page [259]
> PART XI. > DAIRY, AND POULTRY. > DAIRY.
THE servants of each country are generally acquainted with the best mode of managing the butter and cheese of that country; but the following hints may not be unacceptable, to give information to the mistress. On the Management of Cows, &c.
Cows should be carefully treated; if their teats are sore, they should be soaked in warm water twice a day, and either be dressed with soft ointment, or done with spirits and water. If the former, great cleanliness is necessary. The milk, at these times, should be given to the pigs.
When the milk is brought into the dairy, it should be strained and emptied into clean pans immediately in winter, but not till cool in summer. White ware is preferable, as the red is porous, and cannot be so thoroughly scalded.
The greatest possible attention must be paid to great cleanliness in a dairy; all the utensils, shelves, dressers, and the floor, should be kept with the most perfect neatness, and cold water thrown over every part very often. There should be shutters to keep out the sun and the hot air. Meat hung in a dairy will spoil milk.
The cows should be milked at a regular and early hour, and the udders emptied, or the quantity will decrease. The quantity of milk depends on many causes; as the goodness, breed, and health of the cow, the pasture, the length of time from calving, the having plenty of clean water in the field she feeds in, &c. A change
View page [334] of pasture will tend to increase it. People who attend properly to the dairy will feed the cows particularly well two or three weeks before they calve, which makes the milk more abundant after. In gentlemen's dairies more attention is paid to the size and beauty of the cows than to their produce, which dairymen look most to.
For making cheese the cows should calve from Lady-Day to May, that the large quantity of milk may come into use about the same time; but in gentlemens' families one or two should calve in August or September for a supply in winter. In good pastures, the average produce of a dairy is about three gallons a day each cow, from Lady-Day to Michaelmas, and from thence to Christinas one gallon a day. Cows will be profitable milkers to fourteen or fifteen years of age, if of a proper breed.
When a calf is to be reared, it should be taken from the cow in a week at furthest, or it will cause great trouble in rearing, because it will be difficult to make it take milk in a pan. Take it from the cow in the morning, and keep it without food till the next morning; and then, being hungry, it will drink without difficulty. Skimmed milk and fresh whey, just as warm as new milk, should be given twice a day in such quantity as is required. If milk runs short, smooth gruel mixed with milk will do. At first, let the calf be out only by day, and feed it at night and morning.
When the family is absent, or there is not a great call for cream, a careful dairy-maid seizes the opportunity to provide for the winter-store: she should have a book to keep an account, or get some one to write down for her the produce of every week, and set down what butter she pots. The weight the pot will hold should be marked on each in making at the pottery. In another part of the book should be stated the poultry reared in one leaf, and the weekly consumption in another part. Observations respecting Cheese.
This well-known article differs according to the pasture
View page [261] in which the cows feed. Various modes of preparing may effect a great deal; and it will be bad or good of its kind, by being in unskilful hands or the contrary; but much will still depend on the former circumstance. The same land rarely makes very fine butter, and remarkably fine cheese; yet due care may give one pretty good, where the other excels in quality.
When one is not as fine as the other, attention and change of method may amend the inferior. There is usually, however, too much prejudice in the minds of dairy people, to make them give up an old custom for one newly recommended. This calls for the eye of the superior. A gentleman has been at the expense of procuring cattle from every county noted for good cheese, and it is affirmed that the Cheshire, double Gloucester, North Wiltshire, Chedder, and many other sorts are so excellent, as not to discredit their names. As the cows are all on one estate, it should seem that the mode of making must be a principal cause of the difference in flavour; besides, there is much in the size and manner of keeping.
Cheese made on the same ground, of new, skimmed, or mixed milk, will differ greatly, not in richness only, but also in taste. Those who direct a dairy in a gentleman's family, should consider in which way it can be managed to the best advantage. Even with few cows, cheeses of value may be made from a tolerable pasture, by taking the whole of two meals of milk, and proportioning the thickness of the vat to the quantity, rather than having a wide and flat one, as the former will be most mellow. The addition of a pound of fresh-made butter, of a good quality, will cause the cheese made on poor land to be of a very different quality from that usually produced by it.
A few cheeses thus made, when the weather is not extremely hot, and when the cows are in full feed, will be very advantageous for the use of the parlour. Cheese for common family use will be very well produced by
View page [262] two meals of skim, and one of new milk; or in good land, by the skim-milk only. Butter likewise should be made, and potted down for winter-use, but not to interfere with the cheese as above, which will not take much time.
To prepare Rennet to turn the Milk. Take out the stomach of a calf as soon as killed, and scour it inside and out with salt, after it is cleared of the curd always found in it. Let it drain a few hours; then sew it up with two good handfuls of salt in it, or stretch it on a stick well salted; or keep it in the salt wet, and soak a bit, which will do over and over by fresh water.
Another way.--Clean the maw as above; next day take two quarts of fresh spring-water, and put into it a handful of hawthorn-tops, a handful of sweet-briar, a handful of rose-leaves, a stick of cinnamon, forty cloves, four blades of mace, a sprig of knotted marjoram, and two large spoonfuls of salt. Let them boil gently to three pints of water; strain it off; and when only milk-warm, pour it on the vell (that is, the maw). Slice a lemon into it; let it stand two days; strain it again, and bottle it for use. It will keep good at least twelve months, and has a very fine flavour. You may add any sweet aromatic herbs to the above. It must be pretty salt, but not brine. A little will do for turning. Salt the vell again for a week or two, and dry it stretched on sticks crossed, and it will be near as strong as ever. Don't keep it in a hot place when dry.
To make Cheese. Put the milk into a large tub, warming a part till it is of a degree of heat quite equal to new; if too hot the cheese will be tough. Put in as much rennet as will turn it, and cover it over. Let it stand till completely turned; then strike the curd down several times with the skimming dish, and let it separate, still covering it. There are two modes of breaking the curd; and there will be a difference in the taste of the cheese, according as either is observed; one is, to gather it with the hands very
View page [263] gently towards the side of the tub, letting the whey pass through the fingers till it is cleared, and lading it off as it collects. The other is, to get the whey from it by early breaking the curd; the last method deprives it of many of its oily particles, and is therefore less proper.
