1936-12-09 — Page 34

CHINA MAIL CHRISTMAS SUPPLEMENT

The Plum Pudding Has Its

THE plum pudding, imposing

TH

and indispensable item in the traditional Christmas feast,

or

was made for good or ill weeks uxo.

Whether it was mixed and stirred by the various members - of the family according to old machine-mixed in custom some well-equipped modern fac- tory matters little. The Ekeli- hood is that it will be of hand- some appearance, fruity, and of good flavour, for the Christmas pudding is an ancient dish, and its making should have reached perfection by now.

Of mare immediate concern is

TOR a Christmas dinner to be

FOR

perfect. it must be as well planned as prepared.

Side dishes-good old English for hors d'oeuvres-can be pre- pared of egg and tomato mayon- naise, stewed mushrooms, sar- dine butter, and so on.

They look and taste well, and occupy the guests while all the the is done that dishing up noble turkey requires.

See that the old sinews are drawn from the turkey's legs be- fore the claws are cut. Make: two an incision between the bones of the leg below the knee, cutting downwards, not across.

You will see the sinews like shing white strings, and can carefully twist them out with a skewer.

Stuff with forcemeat,

THE

of

HE turkey is above all others the bird of Christ

mas. with the goose a good sec

ond, hut until the discovery of America in 1492 the turkey was quite unknown in the eastern hemisphere.

It did not come from Turkey. but is a native of the American Continent. As a wild bird it is now almost extinct there, but it was domésticated by the Aztecs arrived in long before Cortez Mexico, and was the most com- mor kind of poultry there.

When the turkey was intro- duced into England it was sup- posed to have come from the Mohammedan East,, which was then loosely called Turkey, and so the bird was given that name. The same idea prevailed in France; but there it was called the poule d'Inde, or bird of In- dia, now contracted into dinde.

its service to-morrow. How shall it come to table and with what sauce in attendance?

Again tradition steps in and dictates the ritual of service. When the reheating of the pud- ding has been done-steaming it should be said is preferable to boiling and sufficient time must be allowed to ensure that the rich mass is really heated" through a sprig of holly well berried should be placed in the centre after the pudding is turn- ed out of its mould.

would

In older days there have been 3 sprig of arbutus with red berry and a piece of variegated holly on either side, and these decorations would have been regarded. by those at the feast as a necessary pre- caution against witches.

The pudding should arrive at table enveloped in blue flame. but in order that the full specta- cular effect of the fire should be seen by everyone for as long as of Christmas possible many

the hostesses prefer to have Christmas pudding sprinkled, with brandy or with rum-the latter is cheaper and equally effective and to set the spirit, which should have been heated of slightly to take any sense chill away, alight when actual- ly on the table.

3 Next consideration, and

is. the important. one. most

Here there are two -sauce.

schools to reckom

divergent with.

There are those who prefer a hot custard or white sauce of flavoured liquid consistency,

with fruit, spice. wine or spirit,

Special

and those who like one of the hard sauces or butters, intense- ly cold.

Perhaps the best thing is to offer a choice, and so please everyone. The liquid sauce is certainly the most suitable where there are children. Allow two egys to a pint of sweeten- ed and flavoured milk. Beat the eggs slightly and stir with milk electric was

stove, range, until mixture thickens. It must not be allowed to boil. A tablespoonful of brandy may -be added before serving the hot sauce if wished.

over

OF

New Forest Recipe

are. of sauges The hard

colder course, served cold, the the better. The following. New Forest Sauce is taken from the collection of notable recipes made by Lady Clark of Tilly- pronie.

One quarter-pound of fresh butter, and squeezed in a cloth.

lb of castor sugar, to be bea- ten up together with a wooden spoon till quite white and light: of hot beat them over a pan

sauce will taste. water or the

very

raw. Add one tablespoonful of brandy and two of sherry and a little nutmeg. The wine and brandy should be added by degrees: beat all till thoroughly mixed.

This is served very cold in.a sauce-boat.

making Another method of -hard sauce is to work two ounces of butter and two ounces of castor sugar together, the sugar being added by degrees. Add a small glass of brandy or rum gradually. This is important,

The Perfect Xmas Dinner

chestnut for choice. Cook the bird a quarter of an hour 10 the pound and a quarter of an

hour over.

Cover the breast with bacon, but ten minutes before serving remore this and sprinkle instead some finely sifted flour.

Do you know that the best bread sauce has ten. ingredients

bread, milk, onion, salt. pep- per, flour, butter, a clove" and blade of mace-and a drop of the cream? Needless to say. onion and spices are removed before it appears at table.

Creamed potatoes should be mashed, sieved, seasoned and whisked till they are of the most

state a weigh

In its domesticated turkey will sometimes from 40lb to 50lb. It is an omni- verous feeder, but will not thrive if closely confined; it

delicious consistency.

Add the tiniest pinch of gin- ger when cooking your celery. It does not actually taste far- our a marked manner.

Put a drop of orange juice in the dressing for your white. and use watercress, rather than dark, vinegar. Your pudding will have been made weeks ago, but it will need another three hours" good boil- ing.

That it may come into the room blazing remember not to spare the brandy and to heat it well first Brandy butter is" best made with icing sugar- an ounce of this to two

All About

the Turkey

of

other poultry, has a long piece of flesh with a few feathers at the end hanging from the place where the beak joins the head.

goose is sup- posed to be descended from the grey-lag goose, which was once

needs plenty of space to move The domestic

about. The turkey, unlike any

Rites

for if the spirit is put in too quickly the appearance of the "butter" is spoilt.

A modern way of service is to make the hard sauce into frozen blocks, and place these in in- dividual dishes.

Yet another variation is to melt butter and add the yolk of an egg (14 ounce of butter to each yolk). When this is mixed thoroughly a tablespoonful of fine sugar is added, and, final- ly. the spirit.

In all these sauces the ingre- dients must be put in very gra- dually.

hutter, and brandy to taste. Some people light their mince pies, too, though one illumina- tion is enough for me, but do sprinkle them well with castor sugar. Something in its gritti- ness goes well with the softness of the mince-meat.

Lastly, your very own home- made water biscuits that go so well with crisp celery and a ripe Stilton.

This recipe makes quite sixty biscuits, so they'll do for Box- ing Day as well!

Rub 2ozs. butter with 14lb. flour, and salt to taste. Take suf- Scient cream to mix this into a stiffish dough. Knead and beat with a wooden spoon. Roll thin- ly, prick several times, place on a hot tin, and bake in a very hot

oven.

a resident wild bird and nested in East Anglia. Now, however, it is only a winter visitor to Eng land, though a few nest in the North of Scotland.

The goose was domesticated at a very early period. It was kept in a tame state on the banks' of the Nile at least 4,000 years ago. Probably the first domesti rated geese were young birds taken from their wild parents" nests and reared' in captivity. The plentiful supply of food would curb the desire for grea ter liberty, and at last the birds became reconciled to living in captivity.

Before the common lands were enclosed geese were kept in England in much larger num- bers than they are now. Like 2 great turkeys, they require deal of space, and must be able to wander about if they are to keep healthy.