Samphire

Lay green samphire into a clean pan, and throw over it two or three handfuls of salt; then cover it with spring water. Let it lay twenty-four hours, then put into a clean saucepan, throw in a handful of salt, and cover it with good vinegar. Cover the pan close, and set it over a slow fire. Let it stand till just green and crisp, and take it off at that moment; for if it should remain till soft, it will be spoiled. Put it in the pickling pot, and cover it close. As soon as cold, tie it down with a bladder and leather, and keep it for use; or it may be preserved all the year, in a very strong brine of salt and water; throw it into vinegar just before it is used.

Bed Currants

Take white-wine vinegar, and to every quart of vinegar put in half a pound of Lisbon sugar. Then pick the worst of the currants, and put them into this liquor ; but put the best into glasses : boil the pickle with the worst of the currants, and skim it very clean. Boil it till it looks of a fine colour, and let stand till cold before it is strained ; strain it through a cloth, wringing it, to get all the colour from the currants. Let it stand to cool and settle ; then pour it clean into the glasses in a little of the pickle; and when cold, cover it close with a bladder and leather. To every half pound of sugar put a quarter of a pound of white salt.

Smelts:

When smelts are in great plenty, take a quarter of a peck of them, and wash, clean, and gut them : take half an ounce of pepper, the same quantity of nutmegs, a quarter of an ounce of mace, half an ounce of salt-petre, and a quarter of a pound of common salt. Beat all very fine, and then lay the smelts in rows in a jar. Between every layer of smelts strew the seasoning with four or five bay-leaves; then boil red wine, and pour over them a sufficient quantity to cover them. Cover them with a plate ; and when cold, stop them down close. Many people prefer them to anchovies.

Anchovies

Artificial anchovies are made in this manner: To a peck of sprats, take two pounds of common salt, a quarter of a pound of bay-salt, four of salt-petre, two ounces of prunella salt, and a small quantity of cochineal. Pound all in a mortar, put them into a stone pan, a row of sprats, then a layer of the compound, and so on alternately to the top. Press them hard down, cover them close, let them stand for six months, and they will be fit for use. Take particular care that the sprats are very fresh, and do not wash or wipe them, but take them just as they come out of the water.

Oysters, Cockles, And Muscles

Take two hundred of the newest and best oysters, and be careful to save the liquor in a pan as they are opened. Cut off the black verge, saving the rest, and put them into their own liquor; then put all the liquor and oysters into a kettle, boil them about half an hour on a gentle fire, and do them very slowly, skimming them as the scum rises; then take them off the fire, take out the oysters, and strain the liquor through a fine cloth: put in the oysters again, take out a pint of the liquor when hot, and add to it a quarter of an ounce of mace, and the same of cloves: just give it one boil, put it to the oysters, and stir up the spices well among them; then put in about a spoonful of salt, three quarters of a pint of the best white-wine vinegar, and a quarter of an ounce of whole pepper. Then let them stand till cold, and put the. oysters into a barrel. Put in as much liquor as the barrel will hold, letting them settle a while, and they will soon be fit to eat; or put them into stone jars, cover them close Avith a bladder and leather, and be sure they are quite cold before they are covered up. In the like manner do cockles and muscles, with this difference only, that there is not any thing to be picked off cockles, and as they are small, the above ingredients will be sufficient for two quarts of muscles, but take great care to pick out the crabs under the tongues of the muscles, and the little pus which grows at the root of the tongue. Cockles and muscles must be washed in several waters to clean them from the grit. Put them in a stewpan by themselves, cover them close, and when they open, pick them out of the shells, and strain the liquor.

Salmon

Clean the fish carefully, boil it gently till done, and then take it up: strain the liquor, adding bay-leaves, peppercorns, and salt; give it a boil, and when cold, add vinegar to the palate, and pour over the fish.