1 have no doubt that if any professed cooks read what I have written, they will say, “ Here is nothing new ; ever)'one knows this.” I think they are mistaken ; everyone does not know it. Those only understand it who have made cookery a study, and who can speak its language. In every business there are details which are matters of course to the initiated, but which are quite unknown to outsiders. There are hundreds of girls who, if they heard a cook say, “ Pass the pulp through a sieve,” either would not know what was meant, or else would think the process very unnecessary. It is to such as these that I address myself. Now I think I have e.\plained the process with tolerable clearness, and I hope the girls belonging to the class will carry out my instructions for themselves. If they do so 1 feel sure they will be gratified. XIV. HOW TO COOK VEGETABLES. RECENT very clever writer on cookery — I mean the late M. Kettner — has said that “ there are no finer vegetables to be found anywhere than in England, and the English do not know how to eat them. The weak point of an English dinner is always the vegetables.” 76 The Girl’s Own Cookery Book. Now there are a great many places in England where it is difficult to get good meat at a reasonable price. If meat is plentiful, perhaps fish, game, and poultry are not to be had, but vegetables of one kind or another are everywhere. Therefore, it would be very easy for us to try to improve ourselves in this, our “ weak point,” and we shall find it to our advantage to give a little attention to the vegetables. The most usual way of cooking vegetables is to boil them. This usual way is a very good way if it is pro- perly done, but when it is mismanaged the effect is de- plorable. The process, too, is not exactly the same for every vegetable, and if we wish to boil vegetables properly, we ought to understand both general rules and particular exceptions. Before, however, we can speak of any pro- cess whatever, we must understand how to prepare and cleanse vegetables for boiling. This is a very important matter, for cleanliness can scarcely be too strongly in- sisted upon. Caterpillars and slugs subsist on vegetables, and what can be more disagreeable than to find a cater- pillar on our plates when we are half through a meal ? We will therefore recall to mind the mode of cleaning and preparing vegetables in constant use. Cabbages, Brussels sprouts, kale, and greetis. — Wash well in salt and water ; look over carefully, especially behind the leaves, for fear of insects. The stalks and the loose decayed, discoloured leaves should be removed, and the vegetables neatly trimmed. For safety’s sake they should be laid for about half an hour in plenty of cold water to which salt has been added in the propor- tion of a dessertspoonful of salt to a quart of water. An effectual means of dislodging insects is to put vinegar in the water instead of salt. Cabbages should be cut in halves for cleansing, then tied together again when boiled. Cauliflowers. — Trim away the superfluous leaves, re- move those which remain, and trim them neatly to make the vegetable as round and compact as possible. Cauli- flowers should be washed in salt and water, and should be placed, head downwards, in either salt and water or vinegar and water for an hour, being well shaken once 77 Hotv to Cook Vegetables.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

1 have no doubt that if any professed cooks read what I have written, they will say, “ Here is nothing new ; ever)'one knows this.” I think they are mistaken ; everyone does not know it. Those only understand it who have made cookery a study, and who can speak its language. In every business there are details which are matters of course to the initiated, but which are quite unknown to outsiders. There are hundreds of girls who, if they heard a cook say, “ Pass the pulp through a sieve,” either would not know what was meant, or else would think the process very unnecessary. It is to such as these that I address myself. Now I think I have explained the process with tolerable clearness, and I hope the girls belonging to the class will carry out my instructions for themselves. If they do so 1 feel sure they will be gratified. HOW TO COOK VEGETABLES. RECENT very clever writer on cookery — I mean the late M. Kettner — has said that “ there are no finer vegetables to be found anywhere than in England, and the English do not know how to eat them. The weak point of an English dinner is always the vegetables.” 76 The Girl’s Own Cookery Book. Now there are a great many places in England where it is difficult to get good meat at a reasonable price. If meat is plentiful, perhaps fish, game, and poultry are not to be had, but vegetables of one kind or another are everywhere. Therefore, it would be very easy for us to try to improve ourselves in this, our “ weak point,” and we shall find it to our advantage to give a little attention to the vegetables. The most usual way of cooking vegetables is to boil them. This usual way is a very good way if it is properly done, but when it is mismanaged the effect is deplorable. The process, too, is not exactly the same for every vegetable, and if we wish to boil vegetables properly, we ought to understand both general rules and particular exceptions. Before, however, we can speak of any process whatever, we must understand how to prepare and cleanse vegetables for boiling. This is a very important matter, for cleanliness can scarcely be too strongly insisted upon. Caterpillars and slugs subsist on vegetables, and what can be more disagreeable than to find a caterpillar on our plates when we are half through a meal ? We will therefore recall to mind the mode of cleaning and preparing vegetables in constant use. Cabbages, Brussels sprouts, kale, and greetis. — Wash well in salt and water ; look over carefully, especially behind the leaves, for fear of insects. The stalks and the loose decayed, discoloured leaves should be removed, and the vegetables neatly trimmed. For safety’s sake they should be laid for about half an hour in plenty of cold water to which salt has been added in the proportion of a dessertspoonful of salt to a quart of water. An effectual means of dislodging insects is to put vinegar in the water instead of salt. Cabbages should be cut in halves for cleansing, then tied together again when boiled. Cauliflowers. — Trim away the superfluous leaves, remove those which remain, and trim them neatly to make the vegetable as round and compact as possible. Cauliflowers should be washed in salt and water, and should be placed, head downwards, in either salt and water or vinegar and water for an hour, being well shaken once Hotv to Cook Vegetables.

The girl's own cookery book