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A COURSE OF LECTURES
ON THE
PRINCIPLES OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY
AND COOKERY,
BY MISS JULIET CORSON,
Superintendent of the New York School of Cookery.
DELIVERED IN THE FARMERS' LECTURE COURSE OF THE
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA.
APPENDIX TO SUPPLEMENT I.
FOURTH BIENNIAL REPORT OF
Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota.
1886.
ST. PAUL, MINN.:
THE PIONEER PRESS COMPANY.
1887.
PREFACE.
The following lectures were delivered in the "Farmers Lecture Course,"
at the College of Agriculture, Minneapolis, during the session of 1884.
The topics selected at previous sessions had been such as to especially
interest the male members of the large classes in attendance, and it was
considered no more than fair to the women of the State that attention
should be given to such matters as would aid them in the conduct of home
duties. Influenced by this desire, I secured the services of Miss Juliet
Corson, the superintendent of the New York School of Cookery, and so
widely known wherever the English language is spoken, by her
publications and writings upon all topics relating to domestic economy.
The interest manifested in this course of lectures by the ladies of
Minnesota was shown by the crowded audiences present at each exercise,
nearly 1,200 of whom registered their names and addresses, a list of
which is appended to this report.
The lectures were familiar, extemporaneous discourses upon the topics
under discussion, and the lecturer was surrounded by all the
appointments of a well-ordered kitchen. The dishes as prepared were
passed to the audience for examination and criticism, and full
opportunity allowed for discussion. This statement is necessary to
explain the colloquial character of the discourses.
In placing these lectures before the public the editor does but simple
justice to Miss Corson in stating that circumstances have prevented the
preparation by her of a finished report, and have compelled the
publication of the notes taken at the "cooking lessons." But if the
_form_ of the instruction is devoid of rhetorical style, the editor
guarantees its _accuracy_.
Although Miss Corson is a steady worker, her usefulness is curtailed by
serious illness. In this instance, therefore, indulgence is claimed for
the method. Whatever graces of literature the reader seeks, may be found
in the author's other published works; here the public is entreated to
accept a very plain record of the work done at the State University by
Miss Corson.
A word of explanation is due to the members of the class, who were
promised copies of these lectures. I had full reports taken at the time,
by a stenographer. They were written out shortly after, and sent to Miss
Corson, as by her request, for review; but owing to her protracted and
nearly fatal illness and very slow recovery, these notes have only
recently been returned to me. I hope this statement will relieve me from
any charges of neglect, which the ladies might otherwise be disposed to
make.
EDWARD D. PORTER,
_Professor in Charge_.
INTRODUCTION.
This course of lectures is designed to meet the wants of two classes of
persons:
_First_--Those who are experienced housekeepers, familiar with the
principles and practice of cookery, but who desire information
concerning the preparation of the finer dishes of the modern school.
_Second_--The young ladies in attendance at the University and others
like them, who have had their time and attention so engrossed with
studies and other duties that they have not had the opportunity to
qualify themselves in this most important branch of a woman's education.
To meet the wants of the first class, the morning exercises will be
devoted to the preparation of palatable and nutritious dishes, suitable
for every day use in families of moderate means, and some of the finer
dishes will be introduced.
As the afternoons are the only times at which the young ladies of the
University can be present, these sessions will be devoted to practical
illustrations of the elementary principles of household management and
cookery. As time permits, some of the salient points in the chemistry of
food and the physiology of nutrition will be briefly discussed.
BILL OF FARE
FOR
THE HOUSEKEEPERS' COURSE.
FIRST DAY.
Soup Stock.
Boiled Salmon, with Cream Sauce.
Potatoes, Stewed in Butter.
Quail, boned and broiled.
Omelettes.
SECOND DAY.
Clear Soup.
Caramel for coloring Soups and Sauces.
Baked Whitefish.
Beefsteak, broiled and fried. Baked Apple Dumplings.
THIRD DAY.
Cream of Salmon.
Shoulder of Lamb, boned and roasted.
Forcemeat for Meats.
Potatoes, broiled and baked.
Cheese Crusts.
FOURTH DAY.
Pea Soup with Crusts.
Salt Codfish, stewed in Cream.
Venison with Currant Jelly.
Stewed Carrots. Cabinet Pudding.
FIFTH DAY.
Tomato Soup. Fried Pickerel.
Beef, _a la mode_ Rolls.
_Puree_ of Spinach.
Caramel Custard.
SIXTH DAY.
Oyster Soup.
Oysters, broiled and fried.
Oysters with Bacon. Mobile Roast Oysters.
Welsh Rarebits.
THE UNIVERSITY COURSE.
AT 2 P. M. DAILY.
_First Day_--Soup Making, and Stews.
_Second Day_--Good Breads, Plain Pastry and Puddings.
_Third Day_--Fish and Poultry.
_Fourth Day_--Meats and Vegetables.
_Fifth Day_--Cheap Dishes and Rewarmed Foods.
