Whether your entree be a fillet of beef or mutton, of
fowl or of game, or the neatly trimmed neck chop to
which I have alluded ; and whether yon intend to grill, to
stew, or to fry it, you will find it vastly improved by
being set en marinade from early morning until the time
draws near for cooking it. I shall use this word frequently
in my menus, let me therefore explain its meaning as
applied to the process which I now take the opportunity
of noticing.
The word marinade, as you all know, really means
pickle, but viewed in the light in which we now regard it,
it would be better to describe it as a mixture, the com-
ponent parts of which can be varied at pleasure, in which
meat should be soaked for several hours before it is cooked.
Its immediate effect is to preserve the outside of the meat
which has " felt the knife" moist and juicy, to prevent its
" turning," and to lend that subtle flavour to it — so hard
to describe — but which just makes the difference between
our ordinary cutlet, and that which we remember having
eaten at some restaurant abroad, or at the table of a friend
who possessed a really well educated cook.
The common form of marinade for beef and mutton is
composed of salad oil and vinegar in the proportion of four
of the former to one of the latter, with one large Bombay
onion sliced, one clove of garlic chopped up, twelve whole
peppers, six cloves, a tea-spoonful of salt, a couple of tea-
spoonfuls of dried thyme or marjoram, a table-spoonful of
minced parsley, and a strip or two of very finely pared
lime peel✪ Marinade for Beef and Mutton. This mixture can be preserved for daily use,
with slight additions from time to time, and the flavour
66 CULINARY JOTTINGS FOR MADRAS.
can be modified by changing the sweet herbs, or with-
drawing them.
The taste of game can be imparted to cold, cooked
mutton by placing the meat in a marinade composed of a
wine-glass each of vinegar, portwine, and mushroom
ketchup in which a table-spoonful of red currant jelly has
been dissolved ; with a tea-spoonful of " spiced pepper,"
some pepper corns, salt, a chopped onion, and a dessert-
spoonful of marjoram and thyme blended. A hash of cold
mutton collops that have lain a few hours in this prepara-
tion is very like that of venison, and the fillets of an
Indian hare, (a little underdone in the roasting) similarly
steeped all day, are really excellent. In this particular
instance you must strain the marinade, and add it to the
thick gravy in which the hash or fillets have to be
simmered.
Marinade need not be made in extravagant quantities.
It should cover the bottom of the dish on which you place
the meat, your object being gained by occasional turning,
and basting. When wanted, the cook should lift the meat
from the dish, let it drain a minute or so, and then pro-
ceed to business.
Page 38 · 1 recipe record on this page
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
Whether your entree be a fillet of beef or mutton, of fowl or of game, or the neatly trimmed neck chop to which I have alluded ; and whether you intend to grill, to stew, or to fry it, you will find it vastly improved by being set en marinade from early morning until the time draws near for cooking it. I shall use this word frequently in my menus, let me therefore explain its meaning as applied to the process which I now take the opportunity of noticing.
The word marinade, as you all know, really means pickle, but viewed in the light in which we now regard it, it would be better to describe it as a mixture, the component parts of which can be varied at pleasure, in which meat should be soaked for several hours before it is cooked. Its immediate effect is to preserve the outside of the meat which has " felt the knife" moist and juicy, to prevent its " turning," and to lend that subtle flavour to it — so hard to describe — but which just makes the difference between our ordinary cutlet, and that which we remember having eaten at some restaurant abroad, or at the table of a friend who possessed a really well educated cook.
The common form of marinade for beef and mutton is composed of salad oil and vinegar in the proportion of four of the former to one of the latter, with one large Bombay onion sliced, one clove of garlic chopped up, twelve whole peppers, six cloves, a teaspoonful of salt, a couple of teaspoonfuls of dried thyme or marjoram, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, and a strip or two of very finely pared lime peel. This mixture can be preserved for daily use, with slight additions from time to time, and the flavour
can be modified by changing the sweet herbs, or withdrawing them.
The taste of game can be imparted to cold, cooked mutton by placing the meat in a marinade composed of a wine-glass each of vinegar, portwine, and mushroom ketchup in which a tablespoonful of red currant jelly has been dissolved ; with a tteaspoonful of "spiced pepper," some pepper corns, salt, a chopped onion, and a dessertspoonful of marjoram and thyme blended. A hash of cold mutton collops that have lain a few hours in this preparation is very like that of venison, and the fillets of an Indian hare, (a little underdone in the roasting) similarly steeped all day, are really excellent. In this particular instance you must strain the marinade, and add it to the thick gravy in which the hash or fillets have to be simmered.
Marinade need not be made in extravagant quantities. It should cover the bottom of the dish on which you place the meat, your object being gained by occasional turning, and basting. When wanted, the cook should lift the meat from the dish, let it drain a minute or so, and then proceed to business.
Records on this page
Marinade for Beef and Mutton