The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves

Beef, Hamburg. — The winter is the best time for preparing this, though it must not be done when there is a hard frost. Prepare a mixture by mixing together very thoroughly 21b. of brown sugar, loz. pyroligneous acid, 2oz. each of saltpetre, bay salt, long peppers, allspice, and cloves, and loz. dried and ground juniper berries ; work into this from 8oz. to lOoz. common salt, and when this is all well blended, rub it into a good piece of round of beef, which has already been hung for ten days ; then place it in the trough, and turn and rub it daily, night and morning, for ten days, being careful that the mixture is well rubbed in, and on, every part for forty minutes or so each time. When pickled, lift out the meat, wipe it dry, and sew it up in a coarse sacking, pressing it into a nice compact shape, and then smoke it in the cupboard for four or five days, being careful to use oak shavings and sawdust. Let it cool for a day, and then press it for three days, after which it must be hung up. Abroad this is considered sufficiently cooked by the smoking, and though it is frequently boiled in England, the flavour is never so good, for grating, at all events, Take off the sacking after smoking, and, if not to be used at once, sew it up again in a clean linen cover. Or else it can be dipped in melted paraffin wax after it has cooled down after smoking, and then it keeps admirably. The quantities for the pickle are given for about 121b. of beef. To serve this meat you either grate it, or else slice it into slices 2Jin. long by l^in. wide, and as thin as white paper. Beef, Ham. — Take a nice, well- shaped leg of beef and trim it into a ham shape. Pound together loz. bay salt, loz. saltpetre, lib. common salt, and lib. coarse sugar ; this will be enough for a leg weighing from 141b. to 151b. Pub this mixture well into the beef, turning and rubbing it every day for a month, basting it well with its own pickle ; then take it out, rub it in bran or sawdust, and hang it in the smoke cupboard for a month, after which it can be taken down and hung in a dry place till wanted. Bear hams are done in precisely the same way, though many people think the bear ham improved by being first marinaded in oil, vinegar, herbs, &c. Jewish. — Choose a nice piece of the round, and rub it well with a mixture of pounded mace, cloves, nutmeg, juniper berries, and pepper, then add to this, salt, Jamaica pepper, and some bav leaves ; let it lie in this pickle for ten days, strewing it well with sliced shallot or garlic, or both ; boil some good white wine vinegar, and then set it aside to cool ; now turn the meat and its pickle into a deep pan, and pour the vinegar over it when cold, and cover down close. In a hot climate, the vinegar is allowed just to cover the meat, and over it is poured a layer of olive oil, and the pan is then closely covered down. Red. — Choose beef with as little bone as may be (the flank is best), sprinkle it well with salt, and let it drain for twenty-four hours ; now rub it with the following mixture : lib. common salt,