The cook should be carefully shown the use of flavour-
ing essences, and also that of dried herbs. He ought
also to be taught never to run out of bread crumbs. Stale
fine crumbs should be made every now and then, and kept
corked down in bottles for use when required. The very
unsightly appearance presented by fish, cutlets, etc.,
crumbed with fresh spongy crumbs should warn us, for
stale bread is never to be had when we suddenly want it.
Red currant jelly is very useful ; the store-room should
never be " out" of it. I shall treat of tinned vegetables
hereafter in their proper place. Macedoines, fonds d^arti-
IN THE STORE-ROOM. 29
chaitf, petits pois, haricots verts and asperges are, of course,
excellent, and the dried Julienne will be found admirable
for sonps. Preserved fisli is not required at Madras, and
we can get on without tinned meats, soups, and potted
luxuries, for we can make better things at home.
In sweet things, however, we are not so independent,
and jams, jellies, tart-fruits, dried and candied peel,
currants, raisins, ginger, &c., &c., must all have room in
the house-keeper's cupboard.
Of the invaluable qualities to the Anglo-Indian of good
tinned butter, I shall speak on a future occasion.
In a chapter on stores it is impossible to pass over,
without a few words of commendation, the excellent pre-
served fish, vegetables, and fruits, which have, of late, been
imported from America, Besides being capital in quality
these " canned" delicacies are decidedly cheap. The old
English firms have now to compete with dangerous rivals.
Let them look to their laurels.
Messrs. Brand & Co.'s preparations for invalids, potted
meats, soups, and strong essences of beef, chicken, &c., are
specialites in their way vastly superior to anything for-
merly in the market of a like description. Messrs. Moir
and Son have however taken up the subject recently with
great success.
— ♦
On Stock, and clear Soups.
"X'lrtT'ITH a keen appreciation of the importance of the
jlO^ subject, and of the difficulties with which it is
surrounded, I now proceed to place before mj
readers a little collection of hints and wrinkles about
soup-making which I have gathered from time to time
from a variety of sources. Some, by practical experience,
gained by hond fide work in the kitchen, some given to
me by friends, and some picked out of different works on
the culinary art. In my extracts from books, I shall
endeavoui' to record, as much as possible, such advice
only as I have tested myself, and I shall try to make my
gleanings simple and concise.
To begin then ; there are, we know, three distinct
classes of soups : — the clear, the thick, and the 'puree. We
recognise clear soups in the menu under different names.
For instance, we meet consomme cle volaille, and potage a la
printaniere, but whereas the word consomme is invariably
applied to clear soups, we find potage frequently used for
thick also, to wit : — potage a la Reine, potage a la bonne
femme, §t. Let us distinguish between thick soups and
purees in this way : — The former owe their consistency to
the addition of some artificial thickening, such as flour,
egg yolks, &c., the latter, on the other hand, derive their
thick characteristic from the ingredients that compose
them being rubbed through a tamis, or through a wire \
ON STOCK, AND CLEAR SOUPS. 31
Page 17
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
The cook should be carefully shown the use of flavouring essences, and also that of dried herbs. He ought also to be taught never to run out of bread crumbs. Stale fine crumbs should be made every now and then, and kept corked down in bottles for use when required. The very unsightly appearance presented by fish, cutlets, etc., crumbed with fresh spongy crumbs should warn us, for stale bread is never to be had when we suddenly want it. Red currant jelly is very useful ; the store-room should never be " out" of it. I shall treat of tinned vegetables hereafter in their proper place. Macedoines, fonds d'arti-
IN THE STORE-ROOM. 29
chaitf, petits pois, haricots verts and asperges are, of course, excellent, and the dried Julienne will be found admirable for sonps. Preserved fisli is not required at Madras, and we can get on without tinned meats, soups, and potted luxuries, for we can make better things at home.
In sweet things, however, we are not so independent, and jams, jellies, tart-fruits, dried and candied peel, currants, raisins, ginger, &c., &c., must all have room in the house-keeper's cupboard.
Of the invaluable qualities to the Anglo-Indian of good tinned butter, I shall speak on a future occasion.
In a chapter on stores it is impossible to pass over, without a few words of commendation, the excellent preserved fish, vegetables, and fruits, which have, of late, been imported from America, Besides being capital in quality these " canned" delicacies are decidedly cheap. The old English firms have now to compete with dangerous rivals. Let them look to their laurels.
Messrs. Brand & Co.'s preparations for invalids, potted meats, soups, and strong essences of beef, chicken, &c., are specialites in their way vastly superior to anything formerly in the market of a like description. Messrs. Moir and Son have however taken up the subject recently with great success.
— ♦
On Stock, and clear Soups.
"X'lrtT'ITH a keen appreciation of the importance of the jlO^ subject, and of the difficulties with which it is surrounded, I now proceed to place before mj readers a little collection of hints and wrinkles about soup-making which I have gathered from time to time from a variety of sources. Some, by practical experience, gained by hond fide work in the kitchen, some given to me by friends, and some picked out of different works on the culinary art. In my extracts from books, I shall endeavoui' to record, as much as possible, such advice only as I have tested myself, and I shall try to make my gleanings simple and concise.
To begin then ; there are, we know, three distinct classes of soups : — the clear, the thick, and the 'puree. We recognise clear soups in the menu under different names. For instance, we meet consomme cle volaille, and potage a la printaniere, but whereas the word consomme is invariably applied to clear soups, we find potage frequently used for thick also, to wit : — potage a la Reine, potage a la bonne femme, §t. Let us distinguish between thick soups and purees in this way : — The former owe their consistency to the addition of some artificial thickening, such as flour, egg yolks, &c., the latter, on the other hand, derive their thick characteristic from the ingredients that compose them being rubbed through a tamis, or through a wire \