Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book

Putting it on to cook in cold water is “ a blunder. Soaking it is a crime.” Messrs. Cozenza, in Wigmore Street, have excellent Macaroni in all shapes and sizes, made from the finest Semolina, or wheat flour. A manufactory has lately been established by M. G6taz at Rolle, in Switzerland, in which the Macaroni is made by machinery, and never touched by the hand. The best Macaroni — that is, the kind made from Semolina— should always be bought. It may take longer to boil, but it never loses its flavour, as Macaroni made with inferior flour is sure to do. The Neapolitan Macaroni is much better than that made at Genoa. Before beginning to boil Macaroni see that the fire is good, for if you have to take the pan off and stop the boil whilst you mend the fire the Macaroni will be irretrievably spoilt. Allow a gallon of water to a pound of Macaroni, and let the water be thoroughly salted. When the water is boiling hard put in the Macaroni, and stir it frequently to prevent its caking into a mass. It is difficult to say how long Macaroni should be cooked. Neapolitans think it more digestible when it is underdone, so that it is rather crisp when bitten, or, to use their own term, when it is al dente. As a rule Macaroni will be cooked in from twenty to thirty minutes. It should be tried with a fork ; or a piece may be taken out, and if it is crisp and yet tender, and if it breaks with its own weight, the Macaroni is done. The over-cooking of Macaroni makes it into a soft, pappy mess, which no Macaroni lover could touch. The very moment that it is done a glass of cold water must be thrown in to stop the boil, and all the water instantly drained off through a colander. Everything depends on stopping the boil at the moment when the Macaroni is done. The Macaroni must be thoroughly drained ; if the pipe sort is used some water is sure to have lodged inside each tube. Put the Macaroni back into the dry, hot pan in which it has been boiled. It can now be served in various ways, but it ought to be eaten as soon as possible after it has been boiled. Never cut Macaroni with a steel knife ; before cooking it can be broken ; when cooked it must be eaten with a fork. Macaroni Cooked in Stock. — (Macaroni au jus. — Sir Henry Thompson's Recipe.) — Put four ounces of Macaroni, as little broken as possible, into three pints of boiling water. Boil it for ten minutes. Pour off all the water, and put the Macaroni into a stewpan with a pint of good stock. Add a saltspoonful of salt, and half that quantity of pepper. Let the Macaroni simmer till tender at the side of the stove. It is never to be soft or flabby. About half an hour, not more, will cook the Macaroni. Thicken the remaining stock with flour baked quite brown, and half a teaspoonful of Liebig’s Extract, and pour over the Macaroni. Sir Henry Thompson considers this form of Macaroni an jus to be the simplest and most digestible ; but it may be observed that an ounce of glaze dissolved in the thickened stock is much better than the Liebig’s Extract. The ribbon Macaroni, or Fettuce, is the best kind to use for this dish.