Chapter 18

Maccaroni is considered as very cheap Food in those countries where it is prepared in the greatest perfection, and where it is in common use among the lower classes of society; and as wheat, of which grain it is always made, is a staple commodity in this country, it would certainly be worth while to take some trouble to introduce the manufacture of it, particularly as it is already become an article of luxury upon the tables of the rich, and as great quantities of it are annually imported and sold here at a most exorbitant price[21]:--But maccaroni is by no means the cheapest Food that can be provided for feeding the Poor, in this island;--nor do I believe it is so in any country.--Polenta, or Indian Corn, of which so much has already been said,-- and Potatoes, of which too much cannot be said,--are both much better adapted, in all respects, for that purpose.--Maccaroni would however, I am persuaded, could it be prepared in this country, be much less expensive than many kinds of Food now commonly used by our Poor; and consequently might be of considerable use to them.

With regard to Potatoes they are now so generally known and their usefulness is so universally acknowledged, that it would be a waste of time to attempt to recommend them.--I shall therefore content myself with merely giving receipts for a few cheap dishes in which they are employed as a principal ingredient.

Though there is no article used as Food of which a greater variety of well-tasted and wholesome dishes may be prepared than of potatoes, yet it seems to be the unanimous opinion of those who are most acquainted with these useful vegetables, that the best way of cooking them is to boil them simply, and with their skins on, in water.--But the manner of boiling them is by no means a matter of indifference.--This process is better understood in Ireland, where by much the greater part of the inhabitants live almost entirely on this Food, than any where else.

This is what might have been expected;--but those who have never considered with attention the extreme slowness of the progress of national improvements, WHERE NOBODY TAKES PAINS TO ACCELERATE THEM, will doubtless be surprised when they are told that in most parts of England, though the use of potatoes all over the country has for so many years been general, yet, to this hour, few, comparatively, who eat them, know how to dress them properly.-- The inhabitants of those countries which lie on the sea-coast opposite to Ireland have adopted the Irish method of boiling potatoes; but it is more than probable that a century at least would have been required for those improvements to have made their way through the island, had not the present alarms on account of a scarcity of grain roused the public, and fixed their attention upon a subject too long neglected in this enlightened country.

The introduction of improvements tending to increase the comforts and innocent enjoyments of that numerous and useful class of mankind who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, is an object not more interesting to a benevolent mind than it is important in the eyes of an enlightened statesman.

There are, without doubt, GREAT MEN who will smile at seeing these observations connected with a subject so humble and obscure as the boiling of potatoes, but GOOD MEN will feel that the subject is not unworthy of their attention.

The following directions for boiling potatoes, which I have copied from a late Report of the Board of Agriculture, I can recommend from my own experience:

On the boiling of Potatoes so as to be eat as Bread.

There is nothing that would tend more to promote the consumption of potatoes than to have the proper mode of preparing them as Food generally known.--In London, this is little attended to; whereas in Lancashire and Ireland the boiling of potatoes is brought to very great perfection indeed. When prepared in the following manner, if the quality of the root is good, they may be eat as bread, a practice not unusual in Ireland.--The potatoes should be, as much as possible, of the same size, and the large and small ones boiled separately.--They must be washed clean, and, without paring or scraping, put in a pot with cold water, not sufficient to cover them, as they will produce themselves, before they boil, a considerable quantity of fluid.--They do not admit being put into a vessel of boiling water like greens.-- If the potatoes are tolerably large, it will be necessary, as soon as they begin to boil, to throw in some cold water, and occasionally to repeat it, till the potatoes are boiled to the heart, (which will take from half an hour to an hour and a quarter, according to their size,) they will otherwise crack, and burst to pieces on the outside, whilst the inside will be nearly in a crude state, and consequently very unpalatable and unwholesome.--During the boiling, throwing in a little salt occasionally is found a great improvement, and it is certain that the slower they are cooked the better.--When boiled, pour off the water, and evaporate the moisture, by replacing the vessel in which the potatoes were boiled once more over the fire. --This makes them remarkably dry and mealy.--They should be brought to the table with the skins on, and eat with a little salt, as bread.--Nothing but experience can satisfy any one how superior the potatoe is, thus prepared, if the sort is good and meally.-- Some prefer roasting potatoes; but the mode above detailed, extracted partly from the interesting paper of Samuel Hayes, Esquire, of Avondale, in Ireland, (Report on the Culture of Potatoes, P. 103.), and partly from the Lancashire reprinted Report (p.63.), and other communications to the Board, is at least equal, if not superior.--Some have tried boiling potatoes in steam, thinking by that process that they must imbibe less water.--But immersion in water causes the discharge of a certain substance, which the steam alone is incapable of doing, and by retaining which, the flavour of the root is injured, and they afterwards become dry by being put over the fire a second time without water.--With a little butter, or milk, of fish, they make an excellent mess.

