Too much emphasis cannot, however, be placed on the fact that, while
all these things are true, England has nevertheless led the way in some
of the most important branches of culinary progress. It is to these
branches that I wish to devote this chapter, pointing out the lessons
Great Britain teaches us and the European continent. It seems never to
have occurred to any writer to do this, which is strange, for the story
is interesting as well as important.
To begin with butcher's meats, the English certainly excel in the
roasting and broiling of them, as well as in the rearing of the right
kind of stock, which is equally important from the point of view of
Flavor.
Perhaps it is as foolish to refer to the British as beef-eaters as it
is to call the Italians macaroni-eaters and the Japanese rice-eaters,
for the humbler classes in England cannot afford beef any oftener than
the poorer Italians and Japanese can afford to eat macaroni or rice.
Time was when even the wealthy Britons could not often eat beef or
other butcher's meat, especially in winter. Up to the eighteenth
century sheep and cattle were killed and salted at the beginning of
cold weather and "during several months of the year even the gentry
tasted scarcely any fresh animal food, except game and river fish. As
to the common people, an old chapbook of the period, entitled 'The
Misfortunes of Simple Simon' uses the expression 'roast-meat cloaths'
as an equivalent for holiday clothes."[15]
The systematic growing of turnips for the winter keep of cattle made
it possible to have fresh meat in winter, too; and at the same time,
thanks largely to the efforts of the agriculturist, Robert Bakewell,
cattle and sheep breeding began to be done on scientific principles.
Bakewell's aim was to fatten the animals more quickly and to secure a
greater proportion and a better quality of meat. The result of such
improvements was that, whereas in 1710 the average net weight of cattle
sold in London was 370 lbs., by the time of Bakewell's death (1795)
it had increased to 800 lbs., while the average weight of sheep had
increased from 28 pounds to 80.
In the last quarter of the eighteenth century the Collins brothers
still further improved cattle by breeding for special points, reducing
the size of the head and legs and enlarging the useful parts. The
shorthorns gradually extended their domain not only throughout the
British Isles but to France and other countries. Improvement continued
steadily until English beef became the standard for the whole world.
With the rapid increase of population and a decrease in the area of
pasture land the time came when Great Britain had to begin to import
meats from Australia and South America. At the end of the first decade
of this century London alone needed 420,000 long tons of meat a year.
Of this, over 122,000 tons came from South America, nearly 106,000 tons
from Australasia, about 97,000 tons from continental Europe and North
America, and less than 95,000 tons from the United Kingdom itself.
For a very good reason there was for years a prejudice against all
imported meats, their use being confined exclusively to the poorer
classes who could not afford to pay the higher prices--from three to
twelve cents a pound more--asked for the meat from the home-grown or
home-killed cattle.
The very good reason for this preference for the home product was that
imported meat was frozen, and the public promptly discovered that _meat
which had been frozen had little or no Flavor_.
That freezing spoils the Flavor of meat was known generations ago.
Eugen Baron Vaerst, e. g., in his "Gastrosophie," Vol. I, p. 214, calls
attention to this fact and explains why the meat should be preserved
by chilling it; that is, by hanging it in an icy atmosphere which
is constantly kept moving and which kills all germs of putrefaction
without actually freezing the meat.
Naturally this process costs more than simple freezing; yet some years
ago attempts were made to bring chilled meat from as far as South
America and Australia, and after some improvements had been made in
the methods of transportation the results were most satisfactory. As
one report said: "Part of a quarter that had been purposely sent a
considerable distance and then cooked in the ordinary way for the table
was found to be tender, full of flavor, and equal to any beef wherever
grown." No chemicals were used.
An amusing sequel to the story is told with much gravity in a consular
report from Sheffield: "Frozen meat is much preferred by the trade for
two reasons: It is cheaper, and _the customers, after having used
chilled meats, will not so readily take to the frozen again_."
The dear dealers, surely, ought to be allowed to have their own way.
Why should they pay any attention to the consumer, with his ridiculous
predilection for food that has Flavor?
Germany protested violently in 1912 against attempts to introduce
frozen meats, and the following consular information regarding another
country is suggestive:
"The sale of Argentine frozen meat in Switzerland is not so
satisfactory as originally expected, and the large importers are now
buying live cattle from that country, importing through Italy, and
slaughtering there."