,,first ,,lessons ,,in ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,cooking4 ,illustration3 ,logo ,,first ,,lessons ,,in ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,cooking4 ,,in ,,three ,,parts4 ,,by ,,lady ,,barker1 ,author of 8,stories ,about10 8,a ,christmas ,cake10 c4 c4 ,london3 ,,macmillan ,,and ,,co4 #ahhf4 ,,richard ,,clay ,,and ,,sons1 ,,bread ,,street ,,hill1 ,,london1 ,e4,c4 ,and at ,bungay1 ,suffolk4 ,,contents4 ,,part ,i4 ,,page ,,introductory #c ,,lesson ,i4 ,,the ,,chemical ,,composition ,,of ,,our ,,food #aj ,,lesson ,,ii4 ,,bread ,,and ,,beef #ah ,,lesson ,,iii4 ,,fish #be ,,lesson ,,iv4 ,,vegetables #bi ,,part ,,ii4 ,,lesson ,v4 ,,the ,,preparations ,,of ,,flour ,,used ,,as ,,food #ch ,,lesson ,,vi4 ,,potatoes ,,and ,,other ,,vegetables #dd ,,lesson ,,vii4 ,,modes ,,of ,,preparing ,,broth ,,or ,,soup ,,from ,,beef #ea ,,lesson ,,viii4 ,,fuel ,,and ,,fire #eh ,,part ,,iii4 ,,lesson ,,ix4 ,,boiling ,,and ,,stewing #gc ,,lesson ,x4 ,,baking1 ,,roasting1 ,,and ,,frying #gi ,,lesson ,,xi4 ,,bacon #hf ,,lesson ,,xii4 ,,the ,,gist ,,of ,,the ,,whole ,,matter #hh ,,part ,i4 ,,the ,,chemical ,,composition1 ,,and ,,the ,,effect ,,upon ,,the ,,human ,,body ,,of ,,the ,,various ,,substances ,,commonly ,,employed ,,as ,,food4 ,,first ,,lessons ,,in ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,cooking ,,part ,i4 ,,introductory4 ,the day has come in ,english social history when it is absolutely the bounden duty of every person at the head of a household--whether that household be large or small1 rich or poor--to see that no waste is permitted in the preparation of food for the use of the family under his or her care4 ,i am quite aware that such waste cannot be cured by theories1 and that nothing except a practical acquaintance with the details of household management1 supplemented by a conviction of the necessity of economy1 can be expected to remedy the evil4 ,at the same time1 it is possible that ignorance of the fundamental principles of the chemical composition and of the relative nutritive value of the various sorts of food within our reach1 added to the widespread ignorance of the most simple and wholesome modes of preparing such food1 may be at the root of much of that waste4 ,many excellent works have been written on household management and expenditure on both a large and a small scale1 but ,i am not aware of any book so small as this1 which exactly supplies the need ,i speak of1 or which1 laying other details aside1 deals only with the subject of the preparation of food1 and yet is not exactly a ,cookery ,book4 ,i shall attempt in this part to give in a condensed form the reasons why one sort of food is better than another1 more nutritious1 and therefore cheaper1 and also why certain methods of preparing that food will cause it to be more easily digested1 and render it more wholesome4 ,it must be stated in this1 the very beginning1 that these 8reasons why0 are not the result of any crude theories of my own1 but are drawn from a careful study of works upon the subject by practical chemists4 ,whenever the question is a vexed one1 or learned doctors have agreed to differ upon it1 ,i omit it altogether1 confining myself entirely to the discussion of subjects upon which there is no doubt1 and stating the results of years of patient study and incessant experiments as briefly and simply as ,i possibly can4 ,although it is perhaps somewhat alarming to come across scientific expressions in so unpretending a little book as this1 still ,i must entreat my readers not to be scared away by words which are unfamiliar to them2 and ,i may truthfully add my own experience to bear out the common assertion that the best and highest method of learning any subject will always prove the easiest in the long run4 ,instead of helplessly wringing our hands and crying out about the high price of fuel and food1 let us accept the present state of things as the inevitable and natural result of past years of extravagance and carelessness on our own part4 ,the sooner we make up our minds that what we regretfully speak of as the 8good old times0 with their good old prices will never come again1 the sooner we shall cease to look fondly back on a cheaper past1 and brace ourselves up helpfully and bravely to face the increased cost of the necessaries of life4 ,it is much more sensible to do this1 instead of going on in our old ignorant way1 buoying ourselves up with hopes of a shadowy millennium of butchers' meat1 of a future day when carcases of ,australian or ,south ,american sheep and oxen shall dangle in ,english shops4 ,believe me1 that time is a long way off1 and even when it does come there will be many more thousands of hungry mouths to be filled1 so that the supply will only keep pace--even then rather lagging behind1 as it does now--with the demand of the coming years4 ,if fuel and food cost nearly twice as much at present as they did ten years ago1 then surely it becomes our imperative duty to see how we can1 each of us1 according to our possibilities1 make the material for warmth and cooking go twice as far as they have done hitherto4 ,nor in making such an attempt are we blindly groping in the dark1 feeling our way step by step along the unaccustomed paths of scientific experiment4 ,it has all been done for us whilst we were stupidly spending our capital1 by men whose clear sight could discern the dark days ahead2 men who have1 many of them1 gone to their rest1 before the dawn of these dark days1 but who have left behind them clear instructions how to make the most of certain necessary substances whose increasing value they foresaw twenty or thirty years ago4 ,if1 therefore1 we have the common sense to avail ourselves of the results of these researches and experiments1 which are still carried on day after day by worthy successors of the great practical chemists ,i speak of1 it is quite possible we may so utilize their information as to make our available material go a great deal further4 ,at present we all confess that the balance is uncomfortably adjusted1 and a great many people are throwing a great many remedies into the uneven scales4 ,let us try a few grains of science1 and a few more of common sense1 and see what the practical result will be4 ,before we proceed to do this1 however1 ,i should like to endeavour to disabuse my readers' minds of the idea that economy and stinginess are synonymous terms4 ,in point of fact they are precisely opposite4 ,an individual or a household habitually practising economy has a far wider margin for charity and hospitality than the shiftless people who never can keep a penny in their purses or a meal in their cupboards through sheer 8waste-riff10 as the north-country people call it4 8,take care of the scraps1 and the joints will take care of themselves10 would be a very good motto in nine-tenths of our middle-class households1 and the practical result of such a theory should be better food and more of it4 ,for my own part ,i have little hope of any real progress being made in the right direction until it shall have become once more the custom for ladies to do as their grandmothers did before them1 and make it their business to acquaint themselves thoroughly with the principles and details of household management4 ,in many cases there may be no actual pecuniary necessity for such supervision1 but it would at all events serve the good purpose of setting an example1 besides teaching servants the real good and beauty of a wise economy1 a liberal thrift4 ,so long as the world lasts1 so long will there be a ,mrs4 ,grundy2 but if ,mrs4 ,grundy can only be induced to go down into her kitchen and insist on a good use being made of sundry scraps and bones1 and odds and ends which at present may be said to benefit no one1 then will she deserve a statue in the marketplace4 ,if ,mrs4 ,a41 whose husband's income may be one or two thousand a year1 is able and capable to show a new cook how such and such things should be done so as to combine economy with palatableness1 then will ,mrs4 ,b41 whose income is barely a quarter of that sum1 not consider it beneath her dignity to do so4 ,if this movement is to do any good1 it will have to be inaugurated by people whose social and pecuniary position makes them1 to a certain extent1 unaffected by the pressure which weighs so heavily on their poorer neighbours4 ,and ,i am going to attempt1 so to speak1 to kill two birds with one stone2 to persuade even rich people to insist on a due economy in the consumption of the necessaries of life1 and to assure poor people that it is possible to make a good deal more of the scanty materials within their reach than they do at present4 ,when ,i speak of inducing rich people to be economical1 ,i have no culinary ,utopia in my mind's eye1 when millionaires will prefer to dine off cold mutton or to lunch on bone broth4 ,what ,i mean is1 that rich people can surely be made to understand that it is now-a-days absolutely a greater good to the commonwealth if their households are so managed that little or no material for human food can be wasted in them1 than if they subscribed ever so liberally to all the great charities of ,london4 ,it is just in proportion as people's minds are enlarged and their field of mental vision extended by culture and true refinement1 that they will be able to perceive the importance of the question4 ,for that reason ,i hope and expect that the warmest supporters of the attempt now being made by the ,national ,school of ,cookery to teach the mass of the ,english people how to make the most of the material around them1 will be found in the higher ranks of our society1 and that from them it will spread downwards until it reaches the cottage where the labouring man is fed from year's end to year's end on monotonous and often unwholesome food1 as much from lack of invention as from shallowness of purse4 ,before ending this preliminary lesson ,i feel it incumbent on me to state most emphatically that ,i do not wish or intend to organize a crusade against cooks6 ,in the course of nearly twenty years' experience of that class of servants1 ,i can declare that ,i have found very little intentional dishonesty4 ,waste1 extravagance1 and bad management ,i have met with over and over again1 but these evils have almost invariably arisen from want of opportunities of learning better1 and ,i can scarcely remember an instance where there has not been an effort made to lay aside bad habits and acquire fresh ones4 ,it is only too true1 as dear ,tom ,hood says1 that-- 8,evil is wrought by want of thought1 ,as well as by want of heart40 ,so1 if we can even teach our servants to think twice before they throw things into the pig-tub1 it will be taking a step in the right direction4 ,if a cook and her mistress are at daggers drawn1 each regarding the other as a foe to be distrusted1 then1 indeed1 there is little real economy to be expected4 ,but if a cook sees that her mistress is willing to give her fair wages for her services1 and to consider her comforts in other ways1 whilst at the same time the lady thoroughly understands how the cook's duties should be performed1 the chances are that the servant will readily submit to be taught a thousand little helpful and comfortable ways4 ,such knowledge on the mistress's part is not incompatible with accomplishments and refinement of taste and manner1 but it is not to be learned from reading this book or any other book4 ,it can only come from study and a possibility of acquiring practical experience on the subject whilst the future matron is still a young girl2 and if the scheme of the ,committee of the ,national ,school of ,cookery can be carried out according to their views and intentions1 it will be a woman's own fault if in future her first visit to her kitchen be made as an inexperienced bride with a dozen years of apprenticeship before her ere she can venture even to make a suggestion to her cook1 or dream of 8tossing up0 some little dainty dish with her own hands4 ,,lesson ,i4 ,,the ,,chemical ,,composition ,,of ,,our ,,food4 ,the old ,german poet who wound up each verse of his famous drinking song by the assertion that 8four elements intimately mixed1 form all nature and build up the world10 was not so far wrong after all4 ,the jovial song-writer referred to his favourite formula for brewing punch2 and according to him the world of conviviality was built up by lemon and sugar1 rum and hot water4 ,now1 it is perfectly true that four elements go a great way towards building up the world2 but1 setting aside the question of brewing punch1 they are called carbon1 hydrogen1 oxygen1 and nitrogen4 ,so universal is their presence in the living and growing parts of animals and plants1 that they are always spoken of as 8organic elements10 and science has ascertained exactly the proportion in which each should exist in a healthy condition of the human body4 ,that body is incessantly1 but imperceptibly1 undergoing a process which cannot be better described than by the expression of perennial moulting1 only that1 whereas certain animals cast off certain parts of their body--their skin1 their hair1 or their feathers--every year1 we lose a portion of our weight every day2 that is to say1 we should lose it if we did not absorb through our lungs1 the pores of our skin1 and our stomachs1 sufficient oxygen1 carbon1 hydrogen1 and nitrogen1 to supply the loss caused by the wear and tear of our daily life4 ,there has even been an attempt made to prove that our vital organs are entirely renewed every forty days or so1 but for this calculation there can be no really satisfactory data1 although there certainly is constant loss and gain going on within us4 ,the material for repairing this incessant waste which is the inevitable result of the activity of our nervous and muscular system1 is not supplied alone by the starch1 sugar1 water1 and fat1 nor yet by the milk1 meat1 and vegetables we consume1 but by a due combination of food-material which shall ensure the proper proportions of albumen1 fibrine1 and caseine absolutely required by our changing frames4 ,these are rather hard words1 but their meaning will be quite plain if we take as familiar examples of the three indispensable ingredients1 the white of an egg1 a piece of lean meat1 and a bit of cheese4 ,everyone can understand that1 although these things contain the largest proportion of one particular substance1 still there may be many other substances in which they are present1 all together1 and it is just to teach us this1 and to explain to us why we should rather give our attention to procuring one form of food than another1 that a knowledge of the elements of ,practical ,chemistry is useful4 ,in reading the accounts of the hardships and sufferings of explorers and travellers1 we are often surprised to learn that first one member and then another of the expedition dropped down and died long before the supplies were actually exhausted4 ,this is particularly noticeable in the account of ,burke and ,wills' attempt to explore the great plains of ,south ,australia1 where one by one the travellers died1 not so much from sheer lack of some sort of food to eat1 as from the unhappy circumstance of the only attainable food being utterly deficient in the ingredients without which the human body cannot be nourished4 ,for instance1 there was abundance of an alkaline plant on which the natives almost live at certain times of the year1 and occasionally even a few fish were caught4 ,but these materials taken by themselves were so weak in life-supporting properties1 that they failed to repair sufficiently the waste caused by severe exercise and exposure to the weather4 ,a man may be starved to death1 and yet scarcely feel hungry2 that is to say1 he may be able to put food into his mouth which will allay the cravings of his appetite1 but which may not have the least power to nourish his body1 so that he will die as surely as though he had nothing to eat4 ,men's instincts are generally the surest guides1 and however much we may have been disgusted to hear of such facts as of ,esquimaux and ,samoiedes living upon blubber and fat1 and even eating #h lbs4 or #aj lbs4 of flesh at a meal1 ,science teaches us that they were unconsciously adopting the very best means of keeping up the supply of carbon and oxygen1 or internal warmth1 which their cold climate rendered absolutely necessary4 ,so in the same way we often see a sick person take a fancy to some curious kind of food1 and perhaps begin to recover from the moment he was allowed to have it4 ,the chances are that if we could bring all the practical chemists in the world into his sick-room1 and they were to analyse the component parts of that particular food1 and at the same time ascertain exactly which of the organic elements of human life was insufficiently represented in the patient's system1 the result of their researches would go to prove that the sick man knew exactly what he wanted to build him up in health1 better than anyone else4 ,nature is our surest guide after all1 only unfortunately our civilization has blunted our instincts1 and rendered us more or less artificial1 so that we can hardly tell what is ,nature1 and are obliged to call in the aid of ,science to