Fruit when fresh should be ripe and sound, as perfect as
possible (because this will make less waste), and bought
only in quantities which admit of speedy use, unless it is
winter-fruit which can be kept without any danger of spoil-
ing. Preserved and dried fruits keep well in cool, dark
places, and so may be bought .sa/elv in quantities.
MARKETING. 39
BAIRY PRODUCTS AND GROCERIES.
Milk, butter, cheese, and eggs are so perishable that it is
not well to purchase them in quantities larger than required
for a few days' use, unless the family is large and can con-
sume such amounts as are sold at wholesale prices. The
detail of keeping them has been given elsewhere.
The com and wheat products, and cereals in general,
may be bought by the large quantity if there is a good dry
storeroom where they can be secured from destructive
vermin and mouldiness.
CHAPTER III.
METHODS OF COOKING.
WHATEVER the manner chosen for the dressing of
food, it can be traced to some one of the compara-
tively few fundamental methods of cookery. These methods
will be given in this chapter in sufficient detail to enable the
least-experienced cook to follow them readily. If the fact
is once accepted, that in cookery similar results follow defi-
nite operations as certainly as they do in any other manual
work, there need be no uncertainty or failure. Let any one
understand that it requires a fixed degree of heat to make
water boil, and it will not be expected to boil at any less
heat : it is equally to be supposed, that, if a safe and easy
way is shown to accomplish a given result in cooking, it will
be generally followed in preference to less clear and reason-
able ways of work.
ROASTING.
The most primitive cookery was undoubtedly done at an
open fire. And it yet remains for science to find a better
method ; for this reason, when it is possible, meat should be
roasted before an open fire, rather than baked in an oven as
most so-called roasts are now cooked. At the old-fashioned
open fire upon the hearth, it was easy to roast, because there
was in the same spot before the fire the intense heat required
for cooking, and the constantly changing current of air ne-
cessary to carry away from the meat the fumes of burning
40
METHODS OF COOKING. 41
fat, which must impair its flavor, and the steam set free
from its interior, which •destroys the crispness of its surface
if confined about it as in baking. In the oven, the fat
drawn out by intense heat spatters against the hot sides, and
bums ; while the steam generated by heat from the natural
moisture of the meat, if confined to the oven, cannot fail to
soften the surface. This point will be reverted to in treating
of baking meats.
Page 30
Presented as published in 1885. 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
Fruit when fresh should be ripe and sound, as perfect as possible (because this will make less waste), and bought only in quantities which admit of speedy use, unless it is winter-fruit which can be kept without any danger of spoiling. Preserved and dried fruits keep well in cool, dark places, and so may be bought safely in quantities.
DAIRY PRODUCTS AND GROCERIES.
Milk, butter, cheese, and eggs are so perishable that it is not well to purchase them in quantities larger than required for a few days' use, unless the family is large and can consume such amounts as are sold at wholesale prices. The detail of keeping them has been given elsewhere.
The com and wheat products, and cereals in general, may be bought by the large quantity if there is a good dry storeroom where they can be secured from destructive vermin and mouldiness.
WHATEVER the manner chosen for the dressing of food, it can be traced to some one of the comparatively few fundamental methods of cookery. These methods will be given in this chapter in sufficient detail to enable the least-experienced cook to follow them readily. If the fact is once accepted, that in cookery similar results follow definite operations as certainly as they do in any other manual work, there need be no uncertainty or failure. Let any one understand that it requires a fixed degree of heat to make water boil, and it will not be expected to boil at any less heat : it is equally to be supposed, that, if a safe and easy way is shown to accomplish a given result in cooking, it will be generally followed in preference to less clear and reasonable ways of work.
ROASTING.
The most primitive cookery was undoubtedly done at an open fire. And it yet remains for science to find a better method ; for this reason, when it is possible, meat should be roasted before an open fire, rather than baked in an oven as most so-called roasts are now cooked. At the old-fashioned open fire upon the hearth, it was easy to roast, because there was in the same spot before the fire the intense heat required for cooking, and the constantly changing current of air necessary to carry away from the meat the fumes of burning
fat, which must impair its flavor, and the steam set free from its interior, which •destroys the crispness of its surface if confined about it as in baking. In the oven, the fat drawn out by intense heat spatters against the hot sides, and bums ; while the steam generated by heat from the natural moisture of the meat, if confined to the oven, cannot fail to soften the surface. This point will be reverted to in treating of baking meats.