sight of, and the name imrte. was applied to the thick paste of peas only, and to various other matters which admitted of similar treatment, and thus the following definition was arrived at. Purees are the products obtained by cooking, mashing, crushing, pounding, and sifting, from farinaceous substances, such as chestnuts, potatoes, or peas. These lend themselves naturally to the production of these preparations ; but a number of other edible substances, vegetable as well as animal, have been forced through the process for the production of purees, and although they are not so suitable as the leguminous seeds, they furnish pro- ducts of essential usefulness in culinary practice, for purees may be served as dishes by themselves, or as garnishes or bases for roasts and entrees. They differ from sauces by their greater consistency and firmness, while a great number of them serve as bases — i.e., principal materials — for soups, of which they form the characteristic solid ingredients. To these we have already referred in previous paragraphs ; here we confine our view to those preparations which serve as garnishes or as dishes by themselves. Some authors have words of lively praise for purees, and think that they ought to be more generally understood and practised. The production of a puree is essentially, as a certain interpretation of the name indicates, a purifying process, whereby edible parts are separated and removed from the rough or hard or inedible parts, and that by the mechanism of sifting. Thus, from leguminous fruit the indigestible shells are removed ; from roots and leaves the stringy cellulose. Meat, which from its poverty or tough- ness would be sorry fare if boiled or roasted only, can be worked into a palatable and digestible condition. Old hens or partridges, the remains of cold poultry and of all game, can be turned to good account in a puree. Even an ancient and extraordinarily tough moorghee of Madras, says ‘ Wyveru,’ may be thus rendered fit to be eaten. Such vegetable and PUREES IN GENERAL 307 meat purees are of great value to the sick, and even to persons suffering from defects of the masticating organs, or local affections of the mouth, tongue, and throat, and may be made useful as part of the diet of children. The mstriimcnts necessary for the production of puree in general are, in the first place, those which will mince meat very fine, or a mincing-machine so called, cutting by revolving ■and fixed knives, and pressing through metal sieves with round holes ; 7nincing-knives of semilunar shape, which cut hy rocking action, hence called rocking-knives ; a strong mortar of marble, and a pestle of boxiooocl — the mortar should be permanently placed on a block of wood, being a section of a tree somewhat ' wider in diameter than the mortar. There should then be large hair sieves of horse- Ihair, with from 72 to 144 openings to the square inch, and wire sieves ; it is useful to have sieves of different widths of the openings, as their successive use saves both time and labour.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

sight of, and the name puree was applied to the thick paste of peas only, and to various other matters which admitted of similar treatment, and thus the following definition was arrived at. Purees are the products obtained by cooking, mashing, crushing, pounding, and sifting, from farinaceous substances, such as chestnuts, potatoes, or peas. These lend themselves naturally to the production of these preparations ; but a number of other edible substances, vegetable as well as animal, have been forced through the process for the production of purees, and although they are not so suitable as the leguminous seeds, they furnish products of essential usefulness in culinary practice, for purees may be served as dishes by themselves, or as garnishes or bases for roasts and entrees. They differ from sauces by their greater consistency and firmness, while a great number of them serve as bases — i.e., principal materials — for soups, of which they form the characteristic solid ingredients. To these we have already referred in previous paragraphs ; here we confine our view to those preparations which serve as garnishes or as dishes by themselves. Some authors have words of lively praise for purees, and think that they ought to be more generally understood and practised. The production of a puree is essentially, as a certain interpretation of the name indicates, a purifying process, whereby edible parts are separated and removed from the rough or hard or inedible parts, and that by the mechanism of sifting. Thus, from leguminous fruit the indigestible shells are removed ; from roots and leaves the stringy cellulose. Meat, which from its poverty or toughness would be sorry fare if boiled or roasted only, can be worked into a palatable and digestible condition. Old hens or partridges, the remains of cold poultry and of all game, can be turned to good account in a puree. Even an ancient and extraordinarily tough moorghee of Madras, says ‘ Wyveru,’ may be thus rendered fit to be eaten. Such vegetable and PUREES IN GENERAL meat purees are of great value to the sick, and even to persons suffering from defects of the masticating organs, or local affections of the mouth, tongue, and throat, and may be made useful as part of the diet of children. The instruments necessary for the production of puree in general are, in the first place, those which will mince meat very fine, or a mincing-machine so called, cutting by revolving ■and fixed knives, and pressing through metal sieves with round holes ; 7nincing-knives of semilunar shape, which cut hy rocking action, hence called rocking-knives ; a strong mortar of marble, and a pestle of boxwood — the mortar should be permanently placed on a block of wood, being a section of a tree somewhat ' wider in diameter than the mortar. There should then be large hair sieves of horse- Ihair, with from 72 to 144 openings to the square inch, and wire sieves ; it is useful to have sieves of different widths of the openings, as their successive use saves both time and labour.

The spirit of cookery