Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/362

332 of the utmost importance. When this is imperfectly done the albuminoid envelope which incloses the starch granule ha3 to be dissolved by the gastric juice, which 13 often difficult and even impossible. Much indigestion probably arises from the imperfect cooking of starchy foods. The chief constituents of animal food are albumen, fibrin, and fat, with mineral salts and juices. The flavour of meat is due to the osmazone, and some methods of cooking, such as roasting and broiling, appear to increase this flavour. Albumen and fibrin form about one-fifth of the meat. The former always coagulates by heat, and the expansion of the juices tends to separate the solid fibres, and this separation depends very much on the methods of cooking. Albumen is as constant a constituent of all rvnimal food as starch is of vegetable, but these bodies differ greatly in their chemical composition and in the changes which they undergo in the stomach. Albumen is taken into the system as an insoluble substance, but in contact with the gastric fluid it becomes soluble—a condition necessary for every kind of food before it can nourish the body.

Broiling.—The earliest method of cooking was probably burying seeds and flesh in hot ashes, a kind of broiling on all the surfaces at the same time, which when properly done is the most delicate kind of cooking. Broiling is no.v done over a clear uniform charcoal fire extending at least 2 inches beyond the edges of the gridiron, which should slightly incline towards the cook. It is usual to rub the bars with a piece of suet for meat, and chalk for fish, to prevent the thing broiled being marked with the bars of the gridiron. In this kind of cookery the object is to coagulate as quickly as possible all the albumen on the surface, and seal up the pores of the meat so as to keep in all the juices and flavour. It is, therefore, necessary to thoroughly warm the gridiron before putting on the meat, or the heat of the fire is con ducted away while the juices and flavour of the meat run into the fire. Broiling is a simple kind of cookery, and one well suited to invalids and persons of delicate appetites. There is no other way in which small quantities of meat can be so well and so quickly cooked, and for persons who dine alone it is the most convenient method of cookery. Broiling cannot be well done in front of an open fire, because one side of the meat is exposed to a current of cold air. A pair of tongs should be used instead of a fork for turning all broiled meat and fish.

Roasting.—Two conditions are necessary for good roasting—a clear bright fire and frequent basting. Next to boiling or stewing it is the most economical method of cooking. The meat at first should be placed close to a brisk fire for five minutes to coagulate the albumen. It should then be drawn back a short distance and roasted slowly. If a meat screen be used it should be placed before the fire to be moderately heated before the meat is put to roast. The centre of gravity of the fire should be a little above the centre of gravity of the joint. No kitchen can be com plete without an open range, for it is almost impossible to have a properly roasted joint in closed kitcheners. The heat radiated from a good open fire quickly coagulates the albumen on the surface, and thus to a large extent prevents that which is fluid in the interior from solidifying. The con nective tissue which unites the fibres is gradually converted into gelatine, and rendered easily soluble. The fibrin and albumen appear to undergo a higher oxidation and are more readily dissolved. The fat cells are gradually broken, and the liquid fat unites to a small extent with the chloride of sodium and the tribaaic phosphate of sodium contained in the serum of the blood. It is easily seen that roasting by coagulating the external albumen keeps together the most valuable parts of the meat, till they have gradually and slowly undergone the desired change. This surface coagu lation is not sufficient to prevent the free access of the oxygen of the surrounding air. The empyreumatic oils generated on the surface are neither wholesome nor agreeable, and these are perhaps better removed by roasting than any other method except broiling. The chief object is to retain as much as possible all the sapid juicy proper ties of the meat, so that at the first cut the gravy flows out of a rich reddish colour, and this can only be accomplished by,a quick coagulation of the surface albumen. The time for roasting varies slightly with the kind of meat and the size of the joint. As a rule beef and mutton require a quarter of an hour to the pound; veal and pork ab*.ut 17 minutes to the pound. To tell whether the joint is done, press the fleshy part with a spoon; if the meat yield easily it is done. With poultry or game the flesh of the leg may be tried in the same way. Some attach importance to occasional jets of steam drawing to the fire. Roasting, when well done (and the way to do it can only be learned by careful practice), is a wholesome method of cooking.

Baking meat is in many respects objectionable, and should. never be done if any other method is available. Tha gradual disuse of open grates for roasting has led to a practice of first baking and then browning before the fire. This method completely reverses the true order of cooking by beginning with the lowest temperature and finishing with the highest. Baked meat has never the delicate flavour of roast meat, nor is it so digestible. The vapours given off by the charring of the surface cannot freely escape, and the meat is cooked in an atmosphere charged with empyreumatic oil. A brick or earthenware oven is prefer able to iron, because the porous nature of the bricks absorbs a good deal of the vapour. When potatoes are baked with meat, they should always be first parboiled, because they take a longer time to bake, and the moisture rising from the potatoes retards the process of baking, and makes the meat sodden. A baked meat pie, tho gh not always very digestible, is far less objectionable than plain baked meat. In the case of a meat pie the surfaces of the meat are pro tected by a bad conductor of huat from that charring of the surface which generates empyreumatic vapours, and the fat and gravy, gradually rising in temperature, assist the cooking, and such cook ing more nearly resembles stew ing than baking. The process may go on for a long time after the removal of the meat from the oven, if surrounded with flannel, or some bad conductor of heat. The Cornish pasty is the best example of this kind of cooking. Meat, fish, game, parboiled vegetables, apples, or anything that fancy suggests, are surrounded with a thick flour and water crust and slowly baked. When removed from the oven, and packed in layers of flannel, the pastry will keep hot for hours. When baked d it lies contain eggs, it should be remembered that the albumen becomes harder and more insoluble, according to the time occupied in cooking. About the same time is required for baking as roasting.

Boiling is one of the easiest methods of cooking, but a successful result depends on a number of conditions which, though they appear trifling, are nevertheless necessary. The fire must be watched so as properly to regulate the heat. The saucepan should be scrupulously clean and have a closely-fitting lid, and be large enough to hold sufficient water to well cover and surround the meat, and all scum should be removed as it conies to the surface ; the addition of small quantities of cold water will assist the rising of the scum. For all cooking purposes clean rain water is to be preferred. Among cooks a great difference of opinion exists as to whether meat should be put into cold water and gradually brought to the boiling point, or should be put into boiling water. This, like many other unsettled questions in cookery, is best decided by careful scientific experiment and observation. If a piece of meat be put into water at a temperature of 60°, and gradually 