Touching the beating of the old English collop, it is as well to warn all and sundry not by any means to apply the bastinado to mutton chops before they are laid on the gridiron. Mutton is not so noble a meat as beef; still, its best parts slioidd be protected from the indignity of verbera- tion. Hear on this subject the wiseFrancatclli: — "Cliops must 'never he hatted or heaten." But I hear distracted female cooks urge, " How shall we treat the meat when it is tough ?" You should not choose tough meat, ]\[adame Cook. The French, CHATS ABOUT COOKERY. 55 whose meat, with the exception of the " Chateaubriand " and the veal chop, is nearly always tough, cure the normal leatheri- ness of their beef or mutton by laying it for some hours in a very mild marinade of wine-vinegar, cloves, mace, pepper- corns, and a little salt ; but the English cook would indig- nantly declare that she could never consent to send up " pickled chops " or steaks to the table. A mutton chop of the sort I have mentioned, thick, fat- tailed, and so judiciously broiled as to be done through, but not to exhaust its gravy, is an incomparabty good lunch for busy people up to the age of tifty. The cook should be very careful to broil chops over a clear tire, and to turn them frequently, so that they may retain the grav}^ aforesaid. A dish of mutton chops is a deplorable solecism. Each chop should be served separately on its own hot plate, and if you can afford a silver hot-water plate, so much the better. The addition of a mite of minced shallot — for gentlemen only — and a morsel of fresh butter placed underneath each chop, may be recommended by way of relish ; and if the natural gravy is for some reason or another scanty, you may pour — observing great discretion — a little Harvey sauce into your plate. "Worcestershire sauce, in many cases admirable, is too potent for a hot mutton chop, and interferes with the balmi- ness of its flavour. You know that I hate potatoes; but a large, well-boiled, and mealy potato may be tolerated in the case of a tine chop " with a curly tail." Should Chops Ibe Fried or Broiled? The Marchioness of Londonderry is strongly ot opinion that the gridiron is the only culinary utensil with which to cook a chop ; and in the sensible advice which she has given to the wives of the colliers on the estate, she strongly 56 THE THOllOUGH GOOD COOK. inculcates the expediency, on the grounds of cleanhness and succulence, of the preparation of chops St. Lawrence fashion, and in no other way. Culinary doctors, however, like medical ones, are occasionally apt to differ ; and the Mar- chioness has found critics who are not by any means satisfied with her recommendation of the grill to the working classes. ^One correspondent of a newspaper asks her if she has ever tried to grill a chop over a tiny kitchener, such as is to be found in small houses of the present day ; and he ven- tures to think that those wdio have done so will agree with him that smoke and smut will, under these circumstances, always accompany the grilled chop. Finally, he asks the Marchioness to make her choice between a chop properly fried in a clean pan, and a chop imperfectly grilled over a poky kitchener.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Touching the beating of the old English collop, it is as well to warn all and sundry not by any means to apply the bastinado to mutton chops before they are laid on the gridiron. Mutton is not so noble a meat as beef; still, its best parts should be protected from the indignity of verberation. Hear on this subject the wise Francatelli: — "Chops must never be hatted or beaten." But I hear distracted female cooks urge, " How shall we treat the meat when it is tough ?" You should not choose tough meat, ]\[adame Cook. The French, whose meat, with the exception of the " Chateaubriand " and the veal chop, is nearly always tough, cure the normal leatheriness of their beef or mutton by laying it for some hours in a very mild marinade of wine-vinegar, cloves, mace, peppercorns, and a little salt ; but the English cook would indignantly declare that she could never consent to send up " pickled chops " or steaks to the table. A mutton chop of the sort I have mentioned, thick, fattailed, and so judiciously broiled as to be done through, but not to exhaust its gravy, is an incomparably good lunch for busy people up to the age of fifty. The cook should be very careful to broil chops over a clear tire, and to turn them frequently, so that they may retain the gravy aforesaid. A dish of mutton chops is a deplorable solecism. Each chop should be served separately on its own hot plate, and if you can afford a silver hot-water plate, so much the better. The addition of a mite of minced shallot — for gentlemen only — and a morsel of fresh butter placed underneath each chop, may be recommended by way of relish ; and if the natural gravy is for some reason or another scanty, you may pour — observing great discretion — a little Harvey sauce into your plate. "Worcestershire sauce, in many cases admirable, is too potent for a hot mutton chop, and interferes with the balminess of its flavour. You know that I hate potatoes; but a large, well-boiled, and mealy potato may be tolerated in the case of a fine chop " with a curly tail." Should Chops be Fried or Broiled? The Marchioness of Londonderry is strongly ot opinion that the gridiron is the only culinary utensil with which to cook a chop ; and in the sensible advice which she has given to the wives of the colliers on the estate, she strongly inculcates the expediency, on the grounds of cleanhness and succulence of the preparation of chops St. Lawrence fashion, and in no other way. Culinary doctors, however, like medical ones, are occasionally apt to differ ; and the Marchioness has found critics who are not by any means satisfied with her recommendation of the grill to the working classes. ^One correspondent of a newspaper asks her if she has ever tried to grill a chop over a tiny kitchener, such as is to be found in small houses of the present day ; and he ventures to think that those who have done so will agree with him that smoke and smut will, under these circumstances, always accompany the grilled chop. Finally, he asks the Marchioness to make her choice between a chop properly fried in a clean pan, and a chop imperfectly grilled over a poky kitchener.

The thorough good cook