The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves

twelve good cucumbers and four large onions; add a good handful of salt, and let them stand until the liquor begins to rim from them; then break them up small and let them stand for another twenty -four hours. Now strain it off, and to each quart put the same quantity of white (but not sweet) wine, fib. of anchovies and a stick of horseradish; boil this all together for half an hour, then strain it again, and to each quart add |oz. of white pepper, and the same of mace, and nutmeg, mixed together and pounded, and boil it well once more. Let it get perfectly cold, then bottle it as it stands, adding a small piece of ginger to each bottle as you close it down. (This is an old Eastern Counties recipe.) Elderberry Catsup. — Strip ripe elderberries from their stalks and put them in a stone jar with as much good vinegar as will cover them thoroughly, then place them in the oven when the bread is baked to extract the juice, and strain off whilst hot. Now boil this liquor with sufficient cloves, mace, peppercorns and shallot to flavour it nicely, and then add to it 6 to 8oz. best anchovies, for every quart of liquor, and boil only just enough to dissolve these. When cold, bottle in small bottles, and be very particular in fastening down. This by the way applies to all catsups. Mushroom Catsup. — Break a peck of mushrooms (previously wiped with a flannel) into a large earthenware crock ; strew -fib. of salt over them, and leave them all night in a cool oven, next day strain oft and measure the liquor, and boil it for a quarter of an hour. To each quart of this liquor add loz. pepper, ^oz, allspice, -|oz. ginger and two blades of mace, and let this all boil quickly together for half an hour. When cold, bottle, cork down tightly and seal. The big flap mushrooms do for this. Oyster Catsup — Open forty-eight good oysters, saving the liquor, wash and bone 6oz. to 8oz. of anchovies and add them to the oysters, with half a sliced lemon. Pour to this one and a half pints white wine, just bring it to the boil, and simmer it very gently for twenty minutes ; then strain through a muslin. Now add a teaspoonful each, of cloves, mace and nutmeg to this, boil it for ten minutes i 2 more, and pour it boiling, on to loz. sliced shallot When cold, bottle it as it stands. Tomato Catsup. — Slit a peck of tomatoes, and boil them in an earthenware or enamelled pan, till the juice is extracted and the pulp dissolved. Then strain first through a colander, then through a hair sieve. Stir to this a tablespoonf ul each of black pepper, pounded cloves, and celery seed (tie these up in muslin,) and 3oz. of mustard, together with loz. each of salt and powdered mace. Boil this for five hours, stirring it now and again, at the first, but continuously for the last hour. Pour it into a stoneware jar and leave it in the cellar on a stone floor for twelve or fourteen hours ; then take out the celery seed, bottle, seal, and store in a cool dark place.