Put the vat on a ladder over the tub, and fill it with curd by the skimmer: press the curd close with your hand and add more as it sinks; and it must be finally left two inches above the edge. Before the vat is filled, the cheese-cloth must be laid at the bottom; and when full, drawn smooth over on all sides.
There are two modes of salting cheese; one by mixing it in the curd while in the tub after the whey is out; and the other by putting it in the vat, and crumbling the curd all to pieces with it, after the first squeezing with the hands has dried it. The first method appears best on some accounts, but not on all, and therefore the custom of the country must direct. Put a board under and over the vat, and place it in the press: in two hours turn it out, and put a fresh cheese-cloth; press it again for eight or nine hours; then salt it all over, and turn it again in the vat, and let it stand in the press fourteen or sixteen hours, observing to put the cheeses last made undermost. Before putting them the last time into the vat, pare the edge if they do not look smooth. The vat should have holes at the sides and at bottom to let all the whey pass through. Put on clean boards, and change and scald them.
To preserve Cheese sound. Wash in warm whey, when you have any, and wipe it once a month, and keep it on a rack. If you want to ripen it, a damp cellar will bring it forward. When a whole cheese is cut, the larger quantity should be spread with butter inside, and the outside wiped, to preserve it. To keep those in daily use, moist, let a clean cloth be wrung out from cold water, and wrapt round them when carried from table. Dry cheese may be used to advantage to grate for serving with macaroni or eating without. These observations are made with a view to make the
View page [264] above articles less expensive, as in most families where much is used there is waste.
To make Sage Cheese. Bruise the tops of young red sage in a mortar, with some leaves of spinach, and squeeze the juice; mix it with the rennet in the milk, more or less according as you like for colour and taste. When the curd is come, break it gently, and put it in with the skimmer, till it is pressed two inches above one vat. Press it eight or ten hours. Salt it, and turn every day.
Cream Cheese. Put five quarts of strippings, that is, the last of the milk, into a pan, with two spoonfuls of rennet. When the curd is come, strike it down two or three times with the skimming-dish just to break it. Let it stand two hours, then spread a cheese-cloth on a sieve, put the curd on it, and let the whey drain; break the curd a little with your hand, and put it into a vat with a two pound weight upon it. Let it stand twelve hours, take it out, and bind a fillet round. Turn every day till dry, from one board to another; cover them with nettles, or clean dock-leaves, and put between two pewter-plates to ripen. If the weather be warm, it will be ready in three weeks.
Another.--Have ready a kettle of boiling water, put five quarts of new milk into a pan, and five pints of cold water, and five of hot; when of a proper heat, put in as much rennet as will bring it in twenty minutes, likewise a bit of sugar. When come, strike the skimmer three or four times down, and leave it on the curd. In an hour or two lade it into the vat without touching it; put a two pound weight on it when the whey has run from it, and the vat is full.
Another sort.--Put as much salt to three pints of raw cream as shall season it: stir it well, and pour it into a sieve in which you have folded a cheese-cloth three or four times, and laid at the bottom. When it hardens, cover it with nettles on a pewter-plate.
View page [265]
Rush Cream Cheese. To a quart of fresh cream put a pint of new milk warm enough to make the cream a proper warmth, a bit of sugar, and a little rennet.
Set near the fire till the curd comes; fill a vat made in the form of a brick, of wheat-straw or rushes sewed together. Have ready a square of straw, or rushes sewed flat, to rest the vat on, and another to cover it; the vat being open at top and bottom. Next day take it out, and change it as above to ripen. A half-pound weight will be sufficient to put on it.
Another way.--Take a pint of very thick sour cream from the top of the pan for gathering butter, lay a napkin on two plates, and pour half into each, let them stand twelve hours, then put them on a fresh wet napkin in one plate, and cover with the same; this do every twelve hours until you find the cheese begins to look dry, then ripen it with nut-leaves; it will be ready in ten days.
Fresh nettles, or two pewter-plates, will ripen cream-cheese very well.
Observations respecting Butter.
There is no one article of family consumption more in use, of greater variety in goodness, or that is of more consequence to have of a superior quality, than this, and the economising of which is more necessary. The sweetness of butter is not affected by the cream being turned, of which it is made. When cows are in turnips, or eat cabbages, the taste is very disagreeable; and the following ways have been tried with advantage to obviate it:--
When the milk is strained into the pans, put to every six gallons one gallon of boiling water. Or dissolve one ounce of nitre in a pint of spring-water, and put a quarter of a pint to every fifteen gallons of milk. Or, when you churn, keep back a quarter of a pint of the sour cream, and put it into a well-scalded pot, into which you are to gather the next cream; stir that well, and do so with every fresh addition.
View page [266]
To make Butter. During summer, skim the milk when the sun has not heated the dairy; at that season it should stand for butter twenty-four hours without skimming, and forty-eight in winter. Deposit the cream-pot in a very cold cellar, if your dairy is not more so. If you cannot churn daily, change it into scalded fresh pots; but never omit churning twice a week. If possible, put the churn in a thorough air; and if not a barrel one, set it in a tub of water two feet deep, which will give firmness to the butter. When the butter is come, pour off the buttermilk, and put the butter into a fresh-scalded pan, or tubs which have afterwards been in cold water. Pour water on it, and let it lie to acquire some hardness before you work it; then change the water, and beat it with flat boards so perfectly that not the least taste of the buttermilk remain, and that the water, which must be often changed, shall be quite clear in colour. Then work some salt into it, weigh, and make it into forms; throw them into cold water, in an earthen pan and cover of the queen's ware. You will then have very nice and cool butter in the hottest weather. It requires more working in hot than in cold weather; but in neither should be left with a particle of buttermilk, or a sour taste, as is sometimes done.
To preserve Butter. Take two parts of the best common salt, one part good loaf-sugar, and one part saltpetre; beat them well together. To sixteen ounces of butter thoroughly cleansed from the milk, put one ounce of this composition; work it well, and pot down, when become firm and cold.
The butter thus preserved is the better for keeping, and should not be used under a month. This article should be kept from the air, and is best in pots of the best glazed earth, that will hold from ten to fourteen pounds each.
