May be done in the same manner as cucumbers, only extracting the seeds before you put the pickles into the salt and water. Do not put peppers into the same jar with cucumbers, as the former will destroy the latter.
The gherkin is a small thick oval-shaped species of cucumber with a hairy or prickly surface, and is cultivated solely for pickling. It is customary to let the stems remain on them. Wipe them dry, put them into a broad stone jar, and scald them five or six times in the course of the day with salt and water strong enough to bear an egg, and let them set all night. This will make them yellow. Next day, having drained them from the salt and water, throw it out, wipe them dry, put them into a clean vessel (with a little piece of alum,) and scald them with boiling vinegar and water, (half and half of each,) repeating it frequently during the day till they are green. Keep them as closely covered as possible. Then put them away in stone jars, mixing among them whole mace and sliced ginger to your taste. Fill up with cold vinegar, and add a little alum, allowing to every hundred gherkins a piece about the size of a shelled almond.
The alum will make them firm and crisp.
Gather sprigs or bunches of radish pods while they are young and tender, but let the pods remain on the sprigs; it not being the custom to pick them off. Put them into strong salt and water, and let them stand two days. Then drain and wipe them and put them into a clean stone jar. Boil an equal quantity of vinegar and water. Pour it over the radish pods while hot, and cover them closely to keep in the steam. Repeat this frequently through the day till they are very green. Then pour off the vinegar and water, and boil for five minutes some very good vinegar, with a little bit of alum, and pour it over them. Put them into a stone jar, (and having added some whole mace, whole pepper, a little tumeric and a little sweet oil,) cork it closely, and tie over it a leather or oil-cloth.
Take young green or French beans; string them, but do not cut them in pieces. Put them in salt and water for two days, stirring them frequently. Then put them into a kettle with vine or cabbage leaves under, over, and all round them, (adding a little piece of alum.) Cover them closely to keep in the steam, and let them hang over a slow fire till they are a fine green.
Having drained them in a sieve, make for them a pickle of cider vinegar, and boil in it for five minutes, some mace, whole pepper, and sliced ginger tied up in a thin muslin bag. Pour it hot upon the beans, put them into a stone jar, and tie them up.
Make a brine of salt and water strong enough to bear an egg, and throw into it a large quantity of curled parsley tied up in little bunches with a thread. After it has stood three days (stirring it frequently) take it out drain it well, and lay it for three days in cold spring or pump-water, changing the water daily. Then scald it in hard water, and hang it, well covered, over a slow fire till it becomes green. Afterwards take it out, and drain and press it till quite dry.
Boil for five minutes a quart of cider vinegar with a small bit of alum, a few blades of mace, a sliced nutmeg, and a few slips of horseradish. Pour it on the parsley, and put it away in a stone jar.
Take very young oval shaped musk-melons. Cut a round piece out of the top or side of each, (saving the piece to put on again,) and extract the seeds. Then (having tied on the pieces with packthread) put them into strong salt and water for two days. Afterwards drain and wipe them, put them into a kettle with vine leaves or cabbage leaves under and over them, and a little piece of alum, and hang them on a slow fire to green; keeping them closely covered to retain the steam, which will greatly accelerate the greening. When they are quite green, have ready the stuffing, which must be a mixture of scraped horseradish, white mustard seed, mace and nutmeg pounded, race ginger cut small, pepper, tumeric and sweet oil. Fill your mangoes with this mixture, putting a small clove of garlic into each, and replacing the pieces at the openings; tie them with a packthread crossing backwards and forwards round the mango. Put them into stone jars, pour boiling vinegar over them, and cover them well. Before you put them on the table remove the packthread.
Have ready a stone or glass jar of the best cold vinegar. Take the green seeds of the nasturtian after the flower has gone off. They should be full-grown but not old. Pick off the stems, and put the seeds into the vinegar. No other preparation is necessary, and they will keep a year with nothing more than sufficient cold vinegar to cover them. With boiled mutton they are an excellent substitute for capers.
See that all your cherries are perfect. Remove the stems, and put the cherries into a jar or glass with sufficient vinegar to cover them well. They will keep perfectly in a cool dry place.
They are very good, always retaining the taste of the cherry. If you cannot procure morellas, the large red pie-cherries may be substituted.
