credit, be she ever so careful in the management of
her spit or her stewpan.
The time meat should hang to be tender, depends on the heat and humidity
of the air. If it is not kept long enough, it is hard and tough; if too
long, it loses its flavour. It should be hung where it will have a
thorough air, and be dried with a cloth, night and morning, to keep it
from damp and mustiness.
Before you dress it, wash it well; if it is roasting beef, _pare off the
outside_.
If you fear meat,[57-*] &c. will not keep till the time it is wanted,
_par_-roast or _par_-boil it; it will then keep a couple of days longer,
when it may be dressed in the usual way, only it will be done in rather
less time.
"In Germany, the method of keeping flesh in summer is to steep it in
Rhenish wine with a little sea-salt; by which means it may be preserved
a whole season."--BOERHAAVE'S Academical Lectures, translated by J.
Nathan, 8vo. 1763, p. 241.
The cook and the butcher as often lose their credit by meat being
dressed too fresh, as the fishmonger does by fish that has been kept too
long.
Dr. Franklin in his philosophical experiments tells us, that if game or
poultry be killed by ELECTRICITY it will become tender in the twinkling
of an eye, and if it be dressed immediately, will be delicately tender.
During the _sultry_ SUMMER MONTHS, it is almost impossible to procure
meat that is not either tough, or tainted. The former is as improper as
the latter for the unbraced stomachs of relaxed valetudinarians, for
whom, at this season, poultry, stews, &c., and vegetable soups, are the
most suitable food, when the digestive organs are debilitated by the
extreme heat, and profuse perspiration requires an increase of liquid to
restore equilibrium in the constitution.
I have taken much more pains than any of my predecessors, to teach the
young cook how to perform, in the best manner, the common business of
her profession. Being well grounded in the RUDIMENTS of COOKERY, she
will be able to execute the orders that are given her, with ease to
herself, and satisfaction to her employers, and send up a delicious
dinner, with half the usual expense and trouble.
I have endeavoured to lessen the labour of those who wish to be
thoroughly acquainted with their profession; and an attentive perusal of
the following pages will save them much of the irksome drudgery
attending an apprenticeship at the stove: an ordeal so severe, that few
pass it without
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