Part 2

Bay leaves are the leaves of a shrub belonging to the laurel tribe, which grows wild in the Mediterranean countries. Among the Greeks the bay leaf was consecrated to the uses of poetry, heroism and religion. Not until later times was it used as a flavoring for foods and for the decoration of various dishes. It grows wild in certain of the southern states but the leaves are usually exported from Europe, dried. The leaves are used in soups, stews and pickles and, although the average housewife finds it next to impossible to procure them, scarcely a recipe for these articles of food but includes bay leaves among its flavorings.

Summer savory is a hardy little annual which has long grown wild in southern Europe and is now largely cultivated for culinary use. Both the summer and winter savories are fragrant and are valuable in the seasoning of sausages and gravies.

Parsley is a native of the island of Sardinia and, having been improved in both fragrance and appearance by culture, is more valuable than any other herb for the garnishing of dishes. Its curled, crisp, green leaves give the poorest salad or meat a tempting appearance, well sustained by the fineness of flavor it imparts. Its flavor somewhat resembles that of celery. The little herb may be seen in nearly every garden during the summer months and often in a pot, or kitchen window-box during the winter, from which it may be plucked fresh daily. The experienced cook would part with any other half dozen condiments more willingly than with parsley. The plant belongs to the _umbelliferæ_, which order includes the carrot, parsnip and celery. It is said to have come originally from Egypt and mythology represents Hercules as adorning his head with its curled leaves.

Thyme, a little under shrub native to the Mediterranean countries, is allied botanically to sage, summer savory and sweet basil. It possesses very small leaves and whorls of tiny, lilac-colored flowers, from which thymol or oil of thyme, a valuable germicide, is distilled. In flavor it is fragrant and aromatic and it may be readily cultivated in gardens. The wild thyme of our banks “where ox-lips and the nodding violet grows,” is a different variety of the same order. Its name is derived from the Greek word _thumos_, meaning incense or perfume.

Sage is a small plant of the order _labiatæ_, and is native to southern Europe. It has been so greatly changed by cultivation that little semblance of the original plant now remains in the sage of our gardens excepting the flavor. It was known to the ancients and to-day its fragrant, grayish green leaves constitute one of our commonest flavorings.

It was an Englishman who once said that “mint made lamb out of an old sheep”! Perhaps he loved it also because of the legend that it once existed in the form of a beautiful maiden, transformed by Persephone into the modest aromatic of our gardens. The mint designated is that member of the labiate family known as spear mint, native to Europe but grown in all portions of the United States and largely marketed. It is a small, green herb, the leaves being highly aromatic and, when bruised, yielding a valuable essential oil. It is equally liked in the mint sauce so indispensable to mutton and the mint-julep—

“This cordial julep here, That flames and dances in his crystal bounds.”

Sweet marjoram grows wild in Spain and Portugal and, in a cultivated state, throughout Europe and the United States. It is a member of the mint family and, like spear mint, possesses aromatic leaves.

Tarragon is a small, aromatic herb, native to Liberia. It is cultivated in Europe and is the _estragon_ of the French, who use the young plants largely for salads. It is hardy, and is grown extensively in America, being used for flavoring vinegar, mustard and pickles. Tarragon vinegar, from the excellence of its flavor, should have a place in every household.

The onion is believed to have originated in Egypt although it was known in very early times in India. In the former country it was worshiped as a deity. “Cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick” formed the daily food of the Israelites in Egypt. Italy and Spain are now noted for the immense size of the onions grown there, as also are the Bermuda Islands. Those of the latter place possess a far milder flavor, a condition due to soil and climate. The flavor of onion, when strong, is unpleasant to some people to a nauseating degree and it is hard to see in it any resemblance to its dainty cousins, the lily and the hyacinth. But when skillfully used it is a valuable and wholesome culinary condiment and is more largely employed by the average cook than the uninitiated ever suspect. Says one author: “The onion is the sheet anchor of the skillful cook. It is impossible to prepare the delicate Bordelaise sauce without resorting to the use of onions and a shade of garlic, ... and it is the judicious use of these two seasonings that stamps the expert cook.”