_Sixth Day_--Cookery for the Sick.
Tea, Coffee, Omelettes, Sauces, and various small dishes will be treated
when the occasion offers.
* * * * *
The last half hour of each day will be devoted to the discussion of
questions referring to the subject in hand, and to the testing of dishes
cooked.
FIRST LECTURE.
Our lesson this morning, ladies, will consist of the preparation of what
is called soup stock, or beef broth, which is the basis of many kinds of
soup; it is very easily made, simple in its composition, and exceedingly
nutritious; the other dishes to be made are boiled salmon with cream
sauce; potatoes, stewed in butter; and quail, boned and broiled. I give
you the boned quail to show you what an exceedingly simple operation
boning is. It is supposed to be very difficult, and it is done sometimes
in curious ways; but the best way is the simplest and easiest. If we
have time we will prepare a few omelettes.
As I shall begin with soup stock, you will take your receipt for that.
For each quart of soup stock or broth which you intend to make, use one
pound of meat and bone. By that I mean meat and bone weighed together.
The cut which I have here is from the upper part of the leg, next to the
round. You can use any cut of the leg, the shank, which is the lower
part of the leg, or the neck; any of the cheaper parts of meat will
answer for soup meat. First, cut the meat from the bone; the butcher
will always do that for you; then have the bone broken in small pieces.
The butcher, of course, will do that very much more easily than you can
do it. Do not wash the meat; wipe it all over with a towel wet in cold
water. Put the bones in the bottom of the soup kettle, laying the meat
on the bones; then add cold water in the proportion of a quart to each
pound of meat and bones. Set the soup kettle over the fire, and let the
broth slowly heat and boil. As it boils a scum will rise to the surface,
which is to be removed in case you are preparing stock for clear soup.
The scum is composed of the blood and the albumen of the meat, and is
only removed for the purpose of clarifying the soup. It is nutritious,
and for that reason it should always be saved. In France, and in
kitchens where French cooks are employed, this scum is used either in
thick soup--for instance, in vegetable soup, such as I shall make this
afternoon--or put into brown sauces or gravies. Remember, it is nothing
that is to be thrown away; it is to be saved because it is both
nutritious and savory. It adds flavor and nutriment to any dish to
which it is added. While the soup meat is being boiled for the first
time, prepare the vegetables. For three or four pounds of meat, which
will make as many quarts of soup, use one medium-size carrot, which is
to be scraped, a turnip, which is to be peeled, and an onion, which is
also to be peeled, in such a way as to prevent breaking apart; take off
the outer dry skin of the onion without trimming it closely; do not cut
it off at the top, because in that way you will cause the layers to
break apart. After the onion is peeled stick a dozen whole cloves into
it. The cloves are added to the soup for the purpose of flavoring it.
You very often hear the remark made that the cookery of certain people
has an indefinable taste, exceedingly nice, but something that you do
not exactly understand. It is always produced by a combination of
seasonings and flavorings. In this soup I shall use for seasoning not
only the cloves in the onions, but a dozen peppercorns--that is,
unground grains of pepper, instead of ground pepper, because I want the
soup to be perfectly clear. I shall use also bay leaves, which may be
new to some of you; they are the dried leaves of the laurel or bay tree,
and can be bought at any drug store. You can buy five cents' worth of
them and they will last you a year or more. The seasoning is slightly
aromatic; for four quarts of soup use only a little leaf, or a piece of
a large leaf; use also a blade of mace, and a sprig of any dried herb
except sage.
The peppercorns, the bay leaf, the blade of mace, and the sprig of sweet
herb are tied in the midst of a little bunch of parsley, the stalk with
all the leaves on, and if it is ever marketed here with the root on, use
that as well; the root of the parsley has all the flavor of the leaf
intensified, and you have only to thoroughly wash it, and then use it.
All these dried herbs are to be gathered inside of the parsley and tied
in a little bunch; tie the parsley by winding string around it,
inclosing all the dried herbs; this little bunch is called in cooking
books a _fagot_ or bouquet of herbs; it is what gives soups and sauces
that indefinable spicy, delicate flavor so much liked.
After the soup stock boils remove whatever scum has risen, put in the
_fagot_, the turnip, the carrot, the onion stuck with cloves, and for
the four quarts of soup a heaping tablespoonful of salt. Keep the soup
stock covered as much as possible while it is heating; and after you
have put in the vegetables keep it covered all the time. Let it boil
very slowly. After all the vegetables are in set the kettle back so that
the heat of the fire strikes from one side; let it boil from one side
and gently; in that way you begin the clarifying. You will find if you
boil the stock from one side, and very gently, then when you strain it
after it is done it already will be as clear as most clear soup. After
it has been strained, to-morrow, we shall clarify it in order to show
the process, which is very simple. Then it will be what is called on
hotel bills of fare clear soup.
