The medicinal virtues of fresh, well-dressed
vegetables are great ; they are blood purifiers,
28
VEGETABLES AXD VEGETABLE DLSHES. 29
as well as being easy of digestion, and most
nutritious.
If freshly gathered out of the garden, they
should be washed as they are wanted, and not
allowed to remain in water: but when bouo^ht
in town, it is often needful not only to wash,
but to soak them in water for some time, to re-
gain something of their original freshness.
If not the happy possessor of a bit of garden
ground (and it is wonderful, with careful man-
agement, how much may be got out of ever so
small a piece), it is a wise plan to treat with a
farmer or cottage gardener for a regular
supply.
To buy in shops or of costermongers is not
cheap, besides the certainty that your purchase
has suffered considerable handling before it
reached you.
If laid on the floor of a cool cellar, takino*
care they do not touch each other, and are not
wet at the time, vegetables may be kept quite
good for a week in summer time ; but in the
autumn, when the crops are gathered in, a
frugal housewife will lay in her store : carrots,
turnips, parsnips, beetroot, potatoes, and such-
like are best kept in dry sand.
Celery and leeks keep quite fresh if put in a
30 VEGETABLES AND VEGETABLE DLSHES.
box of eartli; onions should be strung together,
and hung up.
In nearly all dishes and soups made of vege-
tables, herbs play an active part, particularly
sorrel and parsley.
During spring and summer they are easily
obtained fresh, but for winter use the parsley
should be dried in bunches, as likewise a supply
of mint, thyme, marjoram, sage, and, in fact,
any herb you can procure.
The secret of keeping dried herbs a good
colour is to dry them very quickly and
thorouorhlv, hans: them as near the kitchen
stove as possible ; when dry, rub them through
a tamis, and bottle for use.
Sorrel is gathered in large quantities, and
boiled like spinach, with coarse salt, then kept
in a deep stone jar.
In cooking vegetables, it is most important to
keep them a good colour, particularly in cook-
ing ^^greens.^^
To do this, it is needful always to place them
in boiling salt and water, and leave the lid of
the saucepan slightly tilted, to let the steam
escape.
For white vegetables, such as turnips, cauli-
flowers, salsifies, etc., the same precautions
VEGETABLES AND VEGETABLE DISHES. 31
should be observed, and a little vinegar be
added to the water.
A French cook will frequently take these out
of the water when only partly cooked, and let
them finish by simmering them in white sauce ;
this keeps them a very good colour indeed.
Any vegetables if cooked more than the
proper time will soon become soddened ; they
should be lifted out of the water the moment
they are done.
And now we come to consider vegetable
dishes proper.
Here there is scope for much of taste and
judgment, and the artistic eye of the lady cook
as well as the skilled hand of the professional,
for upon the arrangement of colour depends
much of the success of the dish.
Take, for instance, a ^^ plat de carrottes,''
with its pretty contrast of white and red and
green, or the creamy whiteness of " choufleurs
a la creme,^^ and the very pretty dish of spinach
with the white and yellow eggs reposing on their
dark green bed, and say if it is not so.
Page 11
Presented as published in 1894. 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
The medicinal virtues of fresh, well-dressed vegetables are great ; they are blood purifiers,
as well as being easy of digestion, and most nutritious.
If freshly gathered out of the garden, they should be washed as they are wanted, and not allowed to remain in water: but when bought in town, it is often needful not only to wash, but to soak them in water for some time, to regain something of their original freshness.
If not the happy possessor of a bit of garden ground (and it is wonderful, with careful management, how much may be got out of ever so small a piece), it is a wise plan to treat with a farmer or cottage gardener for a regular supply.
To buy in shops or of costermongers is not cheap, besides the certainty that your purchase has suffered considerable handling before it reached you.
If laid on the floor of a cool cellar, taking care they do not touch each other, and are not wet at the time, vegetables may be kept quite good for a week in summer time ; but in the autumn, when the crops are gathered in, a frugal housewife will lay in her store : carrots, turnips, parsnips, beetroot, potatoes, and suchlike are best kept in dry sand.
Celery and leeks keep quite fresh if put in a
box of eartli; onions should be strung together, and hung up.
In nearly all dishes and soups made of vegetables, herbs play an active part, particularly sorrel and parsley.
During spring and summer they are easily obtained fresh, but for winter use the parsley should be dried in bunches, as likewise a supply of mint, thyme, marjoram, sage, and, in fact, any herb you can procure.
The secret of keeping dried herbs a good colour is to dry them very quickly and thoroughly, hans: them as near the kitchen stove as possible ; when dry, rub them through a tamis, and bottle for use.
Sorrel is gathered in large quantities, and boiled like spinach, with coarse salt, then kept in a deep stone jar.
In cooking vegetables, it is most important to keep them a good colour, particularly in cooking greens
To do this, it is needful always to place them in boiling salt and water, and leave the lid of the saucepan slightly tilted, to let the steam escape.
For white vegetables, such as turnips, cauliflowers, salsifies, etc., the same precautions
should be observed, and a little vinegar be added to the water.
A French cook will frequently take these out of the water when only partly cooked, and let them finish by simmering them in white sauce ; this keeps them a very good colour indeed.
Any vegetables if cooked more than the proper time will soon become soddened ; they should be lifted out of the water the moment they are done.
And now we come to consider vegetable dishes proper.
Here there is scope for much of taste and judgment, and the artistic eye of the lady cook as well as the skilled hand of the professional, for upon the arrangement of colour depends much of the success of the dish.
Take, for instance, a plat de carrottes with its pretty contrast of white and red and green, or the creamy whiteness of choufleurs a la creme and the very pretty dish of spinach with the white and yellow eggs reposing on their dark green bed, and say if it is not so.