and cress, and that very wholesome plant the watercress,
compose an excellent salad during the winter and spring
months. During this time also the delicious celery is in
season, and forms a very appetising addition to the
luncheon or dinner-table, being especially esteemed as an
adjunct to bread and cheese. Radishes also and beetroot
frequently form ingredients in a winter salad, which abroad
is often composed of sliced potato dressed like cucumber,
with oil and vinegar.
Celery is sometimes stewed as a vegetable, and of late
has been much recommended as a cure for rheumatism, and
a variety known as celeriac, of which the root only is eaten,
has long been cultivated in Germany for stewing. This
has recently been introduced into England, but is still only
rarely used.
The composition of a salad is a matter of great nicety,
and is seldom left to the taste of an ordinary cook. Abroad
the great bowl is set before the mistress of the house, who
proceeds to dress it with oil and vinegar, salt, pepper, and
mustard. In England less oil and a greater variety of
condiment is used, such as is well expressed in the poetical
recipe of Sidney Smith, —
' Two large potatoes, pass'd through kitchen sieve,
Smoothness and softness to the salad give;
Of mordent mustard add a single spoon,
Distrust the condiment that bites too soon ;
But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault
To add a double quantity of salt :
Four times the spoon with oil of Lucca crown,
And twice with vinegar procured from " town " ;
True flavour needs it, and your poet begs
The pounded yellow of two well-boiled eggs.
242 OUR VIANDS
Let onion's atoms lurk within the bowl,
And scarce suspected, animate the whole ;
And lastly, in the flavour'd compound toss
A magic spoonful of anchovy sauce.
Oh ! great and glorious, and herbaceous treat,
'Twould tempt the dying anchorite to eat.
Back to the world he'd turn his weary soul,
And plunge his fingers in the salad-bowl.'
Truly an excellent dressing; but curiously enough the
salad itself is omitted altogether. And here I would hint to
those not much accustomed to continental fashions, that
whenever the salad makes its appearance, whether at hotel
or private table, they may be sure that the feast, as far as
meats are concerned, is ended, and if they have not already
satisfied their appetite, they must content themselves with
the dish (usually roast fowl) which accompanies the salad,
for they will get nothing afterwards excepting pastry and
dessert.
Of the numerous useful pot-herbs known to cooks, each
deserves a special notice, for most of them have medicinal
as well as culinary virtues ; but it is impossible to do more
than name two or three of the principal. Parsley is perhaps
that in most universal use, for not only is it employed in
numerous seasonings and soups, but it is also largely used
in garnishing. It was used by the Greeks, and is said to
have been introduced into England in the sixteenth
century, but was probably known much earlier.
Sage, known now chiefly in association with onions as a
seasoning for ducks, geese, and roast pork, was formerly
much in vogue as a medicine in the form of tea, and the
leaves were also pressed in curd, which, under the name of
sage-cheese, was highly esteemed, as well as another cheese,
SALADS AND SEASONINGS 243
Our viands
1893Page 121
Presented as published in 1893. 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
A modernized reading is not available for this page yet. You are seeing the original text.
and cress, and that very wholesome plant the watercress,
compose an excellent salad during the winter and spring
months. During this time also the delicious celery is in
season, and forms a very appetising addition to the
luncheon or dinner-table, being especially esteemed as an
adjunct to bread and cheese. Radishes also and beetroot
frequently form ingredients in a winter salad, which abroad
is often composed of sliced potato dressed like cucumber,
with oil and vinegar.
Celery is sometimes stewed as a vegetable, and of late
has been much recommended as a cure for rheumatism, and
a variety known as celeriac, of which the root only is eaten,
has long been cultivated in Germany for stewing. This
has recently been introduced into England, but is still only
rarely used.
The composition of a salad is a matter of great nicety,
and is seldom left to the taste of an ordinary cook. Abroad
the great bowl is set before the mistress of the house, who
proceeds to dress it with oil and vinegar, salt, pepper, and
mustard. In England less oil and a greater variety of
condiment is used, such as is well expressed in the poetical
recipe of Sidney Smith, —
' Two large potatoes, pass'd through kitchen sieve,
Smoothness and softness to the salad give;
Of mordent mustard add a single spoon,
Distrust the condiment that bites too soon ;
But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault
To add a double quantity of salt :
Four times the spoon with oil of Lucca crown,
And twice with vinegar procured from " town " ;
True flavour needs it, and your poet begs
The pounded yellow of two well-boiled eggs.
242 OUR VIANDS
Let onion's atoms lurk within the bowl,
And scarce suspected, animate the whole ;
And lastly, in the flavour'd compound toss
A magic spoonful of anchovy sauce.
Oh ! great and glorious, and herbaceous treat,
'Twould tempt the dying anchorite to eat.
Back to the world he'd turn his weary soul,
And plunge his fingers in the salad-bowl.'
Truly an excellent dressing; but curiously enough the
salad itself is omitted altogether. And here I would hint to
those not much accustomed to continental fashions, that
whenever the salad makes its appearance, whether at hotel
or private table, they may be sure that the feast, as far as
meats are concerned, is ended, and if they have not already
satisfied their appetite, they must content themselves with
the dish (usually roast fowl) which accompanies the salad,
for they will get nothing afterwards excepting pastry and
dessert.
Of the numerous useful pot-herbs known to cooks, each
deserves a special notice, for most of them have medicinal
as well as culinary virtues ; but it is impossible to do more
than name two or three of the principal. Parsley is perhaps
that in most universal use, for not only is it employed in
numerous seasonings and soups, but it is also largely used
in garnishing. It was used by the Greeks, and is said to
have been introduced into England in the sixteenth
century, but was probably known much earlier.
Sage, known now chiefly in association with onions as a
seasoning for ducks, geese, and roast pork, was formerly
much in vogue as a medicine in the form of tea, and the
leaves were also pressed in curd, which, under the name of
sage-cheese, was highly esteemed, as well as another cheese,
SALADS AND SEASONINGS 243