CHAPTER XXII.
COLLARING.
ONE very material thing to be generally and indispensably observed in the business of collaring any kind of meat is, that you roll it up well, and bind it as tight as possible, otherwise when it is cut it will break in pieces, and its beauty be entirely lost. Be careful that you boil it enough, but not too much, and let it be quite cold before you put it into the pickle. After it has lain all night in the pickle, take off the binding, put it into a dish, and when it is cut, the skin will look clear, and the meat have its proper solidity.
Venison.
BONE a side of venison, take away all the sinews, and cut it into square collars of what size you please. It will make two or three collars. Lard it with fat clear bacon, and cut your lard as big as the top of your finger, and three or four inches long. Season your venison with pepper, salt, cloves, and nutmeg. Roll up your collars, and tie them close with coarse tape; then put them into deep pots with seasonings at the bottoms, some fresh butter, and three or four bay-leaves. Put the rest of the seasoning and butter on the top, and over that some beef-suet, finely shred and beaten. Then cover up your pots with coarse paste, and bake them four or five hours. After that take them out of the oven, and let them stand a little, take out your venison, and let it drain well from the gravy; add more butter to the fat, and set it over a gentle fire to clarify. Then take it off, let it stand a little, and skim it well. Make your pots clean, or have pots ready fit for each collar. Put a little seasoning and some of your clarified batter at the bottom; then put in your venison, and fill up your pot with clarified butter, and be sure that your butter be an inch above the meat. When it is thoroughly cold, tie it down with double paper, and lay a tile on the top. They will keep six or eight months; and you may, when you use a pot, put it for a minute into boiling water, and it will come out whole. Let it stand till it is cold, stick it round with bay-leaves, and a sprig at the top, and serve it up.
Breast of Veal.
BONE your veal, and beat it a little. Rub it over with the yolk of an egg, and strew on it a little beaten mace, nutmeg, pepper and salt: a large handful of parsley chopped small, with a few sprigs of sweet mar-jorum, a little lemon-peel shred fine, an anchovy chopped small, and mixed with a few crumbs of bread. Roll it up very tight, bind it hard with a fillet, and wrap it in a clean cloth. Boil it two hours and a half in soft water, and when it is enough, hang it up by one end, and make a pickle for it, consisting of a pint of salt and water, with half a pint of vinegar. Before you send it to table, cut off a slice at each of the ends. Garnish with pickles and parsley.
Breast of Mutton.
PARE off the skin of a breast of mutton, and with a sharp knife nicely take out all the bones, but be careful you do not cut through the meat. Pick all the fat and meat off the bones, then grate some nutmeg all over the inside of the mutton, a very little beaten mace, a little pepper and salt, a few sweet herbs shred small, a few crumbs of bread, and the bits of fat picked off the bones. Roll it up tight, stick a skewer in to hold it together, but do it in such a manner that the collar may stand upright in the dish. Tie a packthread across it to hold it together, spit it, then roll the caul of a breast of veal all round it, and roast it. When it has been about an hour at the fire, take off the caul, dredge it with flour, baste it well with fresh butter, and let it be of a fine brown. It will require on the whole, an hour and a quarter roasting. For sauce take some gravy beef, cut and hack it well, then flour it, and fry it a little brown. Pour into your stew-pan some boiling water, stir it well together, and then fill your pan half full of water. Put in an onion, a bunch of sweet herbs, a little crust of bread toasted, two or three blades of mace, four cloves, some whole pepper, and the bones of the mutton. Cover it close, and let it stew till it is quite rich and thick. Then strain it, boil it up with some truffles and morels, a few mushrooms, a spoonful of catsup, and (if you have them) two or three bottoms of artichokes. Put just enough salt to season the gravy, take the packthread off the mutton, and set it upright in the dish. Cut the sweetbread into four pieces, and boil it of a fine brown, and have ready a few forcemeat balls fried. Lay these round your dish, and pour in the sauce. Garnish with sliced lemon.
Beef.
