If it is cut some hours before it is wanted, some of the
gravy will run from it. Also, it should be cut an inch, or
very nearly an inch, thick. I dare say there will be a
little difficulty in getting the butcher to cut it of an equal
thickness all the way along. If he is simply ordered to
do it, he won’t do it ; but if you go and stand by him
while he cuts it off, and impress what you want upon him,
you will very likely get it. But supposing — and it is
always well to be prepared for all sorts of “ supposings ”
— the weather is frosty and the meat is frozen ; then we
must be careful to put our steak into a warm kitchen for
an hour or two, that it may thaw before it is cooked. If
it were cooked as it is it would most certainly be tough.
The next consideration is the fire. This must be
perfectly clear, bright, and red ; and in order that it may
be so, it must be made in good time, so that the coal may
have time to get hot throughout, and not be smoky and
throwing out little jets of gassy flame. Broiling could
not be satisfactorily done with a fire that had been lately
mended, and had only black, smoky coal on the top. ;
The best fire for the purpose is either a coal fire that has
burnt low, or a fire that was made up with cinders free |
from dust. i
Then there are the gridirons, for there should be two
gridirons in every kitchen, one for meat and one for fish ;
indeed it would be an advantage if three gridirons were
provided, and one of them kept especially for bloaters,
which are so strongly flavoured that they generally leave ;
their odour behind them. There are various kinds of
gridirons. The ordinary thick iron ones answer very
T!u Gridiron.
35
well indeed for ordinary purposes, though there is a
superior kind with fluted bars, by means of which a good
deal of the gravy that would otherwise be wasted is saved.
Very much more important, however, than the kind of
gridiron is its cleanliness. Perhaps you will say, “ Oh,
cleanliness ; of course everything we use is clean. That
goes without saying.” It does, and I am afraid, very
often without doing either. At any rate, I don’t think
there is a gridiron now in use that I should like to use
without giving it a little additional rub beforehand. Meat
comes into direct contact with the bars of a gridiron.
When we fry anything, the meat is covered with the fat j
when we boil anything it is surrounded by water ; when
we roast or bake anything, it is basted with dripping ; but
there is nothing between it and the gridiron, and if the
latter is left at all dusty or grimy, both the food and those
who partake of it get the benefit thereof. This is why it
is desirable to have a distinct gridiron for fish. Beef-
steak i la bloater is not agreeable.
Page 19
Presented as published in 1882. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
If it is cut some hours before it is wanted, some of the gravy will run from it. Also, it should be cut an inch, or very nearly an inch, thick. I dare say there will be a little difficulty in getting the butcher to cut it of an equal thickness all the way along. If he is simply ordered to do it, he won’t do it ; but if you go and stand by him while he cuts it off, and impress what you want upon him, you will very likely get it. But supposing — and it is always well to be prepared for all sorts of “ supposings ”
— the weather is frosty and the meat is frozen ; then we must be careful to put our steak into a warm kitchen for an hour or two, that it may thaw before it is cooked. If it were cooked as it is it would most certainly be tough.
The next consideration is the fire. This must be perfectly clear, bright, and red ; and in order that it may be so, it must be made in good time, so that the coal may have time to get hot throughout, and not be smoky and throwing out little jets of gassy flame. Broiling could not be satisfactorily done with a fire that had been lately mended, and had only black, smoky coal on the top. The best fire for the purpose is either a coal fire that has burnt low, or a fire that was made up with cinders free from dust.
Then there are the gridirons, for there should be two gridirons in every kitchen, one for meat and one for fish; indeed it would be an advantage if three gridirons were provided, and one of them kept especially for bloaters, which are so strongly flavoured that they generally leave their odour behind them. There are various kinds of gridirons. The ordinary thick iron ones answer very
T!u Gridiron.
well indeed for ordinary purposes, though there is a superior kind with fluted bars, by means of which a good deal of the gravy that would otherwise be wasted is saved.
Very much more important, however, than the kind of gridiron is its cleanliness. Perhaps you will say, “ Oh, cleanliness ; of course everything we use is clean. That goes without saying.” It does, and I am afraid, very often without doing either. At any rate, I don’t think there is a gridiron now in use that I should like to use without giving it a little additional rub beforehand. Meat comes into direct contact with the bars of a gridiron. When we fry anything, the meat is covered with the fat j when we boil anything it is surrounded by water ; when we roast or bake anything, it is basted with dripping ; but there is nothing between it and the gridiron, and if the latter is left at all dusty or grimy, both the food and those who partake of it get the benefit thereof. This is why it is desirable to have a distinct gridiron for fish. Beefsteak i la bloater is not agreeable.