re used, it is better to add them
ground, at the time of eating what is to be seasoned, or put in the last
thing before serving up the dish. These are also better ground at home,
both to have them fresh, and free from adulteration. Almonds used in
puddings are liable to the same objection. The danger of using laurel
leaves in cooking, cannot be too frequently repeated. Bay leaves, bitter
almonds, and fruit kernels, if not equally dangerous, are pernicious
enough to make it very advisable not to use them. Fresh fruits often
become more unwholesome from being cooked in puddings and tarts, yet
will in many cases agree then with stomachs that cannot take them raw;
but unripe fruits are not good, either dressed or in any other
state.--To prepare puddings in the best manner, they should boil briskly
over a clear fire, with the pot lid partly if not entirely off, as the
access of fresh air makes every thing dress sweeter. As butter is
generally an expensive article, dripping, nicely prepared, may on many
occasions be used as a substitute. It will answer the purpose of rubbing
basins with, quite as well as butter, and never gives any unpleasant
flavour to the pudding. It is also very proper to dredge a basin with
flour, after it is rubbed with butter or dripping. Economy in eggs is
both rational and useful, as puddings with a moderate number of eggs are
more wholesome, than when used extravagantly or with profusion. Pudding
cloths, and every utensil in making puddings, should be quite clean, or
the food cannot be wholesome. The outside of a boiled pudding often
tastes disagreeably, which arises from the cloth not being nicely
washed, and kept in a dry place. It should be dipt in boiling water,
squeezed dry, and floured, when to be used. A bread pudding should be
loosely tied, and a batter pudding tight over. The water should boil
quick when the pudding is put in, and it should be moved about for a
minute, lest the ingredients should not mix. Batter pudding should be
strained through a coarse sieve, when all is mixed: in others, the eggs
should be strained separately. Pans and basins in which puddings are to
be boiled, should always be buttered, or rubbed with clean dripping. A
pan of cold water should be prepared, and the pudding dipped in as soon
as it comes out of the pot, to prevent its adhering to the cloth. Good
puddings may be made without eggs; but they must have as little milk as
is sufficient to mix the batter, and must