View page [267]
To preserve Butter for Winter, the best way. When the butter has been prepared as above directed, take two parts of the best common salt, one part of good loaf-sugar, and one part of saltpetre, beaten and blended well together. Of this composition put one ounce to sixteen ounces of butter, and work it well together in a mass. Press it into the pans after the butter is become cool; for friction, though it be not touched by the hands, will soften it. The pans should hold ten or twelve pounds each. On the top put some salt; and when that is turned to brine, if not enough to cover the butter entirely, add some strong salt and water. It requires only then to be covered from the dust.
To manage Cream for Whey Butter. Set the whey one day and night, skim it, and so till you have enough; then boil it, and pour it into a pan or two of cold water. As the cream rises, skim it till no more comes; then churn it. Where new-milk cheese is made daily, whey-butter for common and present use may be made to advantage.
To scald Cream, as in the West of England. In winter let the milk stand twenty-four hours, in the summer twelve at least; then put the milk-pan on an hot hearth, if you have one; if not, set it in a wide brass kettle of water large enough to receive the pan. It must remain on the fire till quite hot, but on no account boil, or there will be a skin instead of a cream upon the milk. You will know when done enough, by the undulations on the surface looking thick, and having a ring round the pan the size of the bottom. The time required to scald cream depends on the size of the pan and the heat of the fire; the slower the better. Remove the pan into the dairy when done, and skim it next day. In cold weather it may stand thirty-six hours, and never less than two meals.
The butter is usually made in Devonshire of cream thus prepared, and if properly it is very firm.
View page [263]
Buttermilk. If made of sweet cream, is a delicious and most wholesome food. Those who can relish sour buttermilk, find it still more light; and it is reckoned more beneficial in consumptive cases.
Buttermilk, if not very sour, is also as good as cream to eat with fruit, if sweetened with white sugar, and mixed with a very little milk. It likewise does equally for cakes and rice-puddings, and of course it is economical to churn before the cream is too stale for any thing but to feed pigs.
To keep Milk and Cream. In hot weather, when it is difficult to preserve milk from becoming sour, and spoiling the cream, it may -be kept perfectly sweet by scalding the new milk very gently, without boiling and setting it by in the earthen dish, or pan that it is done in. This method is pursued in Devonshire, and for butter, and eating, would equally answer in small quantities for coffee, tea, &c. Cream already skimmed may be kept twenty-four hours if scalded without sugar; and by adding to it as muck powdered lump-sugar as shall make it pretty sweet, will be good two days, keeping it in a cool place.
Syrup of Cream May be preserved as above in the proportion of a pound and quarter of sugar to a pint of perfectly fresh cream; keep it In a cool place two or three hours; then put it in one or two ounce phials, and cork it close. It will keep good thus for several weeks, and will be found very useful on voyages.
Gallino Curds and Whey, as in Italy. Take a number of the rough coats that line the gizzards of turkeys and fowls; clean them from the pebbles they contain; rub them well with salt, and hang them to dry. This makes a more tender and delicate curd than common rennet. When to be used, break off some bits of the skin, and put on it some boiling water: in eight or nine hours use the liquor as you do other rennet.
View page [269]
To choose Butter at Market. Put a knife into the butter if salt, and smell it when drawn out; if there is any thing rancid or unpleasant, it is bad. Being made at different times, the layers in casks will vary greatly, and you will not easily come at the goodness but by unhooping the cask, and trying it between the staves. Fresh butter ought to smell like a nosegay, and be of an equal colour all through: if sour in smell it has not been sufficiently washed; if veiny and open, it is probably mixed with staler or an inferior sort
> POULTRY-YARD. Management of Fowls.
In order to have fine fowls, it is necessary to choose a good breed, and have proper care taken of them. The Dartford sort is thought highly of; and it is desirable to have a fine large kind, but people differ in their opinion of which is best. The black are very juicy; but do not answer so well for boiling, as their legs partake of their colour. They should be fed as nearly as possible at the same hour and place. Potatoes boiled, unskinned, in a little water, and then cut, and either wet with skimmed milk or not, form one of the best foods. Turkies and fowls thrive amazingly on them. The milk must not be sour.
The best age for setting a hen, is from two to five years; and you should remark which hens make the best brooders, and keep those to laying who are giddy and careless of their young. In justice to the animal creation, however, it must be observed, there are but few instances of bad parents for the time their nursing is necessary.
Hens sit twenty days. Convenient places should be provided for their laying, as these will be proper for sitting likewise. If the hen-house is not secured from vermin, the eggs will be sucked, and the fowls destroyed.
Those hens are usually preferred which have tufts of feathers on their heads; those that crow are not looked
View page [270] upon as profitable. Some fine young fowls should be reared every year, to keep up a stock of good breeders; and by this attention, and removing bad layers and careless nurses, you will have a chance of a good stock.
Let the hens lay some time before you set them, which should be done from the end of February to the beginning of May. While hens are laying, feed them well, and sometimes with oats.
Broods of chickens are batched all through the summer, but those that come out very late require much care till they have gained some strength.
If the eggs of any other sort are put under a hen with some of her own, observe to add her own as many days after the others, as there is a difference in the length of their sitting. A turkey and duck sit thirty days. Choose large clear eggs to put her upon, and such a number as she can properly cover. If very large eggs, there are sometimes two yolks, and of course neither will be productive. Ten or twelve are quite enough.
A hen-house should be large and high; and should be frequently cleaned out, or the vermin of fowls will increase greatly. But hens must not be disturbed while sitting; for if frightened, they sometimes forsake their nests. Wormwood and rue should be planted plentifully about their houses: boil some of the former, and sprinkle it about the floor; which should be of smooth earth, not paved. The windows of the house should be open to the rising sun: and a hole must be left at the door, to let the smaller fowls go in; the larger may be let in and out by opening the door. There should be a small sliding board to shut down when the fowls are gone to roost; which would prevent the small beasts of prey from committing ravages, and a good strong door and lock may possibly, in some measure, prevent the depredations of human enemies.
When some of the chickens are hatched long before the others, it may be necessary to keep them in a basket of wool till the others come forth. The day after they are hatched, give them some crumbs of white bread, and
View page [271] small (or rather cracked) grits soaked in milk. As soon as they have gained a little strength, feed them with curd, cheese-parings cut small, or any soft food, but nothing sour; and give them clean water twice a day. Keep the hen under a pen till the young have strength to follow her about, which will be in two or three weeks; and be sure to feed her well.
