Of Food. 475 



and as great quantities of it are annually imported and 

 sold here at a most exorbitant price.* But maccaroni 

 is by no means the cheapest food that can be provided 

 for feeding the poor in this island ; nor do I believe 

 it is so in any country. Polenta, or Indian corn, of 

 which so much .has already been said ; and potatoes, 

 of which too much cannot be said, are both much 

 better adapted, in all respects, for that purpose. Mac- 

 caroni would, however, I am persuaded, could it be 

 prepared in this country, be much less expensive than 

 many kinds of food now commonly used by our poor, 

 and consequently might be of considerable use to 

 them. 



With regard to potatoes, they are now so generally 

 known, and their usefulness is so universally acknowl- 

 edged, that it would be a waste of time to attempt to 

 recommend them. I shall therefore content myself 

 with merely giving receipts for a few cheap dishes in 

 which they are employed as a principal ingredient. 



Though there is no article used as food of which 

 a greater variety of well-tasted and wholesome dishes 

 may be prepared than of potatoes, yet it seems to be 

 the unanimous opinion of those who are most ac- 

 quainted with these useful vegetables that the best 

 way of cooking them is to boil them simply, and with 

 their skins on, in water. But the manner of boiling 

 them is by no means a matter of indifference. This 



* If maccaroni could be made in this country as cheap as it is made in 

 Naples that is to say, so as to be afforded for threepence sterling the pound 

 avoirdupois, for the best sort (and I do not see why it should not), as half a 

 pound of dry maccaroni weighs when boiled very nearly two pounds, each 

 pound of boiled maccaroni would cost only three farthings, and the cheese 

 necessary for giving it a relish one farthing more, making together one 

 penny, which is certainly a very moderate price for such good and whole- 

 some food. 