After the vegetables have been added let the stock boil for at least two
hours. In that length of time the flavor of the vegetables and the
nourishment from the meat will be extracted, but not the gelatine from
the bones. It is the gelatine in the bones which makes broth or stock
jelly when it is cold; in order to extract the gelatine it is necessary
to boil the soup meat and bones at least five hours. The soup can be
strained at the end of two hours, or boiled five or six hours, keeping
it covered so that none of it wastes or evaporates. When the soup is
boiled, strain it; use an earthen bowl or jar; set a colander in it, and
lay a towel folded twice in the colander, having the colander either
over the bowl or jar; pour the soup into the towel, and let it run
through without squeezing, because if you squeeze the towel you will
force small particles of scum through, and thus cloud the soup. After
the soup has run through the towel let it cool; do not cover it while it
is cooling unless you are afraid of flies or insects getting into it; in
that case cover it with a sieve. If you cover it with a solid earthen
cover or plate the steam arising from the soup will condense on the
under part of the cover and fall back into the soup; if the weather is
warm, or if it is a close, rainy day, the steam condensed falling back
into the warm soup will cause it to sour. For this reason when you put
away a dish of meat or vegetables after dinner do not cover them until
they are cold.
BOILED SALMON WITH CREAM SAUCE.
In boiling a whole fish, or a large piece, use cold water. If you put a
large piece of fish into boiling water, the outside will be cooked
before it is done near the bone. Nothing is more disagreeable than a
piece of fish half raw at the bone; it is uneatable. For a small piece
of fish, such as I have here, use boiling salted water enough to cover
it, and boil it until the flakes begin to separate, or until, by testing
a fin, you can easily pull it out. That will probably be, if you use
cold water, soon after the water boils; if you put the fish into
boiling water, it may be five or more minutes. Boil the fish, whether it
is large or small, until you can pull out a fin, or until the flakes
separate. Then drain it, and serve it with any nice sauce. To-day I will
make a very simple one--cream sauce. Of course you would always make the
sauce while you were boiling the fish, taking care to have both done at
the same time. For a pint of sauce, use a heaping tablespoonful of
butter and a tablespoonful of flour; put them in a saucepan over the
fire, and stir them together until they are smoothly mixed; then begin
to add hot milk, half a cupful at a time; when the first half cupful of
milk is stirred in, put in another half cupful and again stir until it
is smooth; continue to add milk until you have used a pint, or until the
sauce is about the consistency of thick cream. There will always be a
margin there for a little discretion, because some flour will thicken
very much more than others. Flour that is very rich in gluten will
thicken more than that which has most starch in it. But you have there
about the right proportions--a tablespoonful of flour, a tablespoonful
of butter, a pint of milk. Add more or less milk as is required to make
the sauce the consistency of thick cream, or of a thickness which will
coat the spoon; that is, if you dip a spoon in and hold it up, the sauce
will not all run off like water; when all the milk has been used, season
the sauce with a level teaspoonful of salt and about a quarter of a salt
spoon of white pepper. I speak of white pepper particularly because in
making a white sauce, if you use the ordinary black pepper, the sauce
will be full of little black specks. The white pepper is quite as cheap,
quite as plentiful as the black pepper; all the grocers keep it, and its
flavor is nicer, rather more delicate, scarcely as pungent as the black
pepper; there is a certain biting, acrid flavor in the black pepper
which does not exist in the white pepper; the latter contains all the
stimulating property and all the aromatic flavor.
After the same is finished, keep it hot by setting the sauce pan
containing it in a pan of hot water, on the back of the stove. A
perfectly plain white sauce (which can be made the basis of an infinite
variety of other sauces) is made by substituting water for milk; by
leaving out the pepper and salt, and using sugar for sweetening, you can
make a nice pudding sauce. If you add a tablespoonful of chopped parsley
to a pint of white sauce, you make parsley sauce. Putting a few capers
into it, makes caper sauce. A teaspoonful of anchovies dissolved in it
makes anchovy sauce. It is easily made the basis of a great many sauces,
the name of which depends on preferred addition to the white sauce. Egg
sauce is made by adding chopped hard boiled eggs to white sauce.
_Question by a Lady._ Would you ever substitute cornstarch for flour?
MISS CORSON. You can if you wish. You must use your own discretion about
the quantities. Simply get the thickness of thick cream.
_Question._ Is it better to use a porcelain vessel, or will tin do?
MISS CORSON. Use any saucepan made of material thick enough to prevent
burning.
_Question._ Do you put the fish right into the water, or have you a fish
kettle?
MISS CORSON. If you are using a fish kettle you will have a little wire
frame. You can lay the fish on that, or you can tie it up in a cloth, if
you wish to.
_Question._ Then how can you tell when it is done?
MISS CORSON. If you tie it in a cloth you must leave a little space so
that you can test it.
_Question._ How much pepper did you say to put in the sauce?
