1870. 



NEW ENGLA]!TO FARRIER. 



153 



abundance, is to be preferred for three-quarters of 

 our diet where plenty of heat is obtained by means 

 of comfortable rooms and warm clothing. 



The expense of animal food is also no small 

 consideration in the management of a family. No 

 housekeeper need be told, in these days of high 

 prices, that the very most should be made of 

 everything that comes under that name. Still the 

 best of cooks, and the most prudent, waste (we 

 will call it lose) much, that, with a little ingenuity, 

 may furnish many a palatable and nutritious dish. 



A great deal depends, too, upon a thoughtful, 

 observant care for the preservation as well as best 

 nse, of meat and fish, — even more than for fruits 

 and vegetables ; because by neglect what is really 

 healthful and wholesome becomes frequently a 

 noxious poison — is, indeed, often unwittingly 

 served at table when in that condition. 



In order to preserve animal food from decay it 

 should lose its natural heat as soon as possible 

 after killing, and then be kept cold till it is cooked. 

 Fresh meat and fish may be kept in good condi- 

 tion a great while when frozen, but at the first 

 signs of thawing they must be cooked, as decay 

 then follows rapidly. During the winter closets, 

 boxes, or tubs, where these articles of food can be 

 placed and snow or ice retained without melting, 

 are a great convenience for housekeepers. 



Ice-houses and refrigerators are desirable where 

 they can be had for summer use. Even the sim- 

 ple arrangements just mentioned can be made 

 available, however, in warm weather, — the ice be- 

 ing kept from melting rapidly by wrapping it in 

 woolen cloth ; but there must be great pains taken 

 to cleanse and ventilate often both these recepta- 

 cles and the ice-cloths. The shelves and walls of 

 ice-houses and refrigerators also need to be fre- 

 quently attended to for the same purpose, lest the 

 flavor of some articles of food become injured by 

 the concentrated exhalations of different dishes, 

 or from contact with the crumbs sometimes care- 

 lessly suffered to lie around. Most persons who 

 rejoice in the luxury of a toell know how conven- 

 ient a closely closing bucket — better still a tier of 

 tightly fitting boxes — is for affording this desired 

 coldness, — that is if a windlass or some similar 

 contrivance is employed to raise it easily. 



If none of these conveniences are available, the 

 housekeeper will wipe all moisture from the meat 

 that is to be kept fresh, shake a little fine salt over 

 the bare flesh and into all Its crevices, and then, 

 screening it from the flies, set it in the cellar, or in 

 the coolest and airiest place she can command, 

 till it can be cooked. Use the same care and pre- 

 caution with all sorts of fresh meat. If it should 

 get slightly tainted cover it with fine charcoal for 

 a few hours before cooking. 



Salt is considered the best preservative for 

 meats and fish, as, while preventing decay it re- 

 tains their fibres in a natural state. Dessication — 

 drying — causing an evaporation, or concentra- 

 tion of the juices, and consequent hardening of 



the fibres, is at times a desirable process of pre- 

 servation ; but unless such food is properly cooked 

 it is exceedingly indigestible. The antiseptic 

 properties of smoke are also called in for keeping 

 flesh and fish from decay,— the flavor which it im- 

 parts being agreeable to some palates ; and though 

 smoked meats are not so healthful as the fresh, 

 they can be used sparingly with no ill effects. 

 Spices, too, sometimes serve in the same capacity; 

 but not much of such preserved food is to be com- 

 mended. Of all these methods salting, or corn- 

 ing is the least objectionable. Whsn properly 

 performed and the salted food well cooked, its oc- 

 casional use makes a variety in diet, and it is 

 scarcely less nutritious and salutary than when in 

 its fresh state ; while, for obvious reasons, it must 

 be the chief dependence for an economical manage- 

 ment of much of our animal food. 



In cities and large towns, where meat shops and 

 stalls can be visited at will, or where the butcher 

 calls every day at the house, one can purchase a 

 small quantity of fresh or of salted meat, and 

 there is little danger of its spoiling. Still, even 

 then, advantage can be taken of overstocked mar- 

 kets, and consequent lower prices, and considera- 

 ble be purchased with prudence ; some of which 

 can be eaten fresh, and the rest salted, smoked, or 

 dried. And in the country, where the butcher's 

 visits are infrequent, or the neighbors only obtain 

 animal food by accommodating each other in the 

 killing of stock by turns, there is often a quantity 

 to dispose of in the same way. A quarter of beef, 

 or a half of a sheep or a hog, is as much, however, 

 as a thrifty housewife desires to see at once; and 

 until this is all well cared for she is as busy and 

 anxious as she ever wishes to be. But in view of 

 the leisure from care and toil for some months to 

 come, which it foreshadows, and of the nice din- 

 ners it promises, she goes through it cheerfully ; 

 rather desires it — in early winter, — being content 

 with smaller portions for warm weather. 



We will suppose that the good man of the house, 

 understanding what is true economy, gets the 

 I^est meat always ; if he purchases beef, not the 

 pale flabby flesh of a heifer, but good ox beef, a 

 bright clear red in color, and fine and firm in 

 grain ; well streaked with fat that is solid and fair 

 — {7iearly white — yellow fat is a sign of disease). 

 It is convenient to have it cut into handy piece* 

 by the butcher. Roasting and steak nieces may 

 be packed in ice or snow, or laid in the ice-closet 

 or box, or refrigerator, till needed. 



The best roasting pieces are the thick end of the 

 surloin, the rump, and the second cut in the foro 

 quarter; the best for steaks arc slices through the 

 sirloin, and from the rump, — but very good slices 

 for the same may be cut from the top of the leg— 

 the round — which, if kept a little longer than the 

 others and properly cooked, arc tender and nearly 

 as juicy as those. 



The best corning pieces are the rattle-ran, (as 

 the butchers call it,) and the next cut to it, the 

 thin end of the sirloin, the end of the rump, and 



