Cod fishProteinEggProteinFatButterFatPotatoCarbohydrates
As a dish to combine with two articles somewhat lacking in protein and fat, we may feel ourselves content with this.
In many people's minds the word "sausage" is just naturally followed by the words "buckwheat cakes." Is there sanction for this? From the food table we learn that sausage has a fair percentage of protein, almost no carbohydrates, and is almost half fat. Buckwheat cakes have in them, beside buckwheat flour, a little milk and often some wheat flour or corn meal. This table will, perhaps, represent the matter better than an explanation.
Protein.Fat.Carbohydrates.Sausage13.044.21.1Buckwheat flour6.41.277.9Milk3.34.05.0
The table says to the eye, too much fat. One cannot remedy the defect by increasing the protein and carbohydrates to match the fat, for we should then have as much food at one meal as we should need for three. The real remedy is to balancethis meal with others during the day in which the percentage of fat is very low. Another remedy is to serve meals with a large percentage of fat on very cold days; in that case the weather will help to balance the excess of heat production.
Pursuing this matter of tradition, why are peas served with lamb, and why is pork so often accompanied with "greens" of some sort? The percentage of protein in lamb is low enough to allow, perhaps require, some supplement from the vegetables. The excess of fat in pork is offset by the excess of water in greens, and also by certain medicinal qualities they possess which are represented in the percentage of "Ash." One might almost say that the combination known as "hog's jowl and turnip greens" is providential. I am sure it has saved bodily suffering and even lives in certain pig-raising localities.
One can see from looking thoughtfully at this food table that the dinner at which we have lamb, veal, poultry, or fish is the occasion upon which to have a substantial vegetable, such as macaroni, lima beans, parsnips or sweet potatoes, or an especially substantial dessert such as a boiled pudding or a pie. It is also evident that when we have beef, mutton or pork it is healthful to combine them withvegetables like spinach, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and turnips, which contain a large percentage of water. The dessert for such occasions may well be a jelly or fruit in some form—something light and cool.
The day on which we have roast pork is not the occasion to have apple dumpling or any dessert with a percentage of fat; the meal at which we serve beef steak and mushrooms is not the one to complete with mince pie, for we should then have more protein than we should know what to do with. On the contrary, the day on which the main dish at dinner is made from yesterday's meat, or is fish, is not the time for a watery or a fluffy dessert, unless we are purposely planning a day of abstinence. If it happens that the family diet includes little meat, care must be taken that protein is supplied from other sources, otherwise we shall be running an engine at full speed in a building which is never decently repaired and which will one day fall round our ears.
There are several questions which frequently arise in the mind of a person who begins to study food values. One is, why are articles included in the menu of almost every meal which have almost no value as nourishment? In many cases such articlesare appetizing and refreshing; such are lettuce, celery, muskmelons, cucumbers and many soups and desserts. They also contain much water, of which the body has great and constant need. They also give bulk to our food, which is a necessity because some of the processes of digestion do not begin until the organs to which they belong are expanded.
A housewife who is bewildered or disheartened will sometimes ask why we cannot take our food in capsules, or why an ideal dietary cannot be made and used over and over again. She will not be the first person who has thought of these expedients, but it has been fairly well proved that highly condensed food, as also "predigested" foods, not only lack this element of bulk of which we have been speaking, but have an even worse defect. They give us something for nothing, which is always bad for us. That is, they furnish us with nourishment without requiring any effort to speak of from the digestive organs. As a result the digestive organs grow flabby and useless from having nothing to do. A child in school who is never given anything difficult to do grows flabby in mind and character and sooncan'tdo anything difficult; so it is with a digestion.
The objection to the use of an ideal dietary is, inthe first place, that such a dietary has not been discovered. People claim to have discovered it, but that is different from really doing so. But the chief objection to the use of such a thing is that the body requires a variety of food, that a variety of food has been provided for it on the earth and that the part of us which is not body will not stand eating the same thing every day or even every week. Have you ever lived in a boarding house or in an institution where there was an invariable week's menu. It is a mechanical contrivance which soon stirs up rebellion, and rightly.
Probably a word more needs to be said on this subject of variety, for it is a saving grace in menu making. If one can give one's householdrealvariety of food, not merely that which is made by different methods of serving and cooking, but that which is actually a difference in constituents, mistakes in selection will then never get very long or thoroughly established. If one cannot be right all the time, by means of variety one can be fairly sure of being right some of the time. Variety is also made necessary by changes in season, in occupation, in state of health, and I think I may add without making a loop-hole for pampering people unduly, that it is made necessary at times by change of mood.
