Sweet and Sour Spectator

In the lumber camp days and pioneer days the cooks learned from each other and the old world cooks. Each taught the other his country’s cooking secrets.  Out of the mixing came fine food, prepared as nowhere else in the world. 

I am putting down some of these recipes that you will not find in cookbooks plus many other historical recipes. Each recipe here is a real cooking secret. I am also publishing for the first time authentic historical recipes of great importance.

For your convenience I will start with meats, fish, eggs, soups and sauces, sandwiches, vegetables, the art of French frying, desserts, how to dress game, how to properly sharpen a knife, how to make wines and beer, how to make French soap and also what to do in case of hydrogen or cobalt bomb attacks, keeping as much in alphabetical order as possible.

Oh yes, I'll bet you are wondering how to make Champagne.  Here is the secret from the entry: “Champagne of Louis Balsac”

Put your glasses in a refrigerator overnight so that they are really cold. Remove them quickly and put the following in them. The wine and brandy must be kept in your deepfreeze overnight and be as close to freezing without freezing as possible to absorb and hold the carbon dioxide that forms the bubbles and lets the bubbles escape slowly like true champagnes do, never rapidly. Take two ounces of sauterne wine which is a very dry white wine. The sauterne(*) made in California is fine. Add two ounces of ice-cold, plain sparkling water.  Add one ounce of ice-cold brandy. Do not stir and serve at once. This method produces a crisp, clean tasting champagne that is good.

Let me know how it turns out.

(*) Note: When this was written in the 1960's, "sauterne" made in California was generic dry white wine.