Culinary jottings

" a turkey boiled is turkey spoiled," and I cannot understand any one maltreating that noble bird so cruelly. A funny idea exists I know (one handed down from gTand-mama) that if you give roast mutton or beef at a dinner party, the fowls or turkey must be hoiled ! What absurd nonsense. You offer your guests the choice of white or hroivn meat, each dressed in its most tempting form, you do not bind yourself to give them roast, or boiled. If the white meat be equally nice boiled, like fowls, a leg of pork, a knuckle of veal, &c., you may, of course, so serve it, but do not run away with the erroneous notion that you must boil (and so spoil) your turkey because your other joint happen to be a saddle, or a sirloin. The process of steaming has become familiar to many people in India on account of the introduction of Warren s cooking-pot, and vegetable sfeajuer. I have been told that during the recent campaign in Afghanistan, this utensil was found invaluable, and I can well believe it. The term "steaming" is frequently applied not only to the Warren process, but also to the cooking of meat and vegetables placed in hermetically closing utensils, which, in turn, are plunged into larger vessels filled with boiling water. Warren's system needs no description for detailed instructions accompany every vessel. Its chief recommendation consists in its simplicity and economy. Meat well braised may be said to be equally nutritious, for it is in like manner cooked in its own vapour and juices ; but in the matter of fuel braising is by far the more expensive method, while the careful regulation of the heat, &c., costs infinitely more trouble than the simple boiling of a Warren's pot. The one process requires the hand of a chef: the other can be managed by any one. The not uncommon practice of partly roasting a joint after it has been nearly cooked in a Warren's pot is erroneous. The result can at best be that of meat half -boiled, half-roasted, — " neither fish, nor fowl, nor good red herring," so to speak. A good cook ought, by the clever treatment of the gravy made by the meat, to be able to diversify both the appearance and flavour of the joint, adding to its attractiveness by a tasteful garnish of maccaroni or vegetables. The utmost cleanliness is absolutely necessary in the use of Warren's pot. Somewhat similar in treatment is the process of Jugging. There is, I think, a dish called by Ramasamy "boiled chops" (boiled chops),, cooked in this manner, which is familiar to everj one in this part of India, and really deserving of attention, for it is susceptible of improvement, and far greater development. A nice steak ; a dish of neck cutlets ; the blade bone of the shoulder, boned and flattened ; a tender fovrl, boned and flattened ; game similarly prepared, and even fish, can thus be dressed very daintily.