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The Association of Herbs and 

 Cooked Meats 



By Anna Barrows, New York 



FOR civilized man much of the relish 

 for animal foods is due to what is 

 served with them — the herbs and other 

 accompaniments from the vegetable garden. 

 Whether this is due to the skill of cooks, 

 or is an inherited taste derived from the 

 medicinal customs of our remote ances- 

 tors, it is impossible to decide. 



The cookery of the meat to serve with the 

 products of the vegetable garden is a simpler 

 matter than it sometimes seems. All kinds 

 of meat may be divided into two classes. 

 One, which everybody desires because there 

 is less of it and less intelligence is needed for 

 its preparation, consisting as it does of 

 tender muscles with small proportion of fat 

 and bone. The other class forms the greater 

 bulk of the creatures, the muscles toughfrom 

 constant exercise, and the bones and fat. 



The tender meat may be cooked quickly 

 by boiling or roasting, the other needs 

 slow cooking, usually with the help of 

 water. A low temperature should be 

 maintained to soften and separate tough 

 fibres, hence the usefulness of the tireless 

 cooker for tough meats. It is when our 

 pocket books are not expanded sufficiently 

 to secure the high priced cuts that we most 

 need to study the savory accessions which 

 may make the cheapest meats appetizing. 

 The bulletin on Economical Uses of Meat 

 from the United States Department of Ag- 

 riculture, which has had an enormous cir- 

 culation since its appearance within a year, 

 gives many suggestions for the preparation 

 of the less expensive cuts of meat. (Far- 

 mer's Bulletin 391.) 



The influence of a species of mint, the 

 catnip, on that domestic animal may have 

 led early housekeepers to test the virtues 

 of that and other mints upon their chil- 

 dren. Not many generations ago catnip 

 tea was often administered to babies. 



Mint of several varieties is cultivated, 

 especially the peppermint and spearmint. 

 Peppermint long has been recognized as 

 a stomachic and anti-spasmodic remedy 

 and a tribute to its past and its real virtues 

 is the after dinner mint whether combined 

 with soda or sugar. 



Spearmint has the reputation of "mak- 

 ing a lamb out of an old sheep," and the 



sweet sour sauce in which it is the chief 

 ingredient is deservedly popular. 



The only secret for a successful mint 

 sauce is to have an abundance of the 

 herb. The younger leaves are tenderer 

 and stronger, but fine chopping will put 

 the larger leaves in suitable condition. 

 After washing the stalks thoroughly, 

 remove moisture in a cloth, pick off the 

 leaves, discarding all that are yellow or 

 withered. The stalks usually are too 

 fibrous to use. Then chop fine. For a 

 large quantity this may be accomplished 

 more quickly with a chopping bowl and 

 knife. But a few sprigs of mint or parsley 

 may be pressed firmly together, held in 

 place by the fingers of the left hand, and 

 from the balls thus formed thin layers 

 shaved off with a sharp knife. This may be 

 done on a sheet of paper on which the parti- 

 cles are easily lifted and turned into a bowl. 



A few spoonfuls of actually boiling 

 water poured over the leaves will deepen 

 the color and extract the flavor. No 

 more water should be used than will serve 

 to slightly dilute the later addition of 

 vinegar. The sugar will dissolve rapidly 

 if added after hot water, and when that 

 is accomplished the vinegar should be 

 poured in cautiously. The proportion 

 of sugar and vinegar must be varied 

 according to the strength of the vinegar. 

 This sauce is often served cold, and if 

 properly made a small quantity suffices. 

 It will not chill the meat, yet it may be 

 heated without cooking. A bunch of 

 mint as ordinarily sold, with about one- 

 fourth cup of vinegar, one or two table- 

 spoons of sugar, a little salt and pepper 

 and one-fourth cup of water is a fair 

 proportion for a small family. Sometimes 

 a syrup is made of the liquid and sugar and 

 the mint is left to stand in it half an hour 

 before serving. Lemon juice may take 

 the place of vinegar. 



Mint jelly to serve with meats is made 

 in several ways. A tart apple jelly may 

 be highly flavored with mint and colored 

 green with the convenient color pastes. 

 Or an ordinary lemon jelly made with 

 gelatine may be flavored with the mint 

 and tinted. Sometimes the sweet pickle 

 vinegar left in a jar, if not too highly 

 spiced, may be flavored with mint and 

 stiffened with gelatine. In this case the 

 flecks of chopped mint may be stirred 

 through the jelly as it begins to thicken. 



90 



Mint ices usually derive their flavor 

 from the creme de menthe cordial, but 

 often water in which mint has been steeped 

 is used in making a plain lemon ice or 

 sherbet. 



The vinegar and sugar will preserve 

 the mint. It is in effect a sweet pickle and 

 may be kept a long time in a glass jar 

 ready for use when fresh mint is not ob- 

 tainable. Or the mint may be chopped 

 and put in vinegar to add to other sauces 

 as capers are kept and used. Moulds 

 and ferments do not readily attack such 

 things. This may be one reason that 

 peculiar digestive functions have been 

 attributed to spearmint — that it retards 

 the action of hostile bacteria. 



As an old rhyme has it: 



" Mint, St. John's wort, vervain, dill 

 Hinder witches of their will." 



Mint is sometimes boiled with green 

 peas, but that is not to be recommended 

 unless the peas are old and tasteless. 



Other familiar herbs — sage, thyme, 

 marjoram — have had various virtues as- 

 cribed to them in the past, hints of which 

 appear in the folk lore of foods, which may 

 have had some foundation, but they have 

 been lost sight of in the medical methods 

 of to-day, which appear to be based more 

 on surgerj 7 than on the senses. 



Certainly all these may be classed among 

 the "pleasure giving" things as the Ger- 

 mans name those food materials of little 

 nutritive value, but which make the sub- 

 stantial foods more appetizing. 



A bit of bay leaf in a kettle of stewed 

 lamb or veal is sufficient to give an in- 

 definable delicious flavor which will dis- 

 guise the characteristic flavor of meats 

 not always popular. 



An essential oil, expressed from parsley, 

 has medicinal virtues, and those who 

 enjoy eating this popular garnish should 

 be allowed to do so without the interference 

 of fashion's dictate that "it is not the 

 thing." 



A convenient way to distribute parsley, 

 cress, mint or any other green herb on 

 hot meats is to clean and chop it fine and 

 blend with creamed butter, seasoned 

 with salt, pepper and lemon or lime 

 juice. This maitre-d'hotel sauce is spread 

 over the steak or chops on the platter 

 just as they are placed on the table. 

 When the parsley leaves are large and 



