Tea, — One of the most surprising things one constantly
meets is to find that the people who have the same duties to
perform day after day, or year after year, do not improve
in their manner, or even once blunder into the right way of
doing them. Nothing is more easily made than good tea,
and yet how seldom away from home does one enjoy deli-
cately fragrant tea, which Hawthorne calls "an angel's
gift," and which Miss Mitford said she could be awake all
night drinking. The first thing needed is a clean tea-pot ;
it is useless to try to make good tea in a rusty pot, or one
in which the leaves have been allowed to remain all night.
The water should be boiling, but the tea itself must never
be boiled. I wish these words could be painted on the wall
of every hotel and restaurant kitchen in the United States.
After the boiling water has been poured over the tea, set
the tea-pot on an extra griddle on the back of the stove.
All that is good in the tea will be gradually extracted from
it ; then when brought to the table one may well echo De
Quincey's wish for an "eternal tea-pot," though not in-
clined to follow his example of drinking it from eight
o'clock in the evening until four in. the morning.
The most satisfactory steeper I have ever used is an old-
fashioned brown earthen tea-pot. This may be kept per-
fectly clean with almost no trouble. Whatever may be
said of the hurtfulness of tea wh«n immoderately used, a
cup of the afternoon tea so frequently mentioned in novels
and essays is an unpurchasable luxury. Hamerton says in
"The Intellectual Life" : "If tea is a safe stimulant, it is
certainly an agreeable one, and there seems to be no valid rea-
son whv brain- workers should refuse themselves that solace."
Coffee. — I wish it were possible to impress every one
20 HOUSEHOLD HINTS.
with the convictions I hold upon the subject of boil-
ing ; it seems to me that more mistakes are made in carry-
ing on this process than almost any other. Things that
ought not to be boiled are boiled, and things that ought to
be are not 1 It is easy to make these mistakes ; there comes a
time in baking, frying, or broiling when injured nature re-
volts and burns up, but a thing may boil till not a vestige
of its original condition remains, and, unless the water
evaporates, it may go on boiling for hours without remind-
ing one by smell or smoke that it is spoiled.
Nothing suffers more from this treatment than coffee.
Brown and grind the coffee at home ; it is more trouble,
but the result is so satisfactory that you will be amply re-
paid for your labors. Then have the water boiling when it
is poured over the coffee. If you use the ordinary tin cof-
fee-pot, be sure to stuff some soft paper into the nose to
keep in the steam and the fragrance. After pouring on the
boiling water, let the coffee-pot stand on a hot griddle just
as you do your tea-pot ; in five minutes set it on the front
part of the stove, and let it boil for two or three minutes, not
longer. Allow two large spoonfuls of coffee to each cup of
water. There is nothing so nice to " settle " the coffee as an
egg ; mix the egg with the ground coffee before pouring the
hot water on. If eggs are not plenty and are dear, you may
economize by measuring out in a bowl the quantity of coffee
needed for two mornings ; stir the egg into this, adding a
little cold water, then divide, and so make one Qgg answer ;
cover closely the coffee left for the second morning, so that
it will not lose its strength. If no eggs are to be had, after
the coffee has boiled set it on the hearth of the stove, and
pour in a very little cold water. A bit of codfish skin care-
fully washed is said to answer this purpose.
Cream adds the crowning excellence to a good cup of cof-
fee ; but, if it is not to be had, scald the milk, and stir into
it the white of an egg which has been beaten to a stiff froth.
MEATS, SOUPS, AND FISH. ^ ^21
III.
Household hints
1881Page 8
Presented as published in 1881. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Tea, — One of the most surprising things one constantly meets is to find that the people who have the same duties to perform day after day, or year after year, do not improve in their manner, or even once blunder into the right way of doing them. Nothing is more easily made than good tea, and yet how seldom away from home does one enjoy delicately fragrant tea, which Hawthorne calls "an angel's gift," and which Miss Mitford said she could be awake all night drinking. The first thing needed is a clean tea-pot ; it is useless to try to make good tea in a rusty pot, or one in which the leaves have been allowed to remain all night. The water should be boiling, but the tea itself must never be boiled. I wish these words could be painted on the wall of every hotel and restaurant kitchen in the United States. After the boiling water has been poured over the tea, set the tea-pot on an extra griddle on the back of the stove. All that is good in the tea will be gradually extracted from it ; then when brought to the table one may well echo De Quincey's wish for an "eternal tea-pot," though not inclined to follow his example of drinking it from eight o'clock in the evening until four in the morning.
The most satisfactory steeper I have ever used is an oldfashioned brown earthen tea-pot. This may be kept perfectly clean with almost no trouble. Whatever may be said of the hurtfulness of tea when immoderately used, a cup of the afternoon tea so frequently mentioned in novels and essays is an unpurchasable luxury. Hamerton says in "The Intellectual Life" : "If tea is a safe stimulant, it is certainly an agreeable one, and there seems to be no valid reason whv brain- workers should refuse themselves that solace."
Coffee. — I wish it were possible to impress every one
with the convictions I hold upon the subject of boiling ; it seems to me that more mistakes are made in carrying on this process than almost any other. Things that ought not to be boiled are boiled, and things that ought to be are not 1 It is easy to make these mistakes ; there comes a time in baking, frying, or broiling when injured nature revolts and burns up, but a thing may boil till not a vestige of its original condition remains, and, unless the water evaporates, it may go on boiling for hours without reminding one by smell or smoke that it is spoiled.
Nothing suffers more from this treatment than coffee.
Brown and grind the coffee at home ; it is more trouble, but the result is so satisfactory that you will be amply repaid for your labors. Then have the water boiling when it is poured over the coffee. If you use the ordinary tin coffee-pot, be sure to stuff some soft paper into the nose to keep in the steam and the fragrance. After pouring on the boiling water, let the coffee-pot stand on a hot griddle just as you do your tea-pot ; in five minutes set it on the front part of the stove, and let it boil for two or three minutes, not longer. Allow two large spoonfuls of coffee to each cup of water. There is nothing so nice to " settle " the coffee as an egg ; mix the egg with the ground coffee before pouring the hot water on. If eggs are not plenty and are dear, you may economize by measuring out in a bowl the quantity of coffee needed for two mornings ; stir the egg into this, adding a little cold water, then divide, and so make one egg answer ; cover closely the coffee left for the second morning, so that it will not lose its strength. If no eggs are to be had, after the coffee has boiled set it on the hearth of the stove, and pour in a very little cold water. A bit of codfish skin carefully washed is said to answer this purpose.
Cream adds the crowning excellence to a good cup of coffee ; but, if it is not to be had, scald the milk, and stir into it the white of an egg which has been beaten to a stiff froth.
MEATS, SOUPS, AND FISH. 21