Several varieties of farce deserve the special attention of connoisseurs, such as that of liver and ham for raised pies. In ordinary culinary works the selection of a light-coloured calf’s liver is prescribed. But no healthy liver is naturally light-coloured, and those which appear to be so in trade are made pale by the butchers, by immersion in water. How- ever, this process affects only a thin outer layer of the liver tissue; to effectually blanch a liver, i.e., to wash out the blood contained in it, it is necessary to tie it to a water-tap inserted into the opening of the portal vein, and let the water run through it for some time. This treatment also removes the last traces of bitterness. If this be not feasible, the liver may be sliced and laid in water, or may be scraped, and the pulp washed in a cloth. But the process is un- necessary, except where the colour of the quenelles is to be pale and not dark. Gratins require a farce with much fat, and are, therefore, best made with livers of geese, or with scraped calf’s liver mixed with much bacon fat. Godiveau is a kind of farce used for garnishing the interior of hotp>dtes, vol-au-vents, aadtourtes d la ciboulette ; it may be made of veal, with beef-suet, parsley, and spices ; or of flesh of foivl, or of game with truffles, or of mushrooms, or of fish, turbot, eel, carp, all with panada. Godiveaus are generally preferred to be made with a particular binding material, called crane pdtissitre, which is analogous to the cooked batter above alluded to ; it consists of eggs, flour and milk, is heated to boiling, cooled in water, and then mixed with the minced meat. In Baton’s Dictionary it is stated that at many tables, where everything else is well done, it is common to find very bad stuffing. This is as true now as it was in 1822. 297 A\-IGOl/y'S OF MUS/7A’00J}/S CHAPTER XXIII. RAGOUTS OF VEGETABLES, AND COMPOUND RAGOUTS OF VEGETABLES AND MEAT. RagoOts of vegetables, or stewed vegetables for garnisbiug braised and boiled meat dishes, are mainly characterized by cryptogams — fungi or mushrooms. The common mushroom, Agaricus campestris, L., is usually eaten at two stages of its growth, one when it has just risen from the mycelium, and is small, with its hymen still closed, called button, and the other when it is just expanded, its hymen forming a ring round the stalk, and the spore-bearing ridges forming a rosy lining to the expanded umbrella. To be valuable they must he plump at both these stages ; the spores may just have turned black, but, on the whole, such mushrooms are over- ripe. Flabby, leathery, expanded, fissured, black-lined mushrooms are to be avoided. Of all animal and vegetable matters, only three possess the ijrincii)le of scqnclity in the highest culinary and gusta- tory sense, namely, meat, cheese, and mushrooms. This principle is an alkaloid, or a series of alkaloids, which is practically designated as osmazome. It is most developed when it is somewhat overheated, or browned ; hence, mush- rooms are most sapid when fried in fat, and darkened by that process, as well as by the distribution of spores, which also become dark or black by heat.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Several varieties of farce deserve the special attention of connoisseurs, such as that of liver and ham for raised pies. In ordinary culinary works the selection of a light-coloured calf’s liver is prescribed. But no healthy liver is naturally light-coloured, and those which appear to be so in trade are made pale by the butchers, by immersion in water. However, this process affects only a thin outer layer of the liver tissue; to effectually blanch a liver, i.e., to wash out the blood contained in it, it is necessary to tie it to a water-tap inserted into the opening of the portal vein, and let the water run through it for some time. This treatment also removes the last traces of bitterness. If this be not feasible, the liver may be sliced and laid in water, or may be scraped, and the pulp washed in a cloth. But the process is unnecessary, except where the colour of the quenelles is to be pale and not dark. Gratins require a farce with much fat, and are, therefore, best made with livers of geese, or with scraped calf’s liver mixed with much bacon fat. Godiveau is a kind of farce used for garnishing the interior of hotpâtes, vol-au-vents, and tourtes à la ciboulette ; it may be made of veal, with beef-suet, parsley, and spices ; or of flesh of foivl, or of game with truffles, or of mushrooms, or of fish, turbot, eel, carp, all with panada. Godiveaus are generally preferred to be made with a particular binding material, called creme pâtissière, which is analogous to the cooked batter above alluded to ; it consists of eggs, flour and milk, is heated to boiling, cooled in water, and then mixed with the minced meat. In Baton’s Dictionary it is stated that at many tables, where everything else is well done, it is common to find very bad stuffing. This is as true now as it was in 1822. RAGOUTS OF MUSHROOMS CHAPTER XXIII. RAGOUTS OF VEGETABLES, AND COMPOUND RAGOUTS OF VEGETABLES AND MEAT. RagoOts of vegetables, or stewed vegetables for garnisbiug braised and boiled meat dishes, are mainly characterized by cryptogams — fungi or mushrooms. The common mushroom, Agaricus campestris, L., is usually eaten at two stages of its growth, one when it has just risen from the mycelium, and is small, with its hymen still closed, called button, and the other when it is just expanded, its hymen forming a ring round the stalk, and the spore-bearing ridges forming a rosy lining to the expanded umbrella. To be valuable they must he plump at both these stages ; the spores may just have turned black, but, on the whole, such mushrooms are overripe. Flabby, leathery, expanded, fissured, black-lined mushrooms are to be avoided. Of all animal and vegetable matters, only three possess the principle of salebrousness in the highest culinary and gustatory sense, namely, meat, cheese, and mushrooms. This principle is an alkaloid, or a series of alkaloids, which is practically designated as osmazome. It is most developed when it is somewhat overheated, or browned ; hence, mushrooms are most sapid when fried in fat, and darkened by that process, as well as by the distribution of spores, which also become dark or black by heat.

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