" Marrons glaces/' tlie favourite sweetmeat of the few who are able to indulofe their likino-, are made in this wise {n.h. the same process is employed for " Gldnois glace.-^/' or Chinese green- gages, and for crystallized figs) : The chest- nuts are boiled in water until they are quite cooked, then carefully peeled and thrown into cold water to become hard again. In half an hour^s time they are placed in boiling syrup, the which has been boiled till quite stiff. The vessel containing them is then set on one side. The next day the syrup (and chestnuts) is brought to boiling point, then put aside to cool again. This process is repeated four days in succession; at the end of the time the chestnuts✪ Preserved Chestnuts or fruit will be found to have absorbed nearly all the syrup, and must then be lifted out on to dishes, and dried off. The process of preserving fruit by evaporation is best performed by means of the mechanical " evaporators " when possible to obtain these machines ; still, by carefully drying in a cool oven (a brick oven is best for the purpose), much valuable fruit micrht be saved for winter use FRUIT ''EN SALADE'' AND '' GLACEP 165 which is often left to rot on the trees because it will not pay for gathering and turning into preserve. Only sound fruit should be dried_, and it should be gathered on a dry day, laid out separately on sheets of paper or tins, and dried in the oven when the fire has become low. It will require soaking in water before using. A word of caution as to the kind of sugar which should be used with fruit, will not be out of place here. Beet sugars, because of the impossibility of ensuring their perfect dryness, however highly refined, should be avoided ; also because they absorb moisture easily and so cause fermentation. For all syrups, jams, jellies, etc., use only pure cane sugar; although slightly more expensive it well repays in the end. Boiling sugar quickly passes from one degree to another, and in preserving it is important to remember this fact and not add the sugar until the fruit has been first well cooked. It is the fruit that rer^uires coolcing, and not the sugar. It is a great improvement to jellies to first i66 FRUIT ''EN SALADE'' AND ''GLACE:' heat tlie sugar in sliallow vessels in the oven, before putting into the juice; it should be so hot the hand can scarcely touch it. Put into the juice when that has boiled for twenty minutes, boil up once more after the sugar is dissolved, then pour into hot jars at once. It will quicklj^ j^^^'^J^ ^^^^ be a better colour than if made after the old method, besides retaining bettor the flavour of the fruit. CHAPTER XVI. iBnUccQ ant) jEntreincts^ AVERY large variety of dishes may be classed under the above title, and it is in the pre- paration of these dishes almost more than in those of any other class that the really experi- enced cook will best exercise the true principle of cookery-economy. As a rule the entree is served before the joint; the eutremet follows it. No Parisian 'Mittle dinner '' would be con- sidered complete without one entree at least ; and although it may seem a strong statement to make, it is certainly true, that the materials out of: which many of the most tempting of these entrees are made are those v/hich in Eng- lish hotels and even in private houses would be throvvn to the dogs, or into the fowl-pen.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

" Marrons glaces/' tlie favourite sweetmeat of the few who are able to indulofe their likino-, are made in this wise {n.h. the same process is employed for " Gldnois glace.-^/' or Chinese greengages, and for crystallized figs) : The chestnuts are boiled in water until they are quite cooked, then carefully peeled and thrown into cold water to become hard again. In half an hour's time they are placed in boiling syrup, the which has been boiled till quite stiff. The vessel containing them is then set on one side. The next day the syrup (and chestnuts) is brought to boiling point, then put aside to cool again. This process is repeated four days in succession; at the end of the time the chestnuts or fruit will be found to have absorbed nearly all the syrup, and must then be lifted out on to dishes, and dried off. The process of preserving fruit by evaporation is best performed by means of the mechanical " evaporators " when possible to obtain these machines ; still, by carefully drying in a cool oven (a brick oven is best for the purpose), much valuable fruit might be saved for winter use FRUIT ''EN SALADE'' AND '' GLACEP 165 which is often left to rot on the trees because it will not pay for gathering and turning into preserve. Only sound fruit should be dried_, and it should be gathered on a dry day, laid out separately on sheets of paper or tins, and dried in the oven when the fire has become low. It will require soaking in water before using. A word of caution as to the kind of sugar which should be used with fruit, will not be out of place here. Beet sugars, because of the impossibility of ensuring their perfect dryness, however highly refined, should be avoided ; also because they absorb moisture easily and so cause fermentation. For all syrups, jams, jellies, etc., use only pure cane sugar; although slightly more expensive it well repays in the end. Boiling sugar quickly passes from one degree to another, and in preserving it is important to remember this fact and not add the sugar until the fruit has been first well cooked. It is the fruit that requires cooking, and not the sugar. It is a great improvement to jellies to first i66 FRUIT ''EN SALADE'' AND ''GLACE:' heat tlie sugar in sliallow vessels in the oven, before putting into the juice; it should be so hot the hand can scarcely touch it. Put into the juice when that has boiled for twenty minutes, boil up once more after the sugar is dissolved, then pour into hot jars at once. It will quickly be a better colour than if made after the old method, besides retaining bettor the flavour of the fruit. CHAPTER XVI. iBnUccQ ant) jEntreincts^ AVERY large variety of dishes may be classed under the above title, and it is in the preparation of these dishes almost more than in those of any other class that the really experienced cook will best exercise the true principle of cookery-economy. As a rule the entree is served before the joint; the eutremet follows it. No Parisian 'Mittle dinner '' would be considered complete without one entree at least ; and although it may seem a strong statement to make, it is certainly true, that the materials out of: which many of the most tempting of these entrees are made are those v/hich in English hotels and even in private houses would be throvvn to the dogs, or into the fowl-pen.

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Preserved Chestnuts

The profession of cookery, from a French point of view