Cassell's dictionary of cookery

taro root is something like an oblong turnip or "beetroot, terminating abruptly, as if the smaller end had been cut off. The taro roots when raw are poisonous, and they are prepared for eating by two distinct processes. One is by the ordinary method of boiling as potatoes are boiled, with the addition of salt thrown into the water. After being boiled, the root, now possessing a fine white mealy appearance, is eaten as a yam or sweet potato. The more general practice, however, is to mash or pulverise the taro into a floury substance, and afterwards, mixing it with water, make batter cakes of it, to be frittered in lard. When thus prepared, the taro may be easily mistaken for pancakes made of the best flour. Tarragon Sauce for Boiled Fowls. — Take a small bunch of tarragon, and put it into a saucepan with a pint of nicely-seasoned chicken broth and the white of an egg which has been beaten up with two table-spoonfuls of cold water and a table-spoonful of tarragon vinegar. AVhisk all thoroughly over the fire until the broth boils, then draw it to the side, let it simmer gently for a quarter of an hour, and afterwards let it stand to settle for another quarter of an hour. Strain through a jelly-bag, and when it is wanted, let the clear sauce simmer again until it begins to thicken. Time, a quarter of an hour to boil, and a quarter of an hour to settle. Tarragon Vinegar for Salads and various Sauces. — Gather the tarragon on a dry day, just before the plant begins to bloom. This will be late in July, or in the early part of August. Pick the leaves from the stalks, and with them fill wide-mouthed glass bottles up to the neck, and in doing so bruise the leaves slightly that their flavour may more easily escape. Cover with best vinegar, tie bladder over the mouths of the bottles, and then let the leaves infuse six weeks or two months. Pour off the liquid, strain through muslin till it is quite clear, put it into small bottles, and cork down securely. Store in a dry place. Time, about two months. Tarragon Vinegar (another -way).— See Elder-flower and Tarragon Vinegar. Tart, Fruit (English way). — Spread some puff paste over the table with a rolling-pin ; cut a piece the size of the dish, and out of the trimmings cut some strips ; brush the edge of the dish with dorure, and stick the strips on it : then put the fruit into the dish with some sugar and a little water ; roll the paste on the rolling-pin, and lay it over the fruit. Before you put the paste on, brush the strips with some dorure (eggwash, or water) to make it stick. When you have trimmed the dish all round, brush some white of egg over the tart, and sift some sugar over it : then dip the paste-brush into water, and shako it over the tart. Bake it properly, and serve up cold. Apples, however, are an exception, as they are better hot. Instead of brushing the tart with white of egg only, you may use yolk and white beaten together, which is called dorure, and should be borne in mind. "When this has been done, take a small knife 1 and ornament the paste with figures according I to your fancy ; then put the tart in the oven, ! and if it begins to have too much colour cover I it with paper. When done, spread over it j some fine sugar through a sieve, replace it in I the oven to day the sugar, and with the red