It is this juice, of which salted
meats are largely deprived, which is too often lost by im-
proper methods of cooking ; as in the pounding of beefsteaks,
under the erroneous impression that they are thus made ten-
der, when really the labor of mastication saved by the break-
ing of the fibres is more than handicapped by the loss of the
juice. entailed by the pounding operation. When the fibre
of meat is over-tough, it can be softened by using vinegar
during cooking, according to the directions given elsewhere.
The fact is not always known to city marketers, although
it is generally well understood by people in the country who
kill their own meat, that the flesh of animals and birds is
always most tender if cooked while it is yet warm with vital-
ity. Every sportsman who has cooked game in the field or
MARKETING. 21
camp direcdy it was killed, has demonstrated this fact. A
familiar domestic instance of it is the practice of the famous
negro cooks of the South, of cooking chickens before their
flesh grows cold after they are killed. If a bird is killed,
picked, and cooked at once, it will always be tenderer than
if it is allowed to grow cold and stiff. Beef, or any meat
which has been killed long enough for the warmth of life to
leave it, will be dense and hard of fibre until the stiffness of
the muscles consequent upon the loss of vital heat, that
causes toughness, has been overcome by that relaxation of
the tissues which precedes the beginning of actual decom-
position of the flesh. No matter how prime the animal is
before killing, after the flesh is once cold it will be hard and
tough until this muscular change takes place. As consider-
able loss in weight is consequent upon the Tbng keeping of
meat, butchers are sometimes unwilling to assume it ; but
they will generally hang meat long enough for it to become
tender, if their customers will take it at its first weight.
The flesh of young animals seems tender, because of its
softness and looseness of fibre. Its texture is naturally less
firm than that of mature creatures, but it is correspondingly
less nutritous ; and, while it appears to be easily masticated,
it is really only less entirely reduced to the condition of pulp
which permits the beginning of digestion, because its soft,
semi-gelatinous fibres elude the teeth, while the compara-
tively short time it remains in the mouth does not favor that
complete admixture with the saliva which is necessary to the
first stage of digestion. This is the reason why such young
meats as veal and sucking-pig are not desirable foods for
persons whose digestion is impaired. While the flesh of
young meats seems thus relatively tender, it is not so
acceptable to the palate as that of mature animals in good
condition.
A glance will show an experienced marketer the difference
22 PRACTICAL AMERICAN COOKERY.
Page 22
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
It is this juice, of which salted meats are largely deprived, which is too often lost by improper methods of cooking ; as in the pounding of beefsteaks, under the erroneous impression that they are thus made tender, when really the labor of mastication saved by the breaking of the fibres is more than handicapped by the loss of the juice. entailed by the pounding operation. When the fibre of meat is over-tough, it can be softened by using vinegar during cooking, according to the directions given elsewhere.
The fact is not always known to city marketers, although it is generally well understood by people in the country who kill their own meat, that the flesh of animals and birds is always most tender if cooked while it is yet warm with vitality. Every sportsman who has cooked game in the field or
camp directly it was killed, has demonstrated this fact. A familiar domestic instance of it is the practice of the famous negro cooks of the South, of cooking chickens before their flesh grows cold after they are killed. If a bird is killed, picked, and cooked at once, it will always be tenderer than if it is allowed to grow cold and stiff. Beef, or any meat which has been killed long enough for the warmth of life to leave it, will be dense and hard of fibre until the stiffness of the muscles consequent upon the loss of vital heat, that causes toughness, has been overcome by that relaxation of the tissues which precedes the beginning of actual decomposition of the flesh. No matter how prime the animal is before killing, after the flesh is once cold it will be hard and tough until this muscular change takes place. As considerable loss in weight is consequent upon the long keeping of meat, butchers are sometimes unwilling to assume it ; but they will generally hang meat long enough for it to become tender, if their customers will take it at its first weight.
The flesh of young animals seems tender, because of its softness and looseness of fibre. Its texture is naturally less firm than that of mature creatures, but it is correspondingly less nutritous ; and, while it appears to be easily masticated, it is really only less entirely reduced to the condition of pulp which permits the beginning of digestion, because its soft, semi-gelatinous fibres elude the teeth, while the comparatively short time it remains in the mouth does not favor that complete admixture with the saliva which is necessary to the first stage of digestion. This is the reason why such young meats as veal and sucking-pig are not desirable foods for persons whose digestion is impaired. While the flesh of young meats seems thus relatively tender, it is not so acceptable to the palate as that of mature animals in good condition.
A glance will show an experienced marketer the difference