If Pigs are killed at home it is well to insist on their being stunned first, like a bullock. This prevents all suffering, and prevents in consequence those dying yells which, growing fainter and fainter, last so long and are so distressing to hear. * “ On y servit de petits jambons vermeils, fort rares en Espagne meme, qui ne se font que chez le due d’Arco et deux autres seigneurs, de cochons renfermes dans des especes de petits pares, remplis de halliers oil tout fourmille de viperes, dont ces cochons se nourrissent uniquement. Ces jambons ont un parfum admirable, et un gout si releve et si vivifiant qn'on en est surpris, et qu’il est impossible de manger rien si exquis.” 1721. (Memoir eg. Tome xxxvii, chapitre xxxviii.) 170 MEAT Fox' curing Bacon, Hams, and Pigs’ Cheeks, see Salted Meat. It was formerly the custom to put a thick coat of mortar over the inside of a cured Ham to keep out the air and to pre- vent the meat from “ rusting.” A better way, and one specially needed in a damp climate, is to cover the underneath portion of the Ham, whei’e the knife has been, as well as the knuckle-end, with a paste made of lime mixed with water. This entirely pi-events any “ x’usting.” Rust, or mildew, is a minute fungus pi’oduced by damp. BEEF. Roast Sirloin Of Beef. — If the Sirloin weighs ten pounds allow at least two hours and a half to roast it, or rather more if the weather is cold. It is a good plan to take out the fillet and cook it as a separate dish. Wipe the Beef with a clean cloth, and hang it carefully on the roasting-jack, so that it may turn round evenly. Cover the fat with a buttered paper, or it will burn, and tie the paper securely on with string till the meat is three-parts done. Have a good clear fire, and be sure in mending it to mend it at the back, or the meat will get smoked. Let the thickest part of the Beef be downwards, as in that way it will get the greatest heat of the fire. Put the meat close to the fire for eight minutes, so as to “ Seal ” the juices ; then draw it further back. Baste the beef every fifteen minutes, beginning by basting it with broth ( not water), and going on with the fresh dripping which the Sirloin will soon yield. If you begin by putting additional dripping in the dripping-pan the meat is likely to be gi'easy. When the Sirloin is nearly done take away the dripping-pan, and replace it by a dish or tin for Yorkshii’e Pudding. Pour off the whole of the fat as slowly as you can into a basin, leaving in the dripping-pan only the sediment of the gravy. Add a cupful of broth from the stock-pot to this (hot water may be used, but broth is far better), stir well, and pour into the very hot dish in which the Sirloin is to be seiwed. On no account pour the gravy over the beef, and gravy served with roast meat must never be thickened. Some people like the joint to be floured. If this is done di'edge a little flour✪ Roast Sirloin of Beef over it when you take the dx'ipping-pau away, as ROAST SIRLOIN OF BEEF 171

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If Pigs are killed at home it is well to insist on their being stunned first, like a bullock. This prevents all suffering, and prevents in consequence those dying yells which, growing fainter and fainter, last so long and are so distressing to hear. * “ On y servit de petits jambons vermeils, fort rares en Espagne meme, qui ne se font que chez le due d’Arco et deux autres seigneurs, de cochons renfermes dans des especes de petits pares, remplis de halliers oil tout fourmille de viperes, dont ces cochons se nourrissent uniquement. Ces jambons ont un parfum admirable, et un gout si releve et si vivifiant qn'on en est surpris, et qu’il est impossible de manger rien si exquis.” 1721. (Memoir eg. Tome xxxvii, chapitre xxxviii.) 170 MEAT Fox' curing Bacon, Hams, and Pigs’ Cheeks, see Salted Meat. It was formerly the custom to put a thick coat of mortar over the inside of a cured Ham to keep out the air and to pre- vent the meat from “ rusting.” A better way, and one specially needed in a damp climate, is to cover the underneath portion of the Ham, whei’e the knife has been, as well as the knuckle-end, with a paste made of lime mixed with water. This entirely pi-events any “ x’usting.” Rust, or mildew, is a minute fungus pi’oduced by damp. BEEF. Roast Sirloin Of Beef. — If the Sirloin weighs ten pounds allow at least two hours and a half to roast it, or rather more if the weather is cold. It is a good plan to take out the fillet and cook it as a separate dish. Wipe the Beef with a clean cloth, and hang it carefully on the roasting-jack, so that it may turn round evenly. Cover the fat with a buttered paper, or it will burn, and tie the paper securely on with string till the meat is three-parts done. Have a good clear fire, and be sure in mending it to mend it at the back, or the meat will get smoked. Let the thickest part of the Beef be downwards, as in that way it will get the greatest heat of the fire. Put the meat close to the fire for eight minutes, so as to “ Seal ” the juices ; then draw it further back. Baste the beef every fifteen minutes, beginning by basting it with broth ( not water), and going on with the fresh dripping which the Sirloin will soon yield. If you begin by putting additional dripping in the dripping-pan the meat is likely to be gi'easy. When the Sirloin is nearly done take away the dripping-pan, and replace it by a dish or tin for Yorkshii’e Pudding. Pour off the whole of the fat as slowly as you can into a basin, leaving in the dripping-pan only the sediment of the gravy. Add a cupful of broth from the stock-pot to this (hot water may be used, but broth is far better), stir well, and pour into the very hot dish in which the Sirloin is to be seiwed. On no account pour the gravy over the beef, and gravy served with roast meat must never be thickened. Some people like the joint to be floured. If this is done di'edge a little flour over it when you take the dx'ipping-pau away, as ROAST SIRLOIN OF BEEF 171

Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book