THE COOKERY OF VEGETABLES 



VEGETABLES, at any rate so far as private houses are 

 concerned, are rarely cooked even tolerably in this 

 country. Yet a very little knowledge and skill, and 

 merely reasonable care, are all that is required in order 

 to achieve success. The following few general instruc- 

 tions may be helpful to the novice. All vegetables should 

 be carefully cleaned, though unnecessary washing should 

 be avoided. Potatoes and earthy roots should be well 

 scrubbed and rinsed in cold water before being peeled. 

 All dead leaves, or discoloured parts, should be removed 

 from vegetables before being cooked. Cabbages and 

 other vegetables likely to contain slugs or other creatures 

 should be soaked for some time in cold water containing 

 a tablespoonful of vinegar to the quart. Vegetables 

 should not be bruised or squeezed before being cooked, 

 or their qualities will largely be lost. The sooner 

 vegetables are cooked after being removed from the 

 garden, the finer will be their flavour and texture. 

 With the exception of old potatoes and dried vegetables, 

 such as lentils, all vegetables should be placed in boiling 

 water containing a tablespoonful of salt to the gallon. 

 Green vegetables should be boiled in abundance of 

 water, with the lid of the pan off, whereas roots should 

 be boiled with the lid on. All vegetables should be 

 drained directly they are cooked. 



The recipes which follow are merely a selected few, 

 and are in no sense meant to be complete. Those 

 interested should consult also " The Book of Asparagus " 

 and "The Book of Vegetables" in the present series'; 



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