Then as to her hair. The hair of a man cook is shorter and more easily kept, yet he always wears a cap — is it not then absurd that a woman cook should allow her unprotected hair to be steamed by all her savoury pots or to be filled with flour by all her dredgers ? She ought to wear a good-sized white cap, and for the sake of those for whom she cooks, let her dress her hair in some neat close way, so as to have no loose hairs or hairpins which might fall into the food. 58 CHIEF OPERATIONS OF COOKERY. CHAPTER XII. THE CHIEF OPERATIONS OF COOKERY. Roasting. This operation can only take place before a good open fire ; the meat must be placed close to the fire for a few minutes, and when the outside is just ' set ' then it must be withdrawn and allowed to roast slowly, care being taken to baste frequently. The surface of the joint being allowed to ' set ' causes the gravy inside to retain all its qualities, and a free current of external air during the roasting renders the taste of the meat, both the fat and lean, sweet and wholesome. The received time for roasting is at the rate of fifteen minutes to the pound for beef and mutton, and seventeen to twenty minutes to the pound for pork and veal. As a well-cooked joint of meat should be full of its own gravy, in roasting it must at first be exposed to a quick fire, and in boiling it must be plunged into boiling water. BRAISING. 59 Time Table for Roasting at an Open Fire. 10 lbs. of beef requires . 2^ hours 5 M 5> li JJ 6-lb. leg of mutton >J li J) Quarter of lamb J) I JJ Leg of lamb )) 3 4 JJ 4 lbs. of veal 5) 2 ,, 4 lbs. of pork )J 2 JJ Hare, if large J» u JJ Leveret >) J JJ Turkey JJ . li JJ Fowl, >5 J „ Goose, „ » . li JJ Duck JJ 3 4 JJ Pheasant JJ 3 4 JJ Partridge 5J 4 JJ Smaller birds i hour to 20 mil Braising. This operation requires a braising-pan, with its hollow lid to contain hot coals or hot water, and, as the braising-pan must not be too large for the piece of meat to be braised, it is desirable to have hollow lids to more than one size of stew- pan. An earthenware pot in a bai7t- niarie may be used, and the oven Nottingham jar. instead of the hot-plate is sometimes utilised. Pieces of meat which contain gristle can be 6o BAKING AND SAUTE-ING. made digestible by braising or stewing, if the pro- cess is carried out over a slow fire and for the proper length of time — that is, upwards of four hours — and if it is basted about every twenty minutes with the gravy which surrounds but does not cover the meat. To prevent the meat from burning, a round of buttered paper cut to the size of the stewpan may be placed on the top of the meat, care being taken that it should not drop into the gravy. Of course it must he lifted each time the meat is basted. Baking. The universal use of closed ranges and ovens has caused baked meat to supersede roast meat. No care or contrivance will enable the process to be satis- factory, but it is cheap and convenient.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Then as to her hair. The hair of a man cook is shorter and more easily kept, yet he always wears a cap — is it not then absurd that a woman cook should allow her unprotected hair to be steamed by all her savoury pots or to be filled with flour by all her dredgers ? She ought to wear a good-sized white cap, and for the sake of those for whom she cooks, let her dress her hair in some neat close way, so as to have no loose hairs or hairpins which might fall into the food. 58 CHIEF OPERATIONS OF COOKERY. CHAPTER XII. THE CHIEF OPERATIONS OF COOKERY. Roasting. This operation can only take place before a good open fire ; the meat must be placed close to the fire for a few minutes, and when the outside is just ' set ' then it must be withdrawn and allowed to roast slowly, care being taken to baste frequently. The surface of the joint being allowed to ' set ' causes the gravy inside to retain all its qualities, and a free current of external air during the roasting renders the taste of the meat, both the fat and lean, sweet and wholesome. The received time for roasting is at the rate of fifteen minutes to the pound for beef and mutton, and seventeen to twenty minutes to the pound for pork and veal. As a well-cooked joint of meat should be full of its own gravy, in roasting it must at first be exposed to a quick fire, and in boiling it must be plunged into boiling water. BRAISING. Time Table for Roasting at an Open Fire. 10 lbs. of beef requires . 2^ hours 5 M 5> JJ 6-lb. leg of mutton >J J) Quarter of lamb J) JJ Leg of lamb )) JJ 4 lbs. of veal 5) ,, 4 lbs. of pork )J JJ Hare, if large J» u JJ Leveret >) J JJ Turkey JJ . li JJ Fowl, >5 J „ Goose, „ » . li JJ Duck JJ JJ Pheasant JJ JJ Partridge 5J JJ Smaller birds hour to 20 mil Braising. This operation requires a braising-pan, with its hollow lid to contain hot coals or hot water, and, as the braising-pan must not be too large for the piece of meat to be braised, it is desirable to have hollow lids to more than one size of stewpan. An earthenware pot in a bain-marie may be used, and the oven Nottingham jar. instead of the hot-plate is sometimes utilised. Pieces of meat which contain gristle can be 6o BAKING AND SAUTE-ING. made digestible by braising or stewing, if the process is carried out over a slow fire and for the proper length of time — that is, upwards of four hours — and if it is basted about every twenty minutes with the gravy which surrounds but does not cover the meat. To prevent the meat from burning, a round of buttered paper cut to the size of the stewpan may be placed on the top of the meat, care being taken that it should not drop into the gravy. Of course it must he lifted each time the meat is basted. Baking. The universal use of closed ranges and ovens has caused baked meat to supersede roast meat. No care or contrivance will enable the process to be satisfactory, but it is cheap and convenient.

Cookery and housekeeping