Butter is such a universal spread we seldom think of changing to cream cheese, smearkase, mayonnaise and other equally good lubricators for bread. But in Europe butter is only one of the spreads and plain juicy black or rye bread is just as often covered with chicken fat, olive oil, even plain mustard, to make an appetiz- ing snack with beer and other drinks. Such things as catsup, chili sauce, pickled horseradish and garlic roasted soft make a slice of honest, well-knit bread, white or black, into a miniature meal. In fact, this last is the standard lunch of Italian shepherds. They carry along half a loaf of bread and dozens of whole heads of garlic which are roasted in the embers of olive twig fires until they become soft as butter and are then spread on the bread. Since cooking takes the strong taste and high spirit out of all onions, this is much milder than garlic sliced raw on bread moistened with olive oil. But we use olive oil mostly in the form of mayonnaise, and it's a pleasant change to spread bread with that, especially if a little relish, such as chopped chives or piccalilli is mixed into the mayon- naise. Or try beating the yolk of a hard-cooked egg into it, with a little salt and a couple of drops of Tabasco. Such relishes go as well and tend to go farther when mixed with butter, and when creamed with ordinary cottage or Dutch cheese, 63 64 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK which is good food and also cheap all over the world, youVe got something. Here are some suggestions for savory spreads to take the curse off common salty store butter: In summer mince fresh petals of roses, nasturtiums, violets, orange blossoms, apple, peach — in fact any fruity blossoms and perfumy flowers such as honey-filled clover heads, and mix them with ordinary butter, or with cottage or cream cheese and mayon- naise. This is a common practice in Europe, where spreads are never monotonous. GIBLET SPREADS Pound cooked livers, hearts, gizzards, the little eggs found inside a fat hen, or any combination thereof to make a paste with butter, cream cheese or mayonnaise for toast or crackers. CELERY Instead of throwing away fresh celery leaves pound them to a paste, pep them up with a little vinegar or lemon juice and salt, mix into an equal amount of butter, cheese or mayonnaise. AVOCADO BUTTER When avocados are both ripe and cheap, scoop the luscious vegetable butter out of the shell and mash it to a paste, seasoning with a little lemon juice and salt. This is a most refreshing spread as is, or it can be mixed with equal parts of regular butter. NUT SPREADS Pound nuts to oily paste, season with salt and cayenne and mix into 3-4 times as much softened butter, cheese, or mayonnaise. SHRIMP BUTTER 4-5 DRIED SHRIMP ^i POUND SWEET BUTTER Pound dried shrimp to powder and cream into butter, then rub it through a fine sieve. Dried shrimp can be bought reasonably in any Chinatown. They are already shelled, so it isn't much trouble to pound them to SAVORY SPREADS 65 powder and use like curry in seasoning anything which lends itself to their high, sharp flavor.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Butter is such a universal spread we seldom think of changing to cream cheese, smearcase, mayonnaise and other equally good lubricators for bread. But in Europe butter is only one of the spreads and plain juicy black or rye bread is just as often covered with chicken fat, olive oil, even plain mustard, to make an appetizing snack with beer and other drinks. Such things as catsup, chili sauce, pickled horseradish and garlic roasted soft make a slice of honest, well-knit bread, white or black, into a miniature meal. In fact, this last is the standard lunch of Italian shepherds. They carry along half a loaf of bread and dozens of whole heads of garlic which are roasted in the embers of olive twig fires until they become soft as butter and are then spread on the bread. Since cooking takes the strong taste and high spirit out of all onions, this is much milder than garlic sliced raw on bread moistened with olive oil. But we use olive oil mostly in the form of mayonnaise, and it's a pleasant change to spread bread with that, especially if a little relish, such as chopped chives or piccalilli is mixed into the mayonnaise. Or try beating the yolk of a hard-cooked egg into it, with a little salt and a couple of drops of Tabasco. Such relishes go as well and tend to go farther when mixed with butter, and when creamed with ordinary cottage or Dutch cheese, which is good food and also cheap all over the world, you've got something. Here are some suggestions for savory spreads to take the curse off common salty store butter: In summer mince fresh petals of roses, nasturtiums, violets, orange blossoms, apple, peach — in fact any fruity blossoms and perfumy flowers such as honey-filled clover heads, and mix them with ordinary butter, or with cottage or cream cheese and mayonnaise. This is a common practice in Europe, where spreads are never monotonous. GIBLET SPREADS Pound cooked livers, hearts, gizzards, the little eggs found inside a fat hen, or any combination thereof to make a paste with butter, cream cheese or mayonnaise for toast or crackers. CELERY Instead of throwing away fresh celery leaves pound them to a paste, pep them up with a little vinegar or lemon juice and salt, mix into an equal amount of butter, cheese or mayonnaise. AVOCADO BUTTER When avocados are both ripe and cheap, scoop the luscious vegetable butter out of the shell and mash it to a paste, seasoning with a little lemon juice and salt. This is a most refreshing spread as is, or it can be mixed with equal parts of regular butter. NUT SPREADS Pound nuts to oily paste, season with salt and cayenne and mix into 3-4 times as much softened butter, cheese, or mayonnaise. SHRIMP BUTTER 4-5 DRIED SHRIMP ^i POUND SWEET BUTTER Pound dried shrimp to powder and cream into butter, then rub it through a fine sieve. Dried shrimp can be bought reasonably in any Chinatown. They are already shelled, so it isn't much trouble to pound them to SAVORY SPREADS 65 powder and use like curry in seasoning anything which lends itself to their high, sharp flavor.

Most for your money cookbook