FoodNetArchive

The encyclopaedia of practical cookery

1892

Page 92

Presented as published in 1892. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
HEADS (Fr. Tetes ; Ger. Kopfe). — These are described under various headings, such as Boar, Calf’s-head, Cod, Lamb’s-head, Ox-head, Sheep’s-head, &c., and will be found to contain some of the daintiest meats, including the tongues and brains. HEARTS (Fr. Coeurs ; Ger. Herzen). — All birds, beasts, fishes, and reptiles endowed with a system of circulating blood, are possessed of Hearts, which act as pumps for receiving and ejecting the stream. These Hearts are recognised in cookery according to their size and quality, and are duly described under their different names, such as Calf’s-heart, Ox-heart, &c. They are not much valued by cooks for culinary purposes, although a baked calf’s Heart, stuffed with veal stuffing, has been found on the table of epicures. HEAT. — -A chemist of great repute informs us that Heat, or caloric, as it is termed in scientific language, is a state or condition of bodies, the precise nature of which is not known except by its effects. The practical cook understands the effects of Heat upon certain materials and under ascertained conditions, and the cook knows how to produce, increase, or diminish Heat, but beyond that lie knows no more than the chemist. Perhaps it may be reserved for the practical man to ascertain what scientists have sought for in vain. This has happened in other instances, and may happen again, and a cook after all might be the first person to define what heat really is. Several conjectures have been made, but all seem to fail in one point or another which is destructive to the theory. It is spoken of as a “subtle fluid whose particles repel one another, and are attracted by all other substances,” but it has no weight, which is rather against the theory of its materialism, and argues in favour of its being a physical force, something similar to electricity. Be this as it may, of one thing we are certain, we know how to produce it and utilise its presence in the kitchen. There are two kinds of Heat with which the cook has to deal — the one, radiant Heat, which is felt in spite of the draught of air that rushes to the stove ; and the other, conveyed Heat, or Heat that is carried away by the uprising stream of air. These may be one and the For details respecting Culinary Processes , Utensils, Sauces, dec. , referred to, see under their special heads. 758 TEE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF PRACTICAL COOKERY. Heat — continued. same, but experience leads us to believe that they are in a measure quite different ; for radiant Heat, such as that felt from the rays of the sun, penetrates glass as easily as if it wei’e not even present, whilst j conveyed Heat can only make its presence felt provided there is some conducting material to convey it. But as we have yet to learn that radiant Heat cannot also be conducted, the question must be left to others to settle, so far as this Encyclopaedia is concerned.