The housekeeper's guide to preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, &c

HERRINGS, KIPPERED.— It is perhaps a too common mistake to imagine that kippered herrings, as well as bloaters, will keep for an indefinitely long period. Probably few persons are aware of the fact that to obtain either a bloater or kippered herring in perfection it should be eaten the same day that it is cured. Such, however, is the case. Those who cannot obtain kippered herrings fresh-cured would do well to try those preserved in tins. Kippered herrings, if kept long in the ordinary way, undergo to a certain extent a slight putrefaction. Many will know that kippered herrings or bloaters have a very strong, rank smell, and that sometimes the bloater gets into that state which may be described as doubtful. Of course, the kippered herrings preserved in tins have all the advantages of meat preserved in tins. The process of putrefaction is at once instantly stopped owing to the exclusion of the air. Kippered herrings preserved in tins are of course tinned directly they are cured, consequently when the tin is opened they possess all the advantages that would be found in herrings which had been cured the same morning. In cooking kippered herrings, they are undoubtedly best done on a gridiron, and as soon as they are hot through they are sufficiently cooked. Cooks should, however, always moisten the surface with a small piece of butter. HICKSON'S KING OF OUDE SAUCE.—See Code Sauce.. HONEY. — Honey is generally a very popular sweet with children. It differs considerably and varies very much according to the locality in which it is made by the bees. Perhaps the most favourite is that known as the Narbonne honey, which has a very peculiar, rich, scented flavour, owing to the flowers which grow in the neighbourhood of Narbonne. This honey, which is sold in pound jars and glasses, is rather more expensive than the ordinary kinds. In buying honey care should be taken to purchase it of some well-known firm. There are various kinds of honey sold which are decidedly injurious, although perfectly genuine In certain neighbourhoods, in which unhealthy and poisonous flowers grow, the honey made by the bees is at times absolutely poisonous. Honey is not often used very much in cookery. The only receipt that I can call to mind in a cookery book in which honey is used is in making sauce for apricot charlotte, a receipt for which will be found under Apricot. A very delicious “liqueur” can be made with the assistance of some honey, known as “ Athol brose.” There is a well-known hotel in Scotland, at Blair Athol, where visitors are generally entertained with a small glass of this “ liqueur.” I believe I am right in saying that Her Majesty the Queen, when in the Highlands, accepted of what I think most persons must call a very nice mixture. It is made as follows : Take equal parts of Scotch whisky, honey, and cream, and mix them well together. The receipt is a very simple one, and a cook of comparatively no experience would have no difficulty in carrying out the directions here given. In buying honey, one very good test of its genuineness is the smell. When honey is made in any district surrounded by pine forests it will nearly always be found to contain an ingredient which is virtually turpentine, which the bees have extracted from the pines.