of serving. Supposing the dinner ordered to be on table
at a certain time, if the fish and soup are much liked, and detained
longer than the roaster has calculated; or, on the contrary, if they are
despatched sooner than is expected, the roasts will in one case be burnt
up, in the other not done enough--two misfortunes equally to be
deplored. The first, however, is without a remedy; _five minutes on the
spit, more or less, decides the goodness of this mode of cookery_. It is
almost impossible to seize the precise instant when it ought to be
eaten; which epicures in roasts express by saying, 'It is _done to a
turn_.' So that there is no exaggeration in saying, the perfect roaster
is even more rare than the professed cook.

"In small families, where the cook is also the roaster, it is almost
impossible the roasts should be well done: the spit claims exclusive
attention, and is an imperious mistress who demands the entire devotion
of her slave. But how can this be, when the cook is obliged, at the same
time, to attend her fish and soup-kettles, and watch her stewpans and
all their accompaniments?--it is morally and physically impossible: if
she gives that delicate and constant attention to the roasts which is
indispensably requisite, the rest of the dinner must often be spoiled;
and most cooks would rather lose their character as a roaster, than
neglect the made-dishes and '_entremets_,' &c., where they think they
can display their _culinary science_,--than sacrifice these to the
roasts, the perfection of which will only prove their steady vigilance
and patience."

[79-*] Our ancestors were very particular in their BASTINGS and
DREDGINGS, as will be seen by the following quotation from MAY'S
"_Accomplished Cook_," London, 1665, p. 136. "The rarest ways of
dressing of all manner of roast meats, either flesh or fowl, by sea or
land, and divers ways of braiding or dredging meats to prevent the gravy
from too much evaporating."

CHAPTER III.

FRYING.

Frying is often a convenient mode of cookery; it may be performed by a
fire which will not do for roasting or boiling; and by the introduction
of the pan between the meat and the fire, things get more equally
dressed.

The Dutch oven or bonnet is another very convenient utensil for small
things, and a very useful substitute for the jack, the gridiron, or
frying-pan.

A frying-pan should be about four inches deep, with a perfectly flat and
thick bottom, 12 inches