A guide to modern cookery

5. Court-bouillon for ordinary and spiny lobsters should — always be at full boiling pitch when these are immersed. The ~ case is the same for small or medium fish ‘‘ au bleu.’’ 6. Fish which is to be served cold, also shell-fish, should ~ cool in the court-bouillon itself; the cooking period is consequently curtailed. MARINADES AND BRINES. Marinades play but a small part in English cookery, venison t or other ground-game being generally preferred fresh. How- — ever, in the event of its being necessary to resort to these — methods of preparation, I shall give two formule for venison and two for mutton. The use of the marinade for venison is very much debated. Certainly it is often desirable that the fibre of those meats that come from old specimens of the deer and boar species be | softened, but there is no doubt that what the meat gains in — tenderness it loses in flavour. On the whole, therefore, it would — be best to use only those joints which come from young beasts. _ In the case of the latter, the marinade may well be dispensed — with. It would add nothing to the savour of a haunch of ~ venison, such as may be got in England, while it would be © equally ineffectual in the case of the roebuck or hare. A sum- — mary treatment of these two, with raw marinade, may well — be adopted, as also for deer. am COURT-BOUILLONS AND MARINADES 67 As for cooked marinade, its real and only use lies in the fact that during stormy summer weather it enables one to pre. serve meat which would otherwise have to be wasted. It may, moreover, be used for braised venison, but this treatment of game is very uncommon nowadays. 168—COOKED MARINADE FOR VENISON Quantities Required for Five Quarts. 4 Ib. of minced carrots. 1 faggot, including 1 oz. of pars- $ Ib. of minced onions. ley stalks, 2 sprigs of rose- 2 oz. of minced shallots. mary, as much thyme, and 1 crushed garlic clove. 2 bay leaves. Preparation.—Heat one-half pint of oil in a stewpan, add the carrots and onions, and fry them while stirring frequently. When they begin to brown add the shallots, the garlic, and the faggot, then one pint of vinegar, two bottles of white wine, and three quarts of water. Cook this marinade for twenty minutes, and add a further two oz. of salt, one-half oz. of peppercorns, and four oz. of brown sugar. Ten minutes afterwards pass it through a strainer and let it cool before inserting the meats. N.B.—In summer the marinade very often decomposes, because of the blood contained by the meat under treatment in it. The only means of averting this is to boil the marinade every two or three days at least. 169—RAW MARINADE FOR BUTCHER’S MEAT OR VENISON This marinade is prepared immediately before using. The meat to be treated is first salted and peppered on all sides, then it is put in a receptacle just large enough to hold it, and laid therein on a litter of aromatics, including minced carrots and onions, a few chopped shallots, parsley stalks, thyme, and bay in proportion to the rest. Now sprinkle the meat copiously with oil and half as much vinegar; cover the dish with oil-paper, and put it somewhere in the cool. Remember to turn the meat over three or four times a day, covering it each time with a layer of vegetables. This marinade is very active, and is admirably suited to all butcher’s meat and venison, provided these be not allowed to remain in it for too long a time. It is very difficult to say how long the meat must stay in these marinades ; the time varies according to the size and quality of the joints, and the taste of the consumer, &c. All that can be said is that three hours should be sufficient to marinade a cutlet or escalope of roebuck, F 2 and that for big joints such as saddle or leg the time should not exceed four days. 170—MARINADE FOR MUTTON, ROEBUCK-STYLE