Take fine large peaches (either cling or free stones) that are not too ripe. Wipe off the down with a clean flannel, and put the peaches whole into a stone jar. Cover them with cold vinegar of the best kind, in which you have dissolved a little of salt, allowing a tea-spoonful to a quart of vinegar. Put a cork in the jar and tie leather or oil-cloth over it.
Plums and grapes may be pickled thus in cold vinegar, but without salt.
Have ready a jar of cold vinegar, and put into it ripe barberries in bunches. They make a pretty garnish for the edges of dishes.
The bell pepper is the best for pickling, and should be gathered when quite young. Slit one side, and carefully take out the core, so as not to injure the shell of the pepper. Then put them into boiling salt and water, changing the water every day for one week, and keeping them closely covered in a warm place near the fire. Stir them several times a day. They will first become yellow, and then green. When they are a fine green put them into a jar, and pour cold vinegar over them, adding a small piece of alum.
They require no spice.
You may stuff the peppers as you do mangoes.
These nuts are in the best state for pickling when the shell is soft, and when they are so young that the outer skin can be penetrated by the head of a pin. They should be gathered when the sun is hot upon them.
If you have a large quantity, the easiest way to prepare them for pickling is to put them into a tub with sufficient lye to cover them, and to stir and rub them about with a hickory broom till they are clean and smooth on the outside. This is much less trouble than scraping them, and is not so likely to injure the nuts. Another method is to scald them, and then to rub off the outer skin. Put the nuts into strong salt and water for one week; changing the water every other day, and keeping them closely covered from the air. Then drain and wipe them, (piercing each nut through in several places with a large needle,) and prepare the pickle as follows:—For a hundred large nuts, take of black pepper and ginger root of each an ounce; and of cloves, mace and nutmeg of each a half ounce. Pound all the spices to powder, and mix them well together, adding two large spoonfuls of mustard seed. Put the nuts into jars, (having first stuck each of them through in several places with a large needle,) strewing the powdered seasoning between every layer of nuts. Boil for five minutes a gallon of the very best cider vinegar, and pour it boiling hot upon the nuts. Secure the jars closely with corks and leathers. You may begin to eat the nuts in a fortnight.
Walnuts may be pickled in the same manner.
The walnuts should be gathered while young and soft, (so that you can easily run a pin through them,) and when the sun is upon them. Rub them with a coarse flannel or tow cloth to get off the fur of the outside. Mix salt and water strong enough to bear an egg, and let them lie in it a week, (changing it every two days,) and stirring them frequently. Then take them out, drain them, spread them on large dishes, and expose them to the air about ten minutes, which will cause them to blacken the sooner. Scald them in boiling water, (but do not let them lie in it,) and then rub them with a coarse woollen cloth, and pierce every one through in several places with a large needle, (that the pickle may penetrate them thoroughly.) Put them into stone jars, and prepare the spice and vinegar. To a hundred walnuts allow a gallon of vinegar, an ounce of cloves, an ounce of allspice, an ounce of black pepper, half an ounce of mace, and half an ounce of nutmeg. Boil the spice in the vinegar for fifteen minutes, then strain the vinegar, and pour it boiling hot over the walnuts. Tie up in a thin muslin rag, a tea-cupful of mustard seed, and a large table-spoonful of scraped horse-radish, and put it into the jars with the walnuts. Cover them closely with corks and leathers.
Another way of pickling walnuts black, is (after preparing them as above) to put them into jars with the spices pounded and strewed among them, and then to pour over them strong cold vinegar.
Take large young walnuts while their shells are quite soft so that you can stick the head of a pin into them. Pare them very thin till the white appears; and as you do them, throw them into spring or pump water in which some salt has been dissolved. Let them stand in that water six hours, with a thin board upon them to keep them down under the water. Fill a porcelain kettle with fresh spring water, and set it over a clear fire, or on a charcoal furnace. Put the walnuts into the kettle, cover it, and let them simmer (but not boil) for about ten minutes. Then have ready a vessel with cold spring water and salt, and put your nuts into it, taking them out of the kettle with a wooden ladle. Let them stand in the cold salt and water for a quarter of an hour, with the board keeping them down as before; for if they rise above the liquor, or are exposed to the air, they will be discoloured. Then take them out, and lay them on a cloth covered with another, till they are quite dry. Afterwards rub them carefully with a soft flannel, and put them into a stone jar; laying among them blades of mace, and sliced nutmeg, but no dark-coloured spice. Pour over them the very best vinegar, and put on the top a table-spoonful of sweet oil.
