Kitabı oku: «The Art of Preserving All Kinds of Animal and Vegetable Substances for Several Years, 2nd ed.», sayfa 5

§ XXXIX.
Pears of every kind

When the pears are peeled, and cut into quarters, and the pips with their husks are taken out, I put them into bottles, &c. in order to place them in the water-bath. I carefully attend to the degree of heat they have to receive, which, if they are of a kind usually eaten raw, should not be more than sufficient to make the water-bath boil. When the preserve consists of pears usually stewed or boiled, then I let them remain boiling in the water-bath, five or six minutes. Pears which have fallen from the tree require a quarter of an hour’s boiling, &c.

§ XL.
Chesnuts, Truffles, and Mushrooms. (Marrons, Truffes, et Champignons.)

I pierce chesnuts at the point with the point of a knife, as if I meant to roast them. I put them in bottles, and give them one boiling in the water-bath.

Having well washed and brushed the truffles in order to take away all the soil, I cut off the upper part gently with a knife. Then I put them into bottles either whole or in pieces, according to the diameter of the neck. The remainder I put in bottles apart. The whole being well corked, &c. I put them in the water-bath to receive an hour’s boiling, &c. It is not necessary to recommend that the truffles should be sound, and recently gathered.

I take Mushrooms fresh from the bed, well formed and firm. Having peeled and washed them, I put them in a saucepan on the fire, with a piece of butter or some good olive oil, in order to make them eject their liquor. I leave them on the fire till this liquor is reduced one half. I withdraw them in order to let them grow cool in a pan; after which, I bottle them and give them one good boiling in the water-bath.

§ XLI.
The Juice of the Grape or Must

During the vintage of 1808, I took black grapes, carefully gathered from the vine; after having taken away the rotten and green grapes, and stripped the others from the stalks, I squeezed them upon a fine sieve, and afterwards put into a press the husks which remained on the sieve, in order to extract the remainder of the juice; and then put the produce both of the sieve and the press into one cask. Having let it stand in this state twenty-four hours, I put it in bottles, &c. to give it one good boiling in the water bath. When the operation was completed, I withdrew the bottles from the boiler. The action of the fire had precipitated the little colour which the grape-juice had assumed during the preparation, and it was become very white. I then placed it in my laboratory in a rack as if it had been wine.

I repeated all these experiments on the 10th of September 1809, in the presence of the special commission nominated by his Excellency the Minister of the Interior, composed of the most distinguished persons of the profession.

New experiments which I have begun, as well as others which I purpose to make on various objects, will be detailed in a memoir which I shall publish as soon as I shall be able to speak of their result.

OF THE MODE OF MAKING USE OF THE SUBSTANCES WHICH HAVE BEEN PRESERVED

§ XLII.
Meat, Game, Poultry, Fish

Meat which has in the preparatory dressing, as well as the boiling it received in the water-bath, received its due quantity of cooking, will, when it is taken to be used, require only to be properly warmed in order to produce both soup and meat (potage et bouilli).

For the sake of greater economy, and to lessen the number of bottles and jars wanted, it is better to make in the first instance a good gravy as already pointed out by me. For both the beef and the gravy need only to be warmed, and by adding one half or two-thirds of water to the gravy a good soup is provided.

In this manner, a bottle containing a litre of gravy may, by adding two litres of boiling water to it at the moment that it is to be used, and adding a little salt, furnish a dozen good messes. Thus it is easy at a very slight expence to keep a little stock of provisions against an emergency and hot weather, when it is so difficult to procure them, more especially in the country.

All meat, poultry, game, and fish, which have received three-fourths of their dressing in the preparatory process, and the remainder in the water-bath, as already pointed out, may, when taken out of the vessels, be heated to the proper degree in order to be instantly served at table. If, for instance, the substance taken from the bottle or jar, had not received either enough previous dressing, or enough heat from the water-bath; it is immediately put on the fire in order to supply what is deficient. Consequently, when the operator has taken due care in making his preparations, having properly seasoned and dressed them, the use to be made of them afterwards, will at all events be easy and convenient; for on the one hand they will need only to be warmed, and on the other hand, they may, if necessary, be eaten cold.

Substances thus prepared and preserved, do not, as might be imagined, require to be consumed as soon as they are opened. Provisions may be used from a vessel eight or ten days after it has been uncorked,¹⁶ care being taken only to replace the cork as soon as the necessary part of the provision has been taken out. Besides, it is easy to regulate the size of the vessels from one to twenty-five litres or more, according to the rapidity of the expected consumption.

