the vinegar is bottled, the vinegar will make much

sooner.

Camp Vinegar.

Cut a head of garlic in slices, half an ounce of cayenne, a large glass of soy, and one of ketchup or walnutpickle, some spirit of cochineal, and a pint of distilled vinegar; shake it often during five or six weeks, and strain or filter it for use: it ought to be kept in small, well-sealed bottles.

PICKLES.

There is no doubt that the ordinary and noxious way of greening pickles contributes in no inconsiderable degree to the spasmodic and chronic diseases with which we are afflicted, and which we can never trace to any particular cause. Those pickles that are to be green should be laid for a month or more in strong brine; in common, they are kept in the brine only three or four days; then lay them between cloths till perfectly dry, cover the bottom of an earthen vessel with cabbage or vine-leaves, lay in the pickles in layers with leaves between, pour boiling vinegar over them, cover very closely up, set the jar in a warm place, look at them from time to time, and repeat the boiling, and renew the leaves, till the pickles become quite green; put the spices to the last boiling, allow them to cool, put them into small jars, and cover up very close. Should pickles be wanted for immediate use, simmer them for some time, more or less according to the time they may be required: the more they are boiled, the sooner they will be ready, but the shorter they will keep, as they melt down and become slimy; pickles may then be made to use in twelve hours. A perforated wooden or ivory spoon should be used for lifting them, or a small pair of wooden pincers: pickles should never be touched by metal of any kind.

Pickles, if properly greened, are greatly conducive to health, especially for those who feed much upon butcher's meat; they of course are hurtful to those with whom raw vegetables, or vegetables generally disagree: in this case, boiled pickles should be used, and pulped in the

Indian fashion. It has been elsewhere remarked, that few or none feel any bad effects from vegetables boiled in two or three waters and pulped.

To pickle bitter Oranges.

Put them into a jar, and cover them with good vinegar; beat a handful of corianders and cinnamon together and put it in; in a few days, pour off the vinegar, boil and let it cool, and cover them for use. This pickle should always be made, as it looks so well on table, and is excellent for wild fowl. Lemons may be pickled in the same way, using mace instead of coriander.

To pickle Currants.

Make a strong pickle of salt and vinegar, and drop the bunches of currants, ripe and dry, one by one into it; they may also be done green.

To pickle Cucumbers.

Lay the cucumbers in strong pickle of salt and water for forty days*; rub them with a coarse cloth, and pot them by dozens, less or more, as the pots will contain, strewing black pepper, mace, and scraped horse-radish over them; boil as much vinegar as will cover them, with a proper proportion of turmeric to preserve their green; pour it over hot: this must be done three times, allowing two or three days to intervene between each boiling.

To pickle Red Cabbage.

Cut it fine and put it into an earthen vessel, pour boiling water over it, let it stand till cold, drain it, mix it with pepper, cloves, ginger, and salt, and cover it with vinegar, or pickle it in salt; shake it dry in a cloth, mix in the same spices, and cover with boiling vinegar.

* If cooks would have the patience to attend to the steeping all vegetables and fruits, for green preserves and pickles, in salt brine for thirty or forty days, they would succeed better in the operation; but our prejudices are so strong, and our attention to such matters so small, that I dare not risk all at once introducing such an innovation. Besides, in the present state of things, the preserves and pickles might be lost from the change of hands they might chance to go through.

But to this management the famous compôte of Geneva and the mustarda of Italy owe their excellence,

Beet-Roots and other Vegetables.

Blanch without breaking the skin, or roast them in the oven, cut them in thick slices or lengthwise, add sliced horse-radish, onions, or shalots, and some cloves, allspice, and salt all in fine powder; boil the spices fifteen minutes in as much vinegar as will cover the pickles; strain it, and pour it over the beet-root; if the colour is not high enough, add cochineal; when cold, cover well up; a little oil may be poured over, to preserve them; it is served in its own liquor, with oil and a bit of loaf-sugar well mixed and poured over it. The white beet, artichokes, &c. are excellent done in the same way; keep them white.