The food of fowls goes first into their crop, which softens it; and then passes into the gizzard, which by constant friction macerates it and this is facilitated by small stones, which are generally found there, and which help to digest the food.
If a sitting hen is troubled with vermin, let her be well washed with a decoction of wild lupins. The pip in fowls is occasioned by drinking dirty water, or taking filthy food. A white thin scale on the tongue, is the symptom. Pull the scale off with your nail, and rub the tongue with some salt; and the complaint will be removed.
It answers well to pay some boy employed in the farm or stable, so much a score for the eggs he brings in. It will be his interest then to save them from being purloined, which nobody but one in his situation can prevent; and sixpence or eightpence a score will be buying eggs cheap.
To make Hens lay. Dissolve an ounce of Glauber's salts in a quart of water; mix the meal of potatoes with a little of the liquor, and feed the hens two days, giving them plenty of clean water to drink. The above quantity is sufficient for six or eight hens. They should have plenty of clean water in reach. In a few days they will produce eggs.
To fatten Fowls or Chickens in four or five Days. Set rice over the fire with skimmed milk, only as much as will serve one day. Let it boil till the rice is quite swelled out: you may add a tea-spoonful or two of sugar, but it will do well without. Feed them three times a day, in common pans, giving them only as much as will quite fill them at once. When you put fresh, let
View page [272] the pans be set in water, that no sourness may be conveyed to the fowls, as that prevents them from fattening. Give them clean water, or the milk of the rice, to drink; but the less wet the latter is when perfectly soaked, the better. By this method the flesh will have a clear whiteness which no other food gives; and when it is considered how far a pound of rice will go, and how much time is saved by this mode, it will be found to be as cheap as barley-meal, or more so. The pen should be daily cleaned, and no food given for sixteen hours before poultry be killed.
To choose Eggs at Market, and preserve them. Put the large end of the egg to your tongue; if it feels warm it is new. In new-laid eggs, there is a small division of the skin from the shell, which is filled with air, and is perceptible to the eye at the end. On looking through them against the sun or a candle, if fresh, eggs will be pretty clear. If they shake they are not fresh.
Eggs may be bought cheapest when the hens first begin to lay in the spring, before they sit; in Lent and at Easter they become dear. They may be preserved fresh by dipping them in boiling water and instantly taking them out, or by oiling the shell; either of which ways is to prevent the air passing through it: or kept on shelves with small holes to receive one in each, and be turned every other day; or close-packed in a keg, and covered with strong lime-water.
Feathers. In towns, poultry being usually sold ready picked, the feathers, which may occasionally come in in small quantities, are neglected; but orders should be given to put them into a tub free from damp, and as they dry to change them into paper bags, a few in each; they should hang in a dry kitchen to season; fresh ones must not be added to those in part dried, or they will occasion a musty smell, but they should go through the same process. In a few months they will be fit to add to beds, or to make pillows, without the usual mode of drying them in a cool
View page [273] oven, which may be pursued if they are wanted before five or six months.
Ducks Generally begin to lay in the month of February. Their eggs should be daily taken away except one, till they seem inclined to sit; then leave them, and see that there are enough. They require no attention while sitting except to give them food at the time they come out to seek it; and there should be water placed at a moderate distance from them, that their eggs may not be spoiled by their long absence in seeking it. Twelve or thirteen, eggs are enough: in an early season it is best to set them under a hen; and then they can be kept from water till they have a little strength to bear it, which in very cold weather they cannot do so well. They should be put under cover, especially in a wet season; for though water is the natural element of ducks, yet they are apt to be killed by the cramp before they are covered with feathers to defend them.
Ducks should be accustomed to feed and rest at one place, which would prevent their straggling too far to lay. Places near the water to lay in are advantageous; and these might be small wooden houses, with a partition in the middle, and a door at each end. They eat any thing; and when to be fattened, must have plenty, however coarse, and in three weeks they will be fat.
Geese Require little expense; as they chiefly support themselves on commons or in lanes, where they can get water. The largest are esteemed best, as also are the white and grey. The pied and dark-coloured are not so good. Thirty days is generally the time the goose sits, but in warm weather she will sometimes hatch sooner. Give them, plenty of food, such as scalded bran and light oats; and as soon as the goslings are hatched, keep them housed for eight or ten days, and feed them with barley-meal, bran, curds, &c. For green geese, begin to fatten them at six or seven weeks old, and feed them as above: Stubble
View page [274] geese require no fattening if they have the run of good fields.
Turkies Are very tender when young. As soon as hatched, put three pepper-corns down their throat. Great care is necessary to their well-being, because the hen is so careless that she will walk about with one chick, and leave the; remainder, or even tread upon and kill them. Turkies are violent eaters; and must therefore be left to take charge of themselves in general, except one good feed a day. The hen sits twenty-five or thirty days; and the young ones must be kept warm, as the least cold or damp kills them. They must be fed often; and at a distance from the hen, who will eat every thing from them. They should have curds, green-cheese parings cut small, and bread and milk with chopped wormwood in it; and their drink milk and water, but net left to be sour. All young fowls are a prey for vermin, therefore they should be kept in a safe place where none can come; weasels, stoats, ferrets, &c. creep in at very small crevices.
Let the hen be under a coop, in a warm place exposed to the sun, for the first three or four weeks; and the young should not be suffered to go out in the dew at morning or evening. Twelve eggs are enough to put under a turkey; and when she is about to lay, lock her up till she has laid every morning. They usually begin to lay in March, and sit in April. Feed them near the hen-house; and give them a little meat in the evening, to accustom them to roosting there. Fatten them with sodden oats or barley for the first fortnight; and the last fortnight give them as above, and rice swelled with warm milk over the fire, twice a day. The flesh will be beautifully white and fine-flavoured. The common way is to cram them, but they are so ravenous that it seems unnecessary, if they are not suffered to go far from home, which makes them poor.
Pea Fowl. Feed them as you do turkies. They are so shy that they are seldom found for some days after hatching: and
View page [275] it is very wrong to pursue them, as many ignorant people do, in the idea of bringing them home; for it only causes the hen to carry the young ones through dangerous places, and by hurrying she treads upon them. The cock kills all the young chickens he can get at, by one blow on the centre of the head with his bill; and he does the same by his own brood before the feathers of the crown come out. Nature therefore impels the hen to keep them out of his way till the feathers rise.
