A guide to modern cookery

laterally sliced, the result of which operation is a series of thin, regular discs. _Ciseled_ or chopped shallots should, when possible, only be prepared when required; if, however, they must be treated in advance, they should be kept somewhere in the cool until wanted. 181—SPICES Strictly speaking, spices include cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, mace; and the many varieties of peppers and pimenta, cayenne, paprika, &c. These various condiments are found ready-made on the market, and they need only be kept dry in air-tight boxes in order to prevent the escape of their aroma. But there is another kind of preparation, in cookery, to which the name of spice or all-spice is more especially given. Nowadays several market varieties of this preparation exist, and vie with each other for custom, though in most cases they deserve it equally well. Formerly this was not so, and every chef had his own formula. The following is a recipe for the spice in question, which would be found useful if it had to be prepared at a moment’s notice:— _Obtain the following, very dry._ 5 oz. of bay leaves. 3 oz. of thyme (half of it wild, if possible). 3 oz. of coriander. 4 oz. of cinnamon. 6 oz. of nutmeg. 4 oz. of cloves. 3 oz. of ginger-root. 3 oz. of mace. 10 oz. of mixed pepper (half black and half white). 1 oz. of cayenne. Put all these ingredients into a mortar and pound them until they are all able to pass through a very fine sieve. Put the resulting powder into an air-tight box, which must be kept dry. Before being used, this spice is generally mixed with salt (No. 188). 182—FLOUR For whatever use the flour is intended, it is always best to sift it. This is more particularly necessary in the case of flour used for coating objects to be fried; for the latter, being first dipped into milk, must of necessity let a few drops of that liquid fall into the flour they are rolled in. Lumps would therefore form, which might adhere to the objects to be fried