Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine by William Carew Hazlitt

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_To make Hart's-Horn Jelly_:--Take a large gallipot, and fill it full
of hart's-horn, and then fill it full with spring-water, and tie a
double paper over the gallipot, and set it in the baker's oven with
household bread; in the morning take it out, and run it through a
jelly-bag, and season it with juice of lemons, and double-refin'd
sugar, and the whites of eight eggs well beaten; let it have a boil,
and run it thro' the jelly-bag again into your jelly-glasses; put a
bit of lemon-peel in the bag.

IV.--CHEESES.

_The Queen's Cheese_:--Take six quarts of the best stroakings, and
let them stand till they are cold; then set two quarts of cream on the
fire till 'tis ready to boil; then take it off, and boil a quart of
fair water, and take the yolks of two eggs, and one spoonful of sugar,
and two spoonfuls of runnet; mingle all these together, and stir it
till 'tis blood warm: when the cheese is come, use it as other cheese;
set it at night, and the third day lay the leaves of nettles under and
over it: it must be turned and wiped, and the nettles shifted every
day, and in three weeks it will be fit to eat. This cheese is made
between Michaelmas and Alhallontide.

_To make a Slip-coat Cheese_:--Take new milk and runnet, quite cold,
and when 'tis come, break it as little as you can in putting it into
the cheese-fat, and let it stand and whey itself for some time; then
cover it, and set about two pound weight on it, and when it will hold
together, turn it out of that cheese-fat, and keep it turning upon
clean cheese-fats for two or three days, till it has done wetting,
and then lay it on sharp-pointed dock-leaves till 'tis ripe: shift the
leaves often.

_To make a New-market Cheese to cut at two Years old_:--Any morning
in September, take twenty quarts of new milk warm from the cow, and
colour it with marigolds: when this is done, and the milk not cold,
get ready a quart of cream, and a quart of fair water, which must be
kept stirring over the fire till 'tis scalding hot, then stir it well
into the milk and runnet, as you do other cheese; when 'tis come, lay
cheese-cloths over it, and settle it with your hands; the more hands
the better; as the whey rises, take it away, and when 'tis clean gone,
put the curd into your fat, breaking it as little as you can; then put
it in the press, and press it gently an hour; take it out again, and
cut it in thin slices, and lay them singly on a cloth, and wipe them
dry; then put it in a tub, and break it with your hands as small as
you can, and mix with it a good handful of salt, and a quart of cold
cream; put it in the fat, and lay a pound weight on it till next day;
then press and order it as others.

V.--CAKES.

_To make Shrewsbury Cakes_:--Take to one pound of sugar, three pounds
of the finest flour, a nutmeg grated, some beaten cinamon; the sugar
and spice must be sifted into the flour, and wet it with three eggs,
and as much melted butter, as will make it of a good thickness to roll
into a paste; mould it well and roll it, and cut it into what shape
you please. Perfume them, and prick them before they go into the oven.

_To make Whetstone Cakes_:--Take half a pound of fine flour, and half
a pound of loaf sugar searced, a spoonful of carraway-seeds dried,
the yolk of one egg, the whites of three, a little rose-water, with
ambergrease dissolved in it; mix it together, and roll it out as thin
as a wafer; cut them with a glass; lay them on flour'd paper, and bake
them in a slow oven.

_To make Portugal Cakes_:--Take a pound and a quarter of fine flour
well dried, and break a pound of butter into the flour and rub it in,
add a pound of loaf-sugar beaten and sifted, a nutmeg grated, four
perfumed plums, or some ambergrease; mix these well together, and
beat seven eggs, but four whites, with three spoonfuls of
orange-flower-water; mix all these together, and beat them up an hour;
butter your little pans, and just as they are going into the oven,
fill them half full, and searce some fine sugar over them; little more
than a quarter of an hour will bake them. You may put a handful of
currants into some of them; take them out of the pans as soon as they
are drawn, keep them dry, they will keep good three months.