Guinea Hens Lay a great number of eggs; and if you can discover the nest, it is best to put them under common hens, which are better nurses. They require great warmth; quiet; and careful feeding with rice swelled with milk, or bread soaked in it. Put two pepper-corns down their throat when first hatched.
Pigeons Bring two young ones at a time; and breed every month, if well looked after, and plentifully fed. They should be kept very clean, and the bottom of the dove-cote be strewed with sand once a month at least. Tares and white peas are their proper food. They should have plenty of fresh water in their house. Starlings and other birds are apt to come among them, and suck the eggs. Vermin likewise are their great enemies, and destroy them. If the breed should be too small, put a few tame pigeons of the common kind, and of their own colour, among them. Observe not to have too large a proportion of cock-birds; for they are quarrelsome, and will soon thin the dove-cote.
Pigeons are fond of salt, and it keeps them in health. Lay a large heap of clay near the house; and let the salt-brine that may be done with in the family be poured upon it.
Bay-salt and cummin-seeds mixed is an universal remedy for the diseases of pigeons. The backs and breasts are sometimes scabby: in which case, take a quarter of a pound of bay-salt, and as much common salt; a pound
View page [276] of fennel-seeds, a pound of dill-seed, as much cummin-seed, and an ounce of assafœtida; mix all with a little wheaten flour, and some fine worked clay; when all are well beaten together, put it into two earthen pots, and bake them in the oven. When cold, put them on the table in the dove-cote; the pigeons will eat it, and thus be cured.
Rabbits. The wild ones have the finest flavour, unless great care is taken to keep the tame delicately clean. The tame one brings forth every month, and must be allowed to go with the buck as soon as she has kindled. The sweetest hay, oats, beans, sow-thistle, parsley, carrot-tops, cabbage-leaves, and bran, fresh and fresh, should be given to them. If not very well attended, their stench will destroy themselves, and be very unwholesome to all who live near them; but attention will prevent this inconvenience.
> PART XII. > COOKERY FOR THE SICK, AND FOR THE POOR. > SICK COOKERY. General Remarks.
The following pages will contain cookery for the sick; it being of more consequence to support those whose bad appetite will not allow them to take the necessary nourishment, than to stimulate that of persons in health.
It may not be unnecessary to advise that a choice be made of the things most likely to agree with the patient; that a change be provided; that some one at least be always ready; that not too much of those be made at once, which are not likely to keep, as invalids require variety; and that they should succeed each other in different forms and flavours.
View page [277]
A clear Broth that will keep long. Put the mouse round of beef, a knuckle bone of veal and a few shanks of mutton, into a deep pan, and cover close with a dish or coarse crust; bake till the beef is done enough for eating, with only as much water as will cover. When cold, cover it close in a cool place. When to be used, give what flavour may be approved.
A quick made Broth. Take a bone or two of a neck or loin of mutton, take off the fat and skin, set it on the fire in a small tin saucepan that has a cover, with three quarters of a pint of water, the meat being first beaten, and cut in thin bits; put a bit of thyme and parsley, and, if approved, a slice of onion. Let it boil very quick, skim it nicely; take off the cover, if likely to be too weak; else cover it. Half an hour is sufficient for the whole process.
A very supporting Broth against any kind of weakness. Boil two pounds of loin of mutton, with a very large handful of chervil, in two quarts of water, to one. Take off part of the fat. Any other herb or roots may be added. Take half a pint three or four times a day.
A very nourishing Veal Broth. Put the knuckle of a leg or shoulder of veal, with very little meat to it, an old fowl, and four shank-bones of mutton extremely well soaked and bruised, three blades of mace, ten pepper-corns, an onion, and a large bit of bread, and three quarts of water, into a stew-pot that covers close, and simmer in the slowest manner after it has boiled up, and been skimmed; or bake it; strain, and take off the fat. Salt as wanted. It will require four hours.
Broth of Beef, Mutton, and Veal. Put two pounds of lean beef, one pound of scrag of veal, one pound of scrag of mutton, sweet herbs, and ten pepper-corns, into a nice tin sauce-pan, with five quarts of water: simmer to three quarts; and clear from the fat when cold. Add one onion if approved.
View page [278]
Soup and broth made of different meats, are more supporting, as well as better flavoured.
To remove the fat, take it off when cold as clean as possible; and if there be still any remaining, lay a bit of clean blotting or cap paper on the broth when in the basin, and it will take up every particle.
Calves' feet Broth. Boil two feet in three quarts of water to half; strain and set it by: when to be used, take off the fat, put a large tea-cupful of the jelly into a sauce-pan, with half a glass of sweet wine, a little sugar and nutmeg, and heat it up till it be ready to boil, then take a little of it, and beat by degrees to the yolk of an egg, and adding a bit of butler, the size of a nutmeg, stir it all together, but don't let it boil. Grate a bit of fresh lemon-peel into it.
Another.--Boil two calves' feet, two ounces of veal, and two of beef, the bottom of a penny-loaf, two or three blades of mace, half a nutmeg sliced, and a little salt, in three quarts of water, to three pints; strain, and take off the fat.
Chicken Broth. Put the body and legs of the fowl that chicken-panada was made of, as in page 280, after taking off the skin and rump, into the water it was boiled in, with one blade of mace, one slice of onion, and ten white pepper-corns. Simmer till the broth be of a pleasant flavour. If not water enough, add a little. Beat a quarter of an ounce of sweet almonds with a tea-spoonful of water, fine, boil it in the broth, strain, and, when cold, remove the fat.
Eel Broth. Clean half a pound of small eels, and set them on with three pints of water, some parsley, one slice of onion, a few pepper-corns; let them simmer till the eels are broken, and the broth good. Add salt, and strain it off.
The above should make three half-pints of broth.
Tench Broth. Make as eel-broth above. They are both very nutritious, and light of digestion.
View page [279]
Beef Tea. Cut a pound of fleshy beef in thin slices; simmer with a quart of water twenty minutes, after it has once boiled, and been skimmed. Season, if approved; but it has generally only salt.