teach us4 ,those who live in hot countries do not require to provide their systems with internal warmth by means of food1 and we shall generally find that they prefer a diet which will contain very little carbon4 ,but it often happens that an ,englishman travelling or living in such places will become terrified at his loss of relish for meat and heating food1 and will fly either to his doctor for tonics1 to his cook for pickles to incite his flagging appetite1 or1 still worse1 to wine or brandy for stimulants to repair his imaginary weakness4 ,nature1 thus thwarted in her arrangements1 turns sulky1 and the man falls ill1 accusing the climate of the fault springing from his own ignorance and folly4 ,in his own country he knows much better what is good for him2 and in mixing bacon with his beans1 or in taking1 like the ,irishman1 cabbage with his potatoes1 or1 like the ,italian1 a strong kind of cheese with his maccaroni1 he exhibits so many purely chemical ways of preparing mixtures nearly similar to each other in composition and nutritive value4 ,in the rudest diet1 and in the luxuries of the most refined table1 the main cravings of animal nature are never lost sight of4 ,besides the first taste in the mouth1 there is an after-taste of the digestive organs1 which requires to be satisfied if we want to arrange a perfect diet4 ,it is not necessary that a food should yield every kind of material which the body requires to nourish it1 for then one sort of food might be sufficient for the wants of man4 ,each sort must fulfil one or more of the body's requirements1 so that by a wise combination the whole of its wants may be supplied4 ,it is also to be borne in mind that our nourishment is not only the solid food which we actually take into our stomachs1 according to the popular idea on the subject1 but comprises the water we drink and the air we breathe4 ,but as these pages should treat simply of the nourishment for our bodies1 which nourishment must needs be submitted to the action of fire1 it is only with the cooking of food we have to deal4 ,in considering the question of the best and cheapest food1 and the most wholesome mode of cooking it1 we must keep steadily before us the principle1 that it is not the quantity of food received into the human body which nourishes it1 but the proportion which can be digested of such food4 ,all else is sheer waste--an encumbrance worse than useless--whose presence clogs and throws out of gear the delicate mechanism appointed to deal with it4 ,it is generally agreed by scientific chemists1 that in casting around for something like a form of food which could be taken as a type of all others1 there is none so perfect as milk4 ,during the period when the young of animals as well as of human beings are fed entirely on milk1 they grow very rapidly in the size of every part of their bodies4 ,from this we infer that milk must contain all the essentials which go to build up muscle1 nerve1 bone1 and every other tissue4 ,the first lesson we learn from taking milk as an example of perfect natural food1 is that there should be a certain proportion of liquid mixed with the substances we consume as food1 though1 as the animal attains its full size and there is only waste to be made up1 not growth to be provided for1 the necessity for the liquid form of food diminishes4 ,of the flesh-forming substances contained in milk1 caseine is the most important1 and in the largest proportions2 therefore it is with milk in the form of cheese that it can best be dealt with as human food in this place4 ,now1 there is a popular theory that cheese is unwholesome1 and it certainly is an indigestible substance1 but still it need only be avoided by those who suffer from weak digestions4 ,the hardworking man who labours with his muscles in the open air1 and whose stomach is in the best possible condition to digest his food1 does wisely to spend1 as he generally does1 what little money he may possess in cheese1 for cheese contains nearly twice the quantity of nutritive matter he would get in the same weight of cooked meat4 ,even with delicate feeders1 a small quantity of cheese taken with other food facilitates digestion1 for caseine is easily decomposed or put in a condition which causes other things to change4 ,when1 therefore1 we eat a piece of cheese after a meal1 it acts like yeast in bread1 and starts a change in the food2 for the chances are that the stomach in trying to digest the cheese will digest the rest of its contents at the same time4 ,the mouldy cheese which some people's instinct leads them to prefer1 acts more quickly in this way than fresh cheese4 ,when cheese is spoken of as a nourishing article of food1 especially to those who labour in the open air1 it is only cheese in which the cream has not been previously separated from the milk1 for the actual nutritive value will depend on the amount of butter material left in it4 ,the cheap skimmilk cheeses of ,south ,wales yield so little nourishment in this respect1 that they are of but slight value as flesh-formers1 whereas the rich cheeses from ,cheddar1 ,stilton1 and ,ayrshire are not only infinitely cheaper than meat1 but are also very nourishing4 ,it will perhaps only be necessary to take bread and beef as samples of food which contain in themselves every element required to build up the human frame1 to repair the daily waste1 and to preserve all the conditions of perfect health4 ,the generality of mankind have found out the value of these substances for themselves without the aid of science2 but it may be as well to learn something about bread and beef1 for the simple reason that as we cannot always1 under all circumstances1 make sure of having them as food1 we may be able to select those substances which come nearest to them in nutritive value1 if we understand the component parts which make them so important4 ,,lesson ,,ii4 ,,bread ,,and ,,beef4 ,nature is always busy cooking inside us4 ,she is ever separating1 arranging1 and making the best of the heterogeneous substances we give her to deal with1 and it is as well to find out what materials are the easiest for her to manage1 and so learn to economize her forces to the utmost4 ,of all the food used to repair the incessant waste caused by muscular exertion in the open air1 bread and beef1 as we have already remarked1 best fulfil the needs of the human system under those conditions2 and we will first look at the chemical composition of bread4 ,it is needless to trace the growth of wheat before it arrives at the mill to be converted into flour1 but when it reaches that stage it comes within the limits of the inquiry which we propose to ourselves4 ,wheat is practically divided into two parts3 the bran or outer covering1 and the central grain or fecula2 and the object of the miller in the preparation of flour is to mix the qualities as above mentioned so as to suit his market1 and either to separate the bran entirely or partially from the grain1 or to leave the whole in flour4 ,according to the quality of the grain and the amount of the husk left in it1 the value of the flour varies1 and it is divided into four classes3 the 8fine households0 or best1 8households0 or 8seconds10 brown meal1 and biscuit flour2 and the value must chiefly depend on the estimate which is formed of the nutritive proportions of the different parts of the bran4 ,many people say1 vaguely1 8,oh1 brown bread is more wholesome than white02 but it is impossible it can be more nutritious1 though it may be more palatable2 for the outer part of the bran is glazed over with a layer of flint which is quite indigestible4 ,at the same time it must be acknowledged that our practical experience teaches us that1 although the stomach may find it impossible to assimilate bran itself1 yet the presence of bran in bread stimulates the juices of the stomach to greater activity1 and therefore1 like cheese1 promotes the digestion of other things4 ,to a delicate organization it would probably act as an irritant1 and therefore its use should not be persisted in unless there is absolutely no disarrangement of the digestive system4 ,however finely the outer bran may be ground1 it still remains innutritious1 but the inner husk possesses great value from the large proportion of nitrogenous matter which it contains4 ,the whiteness of the flour is not always a test of its purity or nourishing powers1 as in cases where the flour from red wheat has been most thoroughly sifted or 8bolted10 it will still keep a darker tinge than even 8seconds0 flour obtained from white wheat1 though the red wheat remains the most nutritious4 ,it is an instance of what ,i have before remarked about the instinct which guides our choice of food1 that the navvies1 who work perhaps harder than any other men in the world1 make it a point to procure the very best and purest and most expensive wheaten bread4 ,it is always the first thing thought of in settling to a job of work in a new place1 that these men should be able to get the finest wheaten bread to eat4 ,in making this proviso they are really guided by principles of true economy1 for in their case the necessary waste of tissue is so great that they cannot afford to take into their stomachs any superfluous matter which will not nourish their bodies4 ,and we will presently see why pure wheaten bread is the most nourishing of all the cereals1 although there are other forms in which wheaten flour might be used with advantage1 such as when made into maccaroni or sifted into semolina4 ,in other countries1 where wheaten bread is not the staple article of food1 it is curious to notice how those who have to work hard in the open air have struck out substitutes for themselves which contain ingredients as near to wheaten bread in chemical value as can be procured4 ,thus the miners of ,chili1 whose lives are very laborious1 feed on beans and roasted grain2 whilst some ,hindoo navvies found their physical powers too low to do a good day's work when engaged in boring a tunnel1 until they left off eating rice and took to wheaten bread and flesh4 ,but the wheat grown in a tropical country is never of much value for nutritive purposes1 nor yet that grown in a cold one4 ,a hot summer in a sunny clime lying within the temperate zone produces the best grain--that is1 grain with the least proportion of water and the greatest of nitrogen4 ,rice flour possesses so much less nitrogen than does wheaten flour that its nutritive value is a good deal lessened1 and in countries where it is the staple food1 a very great deal has to be produced and consumed to afford the inhabitants anything like a sufficiency of nourishment4 ,the innutritive quality of rice is naturally the reason why a scarcity of that food causes such fatal results in an apparently short time4 ,the people who habitually eat it have already brought their vital powers to so low an ebb1 that a very small diminution of nourishment suffices to lower the life-supporting standard beneath the possibility of existence4 ,the chief reason why wheat1 and indeed all the cereals1 are of such primary importance as food1 is1 that whilst nitrogen is absolutely indispensable to the animal body1 it cannot be produced out of substances which do not contain it4 ,the same is true of carbon1 but we must look to flesh to produce that4 ,the chief ingredients of our blood contain nearly #ag per cent4 of nitrogen1 according to ,liebig1 and he was also convinced that no part of an organ contains less than the same proportion of that elementary body4 ,the nitrogenous principle in wheat is called gluten2 but it is the cerealin which acts as a ferment and assists in the digestion of the other substances4 ,in wheat this is what we find--water1 gluten1 albumen1 starch1 sugar1 gum1 fat1 woody fibre1 and mineral matter1 all in certain proportions1 but there is a great deal more starch than anything else4 ,next to starch comes gluten1 and we must remember it is in that ingredient the nitrogenous principle lurks4 ,if these component parts are again classed1 the result will be that wheat stands first as a 8force-producer10 and second as a 8flesh-producer20 so1 as strength is of more importance to the navvies than flesh1 they may well be excused for being so particular about their bread4 ,in another place we will speak of the simplest and best modes of making wheaten flour into bread4 ,now we must pass on to beef1 and try to show why our national love of this particular form of flesh-food has had its origin in an instinct of what was best to keep ourselves in good working or fighting condition4 ,although bread actually produces fibrine1 still it is best if we need only look to it for gluten1 albumen1 and so forth1 and depend upon flesh for fibrine1 where we shall find it ready-made to our hand 7or1 should ,i say to our mouth87 in the fibres of the meat4 ,of all the forms of meat used for human food1 the flesh of the ox is that generally preferred where there is any choice in the matter1 and it is certainly both nourishing and easily digested4 ,in comparing the nutritive value of different kinds of meat1 we must distinguish between fat and lean1 and the amount of nourishment is in proportion to the fat or lean of the meat4 ,fat 7that is1 carbon7 generates heat1 but lean generates heat and forms flesh as well1 for in lean flesh all four 8organic elements0 are well represented4 ,in both mutton and pork we get so much fat that the actual nourishment contained in the same amount of beef 7unless exceptionally fattened7 is greater1 and it is also the fullest of the red blood juices4 ,besides this1 the loss in cooking beef is much less than in cooking mutton1 owing to the greater solidity of the flesh and the smaller proportion of fat4 8,it is quite certain10 says ,liebig1 8that a nation of animal feeders is always a nation of hunters1 for the use of a rich nitrogenous diet demands an expenditure of power and a large amount of physical exertion1 as is seen in the restless disposition of all the carnivora of our menageries40 ,hence it follows that for those whose daily toil necessitates an expenditure of power1 it would be the truest economy if they were to endeavour to supply the waste of their muscular system by ever so small a quantity of true flesh-forming food1 instead of being contented with a larger meal of a less nourishing description1 washed down by beer or spirit1 which contains no real nutritive worth4 ,malt and alcohol possess narcotic and stimulating properties1 and do no harm in moderation--indeed1 to the weak or aged they are of incalculable value4 ,but a strong1 healthy labouring man would keep himself in much better working order if he economized his beer and increased his animal food4 ,i have seen with my own eyes a very forcible illustration of this truth in the working man of ,new ,zealand as he existed some years ago4 ,in those days beer and spirit used to be almost unknown except in the young colonial towns1 and the early settlers up the country lived entirely on bread and mutton1 for even potatoes were a rare and precious delicacy for the first half-dozen years4 ,such a splendid physical condition of the human frame it had never before been my good fortune to behold4 ,everyone looked in the perfection of health3 clear complexions1 bright eyes1 and active limbs which seemed not to know fatigue1 were the result of many years of a compulsory and much-abused diet of bread1 tea1 and mutton4 ,when ,i say tea1 it was really only used as a stimulant or for warmth1 for cold water was the universal beverage4 ,people might grumble1 but they throve1 and the generation whom ,i saw growing on that diet from childhood towards man's estate might challenge the world over to produce their equals for vigour and strength4 ,perhaps it is rather 8bull0-ish of me to insist in one page upon beef1 like motley1 being 8your only wear10 and then in the next going near to show that mutton does just as well2 but1 seriously1 one has only to turn to ,sir ,francis ,head's account of his ride across the ,pampas1 to learn how much exertion can be supported upon dried lean beef4 ,it is not only1 as ,sir ,francis says1 that he endured enormous and incessant fatigue solely on this beef diet1 but that months of such fatigue left him in splendid physical condition1 able to do anything or go anywhere4 ,to reconcile the two theories1 however1 ,i must add that the gallant veteran confesses his beef diet rendered him somewhat lean and ill-favoured1 and that he did not look so handsome and well as my mutton-fed ,new ,zealand colonists used to do4 ,,lesson ,,iii4 ,,fish4 ,in many parts of the coast of our sea-surrounded home1 fish is1 from necessity1 the staple food of the inhabitants2 and although whole districts in other parts of the world1 such as ,dacca1 the ,mediterranean coast of ,spain1 c41 are fed almost entirely on fish1 our business lies only with our own people4 ,there is no doubt that fish1 even the red-blooded salmon1 should not be the sole nitrogenous animal food of any nation2 and even if milk and eggs be added1 the vigour of such people will not equal that of a flesh-eating community4 ,but of all kinds of animal food1 the fresh herring offers the largest amount of nutriment for the smallest amount of money1 and this statement