The leek is a member of the onion family, similar in flavor, although milder, and the leaves of which are flat instead of tubular. It has been stated that in England the leek was once considered to be the typical plant, both onion and garlic being but species. The diet of the soldiers of ancient Greece was at one time leeks and cheese, a custom which Bulwer has satirized in a Neo-Greek outburst of rhyme:

“Away, away, with the helm and greaves, Away with the leeks and cheese! I have conquered my passion for wounds and blows, And the worst that I wish to the worst of my foes Is the glory and gain Of a year’s campaign On a diet of leeks and cheese!”

Garlic possesses an onion-like bulb around which smaller bulbs cluster, the whole covered by a membranous outer layer. Each bulb is described as a “clove” of garlic and in flavor is far more demonstrative than onion. Shallot, on the contrary, is the daintiest of the onion tribe, growing from a cluster of roots and never forming a compact bulb.

Saffron, a plant of the crocus family, was largely used in mediæval Europe as a condiment, although to-day its value as a coloring substance is considered of most account. The coloring matter is obtained from the stigmas of the flower, which are of a deep orange hue. The plant grows wild in Asia Minor, is possibly native to Arabia, and has long been extensively cultivated throughout the Mediterranean countries. That exported from Spain is considered the finest. At one time in Germany the adulteration of saffron was held criminal and punishable by death. History records the burning, in 1444, of a man with his adulterated saffron and, a dozen years later, the burning of two men and a woman for a similar offense. The salutary effect of this penalty was not permanent, however, as it is to-day extensively adulterated with a cheaper article known as safflower. In the Orient, a few nations still add saffron to their rice both for flavor and color while in Europe it is now most largely used for coloring macaroni, vermicelli and other pastes. Saffron is mentioned in the Old Testament in connection with spikenard, cinnamon and other spices, and appears to have been used by the early Greeks medicinally, and as both dye and perfume.

Capers are the unopened flowers of a low, trailing shrub which grows wild in Africa and southern Europe. It is native to Italy and is said to have grown wild upon the walls of ancient Rome. It is cultivated in France, only the small, grayish green, flower buds being of commercial value. They possess an aromatic and slightly pungent flavor and, when preserved as is usual in either salt or vinegar, are used for flavoring gravies, being well-nigh indispensable in the serving of roast mutton. Four or five grades of capers are exported, the finest grade consisting of the tiniest and most perfect buds which gradually diminish in value as they increase in size.

Turmeric, while classed with condiments owing to its pungent and aromatic properties, is most extensively used as a coloring agent. It is obtained from the root of the _curcuma longa_, a plant allied to the ginger family and native to India and Annam. It is used as a condiment only by the Orientals who flavor their rice with it, its greatest value to the cooking world being due to the fact that it is one of the chief ingredients of curry powder.

Curry powder is a manufactured condiment, one of the most aromatic and highly seasoned used. It originated in the East Indies, through the skill of whom it is not known. The story goes that the famed and delicious cookery of the Orient came about in this fashion. The early English, French and Dutch, when setting out for the East Indies, each determined to seize and appropriate the islands, spices and all; for fear of being compelled to eat poor and unappetizing food took with them their most accomplished cooks. From the friendly concourse of these chefs arose certain of the celebrated eastern dishes, and from its ingredients it is easy to believe that curry was one of them; for in it are united, with the herbs of the temperate zones, the spices and fruits of the tropics. The ingredients used vary in character and in proportion according to the different houses or localities manufacturing it. One recipe calls for the following: turmeric, black pepper, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, cardamon seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, caraway seeds and fenugreek. In India the following ingredients are sometimes used, besides those above named: anise, almonds, asafœtida, butter (ghee), cocoanut and cocoa oil, cream and curds, various nuts, garlic, lime juice, mangoes, saffron, salt, and tamarinds. In India alone there exist nearly forty different methods of preparing curry, to which list might be added the recipes of the numerous spice houses of Europe and America. The ingredients of curry are always finely ground and well mixed. When lime-juice and butter or oil are added to the curry, a paste is prepared. This is preserved by being packed in earthen jars. The curries and curry pastes of Ceylon and Java (these being often combined with garlic) are quite as celebrated as those of India, while the English and American preparations rank enviably high.

