bird should then be stuffed in the following manner : Take two snipes, draw them, putting the bodies on one plate and the livers, etc., on another. Take off all the flesh and mince it finely with a little beef, a little lard, a few truffles (if you can obtain them), peppe'r, cayenne, and salt to taste, and stuff the pheasant carefully with this. Cut a slice of bread, considerably larger than the bird, and cover it with the snipes’ liver, etc., an anchovy, and a little fresh butter. Put the bread, etc., into the dripping-pan, and when the bird is cooked, place it on the prepara¬ tion. Do not be uneasy, Savarin adds, about your dinner, for a pheasant served in this way is fit for beings better than men. The pheasant itself is a very good bird, roasted in the ordinary way, but imbibing the dressing and the flavour of the snipe and the truffles it becomes three times better. 120 THE HOUSEHOLD VEGETABLES. There is nothing in which the difference between an elegant and an ordinary table is more seen than in the dressing of vegetables, especially green vegetables. They may be as equally fine at first, but their look and taste are afterwards very different, entirely from the careless way in which they have been cooked. They are in greatest perfection when in greatest plenty, i.e., when in full season. By season, is meant that time of the year in which, by Nature and common culture, and the mere operation of the sun and climate, they are in most plenty and perfection. Potatoes and peas, are seldom worth eating before midsummer. Unripe vegetables are as insipid and unwholesome as unripe fruits. As to the quality of vegetables, the middle sized are preferred to the largest or the smallest. They are more tender, juicy, and full of flavour just before they are full grown. Freshness is their chief value and excellence. The eye can easily discover if they have been kept too long, as they soon lose their beauty in all respects. Roots, greens, salads, etc., and the various productions of the garden when first gathered, are plump and firm, and have a fragrant freshness no art can give them again when they have lost it by long keeping; though it will refresh them a little to put them into cold water for some time before they are dressed. To boil them in soft water will preserve the colour of such as are green ; if you have only hard water, add a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda to each gallon of water. When cooking green vegetables, the lid of saucepan must be off. If not quite freshly gathered, and they have become flaccid, it is absolutely necessary to restore their crispness before cooking them, or they will be GAS COOKERY BOOK. 121 tough and unpleasant. Lay them in a pan of clean water with a handful of salt (which will cleanse them from dust, dirt, amd insects) for an hour before dress- ing them, and rinse them very thoroughly in some fresh water. See that vegetables are delicately clean, and when the water boils, put in a little salt, skim it perfectly clear before putting in the greens, etc., which should not be put in till the water boils briskly. The quicker they boil the greener they will be. When the vege¬ tables sink, they are generally done enough, if the water has been kept constantly boiling. If not taken up immediately they will lose their colour and good¬ ness.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

bird should then be stuffed in the following manner : Take two snipes, draw them, putting the bodies on one plate and the livers, etc., on another. Take off all the flesh and mince it finely with a little beef, a little lard, a few truffles (if you can obtain them), pepper, cayenne, and salt to taste, and stuff the pheasant carefully with this. Cut a slice of bread, considerably larger than the bird, and cover it with the snipes’ liver, etc., an anchovy, and a little fresh butter. Put the bread, etc., into the dripping-pan, and when the bird is cooked, place it on the prepara¬ tion. Do not be uneasy, Savarin adds, about your dinner, for a pheasant served in this way is fit for beings better than men. The pheasant itself is a very good bird, roasted in the ordinary way, but imbibing the dressing and the flavour of the snipe and the truffles it becomes three times better. VEGETABLES. There is nothing in which the difference between an elegant and an ordinary table is more seen than in the dressing of vegetables, especially green vegetables. They may be as equally fine at first, but their look and taste are afterwards very different, entirely from the careless way in which they have been cooked. They are in greatest perfection when in greatest plenty, i.e., when in full season. By season, is meant that time of the year in which, by Nature and common culture, and the mere operation of the sun and climate, they are in most plenty and perfection. Potatoes and peas, are seldom worth eating before midsummer. Unripe vegetables are as insipid and unwholesome as unripe fruits. As to the quality of vegetables, the middle sized are preferred to the largest or the smallest. They are more tender, juicy, and full of flavour just before they are full grown. Freshness is their chief value and excellence. The eye can easily discover if they have been kept too long, as they soon lose their beauty in all respects. Roots, greens, salads, etc., and the various productions of the garden when first gathered, are plump and firm, and have a fragrant freshness no art can give them again when they have lost it by long keeping; though it will refresh them a little to put them into cold water for some time before they are dressed. To boil them in soft water will preserve the colour of such as are green ; if you have only hard water, add a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda to each gallon of water. When cooking green vegetables, the lid of saucepan must be off. If not quite freshly gathered, and they have become flaccid, it is absolutely necessary to restore their crispness before cooking them, or they will be tough and unpleasant. Lay them in a pan of clean water with a handful of salt (which will cleanse them from dust, dirt, amd insects) for an hour before dressing them, and rinse them very thoroughly in some fresh water. See that vegetables are delicately clean, and when the water boils, put in a little salt, skim it perfectly clear before putting in the greens, etc., which should not be put in till the water boils briskly. The quicker they boil the greener they will be. When the vege¬ tables sink, they are generally done enough, if the water has been kept constantly boiling. If not taken up immediately they will lose their colour and good¬ ness.

The household gas cookery book