Elements of the theory and practice of cookery

The taste of Avater in which meat has been cooked shows that some of the substance of the meat has escaped into it ; save it, therefore, to use in soup-making. Can we use the cooking water from salt meat for soup? USES FOR THE GELATINOUS PARTS OF MEAT: SOUP-STOCK AND SOUPS 280. Soup an economical dish. — Soup, by some people mistakenly thought to be an expensive luxury, is gen- erally a means of economy ; since a soup, tempting and nutritious, can be made of the cheapest materials, in= eluding remnants of food unfit for other use. Economy means management^ not saving merely, though some- times wrongly understood in the latter sense. Good economy includes wise spending and using ; it is as wasteful to broil meat too tough to be chewed or digested as it would be to throw away meat that might be used ; it is as prudent to purchase a small quantity of vegetables and seasonings, which will help to make a savory soup or stew out of material useless by itself, as to refrain from buying something not needed. SoUP-MAKING 281. Soup-stock. — Soup-stock is the basis of all meat soups. It consists of the soluble portions of meat, vegeta- bles, and sometimes other ingredients dissolved in water. 156 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY Directions for making Soup-stock Raw meat and bone, about 2 pounds. Cooked meat, or meat and bone, about 1 pound. Cold water (fresh, or from cooked meat or vegetables), 3 quarts. To each pound of meat and bone allow of onion, carrot, turnip, cut into half-inch cubes, 1 heaping tablespoonful each.^ Celery, 1 stalk or 1 root. Salt, about Yz teaspoonful. A bit of bay-leaf. Peppercorns, 2, A sprig of parsley. or Pepper, a few grains. Have the bones sawed into inch lengths and split; cut the meat into inch cubes or smaller. Why? If the raw meat only is used, brown one-third of it in a little of the fat in a frying-pan.^ Let meat and bones soak in the water for one hour, then simmer in a cov- ered kettle four or five hours, or until the meat is in fragments. About one hour before taking the stock from the fire, add to it the vegetables and seasonings. When the vegetables are very soft strain the stock through a coarse strainer and set it aside for twenty- four hours, or until the fat solidifies on its surface. Remove every speck of this fat, saving it to try out, and if the stock is to be used for clear soup, clear it according to the directions on p. 161. Bone, commonly regarded as refuse, is called for in tiie Directions for making Soup-stock. If we compare 1 Seasonings and flavorings may be varied or, in part, omitted. 2 By this means the soup gains in flavor, though at the cost of some food value. THE FLESH OF ANIMALS 157 this stock with bouillon, or with any broth made from meat with little or no bone, we shall find that the first is jellied when cold, the second liquid. What is there in bones to make this difference ? A Study of Bone 282. A. Examine the ends of a shin-bone sawed in two. Where is the bone the hardest? Where is it spongy? Where soft ? The soft substance is marrow. Try to bend or break the bone. Observe the tough fibrous covering on the ends of it.