transformed into colla, or glue, being the hydrated form of a substance which, when dry, is called gelatine. Meat yields some gelatin to water when it is boiled, the more the longer the boiling is continued. But when it is desired to produce gelatinous matters {^jellies) in the kitchen, it is never ad- visable to use either meat or bones for that purpose, but calves’ feet, which, with the exception of the bones and cartilages, will dissolve almost entirely in water by long boiling and form neutral or tasteless jelly. Proportion of Bones to Meat in Various Animals. We come now to the consideration of the hones of meat. In good veal we have on the average twelve parts of bone in fifty-eight parts of joint as bought ; in beef, ten parts of bone in fifty of joint ; therefore in these two kinds of meat a fifth of the loeight at least is bone ; but in several joints the weight of the bone rises to one-fourth : in laynb the proportion is a little different, the bones being to flesh as eight to thirty- seven (17‘7 percent.) ; in fat sheep, as seven to thirty (nearly 19 per cent.) ; here the meat is a little more than five times the weight of the bones. In these estimates all visible fat is excluded. In fat ptorh bones are to flesh as seven to thirty- eight, therefore less than one-sixth (seven out of forty-five), fat again excluded. In many culinary operations the connection of the bone with the meat is of great advantage to the latter, e.g., in [ mutton chops, saddle of mutton, loin of beef, etc. During I the roasting the bone protects the meat on one side from j drying, while admitting the heat. But in the process of boiling the presence of hone is of no advantage whatever ; in particular, bone and its surroundings, not being meat, contribute nothing to the flavour of the joint or the broth, and very little to its nutritious qualities, and therefore all bones should as far as possible be kept away, or removed 126 THE SPIRIT OF COOKERY from joints about to be boiled, as has been already shown above in the history of Proust’s extract of meat. In many kitchens it is usual to break the bones w'hich have been removed from any ‘ boned ’ joints, enclose them in a bag of netting, and boil them either by themselves or in the stock-pot ; all skeletons of chickens, pheasants, par- tridges, hares, rabbits, whether obtained by boning in the kitchen or left from the table, are by all cookery-books made the basis of some sort of broth, gravy, or sauce (fuviet). Let it be well understood that such remains are only useful to the extent to which they consist of meat ; as bones they are perfectly useless, and, in fact, mostly give rise to voluminous operations, the dilute results of which have to be concen- trated by hours of evaporation or boiling down, and even then would not be worth having if they were not strongly supported by the fried vegetables and their extracts which are always needed as well. No doubt gelatine can be slowly extracted from bones by boiling them with water, but the product is both costly and useless. Therefore we conclude our remarks with the observation that the traditional worship of bones is a mischievous superstition which should be eliminated from culinary literature and practice.* Fat of Meat, and its Proportions in Various Animals.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

transformed into colla, or glue, being the hydrated form of a substance which, when dry, is called gelatine. Meat yields some gelatin to water when it is boiled, the more the longer the boiling is continued. But when it is desired to produce gelatinous matters {^jellies) in the kitchen, it is never advisable to use either meat or bones for that purpose, but calves’ feet, which, with the exception of the bones and cartilages, will dissolve almost entirely in water by long boiling and form neutral or tasteless jelly. Proportion of Bones to Meat in Various Animals. We come now to the consideration of the hones of meat. In good veal we have on the average twelve parts of bone in fifty-eight parts of joint as bought ; in beef, ten parts of bone in fifty of joint ; therefore in these two kinds of meat a fifth of the weight at least is bone ; but in several joints the weight of the bone rises to one-fourth : in laynb the proportion is a little different, the bones being to flesh as eight to thirtyseven (17‘7 percent.) ; in fat sheep, as seven to thirty (nearly 19 per cent.) ; here the meat is a little more than five times the weight of the bones. In these estimates all visible fat is excluded. In fat pork bones are to flesh as seven to thirtyeight, therefore less than one-sixth (seven out of forty-five), fat again excluded. In many culinary operations the connection of the bone with the meat is of great advantage to the latter, e.g., in [ mutton chops, saddle of mutton, loin of beef, etc. During I the roasting the bone protects the meat on one side from j drying, while admitting the heat. But in the process of boiling the presence of hone is of no advantage whatever ; in particular, bone and its surroundings, not being meat, contribute nothing to the flavour of the joint or the broth, and very little to its nutritious qualities, and therefore all bones should as far as possible be kept away, or removed from joints about to be boiled, as has been already shown above in the history of Proust’s extract of meat. In many kitchens it is usual to break the bones w'hich have been removed from any ‘ boned ’ joints, enclose them in a bag of netting, and boil them either by themselves or in the stock-pot ; all skeletons of chickens, pheasants, partridges, hares, rabbits, whether obtained by boning in the kitchen or left from the table, are by all cookery-books made the basis of some sort of broth, gravy, or sauce (fuviet). Let it be well understood that such remains are only useful to the extent to which they consist of meat ; as bones they are perfectly useless, and, in fact, mostly give rise to voluminous operations, the dilute results of which have to be concentrated by hours of evaporation or boiling down, and even then would not be worth having if they were not strongly supported by the fried vegetables and their extracts which are always needed as well. No doubt gelatine can be slowly extracted from bones by boiling them with water, but the product is both costly and useless. Therefore we conclude our remarks with the observation that the traditional worship of bones is a mischievous superstition which should be eliminated from culinary literature and practice.* Fat of Meat, and its Proportions in Various Animals.

The spirit of cookery