FOOD 211 



When soup or broth is to be made, this process is 

 reversed the object being to extract the soluble portion 

 of the meat from the fiber. The meat is cut into small 

 pieces and the bones are cracked. All is then placed in 

 cold water without salt, and heated slowly to a tempera- 

 ture just below the boiling point. It should be kept as 

 hot as possible, without actually boiling, for from six to 

 eight hours. 



Salt meat may be placed in cold water and gradually 

 heated. Corned beef requires boiling for about five 

 hours. 



Roasting and baking are done before an open fire or in 

 an oven. The meat should first be browned by exposure 

 to a very high temperature, in order to preserve the juices, 

 and the heat should then be reduced. 



In broiling and frying the same principle applies. 

 Frying is regarded as the least healthful of the various 

 ways of preparing food, because the fat which coats the 

 surface is supposed to be indigestible. Anything cooked 

 by frying should be quickly and wholly immersed in fat 

 so hot that the surface browns at once and further 

 absorption of fat is prevented. Then the heat should be 

 lowered. 



By stewing and braising, meats may be economically 

 cooked at a moderate temperature, but the process re- 

 quires several hours. In stewing, the temperature should 

 not quite reach the boiling point. In braising, which is 

 done in a closely covered pan in an oven, a higher degree 

 of heat is applied. By these two methods the tougher 

 and cheaper cuts of meat may be made entirely tender, 

 nutritious, and appetizing. 



302. Fish. Principles similar to those suggested above 

 apply to the cooking of fish. 



