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

INDIAN PICKLES. — The. distinctive feature of all Indian pickles is heat. It is a somewhat curious fact that hot climates create a very great craving for hot food. We have Indian chutney, Indian curry, Indian mulligatawny, Indian pickles, etc. ; and whenever the word “Indian” is used, it is synonymous with some hot spices or herbs. Indian pickles are very hot, and those who like hot tilings will find that a small quantity of these pickles chopped up will be a very nice accompaniment for a breakfast dish, such as grilled salmon, or indeed, any kind of grilled meat. They can also be served warmed up in a little brown gravy, with mutton cutlets, pork chops, veal cutlets, etc. ; and they can also be used for flavouring | hashes of any description as well as I stews. INDIAN GINGER.— See Ginger. INDIAN LIMES.— See Limes. INDIAN MANGOES.— See Mangoes. INDIAN MANGO CHUTNEY. - Seo Chutnet. INDIAN TAMARINDS. — See TAMARINDS. INFANTS’ FOOD, VARIOUS.— A variety of food is now sold under the general name of Infants’ Food. There is Hardy's Farinaceous Food, Savory and Moore’s Infants’ Food, and also that special one which is sold under the name of “ Infants’ ” food. Under this heading may be included Robinson’s prepared groats and barley, Robinson’s Emden groats, and sago hour, sold in tins and packets, semolina, etc. There is of course no doubt that for very young infants the proper food is that which Nature has provided for them. When through inability, or, alas ! as is too often the case, the unwillingness of the mother to supply her child with that food which it is er duty to give it, there are various substitutes, the chief, of course, and the best of which is milk. Next to Nature’s own food, perhaps, the milk of the donkey is, the best, and next to that is the milk of the goat. The farinaceous foods we have mentioned are better adapted for infants eight or nine months old than for very young children. Parents would all do well to bear in mind the very great importance of, under all circumstances, when it is possible, letting young infants have their natural food. Very often their constitutions for life are affected, either for good or evil, by the food they receive during the first eight or nine months of their existence. The foods we have mentioned are, however, exceedingly valuable at the period when children are weaned. Savory and Moore’s infants’ food is a species of very pure starch, which has been converted into a more digestible food by means of the addition of malt. Hard’s food, again, is pure starch ; sago is obtained from the pith of the sago palm-tree ; while semolina is a very light food formed from the purest wheat flour. As a rule, all these may be said to be better adapted for feeding young children than for very young infants. With regard to Robinson’s patent groats, and Emden groats, they are really ground barley, and are possessed of this very great advantage, that by means of their assistance a basin of gruel or barleywater can be made in a few minutes. When, however, time is of no object, it is well to bear in mind that barley-water made from pearl barley is far preferable