Many years ago almost the only lunch obtainable
in London was a Bath bun, washed down with tepid
ginger-beer. But this bun had to be eaten under
difficulties. First, the extraordinary height of the
stool on which one was bound to sit made one giddy j
then a crowd of small boys, with noses flattened white
against the window outside, would carry on a running
conversation, such as “ Give us a bit, guv’nor,” & c.
Unfortunately, the faster you tried to eat the bun, the
more it choked you ; and as to the ginger-beer, it too
often refused to go anywhere except to the nose. A
lunch is still a great difficulty in certain parts of
London. It would be an interesting Parliamentary
return — first, the number of licensed victuallers in
London ; secondly, the number of licensed victuallers
who sold victuals.
Were any one, some hot day, to place a small
table on the pavement, and sit down and eat an ice,
like thousands do in Paris, the result would be such a
crowd that one would probably be locked up for the
night, for obstructing the public thoroughfare.
1 here is, perhaps, no dish so suitable for hot
1 1 8 Common-sense Cookery.
weather as curry. But there are curries and curries. I
have seen some that have made me shudder to look
at them. If you see 'pieces of meat on a large dish,
almost swimming in a quantity of bright light-
coloured yellow gravy, people will probably call it
curry ; but my advice is, don’t eat any if you can get
anything else. I will try and describe how it ought
to be done. Say the dish is curried sweetbreads.
The sweetbreads must be fried as directed in the
article entitled “ Uses and Abuses of a Frying-
pan.” The curry sauce must be poured round them
directly they are done, and this sauce is made as
follows : —
We will describe how to make enough for about
six people.
First, take six large onions, and peel and slice
them, and fry them a nice brown-colour in a stew-pan,
using about two ounces of butter. Next take two
apples, about the same size, or rather larger than the
onions, and as sour as possible. Peel them, remove
the core, slice, and add to the onions in the stewpan,
then add a pint of good strong stock. Stir it all up,
and let the whole boil till the apples are quite soft.
Add to this a large brimming dessert-spoonful of
Captain White’s curry-paste, and a good-sized tea-
spoonful of ordinary curry-powder✪ Curried Sweetbreads. The whole of
this must be rubbed through a fine wire sieve, with a
Savoury Summer Dishes. 119
large wooden spoon. If you have not patience to
rub it all through, you can’t make curry.
The next point necessary is that this curry sauce
should be made of the necessary thickness ; and for
the purpose, what I have alluded to before under the
name of “ brown thickening ” is necessary.
Now, as brown thickening is almost an essential
in every house where gravies and sauces are made
properly, I will describe how this brown thickening
ought to be made. As the process is somewhat
troublesome, and a large quantity is as easy to make
as a small, it will be found best to make sufficient to
last some time, as brown thickening will keep good
for months if made properly. ✪ Brown Thickening
Page 47 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1880. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Many years ago almost the only lunch obtainable in London was a Bath bun, washed down with tepid ginger-beer. But this bun had to be eaten under difficulties. First, the extraordinary height of the stool on which one was bound to sit made one giddy j then a crowd of small boys, with noses flattened white against the window outside, would carry on a running conversation, such as “ Give us a bit, guv’nor,” & c. Unfortunately, the faster you tried to eat the bun, the more it choked you ; and as to the ginger-beer, it too often refused to go anywhere except to the nose. A lunch is still a great difficulty in certain parts of London. It would be an interesting Parliamentary return — first, the number of licensed victuallers in London ; secondly, the number of licensed victuallers who sold victuals.
Were any one, some hot day, to place a small table on the pavement, and sit down and eat an ice, like thousands do in Paris, the result would be such a crowd that one would probably be locked up for the night, for obstructing the public thoroughfare.
1 here is, perhaps, no dish so suitable for hot
1 1 8 Common-sense Cookery.
weather as curry. But there are curries and curries. I have seen some that have made me shudder to look at them. If you see pieces of meat on a large dish, almost swimming in a quantity of bright light-coloured yellow gravy, people will probably call it curry ; but my advice is, don’t eat any if you can get anything else. I will try and describe how it ought to be done. Say the dish is curried sweetbreads. The sweetbreads must be fried as directed in the article entitled “ Uses and Abuses of a Fryingpan.” The curry sauce must be poured round them directly they are done, and this sauce is made as follows : —
We will describe how to make enough for about six people.
First, take six large onions, and peel and slice them, and fry them a nice brown-colour in a stew-pan, using about two ounces of butter. Next take two apples, about the same size, or rather larger than the onions, and as sour as possible. Peel them, remove the core, slice, and add to the onions in the stewpan, then add a pint of good strong stock. Stir it all up, and let the whole boil till the apples are quite soft. Add to this a large brimming dessert-spoonful of Captain White’s curry-paste, and a good-sized teaspoonful of ordinary curry-powder. The whole of this must be rubbed through a fine wire sieve, with a
Savoury Summer Dishes. 119
large wooden spoon. If you have not patience to rub it all through, you can’t make curry.
The next point necessary is that this curry sauce should be made of the necessary thickness ; and for the purpose, what I have alluded to before under the name of “ brown thickening ” is necessary.
Now, as brown thickening is almost an essential in every house where gravies and sauces are made properly, I will describe how this brown thickening ought to be made. As the process is somewhat troublesome, and a large quantity is as easy to make as a small, it will be found best to make sufficient to last some time, as brown thickening will keep good for months if made properly.
Records on this page
Curried SweetbreadsBrown Thickening