Gather them while the shells are very soft, and rub them all with a flannel. Then wrap them singly in vine leaves, lay a few vine leaves on the bottom of a large stone jar, put in the walnuts, (seeing that each of them is well wrapped up so as not to touch one another,) and cover them with a thick layer of leaves. Fill up the jar with strong vinegar, cover it closely, and let it stand three weeks. Then pour off the vinegar, take out the walnuts, renew all the vine leaves, fill up with fresh vinegar, and let them stand three weeks longer. Then again pour off the vinegar, and renew the vine leaves. This time take the best cider vinegar; put salt in it till it will bear an egg and add to it mace, sliced nutmeg, and scraped horse-radish, in the proportion of an ounce of each and a gallon of vinegar to a hundred walnuts. Boil the spice and vinegar about ten minutes, and then pour it, hot on the walnuts. Cover the jar closely with a cork and leather, and set it away, leaving the vine leaves with the walnuts. When you take any out for use, disturb the others as little as possible, and do not put back again any that may be left.
You may pickle butternuts green in the same manner.
Take very small onions, and with a sharp knife cut off the stems as close as possible, and peel off the outer skin. Then put them into salt and water, and let them stand in the brine for six days; stirring them daily, and changing the salt and water every two days. See that they are closely covered. Then put the onions into jars, and give them a scald in boiling salt and water. Let them stand till they are cold: then drain them on a sieve, wipe them, stick a clove in the top of each, and put them into wide-mouthed bottles; dispersing among them some blades of mace and slices of ginger or nutmeg. Fill up the bottles with the best cider vinegar, and put at the top a large spoonful of salad oil. Cork the bottles well.
Peel some very small white onions, and lay them for three days in salt and water, changing the water every day. Then wipe them, and put them into a porcelain kettle with equal quantities of milk and water, sufficient to cover them well. Simmer them over a slow fire, but when just ready to boil take them off, and drain and dry them, and put them into wide-mouthed glass bottles; interspersing them with blades of mace. Boil a sufficient quantity of the best cider vinegar to cover them and fill up the bottles, adding to it a little salt; and when it is cold, pour it into the bottles of onions. At the top of each bottle put a spoonful of sweet oil. Set them away closely corked.
Take small fresh-gathered button mushrooms, peel them carefully with a penknife, and cut off the stems; throwing the mushrooms into salt and water as you do them. Then put them into a porcelain skillet of fresh water, cover it closely, and set it over a quick fire. Boil it as fast as possible for seven or eight minutes, not more. Take out the mushrooms, drain them, and spread them on a clean board, with the bottom or hollow side of each mushroom turned downwards. Do this as quickly as possible, and immediately, while they are hot, sprinkle them over with salt. When they are cold, put them into a glass jar with slight layers of mace and sliced ginger. Fill up the jar with cold cider vinegar. Put a spoonful of sweet oil on the top of each jar, and cork it closely.
Take a quart of large mushrooms and (having trimmed off the stalks) rub them with a flannel cloth dipped in salt. Then lay them in a pan of allegar or ale vinegar, for a quarter of an hour, and wash them about in it. Then put them into a sauce-pan with a quart of allegar, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, the same of allspice and whole pepper, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Set the pan over coals, and let the mushrooms stew slowly for ten minutes, keeping the pan well covered. Then take them off, let them get cold by degrees, and put them into small bottles with the allegar strained from the spice and poured upon them.
It will be prudent to boil an onion with the mushrooms, and if it turns black or blueish, you may infer that there is a poisonous one among them; and they should therefore be thrown away. Stir them for the same reason, with a silver spoon.
Take a peck of tomatas, (the small round ones are best for pickling,) and prick every one with a fork. Put them into a broad stone or earthen vessel, and sprinkle salt between every layer of tomatas. Cover them, and let them remain two days in the salt. Then put them into vinegar and water mixed in equal quantities, half and half, and keep them in it twenty-four hours to draw out the saltness. There must be sufficient of the liquid to cover the tomatas well.
To a peck of tomatas allow a bottle of mustard, half an ounce of cloves, and half an ounce of pepper, with a dozen onions sliced thin. Pack the tomatas in a stone jar, placing the spices and onions alternately with the layers of tomatas. Put them in till the jar is two-thirds full. Then fill it up with strong cold vinegar, and stop it closely. The pickles will be fit to eat in a fortnight. If you do not like onions, substitute for them a larger quantity of spice.
