He directs two decilitres of bouillon to be placed in tbe
gravy- well at the beginning of the roasting, in order to baste
therewith the large joints five or six times during the pro-
cess, the partridges and small game three times. He
diagnoses the completed coction by pressing the finger
strongly on the object, the nut of the joints, or the thigh
of the birds. When the meat is cooked, it yields under-
neath the finger without any resistance.
Brillat Savarin has a characteristic aphorism, according to
CULINARY PROCESSES
77
which a cook might become an expert in frying by tuition,
but that to become a I'oaster he must be born a genius with
an instinct for the spit. On 'peut cluvenir fritiirier, on est nd
rotisseur, runs the paraphrase of Horace. We believe that
innate talent, good practical instruction, the knowledge and
observance of all the conditions of success, may combine to
produce a superior artist, but that no one need despair of
producing good roasts who will intelligently and energetically
obey and carry out the instructions contained in the fore-
going, combined with the results of this special deliberation
on details arising in the course of the roasting.
In case the roast be from any cause deficient in colour,
this may be supplied by painting it with some hotted glaze
prepared beforehand. If you require to increase the volume
of gravy, do not dilute what you have, but produce some by
an extra operation, according to the relative recipe below,
from fried mince and standard broth. The common method
of washing the corners and underside of the joint, and
maybe the canal made by the spit, with a solution of a
teaspoonful of salt in a quarter-pint of boiling water, or of
pricking the underside of the joint with a sharp skewer, are
all effected at the cost of the quality of the joint. Gravy
for roast heef should not be mixed with any made sauce,
but gravy for roast veal may be suitably diluted with melted
butter or butter sauce.
Dredging and Basting. — As a proof that our ancestors
were very particular in basting and dredging joints before
and during roasting, we give a list of dredgings and
bastings, as used two and a half centuries ago.
Dredgings .
1. Flour mixed with grated bread.
2. Sweet herbs dried and powdered, and mixed with
grated bread.
1 ‘ Gravy for Roast Veal’: Kitcliiner, loc. cit., p. 243 ; list of
1 QAR ^ I’^itohincr, p. 84, ex May’s ‘ Accomplished Cook.’ London,
XOv)d| p* lou*
78
THE SPIRIT OF COOKERY
3. Lemon-peel dried and pounded, or orange-peel mixed
with flour.
4. Sugar finely powdered, and mixed with pounded
cinnamon and flour or grated bread,
5. Fennel-seeds, corianders, cinnamon and sugar, finely
beaten and mixed with grated bread and flour.
6. For young pigs, grated bread and flour, mixed with
beaten nutmeg, ginger, pepper, sugar, and yolks of eggs.
7. Sugar, bread, and salt mixed.
Bastings.
1. Fresh butter.
2. Clarified suet.
3. Minced sweet herbs, butter and claret, especially for
mutton and lamb.
4. Water and salt.
5. Cream and melted butter, especially for flayed pigs.
6. Yolks of eggs, grated biscuits, and juice of oranges✪ Dredging and Basting for Roasting.
Some of these dredgings would greatly improve shoulders
Page 61 · 1 recipe record on this page
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
He directs two decilitres of bouillon to be placed in the gravy- well at the beginning of the roasting, in order to baste therewith the large joints five or six times during the process, the partridges and small game three times. He diagnoses the completed coction by pressing the finger strongly on the object, the nut of the joints, or the thigh of the birds. When the meat is cooked, it yields underneath the finger without any resistance.
Brillat Savarin has a characteristic aphorism, according to
which a cook might become an expert in frying by tuition, but that to become a I'oaster he must be born a genius with an instinct for the spit. On peut devenir frittirier, on est nd rotisseur, runs the paraphrase of Horace. We believe that innate talent, good practical instruction, the knowledge and observance of all the conditions of success, may combine to produce a superior artist, but that no one need despair of producing good roasts who will intelligently and energetically obey and carry out the instructions contained in the foregoing, combined with the results of his special deliberation on details arising in the course of the roasting.
In case the roast be from any cause deficient in colour, this may be supplied by painting it with some hotted glaze prepared beforehand. If you require to increase the volume of gravy, do not dilute what you have, but produce some by an extra operation, according to the relative recipe below, from fried mince and standard broth. The common method of washing the corners and underside of the joint, and maybe the canal made by the spit, with a solution of a teaspoonful of salt in a quarter-pint of boiling water, or of pricking the underside of the joint with a sharp skewer, are all effected at the cost of the quality of the joint. Gravy for roast beef should not be mixed with any made sauce, but gravy for roast veal may be suitably diluted with melted butter or butter sauce.
Dredging and Basting. — As a proof that our ancestors were very particular in basting and dredging joints before and during roasting, we give a list of dredgings and bastings, as used two and a half centuries ago.
Dredgings .
1. Flour mixed with grated bread.
2. Sweet herbs dried and powdered, and mixed with grated bread.
1 1 'Gravy for Roast Veal': Kitchiner, loc. cit., p. 243; list of 1894, Kitchiner, p. 84, ex May's 'Accomplished Cook.' London, 1694, p. 100.
3. Lemon-peel dried and pounded, or orange-peel mixed with flour.
4. Sugar finely powdered, and mixed with pounded cinnamon and flour or grated bread,
5. Fennel-seeds, corianders, cinnamon and sugar, finely beaten and mixed with grated bread and flour.
6. For young pigs, grated bread and flour, mixed with beaten nutmeg, ginger, pepper, sugar, and yolks of eggs.
7. Sugar, bread, and salt mixed.
Bastings.
1. Fresh butter.
2. Clarified suet.
3. Minced sweet herbs, butter and claret, especially for mutton and lamb.
4. Water and salt.
5. Cream and melted butter, especially for flayed pigs.
6. Yolks of eggs, grated biscuits, and juice of oranges. Some of these dredgings would greatly improve shoulders
Records on this page
Dredging and Basting for Roasting