A guide to modern cookery

Possibly it was with a sense of the importance of hors- d’ceuvres, from this standpoint, that their preparation was transferred from the office (the exclusive concern whereof used, formerly, to be the hors-d’ceuvres) to the kitchen. The results of this change manifested themselves imme- diately in prodigious variations and transformations of the hors-d’ceuvres, both in respect of their preparation and dishing- up, so much so, indeed, that perhaps in no other department of culinary art has there been such progress of recent years. Their variety is infinite, and it would be impossible to compute, even approximately, the number of combinations an ingenious artist could effect in their preparation, seeing that HORS-D’GZEUVRES 139 the latter embraces almost every possible use of every conceiv- able esculent product. Well may it be said that a good hors-d’ceuvrier is a man to be prized in any kitchen, for, although his duties do not by any means rank first in importance, they nevertheless demand in him who performs them the possession of such qualities as are rarely found united in one person, viz., reliable and experienced taste, originality, keen artistic sense, and pro- fessional knowledge. The hors-d’ceuvrier should be able to produce something sightly and good out of very little, and the beauty and attractive- ness of a hors-d’ceuvre should depend to a much greater degree upon his work and the judicious treatment of his material than upon the nature of the latter. PREPARATION FOR Hors-D’CEUVRES 280—BUTTERS AND CREAMS The seasoning of butters for hors-d’ceuvres is effected when dishing them up. When prepared in advance, they ought to be placed in a bowl and put aside somewhere in the cool, covered with a piece of clean paper. 281—ANCHOVY BUTTER Wash twelve or fifteen anchovies in cold water, and dry them thoroughly. Remove the fillets from the bones, pound them smoothly with four oz. of butter, rub the whole through a fine sieve, smooth it with a spoon, and put it aside. 282—CAVIARE BUTTER Pound three oz. of pressed caviare with four oz. of butter, and rub through a fine sieve. 283—SHRIMP BUTTER Pound four oz. of shrimps with four oz. of butter; rub through a fine sieve first, then through muslin, after having softened the preparation. This may also be made from the shelled tails of shrimps, which process, though it is easier, does not yield a butter of such delicate taste as the former. 284—CURRY BUTTER Soften four oz. of butter in a bowl, and add thereto suffi- cient curry-powder to ensure a decided taste. The exact quantity of curry cannot be prescribed, since the quality of the latter entirely governs its apportionment. 140 GUIDE TO MODERN COOKERY 285—CRAYFISH BUTTER Cook the crayfish with mirepoix, as for Bisque. Finely pound the shells after having removed the tails, and add thereto four oz. of butter per two oz.; rub through a fine sieve first, then through muslin. N.B.—The whole crayfish may be pounded, but the tails are usually laid aside with a view to supplying the garnish of the toasts for which the butter is intended. 286—RED-HERRING BUTTER Take the fillets of three red-herrings; remove the skins, and pound finely with three oz. of butter. Rub through a fine sieve. 287—-LOBSTER BUTTER Pound four oz. of lobster trimmings and spawn, and a little of the coral with four oz. of butter. Rub through a fine sieve. 288—MILT BUTTER Poach four oz. of milt in a covered and buttered sauté-pan, with the juice of half a lemon; pound in the mortar, and add to the preparation its weight of butter and a teaspoonful of mustard. Rub through a fine sieve. 289—MONTPELIER BUTTER (GREEN BUTTER) See Compound Butter for Sauces (No. 153). 290—_HORSE-RADISH BUTTER Grate two oz. of horse-radish and pound with four oz. of butter. Rub through a fine sieve. 291—SMOKED SALMON BUTTER