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

PARMESAN CHEESE.— Parmesan cheese is a hard, dry Italian cheese, and is very largely used for cooking purposes. Indeed, in almost every dish in which cheese is used, Parmesan cheese is recommended. When eaten by itself, which is sometimes done, it is always first grated, and then handed round with butter or plain bread. One of the chief uses of Parmesan cheese is that it is served with almost every kind of Italian soup. By Italian soup I mean all those soups which contain any kind of Italian paste, such as macaroni, vermicelli, Italian paste, etc. The general fault in using Parmesan cheese with soups is that persons are apt to take too much. A small quantity of grated cheese assists and improves the flavour of soup, but a large quantity will quite overpower the flavour. Grated Parmesan cheese is also used for a very large variety of dishes served under the general name of au gratin. Originally all dishes under this designation were finished off with a slight addition of Parmesan cheese. For instance, sole au gratin, tomatoes au gratin, mushrooms au gratin, etc., had a small quantity of Parmesan cheese shaken over them after the breadcrumbs were added. I think, however, in the present day this custom has been somewhat discontinued. In adding grated Parmesan cheese to any rich dish like sole au gratin, etc., the cook should be careful not to add too much. The chief use of Parmesan cheese is in serving it with Italian paste, cooked with butter, tomatoes, etc. Under the heading of ‘ ‘ Sparghetti ” — (see Spargh etti ) — I have given a receipt in which Parmesan cheese plays an important part. So, too, in ordinary macaroni served in Italian fashion a considerable quantity of Parmesan cheese should be added. (See Macaroni.) Parmesan cheese can also be handed round with rice whenever rice is served as a dish by itself, or in conjunction with onions, tomatoes, etc. Indeed, I think in Italy Parmesan cheese seems to be handed round with almost everything. There is one very nice dish which I must not omit in speaking of Parmesan cheese — namely, cheese souffle. I may here add that Parmesan cheese is superior to every other kind of grated cheese, yet the remains of ordinary English cheese can be used for the same purpose, if only grated when it is perfectly dry. Take about two tablespoonfuls of grated cheese, break two eggs, separate the whites from the yolks, and beat the whites to a stiff froth. Add a little pepper and salt. Then beat up the yolks separately with a quarter of a pint of milk, and mix the whole carefully together. Next have a small round well-buttered tin about four inches in depth, and make this very hot in the oven. Now pour in the mixture, place it in the oven, and bake it for about twenty minutes. The souffle will rise to four, five, or six times its original height. It should be served very quickly. It is customary for the cook to surround the tin with a folded napkin or a piece of ornamental paper. It is so necessary that the souffle should be served quickly that the cook should so manage that the souffle can be dropped into the folded napkin or paper instantly. As few seconds should elapse between the oven and the dining-room as possible. Parmesan cheese is sold by the pound, and is easily grated, but a very convenient way of having a small quantity always ready in the house is by buying it ready grated in bottles.