_To make Jumbals_:--Take the whites of three eggs, beat them well, and
take off the froth; then take a little milk, and a little flour, near
a pound, as much sugar sifted, a few carraway-seeds beaten very fine;
work all these in a very stiff paste, and make them into what form you
please bake them on white paper.

_To make March-pane_:--Take a pound of Jordan almonds, blanch and beat
them in a marble mortar very fine; then put to them three-quarters
of a pound of double-refin'd sugar, and beat with them a few drops of
orange-flower-water; beat all together till 'tis a very good paste,
then roll it into what shape you please; dust a little fine sugar
under it as you roll it to keep it from sticking. To ice it, searce
double-refined sugar as fine as flour, wet it with rose-water, and mix
it well together, and with a brush or bunch of feathers spread it
over your march-pane: bake them in an oven that is not too hot: put
wafer-paper at the bottom, and white paper under that, so keep them
for use.

_To make the Marlborough Cake_:--Take eight eggs, yolks and whites,
beat and strain them, and put to them a pound of sugar beaten and
sifted; beat it three-quarters of an hour together; then put in
three-quarters of a pound of flour well dried, and two ounces of
carraway-seeds; beat it all well together, and bake it in a quick oven
in broad tin-pans.

_To make Wormwood Cakes_:--Take one pound of double-refin'd sugar
sifted; mix it with the whites of three or four eggs well beat; into
this drop as much chymical oil of wormwood as you please. So drop them
on paper; you may have some white, and some marble, with specks of
colours, with the point of a pin; keep your colours severally in
little gallipots. For red, take a dram of cochineel, a little cream of
tartar, as much of allum; tye them up severally in little bits of fine
cloth, and put them to steep in one glass of water two or three hours.
When you use the colour, press the bags in the water, and mix some
of it with a little of the white of egg and sugar. Saffron colours
yellow; and must be tyed in a cloth, as the red, and put in water.
Powder-blue, mix'd with the saffron-water, makes a green; for blue,
mix some dry powder-blue with some water.

_A French Cake to eat hot_:--Take a dozen of eggs, and a quart of
cream, and as much flour as will make it into a thick batter; put to
it a pound of melted butter, half a pint of sack, one nutmeg grated,
mix it well, and let it stand three or four hours; then bake it in
a quick oven, and when you take it out, split it in two, and pour a
pound of butter on it melted with rose-water; cover it with the other
half, and serve it up hot.

_To make the thin Dutch Bisket_:--Take five pounds of flour, and two
ounces of carraway-seeds, half a pound of sugar, and something more
than a pint of milk. Warm the milk, and put into it three-quarters of
a pound of butter; then make a hole in the middle of your flour, and
put in a full pint of good ale-yeast; then pour in the butter and
milk, and make these into a paste, and let it stand a quarter of an
hour by the fire to rise; then mould it, and roll it into cakes pretty
thin; prick them all over pretty much or they will blister; so bake
them a quarter of an hour.

_To make Dutch Ginger-bread_:--Take four pounds of flour, and mix with
it two ounces and a half of beaten ginger; then rub in a quarter of
a pound of butter, and add to it two ounces of carraway-seeds,
two ounces of orange-peel dried and rubb'd to powder, a few
coriander-seeds bruised, two eggs: then mix all up in a stiff paste,
with two pounds and a quarter of treacle; beat it very well with
a rolling-pin, and make it up into thirty cakes; put in a candied
citron; prick them with a fork: butter papers three double, one white,
and two brown; wash them over with the white of an egg; put them into
an oven not too hot, for three-quarters of an hour.

_To make Cakes of Flowers_:--Boil double-refin'd sugar candy-high, and
then strew in your flowers, and let them boil once up; then with your
hand lightly strew in a little double-refin'd sugar sifted; and then
as quick as may be, put it into your little pans, made of card, and
pricked full of holes at bottom. You must set the pans on a pillow, or
cushion; when they are cold, take them out.

