Richard F. Burton - "Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2"

Moliere [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] - "Don Juan, ou le Festin de pierre"

Cyrus Townsend Brady - "For Love of Country"

Various - "Scientific American Supplement, No. 358, November 11, 1882"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches

E >> Eliza Leslie >> Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches





TARRAGON VINEGAR.

Tarragon should be gathered on a dry day, just before the plant
flowers. Pick the green leaves from the stalks, and dry them a
little before the fire. Then put them into a wide-mouthed stone
jar, and cover them with the best vinegar, filling up the jar. Let
it steep fourteen days, and then strain it through a flannel bag.
Pour it through a funnel into half-pint bottles, and cork them
well.


SWEET BASIL VINEGAR.

Is made precisely in the same manner; also those of green mint,
and sweet marjoram.


CELERY VINEGAR.


Pound two ounces of celery seed in a mortar, and steep it for a
fortnight in a quart of vinegar. Then strain and bottle it.


BURNET VINEGAR.

Nearly fill a wide-mouthed bottle with the fresh green leaves of
burnet, cover them with vinegar, and let them steep two weeks.
Then strain off the vinegar, wash the bottle, put in a fresh
supply of burnet leaves, pour the same vinegar over them, and let
it infuse a
fortnight longer. Then strain it again and it will be fit for use.
The flavour will exactly resemble that of cucumbers.


HORSERADISH VINEGAR.

Make a quart of the best vinegar boiling hot, and pour it on four
ounces of scraped horseradish. Let it stand a week, then strain it
off, renew the horseradish, adding the same vinegar cold, and let
it infuse a week longer, straining it again at the last.


SHALOT VINEGAR.

Peel and chop fine four ounces of shalots, or small button onions.
Pour on them a quart of the best vinegar, and let them steep a
fortnight; then strain and bottle it.

Make garlic vinegar in the same manner; using but two ounces of
garlic to a quart of vinegar. Two or three drops will be
sufficient to impart a garlic taste to a pint of gravy or sauce.
More will be offensive. The cook should be cautioned to use it
very sparingly, as to many persons it is extremely disagreeable.


CHILLI VINEGAR.

Take a hundred red chillies or capsicums, fresh gathered; cut them
into small pieces and infuse them for a fortnight in a quart of
the best vinegar, shaking the bottle every day. Then strain it.


RASPBERRY VINEGAR.

Put two quarts of ripe fresh-gathered raspberries into a stone or
china vessel, and pour on them a quart of vinegar. Let it stand
twenty-four hours, and then strain it through a sieve. Pour the
liquid over two quarts of fresh raspberries, and let it again
infuse for a day and a night. Then strain it a second time. Allow
a pound of loaf sugar to every pint of juice. Break up the sugar,
and let it melt in the liquor. Then put the whole into a stone
jar, cover it closely, and set it in a kettle of boiling water,
which must be kept on a quick boil for an hour. Take off all the
scum and when cold, bottle the vinegar for use.

Raspberry vinegar mixed with water is a pleasant and cooling
beverage in warm weather; also in fevers.




MUSTARD AND PEPPER.


COMMON MUSTARD

Is best when fresh made. Take good flour of mustard; put it in a
plate, add to it a little salt, and mix it by degrees with boiling
water to the usual consistence, rubbing it for a long time with a
broad-bladed knife or a wooden spoon. It should be perfectly
smooth. The less that is made at a time the better it will be. If
you wish it very mild, use sugar instead of salt, and boiling milk
instead of water.


KEEPING MUSTARD.

Dissolve three ounces of salt in a quart of boiling vinegar, and
pour it hot upon two ounces of scraped horseradish. Cover the jar
closely and let it stand twenty-four hours. Strain it and then mix
it by degrees with the best flour of mustard. Make it of the usual
thickness, and beat it till quite smooth. Then put it into wide-mouthed
bottles and stop it closely.


FRENCH MUSTARD.

Mix together four ounces of the very best mustard
powder, four salt-spoons of salt, a large table-spoonful of minced
tarragon leaves, and two cloves of garlic chopped fine. Pour on by
degrees sufficient vinegar (tarragon vinegar is best) to dilute it
to the proper consistence. It will probably require about four
wine-glassfuls or half a pint. Mix it well, using for the purpose
a wooden spoon. When done, put it into a wide-mouthed bottle or
into little white jars. Cork it very closely, and keep it in a dry
place. It will not be fit for use in less than two days.

This (used as the common mustard) is a very agreeable condiment
for beef or mutton.


TO MAKE CAYENNE PEPPER.

