THE PREPARATION, ETC., OF FOOD. 85 



RECIPE No. 2. THE PREPARATION OF CUSTARD 

 FOR PHEASANT POULTS. 



The proportions are fourteen eggs (hens' eggs) to 

 a quart of new milk. New milk turns best, but milk 

 that has stood overnight will do. Break the eggs 

 into a pail and beat them up well ; a stick or a strong 

 wire whisk will do the work as well as the most 

 expensive egg beater. Then put the milk, nearly 

 boiling, into a saucepan, then the eggs, and keep the 

 whole well stirred. A bit of alum put in now and 

 then does no harm ; if you have to cook for a lot of 

 birds, and have to go away whilst the custard is 

 cooking, it is a very good plan to mix it up in a 

 common zinc pail, and stand the same in a copper of 

 boiling water, with just enough water surrounding 

 the pail to allow the latter to stand upright easily and 

 steadily in the copper. When fit, turn it out into a 

 strainer, and let the moisture exude ; do not, as some 

 people do, put it into a cloth and press it. Cook 

 sufficient custard and sufficient rice to last you for the 

 day in the morning, and mix your food four times a 

 day. If any is left from the previous day, use it for 

 your hens ; do not, under any circumstances, give it 

 to the young birds. 



A man must use his own judgment as to how much 

 food to mix at each operation for his young birds. 

 Their appetites will vary according to the weather; 