These directions are so clear, that it is hardly possible to mistake them; and those who follow them exactly will find their potatoes surprisingly improved, and will be convinced that the manner of boiling them is a matter of much greater importance than has hitherto been imagined.

Were this method of boiling potatoes generally known in countries where these vegetables are only beginning to make their way into common use,-- as in Bavaria, for instance,--I have no doubt but it would contribute more than any thing else to their speedy introduction.

The following account of an experiment, lately made in one of the parishes of this metropolis (London), was communicated to me by a friend, who has permitted me to publish it.--It will serve to show,--what I am most anxious to make appear,-- that the prejudices of the Poor in regard to their Food ARE NOT UNCONQUERABLE February 25th, 1796.

The parish officers of Saint Olaves, Southwark, desirous of contributing their aid towards lessening the consumption of wheat, resolved on the following succedaneum for their customary suet puddings, which they give to their Poor for dinner one day in the week; which was ordered as follows:

L. s. d. 200 lb. potatoes boiled, and skinned and mashed ... ... 0 8 0 2 gallons of milk ... ... ... 0 2 4 12 lb. of suet, at 4 1/2 ... 0 4 6 1 peck of flour ... ... ... 0 4 0 Baking ... ... ... ... ... 0 1 8 --------- Expense 1 0 6 --------- Their ordinary suet pudding had been made thus:

2 bushels of flour ... ... ... 1 12 0 12 lb. suet ... ... ... ... 0 4 6 Baking ... ... ... ... ... 0 1 8 --------- Expense 1 18 2 Cost of the ingredients for the potatoes suet pudding ... ... 1 0 6 --------- Difference 0 17 8 ---------

This was the dinner provided for 200 persons, who gave a decided perference to the cheapest of these preparations, and with it to be continued.

The following baked potatoe-puddings were prepared in the hotel where I lodge, and were tasted by a number of persons, who found them in general very palatable.

Baked Potatoe-puddings.

No. I.

12 ounces of potatoes, boiled, skinned, and mashed; 1 ounce of suet; 1 ounce (or 1/16 of a pint) of milk, and 1 ounce of Gloucester cheese. -- Total 15 ounces,--mixed with as much boiling water as was necessary to bring it to a due consistence, and then baked in an earthen pan.

No. II.

12 ounces of mashed potatoes as before; 1 ounces of milk, and 1 ounce of suet, with a sufficient quantity of salt.--Mixed up with boiling water, and baked in a pan.

No. III.

12 ounces of mashed potatoes; 1 ounce of suet; 1 ounce of red herrings pounded fine in a mortar.--Mixed--baked, etc. as before.

No. IV.

12 ounces of mashed potatoes; 1 ounce of suet, and 1 ounce of hung beef grated fine with a grater.--Mixed and baked as before.

These puddings when baked weighed from 11 to 12 ounces each.-- They were all liked by those who tasted them, but No I and No 3 seemed to meet with the most general approbation.

