The kitchen more than follows suit
to the dining-room, and what is despised above is scorned below, and perhaps the
real destination of the end of the sirloin, which the young housekeeper fondly
imagines has done for the servants' supper, has in reality supplied the kennel.
Suppose, now, this end had been cut off" before the joint was roasted, and placed in
a little salt water, a nice, wholesome, and agreeable hot dinner would have been
obtainable with the assistance of some boiled greens and potatoes. A little forethought
in these matters constitutes real economy. Scraps of meat, fag ends of pieces of bacon,
too often wasted, will, with a little judicious management, make a nice dish of rissoles.
CASSELLS DICTIONARY OF COOKERY.
I have called attention above to tlie principles on which joints should be
boiled, and I will now say a few words on an equally important subject, namely,
the principle on which joints should be roasted. Just as in the former case, so
in the latter, the one point to be borne in mind is to keej) in the flavour. Now
in roasting a joint, perhaps some of you may think that to lose the flavour is impos-
sible. Such, however, is not the case. Just as in turning a steak on the gridiron
you let out the gravy if you stick a fork in it, so in roasting a leg of mutton do you,
to a certain, though not equally great, extent, let out the gravy if you run a hook right
into the meat itself There are ingenious machines made — which, however, are chiefly
intended for haunches, particularly haunches of venison — by which the whole
joint is surrounded by thin metal rods expressly intended to obviate the necessity
of sticking anything into the meat. These cradles, however, are very rarely
met with. Some little ingenuity will be suflicient, however, for the purpose
in point. All practical cooks know the difficulty of hanging a leg of mutton or a
haunch on the spit. After an hour or so the joint, under the influence of the heat, is
apt to give, and the thin bone adjoining the shank breaks away. Now by placing a
small piece of wood underneath the bottom of the joint, and fastening a piece of
copper wire to either end of the wood, and bringing it up to the top or knuckle end,
the joint is supported in a kind of cradle. The copper wire, however, is veiy apt to
slip, but by tying two pieces of string round the centre of the joint, this difliculty
will be overcome. Again, in basting a jomt, that part requires most basting
which is least covered with fat. Should, therefore, you have a haunch in which
a part of what we may term the breast had the appearance when raw of being
somewhat lean, then slices of fat placed over it, and tied on to it, not skewered in,
or a few sheets of well-oiled foolscap paper, will have the efiect of checking the
heat during the earlier period of roasting, and consequently will prevent the joint
from having the outside dried up, a fault too often met with. "When the joint is
very large, as, for instance, a haunch of venison, which may weigh perhaps twenty-
five pounds, and consequently require five or six hours to roast, so important is it
■considered by good cooks to check the action of the heat in the eaiiy period of
the roasting, that they cover over the haunch with a flour-and- water paste, by which
means the whole joint gets thoroughly warmed through, and the outside is not
burned, while the
Page 8
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
The kitchen more than follows suit to the dining-room, and what is despised above is scorned below, and perhaps the real destination of the end of the sirloin, which the young housekeeper fondly imagines has done for the servants' supper, has in reality supplied the kennel. Suppose, now, this end had been cut off" before the joint was roasted, and placed in a little salt water, a nice, wholesome, and agreeable hot dinner would have been obtainable with the assistance of some boiled greens and potatoes. A little forethought in these matters constitutes real economy. Scraps of meat, fag ends of pieces of bacon, too often wasted, will, with a little judicious management, make a nice dish of rissoles.
I have called attention above to the principles on which joints should be boiled, and I will now say a few words on an equally important subject, namely, the principle on which joints should be roasted. Just as in the former case, so in the latter, the one point to be borne in mind is to keej) in the flavour. Now in roasting a joint, perhaps some of you may think that to lose the flavour is impossible. Such, however, is not the case. Just as in turning a steak on the gridiron you let out the gravy if you stick a fork in it, so in roasting a leg of mutton do you, to a certain, though not equally great, extent, let out the gravy if you run a hook right into the meat itself There are ingenious machines made — which, however, are chiefly intended for haunches, particularly haunches of venison — by which the whole joint is surrounded by thin metal rods expressly intended to obviate the necessity of sticking anything into the meat. These cradles, however, are very rarely met with. Some little ingenuity will be sufficient, however, for the purpose in point. All practical cooks know the difficulty of hanging a leg of mutton or a haunch on the spit. After an hour or so the joint, under the influence of the heat, is apt to give, and the thin bone adjoining the shank breaks away. Now by placing a small piece of wood underneath the bottom of the joint, and fastening a piece of copper wire to either end of the wood, and bringing it up to the top or knuckle end, the joint is supported in a kind of cradle. The copper wire, however, is very apt to slip, but by tying two pieces of string round the centre of the joint, this difficulty will be overcome. Again, in basting a jomt, that part requires most basting which is least covered with fat. Should, therefore, you have a haunch in which a part of what we may term the breast had the appearance when raw of being somewhat lean, then slices of fat placed over it, and tied on to it, not skewered in, or a few sheets of well-oiled foolscap paper, will have the effect of checking the heat during the earlier period of roasting, and consequently will prevent the joint from having the outside dried up, a fault too often met with. "When the joint is very large, as, for instance, a haunch of venison, which may weigh perhaps twentyfive pounds, and consequently require five or six hours to roast, so important is it considered by good cooks to check the action of the heat in the early period of the roasting, that they cover over the haunch with a flour-and- water paste, by which means the whole joint gets thoroughly warmed through, and the outside is not burned, while the