MISS CORSON. About a quarter of a salt spoon; that is, a good pinch of
pepper. One of the ladies asked me about using a thick sauce
pan--porcelain-lined sauce pan; you will find the advantage of thick
sauce pans of all kinds is that they are less likely to burn than thin
ones. The thinner the metal the sauce pan is made of, the more likely it
is to burn. There are so many different kinds of utensils that every
lady can take her own choice. Black sauce pans, lined with tin or with
porcelain; tin sauce pans, thin ones, and thick ones made of block tin.
You notice that I use copper sauce pans. Coppers are the most durable;
they are lined with tin, and they have to be relined about once a year;
the cost of relining is very little--comparatively little; I think it
costs me about three cents a foot to have them relined, and the copper
never wears out. If you buy a copper sauce pan you have got something
that lasts you all your life, and you can leave it as an heirloom; if
you don't want to do that, you can sell it for old copper for nearly as
much as you paid for it. In using copper, you must never let them become
bare on the inside. If the tin wears off and the copper is exposed to
any acid in the food cooked, it is apt to form a poisonous combination.
But with proper care and cleanliness, copper sauce pans are perfectly
safe.
_Question._ Do you prefer them to the galvanized iron?
MISS CORSON. Yes, I do, on the score of cleanliness, economy and ease in
cooking.
_Question._ Do you use a wooden spoon from choice?
MISS CORSON. Yes; of course you can understand, ladies, that I could
very soon scrape the tin off of the inside of a sauce pan with a metal
spoon, a knife, or anything of that sort. Copper sauce pans should be
cleaned with a rag, a little Sapolio and hot water. If they are cleaned
as fast as they are used they are no more trouble to keep clean than any
other sauce pan. I use in stirring simply a small pudding stick--an
old-fashioned wooden pudding stick. It does not scrape the sauce pans,
and there is no danger of uncooked flour accumulating on the sticks, as
it does in the bowl of a spoon. If you are stirring with a spoon, some
of the half-cooked flour might get in the bowl of the spoon, and then
your sauce would have the taste of the raw flour. I will leave the stick
in the sauce pan and pass it about so that you can see what I mean.
Anyone can whittle these little sticks out, using any kind of hard wood.
Do not use soft wood. You will have noticed, ladies, if you have ever
put sauce of this kind, thick sauce, to keep hot, it may have grown very
much thicker by standing; in such case add a little more milk or water,
and a little more seasoning when you are ready to use it.
_Question._ How do you make perfectly clear sauce?
MISS CORSON. You can make a nearly clear thick sauce by using arrow
root. Of course, a clear thin sauce is simply sugar dissolved in water,
with butter or flavoring as you like.
POTATOES, STEWED IN BUTTER.
The potatoes are peeled and sliced in rather small slices of even size;
put them over the fire in enough salted boiling water to cover them,
boil them until they begin to grow tender; not till they break, but just
till they begin to grow tender; after the potatoes are boiled tender
drain them, and suppose you have a pint bowl full of potatoes, use about
two heaping tablespoonfuls of butter; melt the butter in a scant half
cupful of milk. When the butter is melted put the potatoes into it, and
with a spoon lift them very carefully from the bottom, always without
breaking them, until they have absorbed the milk and butter; then season
them with salt and white pepper, and they will be ready to serve. Season
them palatably; I could not give you the quantity of seasoning because
it would depend upon the salt that the potatoes had absorbed from the
water. You should taste them first before seasoning at all, and then if
they need any more salt add a very little at a time. If you simply want
the potatoes nicely stewed you don't add so much butter, a scant
tablespoonful, and milk enough to moisten them; but this receipt is an
exceedingly nice one--rather rich, but very nice.
(At this point the fish was done, and Miss Corson continued.)
You notice, ladies, that I take off the skin of the fish before taking
it up. That is very easy; it slips off easily, and without it the fish
is much nicer to serve at the table. In serving sauce with fish you pour
some around it, not over it; or you serve the fish on a napkin, and the
sauce in a dish, as you prefer. If you serve the fish in a folded napkin
garnish it with a few sprigs of parsley, if you can get them, or with a
lemon sliced, if you do not live--as some unfortunate people do--"fifty
miles from a lemon." Lemons are very nice always with any kind of fish.
Parsley can be bought here all winter long. I have learned that from the
advertisements in the papers already; and a little of it makes a great
difference in the appearance of a dish.
_Question._ Can you tell us how we can tell whether a frozen fish is
stale or fresh?
MISS CORSON. You can after you have thawed it in cold water; you can
tell by the smell. (Laughter.) The way to thaw frozen fish is to put it
into perfectly cold water and keep it in a cold place until all the
frost is drawn out. Of course the most of the fish in this market would
be frozen in the winter. This one has been frozen.
_Question._ Can you tell us how to carve a whole fish?
MISS CORSON. You would have a rather sharp knife and spoon; a fish
knife, though it looks pretty, is not good to serve fish with because it
is apt to be dull; you want a knife that will cut down through the fish
without tearing it, without attempting to cut down through the bone,
unless you know where the joints are located.
