Manual for army cooks

§1 a Si p t » 0 •i f a X) dl s bi S o o d: S •s -i OS H <; CO < u s H j J < a •< j . '< p t s § w CO < RECIPES FOR CAMP COOKERY (250) KECIPES FOR CAMP COOKERY. MISCELLANEOUS HINTS. Bread and soup are the great items of a soldier's diet ill every situation; to make tliem well is an essential part of liis instruction. Those great scourges of camp—scurvy and diarrhea — more frequently result from want of skill in cooking than from any other cause whatever. Officers in command, and, more immediately regimental officers, should therefore give strict attention to this vital branch of interior economy. Men should never eat heartily just before a great undertaking, because the nervous power is irresistibly drawn to the stomach to manage the food eaten, thus draining off that supply which the brain and muscles so much need. It is always best to prepare hot meals when possible. If preserved or cooked rations have been served out, and there is time, they should be warmed or made into soup or houilli before being eaten. Fresh meat ought not to be cooked before it has had time to bleed and cool ; and meats should generally be boiled, with a view to soup; though sometimes roasted or baked, for variety. Fresh meat issued to the soldiers in advance, in hot weather, may be preserved by half boiling it; or, if there be not time for that operation, the meat may be kept some twenty-four hours, by previously exposing it for a few minutes to a very thick smoke. Salted meats should soak eight or ten hours, or the water they are boiled in should be changed several times. Vinegar added to water that tough meats are boiled in, tends to make them tender. Meats to be eaten cold should be placed in lioiling water. This sets the juices; while meat put first (261) ill cold water and then gradually heated and boiled, has its juices extracted ; best done this way in soups, stews, etc. Vegetables, especially fresh ones, should be immersed in boiling water; dried vegetables in cold water. Meats that are to be used cold, ham especially, should be allowed to cool in the liquid in which they were boiled, as they will then be especially sweet, juicy and tender. SOUP. Hang the camp kettle on the crane, and use a cover to keep out ashes, sand, or dust. If any fresh lean meat is available, put in a small piece, after cutting off every particle of fat. After breakfast build a fire of logs under the camp kettle, and let the meat boil in an abundance of water for two hours or longer, or until the meat is almost ready to drop to pieces ; then add Irish potatoes and onions, all cut up, and simmer until the vegetables are done. While boiling, frequently skim from the top every particle of grease that rises. When done, season with pepper and salt to taste, and eat hot. If it is not thick enough, mix enough flour and Avater in a tin cup to the consistency of molasses, and pour slowly into the soup, stirring with a spoon as poured. Good soup may be made with bones, cracked with a hatchet and boiled for a long time, or with vegetables alone, thickened and seasoned. Canned tomatoes make a nice soup.