of carrots as a specific for jaundice. The large sweet
onion is very rich in those alkaHne elements which
counteract the poison of rheumatic gout. If slowly
stewed in weak broth, and eaten with a little Nepaul
pepper, it will be found to be an admirable article of
diet for patients of studious and sedentary habits.
The stalks of cauliflower have the same sort of value,
only too often the stalk of a cauliflower is so ill boiled
and unpalatable that few persons would thank you
for proposing to them to make part of their meal
consist of so uninviting an article. Turnips in the
same way are often thought to be indigestible, to be
productive of flatulent misery, and better suited for
cows and sheep than for delicate people. Yet here
again the fault lies with the cook quite as much as
with the root. The cook boils the turnip badly, and
then pours some butter over it, and the eater of such a
dish is sure to be the worse for it. Try a better way.
Half boil your turnip, and then cut it in slices, like
half-crowns. Butter a pie-dish, put in the slices,
moisten with a little milk and weak broth, dust once
with breadcrumbs and pepper and salt (adding a little
cheese if you prefer it), and bake in the oven till it
gains a bright golden brown. This dish, which is the
Piedmontese fashion of eating turnips, is quite un-
suited for the cows, and ought to be popular.
What shall be said about our lettuces ? The
plant has a slight narcotic action, of which a French
old woman, like a French doctor, well knows the value,
and when properly cooked it is really very easy of
digestion. But in our country, though lettuces are duly
grown in every garden, you often hear the remark,
312 VEGETABLES.
' I can't cat a salad ; ' and as few cooks know how to
use the vegetable which has been refused in its raw
state, the lettuces are all wasted, and so is the ground
in which they were grown.
Oh, the wilful waste and consequent woful want
of our English tables and kitchens !
But enough said. Only, before speaking of some
good dishes, we will add one word about pot herbs.
Mint sauce has a strong hold on English affections ;
but tarragon and chervil would be great additions to
our cookery. As Izaak Walton returned thanks for
the flavour of fishes, so we ought to value the flavour
of these garden herbs. They might be to the cottage
and the parsonage garden what truffles and mush-
rooms are to the tables of the rich ; and a teaspoonful
of chopped herbs added to an ^gg, and a pat of fresh
butter, in a cupful of the liquid in which a fowl has
been boiled, will be found to be an excellent soup for
an invalid. It will not only please the taste, but will
actually soothe some of the forms of dyspepsia.
Washing Vegetables.
All vegetables ought to be well washed first in
salt and water. It is a good thing to turn the tap on
them and let it run, or to dash them about in deep
water by means of one of those wire baskets which
in France are used either for boiling eggs or for
washing vegetables.
Potatoes, carrots, and turnips must also be brushed
in cold water, and kept in cold water till they are
cooked.
CABBAGE, 313
Page 126
Presented as published in 1882. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
of carrots as a specific for jaundice. The large sweet onion is very rich in those alkaline elements which counteract the poison of rheumatic gout. If slowly stewed in weak broth, and eaten with a little Nepaul pepper, it will be found to be an admirable article of diet for patients of studious and sedentary habits. The stalks of cauliflower have the same sort of value, only too often the stalk of a cauliflower is so ill boiled and unpalatable that few persons would thank you for proposing to them to make part of their meal consist of so uninviting an article. Turnips in the same way are often thought to be indigestible, to be productive of flatulent misery, and better suited for cows and sheep than for delicate people. Yet here again the fault lies with the cook quite as much as with the root. The cook boils the turnip badly, and then pours some butter over it, and the eater of such a dish is sure to be the worse for it. Try a better way. Half boil your turnip, and then cut it in slices, like half-crowns. Butter a pie-dish, put in the slices, moisten with a little milk and weak broth, dust once with breadcrumbs and pepper and salt (adding a little cheese if you prefer it), and bake in the oven till it gains a bright golden brown. This dish, which is the Piedmontese fashion of eating turnips, is quite unsuited for the cows, and ought to be popular.
What shall be said about our lettuces ? The plant has a slight narcotic action, of which a French old woman, like a French doctor, well knows the value, and when properly cooked it is really very easy of digestion. But in our country, though lettuces are duly grown in every garden, you often hear the remark,
' I can't cat a salad ; ' and as few cooks know how to use the vegetable which has been refused in its raw state, the lettuces are all wasted, and so is the ground in which they were grown.
Oh, the wilful waste and consequent woful want of our English tables and kitchens !
But enough said. Only, before speaking of some good dishes, we will add one word about pot herbs. Mint sauce has a strong hold on English affections ; but tarragon and chervil would be great additions to our cookery. As Izaak Walton returned thanks for the flavour of fishes, so we ought to value the flavour of these garden herbs. They might be to the cottage and the parsonage garden what truffles and mushrooms are to the tables of the rich ; and a teaspoonful of chopped herbs added to an ^gg, and a pat of fresh butter, in a cupful of the liquid in which a fowl has been boiled, will be found to be an excellent soup for an invalid. It will not only please the taste, but will actually soothe some of the forms of dyspepsia.
Washing Vegetables.
All vegetables ought to be well washed first in salt and water. It is a good thing to turn the tap on them and let it run, or to dash them about in deep water by means of one of those wire baskets which in France are used either for boiling eggs or for washing vegetables.
Potatoes, carrots, and turnips must also be brushed in cold water, and kept in cold water till they are cooked.
CABBAGE, 313