Receipt for a very cheap Potatoe-dumplin.

Take any quantity of potatoes, half boiled;--skin or pare them, and grate them to a coarse powder with a grater;--mix them up with a very small quantity of flour, 1/16, for instance, of the weight of the potatoes, or even less;--add a seasoning of salt, pepper, and sweet herbs;--mix up the whole with boiling water to a proper consistency, and form the mass into dumplins of the size of a large apple.-- Roll the dumplins, when formed, in flour, to prevent the water from penetrating them, and put them into boiling water, and boil them till they rise to the surface of the water, and swim, when they will be found to be sufficiently done.

These dumplins may be made very savoury by mixing with them a small quantity of grated hung beef, or of pounded red herring.

Fried bread may likewise be mixed with them, and this without any other addition, except a seasoning of salt, forms an excellent dish.

Upon the same principles upon which these dumplins are prepared large boiled bag-puddings may be made; and for feeding the Poor in a public establishment, where great numbers are to be fed, puddings, as these is less trouble in preparing them, are always to be preferred to dumplins.

It would swell this Essay, (which has already exceeded the limits assigned to it,) to the size of a large volume, were I to give receipts for all the good dishes that may be prepared with potatoes.--There is however one method of preparing potatoes much in use in many parts of Germany, which appears to me to deserve being particularly mentioned and recommended;--it is as follows:

A Receipt for preparing boiled Potatoes with a Sauce.

The potatoes being properly boiled, and skinned, are cut into slices, and put into a dish, and a sauce, similar to that commonly used with a fricaseed chicken, is poured over them.

This makes an excellent and a very wholesome dish, but more calculated, it is true, for the tables of the opulent than for the Poor.--Good sauces might however be composed for this dish which would not be expensive.--Common milk-porridge, made rather thicker than usual, with wheat flour, and well salted, would not be a bad sauce for it.

Potatoe Salad.

A dish in high repute in some parts of Germany, and which deserves to be particularly recommended, is a salad of potatoes. The potatoes being properly boiled and skinned, are cut into thin slices, and the same sauce which is commonly used for salads of lettuce is poured over them; some mix anchovies with this sauce, which gives it a very agreeable relish, and with potatoes it is remarkably palatable.

Boiled potatoes cut in slices and fried in butter, or in lard, and seasoned with salt and pepper, is likewise a very palatable and wholesome dish.

Of Barley.

I have more than once mentioned the extraordinary nutritive powers of this grain, and the use of it in feeding the Poor cannot be too strongly recommended.--It is now beginning to be much used in this country, mixed with wheat flour, for making bread; but is not, I am persuaded, in bread, but in soups, that Barley can be employed to the greatest advantage.--It is astonishing how much water a small quantity of Barley-meal will thicken, and change to the consistency of a jelly; and, if my suspicions with regard to the part which water acts in nutrition are founded, this will enable us to account, not only for the nutritive quality of Barley, but also for the same quality in a still higher degree which sago and salope are known to possess.-- Sago and Salope thicken, and change to the consistency of a jelly, (and as I suppose, prepare for decomposition,) a greater quantity of water than Barley, and both sago and salope are known to be nutritious in a very extraordinary degree.

Barley will thicken and change to a jelly much more water than any other grain with which we are acquainted, rice even not excepted;--and I have found reason to conclude from the result of innumerable experiments, which in the course of several years have been made under my direction in the public kitchen of the House of Industry at Munich, that for making soups, Barley is by far the best grain that can be employed.

Were I called upon to give an opinion in regard to the comparative nutritiousness of Barley-meal and wheat flour, WHEN USED IN SOUPS I should not hesitate to say that I think the former at least three or four times as nutritious as the latter.

