ioo HISTORIC AND CULINARY 



as ever, or before, it comes up; which they know by 

 the rising of the sand which the shoots occasion, as they 

 are ready to appear ; and being cut so early even within 

 the ground, they are of a more delicate sweetness, which 

 they lose by degrees, and become tough after they have 

 been exposed to the open air." 



It was stated in " Notes and Queries" that seakale 

 was first sent to the London market about 1710 by the 

 Rev. John Freman, vicar of Sidbury; but that the 

 vegetable failed to take hold is obvious from Curtis's 

 statement a hundred years later, "that attempts had 

 been made at various times to introduce seakale into the 

 London markets, but ineffectually." From the time of 

 Curtis onwards, however, seakale has steadily grown 

 in popularity in England. In France it is even yet but 

 little grown, though more so than when Ude wrote in 

 his "French Cook" that "this plant is not known in 

 France." 



In America also it is not so well known as one would 

 expect, and we may examine many of the standard 

 American books on cookery without finding its name. 

 Seakale, although with an utterly dissimilar flavour, may 

 be cooked much in the same way as asparagus. Only 

 just so much of the main stump should be left as will 

 suffice to hold neat little bundles together. These 

 should be placed into boiling salted water and boiled for 

 about twenty to thirty minutes until the fork test proves 

 their tenderness. The seakale should then be served 

 on dry toast, a vegetable-dish with drainer, or a napkin, 

 as recommended for asparagus. Any of the sauces, 

 moreover, named as suitable to be served with asparagus 

 are equally suitable to be served with seakale — in either 

 case, of course, in a sauce-boat and not poured over the 

 vegetable. As is the case with asparagus, it is as a 

 plain vegetable with or without sauce, that seakale 

 really shines ; but there are many other ways in which 