_Question._ Would you cook a fish with the fins?
MISS CORSON. The latest fancy of fish lovers in New York, the members of
the Ichthyophagous Club, who are supposed to be the leaders in the
fashions of fish, is to have the fish served with the fins, head and
tail on; and with some fish they want even the scales; and then they
simply lift off the skin, the entire skin, before they begin to serve
it. They have the fish thoroughly washed and drawn, and then cooked
with the scales and fins on. You can judge how easy it would be to do
that, because you saw how easily that skin came off this fish. The skin
comes off-easily if the fish is properly cooked--cooked enough.
_Question._ What kind of fish can be cooked with the scales on?
MISS CORSON. I think the black bass, and some kinds of sea fish. The
idea is that if the fish are not scaled they will keep their flavor; a
fish properly dressed retains enough of its flavor even if it is scalded
before it is cooked.
OMELETTES.
First, I will make a plain breakfast omelette. Use for two or three
people not more than three eggs. You can not very well manage more than
three in an ordinary pan. It is better to make several omelettes,
especially because people are not apt to come to the table all at once,
and an omelette to be nice must be eaten directly it is cooked. Say
three eggs; break them into a cup or bowl; add to them a saltspoonful of
salt, quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper, and mix them just enough to
thoroughly break the whites and yolks together. Put over the fire a
frying pan with a heaping teaspoonful of butter in it. Let the butter
get hot. If you like an omelette brown let the butter begin to brown.
After pouring the eggs into the hot frying pan break the omelette on the
bottom of the pan with a fork, just a little, so that you let the
uncooked part run down on the bottom of the pan. I do not mean to stir
the omelette as you would scrambled eggs, but just break it a little
until it is cooked as much as you want it. French breakfast omelettes
are always cooked so that they are slightly juicy in the middle; in
order to accomplish that result of course you have them still liquid
before you begin to turn them. When the omelette is done as much as you
want it run a fork under one side of it and fold it half over, then fold
it again; loosen it from the pan; have a platter hot, and turn the
omelette out. Serve it the moment it is done.
Next I will make a light omelette. The same rule--three eggs, whites and
yolks separate; beat the whites to a stiff froth; add seasoning to the
yolks in the same proportion as before; mix the yolks slightly with the
seasoning; after the white has been beaten quite stiff and the yolk
seasoned, mix them very lightly together; have a heaping tablespoonful
of butter in the frying pan over the fire, hot, just as for the plain
omelette; mix the whites and the yolks together, without breaking down
the white. Of course the lightness of the omelette depends on keeping
all the air in the white of the egg that you have beaten into it. Put
the eggs into the hot frying pan; run the fork under the omelette and
lift it from the pan as it cooks; lift the cooked portions from the pan,
and let them fall back on the top of the omelette, taking care not to
pat the omelette down at all; but just lift the cooked portions and let
them fall back on the top of the omelette, until it is done as much as
you like. Usually this omelette is served soft--as soft as ice cream.
When it is done as much as you want it, push it to the side of the pan,
gently, and then turn it out on a hot platter. Always remember that the
success of an omelette depends upon the quickness with which it is made
and served; because, in the first place, you make it light by beating
air into it; then, of course, the heat expands the air, and that makes
the omelette still lighter; and you must get it served before the hot
air escapes.
BONING QUAIL.
After the quail have been picked, cut the wings off at the first joint,
cut the legs just above the joint of the drum-stick. Cut off the head,
take out the crop, cut the quail down the back bone; from the inside,
cut the joint where the wing joins the body; and having cut that wing
joint, begin and cut close to the carcass of the bird till you get down
to the leg joint, where the second joint of the leg unites with the
body; break that joint, and keep on cutting the flesh from the carcass,
taking care not to cut through the carcass so that you strike the
intestines until you reach the ridge of the breast bone; close to the
breast bone you will find that little division in the flesh of the
breast which you have noticed in carving chickens and turkeys; it is
called the little filet, and lies close to the breast bone; separate
this natural division from the outside of the breast. Then beginning
again on the other side, cut close to the carcass of the bird until you
have reached the breast, as on the other side. Now the flesh is loose on
both sides of the bird, and needs only to be taken off without breaking
the skin of the breast. You would bone chickens and turkeys in the same
way. Take the carcass out entire. Now take out the wing and leg bones
from the inside. Do not tear the skin of the bird any more than you can
help. Now lay the flesh on the table, with the skin down, and
straighten it out a little, distributing the flesh evenly over the
skin, and it is ready to stuff. If I were making boned turkey I should
have it all ready, just like this, and then put the force meat in, draw
the bird up over the force meat, and sew it down the back. This bird is
simply going to be broiled. Season with salt and pepper. In preparing
boned birds you can use any kind of force meat--a layer of sausage meat,
or any kind of chopped cold meat; season it with salt and pepper. Put
the birds between the bars of the wire gridiron, and broil them with a
very hot fire. The gridiron should be well buttered, so that the birds
can not stick. By the time the bird is broiled brown on both sides it
will be done. Of course you do half a dozen or a dozen in the same way
precisely. Remember, ladies, always, that to broil you should use the
hottest fire you can get--the hottest and the clearest fire, because
part of the success of broiling depends upon quickly cooking the
outside, while the inside of anything you are broiling still remains
juicy. If you had a wood fire you would broil over the fire. If you
broil over the fire you must expect the blaze to rise, and you must
naturally suppose the meat will be smoked; but you can make your fire
clear--that is, have it alive; do not have it smoky and full of unburnt
wood or coal; have a clear bed of coals if you are going to broil over
the fire.
