Gancel's culinary encyclopedia of modern cooking

CHOCOLATE Dissolved, 1 lb. chocolate w. hot milk, put on the fire, stir, add 1 qt. milk. Boil a few minutes, add sugar if necessary. Same w. water. ARABIAN RACAOUT (Racaout des Arabes) Racaout, 2 table spoons diluted w. 2 spoons of milk, add y2 qt. milk w. water, cooked 5 minutes. Composi¬ tion y2 lb. cocoa, y2 lb. rice fecula, 1 lb. oatmeal flour, put 2 lbs. icing sugar in sieve, mash very fine, one teaspoon per person. FIRE-BRAND MANDARIN (Brulot Mandarine) Take a mandarine, cut the skin in the center, and turn without breaking so as to form a cup ; fill with lumps of sugar and fine champagne, brandy or kirsch. Light, burn and keep stirring. Serve in coffee. POUSSE CAFE Composed in liquor glass, 4 liquors not to be mixed- Ceram of mint, fine champagne brandy, chartreuse and cream of cacao. THE CELLAR (La Cave) The cellar should be exposed to the north and be cold and dry. The sun should never penetrate through the air holes, and in very hot and cold weather the holes should be closed to prevent immediate action in change of temperature. The temperature of the wine cellar should be from 10 to 12 degrees centigrade above zero, or 56 degrees Fahrenheit. If it is too dry, it evaporates the wines. In a good cellar an ordinary barrel will absorb 2 or 3 glasses of liquid each month, otherwise if the cellar is too dry it will absorb 1 quart. The temperature should not vary more than 2 or 3 degrees, for the extreme cold or heat will destroy the quality of the wine. The bottles should be placed in boxes and laid down flat so that the wine will touch the cork. The bottles should be put in order, to keep from breaking. Look at each — 438 — THE CELLAR bottle and see if the wine is in good condition and if it is not clear let stand for 24 hours until all of the deposit goes to the bottom, or put it in a decanter. Young wines of good quality get old and obtain a cer¬ tain “bouquet” when kept in a cellar of moderate tem¬ perature, but not too long a time. Champagne, Rhine wine and Moselle should be kept in cool cellars. See that each bottle is Well corked. TO DECANT WINES (Les Vins Decantes) The decanting of wines consists in pouring it ouv slowly, the bottle should be slightly inclined, so as not to disturb the deposit which proves the good quality. The transparent color of the wine contributes largely to the pleasure in drinking it. At dinner the wine is generally put in decanters of cut glass.. An¬ other easy way is to put the bottle in a small basket, which is held by two rings, then pour out slowly. But it is necessary in this manner to place the bottles several hours before dinner time, when the wine has sufficiently reposed. CHAMPAGNE (Le Champagne) The manner of uncorking champagne is very easy these days. After taking of the wire, the cork should be taken of slowly and without any noise. The cham¬ pagne glass should be very near when pouring it so none will be wasted. Pour out slowly on the side of the glass so it will stop effervesing and the glass is filled without any loss. No glass should ever be filled to the top with any kind of wine. Champagne of the best quality should be put on ice twenty minutes. Wines lose their quality when kept on the ice too long. HOW TO CHILL CHAMPAGNE (Maniere de frapper le -Champagne)