The enormous quantities of rice which certain of the Hindu
tribes devour startle those who for the first time see them at their
meals ; and withal they are so much less robust than the flesh-eating
races that no rice-eater was enlisted by the East India Company as
a soldier. The practice prevalent among the Irish peasantry before
the great famine of living chiefly upon potatoes, which contain a
very small proportion of flesh-producing matter, was equally waste-
ful, and opposed to the development of the full strength of the
body. The practice also of giving young children large quantities
of arrow-root (a variety of starch), especially when that is made
into a jelly with water only, is equally injudicious ; for a child,
especially after being weaned, when it is growing every day more
active, requires an increasing amount of the materials which
strengthen the muscles and give solidity to the bones. But it is
impossible that its limbs can acquire additional firmness and
PHILOSOPHY OP COOKERY. XXXV
vigour from arrow-root, which consists of nothing but charcoal and
water. Bread and milk, or any entire grain, such as oats, barley,
or millet, boiled with milk, are the proper food for young children,
till they are old enough to take animal food, which, however, may
be safely and usefully given them as soon as they are able to run
about.
The modes in which food is dressed by the cook appear at first
sight endless, but after all may be reduced, in the case alike of
animal and vegetable food, to two — namely, roasting and boiling.
Roasting may properly be held to include broiling, grilling,
stewing, baking, and all other processes, however named, which
consist essentially in exposing food to the action of heat, without
the presence of any liquid but the juices which it naturally con-
tains. The broiling of a steak is perhaps the simplest, as it is one
of the oldest, most universal, most rational, and most wholesome
modes of cookery. When successfully managed, it secures the two
great ends of rendering meat more palatable and more digestible,
at a trifling sacrifice of its nutritious juices. The first application
of heat in roasting and broiling animal food should be considerable
and rapid, so as to form an external wall or crust by hardening the
skin ?and coagulating the substance identical with white of egg
which is present in the flesh of all animals. In this way the juices
are to a great extent retained within the meat, and increase its
flavour, digestibility, and nutritiousness. When meat is stewed
or baked in pans, a considerable heat cannot be rapidly communi-
cated to it. The juices accordingly flow out, and the meat is left
comparatively dry in the centre. As the juices, however, are
retained in the pan, no nutritious matter is lost ; but unless the
meat is cut small, it is less digestible than when roasted.
Page 11
Presented as published in 1886. 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
The enormous quantities of rice which certain of the Hindu tribes devour startle those who for the first time see them at their meals ; and withal they are so much less robust than the flesh-eating races that no rice-eater was enlisted by the East India Company as a soldier. The practice prevalent among the Irish peasantry before the great famine of living chiefly upon potatoes, which contain a very small proportion of flesh-producing matter, was equally wasteful, and opposed to the development of the full strength of the body. The practice also of giving young children large quantities of arrow-root (a variety of starch), especially when that is made into a jelly with water only, is equally injudicious ; for a child, especially after being weaned, when it is growing every day more active, requires an increasing amount of the materials which strengthen the muscles and give solidity to the bones. But it is impossible that its limbs can acquire additional firmness and
PHILOSOPHY OP COOKERY. XXXV
vigour from arrow-root, which consists of nothing but charcoal and water. Bread and milk, or any entire grain, such as oats, barley, or millet, boiled with milk, are the proper food for young children, till they are old enough to take animal food, which, however, may be safely and usefully given them as soon as they are able to run about.
The modes in which food is dressed by the cook appear at first sight endless, but after all may be reduced, in the case alike of animal and vegetable food, to two — namely, roasting and boiling.
Roasting may properly be held to include broiling, grilling, stewing, baking, and all other processes, however named, which consist essentially in exposing food to the action of heat, without the presence of any liquid but the juices which it naturally contains. The broiling of a steak is perhaps the simplest, as it is one of the oldest, most universal, most rational, and most wholesome modes of cookery. When successfully managed, it secures the two great ends of rendering meat more palatable and more digestible, at a trifling sacrifice of its nutritious juices. The first application of heat in roasting and broiling animal food should be considerable and rapid, so as to form an external wall or crust by hardening the skin ?and coagulating the substance identical with white of egg which is present in the flesh of all animals. In this way the juices are to a great extent retained within the meat, and increase its flavour, digestibility, and nutritiousness. When meat is stewed or baked in pans, a considerable heat cannot be rapidly communicated to it. The juices accordingly flow out, and the meat is left comparatively dry in the centre. As the juices, however, are retained in the pan, no nutritious matter is lost ; but unless the meat is cut small, it is less digestible than when roasted.