To keep Food without a Larder. — In many small houses and flats there is no proper larder, and one cupboard has to serve the purpose of larder and store room, and sometimes as a place for keeping dishes as well. When this is the case the quantities ordered must be as small as possible, and cleanliness and order are all the more necessary. If the shelves are made of wood it is a good plan to have them covered with white oil-cloth, as this can so easily be wiped over, or washed. In addition to this cupboard, a meat safe should be provided and placed either outside or in a cool place. Needless to say, it should not be placed anywhere near a lavatory. A small 31 THE KITCHEN, MARKETING, AND CARE OF FOOD meat safe can occasionally be fixed to tbe outside ledge of the kitchen window. If it is out of doors the top should be protected from rain by a covering of wood or galvanised iron, and it should be scrubbed out every week and just as carefully as an inside cupboard. Failing a meat safe, small cane and muslin cages should be bought in which meat can be hung up in any cool and well-ventilated place. They are very inexpensive to buy, or they can even be simply constructed at home by making a bag of muslin drawn in at top and bottom. Place a plate at the foot and keep out the sides with hoops of cane lightly tacked in position. CARE OF VARIOUS KINDS OF FOOD Meat, Game, Poultry, &e. Butcher’s Meat. — All uncooked meat should be hung. If there is a cut side, keep this uppermost to prevent the juice running out. Examine the meat carefully each day and wipe it with a cloth to keep it dry. It may also be dusted over with a little flour. The marrow should be removed from the bone of such joints as a sirloin, ribs of beef or loin of mutton, before the meat is hung up. If there is any sign of taint, cut ofl the infected part and burn it, then wash the meat with a weak solution of Condy’s fluid and water, vinegar and water, or borax and water. If there is a danger of flies attacking the meat, pepper it well and hang it up in muslin ; or if there is any fear of the meat not keeping it should be partially cooked. Cooked meat should be lifted out of the gravy with which it has been served and put on a dry plate covered over with a meat screen. Frozen meat should be well thawed before cook- ing ; it should be taken from the larder and kept .in a warm kitchen for an hour or two. Rabbits. — A rabbit should be used fresh and must be paunched at once. If it has to be kept a day or two, do not remove the skin until it is just about to be cooked, as it prevents the flesh from becom- ing dry. Tie two of the feet together and hang it up on a hook in the larder. Hares. — Contrary to the rabbit, a hare should be well hung before it is cooked, and it must be hung up without being paunched. About a week’s hanging will be required if the hare is fresh and the weather dry. It should be hung up head down- wards, and a 'little tin cup may be tied on to the mouth to catch any blood. Poultry. — When poultry is bought quite fresh it may be hung for a few days. It should be plucked, but not drawn, until about to be used. Tie the two feet together and hang the bird up on a hook. Poultry must never be overhung ; when it shows the least sign of turning green it is unfit for food.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

To keep Food without a Larder. — In many small houses and flats there is no proper larder, and one cupboard has to serve the purpose of larder and store room, and sometimes as a place for keeping dishes as well. When this is the case the quantities ordered must be as small as possible, and cleanliness and order are all the more necessary. If the shelves are made of wood it is a good plan to have them covered with white oil-cloth, as this can so easily be wiped over, or washed. In addition to this cupboard, a meat safe should be provided and placed either outside or in a cool place. Needless to say, it should not be placed anywhere near a lavatory. A small meat safe can occasionally be fixed to tbe outside ledge of the kitchen window. If it is out of doors the top should be protected from rain by a covering of wood or galvanised iron, and it should be scrubbed out every week and just as carefully as an inside cupboard. Failing a meat safe, small cane and muslin cages should be bought in which meat can be hung up in any cool and well-ventilated place. They are very inexpensive to buy, or they can even be simply constructed at home by making a bag of muslin drawn in at top and bottom. Place a plate at the foot and keep out the sides with hoops of cane lightly tacked in position. CARE OF VARIOUS KINDS OF FOOD Meat, Game, Poultry, &e. Butcher’s Meat. — All uncooked meat should be hung. If there is a cut side, keep this uppermost to prevent the juice running out. Examine the meat carefully each day and wipe it with a cloth to keep it dry. It may also be dusted over with a little flour. The marrow should be removed from the bone of such joints as a sirloin, ribs of beef or loin of mutton, before the meat is hung up. If there is any sign of taint, cut ofl the infected part and burn it, then wash the meat with a weak solution of Condy’s fluid and water, vinegar and water, or borax and water. If there is a danger of flies attacking the meat, pepper it well and hang it up in muslin ; or if there is any fear of the meat not keeping it should be partially cooked. Cooked meat should be lifted out of the gravy with which it has been served and put on a dry plate covered over with a meat screen. Frozen meat should be well thawed before cooking ; it should be taken from the larder and kept .in a warm kitchen for an hour or two. Rabbits. — A rabbit should be used fresh and must be paunched at once. If it has to be kept a day or two, do not remove the skin until it is just about to be cooked, as it prevents the flesh from becoming dry. Tie two of the feet together and hang it up on a hook in the larder. Hares. — Contrary to the rabbit, a hare should be well hung before it is cooked, and it must be hung up without being paunched. About a week’s hanging will be required if the hare is fresh and the weather dry. It should be hung up head downwards, and a 'little tin cup may be tied on to the mouth to catch any blood. Poultry. — When poultry is bought quite fresh it may be hung for a few days. It should be plucked, but not drawn, until about to be used. Tie the two feet together and hang the bird up on a hook. Poultry must never be overhung ; when it shows the least sign of turning green it is unfit for food.

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