THE COOKERY OF VEGETABLES 
Vegetables, at any rate so far as private houses are 
concerned, are rarely cooked even tolerably in this 
country. Yet a very little knowledge and skill, and 
merely reasonable care, are all that is required in order 
to achieve success. The following few general instruc- 
tions may be helpful to the novice. All vegetables should 
be carefully cleaned, though unnecessary washing should 
be avoided. Potatoes and earthy roots should be well 
scrubbed and rinsed in cold water before being peeled. 
All dead leaves, or discoloured parts, should be removed 
from vegetables before being cooked. Cabbages and 
other vegetables likely to contain slugs or other creatures 
should be soaked for some time in cold water containing 
a tablespoonful of vinegar to the quart. Vegetables 
should not be bruised or squeezed before being cooked, 
or their qualities will largely be lost. The sooner 
vegetables are cooked after being removed from the 
garden, the finer will be their flavour and texture. 
With the exception of old potatoes and dried vegetables, 
such as lentils, all vegetables should be placed in boiling 
water containing a tablespoonful of salt to the gallon. 
Green vegetables should be boiled in abundance of 
water, with the lid of the pan off, whereas roots should 
be boiled with the lid on. All vegetables should be 
drained directly they are cooked. 
The recipes which follow are merely a selected few, 
and are in no sense meant to be complete. Those 
interested should consult also ‘‘ The Book of Asparagus ” 
and “The Book of Vegetables” in the present series^; 
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