The Book of Household Management by Mrs. Beeton

tablespoonful of salt; a _very small_ piece of soda. _Mode_.--Clean the sprouts from insects, nicely wash them, and pick off any dead or discoloured leaves from the outsides; put them into a saucepan of _boiling_ water, with salt and soda in the above proportion; keep the pan uncovered, and let them boil quickly over a brisk fire until tender; drain, dish, and serve with a tureen of melted butter, or with a maître d'hôtel sauce poured over them. Another mode of serving is, when they are dished, to stir in about 1-1/2 oz. of butter and a seasoning of pepper and salt. They must, however, be sent to table very quickly, as, being so very small, this vegetable soon cools. Where the cook is very expeditious, this vegetable, when cooked, may be arranged on the dish in the form of a pineapple, and, so served, has a very pretty appearance. _Time_.--From 9 to 12 minutes after the water boils. _Average cost_, 1s. 4d. per peck. _Sufficient_.--Allow between 40 and 50 for 5 or 6 persons. _Seasonable_ from November to March. SAVOYS AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS.--When the Green Kale, or Borecole, has been advanced a step further in the path of improvement, it assumes the headed or hearting character, with blistered leaves; it is then known by the name of Savoys and Brussels Sprouts. Another of its headed forms, but with smooth glaucous leaves, is the cultivated Cabbage of our gardens (the _Borecole oleracea capitula_ of science); and all its varieties of green, red, dwarf, tall, early, late, round, conical, flat, and all the forms into which it is possible to put it. TO BOIL YOUNG GREENS OR SPROUTS.