The humble trinity: potato, bean, and onion as the bedrock of labor and class economy

“ With the exception of potatoes and asparagus, plainly dressed vegetables are rarely served. The numerous vegetable preparations are known under the name of Genüse, and many of them are altogether unknown to us. The German cuisine includes many original methods of dressing potatoes. French beans are usually boiled, sautéed, and served with a rich brown gravy. Both white and red cabbage are shredded finely, tossed in butter or lard until partially cooked, and afterwards stewed very gently in a small amount of rich stock. ”

“ Pour in the milk and stir until it boils; slice the tomatoes and put them in and simmer very gently for half an hour. Season with salt, dish carefully and serve either in a border of rice, or with rice moulds on a separate dish.
CURRIED VEGETABLES Take any vegetables in season, such as potatoes, peas, carrots, beans, and cauliflowers, very young vegetables are the best, and if there are any cold ones in the larder they will do as well as fresh. ”

“ Cut up two onions and fry them till they are brown; you need not use butter, clarified fat will do very well. Clean your leeks, washing them well; cut them in pieces and fry them also; add any other vegetables that you have, two medium-sized potatoes, pepper, salt, and a little water. Let all simmer for three hours, and pass it through a fine sieve. Let there be more leeks than other vegetables, so that their flavor predominates. ”

“ Make small hot-beds for raising cucumbers and melon plants. Plant some early potatoes on a warm sheltered situation, covering them, in frosty evenings, with litter or pease straw. About the middle sow brocoli, cabbages, savoys, asparagus, and onions; also cauliflowers, leeks, carrots, turnips &c. and pease and beans every fortnight, for a succession. Plant out cabbages and savoys, artichokes, and asparagus. Sow all kinds of hardy annual flower seed in the open ground, and the tender kind in a moderate hot-bed, in pots. ”

“ This month requires the greatest executions of any in the year with the gardening the ground being ready to receive whatever is planted or sown. Sow pease and beans and sallads, every ten or fourteen days. Plant potatoes, and transplant cauliflowers, lettuces, &c. Sow parsley, celery, endives, purslane, and pot and sweet herbs. Have pease and beans, and sow more to keep up a succession; stick tall growing pease when four or five inches high, and top beans when come to their full height. Thin out onions, carrots, turnips, spinage, &c. ”

“ German housewives exercise as much care in preserving vegetables for winter use as in preparing them for the table. French beans and scarlet runners are closely packed in jars: potatoes, turnips, and other root plants are carefully packed in sand in a cool cellar, and if not allowed to touch each other may be kept for months. ”

“ Above all, pick up after yourself. It is often more work to pick up after people than to do the work.
THINGS TO DO BEFOREHAND Wash potatoes and keep in stone crock in cool place. Have beans, peas and lentils looked over. Have English currants washed and dried, in jars. Have seeded raisins stemmed. Have peanuts and almonds blanched. Have herbs and flavorings ground and bottled. Have citron cut, wrapped in waxed paper, in covered jar. Have flour browned in three shades. Have dry bread ground. Have tomatoes strained. Have lemon juice extracted, standing in a cool place. ”

“ From this proposition it follows that the institution of a leisure class acts to make the lower classes conservative by withdrawing from them as much as it may of the means of sustenance, and so reducing their consumption, and consequently their available energy, to such a point as to make them incapable of the effort required for the learning and adoption of new habits of thought. ”

“ They do not realize that the working classes are the original producers of the physical comforts they enjoy. I refer particularly to those who dig the soil, work our minerals, shape our timber—manufacture our fabrics and conduct our commerce—the bone and sinew of our country who have raised it to a scale of grandeur unparalleled in point of greatness in so short a time. By the force of labor our lands, wilderness, minerals, rivers, lakes—all have been made the means of rapidly advancing the prosperity of our expanding nation. ”

“ Is it not known to the whole world that the wages both of agricultural and manufacturing labor are reduced to the very lowest point necessary to sustain human existence? Look at Ireland,—the fairest land I have ever seen. Her laboring population is confined to the potatoe. Rarely, indeed, do they enjoy either the wheat or the beef which their country produces in such plentiful abundance. It is chiefly sent abroad for foreign consumption.
The people of England are now struggling to make their institutions more free ”

“ The position of the lower class of Irish in England is evidently not to be envied, but what is it in Ireland?
In the paper annexed, on "The Potato Truck System of Ireland," will be found the ground-work of the misery of the peasantry. The whole recompense for their labour is the potato. If it fail, they starve. In summer's heat and winter's cold the potato is their only food; water their only drink. They hunger from labour and exertion—the potato satisfies their craving appetite. ”

“ It has been proved that above 4,000,000 of the peasantry of Ireland live upon the potato, which they receive as payment for their labour—about, or nearly one half of the population of the country, and from whom should, and now does spring its almost entire wealth. Their hands, with God's permission and will, produce the means to feed themselves; to feed the remaining half of the population, and to give to England many millions' worth yearly; which supports the aristocracy of Ireland, and pays the taxes to the nation. Humanity and justice, then, are not the only claims upon us ”

