WAYS WITH GRAPES

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 62, 6 December 1930, Page 18

WAYS WITH GRAPES

Quaint Spanish Customs Spanish housewives have quaint ways of serving grapes with everything. One or two will be included in almost every dish they offer the traveller, and very attractive these dishes are. Iced grapes are especially delectable, and when grapes are cheap it is a capital idea to serve them in this appetising Spanish fashion. Wipe the fruit as you take it from the stalk, and roll each grape in an icing prepared thus: Beat the white of an egg to a stiff froth with a pinch of salt, and then beat in half-a-pound of icing sugar. Leave the fruit to dry on clean white paper. Grapes are so valuable to health that it is a pity so few people take advantage of them. They hold rheumatism ,at bay, keep the hair a good colour, and generally tone up the system. The Spanish woman eats them freely, which is probably why she is such a fascinating person. . , Spanish wine is quite harmless, and is, in fact, a mere pick-me-up. The method of making it is so inexpensive that everyone can sample it. Take four pounds of grapes —the cheap green ones are the best for the purpose, but you must be sure they are not too ripe. For this quantity allow four pounds of Demarara sugar. Bruise the grapes and leave them in four quarts of water for four days. Remove the scum which rises from time to time, and stir the grapes frequently. At the end of four days, stir in the sugar, and continue to stir until all is well mixed. Leave for two days; then strain and bottle. Roast meat can be made more tempting if served with a salad of grapes as an appetiser./The grapes must be green and sharp. Place them on lettuce leaves, add a sprinkling of walnut kernels, salted almonds, or chopped-up cucumber, and finish with a mayonaise dressing. To make a delicious sweet,' squeeze the juice from a couple of pounds of grapes and beat it into the same quantity of cream or cold custard. Pour into glasses and decorate with blanched almonds and glace cherries. The sweet is improved if placed on ice for an hour or two before being served.