Whenever a fungus is pleasant, in flavour and odour, it may be considered wholesome; if, on the contrary, it have an offensive smell, a bitter, astringent, or styptic taste, or even if it leave an unpleasant flavour in the mouth, it should not be considered fit for food. The colour, figure, and texture of these vegetables do not afford any characters on which we can safely rely; yet it may be remarked that in colour the pure yellow, gold colour, bluish pale, dark or l.u.s.tre brown, wine red, or the violet, belong to many that are eatable; whilst the pale or sulphur yellow, bright or blood-red, and the greenish belong to few but the poisonous. The safe kinds have most frequently a compact, brittle texture; the flesh is white; they grow more readily in open places, such as dry pastures and waste lands, than in places humid or shaded by wood. In general, those should be suspected which grow in caverns and subterranean pa.s.sages, on animal matter undergoing putrefaction, as well as those whose flesh is soft or watery.

1129. To Distinguish Mushrooms from Poisonous Fungi.

i. Sprinkle a little salt on the spongy part or gills of the sample to be tried. If they turn yellow, they are poisonous,--if black, they are wholesome. Allow the salt to act, before you decide on the question.

ii. False mushrooms have a warty cap, or else fragments of membrane, adhering to the upper surface, are heavy, and emerge from a v.u.l.v.a or bag; they grow in tufts or cl.u.s.ters in woods, on the stumps of trees, &c., whereas the true mushrooms grow in pastures.

iii. False mushrooms have an astringent, styptic, and disagreeable taste. When cut they turn blue. They are moist on the surface, and generally of a rose or orange colour.

iv. The gills of the true mushroom are of a pinky red, changing to a liver colour. The flesh is white. The stem is white, solid, and cylindrical.

1130. Cookery for Soldiers Sailors, Travellers, and Emigrants.

The following seven receipts are due to the inventive genius of the late Alexis Soyer, who at one time was chief cook of the Reform Club:

1131. Stewed Salt Beef and Pork.

Put into a saucepan about two pounds of well-soaked beef, cut in eight pieces; half a pound of salt pork, divided in two, and also soaked: half a pound of rice, or six tablespoonfuls; a quarter of a pound of onions, or four middle-sized ones, peeled and sliced; two ounces of brown sugar, or a large tablespoonful; a quarter of an ounce of pepper, and five pints of water; simmer gently for three hours, remove the fat from the top, and serve. This dish is enough for six people, and it cannot fail to be excellent if the receipt be closely followed.

Butchers' salt meat will require only a four hours' soaking, having been but lightly pickled.

[A GOOD BEGINNING MAKES A GOOD ENDING.]

1132. Mutton Soup.

Put into a pan--half a pound of mutton will make a pint of good family soup--six pounds of mutton, cut in four or six pieces; three quarters of a pound of mixed vegetables, or three ounces of preserved, three and a half teaspoonfuls of salt, one teaspoonful of sugar, and half a teaspoonful of pepper, if handy; five tablespoonfuls of barley or rice; eight pints of water; let it simmer gently for three hours and a half, remove this fat, and serve. Bread and biscuit may be added in small quant.i.ties.

1133. Plain Pea Soup.

Put in a pan six pounds of pork, well soaked and cut into eight pieces; pour six quarts of water over; one pound of split peas; one teaspoonful of sugar; half a teaspoonful of pepper; four ounces of fresh vegetables, or two ounces of preserved, if handy; let it boil gently for two hours, or until the peas are tender. When the pork is rather fat, as is generally the case, wash it only; a quarter of a pound of broken biscuit may be used for the soup. Salt beef, when rather fat and well soaked, may be used for pea soup.

1134. French Beef Soup, or Pot au Feu (Camp Fashion).

Put into the kettle six pounds of beef, cut into two or three pieces, bone included; one pound of mixed green vegetables, or half a pound of preserved, in cakes; four teaspoonfuls of salt; if handy, one teaspoonful of pepper, one of sugar, and three cloves; and eight pints of water. Let it boil gently three hours; remove some of the fat, and serve. The addition of a pound and a half of bread, cut into slices, or one pound of broken biscuits, well soaked, will make a very nutritious soup. Skimming is not required.

