Banquets of the nations

The dishes are generally composed of sandwiches (small and neat) prepared with smoked salmon, boiled anchovies, caviare, chopped hard-boiled eggs, etc. Besides these there are different kinds of pickled fish, small pieces of lobster or crayfish tails, little savoury tartlets, pickles, sour and salted cucumbers, thin slices of smoked sausages, and smoked breast of goose, etc. Different kinds of liqueurs and spirits are also served. These are all laid out on a buffet or side table, and are partaken of a few minutes before sitting down to dinner. Krapivniya Schtschi. (Nettle Soup.) Take equal quantities of young nettles, spinach, and sour sorrel. Wash them in several waters, and boil with a little salt until soft, then rub through a coarse wire sieve. Slice an onion thinly, and cut it into lengths, fry these in butter, and when taking colour put in the previously prepared puree. Fry all together for a few minutes, stirring, mixing, and dusting occasionally with flour from a dredger. Transfer this when nicely cooked, without being burned, into a large saucepan, and gradually moisten it with two quarts of beef broth. Let this boil up, move it to one side, so that it will continue to simmer, and then drop in six smoked sausages, either whole or cut into slices. Boil slowly for an hour, skim off the fat, and just before serving stir in one breakfastcupful of sour cream. With this soup it is usual to serve halves of hard-boiled eggs, which may be either plain, stuffed, or fried. 5J9 Rasvarennaya Riba. (Stewed Fish.) Make a highly-seasoned fish or chicken broth, flavoured with nutmeg and cleared with the white of an egg before straining. Into this put a sterlet (a carp or piece of sturgeon will do) cut up into suitable pieces, pour in a little cold water, and cook over a moderate fire until the fish is done, taking care to remove any scum that rises. Turn the whole into a pan, in which it is to be stewed, having placed slices of lemon (without pips or peel) at the bottom, pour in champagne (cider will do) ; boil up once more, strain, then clear the sauce with caviare or the white of an egg. Add some chopped parsley or fennel, and pour over the fish or serve in a separate sauce-boat. Coulebiaka. (Fish Pie.) Take out the fillets of two small trout, and of eight small perch ; season with pepper and salt, add one dozen crayfish tails, and keep them on ice. With a quarter pound of pike, or whiting flesh, prepare some quenelle forcemeat ; when passed through a sieve, put it into a stewpan, and add two ounces of butter ; season, and close the stewpan hermetically, keeping it at the entrance of the oven for ten minutes, then remove back, and let it cool. Coulebiaca Paste. Dilute about a quarter of an ounce of good yeast with a tablespoonful of warm milk ; pass the liquid through a sieve into a kitchen basin, and prepare a leaven by introducing as much flour as it can absorb, keeping the paste soft. Cover, and put it on to a warm place to rise. When ready introduce gradually three ounces of flour, two ounces of butter scarcely melted, a little milk, and two whole eggs. Work the paste to give it a little consistency, gather it up, cover it, and let it rise again previous to using it.