Household Recipes from South Australia 1867

HOUSEHOLD RECIPES.

HOW TO TEST EGGS. — There is no difficulty in testing eggs; they are mostly examined by a candle. Another way to tell good eggs is to put them in a pail of water, and if they are good they will lie on their sides always; if bad they will stand on their small ends, the large ends always uppermost, unless they have been shaken considerably, when they will stand either end up. Therefore, a bad egg can be told by the way it rests in water — always end up, never on its side. Any egg that lies flat is good to eat, and can be depended upon. An ordinary mode is to take them into a room moderately dark, and hold them between the eye and a candle or lamp. If the egg be good — that is, if the albumen is still unaffected — the light will shine through with a reddish glow; while, if affected, it will be opaque or dark. — Simmond's Curiosities of Food. 

ANTIDOTE FOR POISON. — Sweet oil, according to the American Artizan, is an antidote for poison. It says that "a poison of any conceivable description and degree of potency, which has been swallowed, intentionally or by accident, may be rendered instantly harmless by swallowing two gills of sweet oil. An individual with a very strong constitution should take twice the quantity. This oil will neutralise every form of vegetable or mineral poison with which physicians and chemists are acquainted."

MINERAL ORANGEADE. — The following recipe for making this wholesome and cooling drink has been forwarded to us for publication: — Dilute sulphuric acid, six drachms; tincture of orange peel, ten drachms; simple syrup, four ounces; boiled in filtered water sufficient to make up a gallon. Directions for use — An ordinary wineglassful — or two fluid ounces may be drunk twice, thrice, or four times a day, either alone or mixed with an equal quantity of boiled or filtered water. P.S.—The ingredients for a gallon of orangeade might be. kept mixed (with the addition of 7 ozs. of water) in 16 oz. (pint) bottles.

EXCELLENT SALAD DRESSING. — Take 2 oz. salad oil, 4 ½ oz. vinegar, ½ oz, mustard, the yolk of two boiled eggs, half a salt-spoonful of cayenne pepper and two salt-spoonfuls of salt. Rub the eggs, salt, and cayenne pepper in a mortar until very smooth, then add a teaspoonful of vinegar at a time till the whole be well incorporated; afterwards pour it into a basin, then put the mustard into a mortar, with a tablespoonful only at first of the oil, gradually adding the remainder, and working it well all the time, and when quite smooth add a little at a time the vinegar, egg, &c., &c., from the basin, still continuing to rub them well together till the whole forms a creamy state. It will keep good for seven years, but the exact method of mixing it is indispensable.

GINGERBEER. — Peel two lemons, squeeze and strain the juice, put the peel and juice into a large earthern pan with 1 ½ oz. of bruised ginger, 1 oz. of cream of tartar, and 2 ½ lb. of loaf sugar. Pour over these three gallons of boiling water,' let it stand until just warm, then add two large table-spoonfuls of thick and perfectly fresh brewer's yeast. Stir the contents of the pan well, and let them remain near the fire all night, covering the pan over with a cloth. The next day skim off the yeast and pour the liquor carefully into another vessel, leaving the sediment, then bottle immediately. Tie the corks down, and in three days the ginger beer will be fit for use. For some tastes the above proportion of sugar may be found rather too large, in which case it may be diminished, but the beer will not keep so long good. Average cost of this quantity 2s., and it will fill four dozen bottles. 

Another. — Take 18 gallons water, 24lb. sugar, 24 lemons, 18 eggs (the whites), 2 lb. ginger, 1 oz. isinglass, 3 tablespoonfuls of yeast. Boil the water and sugar, add the white of eggs; when coming to the boil add the ginger; boil for half an hour, then add the lemon peel and juice; boil for ten minutes, strain into a tub, add the isinglass; when nearly cold add the yeast; when done fermenting close it up. Let it stand for a fortnight, then bottle.

Another: — Put 4 lbs. of loaf sugar in a crock, also six lemons (sliced), 5 ozs. cream of tartar, 4 ozs. ground ginger, 24 cloves in a small bag; pour on the above four gallons boiling water; cover up close. When nearly cold whisk in the whites of three eggs, then add three tablespoonfuls of good yeast on a slice of toast; ferment 24 hours, then strain and skim, and bottle it off. Lay the bottles on their sides for 24 hours.

RUM PUNCH. — One bottle of rum, one of white wine, a pint of brandy, the juice of three lemons and three Seville oranges, 1 ¼ lbs. of lump sugar; rub the rinds of the lemon and oranges with some of the sugar; one quart of new milk add to these ingredients, not quite boiling. Let it stand 24 hours covered close; strain through a jelly bag, and bottle close. It will keep many years. 

Another: — Rub ¼ lb. of white lump sugar over one large lemon until it has absorbed the yellow part of the skin, then put the sugar into your bowl, add the juice of the same lemon, and mix well together. Pour over them one pint of boiling water, stirring them well together, and your punch is ready to serve. Great care should be taken that the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, as on the mixing in a great measure depends your success.

HOW TO DETECT ADULTERATION OF COFFEE. — There are various ways in which this may be done, but one exceedingly simple plan is open to general adoption. Take a glass tube eight or ten inches long, and an inch or so in diameter; or, if this cannot be obtained, take one of the old-fashioned deep and narrow champagne glasses. Boil some water (to expel the air) and cork up the boiled water in a bottle. Now have ready a small teaspoonful of the ground coffee, and, having filled the tube or glass with the boiled water (it must be cold), put the coffee gently on the top of the water. Be very careful not to shake the glass, nor let the water be agitated. If the coffee is pure, and especially if fresh-roasted, it will be hours, or perhaps days, before it sinks to the bottom; but if it contains chicory, or roasted pulse, they will sink to the bottom at once, giving a brown colour to the water, whereas the coffee in passing through would only communicate a delicate amber tint. With a deep tube, properly graduated, experiments might be made with coffee in combination with various admixtures, one sinking before the other; and if the tube were furnished with a stoppage at the bottom, the sediments might be removed one by one for microscopic examination. But the simple test for coffee is as first stated; it sinks much more slowly than chicory or roasted grain, and in sinking does not stain the water so deeply as those adulterations.

Source:  Household Recipes (1867, December 23). The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA : 1867 - 1922), p. 3 (LATE EDITION.)