Vegetarian cookery

Front matter

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GOOD COOKS

Contents

I. — Introductory ...

II. — Stocks and Soups

III. — Entrees...

CHAPTER I. Introductory

One of the chief causes for the disfavour with which vegetarian cookery has been looked on by many persons, is the careless way in which much so-called vegetarian cookery is often prepared. It is talked of as a concomitant of the “ Simple Life ” (whatever that life may be, for its various admirers are apt to disagree pretty widely in its nature), a labour saver, and also an enormous aid to economy. Rightly treated vegetarian cookery, like any other form of good cookery, is economical, but it is'neither per se cheap, nor quicker and easier, than the latter. Indeed at first the cook may find it more troublesome.

Plainly boiled vegetables are, if well prepared, excellent as adjuncts to more solid food, but they do not answer as the standby of a meal. Food to be properly digested and nourishing, must be eaten with pleasure and enjoyment. Hastily swallowed, and uninteresting (much more, decidedly repulsive) food simply produces indigestion, anaemia, and a whole train of other evils.

From the size of the present book it is manifestly impossible to give an exhaustive list of methods for preparing vegetables ah initio, so my attention has been directed to the production of tempting and varied dishes, capable of taking their places at nicely ordered tables, from whence a too strict sense of vegetarianism has not banished milk, cheese, butter, and eggs.

It must always be borne in mind that vegetables,

B in most cases, require some addition to make them really nutritious, and this is most satisfactorily supplied by means of eggs, cheese, milk, or butter.

Then nuts, again, are increasing in culinary importance to a large extent, and most deservedly, as, properly treated, they supply an element hitherto lacking in vegetarian menus. Moreover from them can be obtained a most excellent frying medium, fit for pastry making ; and also very palatable forms of “ butter,” some of which are difficult to tell from the most perfect dairy produce, and are almost always superior to the common or garden butter we all know under various names, which the public analyst might probably consider somewhat misleading. Especially is this the case with a great deal of what is popularly known as “ cooking butter,” a mysterious compound which most amusingly emphasises the aristocratic disgust of many “ high-class cooks ” (so called) for the homely dripping of economical kitchens. The vegetarian housewife objects to dripping on other grounds, and, to do her justice, has provided herself with a large variety of most efficient and attractive substitutes, derived almost entirely, it may be added, from nuts.

Oil is, of course, one of the best frying materials procurable, but unfortunately the price of pure salad (olive) oil is, in many cases, prohibitive ; and although cottonseed oil is offered either openly, or more or less disguised, as an official substitute, its odour renders it obnoxious, and makes it difficult to believe (what is however the case) that this unpleasantness in no way affects the subsequent flavour of the object fried in it.

Such being the case, one owes a debt of gratitude to those who have discovered the way to extract the requisite fatty matter from nuts and other vegetables. I speak from experience in recommending these, as, being introduced to them at one of the food and cookery exhibitions a few years ago, my cook and I

Introductory.

tested them, and were delighted with the result, the cook herself bestowing her warmest encomiums on the new “ butter ” ; and after that, what greater praise can one offer ?

Where vegetables are to be installed as the standby of the menu, it is essential to study their nutritive qualities, and thus learn to combine various kinds, together with milk, cheese, and eggs, so as to provide the due proportion necessary for health. Pulse of all kinds, such as lentils, beans, dried peas, etc., all supply an immense amount of nourishment, but it must be confessed that in its crude state, plainly cooked, the resulting dish, though hygienic and nutritious, is seldom palatable and attractive to any but ascetics. Now it is a well-known fact that food eaten without any enjoyment is seldom satisfactory, from the most matter of fact point of view ; and we are told that the sense of pleasure induced in the salivary glands at the aroma of any kind of savoury cooking, is given us by kindly Nature to tempt us to take the food necessary to keep our bodies in health.

We all know pease pudding as a praiseworthy accompaniment to pork and so forth, but a monotonous round of pease pudding without adjuncts, however theoretically flesh-forming, would be apt to kill the appetite, and consequently the desire for food, in a very short space of time.