Scotch broth is known to be one of the most nourishing dishes in common use; and there is no doubt but it owes its extraordinary nutritive quality to the Scotch (or Pearl) Barley, which is always used in preparing it.--If the Barley be omitted, the broth will be found to be poor and washy, and will afford little nourishment;--but any of the other ingredients may be retrenched;-- even the meat;-- without impairing very sensibly the nutritive quality of the Food.--Its flavour and palatableness may be impaired by such retrenchments; but if the water be well thickened with the Barley, the Food will still be very nourishing.

In preparing the soup used in feeding the Poor in the House of Industry at Munich, Pearl Barley has hitherto been used; but I have found, by some experiments I have lately made in London, that Pearl Barley is by no means necessary, as common Barley-meal will answer, to all intents and purposes, just as well.--In one respect it answers better, for it does not require half so much boiling.

In comparing cheap soups for feeding the Poor, the following short and plain directions will be found to be useful:

General Directions for preparing cheap Soup.

First, Each portion of Soup should consist of one pint and a quarter, which, if the Soup be rich, will afford a good meal to a grown person.--Such a portion will in general weigh about one pound and a quarter, or twenty ounces Avoirdupois.

Secondly, The basis of each portion of Soup should consist of one ounce and a quarter of Barley-meal, boiled with ONE PINT AND A QUARTER OF WATER till the whole be reduced to the uniform consistency of a thick jelly.--All other additions to the Soup do little else than to serve to make it more palatable; or by rendering a long mastication necessary, to increase and prolong the pleasure of eating;--both these objects are however of very great importance, and too much attention cannot be paid to them; but both of them may, with proper management, be attained without much expence.

Were I asked to give a Receipt for the cheapest Food which (in my opinion) it would be possible to provide in this country, it would be the following:

Receipt for a very cheap Soup.

Take of water eight gallons, and mixing with it 5 lb. of Barley-meal, boil it to the consistency of a thick jelly.--Season it with salt, pepper, vinegar, sweet herbs, and four red herrings, pounded in a mortar.--Instead of bread, add to it 5 lb. of Indian Corn made into Samp, and stirring it together with a ladle, serve it up immediately in portions of 20 ounces.

Samp, which is here recommended, is a dish said to have been invented by the savages of North America, who have no Corn-mills. --It is Indian Corn deprived of its external coat by soaking it ten or twelve hours in a lixivium of water and wood-ashes.-- This coat, or husk, being separated from the kernel, rises to the surface of the water, while the grain, which is specifically heavier than water, remains at the bottom of the vessel; which grain, thus deprived of its hard coat of armour, is boiled, or rather simmered for a great length of time, two days for instance, in a kettle of water placed near the fire.--When sufficiently cooked, the kernels will be found to be swelled to a great size and burst open, and this Food, which is uncommonly sweet and nourishing, may be used in a great variety of ways; but the best way of using it is to mix it with milk, and with soups, and broths, as a substitute for bread. It is even better than bread for these purposes, for besides being quite as palatable as the very best bread, as it is less liable than bread to grow too soft when mixed with these liquids, without being disagreeably hard, it requires more mastication, and consequently tends more to increase and prolong the pleasure of eating.

The Soup which may be prepared with the quantities of ingredients mentioned in the foregoing Receipt will be sufficient for 64 portions, and the cost of these ingredients will be as follows:

Pence. For 5 lb. of Barley-meal, at 1 1/2 pence, the ] Barley being reckoned at the present ] very high price of it in this country, viz ]... 7 1/2 5s. 6d. per bushel ] 5 lb. of Indian Corn, at 1 1/4 pence the pound ... 6 1/4 4 red herrings ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 Vinegar... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 Salt ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 Pepper and sweet herbs ... ... ... ... ... 2 ------- Total 20 3/4 -------

This sum, (20 3/4 pence,) divided by 64, the number of portions of Soup, gives something less than ONE THIRD OF A PENNY for the cost of each portion.--But at the medium price of Barley in Great Britain, and of Indian Corn as it may be afforded here, I am persuaded that this Soup may be provided at one farthing the portion of 20 ounces.