VI.--CAUDLES AND POSSETS.

_To make a Posset with Ale: King-William's Posset_:--Take a quart of
cream, and mix with it a pint of ale, then beat the yolks of ten eggs,
and the whites of four; when they are well beaten, put them to the
cream and ale, sweeten it to your taste, and slice some nutmeg in it;
set it over the fire, and keep it stirring all the while, and when
'tis thick, and before it boils, take it off, and pour it into the
bason you serve it in to the table.

_To make the Pope's Posset_:--Blanch and beat three-quarters of a
pound of almonds so fine, that they will spread between your fingers
like butter, put in water as you beat them to keep them from oiling;
then take a pint of sack or sherry, and sweeten it very well with
double-refin'd sugar, make it boiling hot, and at the same time put
half a pint of water to your almonds, and make them boil; then take
both off the fire, and mix them very well together with a spoon; serve
it in a china dish.

_To make Flummery Caudle_:--Take a pint of fine oatmeal, and put to it
two quarts of fair water: let it stand all night, in the morning stir
it, and strain it into a skillet, with three or four blades of mace,
and a nutmeg quartered; set it on the fire, and keep it stirring,
and let it boil a quarter of an hour; if it is too thick, put in
more water, and let it boil longer; then add a pint of Rhenish or
white-wine; three spoonfuls of orange-flower-water, the juice of two
lemons and one orange, a bit of butter, and as much fine sugar as will
sweeten it; let all these have a warm, and thicken it with the yolks
of two or three eggs. Drink it hot for a breakfast.

_To make Tea Caudle_:--Make a quart of strong green tea, and pour it
out into a skillet, and set it over the fire; then beat the yolks of
four eggs and mix with them a pint of white-wine, a grated nutmeg,
sugar to your taste, and put all together; stir it over the fire till
'tis very hot, then drink it in china dishes as caudle.

VII.--CONSERVES, DRIED AND CAN-DIED FRUITS, MARMALADES, ETC.

_To dry Apricocks like Prunella's_:--Take a pound of Apricocks; being
cut in halves or quarters, let them boil till they be very tender in
a thin syrup; let them stand a day or two in the stove, then take
them out of the syrup, and lay them drying till they be as dry as
prunello's, then box them: you may make your syrup red with the juice
of red plums; if you please you may pare them.

_To candy Angelica_:--Take angelica that is young, and cut it in
fit lengths, and boil it till it is pretty tender, keeping it close
covered; then take it up and peel off all the strings; then put it in
again, and let it simmer and scald till 'tis very green; then take it
up and dry it in a cloth, and weigh it, and to every pound of angelica
take a pound of double-refin'd sugar beaten and sifted; put your
angelica in an earthen pan, and strew the sugar over it, and let it
stand two days; then boil it till it looks very clear, put it in a
colander to drain the syrup from it, and take a little double-refin'd
sugar and boil it to sugar again; then throw in your angelica, and
take it out in a little time, and put it on glass plates. It will dry
in your stove, or in an oven after pyes are drawn.

_To candy Orange-Flowers_:--Take half a pound of double-refin'd
sugar finely beaten, wet it with orange-flower-water, then boil
it candy-high, then put in a handful of orange-flowers, keeping it
stirring, but let it not boil, and when the sugar candies about them,
take it off the fire, drop it on a plate, and set it by till 'tis
cold.

_To make Conserve of Red-Roses, or any other Flowers_:--Take
rose-buds, and pick them, and cut off the white part from the red,
and put the red flowers, and sift them through a sieve to take out the
seeds; then weigh them, and to every pound of flowers take two pounds
and a half of loaf-sugar, beat the flowers pretty fine in a stone
mortar; then by degrees put the sugar to them, and beat it very well
till 'tis well incorporated together; then put it into gallipots, and
tye it over with paper, and over that leather, and it will keep seven
years.