Therefore it behoves the vegetarian cook to be specially careful of her condiments and flavourings. These should, in any case, come chiefly from the field or garden, and by no means necessarily from the grocer or other purveyors of toothsome, but inscrutable sauces ; and in all cases should be pure and fresh, so as to ensure the natural, crisp, individual flavour of the seasoning. Good chefs seldom, if ever, use made up sauces for their higher class cookery,' but combine the various fresh herbs, etc., to produce the requisite aroma as they prepare the dish. Of eourse in winter it is not easy to obtain fresh herbs,

Vegetarian Cookery.

but it is really very little trouble to dry, bottle, or otherwise preserve them for oneself, when their season is at its height ; whilst by going to a good purveyor of established reputation, one can always obtain such things as curry powders and chutnies (which one cannot readily prepare at home) of standard excellence. But remember, even with these Oriental chefs and connoisseurs declare that to be tasted in perfection each should be freshly made to suit the particular dish it accompanies.

Then, again, for vegetarian purposes, vegetable <i V eau (as French cooks describe the British process of vegetable cookery) are always better steamed than boiled, and on no account should soda form an adjunct to the cookery. (The full process of steaming and boiling vegetables will be found at pp. 3 and 4, of Series X. of the “ Queen ” Cookery Books, so need not be repeated here).

To increase the nourishing qualities of lighter vegetables, well-made sauces are of great assistance ; so, again, is the addition of freshly grated or thinly sliced cheese to dishes served an gratin, or a la Morny ; and though it may be freely admitted that cheese does not agree with everyone, yet it will be generally found that when used in conjunction with vegetables and without meat it is assimilated by the most delicate digestions, at intervals at all events. To persons in hard exercise cheese offers no difficulties, and may be eaten ad lib. Indeed many labourers’ wives might thus provide their families with a good stimulating meal at a cost well under that of the wretched fare they are, as a rule, capable of providing. Take potatoes, for instance. There is no meat in the house, nor money to get enough to fill all mouths round. Now plain boiled potatoes, however floury, good, and well cooked they may be (and this is in many cases granting a great deal more than one is likely to get), become monotonous, to say the least, as an unvarying meal, while cold they are more than

Introductory.

uninteresting. But try this— if the potatoes are freshly boiled and hot, slice them thickly, lay them on a hot dish, dust fairly thickly with grated cheese, pour onion sauce over, and serve very hot. If the potatoes are cold, chop them roughly and fry them till slightly coloured in a little fat of any kind, pour off the superfluous fat and reserve (or, if liked, fry in it some onion rings till crisp and bi’own, but not burnt, and use for a garnish), and pour over the potatoes onion sauce as before. This is a homely dish, but from personal experience I can testify that, like the advertised cocoa, it is on a winter’s day both “ grateful and comforting ’ ! Its cheapness, moreover, is incontestable, as all that is needed is four large, or five small onions, sufficient water to cook them until tender, when they are minced, stirred into a pint or so of sauce (made by rubbing up loz. of flour with a little water, or skim or separated milk, diluting it with more liquid till you have used up about one pint (adding this gradually, and being careful not to let it get lumpy) and it is as thick as melted-butter ; then add the minced onion, and loz. of fat broken up small, just at the last, season to taste, and use). The sauce with six or eight potatoes, and Id. worth of dried cheese grated, will make a satisfactory dish for six or even eight, and any cheesemonger will supply scraps of dry (and therefore to him unusable) cheese at an almost nominal rate. However, though excellent in its way. this is perhaps too homely a dish for our scope ; yet if the potatoes are freshly boiled, or delicately fried in butter, the onion sauce made with flavoured milk, and tammied, and a garnish of Jteurons of cheese pastry added, Pommes Soubise au 1 armesun is a luncheon dish by no means to be despised, and scarcely reminiscent of the labourer’s kitchen, in which I first met the dish !

