The housekeeper's guide to preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, &c

Another very important branch is that of tinned fish. Probably one of the most popular forms of preserved fish in the present day is tinned lobster and salmon. Full directions will be found as to how to use both tinned salmon and tinned lobster for other purposes than the common mode of eating it cold with oil, vinegar, and pepper. There is one other class, however, to which I would call housekeepers’ attention. I would ask them to refer to preserved sardines, pilchards, and herrings; and to read carefully the directions given how these fish can be served up hot, in the shape of curry, both at breakfast, dinner, and supper. Housekeepers will know how valuable it is to have by them in the house any little something which will make a dish at a few moments’ notice in case of emergency, such as the unexpected arrival of a few guests. The tinned pilchards and sardines are admirably adapted for this purpose. In using the better classes of preserved meats, I have on most occasions called attention to the fact that these tins are admirably adapted for picnics. As, however, picnics invariably take place in hot weather, I have reminded the caterer of the importance of placing the tin in a little iced water for about half an hour before it is opened. At a good picnic ice is always to be found, but it is not every one who would think of using a little of it for the purpose I have named. We next come to that very important branch of preserved goods— tinned vegetables. Just as the chief point in serving tinned meats is to have them cold, so in serving tinned vegetables it is essential to have them hot : and not only to serve them hot, but to make them hot m the tin itself. It should be remembered that these tinned vegetables are already perfectly cooked, and that all that is necessary is to make them hot through. In many cases the cook will open the tin just as it is and strain off the liquor, on the ground that it is not very clean, and then put the vegetables into some fresh boiling water, make them hot, and serve. Now, it is most important, in serving all kinds of tinned vegetables, that the vegetables should be made hot before the tin is opened. I "will try to explain why this is the case, and will illustrate what I mean by what will be familiar to every good cook— namely, the boiling of a ham. An imperfectly instructed cook will boil the ham, and probably, under the mistaken impression that nothing should be allowed to get cold in the saucepan, will take out the ham as soon as it is boiled, place it on a dish, and put it in the larder to get cold. All cooks know the result. The following morning the ham will be cold, and in the dish will be found a quantity of nice jelly which has run from the ham, and which to a great extent is the goodness of the ham itself. A good cook will, however, allow the ham to get perfectly cold in the water in which it has been boiled, and consequently the whole of the jelly that is in the ham will congeal in the ham itself, and the ham will be what lovers of good living call “juicy.” Now, when the vegetables were originally placed in the tin, and there cooked, of course a good deal of the flavour of the vegetables must have got into the water in which they were boiled.