Take ripe chillies and dry them a whole day before the fire,
turning them frequently. When quite dry, trim off the stalks and
pound the pods in a mortar till they become a fine powder, mixing
in about one sixth of their weight in salt. Or you may grind them
in a very fine mill. While pounding the chillies, wear glasses to
save your eyes from being incommoded by them. Put the powder into
small bottles, and secure the corks closely.


KITCHEN PEPPER.

Mix together two ounces of the best white ginger, an ounce of
black pepper, an ounce of white pepper, an ounce of cinnamon, an
ounce of nutmeg, and two dozen cloves. They must all be ground or
pounded to a fine powder, and thoroughly mixed. Keep the mixture
in a bottle, labelled, and well corked. It will be found useful in
seasoning many dishes; and being ready prepared will save much
trouble.




VEGETABLES


GENERAL REMARKS.

All vegetables should be well picked and washed. A very little
salt should always be thrown into the water in which they are
boiled. A steady regular fire should be kept up, and they should
never for a moment be allowed to stop boiling or simmering till
they are thoroughly done. Every sort of vegetable should be cooked
till tender, as if the least hard or under-done they are both
unpalatable and unwholesome. The practice of putting pearl-ash in
the pot to improve the colour of green vegetables should be
strictly forbidden, as it destroys the flavour, and either renders
them flat and insipid, or communicates a very disagreeable taste
of its own.

Every sort of culinary vegetable is infinitely best when fresh
from the garden, and gathered as short a time as possible before
it is cooked. They should all be laid in a pan of cold water for a
while previous to boiling.

When done, they should be carefully drained before they go to
table, or they will be washy all through, and leave puddles of
discoloured water in the bottoms of the dishes, to the disgust of
the company and the discredit of the cook.


TO BOIL POTATOES.

Potatoes that are boiled together, should be as nearly as possible
of the same size. Wash, but do not pare them. Put them into a pot
with water enough to cover them about an inch, and do not put on
the pot lid. When the water is very near boiling, pour it off, and
replace it with the same quantity of cold water, into which throw
a good portion of salt. The cold water sends the heat from the
surface to the heart, and makes the potatoes mealy. Potatoes of a
moderate size will require about half an hour boiling; large ones
an hour. Try them with a fork. When done, pour off the water,
cover the pot with a folded napkin, or flannel, and let them stand
by the fire about a quarter of an hour to dry.

Peel them and send them to table.

Potatoes should not be served up with the skins on. It has a
coarse, slovenly look, and disfigures the appearance of the
dinner; besides the trouble and inconvenience of peeling them at
table.

When the skins crack in boiling, it is no proof that they are
done, as too much fire under the pot will cause the skins of some
potatoes to break while the inside is hard.

After March, when potatoes are old, it is best to pare them before
boiling and to cut out all the blemishes. It is then better to
mash them always before they are sent to table. Mash them when
quite hot, using a potato-beetle for the purpose; add to them a
piece of fresh butter, and a little salt, and, if convenient, some
milk, which will greatly improve them. You may score and brown
them on the top.

A very nice way of serving up potatoes is, after they are peeled,
to pour over them some hot cream in which a very little butter has
been melted, and sprinkle them with pepper. This is frequently
done in country houses where cream is plenty. New potatoes (as
they are called when quite young) require no peeling, but should
be well washed and brushed before they are boiled.


FRIED POTATOES.

Take cold potatoes that have been boiled, grate them, make them
into flat cakes, and fry them in butter. They are nice at
breakfast. You may mix some beaten yolk of egg with them.

Cold potatoes may be fried in slices or quarters, or broiled on a
gridiron.

Raw potatoes, when fried, are generally hard, tough, and strong.


POTATO SNOW.

For this purpose use potatoes that are very white, mealy, and
smooth. Boil them very carefully, and when they are done, peel
them, pour off the water, and set them on a trivet before the fire
till they are quite dry and powdery. Then rub them through a
coarse wire sieve into the dish on which they are to go to table.
Do not disturb the heap of potatoes before it is served up, or the
flakes will fall and it will flatten. This preparation looks well;
but many think that it renders the potato insipid.


ROASTED POTATOES.

Take large fine potatoes; wash and dry them, and either lay them
on the hearth and keep them buried in hot wood ashes, or bake them
slowly in a Dutch oven. They will not be done in less than two
hours. It will save time to half-boil them before they are
roasted. Send them to table with the skins on, and eat them with
cold butter and salt. They are introduced with cold meat at
supper.

Potatoes keep best buried in sand or earth. They should never be
wetted till they are washed for cooking. If you have them in the
cellar, see that they are well covered with matting or old carpet,
as the frost injures them greatly.


