ROUND THE TABLE

The essence of epigram consists in neatness and the faculty of producing an agreeable surprise. The culinary epigram, and occasionally its literary brother also, present to us “ old friends with a new face/’’ and charm the lan- guid palate with a new and startling combination of well- known elements. And this, perhaps, is the reason why such familiar viands as lamb and mutton, dressed in small compass and in a fanciful manner, constitute what in cookery are called Epigrams. The mode of making these is by no means difficult, and is what I now propose to describe.

Braise a piece of breast of lamb or mutton in a stew- pan, with some water, onions, carrots, celery, whole pepper, salt, a few cloves, and a bouquet garni, i.e., parsley, thyme, marjoram, in proper proportions, and a bay leaf, all tied up in a little bundle. When sufficiently done to allow it, pull out all the bones, and put the breast, between two dishes, under the heaviest weight you can get, there to remain until perfectly cold. In the meantime, the liquor in which it has been braised should be strained, and freed from fat, either to be used as I shall presently state, or to be kept for other purposes. The breast, being cold and stiff, is now neatly cut up into the shape of cutlets or collops, and these are egged and bi’ead-crumbed ; after an interval of at least one hour they are again egged and bread- crumbed ; but this last time there should be a little salt and white pepper mixed with the egg.

When this second bread-crumbing has bad time to dry, you must fry your Epigrams a light brown colour, and serve them on a puree of turnips, spinach, turnip tops, &c., as you may fancy, or with tomato sauce, piquante sauce, &c., or lastly, simply with fried parsley.

I can safely assert that epigrams, if properly cooked, are not bad eating ; and to my mind they are a better use for the breast of lamb and mutton than are roasting the one with the fore quarter and making Irish stew or mutton broth with the other. The two last-named dishes I by no means wish to disparage ; but I like them made with mutton chops or cutlets ; and as for roast lamb, heterodox as I may seem, I think the brisket the worst part of the fore quarter.

The only difficulty I can see in producing successful epigrams is in the frying of them. It should be borne in mind that the meat, being cooked, only requires warming, and yet the bread crumbs round it must be browned to the desired colour. The talent consists, therefore, in having the fat or lard in which they are fried — and there should be plenty of it — at the right temperature, and in knowing the exact moment at which to take the frying basket out of the frying pan.

It would be too long to set forth at length the way to make the purees of turnips, spinach, turnip tops, &c., and I will only generally say that the vegetables should, when well boiled, be passed through a sieve, and the puree thickened by being warmed, at the time of serving, in a saucepan in which you have melted a goodly piece of butter and stirred a small quantity of flour; the proper seasoning of the puree with salt, pepper, and spices, not being omitted. To pu,ree of turnips an onion may be added when they are first boiled.

Epigrams, like games of chess, are capable of many