For this purpose you must have the best and ripest tomatas, and they must be gathered on a dry day. Do not peel them, but merely cut them into slices. Having strewed some salt over the bottom of a tub, put in the tomatas in layers; sprinkling between each layer (which should be about two inches in thickness) a handful of salt. Repeat this till you have put in eight quarts or one peck of tomatas. Cover the tub and let it set for three days. Then early in the morning, put the tomatas into a large porcelain kettle, and boil it slowly and steadily till ten at night, frequently mashing and stirring the tomatas. Then put it out to cool. Next morning strain and press it through a sieve, and when no more liquid will pass through, put it into a clean kettle with two ounces of cloves, one ounce of mace, two ounces of black pepper, and two table-spoonfuls of cayenne, all powdered.
Again let it boil slowly and steadily all day, and put it to cool in the evening in a large pan. Cover it, and let it set all night. Next day put it into small bottles, securing the corks by dipping them in melted rosin, and tying leathers over them.
If made exactly according to these directions, and slowly and thoroughly boiled, it will keep for years in a cool dry place, and may be used for many purposes when fresh tomatas are not to be had.
Take the whitest and closest full-grown cauliflowers; cut off the thick stalk, and split the blossom or flower part into eight or ten pieces. Spread them on a large dish, sprinkle them with salt, and let them stand twenty-four hours. Then wash off the salt, drain them, put them into a broad flat jar or pan, scald them with salt and water, (allowing a quarter of a pound of salt to a quart of water,) cover them closely and let them stand in the brine till next day. Afterwards drain them in a hair sieve, and spread them on a cloth in a warm place to dry for a day and a night. Then put them carefully, piece by piece, into clean broad jars and pour over them a pickle which has been prepared as follows:—Mix together three ounces of coriander seed, three ounces of turmeric, one ounce of mustard seed, and one ounce of ginger. Pound the whole in a mortar to a fine powder. Put it into three quarts of the very best cider vinegar, set it by the side of the fire in a stone jar, and let it infuse three days. These are the proportions, but the quantity of the whole pickle must depend on the quantity of cauliflower, which must be kept well covered by the liquid. Pour it over the cauliflower, and secure the jars closely from the air.
You may pickle brocoli in the same manner. Also the green tops of asparagus.
Take a fine firm cabbage of a deep red or purple colour. Strip off the outer leaves, and cut out the stalk. Quarter the cabbage lengthways, and then slice it crossways. Lay it in a deep dish, sprinkle a handful of salt over it, cover it with another dish, and let it lie twenty-four hours. Then drain it in a cullender from the salt, and wipe it dry. Make a pickle of sufficient cider vinegar to cover the cabbage well, adding to it equal quantities of cloves and allspice, with some mace. The spices must be put in whole, with a little cochineal to give it a good red colour. Boil the vinegar and spices hard for five minutes, and having put the cabbage into a stone jar, pour the vinegar over it boiling hot. Cover the jar with a cloth till it gets cold; and then put in a large cork, and tie a leather over it.
Take a nice fresh white cabbage, wash, and drain it, and cut off the stalk. Shave down the head evenly and nicely into very small shreds, with a cabbage-cutter, or a sharp knife. Put it into a deep china dish, and prepare for it the following dressing. Take a large half-pint of the best cider vinegar, and mix with it a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, divided into four bits, and rolled in flour; a small salt-spoon of salt, and the same quantity of cayenne. Stir all this well together, and boil it in a small saucepan. Have ready the yolks of four eggs well beaten. As soon as the mixture has come to a hard boil, take it off the fire, and stir in the beaten egg. Then pour it boiling hot over the shred cabbage, and mix it well, all through, with a spoon. Set it to cool on ice or snow, or in the open air. It must be quite cold before it goes to table.
Take a red cabbage; wash, drain, and shred it finely. Put it into a deep dish. Cover it closely, and set it on the top of a stove, or in a bake oven, till it is warm all through. Then make a dressing as in the receipt for cold slaw. Pour it hot over the cabbage. Cover the dish, and send it to table as warm as possible.
This is a mixture of various things pickled together, and put into the same jar.