1135. How to Stew Fresh Beef, Pork, Mutton, and Veal.

Cut or chop two pounds of fresh beef into ten or twelve pieces; put these into a saucepan, with one and a half teaspoonfuls of salt, one teaspoonful of sugar, half a teaspoonful of pepper, two middle-sized onions sliced, half a pint of water. Set on the fire for ten minutes until forming a thick gravy. Add a good teaspoonful of flour, stir on the fire a few minutes; add a quart and a half of water; let the whole simmer until the meat is tender. Beef will take from two hours and a half to three hours; mutton and pork, about two hours; veal, one hour and a quarter to one hour and a half; onions, sugar, and pepper, if not to be had, must be omitted; it will even then make a good dish; half a pound of sliced potatoes, or two ounces of preserved potatoes; either fresh or preserved vegetables may be added if they can be obtained, also a small dumpling.

1136. Plain Boiled Beef.

Put in a saucepan six pounds of well-soaked beef, cut in two, with three quarts of cold water; simmer gently three hours, and serve.

About a pound of either carrots, turnips, parsnips, greens, or cabbage, as well as dumplings, may be boiled with it.

1137. Cossack's Plum Pudding.

Put into a basin one pound of flour, three quarters of a pound of raisins (stoned, if time be allowed), three quarters of a pound of the fat of salt pork (well washed, cut into small squares, or chopped), two tablespoonfuls of sugar or treacle; and half a pint of water; mix all together; put into a cloth tied lightly; boil for four hours, and serve. If time will not admit, boil only two hours, though four are preferable. How to spoil the above:--Add anything to it.

1138. Meat Cookery.

1139. Beef Minced.

Cut into small dice remains of cold beef: the gravy reserved from it on the first day of it being served should be put in the stewpan, with the addition of warm water, some mace, sliced shalot, salt, and black pepper. Let the whole simmer gently for an hour, A few minutes before it is served, take out the meat and dish it, add to the gravy some walnut ketchup, and a little lemon juice or walnut pickle. Boil up the gravy once more, and, when hot, pour it over the meat. Serve it with bread sippets.

1140. Beef with Mashed Potatoes.

Mash some potatoes with hot milk, the yolk of an egg, some b.u.t.ter and salt. Slice the cold beef and lay it at the bottom of a pie-dish, adding to it some sliced shalot, pepper, salt, and a little beef gravy; cover the whole with a thick paste of potatoes, making the crust to rise in the centre above the edges of the dish. Score the potato crust with the point of a knife in squares of equal sizes. Put the dish before a fire in a Dutch oven, and brown it on all sides; by the time it is coloured, the meat and potatoes will be sufficiently done.

[TRY ALL THINGS, HOLD FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD.]

1141. Beef Bubble and Squeak.

Cut into pieces convenient for frying, cold roasted or boiled beef; pepper, salt, and fry them; when done, lay them on a hot drainer, and while the meat is draining from the fat used in frying them, have in readiness a cabbage already boiled in two waters; chop it small, and put it in the frying-pan with some b.u.t.ter, add a little pepper and keep stirring it, that all of it may be equally done. When taken from the fire, sprinkle over the cabbage a very little vinegar, only enough to give it a slightly acid taste. Place the cabbage in the centre of the dish, and arrange the slices of meat neatly around it.

1142. Beef or Mutton Lobscous.

Mince, not too finely, some cold roasted beef or mutton. Chop the bones, and put them in a saucepan with six potatoes peeled and sliced, one onion, also sliced, some pepper and salt; of these make a gravy.

When the potatoes are completely incorporated with the gravy, take out the bones and put in the meat; stew the whole together for an hour before it is to be served.

1143. Beef Rissoles.

Mince and season cold beef, and flavour it with mushroom or walnut ketchup. Make of beef dripping a very thin paste, roll it out in thin pieces, about four inches square; enclose in each piece some of the mince, in the same way as for puffs, cutting each neatly all round; fry them in dripping to a very light brown. The paste can scarcely be rolled out too thin.

1144. Veal Minced.

Cut veal from the fillet or shoulder into very small dice; put into veal or mutton broth with a little mace, white pepper, salt, some lemon peel grated, and a tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup or mushroom powder, rubbed smooth into the gravy, Take out some of the gravy when nearly done, and when cool enough thicken it with flour, cream, and a little b.u.t.ter; boil it up with the rest of the gravy, and pour it over the meat when done. Garnish with bread sippets. A little lemon juice added to the gravy improves its flavour.

1145. Veal dressed with White Sauce.

Boil milk or cream with a thickening of flour and b.u.t.ter; put into it thin slices of cold veal, and simmer it in the gravy till it is made hot without boiling. When nearly done, beat up the yolk of an egg, with a little anchovy and white sauce; pour it gently to the rest, stirring it all the time; simmer again the whole together, and serve it with sippets of bread and curled bacon alternately.