty stuff ye Talk of by the name of coffee. Let the Arabs and the Turks Count it ’mongst their cruel works; Foe of mankind, black and turbid, Let the throats of slaves absorb it; Down in Tartarus, Down in Erebus; ’Twas the detestable Fifty invented it; The Furies then took it To grind and to cook it, And to Proserpine all three presented it. If the Mussulman in Asia Doats on a beverage so unseemly, I differ with the man extremely.” 16 BREAKFAST. BREAD. At an inn in Sweden, there is the following inscription on the wall,in English: “Ton will find at Trollhathe, excellent bread, meat, and wine, provided you bring them icith you." To make the Yeast. —Take one pint of potato water (that is, the water in which potatoes have just been boiled), while it is boiling hot , thicken it with flour, and when nearly cool, add a cup of yeast or a softened yeast cake ; set the dish containing it in a warm place, and it will be nice and light in a few hours. The Sponge. —If you wish to make sponge over night, keep your tea-kettle over the fire until bed-time. Then pour from it into the bread-pan, three quarts of milk-warm water; throw in one table-spoonful of salt, and stir in the above prepared yeast. In very warm weather, do not use all the yeast, for the bread will not be as good. Thicken with flour until it is a soft batter. If the weather be cool, set the pan containing the sponge in a warm place, covering it neatly with a cloth kept for that purpose. In the morning, if the sponge be sour, dissolve a heaping tea-spoon¬ ful of saleratus, in a little water, and stir it in ; and if it still seems sour, add more according to your judgment. Work in flour, and knead the dough thoroughly , making small loaves. The pans should be well buttered and warmed when used. Place the loaves in a warm place , and keep them covered with a warmed white cloth. If properly attended to, the bread will be light in an hour, and ready for the oven, which should be thoroughly heated. Be careful that the top of the bread do not scorch and brown too soon, for this will prevent its rising up light, which it would otherwise do. BREAD. 17 Mrs. Partington says, “ she has always noticed that whether flour be dear or cheap, she has invariably to pay the same money for a half dollar’s worth.” How to make Yeast Cakes .—Take a tea-spoonful of hops, and pour over them a pint of boiling water ; let it stand a few minutes, then strain the water into a saucepan; heat it boiling hot, and stir in flour, to make a stiff batter ; take it off and set it away to cool; when merely lukewarm, pour into it a tea-cup of good yeast, or a yeast cake softened in water. Set it in a warm place to rise, in two or three hours it will be light; when add a tea-spoon of salt, two table-spoons of molasses or sugar, and a little saleratus. Then mix in Indian meal to make it stiff enough to roll out in a round long roll. Cut it in slices about half an inch thick, spread meal over your board, and lay these cakes to dry. Turn them frequently while drying, and if possible get them dried in two or three days, or they may become sour. They do well to dry in the air but not in the sun. Put them away in a dry place, and when you use one, soak it in milk-warm water. “ When the Gallic and Celtiberian brewers steeped their wheat in water, and mashed it for their drink, they took the froth that collected on the top, and used it instead of leaven, which was the reason that their bread was always lighter than any other.”— (Pliny.) To make Stale Bread fresh .—Put a stale loaf into a closely covered tin, expose it for half an hour, or longer, to a heat not greater than that of boiling w r ater; then remove the tin, and allow it to cool; the loaf will thus be restored to the appearance and properties of new bread. “No sooner said than done.” o 18 BREAKFAST. Wheat meal is more nutritious if the bran be not sifted from it, and it is much easier of digestion. Barley and rye differ in flavor and color ft'om wheat, but they resemble it in composition and nutritive quality. They do not, however, make as light bread. Rye bread retains its freshness and moisture for a longer time than wheaten bread. Steamed Bread .—Much less fuel is required in cooking bread by steaming, than in the usual mode of baking. It may there¬ fore bo an object with some persons to know how it is done, espe¬ cially if their oven obstinately refuses to bake. It is a very simple thing. If you have no regular steamer, put a deep tin basin upside down, in the bottom of an iron kettle, partly filled with water, and upon this set the basin of dough, covering the kettle tightly. It is necessary your bread be in a deep tin basin, for it rises very much, and will otherwise be wasted by running over. Rye and Indian Bread .