SWEET POTATOES BOILED.

If among your sweet potatoes there should he any that are very
large and thick, split them, and cut them in four, that they may
not require longer time to cook than the others. Boil them with
the skins on in plenty of water, but without any salt. You may set
the pot on coals in the corner. Try them with a fork, and see that
they are done all through; they will take at least an hour. Then
drain off the water, and set them for a few minutes in a tin pan
before the fire, or in the stove, that they may be well dried.
Peel them before they are sent to table.


FRIED SWEET POTATOES.

Choose them of the largest size. Half boil them, and then having
taken off the skins, cut the potatoes in slices, and fry them in
butter, or in nice dripping.

Sweet potatoes are very good stewed with fresh pork, veal, or
beef.

The best way to keep them through the cold weather, is to bury
them in earth or sand; otherwise they will be scarcely eatable
after October.


CABBAGE.

All vegetables of the cabbage kind should be carefully washed, and
examined in case of insects lurking among the leaves. To prepare a
cabbage for boiling, remove the outer leaves, and pare and trim
the stalk, cutting it close and short. If the cabbage is large,
quarter it; if small, cut it in half; and let it stand for a while
in a deep part of cold water with the large end downwards. Put it
into a pot with plenty of water, (having first tied it together to
keep it whole while boiling,) and, taking off the scum, boil it
two hours, or till the stalk is quite tender. When done, drain and
squeeze it well. Before you send it to table introduce a little
fresh butter between the leaves; or have melted butter in a boat.
If it has been boiled with meat add no butter to it.

A young cabbage will boil in an hour or an hour and a half.


CALE-CANNON.

Boil separately some potatoes and cabbage. When done, drain and
squeeze the cabbage, and chop or mince it very small. Mash the
potatoes, and mix them gradually but thoroughly with the chopped
cabbage, adding butter, pepper and salt. There should be twice as
much potato as cabbage.

Cale-cannon is eaten with corned beef, boiled pork, or bacon.

Cabbages may be kept good all winter by burying them in a hole dug
in the ground.


CAULIFLOWER

Remove the green leaves that surround the head or white part, and
peel off the outside skin of the small piece of stalk that is left
on. Cut the cauliflower in four, and lay it for an hour in a pan
of cold water. Then tie it together before it goes into the pot.
Put it into boiling water and simmer it till the stalk is
thoroughly tender, keeping it well covered with water, and
carefully removing the scum. It will take about two hours.

Take it up as soon as it is done; remaining in the water will
discolour it. Drain it well, and send it to table with melted
butter.

It will be much whiter if put on in boiling milk and water.


BROCOLI.

Prepare brocoli for boiling in the same manner as cauliflower,
leaving the stalks rather longer, and splitting the head in half
only. Tie it together again, before it goes into the pot. Put it
on in hot water, and let it simmer till the stalk is perfectly
tender.

As soon as it is done take it out of the water and drain it. Send
melted butter to table with it.


SPINACH.

Spinach requires close examination and picking, as insects are
frequently found among it, and it is often gritty. Wash it through
three or four waters. Then drain it, and put it on in boiling
water. Ten minutes is generally sufficient time to boil spinach.
Be careful to remove the scum. When it is quite tender, take it
up, and drain and squeeze it well. Chop it fine, and put it into a
sauce-pan with a piece of butter and a little pepper and salt. Set
it on hot coals, and let it stew five minutes, stirring it all the
time.


SPINACH AND EGGS.

Boil the spinach as above, and drain and press it, but do not chop
it. Have ready some eggs poached as follows. Boil in a sauce-pan,
and skim some clear spring water, adding to it a table-spoonful of
vinegar. Break the eggs separately, and having taken the sauce-pan
off the fire, slip the eggs one at a time into it with as much
dexterity as you can. Let the sauce-pan stand by the side of the
fire till the white is set, and then put it over the fire for two
minutes. The yolk should be thinly covered by the white. Take them
up with an egg slice, and having trimmed the edges of the whites,
lay the eggs on the top of the spinach, which should firstly
seasoned with pepper and salt and a little butter, and must be
sent to table hot.


TURNIPS.

Take off a thick paring from the outside, and boil the turnips
gently for an hour and a half. Try them with a fork, and when
quite tender, take them up, drain them on a sieve, and either send
them to table whole with melted butter, or mash them in a
cullender, (pressing and squeezing them well;) season with a
little pepper and salt, and mix with them a very small quantity of
butter. Setting in the sun after they are cooked, or on a part of
the table upon which the sun may happen to shine, will give to
turnips a singularly unpleasant taste, and should therefore he
avoided.

