THE CHEMISTRY OF COOKERY. 511 



being probably the material from which the muscle is built up or 

 renewed. The following is their composition, according to Liebig's 

 analyses : 



Carbon. . . 

 Hvdrogen. 

 Nitrogen. . 

 Oxygen. . . 



Kreatine. 



100-00 



Kreatinine. 



100-00 



Tbe juices of lean flesh also contain a little lactic acid the acid of 

 milk but this does not appear to be an absolutely essential constitu- 

 ent. Besides these there are mineral salts of considerable nutritive 

 importance, though small in quantity. These, with the kreatine and 

 kreatinine, are the chief constituents of beef -tea, properly so called, 

 and will be further treated when I come to that preparation. At pres- 

 ent it is sufficient to keep in view the fact that these juices are essen- 

 tial to complete the nutritive value of animal food. 



I may now venture to state my own view of a somewhat obscure 

 subject, viz., the difference between the roasting or grilling and the 

 stewing of meat. It appears to me that, with the exception of the su- 

 perficial " browning," it consists simply in the difference between the 

 cooking media ; that a grilled steak or chop or a roasted joint is meat 

 that has been stewed in its own juices instead of stewed in water ; 

 that in both cases the changes taking place in the solid parts of the 

 meat are the same in kind, provided always that the roasting or grill- 

 ing is properly performed. The albumen is coagulated in all cases, 

 and the gelatinous and fibrous tissues are softened by being heated in 

 a liquid solvent. I shall presently apply this definition in distinguish- 

 ing between good and bad cookery. 



In the roasted or grilled meat the juices are retained in the meat 

 (with the exception of that which escapes as gravy on the dish), while 

 in stewing the juices go more or less completely into the water, and 

 the loosening of the fibers and solution of the gelatine and fibrin 

 may be carried further, inasmuch as a larger quantity of solvent 

 is used. 



Roasting and grilling may be regarded as our national methods of 

 flesh cookery, and stewing in water that of our Continental neighbors. 

 The difference between the flavor of English roast beef and French 

 bouilli or Italian manzo is due to the retention or the removal of the 

 saline and highly flavored soluble materials. (Concentrated kreatine 

 and kreatinine are pungently sapid.) The Frenchman takes them out 

 of his bouilli, or boiled meat, and transfers them to his bouillon, or 

 soup, which with him is an essential element of a meal. If he ate his 

 meat without soup, he would be like the dogs fed on gelatine by the 

 bone-soup commissioners. To the Englishman, with his roast or grilled 



