2. Greasiness in frying comes from the medium being
below the frittering or boiling point when the things to be
fried are put in. Instead of hardening the outside in a
moment, the grease sinks in.
3. A bad colour comes from faulty egging and crumbing,
over or under cooking, and dirty fat.
4. Lumps in sauces come from laziness in stirring in the
flour. This must either be mixed to a paste with the butter,
or mixed with a little cold stock or milk, and then strained to
the boiling sauce.
5. Hardness in boiled meat comes from rapid boiling at
first ; soddenness and stringiness from being put on in cold
water.
6. Want of crispness in roast meat from being done in a
close degcki, as a rule, two hours before it need see the fire.
Greasy, watery gravy from pouring hot water over the joint
instead of warmed-up gravy from a previous roasting.
7. Waxy potatoe.s, when not the fault of the kind, come
from skinning before boiling, and not pouring off the water
and setting to dry beside the fire.
8. Curdled sauces will constantly occur unless a bain-marie
is used, as any approach to boiling point will coagulate eggs,
and there is nothing so hard to manage as custard sauces and
soups without proper appliances.
9. Heavy pastry comes from too much handling, slack
firing, and failure to have butter and paste of exactly the same
consistency. Heavy puddings from bad mixing.
10. Sodden vegetables are produced by allowing them to
stand in the water in which they have been cooked.
The recijjes in the following chapters have all been prac-
tically tested ; and if the directions are implicitly carried out,
it is believed that the mistress will not require more hints for
faultfinding than have been given above. Incidentally, it
may be mentioned — for the benefit of total abstainers — that
Housekeeper and Cook 225
most of the recipes given in the following chapters in which
wine is used can be made without it, if alcohol in any loim is
considered objectionable.
Finally, as to weights and measures. After long cogita-
tion the authors have decided on purely proportional mea-
surements as being the easiest to handle in all circumstances.
The unit employed therefore throughout this book, wherever
possible, is a tablespoon filled, pressed down lightly by the
hand for solids, and as full as it can be in fluids ; that is
to say, approximately one ounce, if that measure be prefeired.
This gives a result suitable in size for two or three people.
Therefore, in working by this book, the unit is practically one
ounce for things which cannot be measured in a tablespoon,
such as unminced meat. It follows, however, that any other
unit of measurement, either bigger or smaller, may be used,
provided it is used throughout. An English egg is held in this
book to be two units — one of white, one of yolk. Two units
is thus one egg. In India, however, an allowance of one-
third has to be made on account of the smallness of the
Indian egg. For convenience an equivalent table from 1 to
10 units is given here : —
In Kecipe.
unit
In Indian Eggs.
1
3
4
(i
7
In Reoipe.
6 units
7 „
8
9
10
In Indian Eggs.
= 8
= 10
= 11
= 12
= 14
Page 156
Presented as published in 1898. 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
2. Greasiness in frying comes from the medium being below the frittering or boiling point when the things to be fried are put in. Instead of hardening the outside in a moment, the grease sinks in.
3. A bad colour comes from faulty egging and crumbing, over or under cooking, and dirty fat.
4. Lumps in sauces come from laziness in stirring in the flour. This must either be mixed to a paste with the butter, or mixed with a little cold stock or milk, and then strained to the boiling sauce.
5. Hardness in boiled meat comes from rapid boiling at first ; soddenness and stringiness from being put on in cold water.
6. Want of crispness in roast meat from being done in a close deck, as a rule, two hours before it need see the fire. Greasy, watery gravy from pouring hot water over the joint instead of warmed-up gravy from a previous roasting.
7. Waxy potatoes, when not the fault of the kind, come from skinning before boiling, and not pouring off the water and setting to dry beside the fire.
8. Curdled sauces will constantly occur unless a bain-marie is used, as any approach to boiling point will coagulate eggs, and there is nothing so hard to manage as custard sauces and soups without proper appliances.
9. Heavy pastry comes from too much handling, slack firing, and failure to have butter and paste of exactly the same consistency. Heavy puddings from bad mixing.
10. Sodden vegetables are produced by allowing them to stand in the water in which they have been cooked.
The recipes in the following chapters have all been practically tested ; and if the directions are implicitly carried out, it is believed that the mistress will not require more hints for faultfinding than have been given above. Incidentally, it may be mentioned — for the benefit of total abstainers — that
Housekeeper and Cook 225
most of the recipes given in the following chapters in which wine is used can be made without it, if alcohol in any form is considered objectionable.
Finally, as to weights and measures. After long cogitation the authors have decided on purely proportional measurements as being the easiest to handle in all circumstances. The unit employed therefore throughout this book, wherever possible, is a tablespoon filled, pressed down lightly by the hand for solids, and as full as it can be in fluids ; that is to say, approximately one ounce, if that measure be prefeired. This gives a result suitable in size for two or three people. Therefore, in working by this book, the unit is practically one ounce for things which cannot be measured in a tablespoon, such as unminced meat. It follows, however, that any other unit of measurement, either bigger or smaller, may be used, provided it is used throughout. An English egg is held in this book to be two units — one of white, one of yolk. Two units is thus one egg. In India, however, an allowance of one-third has to be made on account of the smallness of the Indian egg. For convenience an equivalent table from 1 to 10 units is given here : —
In Kecipe.
unit
In Indian Eggs.
(i
In Recipe.
6 units
7 „
In Indian Eggs. = 8
= 10
= 11
= 12
= 14