Have ready a small white cabbage, sliced, and the stalk removed; a cauliflower cut into neat branches, leaving out the large stalk; sliced cucumbers; sliced carrots; sliced beets, (all nicked round the edges;) button-onions; string-beans; radish pods; barberries; cherries; green grapes; nasturtians; capsicums; bell-peppers, &c. Sprinkle all these things with salt, put them promiscuously into a large earthen pan, and pour scalding salt and water over them. Let them lie in the brine for four days, turning them all over every day. Then take them out, wash each thing separately in vinegar, and wipe them carefully in a cloth. Afterwards lay them on sieves before the fire, and dry them thoroughly.
For the pickle liquor.—To every two quarts of the best vinegar, put an ounce and a half of white ginger root, scraped and sliced; the same of long pepper; two ounces of peeled shalots, or little button-onions, cut in pieces; half an ounce of peeled garlic; an ounce of turmeric; and two ounces of mustard seed bruised, or of mustard powder. Let all these ingredients, mixed with the vinegar, infuse in a close jar for a week, setting in a warm place, or by the fire. Then (after the vegetables have been properly prepared, and dried from the brine) put them all into one large stone jar, or into smaller jars, and strain the pickle over them. The liquid must be in a large quantity, so as to keep the vegetables well covered with it, or they will spoil. Put a table-spoonful of sweet oil on the top of each jar, and secure them well with a large cork and a leather.
If you find that after awhile the vegetables have absorbed the liquor, so that there is danger of their not having a sufficiency, prepare some more seasoned vinegar and pour it over them.
East India pickle is very convenient, and will keep two years. As different vegetables come into season, you can prepare them with the salt and water process, and add them to the things already in the jar. You may put small mangoes into this pickle; also plums, peaches and apricots.
For this purpose take none but the finest and largest oysters. After they are opened, separate them from their liquor, and put them into a bucket or a large pan, and pour boiling water upon them to take out the slime. Stir them about in it, and then take them out, and rinse them well in cold water. Then put them into a large kettle with fresh water, barely enough to cover them, (mixing with it a table-spoonful of salt to every hundred oysters,) and give them a boil up, just sufficient to plump them. Take them out, spread them on large dishes or on a clean table, and cover them with a cloth. Take the liquor of the oysters, and with every pint of it mix a quart of the best vinegar, a table-spoonful of salt, a table-spoonful of whole cloves, the same of whole black pepper, and a tea-spoonful of whole mace. Put the liquid over the fire in a kettle, and when it boils throw in the oysters, and let them remain in it five minutes. Then take the whole off the fire, stir it up well, and let it stand to get quite cold. Afterwards (if you have a large quantity) put it into a keg, which must first be well scalded, (a new keg is best,) and fill it as full as it can hold. Do not put a weight on the oysters to keep them down in the liquor, as it will crush them to pieces if the keg should be moved or conveyed to a distance. If you have not enough to fill a keg, put them into stone jars when they are perfectly cold, and cover them securely.
For pickling oysters and all other purposes use only the best cider vinegar. The sharp pungent vinegar made entirely of chemical substances will destroy the oysters, and is too unwholesome for any culinary purpose. No one should purchase it. It may be known by its excessive sharpness; being violently pungent without any pleasant flavour.
The introduction of iron ware lined with porcelain has fortunately almost superseded the use of brass or bell-metal kettles for boiling sweetmeats; a practice by which the articles prepared in those pernicious utensils were always more or less imbued with the deleterious qualities of the verdigris that is produced in them by the action of acids.
Charcoal furnaces will be found very convenient for preserving; the kettles being set on the top. They can be used in the open air. Sweetmeats should be boiled rather quickly, that the watery particles may exhale at once, without being subjected to so long a process as to spoil the colour and diminish the flavour of the fruit. But on the other hand, if boiled too short a time they will not keep so well.
If you wish your sweetmeats to look bright and clear, use only the very best loaf-sugar. Fruit may be preserved for family use and for common purposes, in sugar of inferior quality, but it will never have a good appearance, and it is also more liable to spoil.
If too small a proportion of sugar is allowed to the fruit, it will certainly not keep well. When this experiment is tried it is generally found to be false economy; as sweetmeats, when they begin to spoil, can only be recovered and made eatable by boiling them over again with additional sugar; and even then, they are never so good as if done properly at first. If jellies have not sufficient sugar, they do not congeal, but will remain liquid.
Jelly bags should be made of white flannel. It is well to have a wooden stand or frame like a towel horse, to which the bag can be tied while it is dripping. The bag should first be dipped in hot water, for if dry it will absorb too much of the juice. After the liquor is all in, close the top of the bag, that none of the flavour may evaporate.
