feathers and cut tail off (to get rid of oil sac),
but leave smaller feathers on. If a fish, do not
scale. Moisten and work some clay till it is like
softened putty. Roll it out in a sheet an inch or
two thick and large enough to completely encase
the animal✪ Baking in Clay. Cover the latter so that no feather
or hair projects. Place in fire and cover with good
bed of coals and let it remain with fire burning
on top for about % of an hour, if a medium fish
or bird. Larger animals require more time, and
had best be placed in bake-hole over night.
When done, break open the hard casing of baked
clay. The skin peels off with it, leaving the meat
perfectly clean and baked to perfection in its own
juices. This method has been practiced for ages
by the gypsies and other primitive peoples.
Frank Bates recommends another way: "Have
a pail of water in which stir clay until it is of
the consistency of thick porridge or whitewash.
Take the bird by the feet and dip into the water.
The clay will gather on and between the feathers.
Repeat till the bird is a mass of clay. Lay this
in the ashes, being careful to dry the outside. . . .
Bake till the clay is almost burned to a brick."
Baking in the Embers. — To bake a fish, clean
it — if it is large enough to be emptied through a
hole in the neck, do not slit the belly — season
with salt and pepper, and, if liked, stuff with In-
dian meal. Have ready a good bed of glowing
hardwood coals ; cover it with a thin layer of
ashes, that the fish may not be burnt. Lay the
fish on this, and cover it with more ashes and coals.
Half an hour, more or less✪ Baking in the Embers, is required, accord-
ing to size. On removing the fish, pull off the
skin, and the flesh will be found clean and palat-
able.
58 CAMP COOKERY.
A bird^ for example a duck, is baked in much
the same way. Draw it, but do not remove the
feathers. If you like stuffed duck, stuff with
bread crumbs or broken biscuit, well seasoned
with salt and pepper. Wet the feathers by dip-
ping the bird in water; then bury it in the ashes
and coals. A teal will require about half an hour;
other birds in proportion.
BOILING.
The broader the pot, and the blacker it is, the
quicker it boils. Fresh meats should be started in
boiling water; salt or corned meats, and those in-
tended for stews or soups, in cold water. The
meat (except hams) should be cut into chunks
of not over five pounds each, and soup bones well
cracked. Watch during first half hour, and skim
off all scum as fast as it rises, or it will settle and
adhere to meat. Fresh meat should be boiled un-
til bones are free, or until a fork will pierce easily
(ten pounds take about two and a half hours).
Save the broth for soup-stock, or make gravy of
it by seasoning with pepper and thickening with
flour. (See page 62.)
Meat that is to be eaten cold should be allowed
to cool in the liquor in which it was boiled. A
tablespoonful or two of vinegar added to the boil-
ing water makes meat more tender and fish firmer.
Turn the meat several times while boiling. If the
water needs replenishing, do it with boiling, not
cold, water. Season a short time before meat is
done. If vegetables are to be cooked with the
meat, add them at such time that they will just
finish cooking when the meat is done (potatoes
twenty to thirty minutes before the end; carrots
and turnips, sliced, one to one and a half hours).
Page 28 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1910. 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
feathers and cut tail off (to get rid of oil sac), but leave smaller feathers on. If a fish, do not scale. Moisten and work some clay till it is like softened putty. Roll it out in a sheet an inch or two thick and large enough to completely encase the animal. Cover the latter so that no feather or hair projects. Place in fire and cover with good bed of coals and let it remain with fire burning on top for about % of an hour, if a medium fish or bird. Larger animals require more time, and had best be placed in bake-hole over night.
When done, break open the hard casing of baked clay. The skin peels off with it, leaving the meat perfectly clean and baked to perfection in its own juices. This method has been practiced for ages by the gypsies and other primitive peoples.
Frank Bates recommends another way: "Have a pail of water in which stir clay until it is of the consistency of thick porridge or whitewash. Take the bird by the feet and dip into the water. The clay will gather on and between the feathers. Repeat till the bird is a mass of clay. Lay this in the ashes, being careful to dry the outside. . . . Bake till the clay is almost burned to a brick."
Baking in the Embers. — To bake a fish, clean it — if it is large enough to be emptied through a hole in the neck, do not slit the belly — season with salt and pepper, and, if liked, stuff with Indian meal. Have ready a good bed of glowing hardwood coals ; cover it with a thin layer of ashes, that the fish may not be burnt. Lay the fish on this, and cover it with more ashes and coals. Half an hour, more or less, is required, according to size. On removing the fish, pull off the skin, and the flesh will be found clean and palatable.
A bird, for example a duck, is baked in much the same way. Draw it, but do not remove the feathers. If you like stuffed duck, stuff with bread crumbs or broken biscuit, well seasoned with salt and pepper. Wet the feathers by dipping the bird in water; then bury it in the ashes and coals. A teal will require about half an hour; other birds in proportion.
BOILING.
The broader the pot, and the blacker it is, the quicker it boils. Fresh meats should be started in boiling water; salt or corned meats, and those intended for stews or soups, in cold water. The meat (except hams) should be cut into chunks of not over five pounds each, and soup bones well cracked. Watch during first half hour, and skim off all scum as fast as it rises, or it will settle and adhere to meat. Fresh meat should be boiled until bones are free, or until a fork will pierce easily (ten pounds take about two and a half hours). Save the broth for soup-stock, or make gravy of it by seasoning with pepper and thickening with flour. (See page 62.)
Meat that is to be eaten cold should be allowed to cool in the liquor in which it was boiled. A tablespoonful or two of vinegar added to the boiling water makes meat more tender and fish firmer. Turn the meat several times while boiling. If the water needs replenishing, do it with boiling, not cold, water. Season a short time before meat is done. If vegetables are to be cooked with the meat, add them at such time that they will just finish cooking when the meat is done (potatoes twenty to thirty minutes before the end; carrots and turnips, sliced, one to one and a half hours).
Records on this page
Baking in ClayBaking in the Embers