—To two quarts of Indian meal, add one quart of unbolted rye flour, half a tea-cup of molasses, one table-spoon of salt, and saleratus. Mix with warm water into a soft dough ; grease an iron kettle or basin and put the mixture in ; when it is light, the top will be cracked open. It rises in a short time if kept in a warm place, and when these cracks appear put it in the oven and bake it thoroughly. If you use a brick oven, (which is best for this bread,) leave it in all night. “ Always taking out of a meal-tub, and never putting in , soon brings you to the bottom.” Indian Bread .—One quart of sour milk, four tea-cups of Indian meal, two tea-cups of rye or Graham flour, one tea-spoon of salt, half a cup of molasses ; two tea-spoons saleratus dissolved in the milk, before adding to the whole. Bake two and a half hours in BEEAD. 19 a two-quart basin in a moderate oven. After it is baked, let it stand half an hour in the tin, before removing. Rhode Island Corn Bread. —Scald some milk, and stir Indian meal into it, until it is thick. Salt it, and add a little molasses, according to your taste. Have your oven hot; put the mixture in a deep baking dish, and let it remain in the oven all night. Potato Bread .—Pare and boil some potatoes; when soft, mash them in the water in which they have been boiled ; sift all through a colander, and when cool, add flour enough to make a sponge; salt it, and put in yeast. Keep this sponge in a warm place till it is light, then mix more flour into it, and make it into loaves. Potato bread is good, and does not dry as quickly as that made entirely of wheat flour; potato is not suitable for making bread unless wheat flour is combined with it. Rice Bread.—(Southern Receipt.) —One pint of rice flour, half a pint of wheat flour, one pint of sour milk, two eggs, one tea¬ spoon of saleratus, butter half the size of an egg. The rice must be powdered fine, and stirred in, after the other ingredients are partly mixed. Bake as soon as possible after the whole is stirred together. In France, bread is sometimes made of apples mixed with four. They put one-third of boiled apple-pulp to two-thirds of wheat flour, and ferment it with yeast for twelve hours. This bread is said to be light and very palatable. “ About the tenth century, persons accused of robbery were put to trial by a piece of barley bread, on which the mass had been said; and if they could not swallow it, they were declared guilty. Sometimes a slice of cheese was added to the bread. The i ■—= 20 BEEAKFAST. bread was to be of unleavened barley, and the cheese made of Ewe’s milk in the month of May.”—D Israeli. “ Oatmeal is extremely nutritious, excellent for dyspeptics, and withal is the cheapest meal. It is highly esteemed in Scot¬ land, as an agreeable and wholesome food. It is rich in gluten and in the fatty matters, which tend to make it eminently nutri¬ tious. The “ Flat Bread ” of the Norwegians, is a cake made of water and either rye or oatmeal stirred together, well kneaded and baked on a griddle. “ Better is oaten bread to-day , than cakes to-morrow .” A soldier once ventured, in the presence of the whole army, to present with an air of complaint, to Charles XII. of Sweden, a piece of bread that was black and mouldy, made of barley and oats, which was the only food they then had, and of which they had not even a sufficiency. The king received the bread, and without the least emotion ate every morsel of it; then coolly said to the soldier, “ It is not good, but it may be eaten ! ” The Bread Fruit Tree .—This fruit is picked while the rind is green, and as it is seldom relished raw, it is then peeled, wrapped in leaves, and baked on hot stones. The pith is snow-white and mealy ; it tastes like wheaten bread, sometimes rather sweeter. An ancient custom is still preserved in Russia, at the time of the coronation of an emperor, for each province to send to him bread and salt as a token of welcome. But the loaf is carried “ upon a massive salver of gold and silver, of the rarest work¬ manship, and the salt in a box or cup of the same material, stud¬ ded with jewels. These coronation gifts received by Alexander, Nicholas, and the present Emperor, are kept in one hall, and BREAKFAST-CAKES. 