In putting away sweetmeats, it is best to place them in small jars, as the more frequently they are exposed to the air by opening, the more danger there is of their spoiling. The best vessels for this purpose are white queen's-ware pots, or glass jars. For jellies, jams, and for small fruit, common glass tumblers are very convenient, and may be covered simply with double tissue-paper, cut exactly to fit the inside of the top of the glass, laid lightly on the sweetmeat, and pressed down all round with the finger. This covering, if closely and nicely fitted, will be found to keep them perfectly well, and as it adheres so closely as to form a complete coat over the top, it is better for jellies or jams than writing-paper dipped in brandy, which is always somewhat shrivelled by the liquor with which it has been saturated.
If you find that your sweetmeats have become dry and candied, you may liquefy them again by setting the jars in water and making it boil round them.
In preserving fruit whole, it is best to put it first in a thin syrup. If boiled in a thick syrup at the beginning, the juice will be drawn out so as to shrink the fruit.
It is better to boil it but a short time at once, and then to take it out and let it get cold, afterwards returning it to the syrup, than to keep it boiling too long at a time, which will cause it to break and lose its shape.
Preserving kettles should be rather broad than deep, for the fruit cannot be done equally if it is too much heaped. They should all have covers belonging to them, to put on after the scum has done rising, that the flavour of the fruit may be kept in with the steam.
A perforated skimmer pierced all through with holes is a very necessary utensil in making sweetmeats.
The water used for melting the sugar should be very clear; spring or pump water is best. But if you are obliged to use river water, let it first be filtered. Any turbidness or impurity in the water will injure the clearness of the sweetmeats.
If sweetmeats ferment in the jars, boil them over again with additional sugar.
Take eight pounds of the best double-refined loaf-sugar and break it up or powder it. Then beat the whites of four eggs to a strong froth. Stir the white of egg gradually into two quarts of very clear spring or pump water. Put the sugar into a porcelain kettle, and mix with it the water and white of egg. While the sugar is melting, stir it frequently; and when it is entirely dissolved, put the kettle over a moderate fire, and let it boil, carefully taking off the scum as it comes to the top, and pouring in a little cold water when you find the syrup rising so as to run over the edge of the kettle. It will be well when it first boils hard to pour in half a pint of cold water to keep down the bubbles so that the scum may appear, and be easily removed. You must not however boil it to candy height, so that the bubbles will look like hard pearls, and the syrup will harden in the spoon and hang from it in strings; for though very thick and clear it must continue liquid. When it is done, let it stand till it gets quite cold; and if you do not want it for immediate use, put it into bottles and seal the corks.
When you wish to use this syrup for preserving, you have only to put the fruit into it, and boil it till tender and clear, but not till it breaks. Large fruit that is done whole, should first be boiled tender in a very thin syrup that it may not shrink. Small fruit, such as raspberries, strawberries, grapes, currants, gooseberries, &c. may, if perfectly ripe, be put raw into strong cold sugar syrup; they will thus retain their form and colour, and their freshness and natural taste. They must be put into small glass jars, and kept well covered with the syrup. This, however, is an experiment which sometimes fails, and had best be tried on a small scale, or only for immediate use.
Take root of green ginger, and pare it neatly with a sharp knife, throwing it into a pan of cold water as you pare it. Then boil it till tender all through, changing the water three times. Each time put on the ginger in quite cold water to take out the excessive heat. When it is perfectly tender, throw it again into a pan of cold water, and let it lie an hour or more; this will make it crisp. In the mean time prepare the syrup.
For every six pounds of ginger root, clarify eight pounds of the best double-refined loaf-sugar. Break up the sugar, put it into a preserving kettle, and melt it in spring or pump water, (into which you have stirred gradually the beaten whites of four eggs,) and half a pint of water to each pound of sugar. Boil and skim it well. Then let the syrup stand till it is cold; and having drained the ginger, pour the syrup over it, cover it, and do not disturb it for two days. Then, having poured it from the ginger, boil the syrup over again. As soon as it is cold, pour it again on the ginger, and let it stand at least three days. Afterwards boil the syrup again, and pour it hot over the ginger. Proceed in this manner till you find that the syrup has thoroughly penetrated the ginger, (which you may ascertain by its taste and appearance when you cut a piece off,) and till the syrup becomes very thick and rich. Then put it all into jars, and cover it closely.
