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The implications of cooking foods and methods used
Part Five
Ways of cooking
Boiling, roasting, baking, broiling, and frying are the chief ordinary operations in the preparation of food, and these may now be briefly noticed in detail.
Boiling
What has been already said in general was mainly about boiling. In boiling the heat is communicated to the meat by the agency of water, and, except in the production of soups and beef teas, and the like, one desires to extract as little of the juice as possible. To cook meat by this means, the water should be boiling, the meat plunged into it, there being sufficient water completely to cover the meat, and the pot should be kept on the fire till the water again boils. The introduction of the meat will have put it "off the boil" for a few minutes. When the water has boiled again for two or three minutes, not more, the pot should be removed to the side of the heat, so that the temperature of the water is reduced to below even the simmering point. If one were to gauge the temperature by means of a thermometer, it would be not more than 180°F, or between that and 160°F. (boiling-point of water is 212°). At this heat it should be kept till the central parts of the meat have had time to be heated to the same degree. The time necessary will depend, of course, on the size of the piece of meat, and it will be longer than if the boiling temperature were maintained; but the reward of the longer period is juicy meat, tender, and with its fibres soft and readily separated from one another, not firm, tough, and shrunken. In thus cooking meat a fork should never be plunged into it to see if it is sufficiently done, for this would break the sealing and open a way of escape for the retained juices. Meat when properly cooked thus is easily recognized at table by the rush of juice as soon as it is cut.
Fish. Fish should always be boiled in this way, with skin as unbroken as possible; and their flavour is still better obtained if the water used is hard, if sea-water is used, or if some salt is added to fresh water.
Eggs. In the case of eggs the same method produces excellent results. They are commonly kept in boiling water for three minutes or so. The white becomes exceedingly firm and indigestible, especially next the shell, and often the yolk is unaffected. Now if the eggs be plunged into boiling water and immediately removed from the fire altogether, but allowed to remain covered up in the water for ten minutes, the white will not be hardened, but nicely jellied, and the yolk just set. This is the condition in which eggs should be eaten. This is called "coddling eggs"; and while it may be done in a small covered pan, it may also be done on the breakfast table by means of an appropriate vessel. A tin vessel is obtained so deep that when half full of water an egg would be completely immersed. It may be made of any diameter one pleases, according to the number of eggs one may have to cook in it. It should have a tight-fitting lid, and should be embedded in a "cosy" made for it. A cover should also be made for the lid, so that the whole vessel is surrounded by a cosy. The boiling water is poured into the pan, ½ pint for 1 egg, ¾ of a pint for 2 eggs, and 1 pint for 3 eggs, and the eggs immediately placed in the water, the lid secured, and the whole covered up. This can lie on the table, and the water and eggs are introduced so minutes before the breakfast is served. If a few minutes' delay occurs the eggs are not overdone, and they are kept hot for a long time.
For the production of broth, and when it is desirable to extract all the possible ingredients of the meat, a high temperature is not necessary at any time. The meat should be reduced to small pieces, placed in cold water for some time, slowly heated, but never to the boiling-point, for even before that high temperature is reached the protein constituents which have become extracted will be coagulated and separated out, but will remain in solution if a lower temperature is maintained. When it is desired to produce stock from tendinous meat, such as hough or joints of bone, prolonged boiling is necessary for the extraction of gelatine, which is derived from tendons, gristle, &c., by boiling.
The flesh of young animals, veal and lamb, does not stand boiling well, because of the large amount of gelatine-yielding substance present, the dissolving out of which makes the meat fall to pieces.
Boiling is the method of preparation most suitable for invalids and those of weak digestion, but it develops the flavour of meat much less than either roasting or stewing, and is not so much enjoyed. Boiled meat is more easy of digestion than that cooked in any other way.
Roasting.
Roasting has already been referred to. The meat ought at first to be brought close to a bright clear fire till the surface is coagulated to retain the juices, then it ought to be withdrawn to such a distance that the heat can never rise above 180°, and it is then allowed gradually to cook throughout. The dry heat causes a considerable loss by evaporation of water, and, to prevent this going on unduly, basting is resorted to by the use of melted butter or the dripping caught in the pan. Not only does this prevent drying but it aids the browning of the outside of the meat, and it is by this browning that the peculiarly acceptable flavour of roast meat is produced.
While roast meat is not so digestible as boiled, it is more acceptable as a rule, because of the increased flavour, and next to boiling, it is most suitable for invalids and dyspeptics. The fat of the meat undergoes some amount of chemical change because of the prolonged action of the heat, and fatty acids are produced which are the chief cause of some tendency to disagree with persons of weak digestion.
Broiling or Grilling.