§ XLIII.
Jellies made of Meat and Poultry

A well prepared and preserved jelly, carefully taken in pieces out of the jar may be used to garnish cold dishes, or it may be even dissolved in the water-bath, the vessel containing it being first uncorked; afterwards it may be poured in a dish to congeal again before it is made use of.

Under an infinity of circumstances, a cook may be in want of the substances necessary to make a sauce with. But with the essences of meat, poultry, ham, &c. as well as with a provision of jelly well preserved and prepared, they may be furnished in an instant.

The broth or jelly prepared and preserved as pointed out in page 46 is eaten either cold as it is found in the bottles, or diluted with more or less boiling water, in the proportions which persons of experience may judge suitable in the several instances.

§ XLIV.
Milk and Cream

Cream, Milk and Whey, prepared and preserved in the manner already pointed out, are used in the same way, and for the same daily purposes, as the same articles when fresh.

Since cream and milk are perfectly preserved in this manner, there is no doubt that desert-creams might be preserved by a similar process, as well as those which are used for ices. These, having been well prepared and completed before they are put into bottles, will only require to be gently warmed in the water-bath, the bottles being uncorked, in order to facilitate its coming out of the vessel. In this manner creams and ices may be furnished instantly.

§ XLV.
Vegetables

Vegetables put into bottles without being dressed, and entirely submitted to the action of heat in the water-bath, as before described, require to be prepared for use on being taken out of the bottles. This preparation will be made according to the season, and every one’s taste and inclination. Attention must be given to the washing of the vegetables when taken from the bottle; and to facilitate the taking them out, I fill the bottle with luke-warm water, and after having drained it of the first water, I wash the vegetables in a second water somewhat hotter, and having drained them, I then prepare them for a meat or vegetable soup.

§ XLVI.
French Beans. (Haricots.)

I scald French beans (haricots verts,) as if they were fresh in water, with a little salt when not sufficiently dressed by the preserving process. This often happens to them as well as to artichokes, asparagus and cauliflowers. If sufficiently boiled, on being taken out of the bottles, I have only to wash them in hot water in order to prepare them afterwards for vegetable or meat soup.

I scald in the same way the beans of the haricot blanc; when sufficiently dressed, I take them from the fire and leave them in the boiling water, half an hour, and even an hour, in order to render them more tender: I then prepare them for soup.

§ XLVII.
Peas, Beans, &c

Green peas are dressed in various ways. If they are ill cooked in the season, it is the cook who is blamed; but if they are not found good in winter, the fault is thrown on the person who has preserved them, though the fault most frequently arises from some of the substances employed; either from the bad butter, or the oil or rancid fat which is made use of through negligence or economy. At another time they are prepared two hours too soon. They are suffered to stick to the bottom of the saucepan when on the fire, and they are served smelling of the butter which is turned into oil with a burnt taste; or they are prepared without care and with too much precipitation. It is thus we see green peas brought to the table swimming in water; but every one has his way. The following is mine.

As soon as the peas have been washed and immediately afterwards drained (for neither this vegetable nor the windsor-bean must be suffered to remain in water, for that would take away their flavour), I put them on the fire in a saucepan with a morsel of good fresh butter. I add to them a bunch of parsley and chives. After having tossed them several times in butter, I dredge them with a little flour, and moisten them immediately afterwards with boiling water up to the level of the peas. I leave them thus to be boiled a good quarter of an hour, until very little sauce remains. Then I season them with salt and a little pepper, and leave them on the fire until they are stewed down; I then take them off the fire immediately, in order to add a piece of fresh butter as large as a nut, with a table spoonful of powder sugar for each bottle of peas. I toss them well without replacing them on the fire, until the butter is melted, and I serve them up in the shape of a pyramid upon a dish, which I take care to warm thoroughly. I have observed several times, that by adding sugar to the peas when upon the fire, and giving them only one boiling, the peas became hard and the sauce ran so that it could no longer bind the peas together. Thus great attention should be given to the not putting in the sugar and the last piece of butter until the moment of serving them up. This is the only way of dressing them well, for neither in summer nor winter ought any sauce to appear among the peas.

There is another mode of eating green peas and which may suit many persons; this consists in simply boiling the peas in water. When done, the water is drained off and the peas are tossed with a piece of good fresh butter, salt, pepper and sugar, all together over a very gentle fire, they are then served up directly upon a very hot dish. Care must be taken that the peas do not boil with the seasoning, otherwise the butter turns into oil, and the green peas are dissolved in the water.

I cook the small windsor-beans, as well with as without their skin, by the same process and with the same attentions which I observe in dressing green peas.