Small Green Pickles.

very

Ghirkins, French beans, gooseberries, small plums, mulberries, blackberries, cherries, &c. &c., may all be done in the following manner. Let them lie about ten days in a strong brine, from which they must be well drained; wipe and put them into strong jars; make a well-boiled pickle of vinegar with black pepper, allspice, cloves, mace, and at least as much ginger as all these together, sliced horse-radish, onions, shalot, and garlic; pour the pickle hot over the fruit, and lay over vine or cabbageleaves, and cover slightly; set them into the fire-screen; repeat the operation of boiling the vinegar, adding a little more to make up the waste, and cover with fresh leaves; this must be done until the pickles are of a good colour.

To pickle for present Use.

Boil whatever is to be pickled in a strong brine, and finish as in the former receipt; and the pickles may be eaten within a week or next day, according to the time they are boiled.

To Pickle Ghirkins.

Pour boiling strong salt pickle upon them, and leave them till next day; wash out the jars with vinegar, and drain and wipe every ghirkin separately; pack them into

the jars, and boil some good vinegar with mace, whole pepper, horse-radish, mustard, and salt; pour it boiling over them, and cover immediately up with two or three folds of flannel, and throw a double blanket over them; let them stand till next day if they are not sufficiently green, boil the vinegar again within the fortnight, and put them up.

To pickle Samphire.

Make a strong brine of salt and water, and put in the samphire; cover it close, and put them in vinegar as wanted, or put it pickled into an earthen pan with vinegar and half as much strong salt-water; cover the vessel, and set it to simmer for half an hour; open it when it cools, and pack it in jars; distribute the liquor among them, and fill up with fresh pickle, and cover close for use.

To pickle Capsicums.

Put them into jars, boil distilled vinegar and salt, and pour it hot upon them in three weeks they will be fit for

use.

:

To pickle Nasturtium Seeds.

Lay them in a strong brine for five days, boil some vinegar with mace and ginger, dry them and put them into a jar, and pour the liquor boiling hot upon them; cover with a doubled cloth, and repeat the boiling for three successive days. When cold, put them up.

Peach, Nectarine, Apples, Pears, Mangoes.

Take any of these fruits before they are quite ripe, but at their full size, and cut out a piece very nicely that will admit of the stones or seeds being picked out: first, have ready a boiled brine, leave them closely covered for two or three days, take them out, wipe and have a new brine ready, put them in it, and change once more, so that they may go through three brines, and they will be better if left 30 days in them; take them out, and drain and wipe them, put in each half a clove of garlic, with ginger and mustard-seed. The part that is cut of the apple should

be the top, which ought to be scooped so nicely out as to fit in without any trouble, also the pears; the stalks ought to be left to them when gathered, and a leaf attached if possible; leaves, at any rate, ought to be gathered when they have been dried upon the trees in autumn, in their beautiful dusky-red and brown colours, kept prepared in books, and when any fruit or pickle are to be sent to table, they may be stuck on with a little strong isinglass or white of egg; when used for sweetmeats, let them be dipped in white of egg, to give them a gloss, or en chemise; put the kernels into the fruit with the mustard-seed and spices; stick or pin in the pieces or tops with a small bit of twig; make a strong pickle of vinegar, sliced ginger, garlic, mustardseed, turmeric, and whole pepper, boil it well, arrange it boiling hot over them; this mangoes, and pour must be repeated every day for ten days at least.

the

Great Onion Mango.

Cut out the bottom of the onion so large, that it will admit the heart being scooped out, put the tops on, and put them in strong brine; leave them ten days; take them out, and have a mango pickle prepared as above; fill and finish them, putting some minced onions that have been steeped in brine, with a clove of garlic and two or three of shalot with mustard-seed and ginger into each.

Large Cucumber Mango.

Cut a bit out of the side, so that it may fit in again; this may be done after they have been taken out of the pickle; scoop out all the seeds, and finish as above; all these mangoes ought to be fitted to the pots before they are put into the brine, as when they are not, it is a great waste of room and vinegar.

To pickle Walnuts.

Blanch them till the outer skins will peel off by rubbing; shift them three times from one strong brine to another, during nine days, or even thirty; drain and