21 make a grand display. The salvers presented to the two former Emperors rise in dazzling pyramids from the floor nearly to the ceiling, hut they are far outshone by those of Alexander II., who received just as much as his father and uncle together. If the wealth lavished upon these offerings is an index to the popular feeling, it is a happy omen for his reign. The taste, richness and variety of the ornaments, bestowed upon the mighty golden salvers exceeds anything of the kind I ever saw. Their value can only be estimated by millions. It is significant, perhaps, that the largest and most superb, which occupies the place of honor, in the center of the glorious pile, is the offering of the serfs of the Imperial domains.” BREAKFAST CAKES. “ But I ate naught Till I that lovely child of Ceres saw, A large, sweet, round, and yellow cake; how then Could I from such a dish, my friends, abstain ? ” Breakfast Corn Cake ; excellent and easily made .—One pint of buttermilk or sour milk, one pint of Indian meal, one egg, one tea-spoon of saleratus, one tea-spoon of salt, two tea-spoons of molasses or sugar. Dissolve the saleratus in a little warm water, and stir it in the mixture the last tiling before putting it into the pan to bake. With a quick oven, it bakes in half an hour. Excellent Corn Bread .—Three quarts of sour milk, seven eggs, one cup of butter melted, one tea-spoon of saleratus. Mix with corn meal to the consistency of a thick batter, and bake with a brisk heat. 22 BBEAKFAST. Corn Cakes .—Three teacups of corn meal, one tea-cup of wheat flour, two tea-cups of milk, one tea-cup of cream or a little butter; one egg, one tea-spoon of salt. Bake in small pans with a brisk heat. Pancake Bell .—It was a custom in England, from time im¬ memorial, to eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, which is the seventh Tuesday before Easter. The great bell, which used to be rung on that day to call the people together to confess their sins, was called pancake-bell , a name which it still retains in some places where the custom is kept up. This custom is alluded to by Shakspeare, and other contemporary writers. Taylor, in his works in 1630, gives the following account:— “ All is inquiet upon Shrove Tuesday morning. By the time the clock strikes eleven, there is a bell rung called the pancake- bell , the sound whereof makes thousands of people distracted, and forgetful either of manners or humanities ; then there is a tiling called wheaten floure, which the cookes do mingle with water, egges, spice, and other tragical, magical inchantments ; and then they put it by little and little, into a frying-pan of boiling suet, where it makes a confused dismal hissing, (like the Lernean snakes in the reeds of Acheron, Stix, or Phlegeton,) until at last by the skill of the cooke, it is transformed into the form of a flip-jack cal’d a pancake, which ominous incantation the ignorant people doe devour very greedily.” Rhode Island Pancakes .—To one pint of Indian meal, add one pint of rye flour, two table-spoons of molasses, one tea-spoon of saleratus, one tea-spoon of salt, three eggs well beaten. Stir with these ingredients sufficient new milk to make a stiff batter, and fry it ten minutes in lard, as you would dough-nuts. Another rule is nearly as good when milk and eggs are scarce. Mix well one quart of Indian meal, one quart of rye flour, two ISKEAKEAST-CAKES. 23 large table-spoons of melted shortening, or butter ; five table¬ spoons of molasses, one table-spoon of salt, one small tea-spoon of saleratus, one quart of water. Fry it as above. Sour Milk Griddle Cakes. —To one quart of thick sour milk, stir in wheat flour until it is quite stiff; add a little salt. When the griddle is hot, dissolve one tea-spoon of saleratus in a little water, stir it in quickly, and bake. Waffles. —The above rule makes good waffles. Rice or Hominy Griddle Cakes. —To one quart of sweet milk, put two cups of boiled rice or hominy, two eggs beaten a little ; throw in a sprinkling of salt, and thicken with wheat flour. Half a tea-spoon of soda, dissolved. If the rice be cold, warm the milk and rub the rice into it, before putting the flour in. Indian Pancakes. —One quart of milk, one egg, one tea-spoon of saleratus. Stir in half Indian meal and half wheat flour, until the mixture is sufficiently stiff to put on the griddle. Buckwheat Cakes. —To two quarts of warm milk or water, add one tea-cup of yeast and one tea-spoon of salt. Stir in the flour until it is a thick