_Question._ Do you never wash the birds before boiling?
_Answer._ No; you will find that I am very _un_-neat about that. In the
first place, I would not use a piece of meat or a bird of any kind that
was really dirty enough to need washing. If it had anything on it that I
could not get off by wiping with a wet cloth, I simply wouldn't use it.
If you wash meat or poultry you destroy a certain amount of its
flavoring and take away some of its nourishment.
_Question._ Sometimes a bird shot will have a great deal of the blood
settle in the breast or in the flesh.
MISS CORSON. Yes; you want the blood; you want to keep the blood there.
The blood is a part of the nourishment. The idea of washing meat comes
from the old Hebrew prohibition which involved the removal of every
particle of blood. You know that the Hebrews believed that the blood was
the life and even to this day every particle of blood is taken away from
their meat, not only by washing after it comes into the house, but
before that by the treatment it receives from the butcher. The blood is
a part of the nourishment, and you want to keep as much of it as you
can; in some cooking it forms a very important part; for instance, in
cooking a hare or rabbit, the blood which escapes in the dressing is
saved and used.
_Question._ Would you treat prairie chicken, grouse or partridge in this
way?
MISS CORSON. Yes, in the same way.
_Question._ Not if you were going to roast turkey?
MISS CORSON. One of my good friends in the far Northwest several years
ago sent me a nice recipe for making a fricassee of chicken which I will
tell you. The recipe said that after the chicken was picked you might
wash it thoroughly with _nice soap_, then rinse it. (Laughter.) Now if
you like you can prepare it that way. No, you will find, ladies, that if
you use a cloth well wet in cold water you can remove all objectionable
matter from the outside of meat or poultry. Indeed, if a piece of meat
or poultry can not be cleaned with a wet cloth, it is not clean enough
to use. One lady asks me about keeping meat for a long time. Of course
that is a question of taste entirely, whether you like meat hung a long
time or whether you like it fresh. All meat, when it is first killed,
whether it is poultry, or game, or the ordinary domestic meat, is very
tender. It is tender until the flesh begins to grow cold, until the
animal heat, etc., parts from the flesh. Then it becomes tough, rigid
and hard, and remains so until the process of decomposition begins. I do
not mean until it begins to taint, but until it begins to decompose; at
that point it begins to grow tender; it is still fresh and good enough
for food. Remember that the hanging of meat is for the purpose of
allowing it to begin to decompose.
LECTURE SECOND.
Our lesson this afternoon will consist of some plain soups and stews of
meat. I shall begin with a soup,--of yellow split peas. For four quarts
of soup use an ordinary cupful of yellow split peas; pick them over and
wash them in cold water, put them in a saucepan or a soup kettle with
two quarts of cold water. Set the saucepan or soup kettle over the fire
and let the water very gradually heat. When it boils put in some cold
water,--part of a cupful, let them boil again; keep on putting in cold
water every fifteen or twenty minutes, until you have used two quarts
of cold water besides the first two quarts. The object of adding cold
water slowly is this: You soften the peas by the gradual heating of the
cold water. After the first boiling the addition of a little cold water
lowers the temperature, and as the water heats again the peas are
gradually softening; so that within an hour and a half or two hours you
will find them quite tender enough. You will notice that I have used no
salt; the salt would tend to harden the peas. You add salt after the
soup is nearly finished. The old way of soaking the peas over night is a
very good one, but this is rather better, for this reason: If you soak
the peas over night you destroy a small portion of their nutritive
properties; especially if you make the soup in warm water, there will be
a slight fermentation. The object of soaking them over night is simply
to soften them, and as you can soften them in this way you accomplish
the same purpose by adding cold water gradually. You will notice that
this is for perfectly plain pea soup. You can vary it by adding bones of
cold ham, or of cold roast beef; you can boil the bones with the peas.
In that way you get the flavor of whatever meat you add. A very nice
soup is made simply with the peas without any meat, by the addition of a
fried onion, for that soup you would peel and slice an onion and put it
in the bottom of the soup kettle with a tablespoonful of butter or
drippings,--beef drippings or poultry drippings,--and fry it light
brown; then put on the peas and cold water and proceed just as we do
to-day for a plain pea soup, without any addition except a seasoning of
salt and pepper, and by and by a little flour and butter, which I shall
put in at the close, the object of which I will explain to you then.
