The Art of Living in Australia: Together with Three Hundred Australian Cookery Recipes and Accessory Kitchen Information by Mrs. H. WickenMuskett, Philip E.
Science
The Art of Living in Australia: Together with Three Hundred Australian Cookery Recipes and Accessory Kitchen Information by Mrs. H. Wicken
Muskett, Philip E.
Australia -- Social life and customs; Cooking, Australian; Health; Hygiene
Now, although these different forms of salad plants are not cultivated
to any considerable extent, yet when we come to inquire into the salad
herbs, we find that they are not grown at all, and indeed they are
practically unknown. They constitute, however, the crowning grace of a
proper salad, and confer upon it a delicacy which is unrivalled, and
thus it is that any traveller will tell you that a salad in France
tastes so infinitely better than one elsewhere. Now, these salad herbs
are readily grown, and do not require any care in their
cultivation, so that there is no opportunity for excuse on that score.
In order, however, to prevent this paper becoming too diffuse, I must
confine my remarks to those salad herbs which it is almost impossible
to do without--that is, if we wish to have any salads worth speaking
of. It will be convenient, for this purpose, to refer to the word
"ravigote"; and by this term is meant a collection of four herbs,
namely--burnet, chervil, chives, and tarragon. As has been already
mentioned, each of these herbs, chopped up very finely, is usually
placed in a little heap by itself on the one plate, and from these four
heaps is selected whatever is required for the salad. This invariably
forms the garniture of any lettuce salad, whether cabbage or cos, and
also of the Batavian endive, though, as we have already seen, the curly
endive is best suited with the chapon--i.e., the crust of bread rubbed
over with a garlic clove. The very derivation of the word "ravigote,"
from the French verb RAVIGOTER, to cheer or strengthen, shows that
certain exhilarating virtues are ascribed to these herbs.
Burnet.--This is also known as salad burnet, and is a hardy herb,
which will continue green during the greater part of the year. The
young and tender leaves possess a smell and taste almost identical with
cucumber, and greatly enhance the flavour of the salad. These leaves,
when blanched, are sprinkled over the latter; but in addition burnet
enters into the composition of ravigote butter, and helps to form green
mayonnaise. It hardly requires any culture whatever, and will do well
in the coastal districts and in all the cooler localities. With all
these advantages, therefore, we can only marvel why it is denied us.
Chervil.--Of the two varieties which are cultivated elsewhere than in
Australia--namely, the common chervil and the curled variety--the
latter is generally considered the better. It grows about twenty inches
high, and has deeply divided leaves, which are aromatic, and
which are thus absolutely a necessary component of any well-ordered
salad. The plant will grow everywhere, and, as it is never seen, it is
only one instance out of the many which might be adduced, that much is
neglected in Australian cultivation which would be of advantage to the
whole community.
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