In the Woman's Kitchen

Preparing a bright and delicious table — Tamam Dawud

Quantity of materials needed to make the pieces of cake served with tea:
550 grams of fine sifted flour, 330 grams of butter, 330 grams of powdered sugar, one whole egg, five egg yolks, a spoonful of orange-blossom water.

Method: Knead the dough as usual by mixing it with the materials mentioned. Work it twice by hand; shape the dough into a large ball, cover it with a white cloth, and keep it in a cool place.

Details of the method: Roll the dough out to a thickness of one centimeter and cut it with small special cutters. Place the pieces on a tray, brushed with egg yolk, and decorate them with halves of broken soaked almonds, halves of cherries candied in sugar, angelica, and orange peel candied in sugar. Bake them in a hot oven, and when you take them out of the oven wipe their tops with dissolved gum arabic so that they take on a glossy color.

First method: It is finished by putting the mixture into the oven.
Quantity: 550 grams of fine sifted flour, two spoonfuls of butter, a pinch of fine salt, a pinch of fine sugar, a deciliter and a half of beer, a little lukewarm water. Take out all the materials mentioned and mix them with a spoon—do not beat them hard—and set the mixture in a fairly warm place to rise; and at the right moment, that is, when you want to use it, cut it.

Second method: 275 grams of fine sifted flour, five and a half grams of fine salt, two and a half spoonfuls of melted butter, a deciliter and a half of beer, a deciliter of lukewarm water, one tablespoon of cognac, the whites of two eggs, well beaten.

Combine in an earthenware bowl the flour, the salt, and the butter, and knead them with the beer and the water—do not overwork the dough—then add the cognac. And when you want to use this batter, add to it the beaten egg whites.

Cream in the English Style

Quantity of materials needed: 550 grams of sugar, 17 eggs, a liter and ten deciliters of boiled milk, flavoring as desired—such as vanilla, orange peel or grated lemon, added to the milk and boiled with it, or half a deciliter of spirits added to the cream when it has cooled.

Method: Beat the sugar and the egg yolks in a casserole until the mixture turns viscous, and add the milk to it little by little. Set the casserole on the fire until the egg yolks cook—you can tell by their clinging to the wooden spoon. And beware of boiling, lest the cream spoil. When you reach this point, put the cream into a vessel and set it in a bain-marie if you wish to serve it hot, so that the egg yolks do not boil. If you wish to serve it cold, use an earthenware vessel; in that case it must be stirred and exposed to the air by lifting it with the spoon so that it cools.

Note: You may add a spoonful of arrowroot to the sugar and egg yolks, dissolved in two teaspoons of cold milk. The advantage of this method is that it binds these materials together and keeps them from separating if the boiling grows too strong.

There are many ways of preparing potatoes that melt in the mouth, and we shall mention only two of them:

1 — Choose large, smooth potatoes and pare them down until each remains the size of an egg; place them one beside the other in a sauteuse (a kind of pot) until they cover its bottom. Cover half their height with hot, lightly salted water and add to it 125 grams of butter for each dozen potato heads. Cover the sauteuse and set it in an oven. After the boiling water has evaporated, the butter remains and the potatoes brown. Press the potato heads with the point of a fork—provided you do not mash them—and add to them a little fresh butter, and leave them in a covered vessel for a few moments near the oven door, that is, the time needed for them to soak up the butter.

2 — Choose potatoes that melt when boiled; peel them and boil them in salted water, and do not leave them until they are fully done. Put them in a vessel for a few moments in the oven so that the water in them evaporates. Press them lightly with a fork and do not mash them. Add to them a little melted butter and sprinkle a little salt over them. Arrange them in a dish greased with butter and put it into the oven for the potatoes to brown, then draw it out and serve them in it.

The rice must be washed well and picked over, then soaked in lukewarm water for an hour before cooking. Put 50 grams of butter in a pot and fry in it a spoonful of chopped onion until it turns golden. Add to what is in the pot two teaspoons of curry and 250 grams of rice. Turn the rice with a wooden spoon for a few seconds until it grows hot. Cover the rice with half a liter of boiling meat broth—or, when necessary, with the same quantity of fish broth. Cover the pot and leave it on the fire 18 minutes. Take the pot off the fire, mix the rice in it with a little butter, and serve it.

Prepare the rice as mentioned above, and make it as you made the rice with curry, provided you substitute light paprika for the curry. Cover the rice with ordinary meat broth or with fish broth, as required.

This dish is served with many kinds of foods, such as: eggs, fish, mutton, veal, and chicken.