The difficulty in starting a vegetarian diet is the practical impossibility of standardising the amount

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of food materials required, as this must necessarily depend on the individual consumer’s constitution, and his employment. Roughly speaking, a healthy fullgrown man requires daily from 4oz. to 5oz. dry nitrogenous, flesh-forming food, such as wheat, flour, eggs, and cheese; 3oz. carbon or heat-providing foods, such as butter, fat, oil, etc. ; and 15oz. of carbo-hydrate, otherwise starch or sugar to keep him in good, hardworking condition. His wife and his three-quarter grown sons would need nine-tenths of his food material, whilst his children, under ten, only need half the food required by adults in their full strength. Besides these may be mentioned ^oz. of salt and about 41b. of water. Heedless to say, these averages would require adaptation for general use, for the food admirably suited to a person in hard, physical outdoor work could not be comfortably assimilated by those leading a sedentary or indoor life, and using their mental powers more than their physical ones. Therefore some little care should be taken to discover a suitable diet. For persons leading an outdoor life, and engaging in strong physical labour, need the predominance of protein (or albumen) to build up their strength and muscle, and of carbon-hydrates (or starch and sugar producing foods) to supply the necessary heat and energy. But for sedentary folk and hard brain workers, the carbon or fatty stuffs which support and nourish the nervous system (also incidentally supplying heat), and the salts and minerals (such as iron phosphates, etc.) for supplying bone and feeding the brain and nerves, are of more importance. Attention to these points will soon teach a careful housekeeper the necessary constituents of the food required by those under her care, more especially as Nature, “ the grand old nurse,” is not slow in pointing out mistakes. For instance, an undue preponderance of proteid matters induces an uncomfortable feeling of fulness, sleepiness after meals, congestion, headaches,

Introductory.

and last, but by no means least, irritability and uncertainty of temper. Too little protein results in general weakness and debility. Too much starchy food is apt to produce dyspepsia in a variety of forms, and has the further objection (to women and young people at least) of damaging the purity of the complexion, and the smoothness and texture of the skin. Biliousness punishes excess of fatty foods, whilst deficiency in this dietetic item brings on weakness and neuralgia.

Remember, however, when working out a practical food scale, that climate and temperature must be closely taken into account. For instance, in summer or hot climates a light cooling diet is required, and fruits and salads should play an important part in our diet; whereas in winter, or in northern and more ungenial climes, fats of all kinds in the shape of butter, oil, cheese, nuts, etc., should form a large proportion of our daily fare, if we are to keep in health and strength.

CHAPTER II. Stocks and Soups

Broadly speaking, the vegetarian may enjoy almost every variety of soup, from the daintiest consomme to the most delicate purees and cremes. But naturally they require special stocks. Roughly speaking, lib. of vegetables to one quart of water will supply a very good foundation broth, taking a full 8oz. of lentils, peas, haricots red or white, or the dried butter beans, to 8oz. of assorted soup vegetables and herbs, such as carrots, turnips, onions, leeks, a little celery, and a good bouquet garni (thyme, parsley, bay leaf, a scrap of lemon-rind), and, if liked, a tiny clove of peeled but not cut garlic. For the exact process I lift, with all apologies and acknowledgements to Col. Kenney- Herbert (Wyvern), the recipe he gives for such stock in his excellent work on “Vegetarian and Simple Diet,” as it is the clearest formula I can discover : Wash one and a half pints of beans in plenty of water, removing all the withered and discoloured beans, etc., floating on the surface of the water. (It may be here remarked that haricot, butter beans, or peas are ordinarily used for this stock, though, when a deep coloured soup is required, red haricots or lentils should be chosen.) Let the beans soak, turning a plate over them to keep them under water, for twelve hours, then empty them with their liquid straight into a large stewpan, and bring this to the boil gradually over a low tire,

Stocks and Soujjs.