batter. Set it to rise the night before it is wanted. In the morning if the batter seems sour, dissolve and stir into it a tea-spoon of saleratus. When cooking your cakes, it is usual to leave half a pint of batter in the jar where you have prepared it, to serve as yeast for another mixture. Muffins. —One quart of milk, one egg, salt, half a cup of yeast, table-spoon of melted butter, flour to make a thick batter. To be made late in the evening, and stand all night for breakfast, or if you wish them for tea, mix them at noon, and keep the pan in 24 BREAKFAST. a warm place and it will rise in a few hours. Heat the griddle, then butter it and the muffin rings ; put the latter upon the grid¬ dle and pour in the batter; turn them once only. Soda Muffins. —One pint of water, one quart of flour, half a tea¬ cup of butter, two small spoons of cream of tartar, one small spoon of soda. Bake immediately upon a hot griddle, or set your muffin rings in a pan, and bake in an oven. » Missouri Corn Calces .—( Without eggs , milk , or yeast.) —Sift three pints of corn meal, add one tea-spoon of salt, one table¬ spoon of lard, one tea-spoon of dissolved soda. Make it into a soft dough with one pint of cold water, then thin it gradually by adding not quite one and a half pints of warm water ; when it is all mixed, beat or stir it well for half an hour, then bake on the griddle and serve hot. Rye and Indian Griddle Cakes. —One cup of corn meal, two cups of rye flour, one egg, a little salt, one tea-spoon of soda, two tea-spoons of cream of tartar. The Tortilla is made by the Mexican women, who bruise the boiled maize, clap it into thin cakes, fling it on the heated stone, and the market-women then cry “ Tortillas! Tortillas cali- entes! ” Indian Corn Biscuit. —Sift one quart of corn meal and one pint of wheat flour into a pan with three pints of milk and one tea-spoon of salt. Beat the whites and yelks of four eggs separately as for sponge cake ; then first stir in the yelks, and the whites, a little at a time, into the previously well-mixed meal and milk ; have ready buttered a sufficient number of cups or small deep pans, nearly fill them with the batter, set them immediately BREAKFAST-CAKES. 25 into a hot oven and bake them fast. Turn them out of the cups and send them warm to the table. They will puff up finely, if at the last you stir in a tea-spoon of soda dissolved in a little warm water. Nice Johnny Cake .—Sift one quart of Indian meal into a pan, rub into it two table-spoons of butter, add one small cup of molasses and a tea-spoon of ginger. Pour on by degrees suffi¬ cient warm water to make a moderately soft dough ; it may be stirred hard. Butter small tin pans, fill them with the dough, and bake thoroughly with a strong heat. Care should be taken in the baking, that the outside does not burn while the inside is soft and raw. Steamed Johnny Cake .—One pint of sour cream, one tea¬ spoon of soda, one tea-spoon of salt. Stir in a handful of wheat flour, mixed with corn meal enough to make a stiff batter. Put it into a tin basin ; set this into a bread steamer, and keep the steam up for an hour or more according to the size of the cake. Serve it with cream and sugar. Hoe-Cake .—This cake is so called because in some parts of America it is customary to bake it on the iron of a hoe turned up before the fire. Sift a tin pan half full of Indian meal, throw in a tea-spoonful of salt. Pour boiling water on the meal, a little at a time, stirring it well with a spoon as you proceed, until you have a stiff dough. It must be thoroughly mixed and stirred hard. This dough must be mixed over night in order to eat at breakfast. After mixing, cover the pan and set it in a cool place till morning, for it might turn sour if kept warm. In the morn¬ ing flatten and shape your dough into cakes about the size of a saucer, then bake on the griddle. The griddle should be well- heated when they are put on, so that they will brown nicely ; 26 BREAKFAST. when one side is done, turn them with a knife. They must be baked brown on both sides. They should be made about half an inch thick. A French writer relates that the Arabs sometimes bake cakes after the following manner. “ They kindle a fire in a stone pitcher, and when it is hot, they mix their meal in water, and daub the dough with the hollow of their hands upon the outside of the pitcher ; the dough spreads and bakes in an instant; the bread comes off in small thin slices like one of our wafers.” Morning Biscuit .