We know that cookery acts upon food by diminishing the firmness
of some articles, and by increasing it in others. We further know
that the flavour is altered as well as the smell and appearance, whilst
seasoning and flavouring heightens the savouriness of food, the action
of which is increased by the addition of aromatic, pungent and
stimulant ingredients. The so-called highly seasoned dishes must be
regulated on a sliding scale as regards the seasoning employed, so as
to adapt them to the various palates, which, as before stated, differ
considerably. It is quite impossible to specify in any recipe the
exact quantity of seasoning materials for each dish. Not only
palates but also stomachs differ as to the amount of salt and spices
which suit them. For this reason, if for no other, it is always best
to use all seasonings moderately, The scope of seasoning is a very
large field for a cook to operate on. By seasoning and flavouring
either solid substances or liquids are mingled with articles of food
whereby we either modify or increase their savoury flavour and thus
change their qualities.
The object of seasoning, provided always it be effected in moderate
and reasonable quantities, is to increase the digestibility of food, to
favour food which would otherwise be insipid, and to render it at the
same time more palatable and digestible.
By seasoning certain food materials, we copy to a certain extent
nature, who renders fruit wholesome and agreeable to the taste- by
SEASONING AND FLAVOURING
103
associating insipidness with acids, by combining certain forms of
starch with sugar, as well as by the characteristic instinctive longing
with which nature animates both man and animal for salt and for
the flavour and piquancy of aromatic herbs and spices.
While a fine and discriminating taste is natural to a few only, it
may be cultivated in some degree by all. It is the fortune of the
cook who possesses it ; if not, he or she may, through plenty of
experience, acquire a very fair semblance of it.
The most important articles used for seasoning and flavouring are
salt, sugar, pepper, spices, aromatic herbs, vinegar, vegetables,
mustard, butter and other fats, oil, &c. The principal functions which
these adjuncts have to perform is, as explained in the foregoing pages,
to render food more palatable, more appetising, and more digestible.
Salt is the chief and most important seasoning used ; it is not
merely a seasoning, but a necessary of life, for it removes the insipid
flavour from all eatables, such as meat, vegetables, &c. ; it acts as an
appetiser, and promotes digestion. The average quantity of salt
required by each person being, according to medical authority, from
£ to ^ an ounce per day, it becomes a necessary adjunct for the
preservation of health. When added to food it excites the supply of
two important agents in the processes of digestion and nutrition,
viz. the gastric juice and the constituents of the bile. Salt, like all
seasonings, must be used with judgment, for if used in excess it is apt
to spoil the dishes, and often renders them uneatable.
When added to boiling water, it raises the boiling point and
liberates the oxygen. Salt acts further as a great preserving agent
for meat, vegetables, and other substances.
Page 64
Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
We know that cookery acts upon food by diminishing the firmness of some articles, and by increasing it in others. We further know that the flavour is altered as well as the smell and appearance, whilst seasoning and flavouring heightens the savouriness of food, the action of which is increased by the addition of aromatic, pungent and stimulant ingredients. The so-called highly seasoned dishes must be regulated on a sliding scale as regards the seasoning employed, so as to adapt them to the various palates, which, as before stated, differ considerably. It is quite impossible to specify in any recipe the exact quantity of seasoning materials for each dish. Not only palates but also stomachs differ as to the amount of salt and spices which suit them. For this reason, if for no other, it is always best to use all seasonings moderately, The scope of seasoning is a very large field for a cook to operate on. By seasoning and flavouring either solid substances or liquids are mingled with articles of food whereby we either modify or increase their savoury flavour and thus change their qualities.
The object of seasoning, provided always it be effected in moderate and reasonable quantities, is to increase the digestibility of food, to favour food which would otherwise be insipid, and to render it at the same time more palatable and digestible.
By seasoning certain food materials, we copy to a certain extent nature, who renders fruit wholesome and agreeable to the taste- by
associating insipidness with acids, by combining certain forms of starch with sugar, as well as by the characteristic instinctive longing with which nature animates both man and animal for salt and for the flavour and piquancy of aromatic herbs and spices.
While a fine and discriminating taste is natural to a few only, it may be cultivated in some degree by all. It is the fortune of the cook who possesses it ; if not, he or she may, through plenty of experience, acquire a very fair semblance of it.
The most important articles used for seasoning and flavouring are salt, sugar, pepper, spices, aromatic herbs, vinegar, vegetables, mustard, butter and other fats, oil, &c. The principal functions which these adjuncts have to perform is, as explained in the foregoing pages, to render food more palatable, more appetising, and more digestible.
Salt is the chief and most important seasoning used ; it is not merely a seasoning, but a necessary of life, for it removes the insipid flavour from all eatables, such as meat, vegetables, &c. ; it acts as an appetiser, and promotes digestion. The average quantity of salt required by each person being, according to medical authority, from £ to ^ an ounce per day, it becomes a necessary adjunct for the preservation of health. When added to food it excites the supply of two important agents in the processes of digestion and nutrition, viz. the gastric juice and the constituents of the bile. Salt, like all seasonings, must be used with judgment, for if used in excess it is apt to spoil the dishes, and often renders them uneatable.
When added to boiling water, it raises the boiling point and liberates the oxygen. Salt acts further as a great preserving agent for meat, vegetables, and other substances.