The encyclopaedia of practical cookery

What will occur to the observant reader is that water has a very strong position— nearly three-fourths. All the others, with the exception of a part of the insoluble albumen, may be considered digestible, and as supplying nourishment. The constitution of human flesh is so very nearly the same, that it stands to reason no other food is likely to suit as well as flesh for nourishing flesh — a very strong argument in favour of Meat-eating. But man is “ a cooking animal,” therefore it is necessary for the cook to consider the changes that Meat undergoes under the various processes. It may be hardened and therefore rendered comparatively indigestible, or it may be deprived of a part of the water, or some of the soluble ingredients may be washed out. All or any of these changes deprive Meat of a portion of its nourishing value. Blyth states that the ordinary loss in cooking Meat is from 20 to 30 per cent., but occasionally it is as much as 40 per cent. The loss in roasting is principally water, and that which escapes as gravy ; in boiling the waste is soluble material, but this is found in the water or stock that the Meat is cooked in, and can therefore be utilised. The peculiarities of various kinds of Meat, and their selection, are described under their own headings ; it will suffice for us here to take a general survey of Meat, merely mentioning special kinds for the sake of comparison. Meat — continued. Thus, of the comparative values of animals so far as their nourishment-yielding qualities are concerned, we find that : Best-quality beef yields Percentage of Meat. Percentage of Water, and 43 Second ,, ,, ., „ 46 Third „ „ 49 Milking Cows ,, „ 54 Calves ,, Sheep This yield is either fat or lean, according to the animal and condition at the time of killing. A further reduction in it takes place with the cooking, and it is well to know that the flesh of young animals loses considerably more than that of adults, and that fresh Meat loses more than salted or cured Meat, because in the salting the outside surfaces are hardened, this preventing the escape of the internal juices. Meat consists, or is made up, of a number of elongated [illustration: Fig. 1136. Muscle Cell.] cells or sacs, laced and bound together by a white fibrous tissue (see Fig. 1136), and these cells are made up of thin walls containing a soluble albumen. Every cook knows that at a temperature a little under that of boiling water ( 212deg. Fahr. ) albumen coagulates A [illustration: Fig. 1137. Muscle.] and hardens, as seen in the albumen or white of an egg. When flesh is cut through (as from A to B, Fig. 1137) a number of these cells are divided, and consequently pour out their contents, which spread over the cut surface. An experienced cook takes advantage of this to form a hard film over the cut surface, by exposing it at once to a heat not less than that of boiling water, and in this way the internal juices of the Meat are shut in and secured during the remainder of the cooking. Other changes brought about by cooking are described under the heading of the various processes, such as Boiling, Broiling, Frying, Roasting, &c. To distinguish good Meat, the following instructions are given by Dr. Letheby in his work “ On Food.”