FoodNet

The spirit of cookery

1895

Page 219 · 2 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1895. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
starch ; this starch, when the kale is allowed to become frozen and to thaw, is immediately transformed into sugar, like a portion of the starch in frozen potatoes, and then the vegetable becomes sometimes rather too sweet. Of nitro- genized matters white cabbage contains nearly 2 per cent., of solids altogether about 10 per cent., and 9 per cent, of water. This variety bears the names of Brassica oleracea capitata alba, Al. The sugar contained in it consists partly of dextrose, partly of inosite ; of the latter we have given some account under the paragraph relating to green beans. For the production of sauer-Tcraut the cabbage is shredded, mixed with salt in fine powder sufficient to produce a good pickle,’ placed in a vessel, e.g., a barrel, in a compressed state, and allowed to undergo the lactic-acid or sour-milk fer- mentation ; the sugar is thus transformed into lactic acid, and from this the produce derives its name of acid cabbage, or sour cabbage, or sauer-kraut. As a preparation for cook- ing, the sauer-kraut has to be washed, and thus relieved of excess of acid ; it is then to be stewed with butter, or other tasty fat, and standard broth, and when nearly done a little good wineSauer-Kraut should be added. There are many variations of this process, which mostly result in a somewhat coarser product ; there are also many combinations, but the acme of all accompaniments, not excepting even roast pheasant, is roast p>artridge with sauer-kraut. French ChoxicrotUe, or Bavarian Kraut, is an imitation of sauer-kraut, produced from fresh white cabbage by the addition of vinegar. Steep the cabbage in a solution of salt in vinegarFrench ChoxicrotUe for some hours ; after that drain and wash, and stew as in the previous case. The cabbage, being finely shred, absorbs sufficient acid to possess the taste of its prototype. The Germans call this forced sauer-kraut. 346 THE SPIRIT OF COOKERY CHAPTER XXVII. VEGETABLES CHARACTERIZED BY SULPHURETTED ESSENTIAL OILS. Onions, Shallots, Ciboules, Leek, Garlic. The plants belonging to this series may be defined as (jrecn condiments, which are occasionally used as entremets ; they belong to the gQxms Allmm, of the family of liliaceous plants, hexandria mo'nocjynia of Linn6. They mostly form bulbs, and it is by means of these that they become biennial or perennial. These bulbs also are the eatable parts, while the leaves, not rarely hollow, are eatable only while young, and when coming from particular species. Next to meat- essence, the products of coction of these plants form the strongest and most frequently employed flavouring principle of soups, sauces, ragouts, salads, etc. But they must be used with particular caution, as they taint the breath and otherwise insensible perspiration of the skin, and thereby make the persons who are the bearers of the exhalation objectionable to polite society. The shallot, dehalote, Allium asealoiiicum, is said to have been brought to France from Syria during the Crusades. Both its bulbs and leaves are eaten. Its essential oil is the least strong of all varieties of onions. Some gastronomers maintain that it is impossible to make a good sauce piquantc without it.