Volume 1

Cassell's dictionary of cookery : with numerous illustrations, containing about nine thousand recipes.

Date:
[1892]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Cassell's dictionary of cookery : with numerous illustrations, containing about nine thousand recipes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    71/632 (page 57)
    It is in the preparation of entr^s more than any other class of dishes that the really experienced cook wHl best exercise that primary principle of cookery- economy. . , I- 4.1, • Most educated persons in the present day have at one period or other of their Hves visited Paris-and I am speaking of the period before the war. One of the wonders of tliat beautiful city was the extraordinary little dinner to be obtained in the Palais Koyale and elsewhere for a sum of money that in England would have barely kept oflf starvation in a coffee-house. It may seem a somewhat strong statement, but I reaUy believe it to be true, that the materials out of which some of the most delicious Parisienne entrees are made are in English hotels and private houses either given to, and often refused by, an over- fed dog, or are allowed to get putrid and breed fevers by being thi-own into the dust-bki. There is an old picture—of which, probably, Englishmen are proud- contrasting the English hog and the French hog, the difference being striking as that between the fat and lean kine seen in the vision of the Eastern king of old. Alas that we should feel proud of this striking contrast!—it is but too often the case that our glory is in our shame. I fear that the contents of our English pig-tubs are a national disgrace. I have seen large pieces of bread, whole legs of fowls, &c., floating in what might be called greasy stock. The pig-tub is too often the one resource of idle and extravagant cooks, whose one idea of household management is to get rid of the odds and ends. Now a variety of nice entrtes can be made out of the cold remains of an almost infinite variety of joints. For instance, take the remains of a calf's head that has been sent to table with tongue, brains, &c., and a white sauce flavoured with marjoram. Suppose you cut up the remains into small pieces, and see that the sauce when cold is a jelly. Take a little of the tongue and the brains, and let them adhere to a piece of what is called the horn part of the calf's head; let these all get cold; see that they are nicely trimmed, slightly flour each piece and dip it into batter, and fry in some boiling fat till it is of a beautiful golden colour. Of course the batter, when it is properly made, will harden before part of the inside dissolves; this entree, therefore, has the advantage of coming to table a light-looking fritter, which when opened presents a moist inside. It is, however, essential that the fat be boiling, as otherwise the inside will melt, and break through the fritter skin. Care also should be taken in making batter for entries of this description that the batter be suf- ficiently thick. The best method of preparing batter is as follows:—Take half a pint of milk, and mix it up thoroughly with the yolk of an egg, adding a pinch of salt, then gradually add sufiicient flour till the whole has become of a consistency rather thicker than double cream. This batter should be mixed in a large basin, and worked perfectly smooth with a wooden spoon. We have before remarked on the importance of making entries the means of using up the materials that have been left from the previous day. One very useful torm is that of salmi of game. Too often the remains of game are sent up, almost as they are, cold for breakfast, the result being that a large portion is wasted, the bones being almost invariably left half picked on the plates, while the gravy that was on the dish with the hot game the day before, and into which what may be termed almost the essence of the bird has run, is very probably wasted altogether. Suppose, therefore, some remains of pheasants, partridges, or indeed any other kind of game, is sent down from dinner, a most delicious entree can be made as follows :—• Cut oft' all the best paiiis of the meat, such as the wings, legs, breast, &c., and trim