is the more curious when we think of the turtle1 which is produced in such enormous quantities on the shores of the ,west ,indian islands1 as well as the estuaries of the ,indian coast4 ,although the flesh of the turtle is palatable and wholesome1 it possesses a cloying peculiarity1 insomuch that1 after a year or two1 ,europeans will suffer hunger to the verge of starvation rather than touch it4 ,perhaps this repugnance may be an instinct arising from the fact that the phosphoric fat of the turtle renders it difficult of solution in the digestive juices1 and therefore its really nutritious properties are counteracted by this superabundant richness4 ,so we see that the balance has to be very nicely adjusted3 the old proverb1 8,if a little of a thing is good1 a great deal is better10 does not hold good at all with our food4 ,we have to take great care that1 according to the means within our reach1 that supply of the proper proportions of the organic elements which are as necessary to our bodies as fuel to a fire1 should be kept up4 ,in fact1 food is to our body exactly what fuel is to a fire4 ,if we choke up the range or stove with dust and bricks1 the fire will go out2 and so1 if we persist in supplying the furnace of our life with materials which it cannot possibly assimilate1 or use as fuel1 the fire of our lives will die out4 ,if people understood1 or would even try to understand--and it is not so difficult as many things uneducated people learn quite easily--why certain kinds of food produce certain conditions of the human frame1 there would be far less disease4 ,the great mistake is to think that actual want of money is at the root of the bad food of ,english labourers4 ,it is not so at all4 ,i do not deny the poverty nor the toil requisite1 alas6 to obtain even the scantiest meal2 but anyone with any practical experience of the very poor of our own country will agree in the assertion that perhaps half of that pressure is removable by education in the art of making the most of things4 ,i have often seen a poor woman who had been complaining to me of the scarcity of fuel1 or the want of food1 prepare to light her fire1 cook her husband's dinner1 or bake her bread1 in the most recklessly extravagant manner4 ,so with fish4 ,how often at the time of the ,irish famine were the charitable ,english public startled by hearing that people were starving on a coast swarming with fish8 ,if it had been possible to teach the poor ignorant sufferers1 that although there was not quite so much nourishment in fish as in meat1 still it would have made a palatable and wholesome addition to their starvation diet of ,indian maize1 much distress would have been warded off4 ,the flesh of fish contains fibrine1 albumen1 and gelatine in small proportions1 and fat1 water1 and mineral matter go to make up the rest of the component parts4 ,it is curious to find the difference of fat in some fishes1 especially mackerel1 which possesses a very large proportion1 herrings coming next 7some people say first71 but at all events they both should be cooked in such a way as to get rid of as much of this fat as possible4 ,enough will remain to make the fish nourishing1 but if there be too much fat it renders fish indigestible4 ,this danger needs to be particularly guarded against with eels4 ,haddocks1 whiting1 smelts1 cod1 soles1 and turbot are all less fatty1 and consequently more digestible1 than such fish as salmon1 pilchards1 sprats1 and mackerel4 ,raw oysters are more digestible than cooked ones1 because the heat coagulates and hardens the albumen at once1 besides making the fibrine too solid1 and rendering it less easy for the gastric juices to dissolve4 ,we must bear in mind that the flesh of all fish out of season is unwholesome1 and often makes people ill4 ,i am afraid ,mr4 ,frank ,buckland and other true lovers of pisciculture would view the sufferings of such depraved gourmets with great indifference1 and it is1 indeed1 most shocking to the food-economist to read of the shoals of baby soles an inch or two long1 of diminutive oysters1 of the ova of the cod1 the roe of the salmon1 and of the fry of the herring1 which are brought to our markets and readily sold in spite of vigilant bye-laws4 ,it is not possible in this place to deal with the subject of cooking fish3 cooking it in such a manner that the fat which renders it often unwholesome shall be eliminated1 and the nourishing and gelatinous portions of the fleshy substance made the most of4 ,,lesson ,,iv4 ,,vegetables4 ,i feel that ,i cannot begin this chapter better than by quoting what ,dr4 ,letheby says on the subject3 8,primarily1 all our foods are derived from the vegetable kingdom1 for no animal has the physiological power of associating mineral elements and forming them into food4 ,within our own bodies there is no faculty for such conversion2 our province is to pull down what the vegetable has built up1 and to let loose the affinities which the plant has brought into bondage1 and thus to restore to inanimate nature the matter and force which the growing plant had taken from it40 ,it is thus plain that the beef and mutton we eat derive their fibrine1 gluten1 and all other necessary ingredients from the vegetables on which the oxen and sheep have fed1 though such food does not apparently contain any of these substances4 ,it is a curious suggestion which ,i have often met with1 that if a vegetarian family lived in accordance with the rules of one of their own peculiar cookery books1 each member would actually consume half an ounce more animal food a day than a man would do who lived according to the usual scale of diet4 ,vegetables are aliments which dilute the blood1 and contain more salts than albumen4 ,they convey very little nutriment to the blood1 as we may see in the feeble muscles of tropic-dwellers who feed almost entirely on vegetables4 ,on the other hand1 they are of great service1 first in the digestive canal1 where they dissolve the albuminous substances of the meat1 and afterwards in the blood itself1 where1 if they do not actually nourish1 they yet keep the albumen and fibrine in a liquid state1 and enable those substances to perform their proper functions more vigorously4 ,of course the cereals would naturally stand first in a chapter on vegetables1 as they1 of all the products of the vegetable kingdom1 are the most depended upon by man for food4 ,as1 however1 wheat1 which is the principal cereal of ,england1 has been noticed in another chapter1 we may as well proceed to examine the nutritive properties of other vegetables4 ,in such an inquiry the potato comes first1 for1 owing to its large proportion of starch1 it is the most actually nourishing of all vegetables4 ,this starch is transformed into fat by the digestive process1 and if potatoes could be eaten with a sufficiency of white of egg1 their nutritive value would be brought very near the meat standard4 ,other roots and tubers contain a larger proportion of sugar1 and there is even fat present in some of them1 but none are so rich in this nourishing starch as the potato4 ,a man may1 and probably will1 look fat and rosy on a potato diet1 yet his muscle will not be in first-rate condition1 nor will he be able to endure prolonged fatigue4 ,in spite1 therefore1 of the comparative low price of potatoes1 they are not the most economical food for a labourer1 nor can he depend on their nourishing starch alone to provide him with the requisite bodily strength4 ,all succulent vegetables are anti-scorbutic1 and since the potato was brought into use as a daily ration in the fleet 7not a hundred years ago71 scurvy has gradually died out4 ,if there is any difficulty in providing potatoes--for during long voyages1 when crossing the tropics1 the potatoes will begin to grow1 and so become unfit for food--lime-juice is the next best substitute1 for it contains most of the chemical ingredients which go to make the salts of potash found in all fresh vegetables1 but which is specially present in the potato4 ,it has often been pointed out that there is really no excuse for scurvy now-a-days1 for potatoes1 cabbages1 turnips1 and carrots can be pressed into a very small space1 and yet carry their potash about with them4 ,indeed1 this process has lately been carried to great perfection4 ,other vegetables are less actually nutritious than the potato1 and the palate grows sooner tired of them1 but yet one hundred pounds of potatoes contain barely as much nitrogenous matter1--that is to say1 positive nourishment1--as thirteen pounds of wheat4 ,as the wholesomeness and digestibility of vegetables depend much on how they are cooked1 it is perhaps useless to enter here into a longer explanation why vegetables1 though they constitute the entire food of animals whose flesh contains the highest forms of nourishment1 will not1 of themselves1 supply man with the food he requires to keep his muscles strong and vigorous4 ,in the countries where the inhabitants are compelled by the necessities of the climate to live chiefly on them1 ,nature is so bountiful that she does not call upon man to cultivate the ground as we are obliged to do4 ,therefore1 it stands to reason that in a climate where severe manual labour is necessary to produce food1 a diet of a muscle-relaxing1 fat-forming nature is a very poor economy4 ,,part ,,ii4 ,,the ,,best ,,modes ,,of ,,preparing ,,some ,,sorts ,,of ,,food ,,for ,,use1 ,,with ,a ,,simple ,,explanation ,,of ,,their ,,respective ,,actions4 ,,part ,,ii4 ,,remarks4 ,the very first principle of cooking is cleanliness4 ,no skill or flavouring can make up for the lack of it1 and if it be present1 there is good hope of every other culinary virtue4 ,but cleanliness is an elastic term1 and ,i wish it to be clearly understood that ,i would fain stretch its interpretation to the utmost limit4 ,even the sacred frying-pan would ,i ruthlessly scour1 all unheeding the old-fashioned1 and1 let us add1 dirty axiom1 that it should be left with the fat in it4 ,it is quite true that the fat which has been used to fry potatoes1 or fritters1 or anything except fish1 may be poured out of the saucepan into a daintily clean basin or empty jam-pot and used again and again1 but ,i would have every cook taught to clean her frying-pan thoroughly every time she uses it4 ,the fat in which fish has been fried should never be used for frying anything else1 and an economical housewife will take care that the fish is fried last4 ,i have sometimes been met with the assertion that it is too much trouble and takes too much time to keep everything in a kitchen as clean as it ought to be kept4 ,to that ,i reply1 that if a girl be brought up by a tidy mother or mistress to understand and appreciate the value and beauty of cleanliness1 she will never be able to endure any other state of things4 ,i declare that ,i have observed greater dirt among the saucepans and a deeper shade of black over everything in kitchens where neither poverty nor want of time could be pleaded in excuse1 than in a place where one pair of willing hands has had to keep the living-room of half a dozen people tidy4 ,i am not sure that ,i do not detest surface-cleanliness1 with its deceptive whiteness1 more than genuine honest dirt about which there is no concealment1 for the sham snowiness is apt to throw youthful housekeepers off their guard4 ,for their encouragement ,i can assure them that it is not such a superhuman task as it appears to see that everything under their sceptre is kept scrupulously clean1 for the advantages of cleanliness over dirt are as patent as light over darkness1 and ninety-nine servants out of a hundred will soon come to acknowledge this themselves4 ,people of all ranks and classes differ in this respect according to their instincts and training1 and in many a fine house a dirty cook would find things more after her own heart than in a two-roomed cottage4 ,let us1 for a moment1 take the case of a girl who has been a housemaid or nursemaid in a small family1 and who marries a decent young artisan earning from #aes4 to #bes4 a week4 ,here is enough money for comfort if the wife knows how to manage and is clean and tidy in herself4 ,how far will that1 or twice that sum1 go if she be an ignorant slattern8 ,the chances are that such a girl knows absolutely nothing of cooking1 and that she will have to arrive at even the smallest amount of such knowledge through a long series of unpalatable meals and wasted food4 ,perhaps it may be years before she attains to the production of any dish which can fairly be called wholesome or nourishing2 but surely she is not to be blamed for her ignorance4 ,she has gone straight from her school to a situation whose duties have never taken her into the kitchen1 and she finds herself at twenty-five years of age at the head of a working man's home1 with no more notion of how to manage their income comfortably than if she were an infant4 ,she has hitherto had no opportunity of learning how to cook2 but if she has been taught to be thoroughly clean and tidy in her habits and ways1 she may rest assured that half the battle is won4 ,the other half1 the ,national ,school of ,cookery at ,south ,kensington steps in to help her to win1 and it is to be hoped that in due time1 by the establishment of branch institutions all over the kingdom1 by means of lectures and demonstrations 7for cooking cannot be taught by theory71 any young woman in such a position will know where to go if she wants to learn how to cook the food her husband's wages enable her to provide4 ,but cleanliness she must teach herself1 and practise it diligently in her little kitchen1 for without it she can never be a good cook1 no matter how successful she be in the matter of bread1 or how deftly she may handle her frying or sauce pan4 ,,lesson ,v4 ,,the ,,preparations ,,of ,,flour ,,used ,,as ,,food4 ,it is well known that so far as actual nutritive power goes1 both oats and barley1 to say nothing of maize1 rye1 the millets1 and rice1 contain as much 7oats1 indeed1 more7 valuable material for the maintenance of the human body as wheat does2 that is to say1 they all contain certain proportions of starch1 protein1 or the nutritive ingredient1 represented by oily or fatty matter1 besides sundry saline particles4 ,all these are indispensable to the building up of the human body4 ,why then do we find wheat more cultivated and used in greater quantities by all the civilized nations than any of the other cereals8 ,the only reason can be that wheaten flour alone1 of all these farinaceous foods1 will make fermented bread4 ,i used at one time to think that bread-making must be the very simplest thing in the world1 but when ,i came to be face to face with flour and yeast ,i found it was not so easy a matter to produce light good bread4 ,these pages are not written therefore for the instruction of bakers or those fortunate people who have learned1 at an age and under circumstances when learning is easy1 how to make bread1 but with the hope that they may prove ever so slight a practical help to those who are as profoundly ignorant as ,i was1 not so long ago4 ,first of all the yeast has to be thought of4 ,when near a town this thorn in the path of the anxious bread-maker is removed by the facility with which brewer's or ready-prepared baker's yeast can be procured4 ,brewer's yeast is simply the scum which rises to the top of the malt during the process of fermentation1 and is of no use to the beer1 or wort4 ,the brewer is therefore glad to dispose of it1 and the baker takes it off his hands4 ,but he does not put it raw into his bread4 ,a special ferment is first obtained from mealy potatoes1 by boiling them in water1 mashing them1 and allowing them to cool to a temperature of about #hj of ,fahrenheit4 ,yeast is then added to them1 and in a few hours they will get into a state of active fermentation with a sort of cauliflower head4 ,water should now be gently poured into this mixture1 and it must be strained1 after which a very little flour should be lightly sprinkled into it4 ,in five or six hours the whole will rise to a fine sponge1 when more water must be added1 and a little salt1 and then the yeast is fit to use4 ,it may now be bottled1 but it is not advisable to make a great deal at a time4 ,on account of the fermentation1 yeast-bottles can only be kept from bursting by plugging their mouths with soft paper or cotton-wool4 ,if neither the fresh yeast from the brewers 7which will not keep by itself for more than a day or two7 or the dried yeast1 which keeps a long time1 can be obtained1 then it will be necessary to boil some dried hops in a very little water1 put some sugar to them1 and add this compound when in a state of fermentation to the mashed potatoes instead of the brewer's yeast4 ,having procured or made the yeast1 the next thing is to put the flour in a large tin milk-pan1 make a hole in the centre of the soft white heap1 and pour in a small cupful of yeast mixed with a large cupful of warm water4 ,a little of the flour is stirred in to this liquid so as to make it rather more of a paste1 and then the whole is covered with a clean cloth and set to work during the whole night4 ,great care must be taken not to put it in too hot a place1 as it will become dry and crusty