The encyclopædia of practical cookery

CARAFUECA.— This is essentially a Spanish dish, containing the usual national assortment and combination of pork, oil, almonds, and other things. There is no difficulty whatever in its preparation, so should those who have Spanish friends desire to provide an acceptable dish, they cannot do better than prepare the following ; Take a couple of fillets of pork, and cut them up in goodsized squares ; put them into a stewpan with a little lard, two dozen small onions, and a piece of raw ham cut into large squares or dice. Place the pan on the fire, fry until the meats are nearly done, sprinkle them over with salt and pepper, and add sufficient broth to cover. Let all boil for a few minutes, and then remove the pan to the side of the fire to let the meat finish cooking. Pour the mixture into an earthenware pan, selecting one that will stand the fire, put four or five sausages, cut in small pieces and fried, on the top, and the same number of eggs hard boiled and cut up into quarters. Dust them over with salt and pepper, and sprinkle the meats and eggs over with almonds that have been cut into pieces, fried in oil, and crushed with a rolling-pin. Place the pan on the fire and boil up quickly, and then remove it to a moderate oven to dry the contents for thirty minutes or so. Serve the Carapulca in the pan in which it is cooked. CARAWAY*. — The plant ( Carum Carvi, Fig. 330) which produces Caraway-seeds grows wild in Southern Europe and some parts of Asia; but it is usually cultivated in extensive fields for the sake of its prolific crops. Rhind pronounces the Caraway to be a native of England, “ growing wild occasionally in meadows and pastures.” The under-leaves of the plant about spring-time are occasionally used in soups, and the spindle-shaped roots were at one time eagerly sought after as a delicious vegetable, greatly superior to parsnips. The seeds and essential oil are largely imported into Great Britain, and in Essex some extensive factories exist for distilling Caraway with spirits. The familiar “ Caraway Comfit ” and “seed-cake” owe the favour in which they are held to this delicate aromatic. Caraway Biscuits. — Warm |lb. of butter and beat it to a creamy consistence with sib. of caster sugar; then mix it with two well-beaten eggs and sufficient flour to make a stiff paste, and sprinkle some Caraway-seeds in it. Dust some flour on to a table, turn the paste on to it, and roll out thin. Cut the paste into rounds with a tin cutter, about 2in. in diameter, and dock them. Arrange the biscuits on a bakingsheet a short distance from each other, and bake them in a slow oven for ten minutes. When lightly coloured, take the biscuits off the tin, and leave them till cold. Caraway Cakes. — (1) Whisk three eggs and )lb. of caster sugar in a bowl, and stand it in a larger bowl containing boiling water; keep whisking until it is a thick batter, renewing the boiling water in the outer bowl. Put 2oz. of butter in a stewpan, dissolve it, but do not let it oil, pour the batter in with it, and stir all slowly together. Add gradually (rib. of sifted flour, and teaspoonful of Caraway- seeds. Butter a cake-tin, add a small teaspoonful of baking-powder to the mixture, turn it into the tin, and bake for half-an-hour.