The mustard of commerce consists of the pulverized seed of the mustard plant, which grows wild in England and which may be cultivated in nearly every part of the globe, even in India. The use of mustard as a condiment dates from the Elizabethan age, although it was used medicinally by the most celebrated physicians of antiquity. It was first compounded in its present form for table use by an old lady of Durham, from which circumstance it came to be widely celebrated as “Durham mustard.” One of the merchants, to whom this industrious old lady sold her mustard, is credited with saying that he owed his wealth, not to the mustard which people ate but to that which they left on their plates. Two varieties of mustard are cultivated, one producing white seeds, the other, seeds which are tiny and black. Both varieties of seeds are used, whole, in the spicing of pickles. It is requisite that mustard possess good keeping qualities, that it be of a bright yellow color, and have an aromatic as well as pungent flavor.

Horse-radish is a plant allied to the nasturtium and, like the seeds and stems of the latter, possesses a sharply pungent flavor. It is native to England and western Europe although cultivated in nearly all portions of the temperate zone. The root, which is large and fleshy, is grated, mixed with salt and vinegar, and used as a condiment. It may be prepared in season and bottled, either with vinegar or dessicated, keeping for use during the remainder of the year.

Ginger is a flag-like plant, probably native to the East and West Indies, the rhizomatous root of which is the only portion commercially valuable. According to some authorities ginger was known to the earliest of the Greeks and Romans and has been a common spice among the nations of Europe, including England, since the eleventh century. Under the Plantagenets and Tudors ginger was used as a flavoring for meats, unlike the modern custom of using it only in curries, cakes and beverages. To-day ginger is exported from both the Indies, that from Jamaica being particularly fine, from Africa, from China, from India and from Borneo. The African ginger is of excellent flavor but of dark color. It is chiefly sold to bakers. That from Borneo is good for household use, having a sweet and aromatic flavor and containing very little fibre. From Calcutta the “race” or “hand” ginger is exported, so called because of the palmate shape of the root. It is exported before being decorticated and is not a high grade ginger. The root is often preserved in sugar, being taken when young and succulent. It may be preserved whole or cut into cubes or slices. Both preserved and dried it is largely exported from China and Japan.

Chili is the Spanish name for the pod of the cayenne, the Guinea pepper, and other species of capsicum. Capsicum is a member of the night shade family, in no way related to the true pepper. It is native to tropical America, although now found in nearly all of the warmer countries. Cayenne is the pod of the capsicum pulverized to extreme fineness. It should be of a dull, red color and, if very red, is quite likely to be adulterated, often with red lead or vermilion. Cayenne pepper is, perhaps, the most acrid and pungent aromatic used and is also valuable medicinally. There are many varieties of capsicum, the most noted being the _capsicum annuum_, cultivated in the East Indies, in Mexico and southern parts of the United States, and from which cayenne pepper is made; and the _capsicum frutescens_, the Guinea or bird pepper, a much smaller pod and which, dried whole, is most often used in cookery. Chilis are used in enormous quantities by natives of hot countries, a paradoxical custom it appears to be, and the hottest, most “peppery” dishes known have originated where the sunbeam is nearest vertical. Those best known to Americans are the _chili con carne_ and the chicken _tomale_ of Mexico. In the southern states cayenne is customarily added to all meats, soups and stews. Capsicum is an agreeable and valuable stimulant, having the medicinal effect of alcohol without disastrous results from its use.

