The spirit of cookery

Griddle or Girdle Cakes, and Gliuppattees or Stone-cakes, are analogous elementary preparations of flour for human food. The girdle, or griddle, is a circular plate of iron with a rim, and surmounted by a semicircular handle like a carryingbasket. The latter is necessary for placing the girdle on the open Are and taking it off when the cake is done. In respect of the manner in which it is baked on the free fire, the girdle-cake is analogous to the pancake. From the absence of any covering, we may suppose that the cake, in order to succeed, must, like the chuppattee of the Hindoos or the fried pancake, be very thin. Its advantages were that it could be made at short notice, in small quantity, easily repeated, and be eaten hot.* An inhabitant of an English town of the present time has probably little inducement to bake a griddle-cake, but if he were to become transplanted * ‘ Biddy, Patsey’s grand-daughter, would occasionally allow us to assist her in making griddle-cake. Deb and I took it in turns to knead the dough in a brown crock. Oh ! the rapture of handling it, and pressing it, and spreading it on a board, and rolling it, and patting it, and cutting it in fours, and flouring the griddle, and laying it thereon.’ — Ex Croker, B. M., ‘ Pretty Miss Neville.’ London, 1887, p. 13. GIRDLE CAKES AND DUMPLINGS to Central Africa, or the Brazils, or the Yellowstone regions, he might perhaps draw some consolation and nutriment out of so simple a preparation of the gifts of Ceres. Dumplings are used in England and South Germany by large numbers of the population. Norfolk Dumplings are popularly used in the county of Norfolk, hence their name.* They are prepared with a dough which is caused to rise with the aid of either yeast or baking-powder. The Apple Dumpling is reported to have been an intellectual problem to a monarch of the last century, who could not imagine how the apple got inside of it. It may be baked or boiled; in the latter case the crust must be of suet paste; but baked dumplings are preferable. Currant Dumplings are made interesting to young persons by the addition of currants. The dumplings are best boiled, as that way most readily plumps the currants. In the case of Fried Apple Dumplings, the pulp of stewed apples is incorporated with the dough, eggs, etc., as are the currants in the previous recipe. The preparation is then crumbed and fried. Boiled Ajiple Dumplings consist of the same mass as the fried, and are suitably made light by the admixture of white of egg froth. Bavarian Dumplings, German Klose or Knödel, are really puddings consisting of bread fried in fat, breadcrumb soaked in milk or cream, eggs, butter, some flour, salt, and spice. They are boiled in salt water, and dressed with brown butter. Another form of Knödel is flavoured with onion in its substance, and served with browned butter in which some parsley and onion have been fried. Grits Dumplings are made with a cooked paste of grits, which is used and mixed like the panada in the foregoing. Vide Norfolk Dumplings. Dumas, in his Dictionary, erroneously derives the name from ' Due de Norfolk, lequel I'affectionait [sc. the dumpling], quite unpractical.. The Norfolk dumpling is not an aristocratic, but quite a popular dish in the county.