Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book

Seakale should be neatly trimmed, leaving just enough of the stump on each piece to hold the parts together in nicelysized bundles. Wash each piece very carefully to get rid of all earth or grit. Tie every two or three bundles together. Boil in salted boiling water for twenty minutes. Try with a skewer if the Seakale is perfectly tender. Drain it carefully, remove the strings or tapes, and serve on a hot dish. Do not lay the Seakale on toast, and do not send it up drowned in melted butter. The melted butter should be handed in a boat. Seakale is excellent cold. In this case, sprinkle a very few drops of tarragon vinegar over it, and hand plain cream cold in a cream-jug. Or Seakale can be boiled in milk and water, and served in a very hot dish, with a pat of butter laid upon it at the last moment. Seakale is one of our indigenous English vegetables, and will by no means lend itself to the additions and flavourings of foreign cookery. It is curious that Wm. Salmon, who published his “Herbal” in 1710 (dedicating it to Queen Anne, whose physician he was), should actually pity the “ Several Poor People near the Sea ” who had to eat the wild Seakale. He admits, however, that by much boiling of the young leaves “ the bitterness thereof ” was greatly lessened. SORREL. Sorrel ought to be much more used than it is in England, and it is important to cook it as soon as it is picked. Sorrel fades quickly, and if bought from a shop always needs to be revived in water before it is cooked. Sorrel should be washed like Spinach, picked, the stalks nipped off, and it should then be carefully drained, scalded in boiling water, and rubbed through a sieve. Put it back in the saucepan, add a little veal broth, and simmer till the Sorrel is 36° SORREL a smooth puree. Or add an ounce of butter and a tablespoonful of flour to the Sorrel, work all well together, and stir in two tablespoonfuls of gravy over a low fire just before serving. Sorrel, after having been boiled, can be rubbed through a • tamis into a stewpan, and stewed for a few minutes, adding an ounce of butter and two tablespoonfuls of white sauce. In cooking Sorrel a little sugar must always be used. If the flavour is thought too sharp, cook the Sorrel with Spinach, using either half of each or one part Sorrel to three parts Spinach, according to taste. If the Sorrel is old, Lettuce is better than Spinach to cook with it, as the Lettuce softens the sour taste of the Sorrel. Sorrel Sauce. — Thicken half a pint of broth with the Sorrel puree made as above, and add a few Lettuce leaves shredded. Serve with veal or mutton cutlets. Many people like a little onion with Sorrel sauce. Sorrel, carefully prepared, can be cooked in any of the ways recommended for Spinach. No vegetable is more wholesome, especially when young and fresh. SHALLOTS. Shallots are of the same family as Garlic, but infinitely milder in flavour. A clove of the bulb of a Shallot is very useful in many ways, and is often rubbed over a pie-dish before the meat is put in. In cultivating or ordering Shallots the kind to choose is the true Shallot (indigenous in Palestine). This kind is long and pointed in shape, and much better in flavour than the coarser and larger varieties. The French name is Eschalote. SPINACH.