to their authors — ^that a piece of beef from the round can be so cooked as to make it equal to JUet de Imuf; that lamb's or pig's liver is of as good a flavor as calf s Uver, which costs twice as much ; that old fowls properly treated cannot be distinguished by the taste from young broilers; and that a variety of other delightful things can be ac- complished by the woman who chooses to attempt them. All this is, no doubt, true in part. The point that is seldom sufficiently emphasized is that it requires to achieve these wonders either a certain knack, which is as much a talent in its way as is a gift for music or drawing, or else a special training in this particular kind of cookery. It is easy enough for any one to be a good cook who knows how to follow a recipe, possesses a lit- tle deftness of hand, and is provided with the best materials for her work. Nowadays the cook-books seldom deal in the glittering gen- eralities that once made their pages full of pitfalls for the unwary. Usually the direc- tions are explicit, the quantities and propor- tions almost scientific in their accuracy, and 242 WHAT SHALL WE EAT? the successive steps in compounding and cooking so clearly defined that the wayfar- ing woman, although a fool, can hardly go very far wrong ; that is, ^f— and it is a very big if, too — she does not have to use imper- fect ingredients to compass a perfect achieve- ment. Bricks may doubtless be made with stubble instead of straw, but the children of Israel found it a rather diflBcult process. If, then, to change the figure, the iron be dull, one must put to it the more strength. The housekeeper who is compelled by cir- cumstances to practise rigid economy must resolutely set herself to the study of cheap cookery. She may know already how to roast a " rib cut " of beef, how to broil a por- terhouse steak, how to broil and fry tender chickens, but all this knowledge is of com- paratively little value to her just now. She must learn instead how to braise, how to treat a " pot roast " ; she must study stews, perfect herself in the manufacture of minces, hashes, fricassees, croquettes, fritters; she must know what vegetables and meats may be put together in ultilizing "left-overs"; 243 WHAT TO EAT — HOW TO SEEVE IT she must acquire a thorough knowledge of soups of all sorts, and of soups maigre in particular ; and she must work in this line until she is able to set as appetizing if not as elegant a table on her small means as her richer neighbor across the way can on a housekeeping allowance of a double amount. Of course this involves a great deal of hard work and of competent vigilance. Even if a servant is kept, only in rare instances can she be trusted to undertake this kind of cookery. Simple cookery, hke roasting and boiling, is seldom successful unless one has the best materials to work with. But usually the woman who must economize is wealthier in time than in anything else, and she must make it take the plaxje of money. Above all, she must struggle against the temptation to yield to weariness or discouragement, and to satisfy herself with the custom into which so many of her sisters drift, of cooking tough, inferior pieces of meat in the easiest way, as though they were " prime cuts," and thus en- dangering the teeth, tempers, and digestions of her family. 244 WHAT SHALL WE EAT?

AI-modernized reading of the original text

to their authors — ^that a piece of beef from the round can be so cooked as to make it equal to Filet de boeuf; that lamb's or pig's liver is of as good a flavor as calf's liver, which costs twice as much ; that old fowls properly treated cannot be distinguished by the taste from young broilers; and that a variety of other delightful things can be accomplished by the woman who chooses to attempt them. All this is, no doubt, true in part. The point that is seldom sufficiently emphasized is that it requires to achieve these wonders either a certain knack, which is as much a talent in its way as is a gift for music or drawing, or else a special training in this particular kind of cookery. It is easy enough for any one to be a good cook who knows how to follow a recipe, possesses a little deftness of hand, and is provided with the best materials for her work. Nowadays the cook-books seldom deal in the glittering generalities that once made their pages full of pitfalls for the unwary. Usually the directions are explicit, the quantities and proportions almost scientific in their accuracy, and WHAT SHALL WE EAT? the successive steps in compounding and cooking so clearly defined that the wayfaring woman, although a fool, can hardly go very far wrong ; that is, ^f— and it is a very big if, too — she does not have to use imperfect ingredients to compass a perfect achievement. Bricks may doubtless be made with stubble instead of straw, but the children of Israel found it a rather difficult process. If, then, to change the figure, the iron be dull, one must put to it the more strength. The housekeeper who is compelled by circumstances to practise rigid economy must resolutely set herself to the study of cheap cookery. She may know already how to roast a " rib cut " of beef, how to broil a porterhouse steak, how to broil and fry tender chickens, but all this knowledge is of comparatively little value to her just now. She must learn instead how to braise, how to treat a " pot roast " ; she must study stews, perfect herself in the manufacture of minces, hashes, fricassees, croquettes, fritters; she must know what vegetables and meats may be put together in utilizing "left-overs"; she must acquire a thorough knowledge of soups of all sorts, and of soups maigre in particular ; and she must work in this line until she is able to set as appetizing if not as elegant a table on her small means as her richer neighbor across the way can on a housekeeping allowance of a double amount. Of course this involves a great deal of hard work and of competent vigilance. Even if a servant is kept, only in rare instances can she be trusted to undertake this kind of cookery. Simple cookery, hke roasting and boiling, is seldom successful unless one has the best materials to work with. But usually the woman who must economize is wealthier in time than in anything else, and she must make it take the place of money. Above all, she must struggle against the temptation to yield to weariness or discouragement, and to satisfy herself with the custom into which so many of her sisters drift, of cooking tough, inferior pieces of meat in the easiest way, as though they were " prime cuts," and thus endangering the teeth, tempers, and digestions of her family. WHAT SHALL WE EAT?

What to eat, how to serve it