Mixed seasonings are now to be found in nearly all markets and in point of convenience deserve to be popular. They consist of the aromatic herbs and spices, mixed and prepared by experts and intended for the seasoning of poultry and meats of all kinds.

Penang or mixed spices, are also a modern preparation and are useful in cooking, pickling and preserving. They consist of aromatic and pungent spices mixed in varying proportions.

Among condiments prepared from animal foods, those of the anchovy, lobster, shrimp, and Yarmouth bloater are the most common. The anchovy is a tiny, silvery fish, caught in the Mediterranean sea in vast quantities. The most famous come from Gorgona, a small island near Leghorn, where they are caught in nets as they come in from the deeper waters for the purpose of depositing spawn. Anchovies were used as a condiment by the most luxurious of the Romans, one preparation, called “garum,” consisting of the partly decomposed intestines of this fish mixed with spices. They are now exported for use as a condiment to all parts of the world, being preserved whole as well as in the form of pastes and essences. The pastes are prepared by pressing the fish through a sieve, simple flavorings and some oil being added. The essences consist of the fish steeped in a highly spiced brine or pickle, then strained and bottled. Essences of lobster, shrimp, and various fish are similarly prepared.

Various appetizing mixtures intended to give relish to meats, fish and soups, and composed of vegetables, fruits and divers spices, are known as sauces. “Roots, herbs, vine fruits and salad-flowers, they dish up various ways and find them a very delicious sauce to their meats, both roasted and boiled, fresh and salt.” No other sauce made compares with genuine East Indian chutney. It is a thick sauce, made from the mango apple, chilies, spices, lemon juice, raisins, figs, salt and sugar. Those most celebrated are the Bengal Club, Terhoot, Sweet Lucknow and a number of club chutneys. Trinidad chutney is particularly fine. Ceylon chutney is often slightly flavored with garlic. Another kind is “mango chutney, a characteristic Singalese condiment, among the ingredients of which are fresh, grated cocoanut and chilies carefully brayed together in a mortar. This chutney is of a rich roseate hue; and after eating it with his prawn curry the epicure feels like the Grand Turk.”

Carachi is a sauce little known in America, although, as it is much liked abroad, I give a recipe for its making, which sufficiently defines its character: one head of garlic, one dessert spoonful of cayenne pepper, three table spoonsful each, of soy, mushroom ketchup, walnut pickle, and mango pickle, five anchovies and a pint of vinegar.

Cassareep consists of the inspissated juice of the root of the bitter cassava, flavored with various spices. From the cassava, or manioc, is prepared tapioca and also cassava flour of which bread is made. The root is poisonous because of the prussic acid contained, this, however, being dissipated by heat. After the juice is extracted, it is boiled down to the color and consistency of molasses, after which spices are added. It is the basis of Worcestershire and many other sauces and is valuable in the flavoring of soups and ragouts. It is largely exported from British Guiana and is used throughout the tropics.

Worcestershire sauce is one of the commonest of table condiments. It is prepared from cassareep and varying proportions of spices, garlic, peppers, and lime-juice, according to the tastes of the various houses manufacturing it.

Both lime-juice and Devonshire sauces are similar in preparation and flavor to Worcestershire, the former being quite acid, owing to the greater proportion of lime-juice used.

Ketchup is a sauce made variously from tomatoes, mushrooms, walnuts, oysters, etc. It should be semi-fluid, about the consistency of a good purée and, although spices may be added, the original flavor of the basic ingredients must always be preserved. Color is one desideratum. In tomato ketchup the sauce is always made of the ripe tomato fruit, although, as the color is sometimes produced artificially, the only safeguard lies in purchasing of reliable manufacturers. The tomato ketchup is a typical American sauce, corresponding in our dietary with the mushroom ketchup of the English.

