These are fruits and vegetables preserved in vinegar, after first steeping them in brine. Certain articles require to be pickled in scalding hot vinegar, others with cold; salt, pepper and spices are added to suit the taste. Pickles were formerly extensively colored green with copper, but the ghastly practice has gone out of date. Intelligent people will prefer those which have the more natural and wholesome yellowish, olive green tint. There are all sorts of pickles in market, put up in glass or wood packages of various sizes, as follows:
CUCUMBERS and GHERKINS, CHOW CHOW, CAULIFLOWER, ONIONS, MANGOES, PICALILLI, WALNUTS, PEPPERS, HORSERADISH, MIXED PICKLES, and SWEET PICKLES. Among the best of imported pickles are the reliable Cross and Blackwell goods; some domestic brands are perhaps equally good. OLIVES are in brine, usually in wide-mouthed glass jars. They come from Italy, Spain, and France. The “Queen,” “Crescent,” etc., are favorite brands. There are also French CAPERS, so important as an accompaniment for boiled mutton, etc.
SALAD OIL.—The best is the oil of the OLIVE, which, when pure, is of pale, greenish yellow tint, with an agreeable odor and taste. Refined COTTONSEED OIL has naturally a more reddish tint. It is extensively sold as olive oil or mixed with it, although many grocers keep the genuine olive oil. SALAD DRESSINGS are also in market, some of which are very fine and delicate.
These articles give zest to food and stimulate digestion. Their composition is very varied and embraces many fruits and vegetables, as the tomato, walnut, garlic, shallot; many herbs, as tarragon, chervill, mint, thyme, marjoram; many condiments, as cayenne, black pepper, mustard, and all the spices; many fish, as lobsters, oysters, clams, shrimp, anchovies; the juices of meat, besides salt, sugar, molasses, etc.
PEPPER SAUCE is made from the little Jamaica peppers, the Mexican, Chili pepper, or some other variety of red or green pepper. There are numerous brands, and nearly all are good. The TABASCO PEPPER SAUCE is excellent. TOMATO CATSUP OR KETCHUP is a very wholesome and agreeable addition to the diet. Among the best and most popular varieties is the “SHREWSBURY” TOMATO KETCHUP. Mushroom and Walnut Catsups are less used, but still have many friends.