_To preserve white Pear Plumbs_:--Take pear plumbs when they are
yellow, before they are too ripe; give them a slit in the seam, and
prick them behind; make your water almost scalding hot, and put a
little sugar to it to sweeten it, and put in your plumbs and cover
them close; set them on the fire to coddle, and take them off
sometimes a little, and set them on again: take care they do not
break; have in readiness as much double-refin'd sugar boiled to a
height as will cover them, and when they are coddled pretty tender,
take them out of that liquor, and put them into your preserving-pan to
your syrup, which must be but blood-warm when your plumbs go in. Let
them boil till they are clear, scum them and take them off, and let
them stand two hours; then set them on again and boil them, and when
they are thoroughly preserved, take them up and lay them in glasses;
boil your syrup till 'tis thick; and when 'tis cold, put in your
plumbs; and a month after, if your syrup grows thin, you must boil it
again, or make a fine jelly of pippins, and put on them. This way
you may do the pimordian plumb, or any white plumb, and when they are
cold, paper them up.

_To preserve Mulberries whole_:--Set some mulberries over the fire
in a skillet, and draw from them a pint of juice, when 'tis strained.
Then take three pounds of sugar, beaten very fine; wet the sugar with
the pint of juice; boil up your sugar, and scum it, and put in two
pounds of ripe mulberries, and let them stand in the syrup till they
are thoroughly warm; then set them on the fire, and let them boil very
gently; do them but half enough, so put them by in the syrup till next
day; then boil them gently again, and when the syrup is pretty thick,
and will stand in a round drop when 'tis cold, they are enough; so put
all together in a gallipot for use.

_To preserve whole Quinces white_:--Take the largest quinces of the
greenest colour, and scald them till they are pretty soft; then pare
them and core them with a scoop; then weigh your quinces against so
much double-refin'd sugar, and make a syrup of one half, and put in
your quinces, and boil them as fast as you can; then you must have
in readiness pippin liquor; let it be very strong of the pippins, and
when 'tis strained out, put in the other half of your sugar, and make
it a jelly, and when your quinces are clear, put them into the jelly,
and let them simmer a little; they will be very white; so glass them
up, and when they are cold, paper them and keep them in a stove.

_To make white Quince Marmalade_:--Scald your quinces tender, take off
the skin and pulp them from the core very fine, and to every pound
of quince have a pound and half of double-refin'd sugar in lumps, and
half a pint of water; dip your sugar in the water and boil and scum it
till 'tis a thick syrup: then put in your quince, boil and scum it on
a quick fire a quarter of an hour, so put it in your pots.

_To make red Quince Marmalade_:--Pare and core a pound of quince, beat
the parings and cores and some of your worst quinces, and strain out
the juice; and to every pound of quince take ten or twelve spoonfuls
of that juice, and three-quarters of a pound of loaf-sugar; put all
into your preserving-pan, cover it close, and let it stew over a
gentle fire two hours; when 'tis of an orange-red, uncover and boil it
up as fast as you can: when of a good colour, break it as you like it,
give it a boil, and pot it up.

_To make Melon Mangoes_:--Take small melons, not quite ripe, cut
a slip down the side, and take out the inside very clean; beat
mustard-seeds, and shred garlick, and mix with the seeds, and put in
your mangoes; put the pieces you cut out into their places again, and
tye them up, and put them into your pot, and boil some vinegar (as
much as you think will cover them) with whole pepper, and some salt,
and Jamaica pepper, and pour in scalding hot over your mangoes, and
cover them close to keep in the steam; and so do every day for nine
times together, and when they are cold cover them with leather.