skimming off all the scum that may rise, and throwing in a little cold water occasionally to facilitate this rising. When the liquid is clear, and the water is boiling, add the following vegetables, which should have been prepared and cut up whilst the beans were cooking : doz. each of onions, turnips, carrots, and leeks, loz. each of parsley and celery, £oz. of salt, and a piece of muslin containing a bay leaf, a dessertspoonful of dried herbs ( personally 1 prefer a bouquet of fresh herbs whenever procurable), and one peeled, but uncut, clove of garlic, and remember that it is a good plan to put these vegetable additions into a net, so that they can be lifted out directly they are cooked, for after this point they only weaken the stock by absorbing into themselves its aroma. All this cold stuff will throw the stock off the boil, so bring it gently back to boiling point, then draw the pan to the side of the stove, and only allow it to simmer very gently for two hours, or until the beans are perfectly tender. Now drain off the liquor, which is the stock required. The vegetables, beans, etc., should be set aside, after removing the herbs and the garlic and separating the beans from the rest. The vegetables will make either an excellent puree or a macedoine, whilst the beans come in for a variety of purposes.

You may not be able at all times of the year to obtain all the vegetables given above, but onions are nearly always to be had, and you can make up the required quantity of the other vegetables by increasing the weight of those available.

This soup can be clarified exactly like ordinary soup. For instance, put the soup when cold into a clean pan, after carefully skimming off any fat, and break a whole egg into a basin with the whites of two more, beating them slightly together to break up the eggs but without allowing them to form a stiff froth ; pour this mixture into the cold soup, set the pan over a sharp fire, and stir unceasingly till it

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comes just to the boil ; directly you see the first sign of this draw the pan at once gently to the side, and keep it at a bare simmer for half an hour, then strain as usual. Thus made this becomes a very delicate consomme, and may be garnished in any way recommended for the ordinary meat consomme, only of course without meat.

To make a specially good consomme you need what cooks call “double stock,” and for this you should prepare some vegetable stock as above, then put into a pan 2oz. of butter, or any good nut fat, melt this over a moderate fire, then add in 4oz. eacdi of carrots, onion, and turnips, finely minced, 2oz. of leeks, loz. of celery, and loz. of parsley, all finely shredded ; let this fry sharply, stirring the contents of the pan constantly throughout the process, adding, as the vegetables begin to colour, three pints of the warm stock ; bring this all to the boil, skimming it carefully, then, drawing it aside, allow it to simmer gently for two hours, after which strain off the soup, reserving the vegetables, and finishing the soup as before. A very little sugar dusted over the second lot of vegetables, when frying, enriches both the flavour and the colour of the soup, but this addition requires great care, as, if in the least over-done, it will give a coarse, disagreeable flavour to the soup.

Vegetable Stock II. — Another most excellent soup can be made simply from vegetables, allowing a full pound of mixed vegetables, and a bouquet to the quart of water, in the following proportions : 6oz. carrots, 4oz. turnips, 2Joz. each of leeks and onions, and loz of celery. Mince the vegetables, put the onions and leeks into a pan with a little butter till lightly coloured, then lay in the rest of the vegetables with a dust of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a little pepper, and fry these all together for a few minutes ; now moisten them with two or three spoonfuls of water, cover down the pan, and let it cook till reduced to a glaze, as this makes a clearer stock. Then pour on to it the right amount

II Stocks and Soups

of water for tlie quantity of vegetables used, bring it all to the boil, skimming it well ; draw the pan to one side, add in a handful each of mushrooms and dried peas, and let it simmer gently until these vegetables are thoroughly cooked, but not “ mashy,” then strain and clarify as before, using white of egg and fresh vegetables. An even more economical form can be made by taking lOoz. of dried peas, 3oz. carrots, 2|oz. onions, ^oz. of celery or celery seed, and a bunch of herbs to the quart of water. Season to taste, and either fry or not, according to whether you wish your soup to be light or dark, and finish off precisely as before. If no soda has been used in the water in which vegetables, beans especially, have been boiled, this makes an excellent vegetable second stock.

