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

A small heap of black caviare can be surrounded with chopped white of egg and filleted anchovies, or with chopped capers, stoned olives, etc. Another very nice form of serving caviare is hot on toast, after dinner, in the place of anchovies on toast. When this is the case the caviare should be first made warm in the oven in a saucer, as the toast is always best when served fresh made. The toast should be first of all slightly buttered, the caviare spread on the top, and a little sprinkle of cayenne pepper and some lemon-juice should be added. The toast should then be cut into inch squares, the whole placed in the oven for about a minute, and served hot. Many persons consider this very superior to anchovies on toast. CAYENNE PEPPER.— There is an old saying that if you wish to have good soup you must lock up the pepper-box. Certainly many cooks fall into the great fault of putting too much pepper into soups, sauces, and gravies. This will be particularly noticeable with those who have lived in Indian families. Cayenne pepper, like many other good things, must be used with moderation : and when so used is a most useful flavouring. It will, I think, as a rule, be found a good plan to use a little cayenne pepper in flavouring soups in preference to a large quantity of ordinary pepper. Indeed, the best of all is to use a little of both in moderation, as I have said. The ordinary form in which cayenne pepper is made is that of a bright-red powder, which is to a certain extent insoluble. When, therefore, cayenne pepper has been used for the purpose of flavouring any kind of clear soup, the cook should be careful, in pouring off the soup, to first of all let it settle. A white basin is the best for soup to settle in. Then, when the soup is poured off carefully, the last few spoonfuls will be found to contain a certain species of dregs consisting chiefly of the grains of black pepper and red pepper, which should be retained and not added to the soup. There are various kinds of cayenne pepper. One very useful form is that of soluble cayenne, sometimes called Indian salt. In using this soluble cayenne pepper it should be borne in mind that it is salt as well as hot ; and when much pepper is used no salt .should be added to the soup except that which is mixed with the pepper. One great advantage in using soluble cayenne pepper is that there are no dregs, and that therefore there is no occasion for the soup in which it is used to be poured off or strained. Cayenne pepper is the active principle of what may be called “ devils ” — such as devilled bones, devilled turkey, devilled sardines, devilled whitebait, etc. In devilling bones — such as legs of turkey or fowl — it is always host to mix cayenne pepper with some French mustard ; or should there be none obtainable, some butter. The meat on the bones should be sliced down to the bone in stripes, and the mixture of cayenne pepper, mustard, butter, etc., be inserted in the stripes thus made. By this means the flavour of cayenne and mustard will be thoroughly got into the meat. Too often, when bones are grilled or devilled, it will be found that the hot devil, which forms such an agreeable part of the dish, is merely superficial, and frequently falls off in the plate in the shape of black scales. When, however,