A trivial thing comes to my mind which none the less illustrates what I am trying to say about variety. So often I have seen a woman, whom I like to be with, a woman who has many, many things to do, take a few moments to make the last bit of her cookie-dough into an elephant or a rabbit of extraordinary figure. The cheering effect of this animal upon the boy who comes in from school very tired and perhaps cross or discouraged, is delightful to see. I repent that I called it a trivial thing, for this puffy, blunt-legged animal is to the child pleasant food, an amusing sight and the assurance that some one has thought gladly of him during the long school hours.
Variety in menus gives to the grown-up mind the same pleasurable feelings which the cookie elephant gives to the mind of the child, with this practical addition, that such feelings of pleasure also quicken the appetite and the energy and digestive powers of the body, thus enabling it to profit more by the nourishment varied foods convey.
Making a wise menu does not by any means produce a meal. It is a first step in the process, the next is to buy the food which is required by the menu.
Many women like to shop, and even more like to have it thought that they know how to shop. For some unknown reason shopping for food does not usually excite the same interest nor is it so coveted an accomplishment. I wonder if it seems less interesting because the things shopped for are not "to keep." If this is the reason, one has but to remind oneself that they are "to keep," only they must first be transmuted into the flesh and bones, work and laughter of the family.
A large city market is a "sight" in the same sense that a museum or an aquarium or a menagerie is. It is also to some extent a "sight" in the way that an art gallery is. I would like to give as a reward to good housekeepers a visit to the market in Venice. It is spread in heaps and piles of colour on gray stones, and shaded with gay awnings. Women wearing fringed shawls and high heels and high combs go to it in gondolas, and the market-stuffs are brought to it in boats which glide up to the steps through thousand-coloured ripples.
Often, however, marketing is done in ugly little shops instead of in one big market. But though small shops are not so spectacular, they are often easier to market in, and the customer usually receivesan amount of personal attention which is useful if one has many things to learn.
One of the best reasons for going to a market or to provision shops every day or two is that there is so much to be learned there. An incidental reason is that going to market takes the housewife out of doors more often than she might otherwise go. Another reason for going is that it helps in making varied menus; one sees things which would never have been thought of at home. The housewife who goes to market can also take advantage of special prices.
Wise marketing, like wise shopping, requires of us two moral qualities, judgment and self-restraint. One must ask oneself and answer wisely and truly:
Is this what I want?
Is its price reasonable for me to pay?
Is it good of its kind?
Is it in good condition?
Is it a suitable size or quantity?
If any of it is left to-day will it fit into my plans for to-morrow?
Is this what I want? That is, is it what I have reasonably planned to get or just something which momentarily appeals to me. On the other hand,is it perhaps better for my purpose than the thing I had planned to have?
"Reasonable," used in regard to a price, has two interpretations, and the housewife is concerned with both. She must consider whether the price of an article is "within her means" as people say, that is, whether she can buy this thing which she wants without sacrificing something equally or more important. She must also consider whether the price is a reasonable value for the nourishment and enjoyment which it represents and not a fictitious price caused by unseasonableness or an unusual demand.
Is it good of its kind? And is it in good condition? Are questions which may well be considered together. We can only learn to answer them by experiment and experience. Especially is this true in regard to meat. One cannot easily recognize the different pieces from another person's description, and it is often difficult to do so from pictures. Even the names of the pieces differ considerably in different localities, and a knowledge of the quality of meat is impossible to obtain except from actual experience. The best and easiest way to learn about meat is from a good butcher. Three or four minutes of his time appropriated by you every time that you go to hisshop will make you into a skilful marketer. Do not hesitate to ask him questions nor be afraid of betraying your ignorance. For whether you know much or little, it is well to put a good deal of responsibility upon him in selecting meat, then if it is not satisfactory he can fairly be taken to task, but if you do the choosing without his help, a mistake is your own fault.
If the housewife is not sure of the names given to pieces of meat in the locality in which she is marketing, or not very sure of such names anywhere, she may easily explain her wishes by designating what she means to do with a piece of meat, as, "a piece of veal for roasting," "about a pound and a half of lamb for stewing," "a piece of beef for soup," and the like phrases.
Her receipt book will probably give her pictures and the names of pieces of meat, or she may again apply to her paternal government for Farmers' Bulletin No. 34: "Meats: Composition and Cooking," in which she will find placid animals divided into numbered sections, and considerable explanation of ways in which these sections may be used.
Because the names of pieces of meat and the methods of cutting them vary considerably, I shall give but a brief and general table here. This diagramof a side of beef will give some idea of the position of the several pieces.
1. Hind Shank2. Lower Round3. Round4. Aitch Bone5. Rump6. Loin7. Flank8. Navel9. Plate10. Ribs11. Brisket12. Cross Ribs13. Chuck14. Neck15. Shoulder16. Fore Shankdiagram of side of beef
diagram of side of beef
Beef.—The neck, shin or shank and navel are usually used for soup stock.
