white pepper and salt to taste, lemon-juice, 1 teaspoonful of flour,
cream or milk, 1 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg.
_Mode_.--Cut off the ends of the stalks, and pare neatly a pint of
mushroom-buttons; put them into a basin of water, with a little
lemon-juice, as they are done. When all are prepared, take them from the
water with the hands, to avoid the sediment, and put them into a stewpan
with the fresh butter, white pepper, salt, and the juice of 1/2 lemon;
cover the pan closely, and let the mushrooms stew gently from 20 to 25
minutes; then thicken the butter with the above proportion of flour, add
gradually sufficient cream, or cream and milk, to make the sauce of a
proper consistency, and put in the grated nutmeg. If the mushrooms are
not perfectly tender, stew them for 5 minutes longer, remove every
particle of butter which may be floating on the top, and serve.
_Time_.--1/2 hour. _Average cost_, from 9d. to 2s. per pint.
_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.
_Seasonable_.--Meadow mushrooms in September and October.
TO PROCURE MUSHROOMS.--In order to obtain mushrooms at all
seasons, several methods of propagation have been had recourse
to. It is said that, in some parts of Italy, a species of stone
is used for this purpose, which is described as being of two
different kinds; the one is found in the chalk hills near
Naples, and has a white, porous, stalactical appearance; the
other is a hardened turf from some volcanic mountains near
Florence. These stones are kept in cellars, and occasionally
moistened with water which has been used in the washing of
mushrooms, and are thus supplied with their minute seeds. In
this country, gardeners provide themselves with what is called
_spawn_, either from the old manure of cucumber-beds, or
purchase it from those whose business it is to propagate it.
When thus procured, it is usually made up for sale in quadrils,
consisting of numerous white fibrous roots, having a strong
smell of mushrooms. This is planted in rows, in a dry situation,
and carefully attended to for five or six weeks, when the bed
begins to produce, and continues to do so for several months.
STEWED MUSHROOMS IN GRAVY.