_To make Conserve of Hips_:--Gather the hips before they grow soft,
cut off the heads and stalks, slit them in halves, and take out all
the seed and white that is in them very clean; then put them in an
earthen pan, and stir them every day, else they will grow mouldy;
let them stand till they are soft enough to rub through a coarse
hair-sieve; as the pulp comes, take it off the sieve; they are a dry
berry, and will require pains to rub it through; then add its weight
in sugar, and mix it well together without boiling; keeping it in deep
gallipots for use.

_To make clear Cakes of Gooseberries_:--Take your white Dutch
gooseberries when they are thorough ripe, break them with your fingers
and squeeze out all the pulp into a fine piece of cambrick or thick
muslin to run thro' clear; then weigh the juice and sugar one against
the other; then boil the juice a little while, then put in your sugar
and let it dissolve, but not boil; scum it and put it into glasses,
and stove it in a warm stove.

_To make white Quince Paste_:--Scald the quinces tender to the core,
and pare them, and scrape the pulp clean from the core, beat it in
a mortar, and pulp it through a colander; take to a pound of pulp a
pound and two ounces of sugar, boil the sugar till 'tis candy-high;
then put in your pulp, stir it about constantly till you see it come
clear from the bottom of the preserving-pan; then take it off, and lay
it on plates pretty thin: you may cut it in what shape you please, or
make quince chips of it; you must dust it with sugar when you put it
into the stove, and turn it on papers in a sieve, and dust the other
side; when they are dry, put them in boxes with papers between. You
may make red quince paste the same way as this, only colour the quince
with cochineel.

_To make Syrup of any flower_:--Clip your flowers, and take their
weight in sugar; then take a high gallipot, and a row of flowers, and
a strewing of sugar, till the pot is full; then put in two or three
spoonfuls of the same syrup or still'd water; tye a cloth on the top
of the pot, and put a tile on that, and set your gallipot in a kettle
of water over a gentle fire, and let it infuse till the strength is
out of the flowers, which will be in four or five hours; then strain
it thro' a flannel, and when 'tis cold bottle it up.

VIII.--PICKLES.

_To pickle Nasturtium-Buds_:--Gather your little knobs quickly after
your blossoms are off; put them in cold water and salt for three days,
shifting them once a day; then make a pickle (but do not boil it
at all) of some white-wine, some white-wine vinegar, eschalot,
horse-radish, pepper, salt, cloves, and mace whole, and nutmeg
quartered; then put in your seeds and stop them close; they are to be
eaten as capers.

_To keep Quinces in Pickle_:--Cut five or six quinces all to pieces,
and put them in an earthen pot or pan, with a gallon of water and two
pounds of honey; mix all these together well, and then put them in
a kettle to boil leisurely half an hour, and then strain your liquor
into that earthen pot, and when 'tis cold, wipe your quinces clean,
and put them into it: they must be covered very close, and they will
keep all the year.

_To pickle Ashen-keys_:--Take ashen-keys as young as you can get them,
and put them in a pot with salt and water; then take green whey, when
'tis hot, and pour over them; let them stand till they are cold before
you cover them, so let them stand; when you use them, boil them in
fair water; when they are tender take them out, and put them in salt
and water.

_To pickle Pods of Radishes_:--Gather the youngest pods, and put them
in water and salt twenty-four hours; then make a pickle for them of
vinegar, cloves, mace, whole pepper: boil this, and drain the pods
from the salt and water, and pour the liquor on them boiling hot: put
to them a clove of garlick a little bruised.

_To pickle Broom-Buds_:--Put your broom-buds into little linnen-bags,
tie them up, and make a pickle of bay-salt and water boiled, and
strong enough to bear an egg; put your bags in a pot, and when your
pickle is cold, put it to them; keep them close, and let them lie till
they turn black; then shift them two or three times, till they change
green; then take them out, and boil them as you have occasion for
them: when they are boiled, put them out of the bag: in vinegar they
will keep a month after they are boiled.

_To pickle Purslain Stalks_:--Wash your stalks, and cut them in pieces
six inches long; boil them in water and salt a dozen walms; take
them up, drain them, and when they cool, make a pickle of stale beer,
white-wine vinegar, and salt, put them in, and cover them close.

