FoodNetArchive

Cassell's dictionary of cookery

1892

Page 869 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1892. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Lyonnaise Sauce for Cutlets, fee- Cut the stalks from half a dozen large ripe tomatoes. Divide them into halves, and put them into a stewpan with four table-spoonfuls of good gravy and a little salt and cayenne, and let them simmer very gently. When quite tender, press them tlu'ough a hair sieve. Slice two Spanish onions very iinely, fry them in a little fresh butter until they are soft and very lightly browned, then put them into a stewpan with the tomato-pulp, two table-spoonfuls of good brown gravy, and a table-spoonful of strained lemon- juiceLyonnaise Sauce for Cutlets. Stir gently over the fire for thi'ee or four minutes, and serve hot. Time, three-quarters of an hour to stew the tomatoes. Probable cost, Is. 4d. Sufficient for six or eight persons. M Mab's Pudding {see Queen Mab's Pud- ding). Macaroni. — This is a peculiar paste or dough, prepared from wheat flour, and manu- factui-ed into tubes or ribbons. It is an Italian invention, and though made by a simple process, has never been produced with such success in any other country. The grain grown in the southern districts of Europe is said to be the best suited to its manufactui-e, through its possessing a greater amount of gluten than any other sort of grain. The wheat, after being thoroughly washed, is freed from the husks, and ground in water-mills ; when hot, water is added, tiU it is of the consistency of stiff dough. Five different qualities of flour are obtained by five separate siftings, the last giving the finest and most delicate that can be made. The dough is kneaded by means of a wooden pole, attached to a post fixed in the ground, and worked up and down as a lover, under one end of which the paste is placed. Or the kneading may be accomplished by the less agreeable process of piling up the dough and treading it out with the feet, after which it is rolled ■with a rolling- pin. In making the dough into tubes and ribbons, a hollow cjdindrical cast-iron vessel is used, ha\'ing the bottom perforated with holes or sUts. This is filled with the paste. Then a l^iece of wood or a hea^^-y ii'on plate is brought down upon it by means of a screw, and in this manner the paste is forced thi'ough the MAC ( 393 ) MAC holes, and receives the shape of the perfora- tions. The mactironi is partially baked as it issues from these holes, by a fire placed below the cylinder, and as it descends is drawn away and himg on rods, placed across the room, where in a few days it dries so as to be fit for use. The manufactui-e of macaroni is an important Italian industry, the article being not only largely consumed at home, but exported in considerable quantities to all parts of the world. In Geneva alone about 170,000 quintals of wheat are employed every year in its manu- facture. The finest sorts of macaroni are the whitest in colour, and those which do not burst or break up in boiling. In the boiling process, macaroni should swell considerably, and become quite soft, but it should retain its form, other- wise one may conclude that it has not been made of the best wheat. Occasionally macaroni is flavoured and coloui'ed with saffron and turmeric, to suit certain palates.