COOKERY. 137 



and healthful, will have a coarse and uninviting 

 appearance. 



Many cooks put in milk to make what they boil look 

 white, but this does more harm than good ; others wrap 

 the meat in a cloth; but if it is well skimmed it will 

 have a much more delicate appearance than when it is 

 muffled up. 



Put the meat into cold water in the proportion of 

 about a quart to every pound of meat; it should remain 

 covered during the whole process of boiling. Water 

 beyond what is absolutely necessary renders the meat 

 less savoury and weakens the broth. 



The water should be gradually heated according to 

 the thickness, &c. of the article boiled; for instance, a 

 leg of mutton of 10 lbs. weight should be placed over a 

 moderate fire, which will gradually heat the water 

 without causing it to boil, for about forty minutes. If 

 the water boils much sooner, the meat will be hardened, 

 and shrink up as if it were scorched. Reckon the time 

 from its first coming to a boil; the slower it boils the 

 tenderer, the plumper, and whiter it will be. For 

 tiiose who choose their food thoroughly cooked, twenty 

 minutes to a pound will not be found too much for 

 gentle simmering by the side of the fire. Fresh killed 

 meat will take much longer time boiling than that 

 Avhich has been kept till what the butchers call ripe; 

 if it be fresh killed it will be tough and hard if stewed 

 ever so long, and ever so gently. The size of the 

 boiling pots should be adapted to what they are to con- 

 tain; in small families we recommend block tin sauce- 

 pans, &c. as lightest and safest, taking care that the 

 covers fit close, otherwise the introduction of smoke 

 may be the means of giving the meat .a bad taste. 

 Beef and mutton a little underdone is not a great fault, 

 but lamb, pork, and veal are uneatable and truly un- 

 wholesome, if not thoroughly 'boiled. Take care of 

 the liquor in which poultry or meat has been boiled, as 

 an addition of peas, herbs, ^c. will convert it into a 

 nourishing soup. 



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