HINTS ON COOKING RARE VEGETABLES. 



115 



kept boiling briskly until tender. If you wish to pre- 

 serve their natural colour, put a small lump of pearlash 

 into the water, which also makes the coarser kinds of 

 Cabbage more tender in the absence of salted meat. 



Egg-Plants. — Select the fruit when at maturity. 

 Cut them into slices and parboil them in a stewpan ; 

 when softened, pour off the water, and drain them ; 

 they may be then fried in batter made with wheaten 

 flour and an egg, or in fresh butter with bread crum- 

 bled fine, which may be seasoned before it is put into 

 the pan with pepper, salt, thyme, and such other 

 herbs as may best suit the palate. Some use Marjoram, 

 Summer Savory, Parsley, Onion, Garlick, &c. 



Parsnip. — Parsnips require from, thirty to forty 

 minutes boiling, according to their size and age. Some 

 boil them in water seasoned with salt until tender ; 

 but they are better when boiled with salted pork, and 

 afterwards mashed and fried in butter. 



Peas. — To have Peas in perfection, they should be 

 gathered while young, and shelled and boiled while 

 fresh ; as they soon lose both their colour and sweet- 

 ness. Let the water, after having been seasoned with 

 salt, be skimmed, then put in the Peas with a small 

 bunch of S pear Mint, and ease the cover so as tolet 

 off the steam ; they require about fifteen minutes 

 boiling, or five minutes, more or less, according to the 

 age and care bestowed. — Taste and try in time, so as 

 to have them done to a nicety. 



Rhubarb. — The stalks of this plant are used for 

 pies and tarts. After being stripped of the skin, or 

 outer covering, and divested of its small fibres, or 

 stringyness, which it is liable to, in an advanced stage 

 of growth ; it should be cut transversely into very 

 small pieces, and then parboiled with sugar, and such 

 spices as may best suit the palate. It will keep this 

 way the same as other preserves, and may be used, 

 not only in pies and tarts^, but it makes excellent pud- 