Dr. Ratcliff's restorative Pork-jelly. Take a leg of well-fed pork, just as cut up, beat it, and break the bone. Set it over a gentle fire, with three gallons of water, and simmer to one. Let half an ounce of mace, and the same of nutmegs, stew in it. Strain through a fine sieve. When cold, take off the fat. Give a chocolate cup the first and last thing, and at noon, putting salt to taste.
Shank Jelly. Soak twelve shanks of mutton four hours, then brush and scour them very clean. Lay them in a sauce-pan with three blades of mace, an onion, twenty Jamaica, and thirty or forty black peppers, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a crust of bread made very brown by toasting. Pour three quarts of water to them, and set them on a hot hearth close-covered; let them simmer as gently as possible for five hours, then strain it off, and put it in a cold place.
This may have the addition of a pound of beef, if approved, for flavour. It is a remarkably good thing for people who are weak.
Arrow-root Jelly. Of this beware of having the wrong sort, for it has been counterfeited with bad effect. If genuine, it is very nourishing, especially for weak bowels. Put into a sauce-pan half a pint of water, a glass of sherry or a spoonful of brandy, grated nutmeg, and fine sugar; boil once up, then mix it by degrees into a desert-spoonful of arrow-root, previously rubbed smooth, with two spoonfuls of cold water; then return the whole into the sauce-pan; stir and boil it three minutes.
Tapioca Jelly. Choose the largest sort, pour cold water on to wash it two or three times, then soak it in fresh water five or
View page [280] six hours, and simmer it in the same until it become quite clear; then put lemon-juice, wine, and sugar. The peel should have been boiled in it. It thickens very much.
Gloucester Jelly. Take rice, sago, pearl-barley, hartshorn shavings, and eringo-root, each an ounce; simmer with three pints of water to one, and strain it. When cold it will be a jelly; of which give, dissolved in wine, milk, or broth, in change with other nourishment.
Panada, made in five minutes. Set a little water on the fire with a glass of white wine, some sugar, and a scrape of nutmeg and lemon-peel; meanwhile grate some crumbs of bread. The moment the mixture boils up, keeping it still on the fire, put the crumbs in, and let it boil as fast as it can. When of a proper thickness just to drink, take it off.
Another.--Make as above, but instead of a glass of wine, put in a tea-spoonful of rum, and a bit of butter; sugar as above. This is a most pleasant mess.
Another.--Put to the water a bit of lemon-peel, mix the crumbs in, and when nearly boiled enough, put some lemon or orange-syrup. Observe to boil all the ingredients; for if any be added after, the panada will break, and not jelly.
Chicken Panada. Boil it till about three parts ready, in a quart of water, take off the skin, cut the white meat off when cold, and put into a marble-mortar; pound it to a paste with a little of the water it was boiled in, season with a little salt, a grate of nutmeg, and the least bit of lemon-peel. Boil gently for a few minutes to the consistency you like; it should be such as you can drink, though tolerably thick.
This conveys great nourishment in small compass.
Sippets, when the Stomach will not receive meat. On an extreme hot plate put two or three sippets of bread, and pour over them some gravy from beef, mutton,
View page [281] or veal, if there is no butter in the dish. Sprinkle a little salt over.
Eggs. An egg broken into a cup of tea, or beaten and mixed with a basin of milk, makes a breakfast more supporting than tea solely.
An egg divided, and the yolk and white beaten separately, then mixed with a glass of wine, will afford two very wholesome draughts, and prove lighter than when taken together.
Eggs very little boiled, or poached, taken in small quantity, convey much nourishment; the yolk only, when dressed, should be eaten by invalids.
A great Restorative. Bake two calves' feet in two pints of water, and the same quantity of new milk, in a jar close-covered, three hours and a half. When cold remove the fat.
Give a large tea-cupful the last and first thing. Whatever flavour is approved, give it by baking in it lemon-peel, cinnamon, or mace. Add sugar after.
Another.--Simmer six sheep's trotters, two blades of mace, a little cinnamon, lemon-peel, a few hartshorn shavings, and a little isinglass, in two quarts of water to one; when cold, take off the fat, and give near half a pint twice a day, warming with it a little new milk.
Another.--Boil one ounce of isinglass-shavings, forty Jamaica peppers, and a bit of brown crust of bread, in a quart of water to a pint, and strain it.
This makes a pleasant jelly to keep in the house; of which a large spoonful may be taken in wine and water, milk, tea, soup, or any way.
Another, a most pleasant Draught.--Boil a quarter of an ounce of isinglass-shavings with a pint of new milk, to half: add a bit of sugar, and, for change, a bitter almond.
Give this at bed-time, not too warm.
Dutch flummery, blamange, and jellies, as directed in pages 187, 188, and 196, or less rich according to judgment.
View page [282]
Caudle. Make a fine smooth gruel of half-grits; strain it when boiled well, stir it at times till cold. When to be used, add sugar, wine, and lemon-peel, with nutmeg. Some like a spoonful of brandy besides the wine; others like lemon-juice.
Another.--Boil up half a pint of fine gruel, with a bit of butter the size of a large nutmeg, a large spoonful of brandy, the same of white wine, one of capillaire, a bit of lemon-peel and nutmeg.
Another.--Into a pint of fine gruel, not thick, put, while it is boiling hot, the yolk of an egg beaten with sugar, and mixed with a large spoonful of cold water, a glass of wine, and nutmeg. Mix by degrees. It is very agreeable and nourishing. Some like gruel, with a glass of table beer, sugar, &c. with or without a tea-spoonful of brandy.
Cold Caudle. Boil a quart of spring-water; when cold, add the yolk of an egg, the juice of a small lemon, six spoonfuls of sweet wine, sugar to your taste, and syrup of lemons one ounce.
A Flour Caudle. Into five large spoonfuls of the purest water rub smooth one desert-spoonful of fine flour. Set over the fire five spoonfuls of new milk, and put two bits of sugar into it; the moment it boils, pour into it the flour and water; and stir it over a slow fire twenty minutes. It is a nourishing and gently astringent food. This is an excellent food for babies who have weak bowels.
Rice Caudle. When the water boils, pour into it some grated rice mixed with a little cold water; when of a proper consistence, add sugar, lemon-peel, and cinnamon, and a glass of brandy to a quart. Boil all smooth.