in the morning1 and make heavy1 tasteless bread4 ,on the other hand1 if the temperature be too low1 the flour will be dull and cold1 the mixture will not have penetrated it1 and the bread will not rise4 ,but1 supposing that the happy medium has been hit1 and that the gas contained in the yeast has made its subtle way among the flour1 then more water must be added by degrees and a very little salt4 ,the whole mass should then be lightly kneaded by very clean hands1 and when it has attained a certain elastic consistency it should be quickly cut into separate portions1 dropped into well-floured tins 7only half fill them with the dough71 which must instantly be placed in the oven4 ,the oven should be fairly hot to begin with1 and its heat increased until the end4 ,from time to time a clean knife should be thrust into the loaf2 if it comes out with a tarnish on the bright blade1 as though it had been breathed upon1 then the bread is not sufficiently baked1 and there is no use in taking it out of the oven until the knife can be readily drawn out with a perfectly undimmed surface4 ,the real art of bread-making consists in the dough not being too stiff at first to resist the entrance of the gas1 nor too soft to permit the gas to pass through it quickly4 ,it should also be sufficiently kneaded so that the gas may become well distributed throughout the mass1 yet not over-kneaded1 in which case a good deal of it will have escaped1 and the bread will consequently be heavy4 ,the difference between biscuits and bread is that there is no yeast in the composition of the former2 they are also for the most part unleavened and very highly dried4 ,though valuable as a temporary substitute for bread1 they can never be so wholesome from the absence of the water which is absorbed in the process of drying or baking4 ,biscuits should invariably be taken with ever so small a quantity of liquid1 for by themselves they either absorb too much fluid from the juices of the stomach1 and so produce indigestion1 or they fail to obtain as much fluid as they require from those sources1 and therefore remain a long time undigested4 ,cakes are made by the substitution of soda or carbonic acid for yeast1 and the addition of sugar1 fat1 and eggs4 ,of all these materials the sugar is the wholesomest and should be the most freely used4 ,the other ingredients are more difficult of digestion4 ,before leaving the subject of bread1 it will be as well to notice the extraordinary difference between batches of bread4 ,it is no reason because a household receives excellent bread one week--either from the baker's shop or its own kitchen--that the next week's baking will not be heavy and bad4 ,this is because we trust so entirely to the good old rule of thumb in our kitchens1 scorning to make the temperature of the oven a certainty by means of a thermometer4 ,half1 and more than half1 of the hard baking and the over or under boiling and frying with which we are afflicted arises from the extraordinary prejudice which exists against the daily use of this indispensable little instrument4 ,it is the only reliable way of making sure of the oven1 or the water1 or the fat being of exactly the right temperature2 and yet what cook who 8respects herself0 would at present deign to use a thermometer1 still less even a charming little contrivance which has been invented specially for her use1 and is called a frimometer8 ,but to touch upon some of the other uses of flour4 ,we are apt to look upon macaroni as a luxury for the tables of the rich1 when it is really so low in price that it is within the reach of those who have any choice at all as to what they shall eat4 ,it is considered a foreign composition1 unworthy to take a place among the more solid flesh-formers dear to the heart of the ,englishman2 but if he understood what it is made from1 he might perhaps modify his contempt for one of the most nourishing and wholesome forms in which he can eat wheaten flour4 ,maccaroni1 then1 is made by the simplest imaginable process1 and there is no reason in the world why its manufacture should not be carried on in ,england1 as indeed it is4 ,the finest wheaten flour is made into a peculiar smooth paste or dough1 and afterwards driven through a cylinder which cuts it into ribands or tubes4 ,wheaten flour contains1 of course1 precisely the same amount of nourishment1 whether it be made into bread or into the pasta from which macaroni is cut2 but whereas bread can scarcely be cooked again 7except as toast71 there are many ways in which macaroni can be dressed so as to form a delicious food4 ,simply boiled with milk and a little sugar it would be a wholesome and agreeable change in children's diet1 and we must remember that for children who are born with soft bones--that is1 with too little phosphate of lime in their bones--a diet of wheat will tend1 more than anything else1 to form this deposit4 ,when ,i say wheat1 ,i include macaroni therefore1 and semolina1 which is the very small grain left after grinding wheat in a coarse mill4 ,such a mode of grinding gives but a small proportion of flour1 and a certain larger residue of coarse flour or fine grains1 and these grains are known as 8semolina40 ,they are chiefly obtained from the most nourishing of all the wheats1 the red-grained wheat grown in ,southern ,europe1 and especially in the ,danubian ,principalities4 ,,lesson ,,vi4 ,,potatoes ,,and ,,other ,,vegetables4 ,although it is rather a departure from the plan ,i pursued in the ,first ,part to speak in this lesson about potatoes1 it is natural to me to do it1 because1 so far as my practical experience--which was once in-experience1 remember--goes1 it is almost as difficult to boil a potato properly as to bake good bread4 ,in the first place1 we have one of the highest chemical authorities on our side for saying that on both wholesome and economical grounds potatoes should always be boiled in their skins4 ,they do not look quite so well if they have to be peeled afterwards1 but not only is the actual material wasted by the process of peeling--especially where there are no pigs to eat the peelings--but a great deal of the starchy substance1 which is exactly what makes the potato so nourishing1 is wasted4 ,in roasted or baked potatoes1 which have been peeled before cooking1 the loss in weight from the skin and the drying is actually a quarter of the whole4 ,it is curious to learn that potatoes which come to us from the bog lands of ,ireland are far less watery and produce more starch than those which are grown on the dry1 light soils of ,yorkshire4 ,this innate dryness is one reason why the ,irish potato contains so much more nourishment than an ,english one4 ,the potato was first grown by ,sir ,walter ,raleigh in his garden at ,youghal1 in ,ireland1 and it is not much more than a century since its cultivation became general in ,england4 ,the first potatoes grown in ,england came from a ship wrecked on ,formby ,point1 near ,liverpool4 ,the tubers were planted by chance on the soil close by1 which closely resembled that of ,ireland1 and no part of their new home has ever suited them better4 ,the potato1 though1 as we have seen1 of a certain appreciable value as a flesh-former1 is not to be depended upon entirely as a force-producer1 for the proportion of water in #ajj parts is #geb4 ,next to water1 its peculiarly nourishing starch is most largely represented1 and stands at #aee4 ,from this starch also a pasta can be made which gives a fair macaroni1 but of course the advantages of the wheaten paste would be absent4 ,in ordinary kitchens where a steamer is used1 the process of boiling a potato is easy enough1 and that dry mealiness dear to the heart of a good cook can be reckoned upon4 ,but if only a saucepan be attainable1 then1 having well washed--nay1 even scrubbed and brushed--your potatoes1 put them into it with cold water2 add a little salt when the water boils2 at first it should only be allowed to boil slowly1 but it may boil as fast as you like during the last five minutes4 ,some varieties of the potato can be cooked much sooner than others2 there is often the difference between them of twenty minutes and three-quarters of an hour4 ,from time to time they must be tried with a fork1 which should go in freely when they are sufficiently boiled4 ,the potatoes being now cooked enough1 pour off as much water as can possibly be got rid of4 ,sprinkle a little more salt1 take off the lid of the saucepan and set it on again in such a manner that the steam can escape1 but keep the saucepan for a few minutes on the oven to dry the potatoes thoroughly4 ,the saucepan should be lightly shaken from time to time to prevent the potatoes sticking to the bottom4 ,then serve either in a wooden bowl1 with a clean cloth or a napkin1 or else in a dish with perforated holes in the cover so that the vapour can escape4 ,if potatoes form the principal diet of a family1 eggs should be added where practicable1 and milk1 or dripping1 or any sort of fat1 as the potato itself is very deficient in albumen and fat4 ,next to the potato1 the cabbage is the most widely cultivated of all vegetables1 yet it is far inferior to the others in the nutriment contained in a given weight4 ,in point of value the parsnip ranks next to the potato as a flesh-former1 and possesses six per cent4 of carbon4 ,parsnips are followed closely by carrots and onions1 though the latter are principally used as a relish4 ,but all vegetables are chiefly valuable for their anti-scorbutic properties1 and as a flavouring for insipid food4 ,lentils are particularly nutritious1 and the food sold under the name of 8,revalenta ,arabica0 is only the meal of the lentil after being freed from its indigestible outer skin4 ,in peas we find a great deal of caseine2 hence1 in an analytical table they rank next to wheat as a flesh and force-producer1 whereas we should find the other vegetables relegated under the head of 8,non-nitrogenous substances10 that is to say1 substances which1 taken by themselves without milk1 butter1 or fat of any kind1 are absolutely incapable of producing either flesh or force4 ,in ,ireland it is the milk taken with the potato which makes it so nourishing4 ,if potatoes were eaten quite alone1 the consumer would need to eat an enormous quantity to keep himself in any sort of condition1 and he would never be able to do any amount of real hard work in the open air4 ,it is quite certain that sufficient value is not attached in ,england to the importance of the cultivation of vegetables4 ,if a few leeks or sweet herbs1 a row of potatoes1 or a dozen cabbages1 were planted in many a tiny spot beside a cottage door1 which spot at present is but a puddle or a down-trodden mass of caked mud1 the hungry mouths inside would stand a better chance of being filled4 ,when a poor woman has to go with her pence in her hand and buy every onion or potato or sprig of thyme which she wants to improve the flavour of the family meal1 the chances are she will look upon them--and very justly1 too--as luxurious additions to the bill of fare1 and do without them as much as possible4 ,all over ,france the poorest peasant has her 8flavourings0 close to her hand2 and it is difficult to over-estimate the boon which a few common vegetables and herbs are1 when used to assist in converting a scrap of bacon1 a bone1 and a little pea-meal into a warm1 comforting1 nourishing mid-day meal4 ,mr4 ,ruskin attaches great importance to the cultivation of the land--the making the best of every inch of our own native soil2 but ,i fear he wants to try experiments1 and grow all sorts of curious things in every conceivable part of the ,british ,isles1 whereas ,i only confine my ambition to those little shabby nooks and odds and ends of ground which lurk around stray cottages1 whose occupants evidently prefer sitting in the tap-room of the 8,chequers0 to digging for an hour in a scrap of garden morning and evening4 ,perhaps1 if1 in time1 we are able to show the working man how enormously his culinary comfort can be increased by a little vegetable flavouring1 he may take to planting and cultivating even a square rood of ground1 if that be all he can call his own4 ,i say nothing of the gain to health1 for that is so easily ascertained by his own or his neighbour's experience4 ,the seeds of common vegetables are very easily procured--in fact1 they can almost be had for the asking2 and1 at all events1 one day's beer-money would go a long way towards keeping a family in onions for a year if laid out in seed4 ,a little soup or stew thus flavoured without extra expense1 would surely be a vast gain on the hunch of dry bread and mug of weak1 cold coffee1 which ,i have often seen a labourer eating for his dinner4 ,then there only remains the trouble to be considered2 and a lazy man will have to make twice as much exertion in the long run to keep body and soul together4 ,i repeat3 it is not actual money which is absolutely wanting in such cases4 ,it is that the few pence are generally laid out in the most improvident way--in a way which becomes gross extravagance when it is contrasted with what the same pittance would produce if properly managed4 ,i have no hope of this little book1 or any other book1 great or small1 working a miraculous and thorough reform1 and converting every cottage in the country into a smiling abode of peace and plenty4 ,what ,i do aim at and look forward to is1 first1 to arouse attention to the subject in those whose social rank is above that of the hand-to-mouth working man2 and next1 to induce rich people to take as much trouble and spend as much money in providing their servants and workmen with the opportunity of learning how to cook their food1 as they now do in teaching them and their children to read and write4 ,mr4 ,ruskin1 in his 8,fors ,clavigera10 insists very strongly that in his model farm1 his land bought out of the proceeds of the 8,st4 ,george's ,fund10 every girl shall be taught 8at a proper age to cook all ordinary food exquisitely40 ,but ,i would go a step beyond1 and ,i would have every boy taught also4 ,i don't know about the cooking exquisitely6 ,i should be satisfied1 at first1 if every boy and girl could be taught to cook even a little4 ,for a knowledge of cooking1 at all events in its simplest form1 appears to me to be every whit as necessary for a man1 if he is to move about the world at all1 as it is for a girl4 ,if the man does not move about1 and is fortunate enough to marry a girl trained and taught cooking either at ,mr4 ,ruskin's model farm or at the ,national ,school of ,cookery1 then he may forget1 or lay aside1 his culinary lore as quickly as he pleases6 ,but if he emigrates1 or enlists as a soldier1 or does any of the hundred and one things which men are obliged to do in these busy days1 the chances are that he will find ever so slight a knowledge of cooking a very great boon and blessing to him4 ,one thing is very puzzling to me1 though ,i know not why it should be brought in propos of vegetables4 ,it is the staunch conservatism1 where food or cooking is concerned1 of the working classes of ,england4 ,in politics they are very often to a man1 nay1 even to a woman1 advanced ,liberals1 to say the least of it4 ,they are much more ready to advocate and adopt sweeping changes in things of which1 after all1 they cannot know a great deal2 but they distrust anyone who suggests that they could improve the matters which lie close around them1 and with which they are at least familiar4 8,my ould grandmother did it that way1 and she lived till ninety10 is an unanswerable argument against making the scrap of meat into a pot-au-feu1 and adding vegetables and meat to it1 instead of frizzling and burning the same scanty portion of meat in a greasy frying-pan over a smoky fire4 ,i feel persuaded1 therefore1 that the great reform in cooking and economic management of our food-material must begin in the classes above the working man4 ,when he sees and learns by experience that an ounce of meat1 properly dressed1 will go further in actual nourishment and strength-imparting qualities than two ounces heated in his old barbarous method1 he may perhaps be induced to consent to his 8missis0 or the 8gals0 being 8learned0 how to cook4 ,my own private hope--and ,i would almost say expectation--is1 that an increase in the artisan's or the working man's comfort at home1--such comfort as better cooked food and more of it must surely bring1--will lead to his wages finding their way oftener into the butcher's shop than the public-house4 ,a well-fed man is very seldom a drunkard2 and it may be that in the spread and development of an attempt at culinary reform1 two birds may1 all unconsciously1 be killed with one stone4 ,in improving cottage comforts we may perhaps strike a great blow 7with our frying-pans and soup-kettles67 at the shining glasses and quart pots of the gin-palace4 ,god grant that it be so6 ,,lesson ,,vii4 ,,modes ,,of ,,preparing ,,broth ,,or ,,soup ,,from ,,beef4 ,the reason ,i have placed this subject in a separate lesson is because of its enormous importance in the sick-room4 ,more delicate children are reared into health and strength1 and more lives are saved1 by good beef-tea than most of us have any idea of4 ,this is the more