Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine eBook

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

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

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

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

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

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