—Prepare the dough over night after the following manner. Take one quart of flour, put in it a little salt, and two table-spoons of yeast, one pint of sour milk with a little saleratus dissolved in it. "When the dough is made, work into it half a cup of butter ; then cut up the dough into small pieces for biscuit, shape them, and put them on a pan. Cover them with a cloth and let them stand until morning, when bake. Another Biscuit .—Take a quart of the bread dough, work a small tea-cup of butter into it thoroughly, shape it in rolls, or small biscuits, and set them in a warm place until light; bake in a quick oven. Buttered Toast .—Take good bread for your toast if you wish it nice, for poor heavy bread makes equally poor toast. Dip your toasted slices lightly in hot water, and pour melted butter over them. Milk Toast .—For a couple of slices of toasted bread, heat half a pint of milk a little salted, when boiling hot add half a cup of butter and pour all over your bread. Serve as hot as possible. BKEAKFAST-CAKES. 27 Hot cross-buns are universally eaten in London on Good Friday ; it is one of the relies of Roman Catholic times. These have a cross stamped upon them, as did the cross-buns which the Catholic clergy formerly distributed to their people ; these latter were made from the dough of which the host was made, and there¬ by regarded peculiarly blessed. Oat-meal Cake .—One pint of sour or buttermilk, one tea¬ spoon of soda,—salt. Thicken with oatmeal; mix about as stiff as for biscuit, and bake on a griddle. Turn it over occasionally, and bake three quarters 'of an hour. The Authoress of Shetland and the Shetlanders, tells a story of a French emigre, who, on being entertained by a Scotch Dow¬ ager, asked leave to taste a bear meal bannock , (a coarsely baked barley meal cake.) Finding it not much to the liking of his cul¬ tivated palate, he expressed his disgust rather strongly, which provoked his hostess to retort, “ Some folk eat bannocks, and some folk eat pudclocks” (the Scotch name for frogs.) Orange County Butter .—Strain the milk into clean pans, and allow it to stand until it is soured or clouded at the bottom of the pans ; 36 hours is the usual time. Keep your pans in a room scrupulously neat and cool, where a free circulation of air can take place,—as any impurities in the air will have a deleterious effect on the cream. When you take off the cream put it into a stone jar, unless you have sufficient cream to churn every day. Scald the churn and dasher thoroughly, filling the former with cold water after¬ wards to cool it. Then throw out the water from the churn, put in a tumbler of fresh water, in winter it should be warm, in sum¬ mer, cold. Then pour in the cream. In churning , the motion should be regular and moderate; 28 BREAKFAST. slower in warm weather than in cold, that the temperature may be uniform throughout the -whole mass. When the butter comes, pour into the churn a glass or two of water, to aid in cooling and “ gathering ” it. Previously scald the butter-bowl and ladle, and cool them, leaving cold -water standing in the bowl. Take the butter into it, and wash it well in several waters. When the buttermilk is washed out, pour olf the water, and salt the butter. Place it then in a cool place, and let it stand about eight hours. Work it again as before, and replace it until the next morning, when it should be carefully worked for the third time, and packed away. The butter should be worked in a cool place, and put away out of the air and light, as soon as possible. In salting it, use one ounce of salt to one pound of butter. (Liverpool salt is considered better than Onondaga.) If you pack it in jars, these should be well scalded previous to using them. If in firkins , the latter should be soaked in strong brine,—at least two days before using ; then filled -with sw r eet hay and hot water, and left to stand until the water is cooled. When the firkin or jar is filled, spread a white cloth over the top, press it in closely, and cover it with damp salt. Some persons make a brine of salt, saltpetre, and loaf sugar ; others merely put salt and a little charcoal on the top of the cloth. • Great attention to neatness is necessary ; the least neglect in the care of pans, churn, etc., will surely affect the taste of the butter. Churning .