When turnips are very young, it is customary to serve them up with
about two inches of the green top left on them.

If stewed with meat, they should be sliced or quartered.

Mutton, either boiled or roasted, should always be accompanied by
turnips.


CARROTS.

Wash and scrape them well. If large cut them into two three, or
four pieces. Put them into boiling water with a little salt in it.
Full grown carrots will require three hours' boiling; smaller ones
two hours, and young ones an hour. Try them with a fork, and when
they are tender throughout, take them up and dry them in a cloth.
Divide them in pieces and split them, or cut them into slices.

Eat them with melted butter. They should accompany boiled beef or
mutton.


PARSNIPS.

Wash, scrape and split them. Put them into a pot of boiling water;
add a little salt, and boil them till quite tender, which will be
in from two to three hours, according to their size. Dry them in a
cloth when done, and pour melted butter over them in the dish.
Serve them up with any sort of boiled meat, or with salt cod.

Parsnips are very good baked or stewed with meat.


RUSSIAN OR SWEDISH TURNIPS

This turnip (the Ruta Baga) is very large and of a reddish yellow
colour; they are generally much liked. Take off a thick paring,
cut the turnips into large pieces, or thick slices, and lay them
awhile in cold water. Then boil them gently about two hours, or
till they are quite soft. When done, drain, squeeze and mash them,
and season them with pepper and salt, and a very little butter.
Take care not to set them in a part of the table where the sun
comes, as it will spoil the taste.

Russian turnips should always be mashed.


SQUASHES OR CYMLINGS.

The green or summer squash is best when the outside is beginning
to turn yellow, as it is then less watery and insipid than when
younger. Wash them, cut them into pieces, and take out the seeds.
Boil them about three quarters of an hour, or till quits tender.
When done, drain and squeeze them well till you have pressed out
all the water; mash them with a little butter, pepper and salt.
Then put the squash thus prepared into a stew-pan, set it on hot
coals, and stir it very frequently till it becomes dry. Take care
not to let it burn.


WINTER SQUASH, OR CASHAW.

This is much finer than the summer squash. It is fit to eat in
August, and, in a dry warm place, can be kept well all winter. The
colour is a very bright yellow. Pare it, take out the seeds, cut
it in pieces, and stew it slowly till quite soft, in a very little
water. Afterwards drain, squeeze, and press it well, and mash it
with a very little butter, pepper and salt.


PUMPKIN.

Deep coloured pumpkins are generally the best. In a dry warm place
they can be kept perfectly good all winter. When you prepare to
stew a pumpkin, cut it in half and take out all the seeds. Then
cut it in thick slices, and pare them. Put it into a pot with a
very little water, and stew it gently for an hour, or till soft
enough to mash. Then take it out, drain, and squeeze it till it is
as dry as you can get it.

Afterwards mash it, adding a little pepper and salt, and a very
little butter.

Pumpkin is frequently stewed with fresh beef or fresh pork.

The water in which pumpkin has been boiled, is said to be very
good to mix bread with, it having a tendency to improve it in
sweetness and to keep it moist.


HOMINY.

Wash the hominy very clean through three or four waters. Then put
it into a pot (allowing two quarts of water to one quart of
hominy) and boil it slowly five hours. When done, take it up, and
drain the liquid from it through a cullender. Put the hominy into
a deep dish, and stir into it a small piece of fresh butter.

The small grained hominy is boiled in rather less water, and
generally eaten with butter and sugar.


INDIAN CORN.

Corn for boiling should be full grown but young and tender. When
the grains become yellow it is too old. Strip it of the outside
leaves and the silk, but let the inner leaves remain, as they will
keep in the sweetness. Put it into a large pot with plenty of
water, and boil it rather fast for three hours or more. When done,
drain off the water, and remove the leaves.

You may either lay the ears on a large flat dish and send them to
table whole, or broken in half; or you may cut all the com off the
cob, and serve it up in a deep dish, mixed with butter, pepper and
salt.


MOCK OYSTERS OF CORN.

Take a dozen and a half ears of large young corn, and grate all
the grains off the cob as fine as possible. Mix with the grated
corn three large table-spoonfuls of sifted flour, the yolks of six
eggs well beaten. Let all be well incorporated by hard beating.

Have ready in a frying-pan an equal proportion of lard and fresh
butter. Hold it over the fire till it is boiling hot, and then put
in portions of the mixture as nearly as possible in shape and size
like fried oysters. Fry them brown, and send them to table hot.
They should be near an inch thick.

