Many of these as now presented at" the end of ■dinners,
before dessert, we find very vulgar, dry, and destitute of art
as well as harmony. Unless made by a skilled cook, these
preparations are likely to turn out unsatisfactory.
CHAPTER LVI.
VARIOUS USEFUL CULINARY PREPARATIONS.
A SANDWICH consists of at least two equal slices of either
white or brown bread, an eighth of an inch in thickness,
and butter, with some meat, such as ham, tongue, boiled or
roast beef, mutton, poultry, or game, or a savoury prepara-
tion thereof placed between them in such a manner that the
buttered side of each slice of bread is inside and turned
towards the meat ; a sandwich can therefore be conveniently
eaten while being held in the hand ; for the same reason
it can be conveniently wrapped in paper, or packed in a
little box, and consumed at the appointed time. For sand-
wiches the bread should not be too fresh, but somewhat
set ; it is also advisable to remove the crust before cutting
the slices of bread, as this impedes the even cutting of the
latter. Once made, sandwiches should be protected from
drying by being kept covered or enclosed until the time
when they are to be used.
Favourite central ingredients of sandwiches are : ham
and beef ; eheese and anchovies ; eyys, iilain and com])ound ;
cheese and fruit (e.g., Gruyhre and plantains)-, salad; Jish
or fowl ; lobster; egg and anchovies, etc. An excavated roll
may be stuffed with a salpicon. Excellent materials for
sandwiches are Pomeranian Goose-breast, Strasburg Goose-
liver Pasty, and Brunswick Sausage.
son AND HARD WAIER
6ii
CHAPTEE LVII.
BEVERAGES : WATER, WINE, CIDER, BEER, SPIRITS,
CUPS, SHERBETS, TEA, COFFEE, AND TISANES.
Water is the universal beverage of organized beings ; it is
the liquefying agent by the solvent action of which both the
constructive and destructive processes of nutrition and pro-
duction of power are carried on. Water should be clear,
that is to say, free from saspenclcd impiirities, and should be
equally free from dissolved matter. The suspended im-
purities are more easily recognised and removed, while the
dissolved ones are recognisable only by chemical reactions,
and for the most part irremovable. The dissolved impurities,
which are of objectionable influence upon various processes
of cookery, are those which produce in water the qualities
called temporary and permanent hardness. Temporary hard-
ness is produced by solution of carbonate of lime (carbonate
of calcium or chalk) under the influence of excess of car-
bonic acid (carbonic anhydride). This can be removed by
boiling the water during a few minutes, when the carbonic
anhydride passes away, or by addition of caustic lime,
whereby the anhydride is neutralized, and in each case the
chalk is deposited as a white or dusky powder. Permanent
hardness, however, is caused by the presence of soluble
neutral calcium salts, mainly sulphatu or gypsum, and of
magnesium salts, mainly sulphate and chloride. Both forms
of impurity are distinctly injurious in many processes of
cookery to the food to be prepared, e.g., to leguminous seeds,
as haricot beans, which are made hard thereby ; to green
vegetables, which loss colour and tenderness; to jellies,
which are made turbid. In a great many cases of cookery
soft or distilled water is therefore absolutely essential to
success ; haricot beans, peas, etc., are not only made hard in
6ii
THE SPIklT OF COOKERY
Page 385
Presented as published in 1895. 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
Many of these as now presented at the end of dinners, before dessert, we find very vulgar, dry, and destitute of art as well as harmony. Unless made by a skilled cook, these preparations are likely to turn out unsatisfactory.
CHAPTER LVI.
VARIOUS USEFUL CULINARY PREPARATIONS.
A SANDWICH consists of at least two equal slices of either white or brown bread, an eighth of an inch in thickness, and butter, with some meat, such as ham, tongue, boiled or roast beef, mutton, poultry, or game, or a savoury preparation thereof placed between them in such a manner that the buttered side of each slice of bread is inside and turned towards the meat ; a sandwich can therefore be conveniently eaten while being held in the hand ; for the same reason it can be conveniently wrapped in paper, or packed in a little box, and consumed at the appointed time. For sandwiches the bread should not be too fresh, but somewhat set ; it is also advisable to remove the crust before cutting the slices of bread, as this impedes the even cutting of the latter. Once made, sandwiches should be protected from drying by being kept covered or enclosed until the time when they are to be used.
Favourite central ingredients of sandwiches are : ham and beef ; cheese and anchovies; eggs, plain and compound ; cheese and fruit (e.g., Gruyère and plantains);, salad; Jish or fowl ; lobster; egg and anchovies, etc. An excavated roll may be stuffed with a salpicon. Excellent materials for sandwiches are Pomeranian Goose-breast, Strasburg Gooseliver Pasty, and Brunswick Sausage.
WATER AND HARD WATER
CHAPTEE LVII.
BEVERAGES : WATER, WINE, CIDER, BEER, SPIRITS, CUPS, SHERBETS, TEA, COFFEE, AND TISANES.
Water is the universal beverage of organized beings ; it is the liquefying agent by the solvent action of which both the constructive and destructive processes of nutrition and production of power are carried on. Water should be clear, that is to say, free from suspended impurities, and should be equally free from dissolved matter. The suspended impurities are more easily recognised and removed, while the dissolved ones are recognisable only by chemical reactions, and for the most part irremovable. The dissolved impurities, which are of objectionable influence upon various processes of cookery, are those which produce in water the qualities called temporary and permanent hardness. Temporary hardness is produced by solution of carbonate of lime (carbonate of calcium or chalk) under the influence of excess of carbonic acid (carbonic anhydride). This can be removed by boiling the water during a few minutes, when the carbonic anhydride passes away, or by addition of caustic lime, whereby the anhydride is neutralized, and in each case the chalk is deposited as a white or dusky powder. Permanent hardness, however, is caused by the presence of soluble neutral calcium salts, mainly sulphate or gypsum, and of magnesium salts, mainly sulphate and chloride. Both forms of impurity are distinctly injurious in many processes of cookery to the food to be prepared, e.g., to leguminous seeds, as haricot beans, which are made hard thereby ; to green vegetables, which loss colour and tenderness; to jellies, which are made turbid. In a great many cases of cookery soft or distilled water is therefore absolutely essential to success ; haricot beans, peas, etc., are not only made hard in