The new century cookery book

There are few kitchens in England where waste is not common in some way or another. This is freely admitted by us, and other nations record the fact in sayings which have become proverbial, yet how few take the hint ! This is solely due to want of better knowledge and lack of thought. Mistakes nearly always arise from ignorance, from not thinking, and from not taking care. Cooks who are wasteful are generally those who are ignorant and thoughtless. They never get on in their profession. No scrap of food is too small to be used up in some way, so long as it is fresh and wholesome ; but before dealing with food let me draw attention to the waste of heat and its result. Many cooks are of opinion that the water for cooking a ham, a leg of mutton, or other joint of meat, must be kept at boiling point until done. This is quite an error, because actual boiling, after the first preliminary stage, is possibly detrimental to the success of a boiled joint of meat. Fast boiling in most cases destroys the delicious flavour of meat, it fills the kitchen with unpleasant steam and vapour, and a certain amount of fuel is thereby wasted. It is a well-known fact that much of the heat given off from the fuel in cooking stoves is wasted; only a comparatively small proportion is used for actual cooking, the remainder goes up the chimney or escapes into the kitchen. Since one cannot help some waste of fuel, economy as well as comfort demands that such waste be as small as possible. The average cook, as a matter of course, prefers to work with fresh materials, rather than use up stale or left-over food ; but those who study the masters’ interests will make good use of so-called ‘ scraps,’ and instead of wasting them, they will use them up and work them into suitable dishes. For instance, every cook will, with a little care, be able to use up stale bread to advantage. All crusts and small pieces of bread should be collected each day and be dried slowly in a warm oven. When they are perfectly dry, but not actually brown, they should be pounded in a mortar or crushed on a board with a rolling pin, sifted and put into jars. Bread crumbs thus made will keep good for a long time, and can be used for crumbing or breading, moulding cutlets, fish, rissoles, croquettes, &c. Another way of using stale bread is to tear the soft part of the loaf into bits, and bake the pieces a golden hue in an oven ; these are served with cheese, &c., and when baked crisp and of nice colour are exceedingly good. Stale bread can also be cut into thin slices and baked in the oven till crisp and brown : these small slices are served with soup, used as sippets, or served with coffee. Sweet and savoury fritters can be made with stale bread ; slices are cut and spread with jam or cheese and sandwiched together, after which they are dipped in batter and fried in hot fat. There are also a good many puddings (baked or boiled), tartlets, &c., in which breadcrumbs form part of the ingredients.