“ When the vegetables can be got fresh from the garden nothing is more delicious than these soups, and in winter, canned peas and dried beans make excellent substitutes. In making potato purée two onions boiled with the potatoes improve the flavor. Potato soup without onion is tasteless; a little celery boiled in with the potatoes and onion, makes it still nicer. Tomato soup is also better slightly flavored with onion and a little carrot. A little cold boiled rice, simmered for a half-hour in the soup after the milk has been added, is an excellent addition. ”

“ Heat one tablespoon of drippings in a stew-pan, in which you have cut up part of an onion and some parsley; cover this and stew about ten minutes. In the meantime, drain the beans, put into the stew-pan and stew until tender; add one tablespoon of flour and season with salt and pepper (meat gravy or soup stock will improve them) . You may pare about half a dozen potatoes, cut into dice shape, and add to the beans. If you prefer, you may add cream or milk instead of soup stock and use butter.
POTATOES Potatoes are valuable articles of food and care should be taken in cooking them. ”

“ Put a skewer through the under part of each wing; draw up the legs closely and run a skewer into the middle of each, passing it quite through the body. Put another skewer into the small part of the leg, bring it close down to the side-bone, run it through, and proceed the same way with the other side. Cut off the vent, make a hole in the skin large enough to draw the rump through, so as to keep in the seasoning. Make a dressing of mealy potatoes, finely mashed, two boiled onions chopped very fine, one and a half teaspoonfuls of powdered sage, one of salt, and one of black pepper. ”

“ Peel the onions and cut into thin slices, and when a generous tablespoon of butter has slowly melted in a frying pan, put the onions in and let them simmer over as low a fire as will keep them cooking; stir them frequently and serve when transparent and turning a golden brown.
Fried onions can be served alone or as a garnish to heaped up mashed potatoes. They are saved from their extreme commonplaceness by being arranged in a gratin dish, not over an inch high, dusted with a sprinkling of crumbs or grated cheese, and given three or four minutes in the oven. ”

“ Butter a large casserole, arrange over the bottom a layer of sliced potato, then a layer of cabbage, then one of onions, seasoning each with pepper and salt, and sprinkling with chopped hard-boiled egg, and so fill the dish. Pour 2 cups of milk, into which 1 tablespoon of flour has been made smooth, over the chowder, set the dish in a shallow pan of water, and bake slowly for one hour. If the milk cooks away add a little more during the cooking. The same dish can be made in a kettle, in which case halve the potatoes and cook for three quarters of an hour. ”

“ Take some slices of streaky bacon, about five inches long, and heat them in a pan. When the bacon is half-cooked, take it out of the pan and in the fat that remains behind fry some very finely-sliced onions till they are brown. When the onions are well browned, put them in a large pot, large enough for all the potatoes you wish to cook, adding pepper, salt, and a coffee-spoonful of sweet herbs dried and mixed, which in England replace the thyme and bay-leaves used in Belgium. Add sufficient water to cook the potatoes and your slices of bacon. ”

“ Etena Zarvatte (Ragout) .—The Arab cook (for the cooking in Turkey is always done by Arab women) takes 1 lb. meat, either beef or mutton, and cuts it into small pieces. She then fries it just sufficiently to brown it in a little butter or dripping, adding salt, pepper, and a tumblerful of water. She then cuts up 1 lb. French beans, and puts the whole into a stewpan to simmer slowly, adding water as it is required, and serves it when the whole is of a good consistency and there is a good gravy. Any kind of vegetables, carrots or potatoes, will do instead of beans. ”

“ In dry and warm weather take care to water the seed-beds and plants lately moved; secure the seed-beds and pease from birds; destroy insects; and thin out the crops in the seed-beds, if too thick.
At all times keep your garden clean from weeds especially your crops of carrots and onions. Cut only a small part of the potatoes with eyes for planting the remaining part may be saved for use, Two eyes in each set are enough. ”

“ Nat could not help laughing, for Tommy had pushed back his hat, put his hands in his pockets, and drawled out his words in unconscious imitation of Silas, the man who managed the place for Mr. Bhaer.
“Come, you needn't laugh; beans are ever so much easier than corn or potatoes. I tried melons last year, but the bugs were a bother, and the old things wouldn't get ripe before the frost, so I didn't have but one good water and two little 'mush mellions,'” said Tommy, relapsing into a “Silasism” with the last word. ”

“ It is not simply beets and potatoes and corn and string-beans that one raises in his well-hoed garden: it is the average of human life. There is life in the ground; it goes into the seeds; and it also, when it is stirred up, goes into the man who stirs it. The hot sun on his back as he bends to his shovel and hoe, or contemplatively rakes the warm and fragrant loam, is better than much medicine. The buds are coming out on the bushes round about; the blossoms of the fruit trees begin to show ”

