CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



the battle. The fire must be bright and beautifully 

 red before the meat is put before it ; care must be 

 taken to prevent any cinder or ash from falling 

 into the dripping-pan, and the meat must be care- 

 fully basted as it is kept turning. The meat 

 should not be placed too near the fire, so as to be 

 shrivelled up in the process of cooking ; nor 

 should a small bit of meat be roasted, because 

 it shrinks away to nothing. It is not econo- 

 mical to roast a piece of meat weighing less 

 than five pounds. ' Slow and equal ' should be 

 the motto of those who ' rule the roast' A very 

 fat roast, it may be stated, will take longer to 

 cook than a lean one : about twenty minutes per 

 pound-weight is as near as possible the time to 

 make ready meat at a roasting-fire. Some meats, 

 as veal and pork, take longer than beef and 

 mutton ; but observation alone can educate the 

 cook in the niceties of time. 



Broiling. 



Broiling is the rapid cooking of any kind of 

 animal food by the influence of fire. The appa- 

 ratus required in broiling is very simple, and con- 

 sists only of a gridiron, whose bars should be small, 

 and kept thoroughly clean, both on the tops and 

 sides. An improved form of gridiron consists of 

 channeled bars leading to a trough or receptacle 

 for the exuded juices. Let the iron be heated for 

 a minute before placing the meat upon it ; and 

 rub the warm bars with a piece of brown paper, 

 to prevent the meat from sticking to them. The 

 operation of broiling requires a clear strong fire 

 with no smoke. In almost all cases, the meat 

 ought to be frequently turned, which may be best 

 done by a pair of small tongs ; a fork should on 

 no account be used in turning, for it breaks the 

 skin of the meat, and allows the gravy to run out. 

 Broiling possesses the peculiarity of being appli- 

 cable only to meat which is to be eaten immedi- 

 ately on being dressed. This is an advantage 

 when expeditious cooking is required, but a dis- 

 advantage when there is any uncertainty as to the 

 time at which the meat is to be eaten. Broiling 

 is not so economical a method of cooking as 

 boiling, a great proportion of the nutritious juices 

 being discharged from the flesh beyond means of 

 recovery. 



Frying. 



Frying is as expeditious a mode of cooking as 

 broiling, requires less activity and care, and is 

 more thrifty. It affords a ready means of dressing 

 in a savoury manner many odd pieces of uncooked 

 or cold meat, thereby saving that which might 

 otherwise have been thrown away as useless. A 

 skilful housewife, with the aid of a frying-pan and 

 some cheap vegetables, such as onions and pota- 

 toes, along with a slight seasoning, will make a 

 small portion of meat dine a large family. A 

 frying-pan should be of malleable, not of cast iron. 

 It should also be thick in the bottom, and of an 

 oval form. It should be kept very clean, by 

 being washed with boiling water, but not scoured. 

 In using it, a small piece of dripping, butter, or 

 lard, must be put into it, and melted, to prevent 

 the meat from adhering to it. In frying all meats, 

 excepting those which are sufficiently fat in them- 

 selves, it is necessary to use some kind of grease 

 or fat. The best fat for this purpose is lard, 

 which is more economical, and less likely to 



754 



burn than butter. When lard is not employe 

 the best substitute for it is dripping. All the 

 smaller kinds of fish are excellent when fried. 



Baking. 



Meat is prepared for baking in the same manne 

 as for roasting. It should be placed in a de 

 dish for receiving the fat which flows from it ; not 

 laid, however, on the sole of the dish, but raised 

 on a stand, to prevent the grease soaking into it. 

 Small iron stands are made and sold for this pur- 

 pose. Few dishes are so good when baked as when 

 roasted, the meat being so liable to be shrivelled 

 for lack of basting ; and being liable, moreover, if 

 done in a baker's oven, to partake of the flavour of 

 the multifarious articles which are there prepared. 

 Perhaps the only dishes which are better baked 

 than roasted are bullock's heart and leg of pork, 

 because in roasting they are liable to be scorched 

 on the outside before they are thoroughly cooked 

 in the inner parts. 



Stews, Hashes, and Made Dishes. 



Stewing is the preparing of meat by slow sim- 

 mering, all the liquor being used along with the 

 meat at table. This is a much more savoury 

 and nutritious mode of cookery than boiling, 

 because the substance of the meat is partly in 

 the liquor, and is seasoned to have a high relish 

 or flavour. Generally, much more can be made 

 of meat by stewing than by roasting, boiling, or 

 frying, because nothing is lost in the process of 

 dressing. It also possesses the decided advantage 

 of being a way by which meat may be dressed for 

 a person whose time of dining is uncertain. A 

 stewed steak, for instance, will keep warm and in 

 good condition for an hour, but a broiled or fried 

 steak must not be kept a minute after dressing. 



SOUPS. 



Soups are the substance of meat infused in 

 water by boiling, and are of many different kinds, 

 but may be divided into two classes namely, 

 brown and white. The basis of brown soups is 

 always beef, while the basis of white soups is 

 generally veal, or the trimmings of the more 

 gelatinous fishes. Broths are of the nature of 

 soups, but more simple in their composition, 

 and usually containing some kind of vegetables or 

 matter for thickening. Soups and broths are 

 much less used in England than in Scotland or 

 on the continent 



Brown Soup Stock. 



Brown or gravy soup forms the stock or basis 

 of all soups of the brown kind. It is thus made : 

 Take a shin or piece of the rump of beef, and 

 cut it in several pieces. Cut the beef from the 

 bones ; take out part of the marrow, and lay it on 

 the bottom of the pot. If there be no marrow, 

 use butter. Then lay in the meat and bones to 

 brown. Turn the whole when browned on one 

 side, and take care that it does not burn. 

 When it is thoroughly browned, add a pint 

 of cold water to draw the juice from the me 

 also a little salt ; and in a quarter of an he 

 after, fill in the quantity of cold water whic 

 may be requisite. Now add the following veget- 

 ables, two carrots, a turnip, and three or four 

 onions, all sliced ; also a stalk of celery, some 