This is an excellent relish at breakfast, and may be introduced as
a side dish at dinner. In taste it has a singular resemblance to
fried oysters. The corn must be young.


STEWED EGG PLANT.

The purple egg plants are better than the white ones. Put them
whole into a pot with plenty of water, and simmer them till quite
tender. Then take them out, drain them, and (having peeled off the
skins) cut them up, and mash them smooth in a deep dish. Mix with
them some grated bread, some powdered sweet marjoram, and a large
piece of butter, adding a few pounded cloves. Grate a layer of
bread over the top, and put the dish into the oven and brown it.
You must send it to table in the same dish.

Eggplant is sometimes eaten at dinner, but generally at breakfast.


TO FRY EGG PLANT.

Do not pare your egg plants if they are to be fried, but slice
them about half an inch thick, and lay them an hour or two in salt
and water to remove their strong taste, which to most persons is
very unpleasant. Then take them out, wipe them, and season them,
with pepper only. Beat some yolk of egg; and in another dish grate
a sufficiency of bread-crumbs. Have ready in a frying-pan some
lard and batter mixed, and make it boil. Then dip each slice of
egg plant first in the egg, and then in the crumbs, till both
sides are well covered; and fry them brown, taking care to have
them done all through, as the least rawness renders them very
unpalatable.


STUFFED EGG PLANTS.

Parboil them to take off their bitterness. Then slit each one down
the side, and extract the seeds. Have ready a stuffing made of
grated bread-crumbs, butter, minced sweet herbs, salt, pepper,
nutmeg, and beaten yolk of egg. Fill with it the cavity from
whence you took the seeds, and bake the egg plants in a Dutch
oven. Serve them up with a made gravy poured into the dish.


FRIED CUCUMBERS.

Having pared your cucumbers, cut them lengthways into pieces about
as thick as a dollar. Then dry them in a cloth. Season them with
pepper and salt, and sprinkle them thick with flour. Melt some
butter in a frying-pan, and when it boils, put in the slices of
cucumber, and fry them of a light brown. Send them to table hot.

They make a breakfast dish..


TO DRESS CUCUMBERS RAW.

They should be as fresh from the vine as possible, few vegetables
being more unwholesome when long gathered. As soon as they are
brought in lay them in cold water. Just before they are to go to
table take them out, pare them and slice them into a pan of fresh
cold water. When they are all sliced, transfer them to a deep
dish, season them with a little salt and black pepper, and pour
over them some of the best vinegar, to which you may add a little
salad oil. You may mix with them a small quantity of sliced onion;
not to be eaten, but to communicate a slight flavour of onion to
the vinegar.


SALSIFY.

Having scraped the salsify roots, and washed them in cold water,
parboil them. Then take them out, drain them, cut them into large
pieces and fry them in butter.

Salsify is frequently stewed slowly till quite tender, and then
served up with melted butter. Or it may be first boiled, then
grated, and made into cakes to be fried in butter.

Salsify must not be left exposed to the air, or it will turn
blackish.


ARTICHOKES.

Strip off the coarse outer leaves, and cut off the stalks close to
the bottom. Wash the artichokes well, and let them lie two or
three hours in cold water. Put them with their heads downward into
a pot of boiling water, keeping them down by a plate floated over
them. They must boil steadily from two to three hours; take care
to replenish the pot with additional boiling water as it is
wanted. When they are tender all through, drain them, and serve
them up with melted butter.


BEETS.

Wash the beets, but do not scrape or cut them while they are raw;
for if a knife enters them before they are boiled they will lose
their colour. Boil them from two to three hours, according to
their size. When they are tender all through, take them up, and
scrape off all the outside. If they are young beets they are best
split down and cut into long pieces, seasoned with pepper, and
sent to table with melted butter. Otherwise you may slice them
thin, after they are quite cold, and pour vinegar over them.


TO STEW BEETS.

Boil them first, and then scrape and slice them. Put them into a
stew-pan with a piece of butter rolled in flour, some boiled onion
and parsley chopped fine, and a little vinegar, salt and pepper.
Set the pan on hot coals, and let the beets stew for a quarter of
an hour.


TO BOIL GREEN OR FRENCH BEANS.

These beans should be young, tender, and fresh gathered. Remove
the strings with a knife, and take off both ends of the bean. Then
cut them in two or three pieces only; for if split or cut very
small, they become watery and lose much of their taste. They look
best when cut slanting. As you cut them, throw them into a pan of
cold water, and let them lay awhile. Boil them an hour and a half.
They must be perfectly tender before you take them up. Then drain
and press them well, season them with pepper, and mix into them a
piece of butter.

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