THE CHEMISTRY OF COOKERY. 825 



Besides this, the coffee is commonly though not universally fla- 

 vored with a specially and skillfully prepared caramel, instead of the 

 chiccory so largely used in England. Much of the so-called " French 

 coffee " now sold by our grocers in tins is caramel flavored with coffee, 

 rather than coffee flavored with caramel ; and many shrewd English 

 housewives have discovered that, by mixing the cheapest of these 

 French coffees with an equal quantity of pure coffee, they obtain a 

 better result than with the common domestic mixture of three parts 

 coffee and one of chiccory. 



A few months ago a sample of " coffee-finings " was sent to me for 

 chemical examination, that I might certify to its composition and 

 wholesomeness. I described it in my report as " a caramel, with a 

 peculiarly rich aroma and flavor, evidently due to the vegetable juices 

 or extractive matter naturally united with the saccharine substance 

 from which it is prepared." I had no definite information of the exact 

 nature of this saccharine substance, but have good reason to assume 

 that it was a by-product of sugar-refining. 



Neither the juice of the beet-root nor the sap of the sugar-cane con- 

 sists entirely of pure sugar dissolved in pure water. They both con- 

 tain other constituents common to vegetable juices, and some peculiar 

 to themselves. These mucilaginous matters, when roughly separated, 

 carry down with them some sugar, and form a sort of coarse sweet- 

 wort, capable, by skillful treatment, of producing a rich caramel such 

 as I received. 



I tested its practical merits by making an infusion of pure coffee 

 of fine quality, dividing this into two parts, adding to one a small 

 quantity of the caramel, and leaving the other half unmixed. I found 

 the infusion greatly improved in flavor by the admixture, and recog- 

 nized the peculiarity which characterizes the coffee prepared by Gatti 

 and his compatriots, whose numerous establishments are doing so much 

 for the promotion of temperance in this country. The aroma of this 

 particular caramel is peculiarly fine, and the greater part of it is sol- 

 uble in boiling water ; thus I was able to mix it by merely adding to 

 the coffee as we add sugar. 



I have used my best eloquence in trying to persuade the manufac- 

 turers to sell it separately, but have not yet succeeded. They seem to 

 have had painful experience of the gastronomic bigotry of English- 

 men, who refuse to eat or drink anything that is not hallowed by the 

 sanction of their great-grandmothers, unless it is surreptitiously intro- 

 duced by means of some device approaching as nearly as possible to a 

 commercial swindle. 



Returning to the subject of frying, we encounter a good illustra- 

 tion of the practical importance of sound theory. A great deal of 

 fish and other kinds of food are badly and wastefully cooked in con- 

 sequence of the prevalence of a false theory of frying. It is evident 

 that many domestic cooks (not hotel or restaurant cooks) have a vague 



