Prawns, Shelling of. — Hold the head of the prawn firmlj- in the right hand and the tail in the left. Straighten the body of the fish, and bring the thumbs near one another. Break the shell of the tail with a httle twist of the right hand, then draw the shell off. It wiU come off almost whole, a very small piece only being left. Unless the prawns are fresh, they will not shell easily. Prawns, Shrimps, or Crayfish, Potted. — Boil them in water with plenty of salt in it. When you have picked them, powder them with a little beaten mace, or grated nut- meg, or allspice, and pepper and salt; add a FRA (649) PRE little cold butter, and pound all well together in a marble mortar till of the consistence of paste. Put it into pots covered with clarified butter, and cover these over with wetted bladder. — Dr. Kitchener. Prawns, Stewed. — Pick the tails from a pint of freshly-boiled prawns. Bruise the shells, and put them with the heads into a saucepan with a pint of white wine and water, then add a dessert- spoonful of vinegar, half a blade of mace, and a little cayenne. Let them simmer gently for half an hour. (Strain the liquid, put it back into the saucepan, thicken with a tea-spoonful of flour mixed smoothly with a little butter, and boil till it is of the consistency of thick cream. Put in the tails of the prawns, and let them get quite hot. Toast a slice of the crumb of bread✪ Prawns, Stewed, and cut it into strips. Lay these in their original form on a dish, pour the stewed prawns over them, and serve very hot. Garnish with parsley. Time, three or four minutes to heat the prawns. Sufficient for four or five persons. Preservation of Pood. — There are four leading methods by which food, and particularly animal food, has been, and is, preserved with a greater or less amount of success. These are — first, diying, or desiccation ; second, the appli- cation of cold, or refrigeration; third, the use of chemical agents, or antiseptics ; and fourth, the application of heat. To speak of these methods in order, let us first take the process of drying, or desiccation. In a sense this is hardly a scientific mode of food- preservation at all ; certainly it is far from a satisfactory one in reference to animal sub- stances, which must be dried almost to a chip before they are fitted thoroughly to resist the ordinary laws of decomposition. It is not, however, altogether to be despised, as by it mankind has been able to utilise a vast quantity of food which would otherwise have been wasted. A good example of food preserved in this way is Charqui, or South- American dried beef, which possesses considerable nutritive value, as is shown by the fact of its having been the staple article of food among the labouring populations in the tropical regions of South Anierica for many years. The attempts made to introduce Charqui into this country have not met with any encouragement, but it is possible that it might be made an adjunct to our food supply.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Prawns, Shelling of. — Hold the head of the prawn firmly in the right hand and the tail in the left. Straighten the body of the fish, and bring the thumbs near one another. Break the shell of the tail with a little twist of the right hand, then draw the shell off. It will come off almost whole, a very small piece only being left. Unless the prawns are fresh, they will not shell easily. Prawns, Shrimps, or Crayfish, Potted. — Boil them in water with plenty of salt in it. When you have picked them, powder them with a little beaten mace, or grated nutmeg, or allspice, and pepper and salt; add a FRA (649) PRE little cold butter, and pound all well together in a marble mortar till of the consistence of paste. Put it into pots covered with clarified butter, and cover these over with wetted bladder. — Dr. Kitchener. Prawns, Stewed. — Pick the tails from a pint of freshly-boiled prawns. Bruise the shells, and put them with the heads into a saucepan with a pint of white wine and water, then add a dessertspoonful of vinegar, half a blade of mace, and a little cayenne. Let them simmer gently for half an hour. (Strain the liquid, put it back into the saucepan, thicken with a teaspoonful of flour mixed smoothly with a little butter, and boil till it is of the consistency of thick cream. Put in the tails of the prawns, and let them get quite hot. Toast a slice of the crumb of bread, and cut it into strips. Lay these in their original form on a dish, pour the stewed prawns over them, and serve very hot. Garnish with parsley. Time, three or four minutes to heat the prawns. Sufficient for four or five persons. Preservation of Pood. — There are four leading methods by which food, and particularly animal food, has been, and is, preserved with a greater or less amount of success. These are — first, drying, or desiccation ; second, the application of cold, or refrigeration; third, the use of chemical agents, or antiseptics ; and fourth, the application of heat. To speak of these methods in order, let us first take the process of drying, or desiccation. In a sense this is hardly a scientific mode of foodpreservation at all ; certainly it is far from a satisfactory one in reference to animal substances, which must be dried almost to a chip before they are fitted thoroughly to resist the ordinary laws of decomposition. It is not, however, altogether to be despised, as by it mankind has been able to utilise a vast quantity of food which would otherwise have been wasted. A good example of food preserved in this way is Charqui, or South- American dried beef, which possesses considerable nutritive value, as is shown by the fact of its having been the staple article of food among the labouring populations in the tropical regions of South Anierica for many years. The attempts made to introduce Charqui into this country have not met with any encouragement, but it is possible that it might be made an adjunct to our food supply.

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Prawns, Stewed

Cassell's dictionary of cookery