BEEF AND VEGETABLE SOUP.
For four quarts of soup use one cupful each of the ingredients which I
shall name: lean beef cut in half-inch pieces; carrot, which must first
be scraped and then cut in half-inch bits; turnip, which must be peeled
and then cut in small pieces; rice, picked over, washed in cold water;
tomatoes, peeled and sliced if they are fresh; but if you use canned
tomatoes simply cut them in small pieces; half a cupful of onion, peeled
and chopped rather fine; and four quarts of cold water. First put the
water over the fire with the beef in it, and let it gradually heat;
while it is heating get ready all the other ingredients that I have
spoken of, and add them when the water is hot. Don't add salt for
seasoning until after the soup has been cooking for a little while,
because it would tend to harden the meat. When the soup is boiling, put
in all the other ingredients; and after the soup has cooked for an hour,
season it with salt and pepper. Cook it slowly for about two hours, or
until the vegetables are tender. The length of time will depend somewhat
on the season of the year. You will find that carrots and turnips, like
all vegetables which have woody fibre in them, will cook more quickly
early in the winter while they still have their natural moisture in
them. The later in the winter it grows the drier they get, the harder
the woody fibre is, and the longer it will take to cook them tender. So
you will cook the soup until the vegetables are tender; and then, having
seen that it is palatably seasoned, serve it with all the vegetables in
it. You notice that this is a thick soup, made in an entirely different
way from that which I made this morning. I think some of the ladies are
here who were here this morning. Then we were making clear soup which is
to be served without any vegetables in it. This is a good hearty soup
for every-day use; in fact it is so hearty that you can make the bulk of
a meal using this and bread or potatoes. When all the vegetables are
quite tender then the soup simply is to be served.
Now, while I am preparing the soup, I want to say a little about the
value of soup as a food. This comes properly into our afternoon course
of instruction. Many of the ladies may not have thought of it in
precisely the connection in which I am going to speak of it. Habitually,
Americans do not use soup. Some have grown gradually accustomed to have
soup as a part of their every-day dinner, but as a rule people have it
once or twice a week. I am speaking now of average families. As a matter
of fact, it ought to be used every day, because it is not only a very
easy form in which to obtain nourishment, but you obtain from soup that
which you would not get from any other dish; that is, you get every
particle of the nourishment there is in the ingredients which you put
into the soup. You can make a perfectly nutritious and palatable meal
with soup at about one-half the cost of a meal without soup, because the
soup, if it is savory, will be eaten with a relish; and it will satisfy
the appetite for two reasons; the first I have already spoken
of--because you get every particle of nourishment there is in the
ingredients; and second, because directly you eat it--that is, directly
it reaches the stomach, some of its nutritious liquid properties will
begin to be absorbed at once. They pass directly into the system, by the
process which is known in physiology as _osmosis_--that is, absorption
by the coats of the stomach; so that the liquid part of the food is
actually absorbed and passes into the circulation in less than five
minutes after you have eaten it. A very familiar illustration of that
fact was made by Sir Henry Thompson several years ago, in his
exceedingly valuable article called "Food and Feeding," where he said
that a hungry man eating clear soup for his dinner would feel a sense of
refreshment in less than three minutes; that is, he would feel the
effect of his plate of clear soup almost as soon as he would feel the
stimulus which he would receive from a glass of wine. He would feel
refreshed at once; his sense of hunger, which is the indication that his
system needs food, would be practically appeased within three minutes
from the time he had taken his soup.
Then there is another very important question; and that is the effect of
soups and liquid foods on the appetite for stimulants. I am not a
temperance advocate in the sense in which the word is usually
understood. That is, I neither believe in nor advocate total abstinence;
but I do believe in temperance--in the temperate use of everything; no
matter whether it is drink, or food, or pleasure, in a life of work, so
that I speak solely from the standpoint of an advocate of the moderate
use of everything. The system requires a certain amount of liquid
nourishment. We have to get that in the form of liquid, and many people
take it by using water to excess--drinking quantities of water. On the
other hand, there are some people who never drink more than a glass of
water all day long. They must drink something--some kind of liquid--to
make up the quantity of water that is absolutely required by the system
in the course of twenty-four hours. Some persons take it in the form of
tea and coffee; others drink beer and wine; but a certain amount of
liquid the system must have. Now, you can easily see that you can supply
a part of that liquid in the form of soups and stews. It is not possible
for many people to drink much cold water: it does not seem to agree with
them. The advocates of the latest craze, for hot water, will get their
quantity of liquid, but they will get it in a form that by and by will
make serious trouble for them; because, while under certain conditions
the entire mucous membrane or lining of the digestive tract, warm water
may be desirable, still the excessive use of it is very apt in time to
produces a serious congestion. Now, the fact once admitted that we must
have a certain amount of liquid supplied to the system every day, then
the question comes of giving it in a form that will be the least
injurious to the system. I think I have shown you one or two good
reasons why soup supplies it well. On the score of economy there is no
food which can be as cheaply prepared as soup--that is, no palatable,
enjoyable, nutritious food. It is possible to make this soup, this thick
soup which I am making now, in New York, and here also, I suppose, for
less than ten cents a gallon, buying the materials at retail; and I am
sure a gallon of this soup will go very far towards satisfying one's
hunger. I presume, from what I have seen of the market reports in the
papers, that it can be made here quite as cheaply as it can in New York.