A variety of pieces known by a variety of names, such as cross ribs, plate or Rattel rand, brisket, shoulder, rump, thick flank, aitch bone and the butt or vein, are used for boiling, braising, stewing, corned beef, pot roasts and spiced beef.
The upper round, occasionally called the buttock, is used for round steaks.
The lower round is good for beef-tea, hamburg-steak, meat pies and any purpose for which good chopped beef is needed.
The chuck ribs are those nearest the neck; theyare frequently used for stews, chuck steaks and ragout. Sometimes the ribs are removed and the meat rolled and tied; this makes a tender and well-flavoured roast.
The prime ribs, of which some people say there are five and others six, are used for prime roasts. They are divided into first, second and third cuts; the last is considered least desirable.
From the part of the animal known as the loin are cut porterhouse, sirloin and short steaks; from this part also comes the tenderloin, sometimes called the fillet.
The parts of the loin and the prime ribs are the most expensive and are considered the most desirable parts of the animal. The housekeeper whose purse will not permit her to buy them may comfort herself, though, with the fact that they contain no more nourishment than some less popular pieces.
Other meats are divided into somewhat fewer cuts than beef. The more general divisions are given below.
Veal.—The loin is used for roasts and chops.
The fillet for roasts and cutlets.
The better parts of the neck and the breast are used for roasting and chops.
The less desirable parts for pies, pot roasts and stews.
The shank, which in veal is known as a "knuckle," is used for soup and broths.
Mutton or lamb.—The leg is used for roasting or boiling.
The shoulder for baking and roasting.
The loin for chops and roasts.
The ribs, which are often called the "rack," are used chiefly for chops.
The breast may be roasted, baked or stewed.
Pork.—Hams and shoulders, the back and front legs of the animal, are eaten either smoked or fresh.
The loin, ribs and sparerib are used for roasts, chops, stews and baked dishes.
Pieces used for salt pork and bacon are cut from the almost clear fat of the back and sides.
Almost all parts of the pig are used for food, but as they are usually known by names which indicate what they are, they give the housewife little trouble in remembering them.
The use of your eye, sometimes of your hand, is required in judging the condition of the food you are buying.
Meat which is without fat is probably tough. Fat of beef should be pale yellow and dry, the lean, bright red and firm. Mutton, veal and pork should have pure white fat, the lean of mutton should bebright red, of veal, pink, of pork, a somewhat more delicate pink.
Chickens should have soft, moist, yellow feet, smooth, thick legs, and tender skin. The end of the breastbone should be pliable. Plump, very bright yellow chickens are fat and are better for stews or pot-pie than for roasting.
Turkeys should have smooth, black legs and white, plump breasts. If the flesh of their legs is purplish they are probably old.
Geese and ducks should have soft feet, hard breasts and pinkish beaks.
Fish in good condition have bright eyes and scales, stiff fins and flesh so hard and firm that it will not retain the mark if pressed with a finger.
It is not a difficult matter to tell whether fruit and vegetables are fresh and good. When such things are wilted, withered, bruised or lacking in firmness, they are not good for food unless they are merely wilted as lettuce and asparagus sometimes are on a hot day, or when they have been carried through the sun.
I know of no way of judging butter except by tasting it. There is little also by which to judge eggs; their shells should not be shiny or very smoothand they should feel both light and heavy—if you can tell what I mean by that.
The last two questions on the marketing list are also usually considered together. Both are really questions concerning quantity.
Food so often comes in quantities too large for one meal that it is usually better to make menus for two days at one time and then revise the second day's menu when the second day comes.
Under these questions of quantity comes a class of articles a little different from those which we have just been mentioning: articles like sugar, flour, salt, coffee, tea and the like, which are bought in bulk. In what quantity it is wise to buy such things depends upon the size of the household, the place where these articles may be kept, the distance from the place where the supply can be renewed, the income of the family and whether the housewife or a reliable servant dispenses them for use. I think it is pretty generally admitted that households which are living on small means do better to buy food supplies in small quantities. The advantages of doing this are, that if the commodity is injured in any way, the loss is small; that no large outlay of money is required at any one time; that the smallness of the quantity possessed is a continual guardagainst its lavish use. These advantages usually amply offset the fact that it is a little cheaper and a little more comfortable to buy in large quantities.
Because it is easier, housewives sometimes fall into the way of dealing at just one or two shops. This is a good thing to do usually, a poor one to do invariably. To go occasionally to other shops gives one the chance to find better things and pleasanter conditions; it also makes your regular shopkeeper more anxious to please if he knows you go elsewhere when you are not pleased. An advantage in cities of going here and there, is that one can often take advantage of a difference in prices in different localities. This must be done, of course, with judgment; otherwise one makes oneself a fit subject for one of those jokes about women who save two cents on a head of lettuce and spend ten in carfare going to get it.
