Potato Boiling. — As the “Axioms” (3), page C9, for boil- ing potatoes involve one or two disputed points in the cookery world, a few words of explanation are necessary for their definite formulation. If a whole slice of potato be examined, even to the naked eye there will be seen distinctly, an opaque rim around it, which is quite different in appearance from the semi- transparency of the inner portion, in which starch grains or cells are easily discerned. Experiment and continued experi- ence have proved to a large number that boiling water has the effect of making this outer rim firm, which prevents the potatoes breaking. The importance of keeping them whole is recognised when it is remembered that starch readily absorbs water, and most tenaciously retains it; and thus the great object should be to prevent the entrance or absorption of any foreign water, if they are to be served dry and floury. This theory is supported both by steaming and baking potatoes. No one thinks of putting them over cold water for the former process, and for the latter, those put into a cold or merely warm oven are very inferior to those baked in a good brisk oven. It is again supported by the fact that medical men generally agree that baked potatoes are much more wholesome and digestible than those cooked otherwise — dub, first, to the fact that they are not deprived of their cork-like natural covering, thus ^pre- venting the escape of their properties ; secondly, that they are cooked by a dry heat, so that no additional water is absorbed ; and thirdly, because the degree of heat is great enough to dry up much of their natural moisture. Apart, however, from the science of the matter, attentive, careful practice of the rules referred to, which are applicable to every kind of potato, both old and new, usually results, happily, in breaking down the strongest wall, even of British prejudice. That old potatoes should have been put into cold water for so long, and all other vegetables into boiling water, is just one of those unaccountable contradictions which exist in English cookery. It is one of the signs of advancement that the importance of steaming, as a mode of cooking, is more generally recog- nised, and all vegetables (except those where the colour would be affected) are rendered much more tender and digestible by it : apart from the fact that the salts in vegetables — which largely constitute their value — cannot be lost to the same extent as by boiling. 108 NOTES ON ROASTING MEAT. Ihe Dry Roasting or Baking of Meat : — On a superficial reading, “Axioms ” (5 and 6), page 100 appear slightly contra- dictory. In reality, however, this is not the case. In the former method, dripping and flour are put on the meat, and in the latter the.rule is not to do so ; but then in the former the sealing up of the juices is accomplished in 10 minutes, aided by the covering of fat and flour ; while in the latter 20 minutes (just double the time) is allowed for this purpose. Soyer is the authority for this non-basting theory, and these “ Axioms ” were formulated to adapt it as nearly as possible to the smaller and similar apparatus of small houses.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Potato Boiling. — As the “Axioms” (3), page C9, for boiling potatoes involve one or two disputed points in the cookery world, a few words of explanation are necessary for their definite formulation. If a whole slice of potato be examined, even to the naked eye there will be seen distinctly, an opaque rim around it, which is quite different in appearance from the semitransparency of the inner portion, in which starch grains or cells are easily discerned. Experiment and continued experience have proved to a large number that boiling water has the effect of making this outer rim firm, which prevents the potatoes breaking. The importance of keeping them whole is recognised when it is remembered that starch readily absorbs water, and most tenaciously retains it; and thus the great object should be to prevent the entrance or absorption of any foreign water, if they are to be served dry and floury. This theory is supported both by steaming and baking potatoes. No one thinks of putting them over cold water for the former process, and for the latter, those put into a cold or merely warm oven are very inferior to those baked in a good brisk oven. It is again supported by the fact that medical men generally agree that baked potatoes are much more wholesome and digestible than those cooked otherwise — due, first, to the fact that they are not deprived of their cork-like natural covering, thus preventing the escape of their properties ; secondly, that they are cooked by a dry heat, so that no additional water is absorbed ; and thirdly, because the degree of heat is great enough to dry up much of their natural moisture. Apart, however, from the science of the matter, attentive, careful practice of the rules referred to, which are applicable to every kind of potato, both old and new, usually results, happily, in breaking down the strongest wall, even of British prejudice. That old potatoes should have been put into cold water for so long, and all other vegetables into boiling water, is just one of those unaccountable contradictions which exist in English cookery. It is one of the signs of advancement that the importance of steaming, as a mode of cooking, is more generally recognised, and all vegetables (except those where the colour would be affected) are rendered much more tender and digestible by it : apart from the fact that the salts in vegetables — which largely constitute their value — cannot be lost to the same extent as by boiling. NOTES ON ROASTING MEAT. The Dry Roasting or Baking of Meat : — On a superficial reading, “Axioms ” (5 and 6), page 100 appear slightly contradictory. In reality, however, this is not the case. In the former method, dripping and flour are put on the meat, and in the latter the.rule is not to do so ; but then in the former the sealing up of the juices is accomplished in 10 minutes, aided by the covering of fat and flour ; while in the latter 20 minutes (just double the time) is allowed for this purpose. Soyer is the authority for this non-basting theory, and these “ Axioms ” were formulated to adapt it as nearly as possible to the smaller and similar apparatus of small houses.

Cookery book and general axioms for plain cookery