A rich but not strongly-flavoured gravy should be served with a haunch of
venison, and also red-currant jelly. French beans are by far the best vegetable
to be eaten with it, and stale bread is better than new. If possible, have a plate
with hot water underneath it ; and if you know a haunch of venison is coming,
reserve your appetite as much as possible, and do not spoil it by eating entrees
first. To my mind, a fine, well-cooked haunch of venison, such as is served
during the season every Tuesday and Thiu-sday at the Albion Hotel, opposite
Drury-lane Theatre, is the finest dinner that can be obtained anywhere, including
even Paris. Of course, the reason of covering the haunch with the paste is to
keep in the flavour. We shall sj^eak more fully on this point of keeping in the
flavour when we come to consider cooking joints in closed vessels.
One great secret of successful roasting is the basting. Now it is evident
that any joint covered with fat requii-es less basting than a dry or lean joint.
For instance, a loin of mutton requires less basting than a leg, because it is
generally much fatter. Again, in basting a siiioin of beef, the sides or lean part
should be basted, while the fat upper part and undercut requii-e scarcely any.
Basting with fat or dripping should not go on till the joint be taken down, but
discontinued about ten minutes or a quarter of an hour before ; as, if a joint
has been basted ixp to the last moment with fat, it has a tendency to make the
meat, especially the outside cut, taste greasy.
This does not apply to basting with butter. Butter, however, is now so dear
that it is scarcely ever used for basting purposes.
One great difficulty, perhaps the chief one with inexperienced cooks, is the
time a joint will take to roast. Too much dependence must not be placed on
mere weight. For instance, take a shoulder of mutton. A large but thin shoulder
will not take so long to roast as a smaller but thicker one. So agaio., the old
maxim of allowing a quarter of an hour to a pound of meat will not apply to
ribs of beef rolled. This latter joint is all solid meat, and thick, and conse-
quently takes a long time to get heated right through. So again, a loin of
mutton boned and stuffed, which is the most economical way of cooking it, will
take a longer time to roast than an ordinary loin of mutton with the bone in
it. Of course the weight of a joiut is a great criterion as to how long it will
take to cook ; but then it should always be borne in mind that the weight and
thickness should be considered together.
One very common mistake made by cooks is to suppose that lamb does not
require cooking so long as mutton, because it is young and tender. The con-
trary is however the case : underdone lamb is far worse than underdone mutton.
A well-roasted haunch or saddle of mutton when cut should show signs of having
PRINCIPLES ROASTING. xlvii
Page 56
Presented as published in 1892. 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
A rich but not strongly-flavoured gravy should be served with a haunch of venison, and also red-currant jelly. French beans are by far the best vegetable to be eaten with it, and stale bread is better than new. If possible, have a plate with hot water underneath it ; and if you know a haunch of venison is coming, reserve your appetite as much as possible, and do not spoil it by eating entrees first. To my mind, a fine, well-cooked haunch of venison, such as is served during the season every Tuesday and Thursday at the Albion Hotel, opposite Drury-lane Theatre, is the finest dinner that can be obtained anywhere, including even Paris. Of course, the reason of covering the haunch with the paste is to keep in the flavour. We shall speak more fully on this point of keeping in the flavour when we come to consider cooking joints in closed vessels.
One great secret of successful roasting is the basting. Now it is evident that any joint covered with fat requii-es less basting than a dry or lean joint. For instance, a loin of mutton requires less basting than a leg, because it is generally much fatter. Again, in basting a siiioin of beef, the sides or lean part should be basted, while the fat upper part and undercutrequire scarcely any. Basting with fat or dripping should not go on till the joint be taken down, but discontinued about ten minutes or a quarter of an hour before ; as, if a joint has been basted up to the last moment with fat, it has a tendency to make the meat, especially the outside cut, taste greasy.
This does not apply to basting with butter. Butter, however, is now so dear that it is scarcely ever used for basting purposes.
One great difficulty, perhaps the chief one with inexperienced cooks, is the time a joint will take to roast. Too much dependence must not be placed on mere weight. For instance, take a shoulder of mutton. A large but thin shoulder will not take so long to roast as a smaller but thicker one. So agaio., the old maxim of allowing a quarter of an hour to a pound of meat will not apply to ribs of beef rolled. This latter joint is all solid meat, and thick, and consequently takes a long time to get heated right through. So again, a loin of mutton boned and stuffed, which is the most economical way of cooking it, will take a longer time to roast than an ordinary loin of mutton with the bone in it. Of course the weight of a joint is a great criterion as to how long it will take to cook ; but then it should always be borne in mind that the weight and thickness should be considered together.
One very common mistake made by cooks is to suppose that lamb does not require cooking so long as mutton, because it is young and tender. The contrary is however the case : underdone lamb is far worse than underdone mutton. A well-roasted haunch or saddle of mutton when cut should show signs of having
PRINCIPLES ROASTING. xlvii