les is an excellent one: we
recommend those who have any regard for their stomach, yet still wish to
indulge their tongue, instead of eating pickles, which are really
merely vehicles for taking a certain portion of vinegar and spice, &c.
to use the flavoured vinegars; such as burnet (No. 399), horseradish
(No. 399*), tarragon (No. 396), mint (No. 397), cress (Nos. 397*, 401,
403, 405*, 453, 457), &c.; by combinations of these, a relish may easily
be composed, exactly in harmony with the palate of the eater.

The pickle made to preserve cucumbers, &c. is generally so strongly
impregnated with garlic, mustard, and spice, &c. that the original
flavour of the vegetables is quite overpowered; and if the eater shuts
his eyes, his lingual nerves will be puzzled to inform him whether he is
munching an onion or a cucumber, &c., and nothing can be more absurd,
than to pickle plums, peaches, apricots, currants, grapes, &c.

The strongest vinegar must be used for pickling: it must not be boiled
or the strength of the vinegar and spices will be evaporated. By
parboiling the pickles in brine, they will be ready in much less time
than they are when done in the usual manner, of soaking them in cold
salt and water for six or eight days. When taken out of the hot brine,
let them get cold and quite dry before you put them into the pickle.

To assist the preservation of pickles, a portion of salt is added; and
for the same purpose, and to give flavour, long pepper, black pepper,
allspice, ginger, cloves, mace, garlic, eschalots, mustard, horseradish,
and capsicum.

The following is the best method of preparing the pickle, as cheap as
any, and requires less care than any other way.

Bruise in a mortar four ounces of the above spices; put them into a
stone jar with a quart of the strongest vinegar, stop the jar closely
with a bung, cover that with a bladder soaked with pickle, set it on a
trivet by the side of the fire for three days, well shaking it up at
least three times in the day; the pickle should be at least three inches
above the pickles. The jar being well closed, and the infusion being
made with a mild heat, there is no loss by evaporation.

To enable the articles pickled more easily and speedily to imbibe the
flavour of the pickle they are immersed in, previously to pouring it on
them, run a larding-pin through them in several places.

The spices, &c. commonly used, are those mentioned in the receipt for
pickling walnuts; w