Women who take the same sort of trouble about marketing as they do about buying their clothes usually succeed well with it. It is really not a difficult form of shopping and interest in it grows as one learns.
OUR Brother the Sun gets up every morning to cook, cooks all day, and seems to enjoy cooking. The cooking processes which we engage in are many of them imitations of his. When we use water and heat to soften and break up starch cells, it is only a copy of the process by which the sun makes the dry starch laid up in a seed in the damp earth into food for the first little leaves of a plant. Long before we ever thought of cooking, the sun was changing starch into sugar by heating apples and pears and peaches through and through every day. One might even venture to say that he had warmed milk for all the mammal babies ever since the first one was born. Every once in a while, people appear who try to persuade us to "go back to nature" and eat our food uncooked, not realizing that they are asking us, not to go back to nature, but to our own first ignorance of what nature is doing.
two girls cookingPhotograph by Helen W. CookeCooking
Photograph by Helen W. Cooke
Cooking
The dictionary says that "to cook" is "to preparefood by subjecting it to heat"; a brief and simple definition including some thousands of processes ranging from the universal cooking done by the sun to that performed by an accomplished French chef.
The object of cooking is to make food more digestible and more attractive. For changes occur in food when it is subjected to heat which make it more easily used by the body and which make it more agreeable in flavour—more "appetizing." An incidental but important benefit from cooking is that great heat kills the animal organisms which food sometimes contains.
The most usual processes of cooking are broiling, boiling, stewing, braising, frying, roasting and baking.
Broiling.—Food is broiled by being held close to a fire of glowing red coals. The utensil needed for doing this is a wire broiler, which should be greased before the meat is laid in it, preferably with a bit of fat from the meat. In broiling, the chief object is to keep the juices of the meat from running out. For this reason the meat is laid close over the redcoals for about ten seconds, then turned with the other side to the coals that both may be seared almost at once. Afterward it is turned frequently to prevent burning. Broiled meat is not seasoned until it is done because salt draws out its juices. Care is also taken not to cut or pierce the meat while it is cooking.
Steaks and chops are almost always broiled; fish, chicken and oysters are frequently cooked in this way.
Broiling may be done in a frying pan heated intensely hot, and greased as the wires of the broiler were with a bit of fat from the meat—a tiny bit. The meat is laid in the pan, first on one side for a few seconds, then on the other. It is turned, as when broiling over the coals, often enough to keep it from burning.
Articles of food which are thin need a hotter fire, or to be laid nearer the fire than thicker ones. This assures that the time required to brown the outside will be too brief to dry the article through and through.
A thick piece of meat will not cook through to the middle for some time and should therefore be exposed to a slower fire that the outside may not be hard before the inside is cooked. These principlesapply also to the roasting and baking of thick and thin articles of food.
Boiling.—As only liquids can boil, we mean when we say we boil potatoes, that we cook them in boiling water. When water is heated, tiny bubbles of steam rise in it, which at first break before they reach the surface; this is "simmering." As the heat increases, the bubbles rise more quickly and higher, and break at the surface; this is boiling. Water boils at 212° F., and, though its motion may be increased by heat to a "gallop," it gets no hotter, for the steam escapes when the little bubbles burst. Liquids which have a greater density than water, such as salt water, syrup, grease and oil, do not boil until they have reached a higher temperature than 212°. Milk boils at a lower temperature than water. The reason it "boils over" so easily is that what one might call the texture of the milk bubbles which enclose the steam is less delicate than that of the water bubbles, therefore instead of breaking when they come to the surface, they pile up one upon another.
Boiling water hardens and toughens some of the protein substances in food, but softens and makes digestible most of the substances included under the head of carbohydrates.
Cold water softens and dissolves into itself some of the protein substances, and also soaks out the nourishing qualities of carbohydrates.
These facts are extremely useful in deciding upon the best method of boiling food. For instance, if we have a piece of meat or fish which we wish to boil and serve whole, it should be put into water which is already boiling; this hardens the outside sufficiently to keep the juices inside. This hardening is accomplished in about eight or ten minutes; at the end of that time, the temperature of the water should be allowed to fall a little below the boiling point that the inside of the article may be cooked without being hardened. Water into which fish is put should be just boiling, not rapidly boiling, as the motion sometimes breaks the fish into pieces.
If we wish to make soup, broth, or beef-tea, we cut meat into small pieces and put it into cold water, which is then gradually brought to a high temperature. The cold water dissolves the substances of the meat, which it has a better opportunity of doing from many small pieces than from one large one, and gradually becomes highly and agreeably flavoured. Meanwhile, the meat becomes more and more tasteless and colourless and is, at last, fit only to be thrown away.
