Banquets of the nations

Choose a good leg, hung till tender ; pare the thin end, bone and lay it in an earthen pan, just deep and large enough to hold it. Mince two or three onions, the same of carrots and celery-roots, fry in clarified fat, moisten with three glassfuls of vinegar and the same of water ; let the liquid boil, add to it some sprigs of aromatics, thyme, bay-leaf, basil, two cloves of garlic, parsley, cloves, peppercorns, continue boiling for twenty minutes. Take then the stewpan off the fire, let the marinade stock nearly cool, pour it over the leg of mutton ; which macerate therein for twenty-four hours, turning several times. Drain the leg, wipe it on a cloth, put it into a roasting pan with a good piece of butter, and push it into an oven not too hot ; half an hour after, baste with two gills of the marinade stock, and a pint of sour cream (smitane) ; finish cooking the leg, basting frequently ; then place it on a dish ; put three or four tomatoes into the cooking stock, reduce it on the fire until nicely thickened, strain, then pour it over the leg, and serve with bread, beans, sharp salad and mixed pickles. Fecihe. (Macedoine of Jelly.) Make some firm calf's-foot jelly and have a good variety of fresh fruit. Wet a mould and put in pieces of the different fruits and blocks of the jelly until the mould is nearly full. Then pour on very gently some of the jelly melted, not too hot. Let it soak well down, then put it in a cold place, and when the shape is quite firm, put a hot cloth round the mould, and turn out in the usual way. Laham fi Talfaq. (Meat in Vine Leaves.) Remove the sinews from one pound of fillet of mutton, mince it, put it into a basin, add about one breakfastcupful of slightly blanched rice, one small chopped onion, a little chopped parsley, a pinch of cinnamon and pepper and salt to taste. Divide this preparation into small pieces about the size of filberts, wrap each one separately in a vine leaf ; pack them in five or six rows in a high saucepan, putting one row over the other, and seasoning well as each set of rows are complete ; pour in sufficient broth to nearly cover them, put a plate or cover over, so as to press them well ; boil until the liquor is reduced to one quarter its original quantity, and remove the pan to the side of the fire for twenty minutes longer. Take out the dolmas one at a time, and place them in a pile on a hot dish ; strain the liquor into another saucepan, boil it up again, adding the thickening of the yolks of five or six eggs mixed up with the juice of two or three lemons ; pour it over the dolmas and serve at once with sharp salad and mixed pickles. Mahalibiyye. (Rice Pudding.) Make a rich pudding of rice flour, milk, and eggs, seasoned with plenty of cinnamon. Serve with warm custard. Arroz Pulao. (Pilaf of Rice.)