extraordinary when we remember that even the strongest and best beef-tea contains an almost infinitesimal amount of actual nourishment4 ,so that it is not to its capacity for supplying to the wasted and feeble human frame either strength or nourishment that we must attribute its wonderful efficacy4 ,if the strongest beef-tea be analysed1 the meat would be found to have lost in the process of turning into liquid nearly all its albumen1 fibrine1 and caseine4 ,in other words1 it would have parted with its most important constituents2 and we might suppose it therefore to be valueless to the human system4 ,but ,experience steps in where ,chemistry stops and shakes her head1 and ,experience declares that well-made beef-tea possesses a reparative power on a weakened digestion which nothing else in the world except milk can come near4 ,it may not actually contain all the elements of nourishment within itself1 as milk does1 but it is a wonderful assimilator4 ,it soothes and repairs and collects the enfeebled organs and juices1 and enables them to return to their proper functions4 ,therefore we say that beef-tea is nourishing1 when it is not in the least nourishing in itself1 but it has the power of making ready for other substances to nourish4 ,although every sort of meat can be made into soup or broth1 beef makes the best and wholesomest4 ,for one reason of this we must search in the fibrine1 which holds more red juice than that of any other meat1 and it is this red juice which we particularly want4 ,everybody knows that the leanest meat is the best for soup-making2 the least particle of fat is out of place in broth or soups1 and indeed renders it absolutely unwholesome as well as nauseous4 ,in many emergencies beef-tea has to be prepared at almost a moment's notice1 and then ,i would recommend that the meat be as thoroughly freed from fat as possible1 chopped finely1 and soaked in its own weight of cold water for ten minutes or so4 ,then heat it slowly to boiling-point1 let it boil for two or three minutes1 and you will have a strong and delicious beef-tea1 better than can be obtained by boiling in the ordinary way for many hours4 ,another method is to place the finely-chopped meat in a large1 clean jam-pot1 with a little water and a pinch of salt4 ,the mouth of the vessel should be closed by means of a tightly-tied bladder or a thick paste all over it1 as if it were a meat-pudding1 and placed in a saucepan half full of cold water4 ,the saucepan should then be covered with its own lid and set upon or by the side of the fire to simmer slowly4 ,if there be no time to let the beef-tea or essence in the jam-pot get cold1 it must be skimmed as clearly as possible1 and any extra globules of fat floating on the surface removed by a careful application of white blotting paper4 ,some people do not add any water at all to the cut-up beef1 under the impression that the essence must be stronger without the addition4 ,but my individual experience teaches me that whereas the difference in nutritive value is very slight1 sick people do not like the beef-tea thus prepared1 and will not take it so readily as when it has been made after the following manner4 ,it is necessary1 however1 to state that the process ,i am now going to describe cannot be hurried1 and that it is therefore imperative to have one day's notice when beef-tea made in this way is required4 ,take two or three pounds of the leanest beef to be procured1 add one quart of water1 and two shank bones of mutton1 which bones should be well washed before using4 ,a pinch of salt1 and another pinch of grated lemon-peel1 or a tiny bit of the peel itself1 are all ,i should add1 for a sick person's throat is generally too tender for pepper1 and his palate too delicate for anything like flavouring or sauces4 ,the lean meat and shank bones are to be put into a saucepan1 whose white enamelled lining should be daintily and scrupulously clean1 and the saucepan1 with its lid fitting very close indeed1 set by the side of a moderately good fire to simmer slowly the whole day long4 ,it must never approach boiling1 and yet the action of fire upon its contents should be decided1 though gentle4 ,at the last moment before shutting up for the night1 strain the soup through a fine hair sieve into a clean basin1 and in the morning you should find1 beneath a preserving scum of fat1 about a pint of clear1 solid1 beef jelly1 which can either be eaten cold1 or warmed1 without the addition of one drop of water1 into a delicious clean-tasting cup of beef-tea4 ,in cold weather double the quantity may be made1 but in that case it should be poured into two basins1 and the fat left to hermetically seal the second basin until it be wanted in its turn for use4 ,in hot weather the beef-tea should be prepared fresh every day for the next day's consumption4 ,i have seen beef-tea rendered perfectly colourless and white by repeated strainings through fine muslin sieves1 but ,i do not know that this is any particular advantage4 ,in some cases1 such as the terrible state of the intestines after typhoid fever1 beef-tea is no use as a reparative agent when prepared after the above fashion4 ,the meat should then not be cooked at all1 only cut up as lean and fresh and full of red juice as possible1 and soaked for ten or twelve hours in a small quantity of cold water4 ,this will give a liquid which has never been submitted to the action of fire1 and which looks and tastes like the gravy of under-done meat1 but it is of the highest reparative value to the lacerated stomach4 ,a judicious nurse will take care that her patient never sees this sort of beef-tea until he has learned to drink it freely1 which he will do if not at first disgusted by the sight of the clear red fluid4 ,i have dwelt thus minutely on the value and process of making beef-tea because ,i believe it to be the strongest resource of the culinary art in sickness2 but the proper preparation of soup is of great importance in all households4 ,it is at once an economical1 wholesome and savoury form of nourishing food2 yet1 to many a plain cook1 soup1 unless she has costly materials bought expressly for its manufacture1 merely means greasy hot water flavoured by a soupon of plate-washing6 ,no soup should be used the same day it is made1 on account of the impossibility of removing all the scum and fat4 ,but1 supposing that a scrag end of mutton1 or the trimmings of cutlets1 or bones with a fair amount of meat left on1 should have been simmering gently all the preceding day1 and allowed to get cold at night1 so that the layer of fat 7which can be used for other purposes7 is easily removed1 then we should proceed this way1 always imagining it is wanted for the use of a poor and economical family4 ,to the clear1 fat-free soup1 add half a tea-cupful of well-washed pearl barley or rice--and we must remember that the inferior and cheaper kind of rice does just as well as the best for this purpose--a few cleaned and cut-up vegetables1 a little onion1 pepper and salt1 a sprig or two of herbs tied together1 a little pea-meal1 any cold potatoes left from yesterday's dinner1 and the whole allowed to simmer together1 without removing the remains of the meat and bones1 until it be wanted1 great care being taken that it should not boil away4 ,the result of this simmering ought to be a nice1 warm1 comforting1 clean-tasting basin of broth1 very different to the weak1 greasy liquid which results from a hastier preparation4 ,it is a very common mistake with all cooks1 except the very best1 to put too much water in the first instance to their materials for soup1 and so produce a good deal of weak1 tasteless meat-tea1 instead of a smaller quantity of strong1 good soup4 ,english people do not use macaroni half so freely as they might1 for1 apart from its nutritive value as offering such a pure form of wheaten flour1 it is exceedingly cheap4 ,boiled with ever so little soup made in the way just described 7before the addition of the rice or vegetables71 it would form an excellent and wholesome change to the smallest bill of fare4 ,all cooks prefer beef to anything else for making soup1 but a very nourishing and delicate broth can be made from two parts of veal and one part of lean beef1 or from chicken or rabbit1 though the latter is not advisable for sick people4 ,everyone knows the value of good1 fat-cleared mutton broth such as ,i have just described1 but there is a good deal of truth in the instinct which leads the sick person to prefer beef-tea1 and the healthy labouring man to buy a couple of pounds of beef instead of double the quantity of any other meat4 ,beef contains most iron1 which in the state of oxide is one of the chief constituents of the blood3 and we must bear in mind that the nutriment of all carnivorous animals is derived from the blood originally4 ,a diet1 therefore1 to be strengthening1 must contain a certain amount of iron1 and we do not obtain this so readily from any other meat as from beef4 ,,lesson ,,viii4 ,,fuel ,,and ,,fire4 ,the object of cooking is to render the flesh of animals and vegetable substances easier of mastication1 and therefore easier of digestion4 ,how this object is carried out in most ,english households let each declare for himself4 ,and yet there is nothing in the world so simple and so certain in its effects as the action of fire upon food1 if only we can learn to apply and to regulate that action according to certain laws4 ,i propose therefore to devote a short lesson to each of the simplest processes of cooking4 ,but before doing so ,i may be permitted here to say a word or two about the management of the kitchen fire4 ,few ladies1 or even those servants whose duties lie entirely upstairs1 and who see a bright or blazing fire every time they go into the kitchen1 can have any idea how difficult a thing it is to keep up a good fire all day4 ,when ,i say a 8good fire10 ,i mean a good cooking fire--a clear1 bright fire1 which1 without being a roaring furnace1 shall yet be equal to any emergency4 ,it can only be managed by constant small additions of coal1 unless a great deal of cooking is imminent1 and then of course more fuel must be added each time4 ,but a really good cook will so contrive as to have a small1 bright fire all day long1 even when she is not actually cooking4 ,whenever ,i hear that a bit of bread cannot be toasted1 or a cup of soup warmed1 because the fire has 8just been made up10 ,i know what has happened4 ,the cook has allowed the fire to burn down to the last bar of the grate1 and then she has emptied half a coal-scuttle on the few live embers4 ,for about two hours1 therefore1 it is useless to expect any cooking from that fire1 and it will be fortunate if no sudden call be made for its services4 ,now1 if the cook had watched her fire1 and had kept it supplied from time to time with small portions of coal1 this emergency would never have arisen4 ,she could screw up her fireplace to very small dimensions and yet keep an excellent fire1 fit for any unexpected demand4 ,it is doubtful whether1 when she acts on the momentary impulse of trying to make up for lost time1 a cook has any idea of the mischief she does4 ,letting the kitchen fire1 burn low and then flinging on coals1 is not only an inconvenient1 but it is a recklessly extravagant proceeding4 ,the fire and fireplace have become thoroughly chilled1 and the fresh fuel evaporates almost entirely in the form of smoke for a long time before the remainder is in a state to use for cooking4 ,if this rule of preventing waste by constantly adding small portions of fuel were better understood and acted upon1 cooks would not have such a bitter prejudice against the use of coke4 ,it is1 of course1 absolutely valueless to a half-extinguished fire1 especially when1 instead of being put on in small quantities1 it is flung on in shovelfuls4 ,but to an already clear1 well-established fire1 nothing is so satisfactory or economical an addition as a few lumps of coke judiciously put on4 ,if frying or broiling is to be done1 the fire cannot be too clear1 and coke1 if it be properly managed1 will give the clearest fire in the world1 but then it requires a certain amount of intelligence and willingness on the part of the cook to use it to advantage4 ,when ,i use the word cook1 ,i do not mean only a regular servant1 but any young woman who is acting1 for perhaps the first time in her life1 the part of cook in her husband's1 or father's1 or brother's house4 ,she will find her culinary labours much simplified if she keeps the needs of the kitchen fire always before her mind4 ,i don't mean to say that such a one may not what is called 8make up0 her fire1 and leave it untouched between breakfast and dinner1 and dinner and tea1 because the chances are a hundred to one she will not need it1 and her duties probably call her elsewhere2 but a cook in a house where there is a family1 and perhaps sickness1 or even very young children1 ought never for one moment to forget or neglect her fire all through the day4 ,i could give her scientific reasons about radiation1 and use many long words to prove to her why1 if she keeps her grate well blacked and polished1 she will find her fire burns better and gives out more heat1 but ,i prefer to appeal to everybody's experience and common sense if such warmth and brilliancy be not the result of a beautifully clean and shining fireplace4 ,to ,sir ,benjamin ,thomson 7an ,english knight and an ,american by birth1 but better known to us by his ,bavarian title of ,count ,rumford7 we owe perhaps more improvement in the economical management of fuel and the construction of stoves and fireplaces1 with due regard to that economy1 than to anyone else in modern times4 ,he was induced to turn his attention to the subject by the scarcity of fuel on the ,continent1 and his ideas naturally expanded and enlarged themselves by constant practice4 ,at last he succeeded in inventing a method of heating houses and of cooking food which did not require much more than half the usual amount of fuel1 and this economy in firing became such a mania with him that the joke of the day used to be that his highest ambition was to be able to cook his own dinner by means of his neighbour's smoke4 ,however that may have been1 it is very certain that to ,count ,rumford we owe a great increase of our knowledge on such subjects1 and the reason ,i mention him particularly in this place is that he never seemed to weary of insisting on the necessity of a well-kept brightly-blacked fireplace to the due economy of the fuel used in it4 ,he explained incessantly how that kind of heat which is absorbed by either black or white surfaces is totally devoid of light1 and may almost be considered as pure1 radiant heat4 ,so that the first point to be taught1 in ever so humble a kitchen1 is that the fireplace should be exquisitely clean1 besides well and brightly blacked1 in order to give the fuel which will be used in it a fair chance of giving out1 by radiation1 every particle of its latent heat4 ,the next thing to be considered is the division and arrangement of that fuel1 beginning from even the starting-point of lighting the fire4 ,a careful housewife--careful either on her own account or her mistress's--will only use half as much wood or shavings to start her fire with as a thriftless one1 because she will take trouble to learn that there is a scientific but perfectly simple mode of laying and lighting a fire4 ,she will be told in theory1 and prove for herself by practice1 that she must thoroughly clear out her grate1 clean and brighten it up to the highest pitch1 and then place in it whatever is her lightest material1 her paper1 or dry grass1 or shavings1 whatever she has at her command4 ,next come the slender twigs or dried sprays of heather of the country1 or the neatly-cut firewood of the town4 ,unless all this is thoroughly dried over-night1 it will be worse than useless1 and it is in attention to details of this sort that true economy consists4 ,a damp bundle of wood or twigs will smoulder1 and be consumed without making any appreciable difference in the state of the fire1 whereas half the quantity1 when thoroughly dry1 will start a satisfactory blaze in a few minutes4 ,then should the cinders be thoroughly and carefully sifted2 and nowa-days ,i have no hesitation in saying this is as imperatively necessary in a palace as in a cottage1 on account of the increased price of coal4 ,no cinders should be relegated to the dusthole at all1 for everything1 except actual dust or the hard flakes 7called clinkers7 left by coke1 can be used4 ,the largest cinders may be laid lightly on the logs of the blazing sticks1 the smaller ones being thrown up1 later1 at the back4 ,cinders are the best material in the world for starting a fire1 and even small lumps of coal should only be sparingly used at first4 ,above all1 a beginner should be taught that her fire will never light or burn up if she does not take care to establish a free circulation of air beneath4 ,i am1 of course1 speaking of ordinary open fireplaces4 ,stoves and other patent fireplaces are generally constructed on entirely different principles1 and require special instruction for the management of their fuel1 but this is easily obtained from the