There is one thing more, however, that may make
the dish look still prettier, and that is a little lobster-
spawn. If the lobster contained any spawn, take a
small piece and cut it up into little pieces the size of
a pin’s head, or a little bigger — a dozen and a half
pieces will be sufficient — and sprinkle these over the
sauce alternately with the little green pieces of parsley.
It has been described how to make a nice-looking
little lobster salad mayonnaise for about four persons.
When, however, a considerably larger dish, and several
of them, are required, such as for a wedding breakfast
or ball supper, you should get by way of garnish a
few little crayfish or prawns. A small crayfish placed
in the corner of each dish, with its claws outstretched,
resting on the mayonnaise sauce, looks very pretty.
If, too, the dish is of a considerable size, a small one
may be lightly placed on the top as an ornament.
Now, we have described one way of ornamenting
a lobster salad, but, of course, this is only one out of
an infinite number of methods. Nor do we maintain
that this is by any means the prettiest method ; but
we have given it as one of the simplest. For instance,
mayonnaise sauce can be coloured red by mixing up
some lobster butter with it, or green, by means of
parsley-juice. Plovers’ eggs, too, when they can be
obtained, form a very pretty garnish. Leaves or
flowers can be cut out of beetroot with a stamp, and
be used by way of ornament. The long, thin tendons
of the lobster can be arranged, too, to stick upright
out of the centre, but they should be put in before the
mayonnaise sauce is placed on the lobster.
Perhaps a few explanations of why the salad was
prepared in the order named may not be out of place.
It will be observed that the anchovies, capers, etc.,
TO MAKE DISHES LOOK NICE. 53
were got ready early, but the beetroot was not cut up
till long afterwards ; the reason of this is, fresh-cut
beetroot looks a bright red, but after some hours, if it
gets stale, it has a sort of withered look, and turns a
dirty reddish-brown colour ; so too, with the egg :
never cut open a hard-boiled egg until it is nearly time
to use it, as the egg dries up, and the yellow yolk looks
dark and separates from the white. The capers, too,
were dried, as if dropped on to the spread-out sauce
wet they would spoil its appearance.
Lastly, do not be disappointed if you do not succeed
in getting the sauce thick the first time ; and do not be
afraid of the oil. One yolk of an egg will use up nearly
a tea-cupful of oil. It requires a peculiar quick move-
ment of the wrist, and, like whipping cream into a froth,
it is not always learnt in a day. We fear that among
the Mary Ann class, there are some heavy-fisted women
who would never learn it at all. The dish, however,
is well worth the trial, and if you can get one person
to do the sauce and another to ornament the dish, all
the better, as the exertion of making the sauce has often
the effect of making the hand shake so much that it is
incapable of arranging the beetroot, etc., with any
degree of nicety.
CHAPTER VI.
BREAKFAST DISHES.
Page 26
Presented as published in 1906. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
There is one thing more, however, that may make the dish look still prettier, and that is a little lobsterspawn. If the lobster contained any spawn, take a small piece and cut it up into little pieces the size of a pin’s head, or a little bigger — a dozen and a half pieces will be sufficient — and sprinkle these over the sauce alternately with the little green pieces of parsley.
It has been described how to make a nice-looking little lobster salad mayonnaise for about four persons. When, however, a considerably larger dish, and several of them, are required, such as for a wedding breakfast or ball supper, you should get by way of garnish a few little crayfish or prawns. A small crayfish placed in the corner of each dish, with its claws outstretched, resting on the mayonnaise sauce, looks very pretty. If, too, the dish is of a considerable size, a small one may be lightly placed on the top as an ornament.
Now, we have described one way of ornamenting a lobster salad, but, of course, this is only one out of an infinite number of methods. Nor do we maintain that this is by any means the prettiest method ; but we have given it as one of the simplest. For instance, mayonnaise sauce can be coloured red by mixing up some lobster butter with it, or green, by means of parsley-juice. Plovers’ eggs, too, when they can be obtained, form a very pretty garnish. Leaves or flowers can be cut out of beetroot with a stamp, and be used by way of ornament. The long, thin tendons of the lobster can be arranged, too, to stick upright out of the centre, but they should be put in before the mayonnaise sauce is placed on the lobster.
Perhaps a few explanations of why the salad was prepared in the order named may not be out of place. It will be observed that the anchovies, capers, etc.,
were got ready early, but the beetroot was not cut up till long afterwards ; the reason of this is, fresh-cut beetroot looks a bright red, but after some hours, if it gets stale, it has a sort of withered look, and turns a dirty reddish-brown colour ; so too, with the egg : never cut open a hard-boiled egg until it is nearly time to use it, as the egg dries up, and the yellow yolk looks dark and separates from the white. The capers, too, were dried, as if dropped on to the spread-out sauce wet they would spoil its appearance.
Lastly, do not be disappointed if you do not succeed in getting the sauce thick the first time ; and do not be afraid of the oil. One yolk of an egg will use up nearly a tea-cupful of oil. It requires a peculiar quick movement of the wrist, and, like whipping cream into a froth, it is not always learnt in a day. We fear that among the Mary Ann class, there are some heavy-fisted women who would never learn it at all. The dish, however, is well worth the trial, and if you can get one person to do the sauce and another to ornament the dish, all the better, as the exertion of making the sauce has often the effect of making the hand shake so much that it is incapable of arranging the beetroot, etc., with any degree of nicety.
CHAPTER VI.