The housekeeper's guide to preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, &c. / by the author of "Choice dishes at small cost" [i.e. Arthur Gay Payne].

Arthur Gay Payne

Date:: [1886?]

Credit: The housekeeper's guide to preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, &c. / by the author of "Choice dishes at small cost" [i.e. Arthur Gay Payne]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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$PINEAPPLES, CRYSTALLISED.—Crys- tallised pineapple is one of the most favourite forms of crystallised fruit; indeed it will be noticed that when a dish of crystallised fruits is handed ' round for dessert, containing slices of pineapple, almost invariably the pine- , apple is the fruit that is first selected. When, therefore, a dish of crystallised \ fruits is prepared, it is the truest hospi- | tality to obtain if possible an excess of ] pineapple over the other fruits compos- !• ing the dish. A really good dessert I consists in the variety of the dishes that will he eaten. Too often housekeepers are in the habit of serving their dessert on the system of having a variety of very pretty dishes to look at, but none of which they know will ever be eaten at all. PINEAPPLES IN SYRUP.—Pineapples are preserved cut in slices in tins in ■ syrup. It is a very delicious dish, and i is always very popular served just as it is for dessert. Preserved pineapple can also be used for making a very nice ' sweet. I have already described how to make borders of rice' under the head- ing of “ Apricots in Tins.” (See Apri- ; coxs in Rice Borders.) The tin should be opened, and the apricots piled up as high as possible in the centre of the dish. A little of the syrup can be coloured red with a little cochineal, and thickened with a little gelatine, to be poured round the base of the fruit be- I tween the rice border and the dish itself ; but the pale yellow colour of the pine- 5 apple is better as it is without the addi- tion of the red colouring matter, though a little red rim round the bottom of the pineapple, between it and the rice border, looks very pretty. A still greater im- provement to the dish is to surround the border of rice, outside the border on the dish, with a row of preserved greengages. Pineapples preserved this way are very often used for making pineapple pud- ding, a receipt for which will be found under the heading of “ Ginger, Pre- served ’’—(see Ginger, Preserved)— the only difference being that preserved pineapple is used instead of preserved ginger in syrup, and the syrup of the pineapple is used for the sauce instead of the syrup in which the ginger is_ preserved. There is one more very ’ nice compound that can be made with the assistance of slices of pineapple, On a cold winter’s night mix a good large glass of hot rum-and-water, taking care that the water is thoroughly boil- ing when it is mixed. Now take a slice of preserved pineapple and place it in the glass. This glass of pineapple rum- punch is extremely good. PINEAPPLES, WHOLE.—-Pineapples are now preserved whole in tins, and are far superior to any pines that can be obtained in this country, with the ex- ception of course of hothouse pines. Hothouse pines, which sometimes cost from one guinea to two guineas each, are necessarily a luxury in which only the rich can indulge. Nearly all the pines which are sent over to this country are cut abroad in an unripe state, and they are supposed to ripen afterwards by keeping. But they not merely ripen but “rotten” at the same time. Very often pineapples are sold in the streets at a shilling each or even less, but all who have tried them know, when they are cut, how different the inside is from the really ripe pine. The advantage of these pines is that they have been pre- served whole, ripe, and really equal in flavour and appearance the most perfect hothouse pine which can be obtained. They are best served as they are at dessert, and the syrup in which they are preserved should of course be poured round their base. There are few dessert dishes more popular than these pre- served pines. PIQUANT SAUCE.—Piquant sauce is sold in bottles, but must not be con- founded with SaucePiquante, made from gherkins and capers, to be served with cutlets. It is simply a sauce used to be eaten with cold meat, and may be added to hashes, stews, gravies, etc., when a a slight acidity is not objected to. Sauce piquante bottled does not contain any solid matter, but is simply an agreeable sauce to be eaten with cold meat. It is also well adapted as a fish sauce, to be eaten with fried soles, and is particularly good with cold fried fish. PISTACHIO KERNELS. — Pistachio kernels are a well-known delicacy, but their use is confined to what may be termed high-class cooking. Perhaps one of the most delicate of sweets that is ever served is pistachio cream. To make pistachio cream, the cook should$