person who fixes them4 ,taking it for granted1 then1 that our ideal cook thoroughly understands how to light her fire1 and is impressed with a due sense of the importance of a well-blacked shining kitchen-range1 or humbler tiny fireplace--the rule is the same everywhere--and that she is one of those capable people who would disdain to shelter themselves behind the excuse of an ill-tempered chimney or a 8bad draught10 we will presently proceed to see what she should cook upon her fire4 ,,part ,,iii4 ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,diet ,,and ,a ,,few ,,cheap ,,and ,,easy ,,recipes4 ,,part ,,iii4 ,,remarks4 ,the first principle of diet is that the stomach should not be asked to receive more than it can digest2 and the second1 that the food should be suitable to each person's digestion4 ,we are very tyrannical to our stomachs1 and they1 in their turn1 generally retaliate upon us sooner or later4 ,if a certain form of diet agrees with one individual1 it is no absolute rule that it should suit our neighbour2 but we too often insist on feeding others according to what we imagine agrees with ourselves4 ,especially is this the case with children's diet1 and few grown-up people make allowance for the healthy appetite of girls or boys who are still growing1 or understand how much food-material the rapidly-expanding frame requires4 ,my own firm conviction is that no schoolboy ever gets as much nourishing food as he requires1 and that is the secret why boys of fourteen or fifteen years old scarcely ever look anything but thin and pinched4 ,the general remark is1 8,oh1 they are growing so fast60 ,so they are1 and that is the exact reason why their food should be particularly nourishing1 more so than at any other time of their lives4 ,instead of that1 an ,english schoolboy gets two slops and only one nourishing meal a day1 during the years of his life when he requires the greatest amount of nutritive food4 ,think of the actual force-producers contained in a schoolboy's breakfast and tea 7or supper71 and think of the amount of exercise his restless young limbs will take or have taken in the course of the day4 ,after a game of football or cricket1 or a paper-chase1 a boy sits down generally--,i might almost say invariably--to a meal of weak tea1 skim milk1 bread1 and perhaps cheese or a little butter4 ,i am not1 of course1 speaking of cheap schools4 ,when a person undertakes to feed and teach and board a boy for a sum between #bjl4 and #ejl41 or even more1 it is well-nigh impossible1 at the present scale of prices1 to give him better1 or even as good food as what ,i have described2 but it does appear to me a shame that at the more expensive schools to which boys are sent by parents of fairly good means1 the scale of diet should be kept so low1 and the proportion of really nutritive food so small4 ,perhaps the only exceptions to this rule are to be found in the liberal tables of some of our best public schools1 but even there the boys1 without being absolutely starved1 do not get enough to eat1 and two meals out of the three will probably contain insufficient nourishment4 ,in girls' schools1 ,i fancy1 this evil is still more decided1 and a poor diet whilst a child is growing rapidly is the root of delicate constitutions1 feeble frames1 and general 8breaking down0 at the outset of life4 ,there should also be the greatest imaginable difference in diet between different classes of workers2 for although a certain section of the community monopolizes to itself the honourable title of the 8,working ,class10 the term embraces many more thousands than the labouring man imagines4 ,the popular idea1 for instance1 among the poor and ignorant masses who work for their daily bread1 is that the ,lady who rules over this country leads a blissful life of idleness1 seated on her throne all day1 orb and sceptre in hand1 and gazing placidly before her into space4 ,now1 ,i believe it to be a fact that few people in all ,her wide dominions work really harder1 in every sense of the word1 than our dear and good ,queen4 ,at the head of the workers her ,majesty may well claim to take her place1 and then will come a crowd of men and women who wear good clothes and live in fine1 or at all events decent1 houses1 and yet work absolutely harder1 all the year round1 than any day labourer in the ,midland ,counties4 ,the diet for work of this nature must necessarily be very different to that required by the man who exercises his muscles in the open air1 and whose appetite and digestion possess far larger capacities of receiving and assimilating food than those of the poor brain worker who uses up his life-power at a much quicker rate4 ,the absence of fresh air1 and the want therefore of constantly renewed supplies of oxygen to the blood through the lungs1 prevent the man who works indoors with his head or his hands from feeling so hungry1 yet the exhaustion of his nervous system demands as urgently that it should be renewed by means of food4 ,at the same time the digestion of such a one is weaker1 and cannot manage gross substances4 ,for these workers1 then1 a diet where the cooking is so perfect1 however simple it may be1 that there shall be as little strain as possible thrown upon the gastric juices1 is of the first importance4 ,to brain-workers albumen is even more necessary than fibrine1 and raw eggs afford this in its purest form4 ,there is a popular fallacy that eggs beaten up in milk are rendered doubly nourishing1 but if the egg be fresh and good the combination is rather more fitted to hinder than to promote digestion4 ,it would be better to beat the egg up in a little brandy or wine1 and wine is the best4 ,fibrine1 in the form of meat1 should be sparingly used by those who live by their brains1 and the meat should be of the best quality1 and always very well and delicately cooked4 ,fish supplies most easily the phosphorus which is needed by such a system1 and good pure milk and cream are also very essential articles of diet4 ,but to the man who exercises his muscles in the open air a very different regimen must be prescribed4 ,the labourer instinctively stops the gaps between his scanty meals with cheese1 which is the best thing for him1 and he enriches his poor diet of potatoes with bacon4 ,some day1 when his wife has learned how to make the most of every scrap of meat1 he ought to be able to vary his food with a good drop of warm nourishing broth4 ,if only he could be persuaded to diminish his beer and increase his allowance of meat1 he would find himself in a far better condition for work4 ,the diet of our soldiers1 and even of our sailors1 appears to me--in spite of tables showing the proportions of flesh-formers and starch1 of gluten1 and heaven knows what1 swallowed daily by every soldier--to be really insufficient for a healthy man with a good appetite4 ,they may be supplied with food enough to prevent anything like actual starvation1 and even to keep them in some sort of condition1 but ,i question whether a ,british soldier ever knows what it is to feel thoroughly satisfied after his meals for one whole day4 ,it is just possible1 is it not1 that the men would be easier kept away from the canteen if they had as much as they could eat8 ,tables of food-proportions are very well in their way1 but ,i know that ,i have seen working men in ,new ,zealand1 and growing boys of eighteen and twenty years old in colonies where meat was cheap1 consume fibrine--or1 in other words1 eat plain roast meat--in quantities which would soon leave the most liberal military dietary several pounds behind4 ,it is not at all certain that1 in spite of danger and discomforts1 our soldiers do not really fare better abroad1 or in time of war1 than at home in peace4 ,in the face of a national excitement we are not so very particular as to the number of ounces of meat to be dealt out to the men who have to stand between us and ruin1 so the soldier has then a better chance of occasionally getting as much as he can eat4 ,if he could cook his own food1 he would be still better off2 and anyone who saw those good-looking ,german soldiers cooking their rations in the little tent behind the ,school of ,cookery last summer1 must remember how deftly they set about their preparations1 and how savoury was the result of a pea-sausage and a bone or two4 ,no doubt every year brings its improvements in these matters1 and if a soldier who fought under ,marlborough could see the rations and barrack accommodation of his modern brethren-in-arms1 he would indeed think they had nothing to complain of in the way of food and shelter4 ,but still there is ample room for improvement1 and ,i would endorse the suggestion often made before1 that the ,british soldier be taught to cook1 and to make the most of his rations by such cooking4 ,each man might take it in turn to try his hand over the fire1 and there might be some regimental emulation in the form of small prizes for clever contrivances to vary the food1 and so forth4 ,i am aware that the food is not nearly so monotonous as it used to be a short time since1 when all the meat eaten by soldiers was invariably boiled2 but still ,i question whether the mess dinner of the rank and file is anything like so savoury and palatable as the dinner to be had a few years ago in ,paris1 at one ,madame ,roland's1 near the ,march des ,innocents4 ,for twopence she gave you cabbage soup with a slice of bouilli 7beef7 in it1 a large piece of excellent bread1 and a glass of wine1 which it must be admitted1 however1 was rather thin4 ,some #fjj workmen used to throng daily round her table in a shed1 and yet she calculated that she gained a farthing by each guest4 ,in ,glasgow1 ,manchester1 and elsewhere1 similar public dining places have been established on the cheapest possible scale1 and found to answer very well2 but although a workman may be able to get a fairly good and nutritive dinner at such an institution1 it is not the less necessary that his wife should know how to cook his food decently for him at home4 ,,lesson ,,ix4 ,,boiling ,,and ,,stewing4 ,there is all the difference in the world between boiling meat which is to be eaten1 and meat whose juices are to be extracted in the form of soup4 ,if the meat is required as nourishment1 of course you want the juices kept in4 ,to do this it is necessary to plunge it into boiling water1 which will cause the albumen in the meat to coagulate suddenly1 and act as a plug or stopper to all the tubes of the meat1 so that the nourishment will be tightly kept in4 ,the temperature of the water should be kept at boiling-point for five minutes1 and then as much cold water must be added as will reduce the temperature to #afe4 ,if the whole be kept at this temperature for some hours1 you have all the conditions united which give to the flesh the quality best adapted for its use as food4 ,the juices are kept in the meat1 and instead of being called upon to consume an insipid mass of indigestible fibres1 we have a tender piece of meat1 from which1 when cut1 the imprisoned juices run freely4 ,if the meat be allowed to remain in the boiling water without the addition of any cold to it1 it becomes in a short time altogether cooked1 but it will be as hard as iron1 and utterly indigestible1 and therefore unwholesome4 ,if soup is to be made out of meat1 then it stands to reason we want all the juices which we can possibly extract from the meat to mix with the water4 ,therefore the meat should be put into cold water1 with a little salt and a few vegetables 7if in a poor family a few crusts of bread may be added at the last minute71 and allowed to simmer as long as possible4 ,it is undoubtedly the most economical form of nourishment which exists1 and it is an absurd prejudice to suppose that the same amount of meat is invariably more valuable to the human system if it be frizzled in a greasy frying-pan1 so that it becomes burnt outside but remains raw within1 and eaten in this state as 8good solid food10 dear to the heart 7but surely not to the stomach7 of a true ,englishman4 ,in the first place1 even a pound of meat will only feed one person in a solid form1 whereas1 if to exactly the same weight of meat be added a pint of cold water1 a few vegetables1 or even herbs1 a couple of potatoes1 a bone or two1 a scrap of bacon1 an onion--almost anything which comes handy--we have at once the pot-au-feu of the ,french peasant1 and produce a warm1 savoury1 wholesome meal for two or three persons4 ,it may be as well to mention that the scum which rises on the top of the water whilst meat is boiling is always useless and unwholesome1 and should be got rid of as completely as possible4 ,the way to help this scum to rise1 so as to be able to get rid of it1 is to keep pouring in a little cold water from time to time4 ,this will always have the effect of sending up some of the obnoxious substance to the top1 from whence it should speedily be removed4 ,stewing occupies a sort of middle position between roasting and boiling1 and must be carefully attended to1 if the meat is not to be hardened instead of softened by the process4 ,it is desirable to dip meat into boiling water for stewing as well as boiling1 unless indeed it should have been soaked before4 ,what1 for instance1 makes hashed mutton a byword of nastiness8 ,because an ignorant cook plunges her chunks of cold meat into a greasy gravy when it is at boiling-point1 thereby thoroughly and hopelessly hardening the meat1 and then serves up the mess with large pieces of half-toasted bread4 ,now1 is this way more extravagant8 ,i can answer for its being more palatable4 ,make a nice little gravy of any cold stock--and a good cook will always have a small basin or cup full of stock by her--add an onion finely shredded and fried1 a little pepper and salt1 and1 if it is to be had1 a teaspoonful of ketchup4 ,let the mixture come to boiling-point1 without boiling over1 and strain it into another saucepan4 ,if you have only one saucepan1 strain it into a basin1 quickly clean out your saucepan1 and pour the gravy back into it1 setting it aside to let it get nearly quite cold4 ,then1 and not until then1 lay in thinly-cut1 small slices of the cold meat1 and let the gravy and the meat warm thoroughly and gradually together1 without boiling1 but don't allow it to stew too long4 ,whilst it is getting ready1 have the frying-pan ready with a little boiling fat 7not that which fish has been fried in1 remember71 and put into it some small1 thin1 three-cornered pieces of bread1 which will quickly fry into a crisp toast4 ,serve these round the hash1 which1 by the way1 should not be swamped in gravy1 and ,i can answer that a certain cockney millionaire friend of mine will no longer issue this solemn warning to his family3 8,never eat 'ashes away from 'ome40 ,but to return to stewing4 ,if it be properly understood and practised1 stewed meat makes a very agreeable and palatable change from the monotonous boiling and roasting which alternate on the middle-class daily bill of fare4 ,a shoulder of mutton stewed1 ,indian fashion1 with a handful of well-washed rice1 a few ,sultana raisins1 half a dozen cloves1 and a teaspoonful of currie powder to flavour it1 makes an agreeable change4 ,some meats are far more wholesome also when stewed than when roast2 as veal1 for instance1 and many kinds of fish4 ,eels are invariably more wholesome stewed than boiled--though all fish is wholesomer boiled than fried1 for stewing is a more gradual process than boiling1 and the fat is more surely got rid of4 ,if it should ever be necessary to cook a beefsteak which has not yet had time to become tender by keeping1 then1 for the sake of the digestion of the family1 it would be better to stew it1 and this is the way it should be done4 ,the meat should first be cut into convenient1 but large-sized pieces 7all the fat having been removed7 and lightly fried on both sides in butter or clarified dripping4 ,this will make it of a nice brown colour1 and prevent the pale flabby appearance it would otherwise present4 ,then get a saucepan and put the meat into it1 with a little sliced onion1 turnips and carrots 7which are also improved by being half-fried first71 pepper and salt1 and a teaspoonful of any sauce you prefer4 ,if there is any stock1 add it1 but if not1 put in about half a pint of water1 and let it all simmer very gently for two or three hours4 ,at the last moment skim it well1 for it is odious if it be greasy2 stir in a few pinches of flour to thicken the gravy1 and let it all boil up together for a couple of minutes before serving4 ,some people are very fond of fat with all their food1 though they should bear in mind that fat affords no nourishment whatever to the human body4 ,it merely goes to make fat4 ,a stout person should therefore not eat much fat1 and a thin one should4 ,the function of fat1 as we all know1 is like starch or sugar1 to keep up the heat of the animal1 and a certain proportion is even present in healthy animal muscle2 so it does not do to buy lean meat1 although all the fat on the joint need not be sent up to table4 ,however1 it is necessary to serve a certain portion of fat with stewed steak1 but do not let it stew with the meat1 for it will only melt and rise to the surface in the scum