—“ Grievous work overnighte with y e churning. Nought w d persuade Gillian but that y° cream was bewitched by Gamme Gurney, who was dissatisfied last Friday with her dole, and hobbled away mumping and cursing. At all events y e but¬ ter would not come; but mother was resolved not to have so much goode creame wasted ; soe sent for Bess and me, Daisy and Mercy Griggs, and insisted on our churning in turn till y e butter BUTTEE. 29 1 ‘----’ came, if we sat up all nighte for’t. ’Twas a hard saying, and mighte have hampered like as Jephtha his rash vow; howheit soe soone as she had left us, we turned it into a frolick, and sang Chevy Chase from end to end to beguile time ; ne’ertheless, the butter w d not come ; soe then we grew sober, and at y° instance j of sweete Mercy, chanted y e 119th Psalme ; and by the time we j had attayned to “ Lucerna pedibus,” I heard y e buttermilk sep¬ arating and splashing in righte earnest. ’Twas near midnighte, • however; and Daisy had fallen asleep on y 6 dresser. Gillian will ne’er be convinced but that our Latin broke the spell.”— Household of Sir Thomas More , by his daughter Margery. Butter-making Charm. —A writer in 1685 mentions “ that an old woman in Essex came into a house at a time when as the maid was churning of butter, and having labored long and could not make her butter come, the old woman told the maid what was wont to be done when she was a maid, and also in her mother’s time,—that if it happened their butter would not come readily, they used a charm to be said over it; whilst yet it was in beating, and it would come straightways, and that was this:— ‘ Come, butter, come; Come, butter, come; Peter stands at the gate Waiting for a butter’d cake; Come, butter, come.’ “ 1 This,’ said the old woman, ‘ being said three times, will make your butter come, for it was taught my mother by a learned churchman in Queen Mary’s days, when churchmen had more cunning and could teach people many a trick that our min¬ isters now-a-days know not.’ ” The old words buyd ur , softened by time into butter, meant chief or excellent food; some suppose from its being used by chiefs only. 30 BREAKFAST. To preserve a firkin of Butter Fresh through the ivinter .—Take sufficient water to cover the butter about an inch in depth. Make it salt enough to float an egg ; then add to it one small teaspoon- full of pulverized saltpetre, six small tea-spoonfuls of pulverized loaf sugar. This receipt comes from a person who has had much experience in making and preserving butter. To restore rancid Butter .—Work it thoroughly in several changes of water; after pouring off the water, salt the butter anew, and add a little sugar ; about half an ounce to one pound. It will thus be rendered more palatable, although it may not en¬ tirely restore the first delicate flavor peculiar to new and sweet butter. Mode of preserving Butter Fresh in India .—Butter is reduced to a pure oil, by boiling it in an open vessel, until all the water is evaporated, which is shown bythe ceasing of the violent bub¬ bling. The liquid oil is then allowed to stand a short time, until the curd has subsided, when it is strained into bottles and corked tight. When wanted for use it is gently heated and poured out. It is said to be preserved in this way, for several years, and that this is the best form of butter, for use in sauces. This oil is called Ghee. The Orientals, particularly the Arabians, are exceedingly fond of clarified butter. Burton, a recent traveller in Arabia, saw a boy drink nearly a tumbler full, although his friends warned him that it would make him as fat as an elephant. In those countries if a man cannot enjoy clarified butter it is considered a sign that his stomach is out of order. They cook fried meat swimming in grease, and rice saturated with melted, even rancid butter. Butter was used sparingly among the Romans, as a medicine only. In general, the Olive groves of the hot climates supersede the use of butter. FOKKS. 31 Forks .—It is generally supposed that Tom Coryate, of queer memory, introduced the use of forks from Italy, so lately as the time of James I. But the Provencal Plantagenet Queens did not feed with their fingers, whatever their English subjects might do; since in the list of Eleanora’s plate occurs a pair of knives with silver sheaths enamelled, with fork of crystal, and a silver fork handled with ebony and ivory. Queen Elizabeth had “ one of golde, one of corail , slightly garnished with golde, and one of crystal, garnished with golde slightly, and sparcks of garnetts.” But she kept them for ornament, and not for use ; preferring to feed herself with her fingers. The prejudice against this