Soy or _shoyu_ is in general use throughout the East, particularly in China and Japan, that from the latter country being acknowledged the finest made. One authority states that our word ketchup is derived from the Chinese name for soy, _kitjap_. The basis of soy, the soy bean, has been cultivated in Japan since the earliest dynasties, and is to-day one of their important crops. The different varieties of the soy bean produce three kinds of soy known as the black, the green and the white. The process of making soy consists in first boiling the beans and mixing them with parched barley and wheat, coarsely ground. This _barm_ is fermented and when the whole mixture is covered with fungi it is mixed with brine of a certain strength, which has already been boiled and allowed to cool. This mixture is then kept for fermentation about twenty-five months. It is stirred with a wooden paddle twice a day during winter, three times a day in summer and, when sufficiently fermented, is put through a soy press. It is then heated to 130 degrees Fahrenheit and, after becoming cold again, is put up in bottles and casks. It may be preserved for any length of time. In appearance it resembles Worcestershire sauce and from a nutritive point of view is superior to any other sauce in our markets.

Soy is manufactured in every part of Japan, no fewer than 10,682 firms being engaged in making it in 1891. It is eaten by the entire Japanese population with every meal and, besides being a sauce, is sufficient as a salt. Used upon fish, beef-steaks and meats, generally, it gives a relish that is impossible to the choicest of cookery otherwise. In Japan it is used by all classes excepting the extremely destitute, who cannot afford to buy it.

Tabasco is a popular sauce, the chief ingredient of which is the pulp of the red pepper. This, a species of chili, came originally from Central America and through cultivation, largely carried on in the South, its strength and flavor have been greatly improved. The sauce is extremely hot with chilis and, as it keeps well in any climate, it is liked by connoisseurs.

There are on the market numerous preparations known as salad dressings. They are useful in cases of inexperience or emergency, but are by no means equal to the freshly made mayonnaise of the home kitchen. There is real art in preparing a good mayonnaise and a Spanish proverb reads: “Four persons are necessary to the making of a salad dressing: a spendthrift for oil, a miser for vinegar, a counsellor for salt and a madman to stir it all up.”

Pickles are those articles of food, fruit or vegetables, which are preserved by immersion in vinegar, with or without the addition of salt or spices. Cucumber and green tomato pickles are the commonest varieties. When vegetables are mixed, as with chow-chow, piccalilli and “mixed pickles,” cucumbers, small onions, green beans, cabbage, pepper-pods, cauliflower and various spices are used. Fruits, such as apple, melon, peach, crab-apple and pear are also pickled.

Pickled sanphire, although at one time popularly used as a condiment, is now little known outside of England. It is a variety of sea-weed and grows upon dangerous and rocky cliffs. Shakespeare refers to “the sanphire gatherer’s dangerous trade,” and another poet has apostrophized the

“Green girdles and crowns of the sea gods, Cool blossoms of water and foam,”

quite omitting to mention the fact that the “girdles and crowns” make, when chopped and packed in vinegar, a most delicious pickle. Unlike most condiments, this is, as are all seaweeds, nutritious. The people of the Sandwich Islands, as well as the English, consider sanphire, both the true and false varieties, a choice condiment. It is specially liked when served with mutton.

One of the choicest of condiments is the olive. It is the fruit of an evergreen tree, native to Syria and lower Asia but now cultivated extensively in southern Europe and California. Unlike most pickles it may be classed as a food, owing to the oil contained. The fruit is picked by hand and carefully sorted about six weeks before it would ripen. It is first placed in strong lye for about twenty-four hours, then removed to fresh water where it may remain several days. After several washings in fresh water the olives are removed and packed in brine. They are ready for use in from one to three months. The residents of the olive districts both in Greece, Spain, and in California often prefer the olive preserved after it has ripened, the oil having then matured and the flavor being finer. Among the export trade there is much prejudice against it owing to its dull, black color. Olives should be of good color, crisp and firm, but never tough. The Spanish and Italian olives are widely popular but are really no finer than the best California products.