Another very useful foundation for soup, sauces, etc., is Plasmon Stock. — Place loz., or three teaspoonfuls, of Plasmon in a saucepan, and add to it gradually half a pint of lukewarm water, stirring it all the time ; put the pan on the fire, and allow it to boil for two minutes. When cold this stock will look like thin, semi-transparent jelly, though it can be used for stock hot as soon as made. This stock will keep a day or two if treated like milk.

It is hardly necessary to enlarge on consommes, for once you succeed in making clear stock, either single or double, according to what you want it for, you can garnish it in any way you please, the soup of course taking its name from the garnish, as in the case of meat consommes. A specially dainty consomme can be made by using the double consomme made with red haricots or lentils to ensure the darkness of its colouring. Have your soup tureen very hot, and place in it a small saltspoonful or so of really good tarragon vinegar, pour the soup on to this, stirring it well together, and serve garnished with cubes of royal custard and shredded green tarragon. The secret of success in this is to keep the tarragon flavour as delicate as possible.

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Next follows the puree, of which there are, of course, absolutely endless varieties, and of which the well-known Potage Palestine , or Artichoke Soup, Puree Soubise, Potato Soup, etc., are familiar to almost every cook ; though it must be admitted she seldom realises how much more satisfactory they are when made with either skim milk, milk and water, or even plain water, than with the stock for which she demands such quantities of soup meat.

The following recipes give some idea of a few perhaps less well-known forms of Vegetarian Soups. Kemember, if you wish to serve a puree it should be sieved, whilst for the fashionable creme it ought properly to be wrung through a tammy, or crushed through a fine hair sieve, and reheated with a delicate liaison of egg yolk beaten up in cream, and, needless to state, its basis should be nicely-made vegetable stock, mixed with an equal quantity of milk. For household use, however, an extremely nice soup may be made (which in France is known as Potage Puree, of whatever it is made) by simply crushing the contents of the soup-pan fairly smooth with a wooden spoon or a potato-masher. For these latter household soups, which are required to be downright substantial, a spoonful or two of dried, grated cheese may be stirred in sharply just at the last, or the cheese may be handed round, grated, at table.

Potage aux Pignole. — Fry 4oz. of well cleansed and minced pine kernels with 4oz. minced onions, and loz. of flour, in loz. or 2oz. of butter, till just beginning to colour, then add bv degrees enough milk (or milk and white haricot stock) to moisten it, say two and a half pints for the above quantities, stirring it all well together ; bring it to the boil, and simmer gently for half an hour until it thickens ; then rub it through a hair sieve, or wring it through a tammy, adding a tablespoonful of cream, beaten up with the yolk of an egg, with seasoning to taste ; adcl a garnish of cooked

Stocks and Soups.

French beans cut in diamonds, and flageolet beans, reheat it all, without allowing it to boil, and serve.

Potage Bonne Femme. — Fry 4oz. minced onion in l^oz. of butter, without letting it colour, for five or six minutes or so, till fairly tender, then add 4oz. well-picked and washed sorrel leaves, loz. of chervil, and a nice lettuce, all finely shredded ; season with a good saltspoonful each of salt and caster sugar, and stir over the fire for five minutes more. Now stir in a tablespoonful of flour, and again cook for five minutes ; then moisten gradually with one and a half pints of milk and water (equal parts), and bring it all slowly to the boil, when you draw it to the side of the fire, and keep simmering gently but steadily for thirty minutes or so. Meanwhile, beat up an whole egg with an ounce of creamed or slightly warmed butter, then work in by degrees one gill of the soup, being careful to get it all carefully blended, for, if not, the egg white will curdle when added to soup, and spoil its appearance entirely. Have ready some bread sliced diagonally, arrange these slices in a hot tureen, pour the boiling soup on them, and stir in the egg liaison, adding seasoning to taste if wanted, and serve at once very hot. Of course, stock, either vegetable or meat, may be used in preparing this soup, but it really is not necesarv, milk and water, or, if preferred, plain, separated milk being quite sufficient.