Salt is put into the water in which meat is boiled. In cold water it helps to draw out the juices of the meat. In boiling water it draws them out a little, but the heat of the water converts them into a thin albuminous coating for the meat which assists in keeping in the juices.
Nearly all vegetables should be put into boiling water instead of being put on the fire in cold and allowed to come to the boiling point. This is in order that the changes which are made in the cells and fibres may be made at once, before dissolvable substances like starch and sugar are soaked out into the water which is to be thrown away. Some watery vegetables, such as tomatoes and spinach need extremely little water, sometimes no more than adheres to them after they have been washed. These things are really stewed, not boiled. White potatoes should be boiled gently, that the outsides may not break and fall off as they soften.
In most cases, the boiling water in which vegetables are put should be salted, in the proportion of a tablespoonful of salt to two quarts of water. This not only seasons them but makes the temperature of the water somewhat greater. There are some exceptions to this, however; green corn is one of them; salt yellows and toughens it. Many authoritieswill tell you not to salt peas until they are nearly cooked.
As soon as vegetables are tender they should be drained. Potatoes, whether boiled or baked, should not be covered after they are drained or taken from the oven. They should dry in the air, not soak in their own steam.
Stewing.—Stewing resembles boiling. It is boiling done in the juices of the article cooked increased with a little water. As we wish some of the juices to flow out, we put food to be stewed into cold water. When it has been brought gradually to the boiling point, the heat should then be lowered to the simmering point and the food allowed to simmer for a long while. Stewing is a slow method of cooking but it makes digestible and appetizing meat and coarse vegetables which otherwise would be hard fare. To food which is neither coarse nor tough, it imparts a particularly delectable flavour. Stewed mushrooms are a good example of this.
Braising.—Braising is rather like stewing done in the oven. A tightly covered pan or earthenware dish is required for it and a "slow" oven. The meat is shut in the pan with seasonings and a little water, and cooked long and slowly in the oven.
Braising is sometimes done in a closely covereddish set in a moderately heated place on the top of the stove.
Frying.—Frying is done in two ways, by immersing the article to be fried in deep, hot fat and also by laying it first on one side then on the other in a pan in which there is a little hot fat. This latter method is often called sautéing.
The object of frying is quickly to form a crisp, brown crust round the oyster, croquette, doughnut or whatever is being cooked, which will not allow the flavour and constituents of the food to escape into the fat, nor the fat to penetrate into the food. Provided this is accomplished, frying is an entirely defensible mode of cooking, but imperfectly done it is a particularly unwholesome method.
The temperature of the fat is the point for chief concern. If it is much below 380°, it will soak into the articles put into it, and the result will be food which is unpleasant to look at and hurtful to eat. If the temperature of the fat is much above 380°, food put into it will become almost instantly dark and hard.
Fat at the right temperature for frying is perfectly still and smokes a very little. An inch cube of bread dropped into it will become brown in one minute.
Articles which are to be fried should be as dry as possible because water lowers the temperature of the fat and makes it sputter. They should also not be very cold as this likewise cools the fat.
Lard, suet, drippings, olive oil and combinations of these things are used for frying because they can be raised to a very high temperature. We cannot fry in water because it can never be made hot enough to crisp anything. Fried articles must be carefully drained, it is well if they can be laid on a paper or a netting for this purpose.
Roasting.—Roasting, strictly speaking, is now rarely done. It is the method of cooking joints of meat by hanging them before an open fire. Roasting done in the oven is really a form of baking. The process requires a very hot oven that the outside of the meat may be incrusted with melted fat and albumen which will keep the juices inside. Meat for roasting is first rubbed with flour and salt; the salt starts the juices, the flour combines with them and helps in the incrusting just mentioned. It is well to put a few spoonfuls of drippings or some fat from the meat into the pan, for this, as we have noted, becomes hotter than water. If the piece of meat is very large, or requires thorough cooking as in the case of pork and veal, water may be putin the pan as soon as the outside is incrusted. This will reduce the temperature and make the roasting slower and more thorough. It is most satisfactory to have a rack in the roasting pan, that the meat may stand over, not in, the water.
Roasting meat must be often "basted," that is, spoonfuls of the hot fat or water in the pan must be poured over the meat now and again to keep the outside from hardening and charring. The occasional opening of the oven door for this purpose also lets fresh air into the oven and thus improves the flavour of the meat.
Baking.—Because we have come to use the word which meant cooking meat before the fire for cooking it in the oven, we more usually apply the word baking to the cooking of bread, cake, vegetables, puddings and the many other things which we cook by shutting them up in the dry heat of the oven.