I make an excellent soup-maigre, with large preserved peas which are equally good for a meat soup. As to asparagus, artichokes, cauliflowers, &c. they are dressed in the usual way after having been washed, &c. Green peas, beans, French beans, and all kinds of vegetables may be three-fourths boiled, seasoned at the same time, as is done when intended for immediate use, put into bottles or other vessels when cool, corked, &c. and allowed one half hour’s boiling in the water-bath. By these means vegetables will be preserved and quite ready, which may be made use of in an instant, without any other care than to warm them; and there are also many instances in which these vegetables may be eaten cold. In this way all difficulties may be removed in travelling by land or water.

§ XLVIII.
Spinage and Succory

I dress spinage and succory as usual, in either vegetable or meat soup. Each bottle of a litre, contains two or three dishes, either of spinage, or succory according to their strength. When I want to make use of a part only I re-cork the bottle which I keep for another day.

§ XLIX.
Vegetable Soups

Having emptied a bottle containing a litre of preserved Julienne, I add two litres of boiling water with a little salt, and I have a dish for twelve or fifteen persons.

As well as a Julienne, a coulis de racines, a soup of lentils, carrots, onions, &c. being well prepared, furnishes with the greatest economy, excellent dishes in an instant.

All farinaceous substances, such as oatmeal, rice, spelt, semoulia, vermicelli, and in general every thing that may be formed into a paste, nutritive and easy of digestion, may be prepared and seasoned with either vegetable or meat soup, and even with milk, before they are made to undergo the preserving process, in order to facilitate the use of them at sea and in armies at a moment of necessity.

§ L.
Tomates and Herbs

I use preserved Tomates or love-apples in the same manner as those taken fresh in the season. They need only to be properly warmed and seasoned when taken out of the bottle.

A Sorrel preserved in the manner pointed out, does not, when taken out of the bottle, in the least differ from fresh sorrel in June. I make use of it in the same way.

As to mint (menthe poivrée) and all other plants which may be preserved in bunches; cooks will know how to make the proper use of them, as well as of the juices of herbs.

§ LI.
Preserved Fruits, Marmelades, &c

The manner of making use of fruits, preserved by the process I have pointed out, consists, 1st. in putting such fruit into a fruit jar, in the same state in which it is in the bottle, without adding any sugar, because many persons, more especially ladies, prefer fruits with their natural juice. At the same time I prepare another jar with a preserve of grape-syrup or powder sugar, for those who prefer it. I have from experience learnt that grape-syrup preserves the aroma and agreeable acidity of fruits, much better than sugar. This is a very simple and economical mode of preparing an excellent dish of preserved fruits, which is the more convenient, as every one can satisfy his own taste as to the mixture of sugar with his fruits.

2. In order to make preserves with sugar (compotes sucrées), I take a pound of preserved fruits, it matters not which; this, on being taken out of the bottle, I put, with its juice, over the fire in a skimming pan, mixing with it four ounces of grape syrup. As soon as it begins to boil, I withdraw it from the fire, and take off the froth by means of a piece of brown paper, which I apply to the surface. As soon as I have skimmed it, I take the fruit gently off the syrup, in order to put it into a fruit-jar. After having reduced the syrup one half over the fire, I put it upon the fruit in the jar. Fruits thus preserved are sufficiently sweet, and have as fine a flavour as a preserve made in the season with fresh fruits.

3d. In order to preserve in brandy either cherries, apricots, green-gages, pears, peaches, mirabelles, &c. (compotes à l’eau de vie), I take a pound of preserved fruit, together with its juice, which I put in a saucepan, on the fire, together with a quarter of a pound of grape syrup. When ready to boil, I skim it; after which, I gently take the fruit from off the syrup, and put it in a jar. I leave the syrup on the fire, till it is reduced to one-fourth of its bulk. Then I take it from the fire in order to add to it a glass of good brandy; and having mixed the whole, I pour the hot syrup upon the fruit in the jar, which I take care to close well that the fruit may be better penetrated by the syrup, &c.

The preserved pear and peach may be alike made use of to make a Burgundy wine conserve with cinnamon, as well as compotes grillées.

4th. I make a marmelade, either of apricots, peaches, green-gages, or mirabelles, by the following process. I take for one pound of preserved fruit, half a pound of grape syrup. I boil the whole together over a quick fire, taking care to stir it well with a spoon to prevent its boiling. When the marmelade is boiled to a slight consistency, I take it off, because the confectionary which is the least boiled is the best. As preserved fruits afford a facility of making confectionary just when it is wanted, they may, by a little boiling only, be had at any time, fresh and of excellent quality.