If you put the syrup hot to the ginger at first, it will shrink and shrivel. After the first time, you have only to boil and reboil the syrup; as it is not probable that it will require any further clarifying if carefully skimmed. It will be greatly improved by adding some lemon-juice at the close of the last boiling.
Pare off the outer skin of some fine citrons, and cut them into quarters. Take out the middle. You may divide each quarter into several pieces. Lay them for four or five hours in salt and water. Take them out, and then soak them in spring or pump water (changing it frequently) till all the saltness is extracted, and till the last water tastes perfectly fresh. Boil a small lump of alum, and scald them in the alum-water. It must be very weak, or it will communicate an unpleasant taste to the citrons; a lump the size of a hickory nut will suffice for six pounds. Afterwards simmer them two hours with layers of green vine leaves. Then make a syrup, with half a pint of water to each pound of loaf-sugar; boil and skim it well. When it is quite clear, put in the citrons, and boil them slowly, till they are so soft that a straw will pierce through them without breaking. Afterwards put them into a large dish, and set them in the sun to harden.
Prepare some lemons, by paring off the yellow rind very thin, and cutting it into slips of uniform size and shape. Lay the lemon-rind in scalding water, to extract the bitterness. Then take the pared lemons, cut them into quarters, measure a half pint of water to each lemon, and boil them to a mash. Strain the boiled lemon through a sieve, and to each pint of liquid allow a pound of the best double-refined loaf-sugar, for the second syrup. Melt the sugar in the liquid, and stir into it gradually some beaten white of egg; allowing one white to four pounds of sugar. Then set it over the fire; put the lemon-peel into the syrup, and let it boil in it till quite soft.
Put the citrons cold into a glass jar, and pour the hot syrup over them. Let the lemon remain with the citrons, as it will improve their flavour.
If you wish the citrons to be candied, boil down the second syrup to candy height, (that is, till it hangs in strings from the spoon,) and pour it over the citrons. Keep them well covered.
You may, if you choose, after you take the citrons from the alum-water, give them a boil in very weak ginger tea, made of the roots of green ginger if you can procure it; if not, of race ginger. Powdered ginger will not do at all. This ginger tea will completely eradicate any remaining taste of the salt or the alum. Afterwards cover the sides and bottom of the pan with vine leaves, put a layer of leaves between each layer of citron, and cover the top with leaves. Simmer the citrons in this two hours to green them.
In the same manner you may preserve water-melon rind, or the rind of cantelopes. Cut these rinds into stars, diamonds, crescents, circles, or into any fanciful shape you choose. Be sure to pare off the outside skin before you put the rinds into the salt and water.
Pumpkin cut into slips, may be preserved according to the above receipt.
Take very small cantelopes before they are ripe. Shave a thin paring off the whole outside. Cut out a small piece or plug about an inch square, and through it extract all the seeds, &c. from the middle. Then return the plugs to the hole from whence you took them, and secure them with a needle and thread, or by tying a small string round the cantelope.
Lay the cantelopes for four or five hours in salt and water. Then put them into spring water to extract the salt, changing the water till you find it salt no longer. Scald them in weak alum-water. Make a syrup in the proportion of a pint of water to a pound of loaf-sugar, and boil the cantelopes in it till a straw will go through them. Then take them out, and set them in the sun to harden.
Prepare some fine ripe oranges, paring off the yellow rind very thin, and cutting it into slips, and then laying it in scalding water to extract the bitterness. Cut the oranges into pieces; allow a pint of water to each orange, and boil them to a pulp. Afterwards strain them, and allow to each pint of the liquid, a pound of the best loaf-sugar, and stir in a little beaten white of egg; one white to two pounds of sugar. This is for the second syrup. Boil the peel in it, skimming it well. When the peel is soft, take it all out; for if left among the cantelopes, it will communicate to it too strong a taste of the orange.
Put the cantelopes into your jars, and pour over them the hot syrup. Cover them closely, and keep them in a dry cool place.
Large cantelopes may be prepared for preserving (after you have taken off the outer rind) by cutting them into pieces according to the natural divisions with which they are fluted.
This receipt for preserving cantelopes whole, will do very well for green lemons or limes, substituting lemon-peel and lemon-juice for that of oranges in the second syrup.
You may use some of the first syrup to boil up the pulp of the orange or lemons that has been left. It will make a sort of marmalade, that is very good for colds.