None of these articles require as high a temperature as meat. You cannot bear to put your hand into an oven which is ready for a roast of meat; in an oven ready for bread you can hold your hand a minute or two. The reason for this is that the juices and steam are to be kept inside meat, but the gases in bread are to be let out, the crust must not therefore harden at once. One of the things which mustbe guarded against when baking bread in a gas range is the danger of having the oven so hot at first that a hard crust is formed on the bread before the crumb is sufficiently baked.
It is not always possible to regulate the heat of the oven with dampers. Should this be the case and the oven is too hot at the top, lay a paper or a pie-plate over the article which is baking. If it is too hot on the bottom set the pan containing the food on an oven rack or on an inverted pie-plate. While bread or cake are baking the oven door should only be opened when necessary and then quickly closed, for cold air sometimes ruins such things.
Things which are merely to be browned are set on a grate near the top of the oven. Things large or thick, which are to be baked through slowly are set on the bottom of the oven. Some substances dry a good deal during the process of baking; such are breads, cakes and puddings. The pans or dishes for such articles must be greased. Tins for cakes which require long baking are often lined with stiff greased paper, as this makes it more certain that the cake will not stick to the pan.
A housewife should have a standard cook book to refer to for the details of cooking. Besides this, it is well for her to gather from books and magazinesserviceable receipts and suggestions about household matters. These may be copied into an indexed blank book, though I believe something in the nature of a card catalogue would be better for the purpose.
Food usually needs some preparation for the processes of cooking. Though it requires nothing more, it is almost invariably first washed in clean, fresh water.
Meat.—Fresh meat should be rinsed quickly in cold water. Meat which has been smoked or salted often needs scrubbing with a brush as well as rinsing, and salt meat frequently requires to be soaked for several hours.
Poultry.—Poultry is usually sent to the market killed and plucked, and is sometimes "drawn" before it is sent from the market to the buyer. In country places it is often brought to the housewife alive and though this has inconveniences it has also the great advantage that the poultry can then be drawn immediately after it is killed, which seems the more clean and more reasonable method.
To the housewife who finds herself in the predicament of having a live chicken when she needsa dead one, I can say from experience that beheading is the least offensive method for the unskilled to employ. Use a sharp axe or hatchet and strike hard. Do not be distressed by the convulsive movements which follow, they do not indicate suffering. They happen because the intense throbbing thing, we call life cannot be snuffed out like a candle. Even in a small creature it is a tremendous rush and swirl which cannot be stopped on the instant. This is a piece of work which it is not necessary for a housekeeper to learn to do; she need only know that she can do it if she must. I have found in my own housekeeping that it is more economical to hire my neighbour, black Caroline to kill the chickens, because she can walk out of the kitchen door with two chickens in her hand, kill them, and come back again without interrupting the camp-meeting hymn she is singing and I am afraid I must admit that I cannot do the same thing without shivering and tears.
A few minutes after the poultry is killed it should be plucked. Some people scald it to make the feathers come out more easily; others, on reasonable grounds, heartily disapprove of this performance and insist on "dry picking." Hold the fowl by the feet and pull the feathers out toward the head, unless the skin proves to be very tender; in that casepull the other way. Carefully remove all the little black pin-feathers. Put a screw of paper on the stove, light it and singe the chicken quickly to remove hairs and down. If the head has not previously been removed, cut it off about an inch from the body. Just below where the neck and body join you will feel through the skin a rough movable lump. This is the crop and should be removed by loosening the skin from the neck and drawing up the crop between the two. Cut it off close to the body. Cut off the legs at the joint and cut out a little oil bag which you will find on top of the tail.
When chickens are split down the back for broiling, or cut into pieces for fricasseeing or frying, it is a simple matter to remove the internal organs. If, however, they must be drawn for roasting, it takes some skill to do it. It is an assistance to remember that the organs lie more or less bound together in the cavity of the body, somewhat as the seeds lie in the cavity of a cantaloupe. The organs should be disordered as little as possible in the removal, as some of them, notably the gall-bag of the liver, contain substances which affect the taste of the meat if they touch it. As the chicken lies breast up, make a short crosswise slit in it a little distance from the tail. Put one or two fingers into this openingkeeping them close to the walls of the cavity, and gently loosen the organs, gradually working them out at the slit. Some strength is needed for this, but it should be applied gently.
Be sure that all the organs are removed, then wash the fowl under the faucet or in a pan of cold water. Wipe it dry with a clean cloth. The washing should be done with especial thoroughness if the fowl has remained long undrawn.
Carefully separate the heart, liver and gizzard from the other organs. Cut the veins from the heart. Trim the fat from the gizzard, cut a slit in the thick part and draw the slit open; the inner lining must be removed, unbroken if possible. Wash these giblets carefully, put them at once on the fire in cold water and simmer until tender.
