Culinary jottings

In order to blanch the artichoke stems, it is necessary, after the vegetable has been gathered, to bend the shoot down, and earth it up : the parts thus covered turn white, and you in this way obtain an excellent substitute for cardoons. Salsify — (salsifis on scorsonera) is an edible root which we ought to grow abundantly in India. There are two kinds of this vegetable : — the white and the black. The former is called salsifis, the latter scorsonera. The one is gathered in its first year's growth, the other not until it is two years old. I do not know whether any of our horticultural societies have yet introduced salsify or not ; in case it may have been grown, I take the opportunity of recommending the previous recipe (viz. : — a la moelle) as equally applicable to the gently stewed roots of this plant. Salsify has a very perceptible flavour of the oyster (is indeed called the "oyster plant" in America), and forms several delicious entremets. The roots peel easily when boiled, and the pulp is as white as snow. Simply mashed with cream, and a tea-spoonful of anchovy sauce, with a covering of bread-crumbs strewn over it, and a little melted butter, then baked till brown, and served in coquilles, salsify presents an exact imitation of " oysters scalloped." Salsify puree with cream can be served wherever oyster isauce is recommended, with a tasty fillet of beef for instance, it makes a most toothsome plat, and as a white Soupe (puree) it can be sent up as a bisque d'huîtres. Never peel black salsify (scorsonera) before boiling, for, if cut, it "sweats," and loses much of its moisture.. Boil first, and peel afterwards. This advice is the result of personal experience. Asparagus, and seakale, if procurable, should be picked carefully, washed, and tied up in little bundles with all the heads level : then, with a very sharp knife, the stalks should also be cut level. Put the trimmed bundles into fast boiling water with a good allowance of salt and a little sugar. They should then be carefully drained, and served au naturel, with "Dutch sauce," or a plain dressing of oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt. The following wrinkle is given by the author of Food and Feeding : — "Asparagus of the stouter sort, always when of the giant variety, should be cut of exactly equal lengths, and boiled standing ends (the green tips) upwards, in a deep sauce-pan. Nearly two inches of the heads should be out of the water — the steam sufficing to cook them, as they form the tenderest part of the plant ; while the hard stalky part is rendered soft and succulent by the longer boiling which this plan permits. A period of thirty or forty minutes on the plan recommended will render fully a third more of the stalk delicious, while the head will be properly cooked in the steam alone." There is a custom followed by ignorant English, as well as by native cooks, of placing a slice of toasted bread in the dish destined to receive a bundle of asparagus, seakale, &,c., over which they finally pour a plentiful bath of tasteless flour and water called " w^hite sauce." The toast is utterly unnecessary, and the sauce — butter plainly melted — ought invariably to be handed round, piping hot, in a boat.