There is another kind of Soup in great repute among the poor people, and indeed among the opulent farmers, in Germany, which would not come much higher.--This is what is called burnt Soup, or as I should rather call it, brown Soup, and it is prepared in the following manner:

Receipt for making BROWN SOUP.

Take a small piece of butter and put it over the fire in a clean frying-pan made of iron (not copper, for that metal used for this purpose would be poisonous);-- put to it a few spoonfuls of wheat or rye meal;--stir the whole about briskly with a broad wooden spoon, or rather knife, with a broad and thin edge, till the butter has disappeared, and the meal is uniformly of a deep brown colour; great care being taken, by stirring it continually, to prevent the meal from being burned to the pan.

A very small quantity of this roasted meal, (perhaps half an ounce in weight would be sufficient,) being put into a sauce-pan and boiled with a pint and a quarter of water, forms a portion of Soup, which, when seasoned with salt, pepper, and vinegar, and eaten with bread cut fine, and mixed with it at the moment when it is served up, makes a kind of Food by no means unpalatable; and which is said to be very wholesome.

As this Soup may be prepared in a very short time, an instant being sufficient for boiling it; and as the ingredients for making it are very cheap, and may be easily transported, this Food is much used in Bavaria by our wood-cutters, who go into the mountains far from any habitations to fell wood.-- Their provisions for a week, (the time they commonly remain in the mountains,) consist of a large loaf of rye bread (which, as it does not so soon grow dry and stale as wheaten bread, is always preferred to it); a linen bag containing a small quantity of roasted meal;--another small bag of salt;--and a small wooden box containing some pounded black pepper;--with a small frying-pan of hammered iron, about ten or eleven inches in diameter, which serves them both as an utensil for cooking, and as a dish for containing the victuals when cooked.--They sometimes, but not often, take with them a small bottle of vinegar;--but black-pepper is an ingredient in brown Soup which is never omitted.--Two table-spoonfuls of roasted meal is quite enough to make a good portion of Soup for one person; and the quantity of butter necessary to be used in roasting this quantity of meal is very small, and will cost very little.--One ounce of butter would be sufficient for roasting eight ounces of meal; and if half an ounce of roasted meal is sufficient for making one portion of Soup, the butter will not amount to more than 1/10 of an ounce; and, at eight pence the pound, will cost only 1/32 of a penny, or 1/8 of a farthing.--The cost of the meal for a portion of this Soup is not much more considerable. If it be rye meal, (which is said to be quite as good for roasting as the finest wheat flour,) it will not cost, in this country, even now when grain is so dear, more than 1 1/2d. per pound;-- 1/2 an ounce, therefore, the quantity required for one portion of the Soup, would cost only 6/32 of a farthing;--and the meal and butter together no more than (1/8 + 6/32) = 10/32, or something less than 1/3 of a farthing.--If to this sum we add the cost of the ingredients used to season the Soup, namely, for salt, pepper and vinegar, allowing for them as much as the amount of the cost of the butter and the meal, or 1/3 of a farthing, this will give 2/3 of a farthing for the cost of the ingredients used in preparing one portion of this Soup; but as the bread which is eaten with it is an expensive article, this Food will not, upon the whole, be cheaper than the Soup just mentioned; and it is certainly neither so nourishing nor so wholesome.

Brown Soup might, however, on certain occasions, be found to be useful. As it is so soon cooked, and as the ingredients for making it are so easily prepared, preserved, and transported from place to place; it might be useful to travellers, and to soldiers on a march. And though it can hardly be supposed to be of itself very nourishing, yet it is possible it may render the bread eaten with it not only more nutritive, but also more wholesome;-- and it certainly renders it more savoury and palatable.--It is the common breakfast of the peasants in Bavaria; and it is infinitely preferable, in all respects, to that most pernicious wash, TEA, with which the lower classes of the inhabitants of this island drench their stomachs, and ruin their constitutions.