Eggs.—Eggs should be washed when they are brought into the house; the shells are then clean to be used for clearing coffee or soup.
When preparing eggs for cooking, do not break them one after another into the bowl in which they are to be beaten, but put each one into a cup and them slip it into the bowl. If this precaution is not taken, an egg unfit for use may be dropped into a bowl with several fresh ones and all will be wasted.
Some people separate the white of an egg fromthe yolk by cracking a small piece from one end and pouring out the white, leaving the yolk in the shell until last; others break the egg through the middle by striking it on the edge of the cup and pass the yolk back and forth from one half-shell to the other until all the white has run into the cup. Whatever method is used, care must be taken that no yolk runs into the white as this prevents the white from frothing. It is on this account that the whites and yolks are beaten separately when we want eggs especially frothy. Eggs also froth better when they are very cold.
They are beaten before they are used because we sometimes wish to put air into a mixture by this means.
Fish.—Large fish are usually prepared and sold in pieces by the fish dealer. Small fish are usually left whole and should be cleaned as soon as possible after they are bought. First remove the scales by scraping them toward the head with the back of a knife. Hold the knife flat that it may slip under the scales. Have a pan of cold water at hand in which to rinse the knife frequently. Cut off the head just below the gills. Slit the body at the thinner edge and remove the entrails. Run the point of the knife along the backbone to remove the blood which liesthere. Cut off the tail last, as it is a convenient handle. Shad containing roe must be slit very carefully, that the roe may not be cut or broken. Fish which are to be served with heads and tails on are slit from the gills half way down the body and the entrails removed as before described.
After fish are cleaned, wash them carefully in cold water—some people prefer to use salted water—then salt inside and out and lay them on a plate in a cool place—not the refrigerator—until it is time to cook them. Wash off the salt and season them again before cooking.
If a piece of fish which is to be boiled is wrapped in a thin cloth the motion of the water will not break it.
Shell-Fish.—Receipts for cooking oysters or clams which begin, "Open the oysters"—or "Take two dozen clams from the shells"—are rather amusing when one remembers what an exaggerated pleasure in retirement these creatures take. They do not open their shells when one reads a receipt at them.
Oysters.—When oysters are cooked in their shells heat opens them; otherwise, some one must open them by hand. A small thin knife with an iron handle is best for this work. The hand in which the oyster is held should be protected with a heavyglove or mitten. If you can find no place where the thin point of the knife can be pushed between the shells, rap the edge of the oyster with the handle of the knife until some little crack is made into which the point can be thrust, then gently but firmly work the shells apart. Put the oysters into a bowl. The opening should be as cleanly a performance as possible, for the oysters are the better for not being washed. Instead of washing them, lift them one or two at a time from one bowl to another, looking them over carefully for any bits of shell. It is better to wash them if they have not been opened in the house. If oysters are to be cooked or served in their shells, the shells must be thoroughly scrubbed.
Clams.—Clams, whether thin shell, or hard shell, should be scrubbed, rinsed, and laid in a pot with not more than a half-cupful of water. Not more, because the juice from the clams should be diluted as little as possible. Cover the pot closely. As soon as the shells open the clams are cooked. When hard shell clams are taken from the shells, clip off with scissors the hard rim from each one. The clam juice should be saved and put aside to settle, the clear liquor can then be poured off. It is used to some extent in nearly all dishes made from clams.
If an oyster or a clam has its shells open, pickit up in your hand. If it closes it is all right, if it remains open throw it away for it is dead. Only death prevents these creatures from shutting their doors.
Scallops.—Scallops as we see them on the table or as they come prepared from the market, are really the muscles of the scallop which hold its shells together. Whole scallops are boiled and the muscle removed when the shells open.
Lobsters.—Lobsters are sometimes bought alive, sometimes already boiled. They are not exactly green or brown or blue when alive, but are bright red when cooked. A boiled lobster is opened by splitting the body and tail lengthwise and cracking the claws. The firm white and red meat and a bit called the "coral" are the parts to be eaten. The head, a sand-pouch near the throat, the stomach and intestines and the tough, feathery gills on the under side of the body must not be used.
Crabs.—Hard shell crabs are cooked by plunging them into salted boiling water for fifteen or twenty minutes. They change in colour as lobsters do. If you wish to open them, first remove the little flap which folds down on the under shell, then, placing your thumbs at the place where the flap was fastened on, draw the upper and lower shells apart. A little,grayish sand pocket sometimes adheres to one shell, sometimes to the other. This and the gray, spongy fingers attached to the lower shell should be removed and thrown away.
Before soft shell crabs are cooked, the sand-pocket and spongy substances under the edges of the shell should be removed. The upper shell is soft enough to be turned back for this purpose.
