Handbook on the principles of cooking / by Sept. Berdmore.

  • Berdmore, Septimus.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Handbook on the principles of cooking / by Sept. Berdmore. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    39/92 (page 33)
    33 a good colour you will keep the lid wholly or partially off the pot. The objection to this, where the kitchen is near the living-rooms, is that an unpleasant odour will pervade the house ; but this obnoxious element you may obviate by placing a lump of bread, the size of a French billiard ball, in a linen bag, and inserting it in the pot. It will absorb the gases which cause the disagreeable odour, and you will even pour away the water into the sink without further incon- venience. The linen bag being thoroughly washed will serve again. I think that if the cook would take advantage of rain-water, when it can be had, and adopt the above bread-bag, there will be little occasion to use soda. Of the two kinds of asparagus, the white and the green and the wholly green, the latter takes from io to 15 minutes, the former perhaps 30. Boil the water before you put in the asparagus, and boil it ever more. Add half an ounce of salt per quart of water. Keep the tops out of the water, and do not let them break off. Drain well before you serve the asparagus in an oval dish. It is the practice to lay them on toast. I never heard of any one eating the toast, and should prefer a clean napkin. Remember that whilst the water in which green vege- tables or potatoes have been boiled is only to be thrown away, that which has cooked asparagus, lentils, peas, beans, or haricots is nourishing, and may serve as a foundation for soups. Eggs. Considering that these are one of the most important t articles of food we have, it is quite wonderful how indifferent we are to the accurate cooking of them. ‘ Except for special and indigestible purposes of a salad or a pie, boiled eggs should present, when served, a yolk set and the white or albumen a jelly. To succeed in this you will do better to simmer your eggs, and I refer you to that verb. In my endeavour to keep your mind clear as to the distinction between food that can be boiled thoroughly and such as can only properly be said to undergo that process [H. 9.] D