Melon Mangoes
A historical recipe from La cuisine creole, by Lafcadio Hearn (1885).
A historical recipe
La cuisine creole: a collection of culinary recipes from leading chefs and noted Creole housewives, who have made New Orleans famous for its cuisine, by Lafcadio Hearn (1885). Project Gutenberg eBook #75027.
From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards. Its words name: curing or salting meat. Check current food-safety guidance before following this.
Also printed in: La cuisine creole (1885).
United States
Known as an American recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.
- Curing. Old curing amounts and salts may be unsafe. Use current tested guidance.
Ingredients 1 ingredient
Cook safely
Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.
- Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
- Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.
Method
Chef Wood
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- Get the late, small, smooth, green melons, they should not be larger than a teacup;
- cut out a piece from the stem end large enough to allow you to take the seeds from the inside;
- scrape out all the soft part, and when done, cover with the piece cut out and lay them in rows in a stone or wooden vessel as you do them.
- Make a strong brine of salt and water, pour it over the melons and let them remain in it twenty-four hours.
- Prepare the following stuffing: sliced horseradish, very small cucumbers, nasturtiums, small white onions, mustard seed, whole pepper, cloves and allspice;
- scald the pickles and cull them.
- Rinse the melons in cold water, then wipe each one dry and fill it.
- Put a cucumber, one or two small onions, with sliced horseradish and mustard seed, into each melon;
- put on the piece belonging to it and sew it with a coarse needle and thread;
- lay them in a stone pot or wooden vessel, the cut side up;
- when all are in, strew over them cloves and pepper, make the vinegar (enough to cover them) boiling hot, and put it over them, then cover with a folded towel;
- let them stand one night, then drain off the vinegar, make it hot again and pour it on, covering as before.
- Repeat this scalding four or five times, until the mangoes are a fine green;
- three times is generally enough.
- Be sure the melons are green and freshly gathered.
- The proper sort are the last on the vines, green and firm.
- If you wish to keep them till the next summer, choose the most firm, put in a jar and cover with cold fresh vinegar;
- tie thick paper over them.
Plating
Cookware for this recipe
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Saucepan
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Chef's knife
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Cutting board
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Colander