Heart to Hearth Cookery

Brass Kettle with French Beans and Fennel

The receipt for French Beans to Pickle specifies that a Brass Kettle be used to boil the pickle.  If cast iron were used, the iron would be leached into the pickle effecting both flavor and color.  Any leaching of metal from a brass kettle was thought to improve the color of the pickled product.  Once the product is off the fire, the pickled product should be removed immediately from the kettle and not allowed to cool in it.   The kettle needs to be cleaned well and allowed to thoroughly dry after use to prevent the formation of verdigris (a greenish, blue very poisonous pigment).  The French Beans in the kettle are ready now to boil on the fire with fennel and a piece of Allom.

Visit my website at:   www.hearttohearthcookery.com