Another.--Soak some Carolina rice in water an hour, strain it, and put two spoonfuls of the rice into a pint and a quarter of milk; simmer till it will pulp through a sieve, then put the pulp and milk into the sauce-pan,
View page [283] with a bruised clove and a bit of white sugar. Simmer ten minutes; if too thick, add a spoonful or two of milk, and serve with thin toast.
To mull Wine. Boil some spice in a little water till the flavour is gained, then add an equal quantity of port, some sugar and nutmeg; boil together, and serve with toast.
Another way.--Boil a bit of cinnamon and some grated nutmeg a few minutes, in a large tea-cupful of water; then pour to it a pint of port wine, and add sugar to your taste: heat it up and it will be ready.
Or it may be made of good British wine.
To make Coffee. Put two ounces of fresh ground coffee, of the best quality, into a coffee-pot, and pour eight coffee-cups of boiling water on it; let it boil six minutes, pour out a cupful two or three times, and return it again; then put two or three isinglass-chips into it, and pour one large spoonful of boiling water on it; boil it five minutes more, and set the pot by the fire to keep hot for ten minutes, and you will have coffee of a beautiful clearness.
Fine cream should always be served with coffee, and either pounded sugar-candy, or fine Lisbon sugar. If for foreigners, or those who like it extremely strong, make only eight dishes from three ounces. If not fresh roasted, lay it before a fire until perfectly hot and dry; or you may put the smallest bit of fresh butter into a preserving pan of a small size, and, when hot, throw the coffee in it, and toss it about until it be freshened, letting it be cold before ground.
Coffee Milk. Boil a desert-spoonful of ground coffee, in nearly a pint of milk, a quarter of an hour; then put into it a shaving or two of isinglass, and clear it; let it boil a few minutes, and set in on the side of the fire to grow fine.
View page [284]
This is a very fine breakfast; it should be sweetened with real Lisbon sugar of a good quality.
Chocolate. Those who use much of this article, will find the following mode of preparing it both useful and economical:
Cut a cake of chocolate in very small bits; put a pint of water into the pot, and, when it boils, put in the above; mill it off the fire until quite melted, then on a gentle fire till it boil; pour it into a basin, and it will keep in a cool place eight or ten days, or more. When wanted, put a spoonful or two into milk, boil it with sugar, and mill it well.
This, if not made thick, is a very good breakfast or supper.
Patent Cocoa Is a light wholesome breakfast.
Saloop. Boil a little water, wine, lemon-peel, and sugar, together; then mix with a small quantity of the powder, previously rubbed smooth, with a little cold water; stir it all together, and boil it a few minutes.
Milk Porridge. Make a fine gruel of half-grits, long boiled; strain off; either add cold milk, or warm with milk, as may be approved. Serve with toast.
French Milk Porridge. Stir some oatmeal and water together, let it stand to be clear, and pour off the latter; pour fresh upon it, stir it well, let it stand till next day; strain through a fine sieve, and boil the water, adding milk while doing. The proportion of water must be small.
This is much ordered, with toast for the breakfast of weak persons, abroad.
Ground-rice Milk. Boil one spoonful of ground-rice, rubbed down smooth, with three half pints of milk, a bit of cinnamon,
View page [285] lemon-peel, and nutmeg. Sweeten when nearly done.
Sago. To prevent the earthy taste, soak it in cold water an hour; pour that off, and wash it well; then add more and simmer gently till the berries are clear, with lemon-peel and spice, if approved. Add wine and sugar, and boil all up together.
Sago Milk. Cleanse as above, and boil it slowly and wholly with new milk. It swells so much, that a small quantity will be sufficient for a quart, and when done it will be diminished to about a pint. It requires no sugar or flavouring.
Asses' Milk Far surpasses any imitation of it that can be made. It should be milked into a glass that is kept warm by being in a basin of hot water.
The fixed air that it contains gives some people a pain in the stomach. At first a tea-spoonful of rum may be taken with it, but should only be put in the moment it is to be swallowed.
Artificial Asses' Milk. Boil together a quart of water, a quart of new milk, an ounce of white sugar-candy, half an ounce of eringo-root, and half an ounce of conserve of roses, till half be wasted.
This is astringent; therefore proportion the closes to the effect, and the quantity to what will be used while sweet.
Another.--Mix two spoonfuls of boiling water, two of milk, and an egg well beaten; sweeten with pounded white sugar-candy. This may be taken twice or thrice a day.
Another.--Boil two ounces of hartshorn-shavings, two ounces of pearl-barley, two ounces of candied eringo-root, and one dozen of snails that have been bruised, in two quarts of water, to one. Mix with an equal quantity of new milk, when taken, twice a day.
View page [286]
Water Gruel. Put a large spoonful of oatmeal by degrees into a pint of water, and when smooth boil it.
Another way.--Rub smooth a large spoonful of oatmeal, with two of water, and pour it into a pint of water boiling on the fire; stir it well, and boil it quick; but take care it does not boil over. In a quarter of an hour strain it off; and add salt and a bit of butter when eaten. Stir until the butter be incorporated.
Barley Gruel. Wash four ounces of pearl-barley, boil it in two quarts of water and a stick of cinnamon, till reduced to a quart; strain and return it into the sauce-pan with sugar, and three-quarters of a pint of port-wine. Heat up, and use as wanted.
A very agreeable Drink. Into a tumbler of fresh cold water, pour a table spoonful of capillaire, and the same of good vinegar.
Tamarinds, currants fresh or in jelly, or scalded currants or cranberries, make excellent drinks; with a little sugar, or not, as may be agreeable.
A refreshing Drink in a Fever.
Put a little tea-sage, two sprigs of balm, and a little wood-sorrel, into a stone jug, having first washed and dried them; peel thin a small lemon, and clear from the white; slice it, and put a bit of the peel in, then pour in three pints of boiling water, sweeten, and cover it close.
Another Drink. --Wash extremely well an ounce of pearl-barley; shift it twice, then put to it three pints of water, an ounce of sweet almonds beaten fine, and a bit of lemon-peel; boil till you have a smooth liquor, then put in a little syrup of lemons and capillaire.
Another.--Boil three pints of water with an ounce and a half of tamarinds, three ounces of currants, and two ounces of stoned raisins, till near a third be consumed. Strain it on a bit of lemon-peel, which remove in an hour, as it gives a bitter taste if left long.