article of table furniture was great, even amongst the higher classes. One of the divines of that day preached against the use of it as*“ an insult on Providence not to touch one’s meat with one’s fingers.” It was about the year 1600 that a traveller by the name of Tom Coryate noticed the common use of a fork by the Italians. He says, “ The reason of this is, the Italian cannot by any means endure to have his dish of meat touched with fingers, seeing that all men’s fingers are not alike clean ! Therefore, I myself thought good to imitate the Italian fashion by this forked cutting of meate, not only while I was in Italy, but also in Germany, and oftentimes in England since I came home.” Eor a long time after this, it was only “ the spruce gallants ” who had travelled in Italy, that' used the fork, it being classed among foreign fopperies. “ Such was the party hatred of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, the two great Italian factions, that they carried their rancor even into their domestic habits at table, the Guelphs placed their knives and spoons longwise ; the Ghibellines across;—the one cut his bread across, the other longwise;—even in cutting an 32 BREAKFAST. orange they could not agree, for the Guelph cut his orange horizon tally, and the Ghibelline downwards.” —D’Israeli. MEATS, FISH, AND OMELETTES. The Beef-Steak Club .—This Club was formed in England about the year 1735, and had a great share of fame in its day. It originated in the merest accident. Lord Peterborough was visiting Eich, the famous harlequin, in his own apartment, and, “ With him conversing, he forgot all time.” Not so Mr. Eich, who had an internal unfailing monitor. With¬ out interrupting his discourse, or giving the least intimation to his aristocratic visitor of his intentions, he stirred his lire, laid his cloth, drew a beef-steak out of his cupboard, and cooked it. My lord was courteously invited to partake of it, and did so, and, so much to his satisfaction, that, before parting from his humorous acquaintance, he made an engagement to dine with him in the same room, at the same hour, and on a similar dish, on that day week. The suggestion, or the steak, was relished by others as much as by my lord and Mr. Eich, and this was the origin of the Beef-Steak Club. Beep-Steak. Pound ivell your meat, until the fibres break; Be sure, that next you have to broil the steak, Good coals in plenty; nor it a moment leave, But turn it over this way, and then that; The lean should be quite rare, not so the fat. The platter, now and then, the juice receive, Put on your butter, place on it your meat, Salt, pepper, turn it over, serve aud eat. MEATS, FISH, AND OMELETTES. 33 Welsh mode of serving Beef-Steak. —Broil it over a quick fire, take it up on a platter, and butter it well. Then slice onions over it; after which, cut them up fine on the meat. The onions impart their flavor to the beef, but are not eaten with it. It is important to cut them on the steak , otherwise this flavor is lost. Mrs. W.’s mode of making Sausages. —To 5 lbs. of chopped meat, 1 table-spoon of salt, 1 table-spoon of pepper, 1^ table¬ spoon pulverized sage. After the meat is well chopped and pre¬ pared, make it into round cakes an inch thick, and set them away in a cool place until wanted, or fill a long, narrow bag (of the size of your arm) with the prepared meat; tie it tightly, and hang it up in a cool place. In frying, turn the cakes, or slices, carefully, that they may retain their shape, and cook them thoroughly. English Mutton Sausages. —Take cold roast mutton ; cut it in as large slices as possible. Then take bread crumbs, sweet herbs, salt, and pepper, wet them with an egg, and put a small quantity in the centre of each slice. Roll each slice by itself, and tie it up as tight as you can. In cooking, lay them in hot melted butter, and cook until brown and crisp. Mutton Chop. —Broil over a quick fire, sprinkle a little salt on it while cooking; turn often, and, when done, season well with butter, salt, and pepper. Broiled Veal. —Work together a small piece of butter and a little flour in a new baking pan ; add cold water, and set it over the fire, sprinkling in salt and pepper. When the meat has been on the gridiron a few moments, take it up, dip it into the gravy (before mentioned), and return it again to the gridiron. Repeat this process two or three times, until the meat is cooked, when 3 34 BREAKFAST. pour the gravy over it and serve. Yeal is not as dry when cooked in this way. Gridirons .