But English people have made amends for their tardiness in appreciation of “papillote” methods by the extraordinary enthusiasm for paper-bag cookery, which is now being manifested through every corner of the United Kingdom, as well as the British colonies and the United States of America. Hotels and restaurants may possibly stand aloof, but there is hardly a private house which will not reflect in some measure this popular innovation, whilst for the flat dweller, the bachelor, the woman- worker, or the small working and middle- class householder, paper-bag cookery has unquestionably come to stay. The saving of time and labour, and the absence of scullery work, have already formed a part solution of the weary servant question. Enough has been said to show that “paper” cookery is no new invention. The novelty to-day consists merely in the fact that a bag is used in preference to a twisted piece of plain paper, and is undoubtedly a great improvement. The question of the origin of the bag arose only a few months ago out of a competition in London between two rival chefs, when a German chef used specially prepared paper-bags, and a French THE PAPER-BAG COOKERY MANUAL. 11 chef merely ordinary grease-proof paper, the one idea of the latter being to show that bags were superfluous by the side of ordinary paper. A certain section of the press has erroneously inferred since, that the Frenchman was the inventor of the bag system, but those present at the historic culinary duel know that it was not possible for either chef to be responsible for the creation of a process centuries old, though the palm of popularity in the paper- bag method ma}r be fairly awarded to the German chef. To turn now to the practical side of paper-bag cookery. The mistake in the recent rage of the “papakuk” cult has been to enclose everything indiscriminately in an envelope, regardless of whether the dish in question is capable of being adapted to such a method. Many of the failures of this form of cookery have been due to the misguided zeal with which some enthusiastic housewives have insisted upon pouring puddings, sauces, curries, and “reheats” into paper receptacles, resulting a few hours later in a shapeless mass, unpleasing alike to both eye and palate. Judgment, that most essential of requisites in cookery, paper or otherwise, must of course be brought to bear upon the article in question. It stands to reason that paper-bag cookery is not suited to all foods. Stocks, soups, and sauces, certain vegetables, as 12 THE PAPER-BAG COOKERY MANUAL. well as food to be fried in deep fat, must still continue to be cooked after the old method, so that saucepan and casserole makers need not actually despair. Fresh meat of all descriptions can be satisfactorily cooked by the bag process ; it does not lose nearly so much in weight as when other- wise cooked, and the flavour is vastly superior. Joints may be roasted to per- fection, and stews are excellent, whilst poultry and game, and fish especially, lend themselves admirably to the paper-bag method. Paper-bags again afford an ex- cellent protection to small or fancy bread, scones, cakes, and many puddings. They prevent scorching, and help to distribute the heat more evenly. Experiments in cooking pastry after this method have been entirely successful, as also with milk puddings.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

But English people have made amends for their tardiness in appreciation of “papillote” methods by the extraordinary enthusiasm for paper-bag cookery, which is now being manifested through every corner of the United Kingdom, as well as the British colonies and the United States of America. Hotels and restaurants may possibly stand aloof, but there is hardly a private house which will not reflect in some measure this popular innovation, whilst for the flat dweller, the bachelor, the womanworker, or the small working and middleclass householder, paper-bag cookery has unquestionably come to stay. The saving of time and labour, and the absence of scullery work, have already formed a part solution of the weary servant question. Enough has been said to show that “paper” cookery is no new invention. The novelty to-day consists merely in the fact that a bag is used in preference to a twisted piece of plain paper, and is undoubtedly a great improvement. The question of the origin of the bag arose only a few months ago out of a competition in London between two rival chefs, when a German chef used specially prepared paper-bags, and a French chef merely ordinary grease-proof paper, the one idea of the latter being to show that bags were superfluous by the side of ordinary paper. A certain section of the press has erroneously inferred since, that the Frenchman was the inventor of the bag system, but those present at the historic culinary duel know that it was not possible for either chef to be responsible for the creation of a process centuries old, though the palm of popularity in the paper- bag method ma}r be fairly awarded to the German chef. To turn now to the practical side of paper-bag cookery. The mistake in the recent rage of the “papakuk” cult has been to enclose everything indiscriminately in an envelope, regardless of whether the dish in question is capable of being adapted to such a method. Many of the failures of this form of cookery have been due to the misguided zeal with which some enthusiastic housewives have insisted upon pouring puddings, sauces, curries, and “reheats” into paper receptacles, resulting a few hours later in a shapeless mass, unpleasing alike to both eye and palate. Judgment, that most essential of requisites in cookery, paper or otherwise, must of course be brought to bear upon the article in question. It stands to reason that paper-bag cookery is not suited to all foods. Stocks, soups, and sauces, certain vegetables, as well as food to be fried in deep fat, must still continue to be cooked after the old method, so that saucepan and casserole makers need not actually despair. Fresh meat of all descriptions can be satisfactorily cooked by the bag process ; it does not lose nearly so much in weight as when otherwise cooked, and the flavour is vastly superior. Joints may be roasted to perfection, and stews are excellent, whilst poultry and game, and fish especially, lend themselves admirably to the paper-bag method. Paper-bags again afford an excellent protection to small or fancy bread, scones, cakes, and many puddings. They prevent scorching, and help to distribute the heat more evenly. Experiments in cooking pastry after this method have been entirely successful, as also with milk puddings.

The paper-bag cookery manual