l it is nearly done; then add the rice,
which should stew until quite tender and almost dry; cut the onions into
slices, sprinkle them with flour, and fry, without breaking them, of a
nice brown colour. Have ready the slices of bacon curled and grilled,
and the eggs boiled hard. Lay the fowl in the form of a pyramid upon a
dish, smother with the rice, garnish with the bacon, fried onions, and
the hard-boiled eggs cut into quarters, and serve very hot. Before
taking the rice out, remove the spices.

_Time_.--1/2 hour to stew the fowl without the rice; 1/2 hour with it.

_Average cost_, 4s. 3d. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

[Illustration: SULTANS.]

THE SERAI TA-OOK, OR FOWLS OF THE SULTAN.--This fowl is the size
of our English Polands, and is the latest species introduced to
England. They have a white and flowing plumage, a full-sized,
compact Poland tuft on the head, are muffed, have a full flowing
tail, short legs well feathered, and five toes upon each foot.
Their comb consists merely of two little points, and their
wattles are very small: their colour is that of a pure white. In
January, 1854, they arrived in this country from Constantinople;
and they take their name from _sarai_, the Turkish word for
sultan's palace, and _ta-ook_, the Turkish for fowl. They are
thus called the "fowls of the sultan," a name which has the
twofold advantage of being the nearest to be found to that by
which they have been known in their own country, and of
designating the country whence they come. Their habits are
described as being generally brisk and happy-tempered, but not
so easily kept in as Cochin-Chinas. They are excellent layers;
but they are non-sitters and small eaters: their eggs are large
and white. Brahmas or Cochins will clear the crop of a grass-run
long before they will, and, with scattered food, they soon
satisfy themselves and walk away.

POULET AUX CRESSONS.

964. INGREDIENTS.--A fowl, a large bunch of water-cresses, 3
tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 1/4 pint of gravy.

_Mode_.--Truss and roast a fowl by recipe No. 952, taking care that it
is nicely frothed and brown. Wash and dry the water-cresses, pick them
nicely, and arrange them in a flat layer on a dish. Sprinkle over a
little salt and the above proportion of vinegar; place over these the
fowl, and pour over it the gravy. A little gravy should be s