View page [287]
A most pleasant Drink. Put a tea-cupful of cranberries into a cup of water and mash them. In the mean time boil two quarts of water with one large spoonful of oatmeal and a bit of lemon-peel; then add the cranberries, and as much fine Lisbon sugar as shall leave a smart flavour of the fruit; and a quarter of a pint of sherry, or less, as may be proper; boil all for half an hour, and strain off.
Soft and fine Draught for those who are weak and have a Cough. Beat a fresh laid egg, and mix it with a quarter of a pint of new milk warmed, a large spoonful of capillaire, the same of rose-water, and a little nutmeg scraped. Don't warm it after the egg is put in. Take it the first and last thing.
Toast and Water. Toast slowly a thin piece of bread till extremely brown and hard, but not the least black; then plunge it into a jug of cold water, and cover it over an hour before used. This is of particular use in weak bowels. It should be of a fine brown colour before drinking it.
Barley Water. Wash a handful of common barley, then simmer it gently in three pints of water with a bit of lemon-peel.
This is less apt to nauseate than pearl-barley; but the other is a very pleasant drink.
Another way.--Boil an ounce of pearl-barley a few minutes to cleanse, then put on it a quart of water, simmer an hour; when half done, put into it a bit of fresh lemon-peel, and one bit of sugar. If likely to be too thick, you may put another quarter of a pint of water. Lemon-juice may be added if chosen.
Lemon-water, a delightful drink. Put two slices of lemon thinly pared into a tea-pot, a little bit of the peel, and a bit of sugar, or a large spoonful of capillaire; pour in a pint of boiling water, and stop it close two hours.
View page [288]
Apple Water. Cut two large apples in slices, and pour a quart of boiling water on them; or on roasted apples; strain in two or three hours, and sweeten lightly.
Raspberry Vinegar water. (See page 230.) This is one of the most delightful drinks that can be made.
Whey. That of cheese is a very wholesome drink, especially when the cows are in fresh herbage.
White-wine Whey. Put half a pint of new milk on the fire; the moment it boils up, pour in as much sound raisin wine as will completely turn it, and it looks clear; let it boil up, then set the sauce-pan aside till the curd subsides, and do not stir it. Pour the whey off, and add to it half a pint of boiling water, and a bit of white sugar. Thus you will have a whey perfectly cleared of milky particles, and as weak as you choose to make it.
Vinegar and Lemon Wheys. Pour into boiling milk as much vinegar or lemon-juice as will make a small quantity quite clear, dilute with hot water to an agreeable smart acid, and put a bit or two of sugar. This is less heating than if made of wine; and if only to excite perspiration, answers as well.
Buttermilk, with Bread or without. It is most wholesome when sour, as being less likely to be heavy; but most agreeable when made of sweet cream.
Dr. Boerhaave's sweet Buttermilk. Take the milk from the cow into a small churn, of about six shillings price; in about ten minutes begin churning, and continue till the flakes of butter swim about pretty thick, and the milk is discharged of all the greasy particles, and appears thin and blue. Strain it through it sieve, and drink it as frequently as possible.
View page [289]
It should form the whole of the patient's drink and the food should be biscuits and rusks, in every way and sort; ripe and dried fruits of various kinds, when a decline is apprehended.
Baked and dried fruits, raisins in particular, make excellent suppers for invalids with biscuits, or common cake.
Orgeat. Beat two ounces of almonds with a tea-spoonful of orange-flower water, and a bitter almond or two; then pour a quart of milk and water to the paste. Sweeten with sugar, or capillaire. This is a fine drink for those who have a tender chest; and in the gout it is highly useful, and, with the addition of half an ounce of gum arabic, has been found to allay the painfulness of the attendant heat. Half a glass of brandy may be added if thought too cooling in the latter complaints, and the glass of orgeat may be put into a basin of warm water.
Another orgeat, for company, is in page 229.
Orangeade, or Lemonade. Squeeze the juice; pour boiling water on a little of the peel, and cover close. Boil water and sugar to a thin syrup, and skim it. When all are cold, mix the juice, the infusion, and the syrup, with as much more water as will make a rich sherbet; strain through a jelly-bag. Or squeeze the juice, and strain it, and add water and capillaire.
Egg Wine. Beat an egg, mix with it a spoonful of cold water; set on the fire a glass of white wine, half a glass of water, sugar, and nutmeg. When it boils, pour a little of it to the egg by degrees, till the whole be in, stirring it well; then return the whole into the sauce-pan, put it on a gentle fire, stir it one way for not more than a minute; for if it boil, or the egg be stale, it will curdle. Serve with toast.
Egg wine may be made as above, without warming the egg, and it is then lighter on the stomach, though not so pleasant to the taste.
View page [290] > COOKERY FOR THE POOR. General Remarks and Hints.
I promised a few hints, to enable every family to assist the poor of their neighbourhood at a very trivial expense; and these may be varied or amended at the discretion of the mistress.
Where cows are kept, a jug of skimmed milk is a valuable present, and a very common one.
When the oven is hot, a large pudding may be baked, and given to a sick or young family; and thus made, the trouble is little:--Into a deep coarse pan put half a pound of rice, four ounces of coarse sugar or treacle, two quarts of milk, and two ounces of dripping; set it cold into the oven. It will take a good while, but be an excellent solid food.
A very good meal may be bestowed in a thing called brewis, which is thus made:--Cut a very thick upper crust of bread, and put it into the pot where salt beef is boiling and near ready; it will attract some of the fat, and, when swelled out, will be no unpalatable dish to those who rarely taste meat.
A baked Soup. Put a pound of any kind of meat cut in slices; two onions, two carrots, ditto; two ounces of rice, a pint of split peas, or whole ones if previously soaked, pepper and salt, into an earthen jug or pan, and pour one gallon of water. Cover it very close, and bake it with the bread.
The cook should be charged to save the boiling of every piece of meat, ham, tongue, &c. however salt: as it is easy to use only a part of that, and the rest of freshwater, and, by the addition of more vegetables, the bones of the meat used in the family, the pieces of meat that come from table on the plates, and rice, Scotch barley, or oatmeal, there will be some gallons of nutritious soup two or three times a week. The bits of meat should be only warmed in the soup, and remain whole; the bones, &c. boiled till they yield their nourishment.
Careful...the older I get, the less "life sentence" is a deterrent.