_Question._ Does that make very strong soup--does it give a very good
rich flavor of the meat, with one cupful of meat to a gallon of water?
MISS CORSON. That gives a perfectly nutritious soup. It gives as much
nutriment from the meat as is needed by the system.
_Question._ Wouldn't a bone or two thrown in be a good thing?
MISS CORSON. You can put in bones if you want to. But I am giving you a
recipe for a perfectly nutritious soup, made upon the most economical
principles. The proportion of meat which I use here is all that is
required by the system in connection with the other ingredients. We
Americans have, as a rule, the idea that there is no nutritious food
except meat. We think that we get all our nourishment from meat; and the
other things--the vegetables and bread, and all those other articles of
food that we eat, are what the dressmakers would call "trimmings." We do
not regard them as real nourishing food, when in reality there are some
vegetables which are nearly as nutritious as meat. Take for instance,
lentils; I do not know if you are familiar with them. They are a variety
of vetch or field pea, little flat, dried peas, that grow very
abundantly; in fact, if they are once planted in a field it is almost
impossible to root them out. They have been for ages used in all older
countries, in Egypt, in Asia, all through Europe, especially in Germany.
Within the last ten years they have become known in this country.
Lentils, with the addition of a very little fat in the form of fat meat,
suet drippings or butter, are quite as nutritious as meat; that is, they
sustain strength, and enable people to work just as well as meat. So,
you see, that so far as actual nourishment is concerned, vegetables
approach closely to meat. Next to lentils come peas and beans, dried
peas and beans. I have not graded the different articles of food, but
some day when we have more time I will give you a table of nutritive
values of different articles of food so that you can form some
comparison in your own mind. Remember this, that meat is not the only
nutritious article of food in use, and we only need a certain quantity
of it. For instance, for the purpose of health meat once a day will
answer. It is very nice to have it two or even three times if we want
it, or if we can afford it; but if we have it once a day we answer all
the requirements of health, and in communities where it is not possible
to have an abundant supply of fresh meat, a very small proportion of
salt meat used in connection with the most nutritious vegetables keeps
the health and strength of the really active laborers up to the working
point.
MEAT STEWS.
For a brown stew, use any kind of dark meat. To-day I am going to use
some of the cooked round of beef; but you can use fresh beef; you can
use raw beef, rare roast beef, or any of the dark meats; always use
white meats for white stews. Presently we will make a white stew of
veal; but for a brown stew use dark meats. Cut the meat in pieces about
an inch and a half square, put it over the fire with enough fat of some
kind to keep it from burning; use the fat of the meat, or drippings, or
butter, and brown it as fast as possible. If you make a stew large
enough for four or five people, use about three pounds of beef. As soon
as the meat is brown, sprinkle a heaping tablespoonful of flour over it;
then add enough boiling water to cover the meat, and three teaspoons of
vinegar. The vinegar is used for the purpose of softening the fibres of
the meat and making it tender. You will find that by adding vinegar to
meat in cooking, you can always make it tender. When we come to treat of
steak, I shall explain that. After the vinegar has been used, season the
meat palatably with salt and pepper, cover it, and let it cook very
gently for at least an hour, or until it is tender. To the stew add any
vegetable you wish, or cook it perfectly plain, having only the meat and
the gravy. To-day I am going to use carrots with it. For three pounds of
beef use carrots enough to fill a pint bowl after they are cut in little
slices, or in little quarters. Of course, if you add vegetables of any
kind, carrots, turnips, or potatoes, you want to put them in long
enough before the meat is done to insure their being perfectly cooked.
For instance, carrots take from one to two hours to cook; I shall put
the carrots in directly I make the gravy. Turnips, if they are fresh,
will cook in about half an hour. Potatoes will cook in twenty minutes;
small onions will cook in from half to three-quarters of an hour. The
meat usually needs to cook about two hours. The meat being brown, I
shall put in a tablespoonful of flour, stirring it, and then send it
down to you so that you can see what it is like. The question naturally
would arise about the color of this stew, throwing in raw flour, the
white, uncooked flour. You can see for yourselves what the effect is.
_Question._ Does cold meat cook as long as raw?
MISS CORSON. If you use cold meat, brown it just in the same way, just
exactly as we browned this, first in drippings or butter and then
putting in the flour; only if you use meat which already has been
cooked, it will not take it so long to cook as it does this raw meat.