Hand-Book of Practical Cookery, for Ladies and Professional Cooks: Containing the Whole Science and Art of Preparing Human Food

or crockery vessel, with four cloves of garlic, a handful of parsley, six cloves, four stalks of thyme, four bay-leaves, half a nutmeg grated, three or four carrots, and three or four onions sliced, a little salt, and two dozen pepper-corns. Stir and mix the whole well, and it is ready for use. Pieces of mutton, beef, pork, venison, and bear-meat, may be soaked in one of the above preparations from four to six days before cooking them. A piece of tough meat will be more tender and juicy after being soaked. More or less may be made, according to the size of the piece of meat. TEA. There are many ways of making tea; we might say that every one makes it in his own way; but, after many experiments and much information, we have found the following to be the best: Warm the teapot either by pouring boiling water in it and emptying it, or by placing it on a corner of the range. Then put good tea in it (the quantity to be according to the strength and also to the quantity you want), and pour boiling water on the leaves, just enough to wet them; leave thus about one minute, then pour on all the water you want. Let it steep no longer than about six minutes, and not less than four minutes, before drawing it. If allowed to steep longer than six minutes, all the astringency of the tea is extracted, and it acts and has a bad effect on the nervous system, besides losing most of its aroma. Chemists and physiologists generally recommend black tea, as not affecting the nervous system as much as green tea. Tea being naturally very astringent, should never be served at breakfast. Taken after dinner, instead of _café noir_, it has the same effect, and brandy may be mixed with it as in coffee. Tea is excellent in damp climates and marshy countries, but it must be taken after a substantial meal. Drinking warm tea while eating causes the food to pass through the system without nourishing it, or