The monotony of ' butcher's meat ' day after day
is a trial to the palate ; it is well therefore that greater ~
facilities of communication now enable game to be
sold in our large towns at moderate prices, and it may
be remarked that there is therefore another side to the
complaint, Lord So-and-So sells all his game. The
quality of meat in England is not what it used to be.
Mutton at fifteen months can never be good eating.
Beef is generally over-fat. In France neither pro-
ducers nor consumers desire the over-fed, over-fat
animals seen in our showyards and butchers' shops.
What the consumer wants is good juicy meat, with no
POULTRY AND GAME. 15
more than the average amount of fat — all beyond that
is useless, yet it must not the less be paid for.
Having settled the days when it is possible to serve
beef, other intervening days must be arranged with
mutton as the chief dish, and poultry or game as the
secondary dish — or with mutton cutlets as a substan-
tial entree, and poultry (a turkey, for instance) as the
chief dish.
At large dinners there is always one joint of meat,
and poultry or game as the second roast.
When there is one entree and one roast, if the
entree is of poultry the roast must be of meat, and
vice versa.
Poultry is to be had all the year round ; it is the
price and quality which vary. The thrifty manager will
not buy spring chickens or ducks at their inevitably
high prices. She will rather provide an alternative
dish within the compass of her means.
Price apart, turkeys, geese, and full-grown chickens
are to take the place of the roast joint of meat on cer-
tain days, and on those days the entree, or one of the
entrees, should be cutlets of mutton, or slices of fillet
of beef
Game and venison are the most attractive and
valuable contributions to the larder and to the dinner-
table ; but those who possess * shootings ' often have
too much of a good thing, and the palate wearies, the
digestion suffers from 'toujours perdrix,' venison soup,
pasty, hash, or haunch, hare whether roast or jugged,
roast grouse fourteen days running, or pheasant for the
same time, the only variety being that of ' tough ' or
* tainted.'
i6 ROTATION OF SUPPLIES.
The young housekeeper in remote parts of the
country must not only acquire the art of ordering
dinner, but must also learn to take advantage of such
exceptional delicacies as circumstances place within
her reach. There may be five-year-old mutton from
the hillside, and a larder in which it can be kept for
the three weeks necessary to secure perfection ; there
may be trout fresh from loch or stream in perplexing
superabundance, or oysters only obtainable at neap
and spring tide yet welcome every day, or crabs and
crayfish small in size yet delicious when made into
miniature parton pies.
There will also be difficulties to overcome, as
when no fish is obtainable and maigre dishes must
be served. We will not attempt to give instances
here, but rather refer our reader to the various sub-
stitutions and combinations which will be pointed out
in the chapters on menus and vegetables.
Page 8
Presented as published in 1882. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
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The monotony of ' butcher's meat ' day after day
is a trial to the palate ; it is well therefore that greater ~
facilities of communication now enable game to be
sold in our large towns at moderate prices, and it may
be remarked that there is therefore another side to the
complaint, Lord So-and-So sells all his game. The
quality of meat in England is not what it used to be.
Mutton at fifteen months can never be good eating.
Beef is generally over-fat. In France neither pro-
ducers nor consumers desire the over-fed, over-fat
animals seen in our showyards and butchers' shops.
What the consumer wants is good juicy meat, with no
POULTRY AND GAME. 15
more than the average amount of fat — all beyond that
is useless, yet it must not the less be paid for.
Having settled the days when it is possible to serve
beef, other intervening days must be arranged with
mutton as the chief dish, and poultry or game as the
secondary dish — or with mutton cutlets as a substan-
tial entree, and poultry (a turkey, for instance) as the
chief dish.
At large dinners there is always one joint of meat,
and poultry or game as the second roast.
When there is one entree and one roast, if the
entree is of poultry the roast must be of meat, and
vice versa.
Poultry is to be had all the year round ; it is the
price and quality which vary. The thrifty manager will
not buy spring chickens or ducks at their inevitably
high prices. She will rather provide an alternative
dish within the compass of her means.
Price apart, turkeys, geese, and full-grown chickens
are to take the place of the roast joint of meat on cer-
tain days, and on those days the entree, or one of the
entrees, should be cutlets of mutton, or slices of fillet
of beef
Game and venison are the most attractive and
valuable contributions to the larder and to the dinner-
table ; but those who possess * shootings ' often have
too much of a good thing, and the palate wearies, the
digestion suffers from 'toujours perdrix,' venison soup,
pasty, hash, or haunch, hare whether roast or jugged,
roast grouse fourteen days running, or pheasant for the
same time, the only variety being that of ' tough ' or
* tainted.'
i6 ROTATION OF SUPPLIES.
The young housekeeper in remote parts of the
country must not only acquire the art of ordering
dinner, but must also learn to take advantage of such
exceptional delicacies as circumstances place within
her reach. There may be five-year-old mutton from
the hillside, and a larder in which it can be kept for
the three weeks necessary to secure perfection ; there
may be trout fresh from loch or stream in perplexing
superabundance, or oysters only obtainable at neap
and spring tide yet welcome every day, or crabs and
crayfish small in size yet delicious when made into
miniature parton pies.
There will also be difficulties to overcome, as
when no fish is obtainable and maigre dishes must
be served. We will not attempt to give instances
here, but rather refer our reader to the various sub-
stitutions and combinations which will be pointed out
in the chapters on menus and vegetables.