Having pared off the green skin, cut the rind of a water-melon into pieces of any shape you please; stars, diamonds, circles, crescents or leaves, using for the purpose a sharp penknife. Weigh the pieces, and allow to each pound a pound and a half of loaf sugar. Set the sugar aside, and put the pieces of melon-rind into a preserving kettle, the bottom and sides of which you have lined with green vine leaves. Put a layer of vine leaves between each layer of melon-rind, and cover the top with leaves. Disperse among the pieces some very small bits of alum, each about the bigness of a grain of corn, and allowing one bit to every pound of the melon-rind. Pour in just water enough to cover the whole, and place a thick double cloth (or some other covering) over the top of the kettle to keep in the steam, which will improve the greening. Let it simmer (but not boil) for two hours. Then take out the pieces of melon-rind and spread them on dishes to cool. Afterwards if you find that they taste of the alum, simmer them in very weak ginger tea for about three hours. Then proceed to make your syrup. Melt the sugar in clear spring or pump water, allowing a pint of water to a pound and a half of sugar, and mixing in with it some white of egg beaten to a stiff froth. The white of one egg will be enough for two pounds of sugar. Boil and skim it; and when the scum ceases to rise, put in the melon-rind, and let it simmer an hour. Take it out and spread it to cool on dishes, return it to the syrup, and simmer it another hour. After this take it out, and put it into a tureen. Boil up the syrup again, and pour it over the melon-rind. Cover it, and let it stand all night. Next morning give the syrup another boil; adding to it some lemon-juice, allowing the juice of one lemon to a quart of the syrup. When you find it so thick as to hang in a drop on the point of the spoon, it is sufficiently done. Then put the rind into glass jars, pour in the syrup, and secure the sweetmeats closely from the air with paper dipped in brandy, and a leather outer cover.
This, if carefully done and well greened, is a very nice sweetmeat, and may be used to ornament the top of creams, jellies, jams. &c. laying it round in rings or wreaths.
Citrons may be preserved green in the same manner, first paring off the outer skin and cutting them into quarters. Also green limes.
For this purpose take the small round peppers while they are green. With a sharp penknife extract the seeds and cores; and then put the outsides into a kettle with vine leaves, and a little alum to give them firmness, and assist in keeping them green. Proceed precisely as directed for the water-melon rind, in the above receipt.
It is best to defer making this sweetmeat (which will be found very fine) till late in the season when lemons are ripe and are to be had in plenty. Pumpkins (as they keep well) can generally be procured at any time through the winter.
Take a fine pumpkin of a rich deep colour, pare off the outer rind; remove the seeds; and having sliced the best part, cut it into chips of equal size, and as thin as you can do them. They should be in long narrow pieces, two inches in breadth, and four in length. It is best to prepare the pumpkin the day before; and having weighed the chips, allow to each pound of them a pound of the best loaf-sugar. You must have several dozen of fine ripe lemons, sufficient to furnish a jill of lemon-juice to each pound of pumpkin. Having rolled them under your hand on a table, to make them yield as much juice as possible, pare off the yellow rind and put it away for some other purpose. Then having cut the lemons, squeeze out all the juice into a pitcher. Lay the pumpkin chips in a large pan or tureen, strewing the sugar among them. Then having measured the lemon-juice in a wine-glass, (two common wine-glasses making one jill,) pour it over the pumpkin and sugar, cover the vessel, and let it stand all night.
Next day transfer the pumpkin, sugar, and lemon-juice to a preserving kettle, and boil it slowly for an hour or more, or till the pumpkin becomes all through tender, crisp, and transparent; but it must not be over the fire long enough to break and lose its form. You must skim it thoroughly. Some very small pieces of the lemon-paring may be boiled with it. When you think it is done, take up the pumpkin chips in a perforated skimmer that the syrup may drain through the holes back into the kettle. Spread the chips to cool on large dishes, and pass the syrup through a flannel bag that has been first dipped in hot water. When the chips are cold, put them into glass jars or tumblers, pour in the syrup, and lay on the top white paper dipped in brandy. Then tie up the jars with leather, or with covers of thick white paper.
If you find that when cold the chips are not perfectly clear, crisp, and tender, give them another boil in the syrup before you put them up.
This, if well made, is a handsome and excellent sweetmeat. It need not be eaten with cream, the syrup being so delicious as to require nothing to improve it. Shells of puff-paste first baked empty, and then filled with pumpkin chips, will be found very nice.
Musk-melon chips may be done in the same manner.