which has to be so carefully removed4 ,rather keep the fat till the last moment1 cut it into little pieces a couple of inches long1 and put it by itself in the frying-pan or on a gridiron for a minute or two just to cook it1 and serve it in golden brown nodules on the top of the stewed meat4 ,all nice cooking--be its materials ever so simple--is more or less troublesome2 but ,i have always found 7and the experience of others bears out my own7 that bad cooks will take quite as much trouble to spoil food4 ,it is therefore a great pity that when a woman is conscious of her own deficiencies and is anxious and willing to improve by learning1 she should not have the opportunity of doing so4 ,but unfortunately cooking is not to be learned from a book1 nor from a lecture4 ,it is an art in which practical experience1 supplementing theoretical information1 alone can be of any use4 ,it is doubtless a great advantage to intelligent beginners to have the why and wherefore of everything explained to them either by voice or page1 but it is equally necessary for them to see with their own eyes and try with their own hands the result of these instructions1 for half-an-hour's practice is worth a week's theorizing1 in cooking as well as in other things4 ,,lesson ,x4 ,,baking1 ,,roasting1 ,,and ,,frying4 ,the same principle which has been advocated in boiling holds good with regard to roasting4 ,if you wish to retain all the juices in the meat1 place it close to the fire for five minutes at first1 and then remove it to a greater distance until the last five minutes1 when it should be brought near the fire again4 ,it is possible1 by this method1 to roast a joint thoroughly1 so that it shall be perfectly well cooked1 and yet1 when carved1 the imprisoned juices shall flow out readily4 ,all meat ought to be well floured and sprinkled with a pinch or two of salt before putting it to the fire1 and it should be kept constantly basted with clear dripping4 ,some things1 such as hare1 are better basted with milk2 and poultry1 or any very small joint1 is much improved by being covered with lard or oiled paper4 ,instead of larding game or poultry1 it is often preferable to bard it1 i4e4 to cover the breast with a thin slice of fat bacon1 which may be served up with it as with quails4 ,we must remember that the object in cooking is to present meat1 and indeed all food1 to the palate in an agreeable form without changing its composition more than we can help1 or losing its nutritive value4 ,raw meat1 quite apart from other objections1 is so tough that it would be impossible to masticate or digest enough of it to satisfy hunger1 whereas the application of heat is intended to force the juices to expand1 thus separating the fibres and making mastication easy and pleasant4 ,the loss of weight in roasting1 especially if the joint be a fat one1 is very considerable4 ,as much as #d lb4 #d oz4 have been lost in roasting a joint of #ae lbs4 weight in the ordinary manner4 ,although meat actually loses more of its weight by roasting than by boiling1 yet1 if no account be taken of the matters extracted1 it contains1 when roasted1 a larger proportion of nutritive elements than the larger mass of boiled meat1 and in a given weight is more nutritious4 ,meat is often baked1 and though this method maybe harmless and agreeable as a change1 it is not such a wholesome form of cooking as roasting4 ,the primitive manner of baking meat is the only one which ensures it from becoming dry and tasteless1 namely1 to enclose it in a crust of some sort4 ,the gipsies to this day bake their meat and poultry--we will not inquire how this latter item is added to the bill of fare--in a sort of mud mould or case1 covering up feathers and all2 and the ,indians and ,maoris generally cook in the same way4 ,a fowl1 or a piece of meat of any sort1 is delicious when enclosed in a flour-and-water case--dough1 in fact--and baked in the embers of a camp fire4 ,if the meat were put in the fire without this protection1 it would simply get burnt4 ,frying is the simplest1 the commonest1 and1 if properly done1 the wholesomest form of cooking food1 but it is perhaps the least understood1 and more often results in burning the outside of the meat whilst the inside is left raw4 ,to begin with1 a clear1 smokeless fire is indispensable for frying1 and it is equally necessary to have a perfectly clean frying-pan4 ,of course the best oil1 or the best fresh butter1 would offer the most perfect conditions of the fat in which anything should be fried2 but good1 pure1 clear fat1 and clarified dripping1 make capital substitutes4 ,cold meat is excellent when lightly fried and served up with yesterday's vegetables and potatoes 7also cut up and fried71 but the excellence depends entirely on the delicate yet savoury flavouring1 the clearness of the fire1 and the goodness of the fat in which the frying process is carried on4 ,it is also very important that the fat should be actually boiling4 ,here again we are met by prejudice1 for ninety-nine cooks out of a hundred will allege that they are 8respectable women0 when asked to use a frimometer or a thermometer1 and prefer to go on ascertaining the temperature of their fat by guesswork or by means of a sprig of parsley4 ,it is more economical to roast the flesh of young animals1 such as lamb1 chicken1 veal1 or pork1 because such flesh contains an undue proportion of albumen and gelatine in the tissues1 and these substances will to a great extent be lost in the boiling4 ,if ,i had to cook a dish of cutlets and potatoes1 or a tender rump-steak and potatoes1 this is the way ,i should do it1 or1 to speak quite truthfully1 those are the directions ,i should give for its being done4 ,first1 ,i must say that whenever it is practicable to use a gridiron in the place of a frying-pan1 and to broil meat instead of frying1 it should be done4 ,but1 at the same time1 ,i have tasted such excellent cutlets served out of a frying-pan1 that it shows it is not an invariable rule4 ,it is the attention to small details which makes all the difference in nice cooking1 and if persons thoroughly understand the value of these important trifles1 they learn to do the thing always that way1 and so it becomes no more trouble to them than is the slatternly method which results in grease and cinders1 heartburn and disgust4 ,well1 then1 let us imagine that we are rich enough to possess a frying-pan and a gridiron1 and that our fire1 however small1 is clear and bright1 without a film of smoke1 for it is of no use trying to fry or broil unless the fire is in a proper condition4 ,in spite of what has been said in a former place about cooking potatoes in their skins1 potatoes for frying must needs be peeled1 well washed1 and cut rapidly up with a sharp knife into thin slices4 ,again1 they should be thrown into a basin of water for a moment1 and then laid on a clean cloth1 slice by slice1 to be thoroughly dried4 ,all this time the nice1 clear fat should have been melting on the fire1 and when it is actually boiling throw in the potatoes1 keeping the frying-pan frequently moving so that they shall not stick to its bottom4 ,a couple or three minutes ought to crisp them to a beautiful golden brown colour2 then skim them swiftly out of the boiling fat1 throw them into a large1 fine wire sieve 7which would be all the better for having been warmed to receive them71 sprinkle a pinch of salt over them1 and turn them into a very hot dish1 every particle of fat having been left behind in the sieve4 ,although the potatoes have been mentioned first1 the meat should really have preceded them in the order of cooking1 as it is the easiest to keep hot4 ,if you are going to have cutlets1 trim them from the best end of a neck of mutton very neatly4 ,there is no occasion to throw away the scraps2 they should either go into the stockpot1 or1 if strict economy be necessary1 they may afterwards be made into a pudding or pie4 ,the chine-bone must be sawn off1 and the seven or eight chops 7which are all you will be able to get off a moderate-sized neck of mutton7 neatly pared1 and only about an inch of bare bone left to each cutlet for a handle4 ,the cutlets should then be sprinkled with a little salt and pepper1 and laid for a moment in a dish of oil2 then put them on the gridiron1 or into the frying-pan1 but in this latter case add a little more oil1 and broil or fry them for six or seven minutes4 ,they ought by that time to be nicely done1 and should be served hot4 ,beefsteak can be cooked exactly in the same way1 only from its larger size the gridiron is more strictly indispensable4 ,a frying-pan is a very serviceable implement in the hands of a skilful manager4 ,i trust she will make it a point of keeping it scrupulously clean1 and then she can serve up the cold vegetables left from yesterday in this fashion at a moment's notice4 ,melt a little fat or butter in your frying-pan1 shred an onion into it with a spoonful of chopped parsley1 a little salt and pepper1 and a sprig of any savoury herb or bit of lemon-peel which comes handy4 ,then cut up the vegetables--cabbage1 turnips1 carrots1 and so forth--into small pieces1 and fry the whole1 lightly tossing the contents of your frying-pan all the time1 so that they may not get into a burnt fat-soaked mass4 ,on a sudden call for a late supper1 such a dish as this forms a capital addition to the cold meat or fried bacon and eggs4 ,of all the uses1 however1 to which a housewife turns her frying-pan1 ,i suppose an omelet is the least in demand1 and yet it is at once the cheapest and easiest way in the world to cook eggs with other things4 ,all it requires is vigilance and knack4 ,don't over-beat your eggs1 just whisk them up 7three are quite enough for a manageable omelet71 whites and all1 lightly and swiftly1 beat in with them a pinch of salt1 a little pepper1 some finely-chopped parsley1 or a teaspoonful of grated cheese1 or shredded bacon1 or even shredded fish2 almost anything mixes well in an omelet1 provided it is cut fine enough4 ,have the frying-pan ready on the fire with butter enough in it to fairly cover its surface when melted1 which it should do without browning4 ,into this clear liquid butter pour the contents of your basin 7your eggs1 c471 holding the frying-pan with the left hand1 and gently stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon in the other4 ,the omelet will set almost immediately1 and then the stirring should be discontinued1 and the gentle shaking carried on incessantly3 the edges being lightly turned up with the wooden spoon every now and then4 ,if you turn your head1 or cease shaking for a moment1 the omelet will be spoiled4 ,four minutes should be quite enough to cook the inside thoroughly1 and yet leave the outside of a rich1 yellowish-brown colour1 but the time required to attain this result will entirely depend on the fire4 ,too fierce a fire will burn the omelet before it has had time to set or become thoroughly cooked1 and yet a clear brisk fire is necessary4 ,as soon as it begins to assume the shape of a small plate and the colour of a golden pippin1 take your wooden spoon once more and dexterously double it over1 serve it in an exceedingly hot dish1 and eat it whilst it is still sputtering and frothing4 ,the only things requisite in an omelet are1 presence of mind and promptness of action4 ,timidity and hesitation have ruined many an omelet1 and it is better to practise as often as may be necessary1 before serving up a failure4 ,in fritters1 the yolks of the eggs and the dissolved butter are beaten into a batter1 and the slices of fruit1 previously dipped in finely-powdered sugar1 dropped into the mixture1 to which1 by the way1 the well-whisked whites of the eggs must be added at the last moment4 ,then the slices of fruit1 with the batter adhering to them1 may be placed in the buttered frying-pan for a moment or two just to get lightly cooked1 and the pan should be kept well shaken during the process4 ,,lesson ,,xi4 ,,bacon4 ,american bacon is considerably lower in price than ,english bacon1 but it shrinks more when boiled1 and you can get a larger number of slices from a given weight of ,english bacon than can be obtained from the other4 ,pork is the great stand-by of the poor man's dietary1 by reason of its strong flavour as well as its low price1 and the relish it affords to monotonous and insipid fare4 ,the dripping from fried bacon is often preferred by children to the rancid stuff sold as butter to the poor2 and in any case the fat from bacon is more palatable with cabbage or potatoes than the suet of either beef or mutton could possibly be4 ,it is easier to carry when cold into the fields2 and another great advantage of bacon is that it requires less fire to cook it1 and fewer utensils4 ,from a scientific point of view1 a diet in which bacon is the principal meat1 needs to be largely supplemented by milk and other highly nitrogenous food1 for it contains very little nitrogen itself1 and we know that nitrogen is of great importance to the blood4 ,bacon supplies a fair amount of carbon1 and does not therefore require the aid of bread4 ,with the addition of a little pea-meal1 the liquor in which bacon has been boiled makes a good soup1 and it would be improved both in flavour and nutritive value by a few potatoes and an onion being boiled in it4 ,but as a general rule1 however valuable the pig may be in an economical sense1 it is quite certain that pork is less wholesome than almost any other meat4 ,for the reasons why this should be so1 we must go in the first place to the habits and ways of the animal itself1 its absence of any guiding instinct about food--for quantity1 not quality1 appears to be the first principle of a pig's diet--and the motionless life it leads4 ,pigs which are turned out in a field run about too much to grow fat1 and therefore1 if it be necessary to use the animal for food1 it is speedily relegated to its sty4 ,there it never does anything except sleep and eat1 and this want of exercise tells not only on the inordinate growth of fat which is laid up outside the body1 but upon the muscles and fibres of the flesh1 which become hard and indigestible4 ,the pig stores up in its body three times more of its food than the ox1 and from its large proportion of fat is not of equal value with beef or mutton in nourishing the system of those who need to make much muscular exertion4 ,the leg of pork is the part of the body which1 if deprived of its large proportion of fat1 approaches the most nearly to the nourishing elements of beef or mutton4 ,however1 ,i do not for a moment expect that any scientific theories for or against pork will have any ill effect on the keeping of pigs or the curing of bacon4 ,happy is the family which can keep a pig2 therefore1 what does it matter whether it be a 8highly nitrogenous food0 or not8 ,piggy pays the rent1 and furnishes the 8childer0 with many a savoury bite besides4 ,in fact1 if any food can1 in these high-priced days1 be called economic1 bacon deserves the name1 for it goes further than any other meat4 ,my remarks1 therefore1 must be taken to apply only to those who have a choice1 and who therefore should use it more as a relish than as the principal ingredient in the family bill of fare4 ,,lesson ,,xii4 ,,the ,,gist ,,of ,,the ,,whole ,,matter4 ,now let us sum up what we have been trying to teach and to learn in this little book4 ,to begin with1 we will run through the first part1 which is perhaps rather alarming on account of its hard words1 and see what has been said4 ,no one will deny the importance of urging rich and poor alike1 in the present state of things1 to try and economize the fuel and food which they may have at their disposal4 ,when ,i use the word economize1 and apply it to rich people1 ,i mean it to bear a wider significance than when ,i speak of the very poor1 with whom it is an absolute necessity4 ,it is just because there is not this absolute necessity on the score of expenditure1 that a due attention to the principles of economy in food and fuel sits so gracefully on a rich person4 ,i do not mean that only two fires should be lighted in a splendid mansion1 or that its inmates should gather every day around a dinner of bonesoup or a lunch of bread and cheese4 ,that would of course be absurd nonsense1 and no one is so short-sighted as not to perceive that such economy would starve a good many thousand people in other grades of life4 ,what ,i mean is1 that in all households1 beginning with those costly establishments where the duty devolves on a steward or housekeeper1 there should be such arrangements1 such training1 such recognized principles1 that the possibility of waste should be reduced to the lowest point4 ,everyone will acknowledge that in what are called 8great kitchens10 the 8waste10--the broken victuals1 scraps1 crusts1 bones1 and so forth--would feed many a poor and hungry family4 ,all ,i say1 then1 is3 8,let it feed such families3 don't let it be thrown away1 or sold as refuse40 ,when we have made the most of everything1 there will still be quite enough refuse in the world1 without adding to it portions of food which would be a boon and a blessing to a starving child4 ,the same with fuel4 ,let people who can afford to pay for coals