14- 



1. For Ijaking in tlie skin, clean the dry dasheens, by pulling off the 

 loose fibre or by nibbing it off with a brut>h or cloth. Small tubers, 

 especially if very dry, should be soaked in water for a few minutes 

 before placing in the oven. Gorms and large tubers sliould be parboiled; 

 place in nearly boiling water, and boil from "! to 20 minutes (corms 

 freshly dug split open if boiled longer than 10 minutes). As parboiling 

 reduces the time required for baking, there need be no waste through the 

 forming of a hard crust. When done, serve immediately. Season with 

 salt and plenty of butter ; add pepper if desired. Gravy may be used 

 in place of butter. 



Baked corms may be served in the "half-shell"; place a piece of 

 hutter in a hole made in the centre of the cut surface. Small half corms 

 may be served as individual portions. 



2. In scraping dasheens, as previously stated, they should be handled 

 in water containing sodium carbonate (washing soda) — one teaspoonful 

 to the quart. They may be cooked in one of three ways : (1) roasted 

 with meat ; (2) rubbed with fat and baked ; (3) immersed in nearly 

 boiling water long enough to heat through, and baked. With the last 

 two methods a particularly delicious soft crust is formed, provided the 

 dasheens have not been baked either too quickly or too long. Serve 

 immediately. 



Boiled Dasheens. — Either large dasheens (corms) or small ones 

 (tubers) may be used for boiling. They should be boiled in the skins, 

 and may be served thus or with the skins removed. Dasheens need not 

 be cooked quite so long as potatoes of the same size. Tliey are, in fact, 

 made less palatable by prolonged boiling : it is well to test -with a fork 

 or knitting needle. 



The small tubers are especially good if, immediately after being 

 boiled and peeled, they are placed in the oven just long enough to melt 

 a dressing of butter over them. When so prepared, if kept in a warm 

 place, they are less likely to become soggy from standing. Instead of 

 placing them in the oven the tubers may be fried slightly, either whole 

 or in halves. 



It is usually better during the autumn and early winter to parboil the 

 large dasheens (corms) for only 10 minutes, and then bake, as the 

 corms split open and become water-soaked if cooked entirely by boiling 

 at any time within a month after they are dug. 



RiCBD Dasheens. — ]5oil (or parboil and bake) the dasheens in their 

 skins. Eemove the skin immediately, rice the dasheen into a heated 

 dish ; and proceed in one of the following ways : 



(1.) Stir in the desired seasoning, as butter and salt, and serve in a 

 warm covered dish. The butter may be omitted if gravy is to be used. 

 (Milk or cream may be beaten in if desired, as for mashed potato ; but 

 Dasheens prepared in this way will be rather sticky. Mashing in the 

 ordinary way is not recommended.) 



(2.) Empty the riced dasheen in layers into a warmed serving dish ; 

 season each layer. Do not stir. 



(3.) Season the riced dasheen as desired and put into a baking dish, 

 with a liberal quantity|of butter on top. Bake for 8 or 10 minutes 

 and serve. 



