Cassell's dictionary of cookery

cooks dip them for a moment into boiling water before storing them. For domestic use, the best way to preserve them is to buy them with the earth still clinging around them, as they are dug out of the ground, to lay them upon straw in a diy, cool cellar, and in winter time to cover them with straw to keep the frost from them. They should be looked over carefully before they are put way, and if there are any rotten ones amongst the number they should be removed, or they may contaminate the rest. When a large quantity are to be preserved, a deep hole should be dug in the ground and lined vnth. straw, the potatoes put into it, and covered with straw. Potatoes, Stuffed.— Hollow out large potatoes, and fill them with mealy potatoes beaten to a paste in a mortar with chopped parsley, chives and shallot, butter, fat bacon cut into dice, pepper and salt. Butter the insides of the potatoes, and nearly fill them with the above paste ; put them on a buttered tin, and bake in a Dutch oven. When browned, serve. Potatoes, Substitutes for. — Oxalis Crniatn, introduced from South America as a substitute for potatoes, which it resembles, may be dressed as follows : — Set the roots on the fire in boiling water, and when soft pour off the water, and place some hot cinders near the lid of the saucepan, which will thoroughly dry the roots, and render them mealy. The stalks of the plant may be peeled, and used like those of rhubarb — in tarts. The Cerfeuil Bulbeux is another substitute for the potato. It is said to surpass that vegetable in nutritive qualities, containing more starch and fatty matter. It has a very agreeable flavour. Another substitute is a gigantic yam, a yard in length, from Rio Janeiro and New Zealand. Potatoes, Varieties of.— The varieties of the potato that are cultivated are very numerous, and new ones are constantly appearing. The soil in which the potato is grown will be found to have a considerable influence in determining the quality of the potato ; and almost every district has its peculiar varieties, their names being quite arbitrary or local. Most kinds are vastly improved by removal to a different locality; hence growers rarely use for many years in succession their own tubers for seed, but continually renew the stock by purchases from another district. One tuber will produce as many separate plants as it has eyes, but a piece of the potato must be planted with each eye or shoot. The many varieties differ in form, size, colour, and time of ripening ; some are more prolific than others, some are naturally waxy and watery, and some are mealy, which is an unfailiug characteristic of the best kinds. Potatoes with Sauce.— Put some butter in a stewpan, thicken it with flour, end fry some onions in it till they become brown. Pour over them some stock broth, and season with salt and pepper, nutmeg, and vinegar. When the onions are sufficiently cooked, add some cooked potatoes; let them remain until they are hot, and then serve immediately. POT ( 637 ) POT Potatoes with Sauce Piquant.—