— Tiie Escurial.— Philip II., of Spain, having won a battle on the 10th of August, the festival of St. Lawrence, vowed to consecrate a palace, a church, and a monastery to his honor. He erected the Escurial, which is the largest palace in Europe. As this Saint suffered martyrdom by being broiled on a gridiron, (at Eome under Valerian,) Philip caused this immense palace to consist of several courts and quadrangles, all disposed in the shape of a gridiron. The bars form several courts; and the royal family occupy the handle. It is said that gridirons are to be met with in every part of the building, either iron, painted, or sculptured in marble, etc. They are over the doors in the yards, the windows, and galleries. Broiled Ham and Eggs .—Cut the ham in thin slices, take off the rind, wash them in cold water, and lay them on the gridiron over quick coals. Turn frequently, and they will soon be broiled. Take them up on a platter (previously warmed), butter and pepper the ham. Have ready on the fire a pan of boiling water from the tea-kettle; break into it as many eggs as you require for your family, and when “ the white ” is done, dip out each egg carefully with a spoon, so as to keep it whole, and set it on one of the slices of ham. In that way arrange them handsomely on the dish. Sprinkle pepper over each egg, and serve. In the Province of La Mancha, (Spain,) the phrase “ the grace of God” is applied to a dish of eggs and bacon fried in honey. —Cervantes. Broiled Pigeons.—Take, young and tender pigeons, split them open in the back, roll them so as to break the bones, lay them on MEATS, FISH, AND OMELETTES. 35 the gridiron, and put a tin cover over them. "Watch them closely, and turn them two or three times. When nearly cooked, dip the pigeons in melted butter, and lay them hack on the gridiron. After you take them up, salt and pepper a little. Veal Bewitched. —Take the hind-quarter of veal, three slices of salt pork, three slices of bread, three eggs, salt and pepper to your taste. Chop the meat, pork, and bread fine, add the beaten eggs, and wet the whole quite soft with milk. Put it into a baking dish, and bake two hours. When done, it will turn out in the form of the dish. To be sliced and eaten cold. Tripe. —When tripe comes from the hands of the butcher, it is generally cleaned; it is only necessary, therefore, for the cook to soak it in salt and water for four or five days, changing the water every day. Then cut it into pieces, scrape and rinse them ; boil them until tender, and drop them in a jar of spiced vinegar. After two or three days it may be eaten cold, or broiled for a minute on the gridiron. Butter and pepper to your taste. This is a nice breakfast dish. Pickled Goose. (A German breakfast dish.) —Boil a young goose, take the breast, and the flesh from the legs, and pour hot spiced vinegar over it; when cool, put it in a jar, and cork it up. It will keep all winter. Meat Biscuit. —This preparation, containing much nutriment in a small bulk, has been contrived for the use of seamen. Good wheat flour, or other meal, is mixed with a concentrated fluid extract of flesh, which is strained through a wire cloth, and freed from fat. The dough thus formed is made into biscuit, which must be preserved, in mass or coarse powder, free from moisture, in gutta-percha bags, or air-tight cases. To prepare a pint of 36 BREAKFAST. soup, an ounce of the powdered biscuit, first made into a thin paste with cold water, is stirred into sufficient boiling water, and the whole boiled for twenty minutes. Salt and pepper are then added to suit the taste. Pemmican is made by mixing muscular flesh, cut in thin strips, thoroughly dried, and reduced to powder, with melted fat. Liver Cheese .—Boil a beef’s liver, heart, and tongue ; remove all the hard and sinewy parts, and chop the remahlder fine; add to this half a pound of boiled pork, also chopped fine ; season it all well; then tie it in a cloth, or put it into a pan, and press it hard. After standing a few hours, it will come out in a solid cake, and is very nice to slice from, for eating at breakfast or supper. Broiled Chickens .—Split the chicken in two parts, and roll it gently to reduce the bones. Put the halves in a pan, with water enough to cover them; when heated through, lay them on a grid¬ iron, and broil them. When nearly done, salt and pepper them; and, when cooked, serve with plenty of butter. Broiled Fresh Fish .—After the fish is cleaned, wash it well, an