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The latter is much superior to anything else for frying purposes, and the drippings from veal, lamb, beef and pork are better than lard, if carefully clarified according to directions hereafter given : but the mutton fat should be clarified and put away by itself and used only for frying mutton chops, etc., as many persons dislike the flavor. Fried meat should be sent to table the moment it is done, as the smallest delay tends to make the meat lose its crispness and become flabby. Larding Meats. — This is a very nice way of preparing meat, game or poultry for roasting. Either fat bacon or fat salt pork may { fit* • "** f ' f be used, and is better for this purpose if cured without saltpeter, which reddens white meats. For larding small birds cut the bacon or pork into strips of same size one and a half inches long and a sixteenth of an inch thick ; for chickens from an eighth to quarter of an inch thick, and for venison, beef and other meats two inches long and half an inch thick. These strips are called lardoons and are inserted in the surface of the meat with a larding needle as follows :. With the point of larding needle make three distinct lines across half an incn apart ; run needle into third line, at further side, and bring it out at the first, placing one of the lardoons in it; draw the needle through, leaving one-fourth inch of bacon exposed at each end ; Proceed thus to end of row ; then make another one half an inch distant, stick in another row of lardoons, bringing them out at the second line, leaving the ends of the bacon all same length; make the next row again at the same distance, bringing the ends out between the lardoons of the first row or two, proceeding in this manner until the whole surface is larded in chequered rows as shown in cut. After inserting the needle work it around a little to enlarge the opening, and the lardoons will slip through easier. In warm weather it is well to place the lardoons in a bowl of ice to harden before using. Care must be taken not to have the strips too large for the needle or they will be Pressed out as soon as the loose part of the needle touches the meat, Before Larding Birds, hold breast over clear fire for a minute, or dip it in Doiling water, then proceed as above, using a smaller needle than for meats. Larding needles are not expensive costing only from ten to thirty cents, but if one is not at hand the larding can be very neatly done by making incisions with a pen-knife ana pushing the lardoons through with the fingers, pinching the meat up with one hand while cutting and putting the lardoons in with the other. When preparing a roast in haste, strips of fat salt pork or bacon are often tied over meat or breasts of birds, instead of larding, and this is called "barding." The fat from the fowl itself may be used for this purpose instead of bacon. All white-fleshed birds are improved by larding, as well as veal and sweetbreads.