Fallow deer are the best providers of venison, and England is their
nation, where in olden times no flesh food was more commonly eaten.
Buck vension is preferable to that of the doe, and the prime joint is the
haunch. It is usually eaten after long hanging when ‘ high,’ and is
a very digestible and nourishing kind of food. The lean, when in its
best condition for the cook, is dark and close-grained ; the fat, white
and firm, and should come from a beast not too young. Of all meat
the lean of venison is probably the most easy of digestion.
Poultry.
White chickens are 'said to be best for the table, and those with
white or pale-coloured legs to be always the most delicate and best-
flavoured ; they should not be too fat, although plump : dark-legged
birds are best for roasting. Turkeys must never be eaten too soon
after killing, not less than two days in summer or six in winter. The
same may be said of ducks and geese.
Game.
The most eatable and delicious parts of game birds are those in
which the muscles have had least to do. For instance, in the woodcock
and snipe the legs are juicy and tender, while the wings are dry and
hard. Most kinds of game are digestible, but pheasants are perhaps
least so. The flesh of game animals is usually wanting in fat. Hare
and partridge are, with regal’d to digestion, about what mutton is.
Hares may be kept six days in winter or three in summer before cook-
ing. A pheasant or a fat young pullet will keep ten days in winter
and about four in summer. Other game a longer or shorter time. In
any case, to secure the peculiar flavour which is so much prized, game
must be hung up for a sufficient time after being killed, care being
taken to see that it does not become offensive. Practice will teach the
housekeeper the happy mean ; the nose after all being the best test.
Game should never be washed before being cooked. Wipe thoroughly
with a dry cloth, and preserve the flavour.
Fisli.
The value of fish as food is not yet so widely recognised as it should
be. Its nutritive qualities are large, and it is peculiarly fitted by its
FOOD IN RELATIONSHIP WITH NUTRITION , AND DIGESTION. 29
variety of kinds to the preparation of a great diversity of tasty dishes.
Broiled, fried, or boiled, with its many special sauces and its almost
endless additions and variations, it affords the skilful cook a large field
of exercise for her ingenuity and knowledge. It must, however, be
remembered that the fat of fish is, as a rule, indigestible, and, like that
of veal, readily decomposes, for whicli reason sauces of an acid tendency
are sometimes recommended for use with fish instead of the old-
fashioned melted butter, which has a tendency — especially if ill -made —
to render fish indigestible. Spice and salt help to render the coarser
kinds of fish-food more wholesome. Dried fish is very digestible when
dried in the open air, much less so when salted and smoked, in which
condition it affords but little nutriment. Speaking generally, fish de-
velops but little heat in the process of digestion ; it nourishes without
exciting, and, unlike highly fibrinous aliment, stimulates no function.
An exception to this rule, however, must be made where an abundance
of oily matter is present. Fish contains fibrin, gelatine, and albumen
in nearly equal proportions, but is not sufficiently rich in nitrogen to
become a full substitute for meal.
Page 14
Presented as published in 1890. 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
Fallow deer are the best providers of venison, and England is their nation, where in olden times no flesh food was more commonly eaten. Buck vension is preferable to that of the doe, and the prime joint is the haunch. It is usually eaten after long hanging when ‘ high,’ and is a very digestible and nourishing kind of food. The lean, when in its best condition for the cook, is dark and close-grained ; the fat, white and firm, and should come from a beast not too young. Of all meat the lean of venison is probably the most easy of digestion.
Poultry.
White chickens are 'said to be best for the table, and those with white or pale-coloured legs to be always the most delicate and bestflavoured ; they should not be too fat, although plump : dark-legged birds are best for roasting. Turkeys must never be eaten too soon after killing, not less than two days in summer or six in winter. The same may be said of ducks and geese.
Game.
The most eatable and delicious parts of game birds are those in which the muscles have had least to do. For instance, in the woodcock and snipe the legs are juicy and tender, while the wings are dry and hard. Most kinds of game are digestible, but pheasants are perhaps least so. The flesh of game animals is usually wanting in fat. Hare and partridge are, with regard to digestion, about what mutton is. Hares may be kept six days in winter or three in summer before cooking. A pheasant or a fat young pullet will keep ten days in winter and about four in summer. Other game a longer or shorter time. In any case, to secure the peculiar flavour which is so much prized, game must be hung up for a sufficient time after being killed, care being taken to see that it does not become offensive. Practice will teach the housekeeper the happy mean ; the nose after all being the best test. Game should never be washed before being cooked. Wipe thoroughly with a dry cloth, and preserve the flavour.
Fisli.
The value of fish as food is not yet so widely recognised as it should be. Its nutritive qualities are large, and it is peculiarly fitted by its
variety of kinds to the preparation of a great diversity of tasty dishes. Broiled, fried, or boiled, with its many special sauces and its almost endless additions and variations, it affords the skilful cook a large field of exercise for her ingenuity and knowledge. It must, however, be remembered that the fat of fish is, as a rule, indigestible, and, like that of veal, readily decomposes, for which reason sauces of an acid tendency are sometimes recommended for use with fish instead of the oldfashioned melted butter, which has a tendency — especially if ill -made — to render fish indigestible. Spice and salt help to render the coarser kinds of fish-food more wholesome. Dried fish is very digestible when dried in the open air, much less so when salted and smoked, in which condition it affords but little nutriment. Speaking generally, fish develops but little heat in the process of digestion ; it nourishes without exciting, and, unlike highly fibrinous aliment, stimulates no function. An exception to this rule, however, must be made where an abundance of oily matter is present. Fish contains fibrin, gelatine, and albumen in nearly equal proportions, but is not sufficiently rich in nitrogen to become a full substitute for meal.