Culinary jottings

It is needless to say that game is ruthlessly spoiled by this trick of the kitchen, and even the chicken destined for a curry is robbed of half its flavour by being scalded first. The practice is, of course, the offspring of idleness, — a subterfuge to escape trouble. I would also point out that the common way of killing poultry in this country is inhuman, and, in a culinary point of view, utterly wrong. Setting aside the cruelty of cutting a fowl's throat, and throwing it on the ground to bleed to death in agony, what an idiotic thing it is to waste the very part of the bird from which its gravy, and juiciness are derived ! White meats are bled in England simply to produce the necessary tint, but they lose much of their nutritious quality by the process. They, however, can afford to do so. Our poorly flavoured birds can ill endure the loss of an atom of the richness that they may possess. I maintain, therefore, that a merciful, and instantaneous death, by a heavy blow from a wooden mallet, would be pleasanter for the fowl, and far better for us : — the blow should be given on the back of the head. Besides those I have mentioned there are still two evil practices to be noted to which Native cooks are prone. The first, is that of parboiling joints and poultry before roasting them: the second, is that of keeping joints, &c., far too long on the spit. As a rule, Ramasamy commences operations much too soon, and then keeps the meat on the spit before a low fire until it is wanted. Strict orders should be issued to prevent the first of these errors, and a table, showing the time that various joints require in roasting properly, should be hung up in the kitchen to prevent the second. If the spit be protected from draughts with a screen, and the fire evenly maintained, and sufficiently brisk for the operation in hand — [illustration: roasting time table] A hen-tnrkej', 3^ fts. >» forty-five minutes. A capon, 4 fts. ... ,, fifty rninntes. A fowl, 3 as. ... »> half an hour. A pigeon ... >» a quarter of an hour. A duck ... j» twenty-five minutes. A goose, 6 lbs. ... >> an hour and a half. A bare ... » half an hour. A partridge ... ... >j a quarter of an hour. A snipe ... >) teii minutes. A florican or pheasant j> half an hour. A saddle of mntto n, 7 lbs • >> an hoar and a half. A sirloin of beef do. » an hour and three-quarters. A loin of pork, 3 fts. M fifty minutes. A loin of mutton, 3 lbs. *> thirty-five minutes. — ♦ Boiling and Steaming. I OILING," says the G. C, " is one of the simplest and most economical modes of preparing food. Meat loses less weight in boiling than in any process of cooking, and the water it has been boiled in can always be turned to good account ; besides which, although it may be an open question whether boiled meat is more nutritious than roast or boiled meat, it is beyond dispute more wholesome and easily digested," Under the head of " soup-making" I have already discussed the method of boiling meat required for soup : the ^^ pof-au-feii" being my example of how meat should be treated when the object is to extract its juices. We must now consider what has to be done in preparing boiled meat for the table, and note where the two processes differ.