TAKE a piece of thin flank of beef, and bone it; cut off the skin, and salt it with two ounces of saltpetre, two ounces of sal prunella, the same quantity of bay-salt, half a pound of coarse sugar, and two pounds of common salt. Beat the hard salts very fine, and mix all together. Turn it every day, and rub it well with the brine for eight days; then take it out, wash it, and wipe it dry. Take a quarter of an ounce of cloves, a quarter of an ounce of mace, twelve corns of allspice, and a nutmeg beat very fine, with a spoonful of beaten pepper, a large quantity of chopped parsley, and some sweet herbs shred fine. Sprinkle this mixture on the beef, and roll it up very tight; put a coarse cloth round it, and tie it very tight with beggar’s tape. Boil it in a copper of water, and if it is a large collar, it will take six hours boiling, but a small one will be done in five. When it is done, take it out, and put it into a press; but if you have not that convenience, put it between two boards, with a weight on the uppermost, and let it remain in that state till it is thoroughly cold. Then take it out of the cloth, cut it into thin slices, lay them on a dish, and serve them to table. Garnish your dish with raw parsley.
Calf’s Head.
TAKE a calf’s head with the skin on, scald off the hair, take out all the bones carefully from the neck, and lay it some time in warm milk to make it look white. Boil the tongue, peel it, cut that and the palate into thin slices, and put them and the eyes into the middle of the head. Take some pepper, salt, cloves, and mace, and beat them fine; and add to them some grated nutmeg, scalded parsley, thyme, savory, and sweet marjorum, cut very small. Beat up the yolks of three or four eggs, spread them over the head, and then strew on the seasoning. Roll it up very tight, tie it round with tape, and boil it gently for three hours in as much water as will cover it. When you take it out, season the pickle with salt, pepper, and spice, and add to it a pint of white wine vinegar. When it is cold put in the collar, and cut it in handsome slices when you send it to table.
Pig.
BONE your pig, and then rub it all over with pepper and salt beaten fine, a few sage leaves, and sweet herbs chopped small. Roll it up tight, and bind it with a fillet. Fill your boiler with soft water, put in a bunch of sweet herbs, a few pepper-corns, a blade or two of mace, eight or ten cloves, a handful of salt, and a pint of vinegar. When it boils, put in your pig, and let it boil till it is tender. Then take it up, and when it is almost cold, bind it over again, put it into an earthen pot, and pour the liquor your pig was boiled in upon it. Be careful to cover it close down after you cut any for use.
WHEN you have thoroughly cleansed your eel, cut off the head, tail, and fins, and take out the bones. Lay it flat on the back, and then grate over it a small nutmeg, with two or three blades of mace beat fine, and a little pepper and salt, and strew on these a handful of parsley shred fine, with a few sage leaves chopped small. Roll it up tight in a cloth, and bind it tight. If it is of a middle size, boil it in salt and water three quarters of an hour, and hang it up all night to drain. Add to the pickle a pint of vinegar, a few pepper-corns, and a sprig of sweet marjorum; boil it ten minutes, and let it stand till the next day. Then take off the cloth, and put your eels into the pickles. When you send them to table, lay them either whole in the plate, or cut them in slices. Garnish with green parsley. Lampreys may be done in the same manner.
Mackarel.
GUT your mackarel, and slit them down the belly; cut off then: heads, take out the bones, and be careful not to cut them in holes. Then lay them flat upon their backs, season them with mace, nutmeg, pepper, and salt, and a handful of parsley shred fine; strew it over them, roll them tight, and tie them well separately in cloths. Boil them gently twenty minutes in vinegar, salt, and water, then take them out, put them into a pot, and pour the liquor on them, or the cloth will stick to the fish. Take the cloth off the fish the next day, put a little more vinegar to the pickle, and keep them for use. When you send them to table garnish with fennel and parsley, and put some of the liquor under them.
Salmon.
TAKE a side of salmon, cut off the tail, then wash the fleshy part well, and dry it with a cloth. Rub it over with the yolks of eggs, and make some forcemeat with what you cut off at the tail end. Take off the skin, and put to it some parboiled oysters, a tail or two of lobsters, the yolks of three or four eggs boiled hard, six anchovies, a handful of sweet herbs chopped small, a little salt, cloves, mace, nutmeg, pepper, and grated bread. Work all these well together, with yolks of eggs, lay it over the fleshy part, and strew on it a little pepper and salt. Then roll it up into a collar, and bind it with broad tape. Boil it in water, salt, and vinegar, but let the liquor boil before you put it in, and throw in a bunch of sweet herbs, with some sliced ginger and nutmeg. Let it boil gently near two hours, and then take it up. Put it into a pan, and when the pickle is cold, put it to your salmon, and let it lay in it till wanted. If you cover it with clarified butter, it will keep a considerable time.