should be fresh, green, crisp and tender, and as newly pulled as possible.
Those who have gardens should leave it growing till half-an-hour before
cooking. When it must be kept for some time, see that it is in a shady,
cool place, and an hour or two before using; remove any tough or withered
leaves, split up the stalk well into the heart, if to be used whole, and lay
in a large basin of cold water. Add a handful of salt and two
tablespoonfuls vinegar to each gallon of water. Although freshly pulled all
leafy vegetables should be soaked in this way to remove any caterpillars,
slugs, &c., for even eaters of pig and ox have a curious objection to animal
food on a small scale. To cook, have ready a good-sized saucepan with
fast-boiling water containing a little salt, and if the cabbage is at all
old or tough, a bit of washing soda the size of a hazel nut, to each quart
of water. Drain very thoroughly from the water in which soaking, and plunge
into the fast-boiling water. It is most important that the water should not
go off the boil as then the juices would be drawn out and wasted. Boil
steadily with the lid off for 10 to 20 minutes according to age, then lift
into drainer on top of the boiling water and cook till tender in the steam.
Serve on hot vegetable dish with some bits of butter on the top. It should
be perfectly tender, yet crisp and of a vivid green. If at all brown, or
dull, or flabby-looking, there is something wrong, either with the vegetable
itself or the cooking. And I am not to give directions for "doctoring"
anything that is either unwholesome or spoiled. A paragraph has been going
the round of certain papers lately, giving directions for disguising the
flavour of tainted meat, which "few cooks know how to treat so as to render
perfectly nice"! It is to be wrapped in vinegar cloths, &c.--"boil up, and
use it." I should say doctor it as you please, but then--throw it away! If
anything, no matter what, goes bad--milk, soup, vegetables--throw it out
without hesitation. It is a pity to waste things--and this ought to be
prevented by good management--but surely it is much greater waste to use
tainted food. Better miss a meal, if need be, than make a refuse bin of our