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Cold dishes for hot weather

1896

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Presented as published in 1896. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
When the hot midsummer months come, who is it that does not feel a repugnance for hot food, and whose palate does not demand something delicate yet cold ? For them, and for the housekeeper who is so unfortunate as to have to attend to the culinary department of her establishment, is this book intended. All the receipts given are for dishes to be eaten cold ; many of them require no cook- ing, as canned and preserved goods may be used in their preparation, although fresh meats and vegetables are always preferable ; and all can be prepared in the cool morning Ijours, before the sun's rays make life hardly bearable. iv PREFACE The authors hope that this collection of receipts will be welcome, taking, as it does, the one unfilled place in the long list of culinary works. The Authobs. April, 18»6. CONTENTS PAOB COHSOMMB 1 Fish 5 Meats 16 Poultry 26 Game 31 Vegetables 35 bouchees 37 Pies and Patties 42 Fish Patties 49 Cold Sauces and Dressings 51 Salads . . • 58 Creams 75 Charlottes 79 Jellies 84 Ice-Creams and Water-Ices 88 Cakes and Biscuits 101 Tarts and Pies 110 puddinqs 113 Jams and Jellies 118 Sandwiches and Savory Morsels 120 INTRODUCTION We read in physiology that " many aro- matic substances" and "various kinds of flesh when well cooked, especially when highly spiced or flavored with sauce, un- doubtedly excite the stomach, and stimu- late the appetite by their odor, and it is this that makes the artifices of cookery so valuable Avhen the appetite is not naturally strong"; so that by going into the higher sciences — for cookery is a science in itself — we find the methods which should be fol- lowed by all cooks, and which the French long ago discovered and put to practical use, by which means a dish is made appetizing by giving it a flavor that shall not alone tickle our nostrils, but also excite our appe- tite by its fragrance. viii INTRODUCTION As the appetite is excited by the sense of smell, so is it also by that of sight. A dish may be very fragrant, and also agreeable to the palate, but if the general appearance is not such as to please the organs of sight it will so counterbalance the sense of smell that, if the appetite of the person be not highly developed, the dish will be repug- nant, and the diner unable to bring himself to eat it. It naturally follows that the cook must be also an artist, both as to the aroma of his or her preparations and as to the artistic arrangement of the different dishes with which he or she would please the palate of the gourmet. The authors believe that the receipts given will be — for their fragrance and taste — wel- come, but they leave to the artistic ability of the cook to so garnish the different dishes as to make them pleasing to the sight. All greens, such as cresses, parsley, lettuce, etc., and vegetables, such as beets, carrots, INTRODUCTION ix radishes, also eggs, and, in fact, one thousand and one things, will suggest themselves to the cook of artistic taste, which can be used to garnish the dishes with. For desserts, fancily cut colored papers, Chinese paper napkins, narrow ribbons of bright colors, mottoes, etc., can be used to give an attractive appearance to the differ- ent dishes. Consomme Consomme should be strained very clear, and so served, or colored with a little burnt sugar or a piece of bread toasted. It may be taken as a liquid, or, as some people pre- fer, a jelly. Very good soups and consomm6 may be bought in tins and jars at any of the princi- pal grocers', but these, like all canned or pre- served goods, lack that delicate flavor which can only be obtained from fresh goods. calf's-foot consomme Calf's-foot Consomme