National viands à la mode

Take half a pound of Italian rice well washed and perfectly dried. Put into a stewpan with half a pint of good stock and a quarter of a pound of butter ; add a little pepper and salt. Let it cook gently, stirring it constantly with a wooden spoon till it is just tender, leaving each grain whole. The stock and butter should be absorbed by the rice. Add a little powdered saffron while the rice is stewing, and just before it is quite cooked add about two tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese. If preferred a teacupful of fresh tomato sauce can be added instead of the saffron ; serve very hot. Salade Napolitaine Take two large carrots, cut off the pointed part and boil thoroughly ; but they must not be overboiled : then remove the outer skin and cut them into very thin slices as thin as cucumber slices, or they can be cut longways into four, and then cut into dice-shaped pieces. Arrange these tastefully on a dish. Make a mixture with oil, vinegar and salt to taste, and just a taste of garlic. On the top of the carrot place some fresh green mint, each leaf being divided into four or six pieces ; sprinkle over some small pieces of pickled red capsicums, and pour over the vinegar and oil mixture; then pour off this mixture again, taking great care not to disturb the nicely arranged salad ; then pour it over again very slowly, pour off again, and continue doing this till nearly all the dressing is absorbed. This salad is improved by standing for a couple of hours before eating. Salsa Agro-dolce Sweet Sharp Sauce Fill half a wineglass with caster sugar, and pour over it two-thirds of vinegar. Place in a small saucepan one pound of pine kernels (if pine kernels are not obtainable, split sweet almonds and use them instead) and the same quantity of small currants, and half a cup of ground chocolate ; add the vinegar and sugar. Mix well together with a wooden spoon and place it on the fire till it boils. Scallops a I'ltalienne Parboil twelve scallops in salted water ; then place them in a stewpan with a tablespoonful of chopped parsley and rosemary, a tablespoonful of grated nutmeg and mace, two ounces of butter rolled in flour, half a tumbler of white wine or vinegar, one pint of the liquor the scallops were boiled in, and the juice of one lemon. Stew over the fire for about eighteen minutes. Place each scallop on a small square of toast on a dish. Pour the sauce over. Spaghetti a l'Italienne II re dei Cuochi Cut an onion in slices ; lay them in a saucepan with some bacon cut in pieces, a little pepper and salt, and some butter ; when the onion is of a nice E brown colour, add one pint of stock, a little tomato paste, and a few chopped-up dried mushrooms. Let the whole boil up once or twice, then simmer gently for a couple or three hours. When boiling lay in the spaghetti and boil for twenty minutes ; pour in a jugful of cold water, strain the spaghetti at once ; put some of the sauce in a hot dish ; lay in part of the spaghetti, then more sauce, then more spaghetti and a plentiful sprinkling of grated Parmesan. Serve quickly. Torta di Funghi Mushroom Tart