have as many fires as they choose1 but let them take care that the coals are fairly used and made the most of1 cinders and all1 so will there be more left in the market for those to whom a hundredweight of coal is of more importance than is a ton to a rich man4 ,let such people have grates and stoves1 and all the new inventions for the economy of fuel1 and then1 if everybody makes a conscience of being careful with their coals--economical without being stingy1 but insisting on every cinder being duly used1 or even given away1 instead of finding its way into the dusthole--we shall not perhaps have constant alarms of scarcity and famine prices4 ,so much can rich people do to help2 but those in the lower grades of society can do a great deal more2 and ,i am persuaded that the chief reason a great deal more is not done is because people don't know how to do it4 ,the mistress of a middle-class household considers that she fulfils the whole duties of her position by giving a few languid orders to her servants1 which they obey or not1 according to their several dispositions4 ,by all means let her confine herself to this feeble style of housekeeping until she knows how the things should be done1 for until then it is better she should not interfere4 ,if everything was exactly as it should be1 if cooks knew not only how to lay and light fires1 but to cook exquisitely1 it would be very delightful1 and we might all live happy ever after4 ,but1 unfortunately1 we seem to be a long way from such a desirable state of things2 and complaints of the bad1 and an outcry for good1 servants grow louder every year4 ,now1 it appears to me that good mistresses are just as much needed as good servants1 mistresses who are capable of explaining kindly and clearly to a servant how and why their duties--or such portion of their duties as they are ignorant of--should be performed4 ,explanation is a good deal better than scolding1 and the practical knowledge from which such explanations should spring is quite compatible with the utmost refinement and cultivation of the mind4 ,i don't want ladies to do the servants' work2 ,i only want them to have the opportunity of learning to explain how such work should be performed1 and to understand1 even in theory1 why and wherefore certain causes bring about certain results in domestic economy4 ,let us take the mistress of an ordinary middle-class household1 a household where the husband works hard to make an income of from #ejjl4 to #a1jjjl4 a year1 on which four or five children have to be educated and set forth in the world1 and perhaps relations to be helped besides 7for poor people generally have to help their relations74 ,ten years ago it would have been1 for that rank of life1 almost a large income4 ,nowadays it is a very small one1 and it has therefore become more than ever of grave importance that the person on whom its management chiefly depends should know something besides music and drawing4 ,well1 then1 this typical lady shall be amiable1 intelligent1 anxious to do her best for her family and household1 and yet what state of things shall we be tolerably sure to find in such a house8 ,in the nursery1 8,missis0 is all that is capable and useful4 ,she thoroughly understands how to provide for the health and pretty toilettes of her nice little children4 ,she and ,nurse get on very well2 they have a mutual respect and confidence in each other's 8knowledgeableness10 and a thorough belief in each other's capacity4 ,all is right at the top of the house4 ,on the next story the lady is not quite so certain of her ground4 ,she has indeed slender theories on the subject of dust1 and1 we will hope1 a wholesome love of fresh air1 but a new housemaid will probably find that she can do pretty much as she likes in her own department4 ,but it is not till we come down to the kitchen that we begin to suspect there is a screw loose somewhere4 ,if our lady has been fortunate enough to stumble upon a cook who for #adl4 or #afl4 a year will cook savoury meals for her every day of her life2 a cook who is as clean as she is clever1 and as honest as she is sober1 then indeed there will be peace and harmony in that establishment1 unless the cook should happen to have a bad temper4 ,but how is it if the cook be merely an ignorant1 honest1 8willing0 young woman8 ,who is to teach her8 ,how and where is she to be trained8 ,that has hitherto been the great difficulty of ,english middle-class life1 and it is to remove1 or at all events to give those who wish it an opportunity of removing it1 that the ,national ,school of ,cookery is to be established at ,south ,kensington4 ,everything cannot be done in a moment2 unsuspected needs will crop up1 an extended sphere will necessitate wider arrangements2 but ,i can safely affirm that the point which will be steadily kept in view by the ,committee is this great need of the ,english people--the want of some place where a girl or woman can be taught how to cook4 ,it is not necessary for ladies to bend over the fire and harden their palms with saucepan handles1 for it is easier to teach an educated person by theory than an uneducated one2 and a lady will carry away a great deal of useful knowledge from a lecture where a cook-maid would have been swamped by words and phrases above her capacity4 ,there will therefore be both forms of education2 but1 so far as my own experience goes1 and speaking confidentially1 ,i should have been very thankful for both opportunities of practical instruction before ,i went to ,new ,zealand4 ,i might then perhaps have been saved many an anxious moment1 to say nothing of constant culinary discomfiture4 ,i did go down to a friend's kitchen more than once1 and try what knowledge ,i could pick up1 but ,i was so bewildered by the size and splendour of the batterie-de-cuisine1 and the cook would persist in regarding my desire for information as either a whim or a joke on my part1 so that it ended by my learning nothing whatever which proved of any practical use to me4 ,to begin with1 ,i could not explain to the cook what ,i wanted to know2 ,i could not even say where my ignorance began or where it ended1 though indeed ,i found out afterwards that it would have been well to have established some infallible test for ascertaining when the kettle boiled4 ,what experiments even in this line were necessary when ,i set up for myself6 including one recipe of turning the kitchen poker into a sort of tuning-fork1 and holding the handle to my ear1 whilst the poker-point rested on the lid of the kettle4 ,that method soon fell into disfavour1 for it used generally to result in upsetting the whole affair and extinguishing the kitchen fire4 ,well1 then1 to return to the purpose of this slender volume4 ,if it even awakens a sense of ignorance in its readers1 something will have been gained1 for ,i am much mistaken in my knowledge of women of my own class and position in life1 as well as of those in a higher rank1 if1 when once they feel the need of practical instruction and improvement in their domestic arrangements1 the next step will not be to endeavour to acquire that knowledge4 ,also1 ,i hope and believe that the artisan's young wife1 who feels the commissariat and cooking a heavy burthen on her mind and her hands1 will set to work to learn how and why certain food-substances are more wholesome and therefore more economical than others1 and in what fashion they should be cooked so as to make them go further and render them palatable4 ,lower than this grade in our social scale it seems hard to go4 ,it is too much to expect the crowds whose daily bread is a perpetual miracle1 to have the time and the means to learn to cook better4 ,when it is generally a matter of chance and locality what sort of food they can provide for themselves and their children1 it seems a bitter mockery to tell them this1 that1 and the other is the most nourishing diet1 or to recommend rump-steaks to them instead of bread and dripping4 ,but here1 those rich and benevolent people1 whose comforts and luxuries have been and will be secured to themselves and their families for many a day1 may possibly find another outlet for that spring of human sympathy and charity which--whatever pessimists may say to the contrary--runs bright and sparkling beneath our natures1 and wells up to make many a green and blessed spot in our own lives and those of others4 ,let us look for a moment at our country villages1 and think how often it happens that the ,squire's and the ,rector's wife is asked to take some well-behaved cottage-girl and 8learn0 her to cook4 ,with the best will in world1 what can these kind ladies do8 ,with a sigh they will consent1 and return home to announce--probably with some trepidation--to their cook1 that 8a new girl0 is coming4 ,this means a year of misery and discomfort to everybody4 ,the cook does not care about teaching the girl1 and will most likely take but slender pains to do so4 ,the girl feels that she is only on sufferance in the kitchen1 and is in a false position there1 besides4 ,it will probably be very difficult1 if not impossible1 for her to get anything like a regular useful lesson from her aggrieved instructress4 ,everything that is broken in the kitchen is laid to her charge1 and at the end of the year ,i question whether1 even under the most favourable circumstances1 such a girl can possibly have learned anything which will be of real practical value to her4 ,as soon as ever she begins to have a dawning idea on the subject of a muttonchop1 she must go elsewhere and make room for another beginner4 ,now1 the same money which would keep this girl for a year1 would give her proper instruction in a proper place4 ,how constantly it happens that a young woman who is happily placed as housemaid or nursemaid1 or apprenticed to a trade1 loses her mother1 and it becomes absolutely necessary that she should give up her situation and return home to fill1 as best she may1 her mother's vacant place4 ,such a girl has probably never cooked a meal for herself in her life4 ,she may return home with an earnest and affectionate desire to do her best for her father's and brothers' comfort1 but can she know by inspiration how to cook their meals8 ,even in my own limited experience ,i have repeatedly heard laments on this score1 and felt myself at the same time quite powerless to help beyond the vague suggestion that the beginner should ask ,mrs4 ,so-and-so to show her a little how to cook2 ,mrs4 ,so-and-so knowing probably very little herself4 ,many hundreds and thousands of people in ,london and our other cities and watering-places live1 at all events for a certain portion of the year1 in lodgings1 or1 as they are more elegantly styled1 furnished apartments4 ,imagine a monster meeting of lodgers in the ,albert ,hall1 assembled to proclaim their greatest grievance4 ,would there not be one universal roar of 8,the food08 ,i have occasionally lived in lodgings myself1 and ,i can speak from my own experience1 feeling confident that it will represent the experience of a considerable portion of the houseless community4 ,i found invariably civility1 generally cleanliness 7or at all events that is a remediable evil71 and1 with scarcely any exception1 vile food4 ,when ,i complained1 the stereotyped answer1 given in a very hopeless tone1 used to be3 8,well1 ma'am1 ,i know it's not exactly right1 but it's the gal2 you see1 she don't know nothing1 and ,i can't cook myself1 not to say well40 ,now1 why can't the 8gal0 cook1 poor soul8 ,has she ever been taught1 or had even a chance of learning8 ,do we put ever so willing a man to fire an ,armstrong gun or set up type without the slightest previous instruction on the subject8 ,why should a 8gal0 be taken from her school life 7this is imagining the most favourable conditions71 and suddenly be expected to know how to cook1 especially when her teacher is confessedly as ignorant as herself8 ,the only bright exception to this rule is when a girl has had the rare good fortune to be trained in some charitable institution1 where she has been properly taught to cook as well as to scrub and clean1 and to keep herself neat and tidy1 even whilst she is working4 ,yet1 as ,i write the words 8rare good fortune10 a remorseful pang comes over me2 for1 however such training may benefit the poor child and her employers in after years1 it has probably been necessary1 in order for her to be admitted into such an institution1 that she should have been a waif or stray1 an orphan1 or a poor deserted child1 or exceptionally wretched in some way1 and it is from her very homelessness and helplessness that what ,i find myself calling her 8rare good fortune0 has sprung4 ,i have already alluded in another place 7page #cf7 to the case of the domestic servant who has been a housemaid or a nursemaid1 or waited on ladies1 and who perhaps marries and finds herself in a nice little home which it becomes her duty to keep bright and clean4 ,she can do everything except cook1 but ,i venture to say she will find this a great difficulty1 and there will be a good deal of unconscious waste and extravagance before even the ,rubicon of fried bacon is passed4 ,it would be a good opportunity for this class of servants to learn cooking at the ,national ,school when families go out of town for the autumn1 and two or three servants are left in an empty house to while away a couple of months as best they can4 ,i do not want to curtail or interfere with any one's holiday1 but it could scarcely be a grievance to a young woman who is perhaps looking forward to a little home of her own some not very distant day1 to have the opportunity of taking lessons in the art of cooking her husband's meals4 ,many of our subscribers may be fortunate enough to possess cooks who are masters or mistresses of their science1 and to whom the word instruction dare not be mentioned4 ,what ,i would venture to suggest to such people is1 that although they may not need instruction for their cooks1 they might utilize the advantages which their subscriptions will give them1 for the benefit of their younger servants or even of their tenants' daughters4 ,the great point which ,i have reason to believe the ,committee of the ,national ,school of ,cookery will insist upon is1 thoroughness4 ,no one will be allowed to run1 or try to run1 before she can walk4 ,the elementary knowledge of how to light and manage a kitchen fire1 of scrupulous cleanliness in pots and pans1 of attention to a thousand small but all-important details1 will be taught and insisted upon before the learner is allowed to do anything worthy of the name of cooking4 ,she will then probably be surprised to find how comparatively easy it will be to acquire the art1 and she may be very sure she will not be allowed to try a second thing until she can do the first1 if it be only boiling a kettle or toasting a piece of bread to perfection4 ,such is the plan for complete beginners--who1 by the way1 generally prove the most successful pupils2--but for servants or artisans' wives who wish to 8better0 themselves in their kitchens1 there will be a different mode of instruction1 into which we need not enter here4 ,ladies will also have an opportunity either of sitting in a chair and listening to a lecture or series of lectures on cooking1 beginning with a muttonchop and ending with a souffl1 or they may turn back their sleeves1 take off their rings and bracelets1 and try for themselves4 ,it will be hard if any eager inquirer does not find some course or class to meet her needs2 and it is to be hoped that whatever excuse may hereafter be urged for our national bad cookery1 the reproach of the want of a place and opportunity of instruction will be done away with for ever4 ,there is but one parting remark ,i have to make4 ,it is this4 ,the ,national ,school of ,cookery is not a mercantile undertaking4 ,i have no wish to attempt to throw discredit upon such undertakings1 but simply to state the ,school of ,cookery at ,south ,kensington is not one4 ,there will be no question of dividends or bonuses1 nor will there be shareholders whose interests and pockets must be considered4 ,the ,school has every reason to expect that it will be liberally supported by contributions and donations2 if it finds itself mistaken in that expectation1 it will close its doors1 and there will be no harm done to anybody4 ,it is managed by a ,committee of gentlemen whose names are a sufficient guarantee for their actions1 and no one of them will be individually a penny the richer or the poorer1 whether the undertaking succeeds or not4 ,if the ,school be well and liberally supported1 it will be a sign that the need of improvement in cooking is felt by all classes1 and for every shilling subscribed it is the intention of the ,committee to afford means of instruction4 ,the more money which is forthcoming1 the more widely-spread will be the benefit which the promoters of the ,national ,school of ,cookery hope and believe it is capable of producing4 ,,the ,,end4 ,,london3 ,,richard ,,clay ,,sons1 ,,printers4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,transcriber',s ,,notes ,typos fixed2 non-standard spelling and dialect retained4 ,enclosed italics font in underscores4 ,enclosed blackletter font in equals4