Roasting is a process which requires consid-
erable care and attention on the part of the
cook or the roast not only loses much of its
quality, but also a considerable amount of its
flavor.
In boiling the meat is deprived of some of
its nutritive qualities by the removal of a por-
tion of its soluble constituents; the albumen
and the gelatin are acted upon, the former be-
ing solidified and the latter converted into a
gelatinous substance. If meat, therefore, is
boiled too long or too fast, we get, in meat
such as beef, a hard and indigestible mass,
and in meat such as veal a gelatinous sub-
stance equally injurious to the digestive or-
gans.
In frying, the heat is applied through the
medium of boiling oil or fat, which is ren-
dered empyreumatic, and, therefore, extremely
liable to disagree with the delicate stomach.
In baking, the substance is heated in a con-
fined space, which does not permit the escape
of the fumes arising from it, and by retaining
its juices, is rendered not only more tender,
but more savory than by any of the other
processes.
SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY 121
It is this process that brings us nearest to
the Paper-Bag Cookery which has attracted
the attention of so many thousands of the
readers of “ The Daily Chronicle.” Paper-
bag cookery has to be considered, not only
from the point of view of the preservation of
food values and food flavors. It has made
itself a question of the hour — for obvious
reasons I avoid calling it a burning question
— because of its general adaptability to the
needs of the people in their culinary limita-
tions, and the sanitary advantages it possesses
over the happy-go-lucky processes of the or-
dinary kitchen.
And finally, it must recommend itself to the
popular imagination because of the many
dainty additions it will make to the menu of
the housewife of cultured palate, but of mod-
est means.
III.
Mrs. Glasse of “ First catch your hare ”
fame has achieved immortality through a
popular error.
As a matter of fact, Mrs. Glasse did not
write the Cookery Book which bears her name,
and the phrase which was originally “ First
122 SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY
cast your hare ” was in time altered to “ First
scatch your hare,” — “ to scatch ” meaning “ to
skin.”
But there is no ambiguity in the advice
proffered to those about to put Paper-Bag
Cookery to the test. “ First get your paper-
bag, and be sure that it is of the right kind.”
There is paper and paper, and all paper is
not properly prepared to come into contact
with food in the process of cooking.
There is paper which may, in the course of
ordinary manufacture, have acquired certain
properties which would not only impart an
unpleasant taste to the food, but might have
an injurious effect upon the consumer.
It is because the popular success of paper-
bag cookery depends upon the paper that only
bags specially and scientifically prepared for
the purpose should be used.
As the proper bags are now to be had with-
out difficulty, there is no reason why thou-
sands of meals which are now served cold
because of the difficulties of preparing and
cooking food in the ordinary way at picnics,
outdoor gatherings, campings-out, etc., should
not be served hot with as little trouble as in
restaurants or private houses.
SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY 123
Page 38
Presented as published in 1911. 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
Roasting is a process which requires considerable care and attention on the part of the cook or the roast not only loses much of its quality, but also a considerable amount of its flavor.
In boiling the meat is deprived of some of its nutritive qualities by the removal of a portion of its soluble constituents; the albumen and the gelatin are acted upon, the former being solidified and the latter converted into a gelatinous substance. If meat, therefore, is boiled too long or too fast, we get, in meat such as beef, a hard and indigestible mass, and in meat such as veal a gelatinous substance equally injurious to the digestive organs.
In frying, the heat is applied through the medium of boiling oil or fat, which is rendered empyreumatic, and, therefore, extremely liable to disagree with the delicate stomach.
In baking, the substance is heated in a confined space, which does not permit the escape of the fumes arising from it, and by retaining its juices, is rendered not only more tender, but more savory than by any of the other processes.
It is this process that brings us nearest to the Paper-Bag Cookery which has attracted the attention of so many thousands of the readers of “ The Daily Chronicle.” Paperbag cookery has to be considered, not only from the point of view of the preservation of food values and food flavors. It has made itself a question of the hour — for obvious reasons I avoid calling it a burning question — because of its general adaptability to the needs of the people in their culinary limitations, and the sanitary advantages it possesses over the happy-go-lucky processes of the ordinary kitchen.
And finally, it must recommend itself to the popular imagination because of the many dainty additions it will make to the menu of the housewife of cultured palate, but of modest means.
Mrs. Glasse of “ First catch your hare ” fame has achieved immortality through a popular error.
As a matter of fact, Mrs. Glasse did not write the Cookery Book which bears her name, and the phrase which was originally “ First
cast your hare ” was in time altered to “ First scatch your hare,” — “ to scatch ” meaning “ to skin.”
But there is no ambiguity in the advice proffered to those about to put Paper-Bag Cookery to the test. “ First get your paperbag, and be sure that it is of the right kind.”
There is paper and paper, and all paper is not properly prepared to come into contact with food in the process of cooking.
There is paper which may, in the course of ordinary manufacture, have acquired certain properties which would not only impart an unpleasant taste to the food, but might have an injurious effect upon the consumer.
It is because the popular success of paperbag cookery depends upon the paper that only bags specially and scientifically prepared for the purpose should be used.
As the proper bags are now to be had without difficulty, there is no reason why thousands of meals which are now served cold because of the difficulties of preparing and cooking food in the ordinary way at picnics, outdoor gatherings, campings-out, etc., should not be served hot with as little trouble as in restaurants or private houses.