This is especially the case with fruit : the street-peddlers
are most active when the market is glutted with green or
over-ripe fruit for which there is no legitimate demand. In
some localities, however, — notably in country-places, —
honest small dealers supply their scattered customers by
wagon-route, greatly to the housekeepers' convenience : of
course the foregoing remarks do not apply to them.
THE PREPARATION OF MEAT FOR MARKET.
This is, a matter requiring close care and nice calculation ;
and, under the manipulation of skilled slaughterers, all parts
of the creature have an actual market value. The finest
hair of beef, after thorpugh cleansing, is used in the manu-
facture of coarse blankets ; the long tuft on the end of the
tail is eniployed in upholstery ; the coarse hair is made into
mortar ; the skin is tanned for leather ; the horns are used
for combs, knife and umbrella handles, buttons, and various
1 8 PRACTICAL AMERICAN COOKERY.
Other articles of use and fancy ; the bones and refuse of the
horns and hoofs become fertilizers, or are made into glue ;
the feet yield neat's-foot oil ; the blood and offal are made
into fertilizers ; all superfluous fat is made into either oleo-
margarine or oil.
In New York and some other large cities, the butchers
employ the Jewish method of slaughtering, which consists
of draining the carcass of all the blood. After the animal
is killed, the interior is examined to make sure that the meat
is in a perfectly healthy condition ; and it is then cut up for
sale. The intestines and their surrounding fat are removed ;
the heart, liver, and kidneys being prepared for the retail
trade. The layer of faA which surrounds the intestines is
stretched over the inner surface of the body, and held in
place by wooden skewers, so that it may not contract in cool-
ing : it is this fat which is so excellent in spring lamb. The
outer coating of fat, mingled with a thin layer of flesh, is
often cut so that in cooling it contracts, and forms fanciful
figures on the surface of the meat. The thickness of this
outer layer of fat is a safe indication of the condition of
the carcass : well-fed animals show thick back-fat, and the
kidney-fat or suet is very abundant, while the entire flesh is
marbled with small lines of fat. The last joints of the legs
are carefully cleaned, and the head is freed from hair and
horns.
The entire flesh of the head of beef in this country is
generally made into sausage-meat ; but in Europe it is sold,
either fresh or cured, under the name of ox-cheek : the
palate is a special delicacy there, and many dishes are made
of the brains. In this country the tongue is generally the
most important part of the head, being used fresh, or corned
with salt, or pickled and smoked. As a matter of fact, most
of the edible viscera can be made into palatable and nutri-
tious dishes ; and some of the so-called cheap cuts of meat
MARKETING. ig
Page 20
Presented as published in 1885. 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
This is especially the case with fruit : the street-peddlers are most active when the market is glutted with green or over-ripe fruit for which there is no legitimate demand. In some localities, however, — notably in country-places, — honest small dealers supply their scattered customers by wagon-route, greatly to the housekeepers' convenience : of course the foregoing remarks do not apply to them.
THE PREPARATION OF MEAT FOR MARKET.
This is, a matter requiring close care and nice calculation ; and, under the manipulation of skilled slaughterers, all parts of the creature have an actual market value. The finest hair of beef, after thorough cleansing, is used in the manufacture of coarse blankets ; The long tuft on the end of the tail is employed in upholstery ; the coarse hair is made into mortar ; the skin is tanned for leather ; the horns are used for combs, knife and umbrella handles, buttons, and various
Other articles of use and fancy ; the bones and refuse of the horns and hoofs become fertilizers, or are made into glue ; the feet yield neat's-foot oil ; the blood and offal are made into fertilizers ; all superfluous fat is made into either oleomargarine or oil.
In New York and some other large cities, the butchers employ the Jewish method of slaughtering, which consists of draining the carcass of all the blood. After the animal is killed, the interior is examined to make sure that the meat is in a perfectly healthy condition ; and it is then cut up for sale. The intestines and their surrounding fat are removed ; the heart, liver, and kidneys being prepared for the retail trade. The layer of fat which surrounds the intestines is stretched over the inner surface of the body, and held in place by wooden skewers, so that it may not contract in cooling : it is this fat which is so excellent in spring lamb. The outer coating of fat, mingled with a thin layer of flesh, is often cut so that in cooling it contracts, and forms fanciful figures on the surface of the meat. The thickness of this outer layer of fat is a safe indication of the condition of the carcass : well-fed animals show thick back-fat, and the kidney-fat or suet is very abundant, while the entire flesh is marbled with small lines of fat. The last joints of the legs are carefully cleaned, and the head is freed from hair and horns.
The entire flesh of the head of beef in this country is generally made into sausage-meat ; but in Europe it is sold, either fresh or cured, under the name of ox-cheek : the palate is a special delicacy there, and many dishes are made of the brains. In this country the tongue is generally the most important part of the head, being used fresh, or corned with salt, or pickled and smoked. As a matter of fact, most of the edible viscera can be made into palatable and nutritious dishes ; and some of the so-called cheap cuts of meat
MARKETING. ig