280 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



John D. Ward. — Mr. Chairman : At the last meeting of the Club, vihiie 

 the preparation of food was under discussion, two or three of the members 

 spoke of the difficulties they met with in getting potatoes properly boiled j 

 and it appeared to be generally admitted that this operation, simple as it 

 is commonly thought to be, is seldom well performed ; in other words, that 

 what Cobbett used contemptuously to call "Ireland's lazy root," is, as a 

 general rule, spoiled in cooking. As this appeared to be the general 

 opinion, and no remedy for the evil was proposed, it was thought, by the 

 writer, that a description of the process adopted in a family of his acquaint- 

 ance, where boiled potatoes are generally served at table in good condition,, 

 might perhaps be acceptable to some of those who find it difficult to get 

 that part of their cooking operations well performed. The practice there 

 is, first to select the number of potatoes required for the dnj, of nearly 

 the same size, in order that they may all be done at the same time ; large 

 ones take more time in cooking than small ones, and if boiled together 

 the smaller are apt to be over-done or the larger under-done, neither of 

 which conditions is compatible with good cookery. When properly selected, 

 they are peeled, washed and placed in a kettle with cold water enough to 

 cover them, and a tablespoonful of salt to each dozen moderate sized pota- 

 toes, or in that proportion. They are then placed over a good fire, made 

 to boil quickly and the boiliag continued for 12 to 15 minutes — the longer 

 time for the larger sizes. The water is then poured off, the same quanti- 

 ties of salt and fresh water poured on them, and the rapid boiling repeated 

 and continued until a common fork will pass easily through them. When 

 this stage of the pi-ocess is reached, the water is immediately drained en- 

 tirely off, and the kettle, with the cover removed, placed for four or five 

 minutes in a situation where the temperature is nearly, but not quite high 

 enough to scorch, or brown them. They are then taken up with a wooden 

 spoon, to avoid breaking them, placed in a covered dish, previously warmed, 

 and having a napkin laid in its bottom, which absorbs a large portion of 

 the vapour, which they still give out. 



If this process is rigidly followed, and the potatoes operated upon are 

 of good quality when received by the cook, the most critical epicure will 

 hardly be able to find a sufiicient reason for condemning them when brought 

 to the table. To insure complete success, however, the latter part of the 

 boiling operation must be very carefully watched, and stopped at the right 

 moment ; if stopped too soon the process is incomplete, and only a part of 

 each potato is eatable ; if continued too long they fall to pieces and be- 

 come watery and insipid ; attention is therefore an important ingredient 

 in properly preparing a dish of boiled potatoes. 



If baked potatoes are desired, they may be prepared in a very satisfac- 

 tory way, by first washing them quite clean, with the skins on, then peeling 

 a strip half an inch wide once round, boiling them 15 minutes, in the man- 

 ner before described, (using the same proportion of salt,) and afterwards 

 baking them in a pan or oven, heated just suificiently to brown the skins, 

 towards the end of the operation, when most of the water they contained 