Vegetables.—Almost without exception, vegetables are prepared for cooking by being washed and laid in cold water to be freshened. Some kinds require no other preparation; others must be also scraped or peeled or shelled or husked.
Those vegetables which require no preparation for cooking except washing and freshening are: asparagus, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach and sweet potatoes.
Cress, celery, endive, lettuce and radishes require this same preparation, but are not usually cooked.
One must be careful not to break the skins of beets and not to cut their tops too close, that the juices may not flow out and leave the beet colourless and tasteless.
Salt should be put in the water in which cabbage and cauliflower are freshened and the cabbage heads should be divided into quarters that the smallinsects which these vegetables are apt to contain may be driven out.
The washing of spinach requires especial care. It is well to use two pans that the spinach may be lifted back and forth from one to the other and the sand left in the bottom of the pans. A little salt should be put into one of the waters to expel insects.
Vegetables which require also to be scraped are, carrots, oyster plant, parsnips and new potatoes.
Vegetables which require to be peeled as well as to be washed and freshened are: cucumbers, egg plant, mushrooms, onions, white potatoes, squash, turnips and tomatoes.
Egg plant is sliced, but the slices are not always peeled. It is freshened in salted water.
Cucumbers and tomatoes are laid in water before they are peeled instead of afterward. Thick pieces should be cut from the ends and sides of cucumbers as the skin contains unwholesome juices.
Onions are less unpleasant to peel if held under water during the process.
Vegetables which also require shelling or husking are: lima beans, green peas and green corn.
Corn silk may easily be removed from the ears with a brush.
Driedbeans and peas require many hours of soaking to make them ready to be cooked.
String beans are prepared by a process peculiar to themselves. Some people cut a thin strip from each side of the pod; others cut the pointed end toward one side, the stem end toward the other and draw away the strings with the cut pieces. The point of importance is to get rid of the strings absolutely.
Rice is prepared by thorough washing. A good way to accomplish this is to put the rice in a coarse strainer and lower it into a pan of water. Lift and stir the rice, then raise the strainer from the pan, change the water and repeat the washing process. Continue to repeat this until the water remains clear.
Fruit and Berries.—Fruit should be washed and wiped dry when it is brought from the market. It is then ready for use in any way that may be desired. Thick skinned fruits such as pears and apples are peeled before they are cooked. Dried fruit is usually soaked before it is cooked.
It is desirable that berries which come from the market or store should be washed. This can best be accomplished by putting them in a coarse sieve or colander and holding them under a gently runningfaucet. It is a good thing to spread them on a clean paper or cloth to dry. When berries are picked in the garden, one may have the luxury of eating them unwashed.
Mixtures.—There are certain articles of food, different and differently prepared from any hitherto mentioned, which might be called as a class, mixtures. They are dishes made by mixing several food substances together, and are called bread, cake, pudding, pastry, sauces and many other names.
Bread.—Of these mixtures bread is the most important and the most difficult to make. Receipts for bread are the simplest ones we have, yet a detailed description of bread-making might easily fill a book. To read such a description for the first time would very probably shock a careful housewife. She has learned to protect her stores of food from any processes of fermentation; she regards the growth of fungus in the cellar or of mould on the back of the refrigerator as an indication of unhealthful dampness, perhaps of dirt; she probably has some terror of germs and bacteria. Is it not rather shocking then, to learn that, without fermentation, fungus and bacteria, she could not make the sweet, clean bread which she bakes every two or three days. When she has thought out these puzzling facts, she will find thateach one of her bakings is a sermon from the text that all things work together for good if one knows the secret of their use.
Yeast is a form of bacteria—a germ—a microscopic fungus which floats about in the air. I find that a Government Report on the subject calls this "wild yeast." One cannot resist following out the idea thus suggested, and saying that this wild species may be caught by the housewife in mixtures of warm hops, potato and flour and "domesticated" for use in bread making.
The little yeast plants multiply quickly when they find something which they like to feed upon, and it happens that they like a mixture of flour and water which is neither very hot nor very cold. Therefore, when we put yeast into dough the little plants feed and multiply and in doing so change the character of the dough. They cause it to ferment, just as grape or apple juice ferments. When the carbohydrate substances in the flour, that is, the starches and sugars, ferment they change, and in the change form alcohol and carbon dioxide. When this performance is at its height, we put the dough into the oven, the yeast plant is killed by the heat and a stop thus put to its activities. Another result of putting the bread into the oven is that the bubbles of gasformed by fermentation expand with the heat. The gas escapes, but not before the walls of the bubbles have been hardened sufficiently by heat to make the bread full of tiny holes—"porous" we call it, and "light."
The following receipt is a usual one for a small batch of bread: