We are going to get our meats from
Basswood City by express twice a week
or as needed, and our fresh fish from
Whitefish Bay the same way. There are
some fishes m Uintah Lake, but they
will not come out when wanted, so we
have to send further. When I was at
Basswood I found the steward of the
new Memphremagog House at that
pkce was buying selected round of beef
mstead of loin for steaks. Not the com-
mon round steaks which the butchers
cut straight along good and bad together,
but the tender side only, cut off the bone
as neat and trim as a ham. I had pre-
viously written up and advocated the use
of the tender side of the round instead oi
the most expensive short loins, but had
m view the case of such hotels as Black's,
the other rival house here at the depot,
where they have ninety summei
boarders, at $10 a week, and still buy
SAN JFRANCISCO HOTEL GAZETTE'S
ic
their beef by the entire side at a time,
hind-quarter, fore-quarter, neck, shanks
and everything. But the getting the
butcher to cut out the best piece of
round for a house every day was new to
me. The tough side of the round, of
which there is a portion in every whole
round steak, is about one third of it.
How the butcher disposed of that does
not concern us, but he charged the
steward for the other 13 cents a pound.
The choice cut of the lorn at the same
time was costing i^ cents and one-fourth
of it was bone. Twenty pounds of loin
at 15 cents comes to $3. Take out the
bone and you have hfteen pounds of
meat that has cost 20 cents, a clear dif-
ference of $7 on every hundred pounds
of beef bought. This meat is not as
good as the best parts of the loin but it
ranks second best, and is better than the
flank part which every loin cut carries.
The drawback is a piece of the sinewy
end of the round, about three or four
Eounds that become tough and dry and
as to be cut off to make either corned
beef or soup.
There are plenty of people to whom
one beefsteak seems as good as another,
they are so hungry it makes no differ-
ence; but, at the same time there are
others whom we like to pamper with
choice bits, and besides, we are loth to
lose the rich loin bone for soup, so I
called on the butcher and arranged that
he shall send a round and a lorn alter-
nately, and that promises to be good [
enough. While that is on the way we
shall have to pick up something at "The
Glen," where the village butcher kills
something once or twice a week, or
whenever he has nothing else to do.
shape and divide the tender from the
tough and cut out the superfluous bones
for the soup boiler. There is no real
economy in the use of meat possible
without selection. Our manager has
been over to " i he Glen." He does not
know one piece of meat from another
and is proud to say so, because he is a
college graduate and is going to be a
lawyer, and he has brought back some
beefsteak that nobody can eat. It
would require a person to have cast-iron
jaws. Round steaks cut low down on
the leg of a very^ tou^^h old ox. But we
must do something with it and the wood-
man must saw oif the butt of a tree for a
block.
517— A Meat Block.
Page 140
Presented as published in 1886. 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
We are gofng to get our meats from Basswood City by express twice a week or as needed, and our fresh fish from Whitefish Bay the same way. There are some fishes in Uintah Lake, but they will not come out when wanted, so we have to send further. When I was at Basswood I found the steward of the new Memphremagog House at that place was buying selected round of beef instead of loin for steaks. Not the common round steaks which the butchers cut straight along good and bad together, but the tender side only, cut off the bone as neat and trim as a ham. I had previously written up and advocated the use of the tender side of the round instead oi the most expensive short loins, but had in view the case of such hotels as Black's, the other rival house here at the depot, where they have ninety summei boarders, at $10 a week, and still buy
their beef by the entire side at a time, hind-quarter, fore-quarter, neck, shanks and everything. But the getting the butcher to cut out the best piece of round for a house every day was new to me. The tough side of the round, of which there is a portion in every whole round steak, is about one third of it. How the butcher disposed of that does not concern us, but he charged the steward for the other 13 cents a pound. The choice cut of the loin at the same time was costing 15 cents and one-fourth of it was bone. Twenty pounds of loin at 15 cents comes to $3. Take out the bone and you have fifteen pounds of meat that has cost 20 cents, a clear difference of $7 on every hundred pounds of beef bought. This meat is not as good as the best parts of the loin but it ranks second best, and is better than the flank part which every loin cut carries. The drawback is a piece of the sinewy end of the round, about three or four
pounds that become tough and dry and as to be cut off to make either corned beef or soup.
There are plenty of people to whom one beefsteak seems as good as another, they are so hungry it makes no difference; but, at the same time there are others whom we like to pamper with choice bits, and besides, we are loth to lose the rich loin bone for soup, so I called on the butcher and arranged that he shall send a round and a lorn alternately, and that promises to be good [ enough. While that is on the way we shall have to pick up something at "The Glen," where the village butcher kills something once or twice a week, or whenever he has nothing else to do.
shape and divide the tender from the tough and cut out the superfluous bones for the soup boiler. There is no real economy in the use of meat possible without selection. Our manager has been over to " i he Glen." He does not know one piece of meat from another and is proud to say so, because he is a college graduate and is going to be a lawyer, and he has brought back some beefsteak that nobody can eat. It would require a person to have cast-iron jaws. Round steaks cut low down on the leg of a very^ tough old ox. But we must do something with it and the woodman must saw oif the butt of a tree for a block.
517— A Meat Block.