“ It is obvious that the suffering which has been felt, arises from the social system being in so great a degree based upon the potato culture. The dependence of the great bulk of the destitute population on a plant which, though more productive of mere sustenance than any other, yet [Pg 634] stands lowest in the scale of all our articles of food, is demonstrated by the distress that has been occasioned by the failure of that crop, and is indeed implied in all the exertions that have been made to give relief. ”

“ When we find a population, therefore, living chiefly on potatoes, and reduced to absolute destitution, unable to purchase other food, when the [Pg 638] potato crop fails,—we have at once disclosed to us the undeniable fact, that that population is redundant. It is greater than can be maintained in that district, otherwise than on the poorest diet by which life can be supported, and greater than the labour usually done in that district demands. ”

“ Two different rates of wages, and two different conditions of the labouring classes, cannot permanently co-exist. One of two results appears to be inevitable; the Irish population must be raised towards the standard of the English, or the English depressed towards that of the Irish. The question, whether an extensive plan of emigration shall or shall not be adopted, appears to your Committee to resolve itself into the simple point, whether the wheat-fed population of Great Britain shall or shall not be supplanted by the potato-fed population of Ireland? ”

“ You, who have lived almost the whole of your life in northern climates, can scarcely form any idea, what a very different kind of sustenance is required in a southern one. In Ireland, however, how many robust bodies are solely nourished on milk and potatoes: now chesnuts and grapes, and turnips and onions in France, are what potatoes are in Ireland. The breakfast of our labourers usually consists of bread and fruit, his dinner of bread and an onion, his supper of bread, milk, and chesnuts. ”

“ A man in London has not, for the most part, the opportunity to make these experiments. You are a family man, let us presume, and you live in that metropolis for half a century. You have on Sunday, say, a leg of mutton and potatoes for dinner. On Monday you have cold mutton and potatoes. On Tuesday, hashed mutton and potatoes; the hashed mutton being flavored with little damp triangular pieces of toast, which always surround that charming dish. Well, on Wednesday, the mutton ended, you have beef: the beef undergoes the same alterations of cookery and disappears. ”

“ The enormous increase in trade and the consequent large addition to the salaries of the employees of all classes led to a desire for more expensive kinds of meat, small joints of finer quality beef, mutton and pork in lieu of the very general salt pork which used to do duty in the homes of a large portion of clerks, artisans and mechanics. ”

“ The Professor's wife not only taught Mary the making of superior pastry and the cooking of German dishes, but what was of still greater importance, taught her the value of different foods; that cereals of every description, flour and potatoes, are starchy foods; that cream, butter, oil, etc., are fat foods; that all fruits and vegetables contain mineral matter; and that lean meat, eggs, beans, peas and milk are muscle-forming foods. These are things every young housekeeper should have a knowledge of to be able to plan nourishing, wholesome, well-balanced meals for her family. ”

“ Within the last ten years they have become known in this country. Lentils, with the addition of a very little fat in the form of fat meat, suet drippings or butter, are quite as nutritious as meat; that is, they sustain strength, and enable people to work just as well as meat. So, you see, that so far as actual nourishment is concerned, [22] vegetables approach closely to meat. Next to lentils come peas and beans, dried peas and beans. ”

“ It is important, for those who first commence a vegetarian diet, to remember that vegetables like peas, haricot beans, and lentils are far superior to potatoes so far as nourishment is concerned, for many are apt to jump to the conclusion that potatoes are the very best substitute for bread and milk. So, too, is oatmeal. A Scotchman requires a far less quantity of oatmeal to sustain life than an Irishman does potatoes ”

“ The potato is an article of diet throughout the whole of this country, particularly useful to the working classes, and its importance to them seems to be fully illustrated by the pretty frequent occurrence of scurvy in many places, where it had been unknown for more than a century, since the beginning of the winter 1846-7,—that is, since the use of the potato has been necessarily nearly abandoned. ”

“ We ought, however, to be cautious, and not upon any account to allow a child pastry, confectionery, cheese, heavy dishes made of boiled or baked flour, onions, horseradish, mustard, smoked and salted meat, especially pork, and all compound dishes; for the most simple food is the most wholesome.
2030. Potatoes
Potatoes should be allowed only in moderation, and not to be eaten with butter, but rather with other vegetables, either mashed up or in broth.
2031. Time-Table
The Time of Taking Food is not a matter of indifference ”

“ They eat us when they’re off by themselves as if they were a little ashamed of eating us.
“I have often heard folks say,” continued the onion, “‘Oh, I am ashamed to admit it, but I do like fried onions.’ Then another will say, ‘Just imagine, little Freddy likes to eat raw onions when they are small.’ Oh, things like that cut us so,” said the onion. “We like [237] to be eaten. All vegetables do, but we would like to be appreciated.”
“If you weren’t appreciated and liked,” said the lettuce politely, “you wouldn’t be planted and grown. ”

“ But there are vegetables and vegetables. No one who has gone in for the most elementary food reform will tolerate the sodden, soap-like potatoes, or the flabby, insipid, brown papery-looking stuff, called by courtesy cabbage, which so often does duty as companion to beef, mutton, or pork. ”