Another important point on which we ought to examine into the principles of cooking, is that of frying. There are probably few dishes that test the cook's capabilities, more important than that of frying. Contrast for one moment the discoloured dish, too often met with in private houses, in which, say, a " little bit of fish " is sent up, and presents what may be called a parti-coloured appearance. Some part is burned black as a cinder ; another part looks the colour of underdone pie-crust. Again, other parts may present the appearance of having those bald patches, as if the cook had accidentally spilled some boiling water on a cat's back. I say contrast this with the beautifully rich, golden-coloured dish that will make its appearance at the table where the master-mind of one like Francatelli has presided, or with a d-ish tliat one would meet with in a Parisian cafe — the bright silver dish contrasting temptingly with the golden-coloured food and the crisp, dark-green parsley piled in the centre. What now is the difficulty '? To keep to our subject, viz., the principles of cooking, we will briefly state that the generality of cooks find their difficulty to exist as follows : — They cannot obtain a nice colour without over-cooking their fish. The ordinary way in which cooks Avill prepare a fried sole (and we presume they will know something of their art) is, having dried the fish and floured it, they dip it in egg well beaten up, covering it over with some fine dried bread-crumbs, and having given it a gentle tap all round, somewhat resembling a young mother getting her first baby to sleep, they place the fish in the frying-pan, in which a dab of butter or dripping has been placed. One side is cooked before the other is commenced, part of the fried egg and bread-crumb peels off in turning, and the result, both in appear- ance and flavour, is most unappetising. Having now described how not to do it, let me proceed to explain how to do it. First, the colour. Order in from your baker's a small bag of nice rich, golden, brown cassell's dictionary of cookery. bread-raspings. You need not fear the expense, as yoiir baker will probably supply you with tbem for notbing. Have tbis always ready in a small flour-dredger on the kitcben mantelpiece. Having dried your fisb tborougbly, floured it, and egged and bread-crumbed it with small, fine, diy bread-crumbs, take this dredger contaioing the golden-brown bread-raspings, and before gently patting your fish, cover it over lightly with a brown film of fine raspings, and, lo and behold ! your fish, before even it reaches the frying-pan, has obtained the colour you desire. All you have now to do is to concentrate your mind on cooking the fish, so as to hit upon that happy medium between its being dried up so that it is tough and unpalatable on the one hand, and an appearance of redness and stickiness along the back-bone, which are sure and certain signs that the fish is not sufiiciently well cooked, on the other. To attempt to convey an idea with regard to the time that a fish takes to cook would be necessarily impossible. Of course this entirely depends upon the thickness of the fish. Nor would I confine my du-ections to the cooking of fish solely. A. sweet- bread is an exceedingly nice dish when properly fried and sent to table, presenting an ornamental appearance.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Another important point on which we ought to examine into the principles of cooking, is that of frying. There are probably few dishes that test the cook's capabilities, more important than that of frying. Contrast for one moment the discoloured dish, too often met with in private houses, in which, say, a " little bit of fish " is sent up, and presents what may be called a parti-coloured appearance. Some part is burned black as a cinder ; another part looks the colour of underdone pie-crust. Again, other parts may present the appearance of having those bald patches, as if the cook had accidentally spilled some boiling water on a cat's back. I say contrast this with the beautifully rich, golden-coloured dish that will make its appearance at the table where the master-mind of one like Francatelli has presided, or with a dish that one would meet with in a Parisian cafe — the bright silver dish contrasting temptingly with the golden-coloured food and the crisp, dark-green parsley piled in the centre. What now is the difficulty '? To keep to our subject, viz., the principles of cooking, we will briefly state that the generality of cooks find their difficulty to exist as follows : — They cannot obtain a nice colour without over-cooking their fish. The ordinary way in which cooks Avill prepare a fried sole (and we presume they will know something of their art) is, having dried the fish and floured it, they dip it in egg well beaten up, covering it over with some fine dried bread-crumbs, and having given it a gentle tap all round, somewhat resembling a young mother getting her first baby to sleep, they place the fish in the frying-pan, in which a dab of butter or dripping has been placed. One side is cooked before the other is commenced, part of the fried egg and bread-crumb peels off in turning, and the result, both in appearance and flavour, is most unappetising. Having now described how not to do it, let me proceed to explain how to do it. First, the colour. Order in from your baker's a small bag of nice rich, golden, brown cassell's dictionary of cookery. bread-raspings. You need not fear the expense, as yoiir baker will probably supply you with tbem for notbing. Have tbis always ready in a small flour-dredger on the kitcben mantelpiece. Having dried your fish thoroughly, floured it, and egged and bread-crumbed it with small, fine, dry bread-crumbs, take this dredger containing the golden-brown bread-raspings, and before gently patting your fish, cover it over lightly with a brown film of fine raspings, and, lo and behold ! your fish, before even it reaches the frying-pan, has obtained the colour you desire. All you have now to do is to concentrate your mind on cooking the fish, so as to hit upon that happy medium between its being dried up so that it is tough and unpalatable on the one hand, and an appearance of redness and stickiness along the back-bone, which are sure and certain signs that the fish is not sufiiciently well cooked, on the other. To attempt to convey an idea with regard to the time that a fish takes to cook would be necessarily impossible. Of course this entirely depends upon the thickness of the fish. Nor would I confine my du-ections to the cooking of fish solely. A. sweetbread is an exceedingly nice dish when properly fried and sent to table, presenting an ornamental appearance.

Cassell's dictionary of cookery