Americans think the hare and rabbits, of which the English make such good use, yery mean food indeed, and if they are unprejudiced enough to try them, from the fact that they are never well cooked, they dislike them, which prejudice the English reciprocate by look- ing on squirrels as being as little fit for food as a rat. And a familiar instance of prejudice from ignorance carried eyen to insanity, is that of the Irish in 1848, starving rather than eat the ^^yaller male," sent them by generous American sympathizers ; yet they come here and soon get oyer that dislike. Not so the French, who look on oatmeal and Indian meal as most unwholesome food. ^^ Qa pese sur Testomac, ga creitse Vestomac,^^ I heard an old Frenchwoman say, trying to dissuade a mother from giving her children mush. The moral of all of which is, that for our comfort's sake, and the general good we should avoid unreason- able prejudices against unfamiliar food. We of course have a right to our honest dislikes ; but to condemn things because we have heard them despised, is pre- judice. CHAPTER XVII. A CHAPTEE OP ODDS AI^D EKDS. I HAVE alluded, in an earlier chapter, to the fact that many inexperienced cooks are afraid of altering recipes ; a few words on this subject may not be out of place. As a rule, a recipe should be faithfully followed in all im- portant points ; for instance, in making soup you can- not, because you are short of the given quantity of meat, put the same amount of water as directed for the full quantity, without damaging your soup ; but you may eas- ily reduce water and every other ingredient in the same proportion ; and, in mere matters of flavoring, you may vary to suit circumstances. If you are told to use cloves, and have none, a bit of mace may be substituted. If you read a recipe, and it calls for something you have not, consider whether that something has anything to do with the substance of the dish, or whether it is merely an accessory for which something else can be substituted. For instance, if you are ordered to use cream in a sauce, milk with a larger amount of well- washed butter may take its place ; but if you are told to use cream for charlotte russe or trifles, there is no way in which you could make milk serve, since it is not an accessory but the chief part of those dishes. For a cake in which cream is used, butter whipped to a cream may take its place. Wine is usually optional in savory dishes ; it gives richness only. Ill 112 Culture and Cooking. Again, in cakes be very careful the exact proportions of flour, eggs, and milk are observed ; of butter you can generally use more or less, having a more or less rich cake in proportion. In any but plain cup cakes (which greatly depend on soda and acid for their lightness) never lessen the allowance of eggs ; never add milk if a cake is too stiff (but an extra ^gg may always be used), unless milk is ordered in the recipe, when more or less may be used as needed. Flavoring may be always varied.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Americans think the hare and rabbits, of which the English make such good use, very mean food indeed, and if they are unprejudiced enough to try them, from the fact that they are never well cooked, they dislike them, which prejudice the English reciprocate by looking on squirrels as being as little fit for food as a rat. And a familiar instance of prejudice from ignorance carried even to insanity, is that of the Irish in 1848, starving rather than eat the "yaller male," sent them by generous American sympathizers ; yet they come here and soon get over that dislike. Not so the French, who look on oatmeal and Indian meal as most unwholesome food. "Ca pèse sur l'estomac, ça crèuse l'estomac," I heard an old Frenchwoman say, trying to dissuade a mother from giving her children mush. The moral of all of which is, that for our comfort's sake, and the general good we should avoid unreasonable prejudices against unfamiliar food. We of course have a right to our honest dislikes ; but to condemn things because we have heard them despised, is prejudice. CHAPTER XVII. A CHAPTEE OP ODDS AI^D EKDS. I HAVE alluded, in an earlier chapter, to the fact that many inexperienced cooks are afraid of altering recipes ; a few words on this subject may not be out of place. As a rule, a recipe should be faithfully followed in all important points ; for instance, in making soup you cannot, because you are short of the given quantity of meat, put the same amount of water as directed for the full quantity, without damaging your soup ; but you may easily reduce water and every other ingredient in the same proportion ; and, in mere matters of flavoring, you may vary to suit circumstances. If you are told to use cloves, and have none, a bit of mace may be substituted. If you read a recipe, and it calls for something you have not, consider whether that something has anything to do with the substance of the dish, or whether it is merely an accessory for which something else can be substituted. For instance, if you are ordered to use cream in a sauce, milk with a larger amount of wellwashed butter may take its place ; but if you are told to use cream for charlotte russe or trifles, there is no way in which you could make milk serve, since it is not an accessory but the chief part of those dishes. For a cake in which cream is used, butter whipped to a cream may take its place. Wine is usually optional in savory dishes ; it gives richness only. 112 Culture and Cooking. Again, in cakes be very careful the exact proportions of flour, eggs, and milk are observed ; of butter you can generally use more or less, having a more or less rich cake in proportion. In any but plain cup cakes (which greatly depend on soda and acid for their lightness) never lessen the allowance of eggs ; never add milk if a cake is too stiff (but an extra ^gg may always be used), unless milk is ordered in the recipe, when more or less may be used as needed. Flavoring may be always varied.

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