714 
Su])plemmf to the " Tropical Agriculturist." 
[April 1, 1902. 
large wooden spoon, and as soon as tender (which, 
if young, it will be in 10 minutes), it must be 
drained and squeezed very dry between two plates. 
Some people will eat it in this state ; but the 
French method is to chop it finely, or even pass it 
through a t-ieve, to mix in 1 oz. of butter, pepper 
and salt, and lo return it to the saucepan to make 
hot. It is then served in a mound in the vege- 
table dish on toast, with a fe^^ rings of hard-boiled 
egg, or croutons of fiied bread as a garnish. If 
served as a separate dish, either for supper or any 
other meal, poached eggs are the usual accompani- 
ment, and the spinach is placed on slices of 
buttered toast. In the country, where they can 
be picked by the roadside, spring nettles make a 
■very nice and wholesome dish of greens, and may 
be cooked in the same manner as spinach. 
Asparagus should be dressed as soon as possible 
after it is cut. If necessary to keep it, the stalks 
are better placed in cold water, like flowers, in a 
vase. Scrape the white parts of the stems, be- 
ginning from the head downwards, and cut off the 
very hardest part. Throw them into cold water 
as they are done, and tie them into bundles of 
about 15 or 20, according to the thickness, with 
string, cutting them all the same length. Have 
a saucepan ready with fast-boiling water, salted 
with 1 tablespoonf ul of salt to h gallon of water, 
with a lump of sugar; this latter will help to 
soften the water, and make the asparagus boil 
tender — soda, of course, must never be used for 
them. Set the bundles of asparagus upright on 
their stalks in the water, with the heads just out 
of the water, as these will cook in the steam, and 
if quite covered would be done long before the 
stalks, and possibly drop off. Boil quickly, with 
saucepan uncovered ; they will take from 15 to 18 
minutes after the water boils again. When done, 
take them up carefully, remove the string, and 
dish them upon a piece of toast which has been 
dipped in the water the asparagus was cooked in. 
The white ends should be laid outwards each way, 
the points or heads meeting in the middle. 
Special tongs are sold for helping this vegetable. 
A tureen of melted butter should accompany them 
to table, and a little may be poured over them in 
the dish. A good sauce 6/«woAe, or melted butter, 
to serve with any vegetable which requires it, is 
made as follows : Melt 1 oz. butter in a small 
saucepan, stir into it ^ oz. of flour and a pinch of 
salt, and add | pint of milk ; let it boil and 
thicken, stirring all the time ; boil a minute, then 
serve. A richer sauce blanche is to mix one table- 
spoonful of flour into a smooth batter with a gill 
of water, or rather less, then to put it in the 
saucepan with \ lb. of butter, a pinch of salt, a 
Very little grated nutmeg, and a small teaspoonful 
of white vinegar or lemon juice. When it thick- 
ens it is done. This is a French recipe, and very 
delicious. 
Artichokes are considered better for having 
been gathered a day or two, and in this respect 
are unlike any other vegetable. They should be 
well washed and soaked before cooking ; the 
stems should be removed, and the leaves trimmed 
away at the bottom. They are cooked I'ke as- 
paragus, and will take i20 or 25 minutes after the 
water boilb again ; five or six are sufflcieuti for a 
dish. Some cooks use a very little soda in the 
water, in addition to the sugar as recommended 
for asparagus. The artichokes should he placed 
in the saucepan head downward, and when tb« 
leaves draw out e".sily they are done. Dutch 
sauce or melted butter is served with them, and the 
leaves are pulled out with the firigersand dipped 
in the sauce. Dutch sauce is made by thickening 
some plain melted butter, like the first recipe 
given, only using water instead of milk, with the 
yolks ol eggs. It is merely stirred over the fire, 
and not allowed to boil, or it would curdle. 
Jerusalem artichokes are quite a different vege- 
table ; they are the root of a plant, instead of the 
flower, and are cooked like old potatoes. The 
only thing to be careful about is to keep them 
white, and this may be done by laying them in 
fresh cold water after peeling, until they are 
required to be cooked. They will take about the 
same time as potatoes, and are served with melted 
butter made with milk as in first recipe. Occasion- 
ally they are mashed like turnips, but I do not 
think they are so nice as when whole. 
Sea-kale is a delicate vegetable, in flavour very 
much like asparagus, and cooked in exactly the 
same manner; that is, it is trimmed, ' tied into 
bundles, and placed in boiling salted water, with 
some sug .r ; time to cook, 15 or 20 minutes ; serve 
with melted butter poured over it in a dish. 
Green peas, to be eaten in perfection, should 
neither be gathered nor shelled long before they 
are to be dressed. If obliged to be shelled over- 
night, the best plan to keep them fresh is to place 
the colander which contains them over a basin of 
cold water, and to completely cover them with the 
shells. AVash them by letting the tap run through 
the colander, throw them into boiling water, pre- 
pared as for asparagus, but slightly increasing the 
quantity of sugar. If the peas are old;^ teaspoon- 
ful carbonate of soda must be added to tlie water, 
but if too much be used the peas will have a 
broken appearance. A sprig or two of mint should 
be boiled with them to give a good flavour ; this is 
removed before serving. Young early peas will 
take 10 or 15 minutes to cook ; larger and later 
kinds, such as marrowfats, 20 or 25 minutes, while 
old peas must be allowed \ hour, or even longer. 
When cooked, drain from the water in a colander, 
turn into the vegetable dish, with a good piece of 
butter, a little pepper and salt. 
Carrots, parsnips, and turnips must never have 
soda in the water in which they are boiled, as it 
would turn them a very bad colour. A little fat 
may be substituted for softening the water and 
making them boil tender ; and it is for this reason 
they are so frequently cooked with meat. Young 
summer carrots should only be washed ; then 
when they are cooked their skins should be rubbed 
off with a coarse cloth ; they are usually served 
quite plain, but may be covered with melted 
butter if preferred ; they will take 25 minutes to 
boil. Old carrots, on the contrary, should be 
scraped, not peeled, and the longer they are boiled 
the better ; two hours certainly is not too long a 
time. If boiled with beef, put them in as soon as 
the meat boils again after going in the water. If 
boiled separately, salt the water, aad add a good 
