8—2
116
ENGLISH AND FKKNCH COOKEBV.
explain some seemingly contradictory phenomena. And this is what it
is proposed to do in this chapter — to treat the subject broadly, and
leaving readers to accept or reject the information given, according as
they may find it useful or superfluous in their own particular cases.
Water.— To begin with water, it should of course be filtered ; and
be sure to buy a filter that is easily cleansed, otherwise it will soon
contaminate rather than purify the water passing through it. If you
do not possess a filter, draw all drinking water by allowing the tap to
run as slowly as your patience will permit, and catch the water in a
jug as far from the tap as possible. This proceeding, which a good
old-fashioned housewife would no doubt describe as ‘finikin,’ produces
none the less an important chemical change, so that a sample of water
thus drawn and a sample drawn in the usual way would give widely
differing results if analysed. In technical language the water has
been aerated. To test the brilliancy of water fill a well-cleaned high
tumbler (what is known as a soda-water glass), and placing it upon a
sheet of white note paper, look down through the water. The efficacy
of this test is best demonstrated when two different samples are being
examined. It frequently happens that it is impossible to distinguish
between them when examined in the usual way by looking through the
glass, while the more crucial test discovers a marked difference. For
drinking at meals, toast and water is a vast improvement on the simple
element, from a hygiene point of view.
Of tea and coffee, it would be impossible to say too much. What
a world of delight ninety-nine persons in a hundred miss by not un-
derstanding the beauties of these two beverages. It is astonishing
how persons neglect the cheap pleasures within their reach to strain
after those which are mostly desirable because they are costly. Who
expects a ploughman to appreciate a fine wine? And how did the
connoisseur acquire the faculty of appreciation by which he now derives
such exquisite enjoyment? It is all a matter of education. Train
your palate by paying an intelligent attention to the tea and coffee
you drink, and in the end you will have greatly enlarged your sphere
of domestic enjoyments. True you will soon introduce reform into the
house ; no more rank watery infusions will be permitted to present
themselves with impunity at your table, and if by chance you happen
to desire a cup of tea or coffee when away from home, you will heap
maledictions on the refreshment-house keepers who so outrageously
libel both beverages, while professing to make fresh tea for each
customer, and supply coffee as on the Continent. But in the long run
the balance will be in your favour. Buy good tea, and do not attempt
to make coffee ‘economically.’ Learn to drink tea without sugar and
coffee without milk. Finally, drink neither as the main accompaniment
of ‘ serious ’ meals.
Page 95
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
8—2
ENGLISH AND FRENCH COOKERY.
explain some seemingly contradictory phenomena. And this is what it is proposed to do in this chapter — to treat the subject broadly, and leaving readers to accept or reject the information given, according as they may find it useful or superfluous in their own particular cases.
Water.— To begin with water, it should of course be filtered ; and be sure to buy a filter that is easily cleansed, otherwise it will soon contaminate rather than purify the water passing through it. If you do not possess a filter, draw all drinking water by allowing the tap to run as slowly as your patience will permit, and catch the water in a jug as far from the tap as possible. This proceeding, which a good old-fashioned housewife would no doubt describe as ‘finikin,’ produces none the less an important chemical change, so that a sample of water thus drawn and a sample drawn in the usual way would give widely differing results if analysed. In technical language the water has been aerated. To test the brilliancy of water fill a well-cleaned high tumbler (what is known as a soda-water glass), and placing it upon a sheet of white note paper, look down through the water. The efficacy of this test is best demonstrated when two different samples are being examined. It frequently happens that it is impossible to distinguish between them when examined in the usual way by looking through the glass, while the more crucial test discovers a marked difference. For drinking at meals, toast and water is a vast improvement on the simple element, from a hygiene point of view.
Of tea and coffee, it would be impossible to say too much. What a world of delight ninety-nine persons in a hundred miss by not understanding the beauties of these two beverages. It is astonishing how persons neglect the cheap pleasures within their reach to strain after those which are mostly desirable because they are costly. Who expects a ploughman to appreciate a fine wine? And how did the connoisseur acquire the faculty of appreciation by which he now derives such exquisite enjoyment? It is all a matter of education. Train your palate by paying an intelligent attention to the tea and coffee you drink, and in the end you will have greatly enlarged your sphere of domestic enjoyments. True you will soon introduce reform into the house ; no more rank watery infusions will be permitted to present themselves with impunity at your table, and if by chance you happen to desire a cup of tea or coffee when away from home, you will heap maledictions on the refreshment-house keepers who so outrageously libel both beverages, while professing to make fresh tea for each customer, and supply coffee as on the Continent. But in the long run the balance will be in your favour. Buy good tea, and do not attempt to make coffee ‘economically.’ Learn to drink tea without sugar and coffee without milk. Finally, drink neither as the main accompaniment of ‘ serious ’ meals.