Remember, that the bread used by French cooks for soup, when not fried as croutons, is alway cut in this way : take a good lump of bread free from crust, and cut off one corner, “on the cross,” as one says of materials, and then slice down the rest on the slant, parallel to the first cut. Cut in this way the bread seems to disintegrate quite easily, blending with thesoup, and not making its presence in any way markedly obvious. Other cooks slice down a roll, and crisp it in the oven, to lay in the soup tureen.

Soup a, VOignon, Stanislas. — These two versions

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were given me by an old French lady, who in a modest way was a thorough adept in all culinary matters, and herself a gourmet. But the recipe must be followed exactly, for the first time at all events, however strange it mav sound. Remove the crust from a loaf, break it up, not too small, warm a little before the fire or in the oven, then butter these pieces, and either toast or crisp them in the oven, and set aside. Now cut up or slice three good sized onions, put them in a pan with 3oz. of butter, and keep shaking them till they are nicely coloured ; then put to them the toasted bread broken up fairly small, and keep shaking the whole constantly till the onions are of a rich dark brown (but not the least burnt ) ; now add one and a half pints of boiling water, with pepper and salt to taste, watch it just reboil, when you draw ir, aside, and keep it simmering for half an hour. This produces a particularly light and dainty soup, which is said to owe its name to King Stanislas Leczinski, an ex-king of Poland, and a noted gourmand. The lady who gave me the recipe warned me most solemnly against using any really rich, strong stock instead of water, by way of improving it (and I found her advice was quite true when a cook, bent on improvement, made it with good beef stock, and utterly spoilt its flavour !), but she told me as a variation, to use instead of plain water the water in which haricot beans had been boiled. The ordinary white haricot bean stock given above might, therefore, doubtless be used, but finding the original recipe so g. ocl, I never allowed this to be tampered with.

an Fromage. — The same lady who gave

me the last recipe, also gave me this one — a favourite amongst sportsmen in France. Peel and cut up fairly small three good sized onions, and cook them in about 2oz. of butter or good fat, in a covered pan for one hour, till fairly tender. The steam prevents their actually frying. Then moisten with one and a

Stocks and Soups.

lialf pints of hot water, in which a cauliflower has been boiled, or the same amount of bean stock, or, failing either, of plain water ; add some slices of bread, cut on the cross, as recommended for Potage Bonne Femme , together with pepper, and salt if necessary (the cauliflower liquid might probably be quite sufliciently salt), cover down the pan again, and simmer it all for at least an hour. Now crush it through a sieve (for household purposes this is frequently omitted), and just before serving add gradually a good spoonful of grated Gruyere cheese stirring this, however, rapidly into the soup to ensure its blending well.

Potage Julienne Maigre. — Cut up into even sized shreds carrots, turnips, and a little parsnip, with a small blanched onion (say Boz. or 4oz. of the mixed vegetables for one and a half pints of soup), put them on in a pan with a good pat of butter, a little salt, and a dust of caster sugar ; cover down, and simmer the vegetables for ten to fifteen minutes, according to their age, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent their sticking to it ; then add some finely shred celery, and some lettuce leaves stamped out in rounds the size of a shilling, and let these cook with the rest for four or five minutes. After this, pour in the amount of water needed for the soup (remember this water must be absolutely boiling when added, or it will turn the julienne strips into little hard sticks), add pepper to taste, and simmer the whole for a full hour. Now add (if in season) one or two spoonfuls of green peas, a few French beans, or some asparagus sprue cut into lengths? and simmer for half an hour more. As you are about to serve it, add in a little bit of butter, the size of a nut, and serve at once. You may use clear vegetable stock instead of water if you chose, but the soup, if carefully made, is excellent with only water for a basis.

A very nice soup closely resembling French

Julienne Passee, can be made by rubbing tlie vegetables used in the double stock making through a coarse colander or sieve, and reheating it all in the plain haricot stock, serving it with little round croutons of fried bread, the size of a florin, well drained, dusted with grated cheese, coralline pepper, and minced parsley. Of course, this is not a puree, nor, strictly speaking, a julienne, but it is a very good soup, above all in town, where the vegetables have lost their first freshness.