Although composed for English and American kitchens, observe the use of ice advocated in this receipt. Instead of the butter I would try the clarified beef suet, that is to say, if I were unable to procure butter of undeniable quality, firm, cold, and quite free from water.

The next description of pastry that demands our attention is that which should be used for savoury pies, to wit:- pie-Crust. In this, I think, Ramasamy needs careful instruction. He makes no difference between his savoury pie "suet-crust," and that which he sends up under the name of a vol-au-vent. His chief aim being a pie-covering, raised an inch and a half or two inches high, composed of the harsh, talc-like layers to which I have already alluded. I need hardly point out that this is an entirely erroneous impression. Think of the cold pigeonpie at home, and you will remember no puff pastry : your mind's eye will rather picture a close crust about half, or three-quarters of an inch thick, glazed externally, with egg,and with the feet of the birds peeping invitingly from the centre : a firm plain paste that you cut out in a whole piece without its breaking into fragments; pale brown and crusty externally, and soft and white internally, with bits of jelly adhering to it. Well, that is the kind of crust that I am so anxious to impart to Ramasamy, for which the following recipe is, I think, reliable:-

Put one pound of well-dried and sifted flour on the slab, or in an enamelled basin; make a hollow in the centre, and work into it a quarter of a pound of cold clarified suet cut into pieces, adding a tea-spoonful of salt. When mixed, sprinkle over it as much iced water as will bind it thoroughly : dredge some flour over the slab, and roll the paste out half an inch thick. Cut up another quarter of a pound of clarified suet, and dot it over the surface of the paste, fold the paste over it, and roll it out again very thin; fold it in three, set it in the ice-box for ten minutes, give it three more turns, and then roll it out half an inch thick when it may be cut to cover the pie.

A French savoury pie-crust is made in this way :- Empty a pound of flour into a bowl, and rub lightly into it half a pound of clarified suet; add a tea-spoonful of salt, and complete the dough by adding to it by degrees a quarter of a pint of water in which two eggs have been beaten. Roll the paste out, give it two or three turns, and finish it as in the foregoing receipt.

A plainer crust can be made by reducing the suet, and a richer and more volatile one by adding a couple of ounces or so of iced butter.

Raised pie-crust, or number three, is perhaps less understood by Ramasamy than the other kinds that 1 have mentioned. It is a thing that people rarely attempt in this country under an impression, I fancy, that it is too difficult for the Indian chef. Yet, as a matter-of-fact, nothing can be more simple. Pies of this kind are inexpensive, and whether for breakfast, the luncheon table, or the pic-nic basket, cannot be too highly commended. To be certain of success it is advisable to procure a raised pie-tin, which should have movable sides secured by a pin at either end so that the pie may be easily released when baked. A locally made tin of the following size will, in the absence of a proper utensil, be found useful:- Oval in shape, six inches and a half long and five inches across (top measurement), five and a half inches long, and four inches across (bottom measurement): a movable bottom to fit the latter : depth of tin three and a half inches. The bazar tin-man will turn you out one of these tins in a few hours for a trifling sum. Made in a mould of this shape, the pie is, of course, larger at the top than at the bottom, with sloping sides. Having procured a tin, you should make the following short "pork-pie crust" to fit it:-

Put half a pint of water into a sauce-pan, and let it boil; when boiling, stir into it a quarter of a pound of clarified suet, and one ounce of fresh butter with a tea-spoonful of salt. Stir till the fat has melted, and then pour the contents of the sauce-pan, boiling hot, into a bowl containing a pound and a half of well-dried flour. Work the mixture to a stiff paste adding a little water, if necessary, and turn it out upon a cold pastry slab; roll it out three-quarters of an inch thick, as evenly and level as possible, and let it get quite cold. Now, butter the tin, and cut an oval piece of paste a little larger than the bottom of it so that the edges may turn up, and be more readily fixed to the wall, or side-paste; next cut out a strip three and a half inches wide, and sufficiently long to go round the inside of the wall of the tin; fix the bottom of the wall to the oval piece at the bottom with white of egg, pinching them closely together; then fill the pie with whatever meat you have prepared, covering it over with an oval cap, cut like the bottom piece, cementing it with white of egg, and pinching it tightly to the top of the wall: brush the pie over with white of egg and bake it in a slow oven. Little pies require a slightly faster oven than large ones, but all raised pies should be slowly baked.

This receipt for raised pie-crust is a Leicestershire one, and will be found similar to that used for pork-pies in that county.

Pate brisee crust, as used by French cooks for raised savoury pies, is composed by working the suet and butter into the dry flour before any Liquid is added. Eight ounces of iced butter, or clarified beef suet, should be allowed for a pound of flour, a tea-spoonful of salt, and sufficient water to mix a very stiff dough.