There are many rules given, and no doubt to be observed,
in connection with roasting, from the cleaning of the spit to
the hanging of the meat and the preparing of the fire ; of
these the latter ones are of the first importance. Make up
the fire in time, let it be proportioned to the dinner to be
dressed, and about 4 inches longer at each end than the
thing to be roasted, and let its front be clear; take care
that the coal be in its first glow, and not burnt up or ashy.
Keep a supply of coals and cinders on the top ; an excess of
heat you can neutralize by increasing a little the distance
between the meat and the fire, but an insufficient fire will
torture the meat into a cooked leathery state, and not
produce either the juiciness or brown savour of the true
roast.
If there be on the joint to be roasted moxQ fat than will
probably be eaten, trim it off; that which remains on protect
with a piece of clean lohite p>ap>er drenched in oil or dripping,
and tied on with twine ; in the same manner protect any
prominent part which is liable to become, or shows signs of
becoming, scorched; a shoulder of veal, e.g., requires such
protection particularly on all prominent parts. Fish and
small birds may also be protected entirely by being wrapped
in paper {en piapillote), while others may bo covered with
74
THE SPIRIT OF COOKER)
thiu slices of bacon, to be removed shortly before the outside
is finished.
All meat should at first be put at some distance, say from
10 to 14 inches, always a little greater than that at which
it is ultimately to be roasted, from the fire, in order that it
may be warmed gradually to such a degree as will cause it
to exude fat and gravy over its surface before that surface
has had time to become scorched by the radiating heat ; if
once it gets scorched, the outside will become hard and
acquire a disagreeable taste, and the heat being prevented
by the scorched part from penetrating into it, the meat will
appear done before it is more than half done, and will
besides lose the pale-brown colour which is the beauty of
roast meat and the certain guarantee of its excellent taste.
As regards tlia management of the dri2)ping the following
rules should be observed :* Place the dripping-pan at such
a distance from the fire that it will just catch the dripping ;
if it be too near, some ashes or cinders will fall into it ; if it
be too far from the fire, you will not only lose a portion of
the drippings, but the meat will be blackened and spoiled
by the foetid smoke which will arise when the fat falls on
the live cinders. A large dripping-pan, some 28 inches long,
20 inches wide, with a covered well on the side away from
the fire, is convenient not only for collecting the dripping,
but it also may hold fried fish and other dishes to keep them
hot while waiting to be served. If there be much dripping
during the roasting, the cook should take up the fat top
occasionally and pass it through a sieve into a stone pot.
After it has been cooled, and the gravy been removed from
under it, it may be clarified by being heated in a saucepan,
skimmed, let boil, allowed to stand until cool while yet
liquid, and then passed through a sieve into a pan. Such
drippings, as well as the fat skimmiugs of the hroth-piot, will
be as suitable as butter for basting any roasts, except game
* Vide ‘Dripping’; Kitchiner, loc. ciL, pp. 81, 148.
Page 59
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
There are many rules given, and no doubt to be observed, in connection with roasting, from the cleaning of the spit to the hanging of the meat and the preparing of the fire ; of these the latter ones are of the first importance. Make up the fire in time, let it be proportioned to the dinner to be dressed, and about 4 inches longer at each end than the thing to be roasted, and let its front be clear; take care that the coal be in its first glow, and not burnt up or ashy. Keep a supply of coals and cinders on the top ; an excess of heat you can neutralize by increasing a little the distance between the meat and the fire, but an insufficient fire will torture the meat into a cooked leathery state, and not produce either the juiciness or brown savour of the true roast.
If there be on the joint to be roasted moxQ fat than will probably be eaten, trim it off; that which remains on protect with a piece of clean white paper drenched in oil or dripping, and tied on with twine ; in the same manner protect any prominent part which is liable to become, or shows signs of becoming, scorched; a shoulder of veal, e.g., requires such protection particularly on all prominent parts. Fish and small birds may also be protected entirely by being wrapped in paper {en piapillote), while others may bo covered with
thiu slices of bacon, to be removed shortly before the outside is finished.
All meat should at first be put at some distance, say from 10 to 14 inches, always a little greater than that at which it is ultimately to be roasted, from the fire, in order that it may be warmed gradually to such a degree as will cause it to exude fat and gravy over its surface before that surface has had time to become scorched by the radiating heat ; if once it gets scorched, the outside will become hard and acquire a disagreeable taste, and the heat being prevented by the scorched part from penetrating into it, the meat will appear done before it is more than half done, and will besides lose the pale-brown colour which is the beauty of roast meat and the certain guarantee of its excellent taste.
As regards the management of the dripping the following rules should be observed :* Place the dripping-pan at such a distance from the fire that it will just catch the dripping ; if it be too near, some ashes or cinders will fall into it ; if it be too far from the fire, you will not only lose a portion of the drippings, but the meat will be blackened and spoiled by the foetid smoke which will arise when the fat falls on the live cinders. A large dripping-pan, some 28 inches long, 20 inches wide, with a covered well on the side away from the fire, is convenient not only for collecting the dripping, but it also may hold fried fish and other dishes to keep them hot while waiting to be served. If there be much dripping during the roasting, the cook should take up the fat top occasionally and pass it through a sieve into a stone pot. After it has been cooled, and the gravy been removed from under it, it may be clarified by being heated in a saucepan, skimmed, let boil, allowed to stand until cool while yet liquid, and then passed through a sieve into a pan. Such drippings, as well as the fat skimmings of the broth-pot, will be as suitable as butter for basting any roasts, except game * Vide ‘Dripping’; Kitchiner, loc. ciL, pp. 81, 148.