IX.--WINES.

_To make strong Mead_:--Take of spring-water what quantity you please,
and make it more than blood-warm, and dissolve honey in it till 'tis
strong enough to bear an egg, the breadth of a shilling; then boil
it gently near an hour, taking off the scum as it rises; then put to
about nine or ten gallons, seven or eight large blades of mace, three
nutmegs quarter'd, twenty cloves, three or four sticks of cinamon, two
or three roots of ginger, and a quarter of an ounce of Jamaica pepper;
put these spices into the kettle to the honey and water, a whole
lemon, with a sprig of sweet-briar, and a sprig of rosemary; tie the
briar and rosemary together, and when they have boiled a little while,
take them out and throw them away; but let your liquor stand on the
spice in a clean earthen pot till the next day; then strain it into a
vessel that is fit for it; put the spice in a bag, and hang it in the
vessel, stop it, and at three months draw it into bottles. Be sure
that 'tis fine when 'tis bottled; after 'tis bottled six weeks 'tis
fit to drink.

_To make small White Mead_:--Take three gallons of spring-water and
make it hot, and dissolve in it three quarts of honey and a pound of
loaf sugar; and let it boil about half an hour, and scum it as long
as any rises, then pour it out into a tub, and squeeze in the juice of
four lemons; put in the rinds of but two; twenty cloves, two races of
ginger, a top of sweet-briar, and a top of rosemary. Let it stand in
a tub till 'tis but blood warm; then make a brown toast and spread it
with two or three spoonfuls of ale-yeast, put it into a vessel fit for
it; let it stand four or five days, then bottle it out.

_To make Frontiniac Wine_:--Take six gallons of water and twelve
pounds of white sugar, and six pounds of raisins of the sun cut small;
boil these together an hour; then take of the flowers of elder, when
they are falling and will shake off, the quantity of half a peck;
put them in the liquor when 'tis almost cold, the next day put in six
spoonfuls of syrup of lemons, and four spoonfuls of ale-yeast, and
two days after put it in a vessel that is fit for it, and when it has
stood two months bottle it off.

_To make English Champagne, or the fine Currant Wine_:--Take to three
gallons of water nine pounds of Lisbon sugar; boil the water and sugar
half an hour, scum it clean, then have one gallon of currants pick'd,
but not bruised, pour the liquor boiling-hot over them, and when cold,
work it with half a pint of balm two days; then pour it through a
flannel or sieve, then put it into a barrel fit for it with half an
ounce of ising-glass well bruised; when it has done working, stop
it close for a month, then bottle it, and in every bottle put a very
small lump of double-refin'd sugar. This is excellent wine, and has a
beautiful colour.

_To make Saragossa Wine, or English Sack_:--To every quart of water,
put a sprig of rue, and to every gallon a handful of fennel-roots,
boil these half an hour, then strain it out, and to every gallon of
this liquor put three pounds of honey; boil it two hours, and scum
it well, and when 'tis cold pour it off and turn it into a vessel, or
such cask that is fit for it; keep it a year in the vessel, and then
bottle it; 'tis a very good sack.

_Mountain Wine_:--Pick out the big stalks of your Malaga raisins,
then chop them very small, five gallons to every gallon of cold
spring-water, let them steep a fortnight or more, squeeze out the
liquor and barrel it in a vessel fit for it; first fume the vessel
with brimstone; don't stop it up till the hissing is over.

_To make Quince Wine_;--Take your quinces when they are thorough ripe,
wipe off the fur very clean; then take out the cores and bruise them
as you do apples for cyder, and press them, and to every gallon of
juice put two pounds and a half of fine sugar, stir it together till
'tis dissolved; then put it in your cask, and when it has done working
stop it close; let it stand till March before you bottle it. You may
keep it two or three years, it will be better.

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