Banquets of the nations

Bone a good fat duck without breaking the skin ; pour into it a mixture made of a teaspoonful each of mustard, sesame oil, and soy. Make a gravy of the bones and giblets, seasoning it with pepper, salt, soupherbs, and a few bay leaves. Mince together with the liver of the duck two pounds and a half of good beef, half a pound of beef suet, a dessertspoonful of chopped garden herbs, a teaspoonful of grated bread-crumbs, a teaspoonful of curry powder, a sliced apple, and a teaspoonful each of black pepper, salt, and sugar. Mix these well together, and stuff the duck. Put three BURMAH ounces of good oil in a pot, and when hot, put in the duck along with a quarter of a pound of curdled milk, four steeped and stoned green mangoes, and six potatoes cleaned and quartered ; pour over the giblet gravy, and allow it to cook until tender. Eat with rice, pickles, and chutney. Pa-Zoon-hin. (Roast Prawns.) Shell one dozen large prawns, after parboiling them. Put two ounces of oil into a frying-pan till hot, then put in two teaspoonfuls of ground onions, half teaspoonful each of ground chillies and turmeric, and a pinch of ground garlic. When brown add the prawns and three quarters of a teaspoonful of salt, and fry them brown. Eaten with plain boiled rice and mixed pickles dressed in oil. Tha-yet-thee-chin. (Pickled Fruit.) Wipe dry some different kinds of plums, cherries, grapes, and any other small fruits which are not quite ripe. Boil sufficient very good vinegar to cover, adding a teaspoonful of turmeric, same of coriander and cumin seeds, half teaspoonful of cinnamon and half [that quantity of caraway, and half a salt-spoonful of cayenne pepper, to every quart of vinegar. When boiled up, pour over the fruits, which you had placed in jars, and when cold cork very tightly, and cover the latter in a couple of days with wax or bladder. Tho-tha-jaw. (Fried Mutton.) Two pounds of mutton, two tablespoonfuls of lard, two teaspoonfuls of coriander seed, one and a half teaspoonfuls of salt, half tablespoonful curry powder, pinch of cayenne pepper, the same of white pepper, one small onion, one sour salted lime, six sour and salted plums, and three teacupfuls of water. Pound the coriander, salt, curry powder, cayenne, and onion, into a semi-solid paste, which fry in melted lard in a hot stew-pan for a minute, but do not let it char. Then put the meat (already washed in cold water and cut in small pieces) in the lard, stirring till it is thoroughly browned. Put in the water and the sour lime and sour plums, which have been pounded into a smooth mass, close the lid on the pot, and stew on a slow fire for one and a half hours, or till tender. The gravy left at the end of the cooking should be reduced to one cupful. Serve with boiled rice. If any vegetable is to be added to the meat, then it should be fried with the meat and undergo the same process as the meat. Skinned potatoes cut in quarters are the best. Thayet thee. (Stewed Mangoes.) Steep a dozen green mangoes in water for thirty-six hours. Drain thoroughly, and put them in a pan with strong sugar syrup, and stew till tender. BURMAH Zithei. (Stewed Plums.) Wash and dry thoroughly and stew in the oven or at the side of the fire in a strong sugar syrup till tender but not pulped. Mixed Pickles.