Broiling or grilling is practically the same as roasting in its effects. The cooking on the grill is done with great rapidity, a hot clear fire being necessary. The grill being brought close to the fire at first and rapidly turned, the whole surface of the meat is sealed. The grill is then removed to a little distance, and the interior portion of the meat is done more slowly, being cooked in its own juices, as it were, within the outer crust that has been formed. This is an excellent method, when well done, for cooking a chop or steak, and produces a very savoury dish, little less digestible than by boiling.
Baking.
Baking is pretty much the same as roasting, but being done in the confined space of the oven, partly by hot air, there is less of the material of the meat driven off as vapour in the process. Consequently the flavour produced is much richer and fuller than in roasting. Baked meats are much less digestible than roasted, and on that account had better be avoided altogether by the dyspeptic.
Frying.
Frying is an excellent but much abused method of cooking. The common method of frying is by the use of the ordinary shallow frying-pan, and the meat is kept from sticking to the pan and burning by some melted butter, lard, dripping. Now this might be all right for meat cut in very thin slices such as ham, which can be kept fairly well covered with the liquid fat, or for eggs or omelettes. But it is entirely unsuitable for other kinds of meat. What is properly meant by frying is cooking in fat, in which the fat is made the vehicle for communicating the heat to the meat, just as water is the vehicle in the case of boiling. This requires a deeper vessel than the ordinary frying-pan, capable of holding such a quantity of fat as will completely immerse the meat. Fat boils at a temperature of 350° to 390° F., which is very much higher than that of water, 212° F, so that long before its boiling-point is reached the temperature of the liquid fat is far above the highest temperature obtainable with water. Lard is commonly used, and when it is put into the pan and kept on the heat for some time the liquid fat bubbles and crackles as if it were boiling. Eventually it becomes quiet. It has not been boiling: it has reached the temperature of boiling water, and then any water contained in the fat is boiled off as steam. It is this which produces the noise. When all the water has been evaporated the surface of the liquid becomes still, and the temperature of the fat is then considerably above 212°. Its temperature continues to rise. At this stage the meat may be introduced. The cutlet or chop should be dropped into the hot fat, so that it is completely covered. If the fat is sufficiently hot the chop or cutlet will be cooked in about ten minutes. The hot oil in contact with the outside of the meat has coagulated the protein; the continuance of the heat has raised the interior of the meat to the boiling-point, and it is cooked by the heat of its own juice. The heat of the meat cannot rise above the boiling-point of water so long as it contains any juice, and the juices are retained. The result is that if the time is gauged properly the meat will be well cooked, juicy and tender.
The spitting and hissing noise produced when the meat is introduced is due to the explosion of little globules of steam, produced by contact with the hot fat. Further, owing to the intense heat the fat is prevented from passing into the meat, and when it has been removed and the surface oil allowed to run off, no trace of fat is left. This is not an expensive method of cooking, for there is actually less fat used than with the ordinary frying-pan. The fat is readily purified for use again by pouring it, still hot, into a vessel of water. The impurities sink into the water; the fat floating, is easily removed when cold. Besides pure lard and roast-dripping, pure olive oil and pure cotton-seed oil may be used. This is the only proper method of frying; and when chops, cutlets, and fish are so cooked they are not only pleasant in flavour but also not difficult of digestion. The ordinary shallow frying pan, on the other hand, tends to be destructive to the meat cooked in it. The meat is often dried, hardened, and shrivelled, and its digestibility seriously impaired. The use of such a pan ought to be limited to the cooking of omelettes, pancakes, and such like.
Stewing.
Stewing is a process whose object is entirely different from that of the methods already described. Little or no water is added to the meat in the stew-pan. The meat is never raised to the boiling temperature. The juice of the meat is thus allowed to exude, and additional liquid is obtained from the various herbs, vegetables, etc, mixed with the meat. A rich full-flavoured gravy is thus obtained in which the meat is cooked. Now in the ordinary stew-pan the difficulty of keeping the heat at a proper level is very great, because the meat is directly in contact with the vessel on the heat. As a result a boiling, or, what is next to it, a simmering temperature is communicated to the meat, which is thus toughened and shrunken by the firm coagulation of its proteins. If, however, the stew is kept at the proper temperature, about 160 F, m – not even a simmering heat – this does not occur, the meat is tender and juicy and easy of digestion. The easiest way to do this is to use a vessel called the Bain Marie. It is constructed such that one vessel is fitted inside an outer one. The outer one contains water, which thus surrounds the inner. The vessel is put on the fire, and the meat, vegetables, etc, in the inner vessel, the whole being covered by a lid. The water in the outer vessel comes to the boiling-point, but any liquid in the inner one never reaches such a degree because of the loss of heat by evaporation. The water in the outer vessel would require to be raised above the boiling-point, which cannot happen, before that in the inner could reach that point. This is the method employed on the European continent, where stews are famous for their tenderness and delicacy. "The peasant puts 2 or 3 ounces of meat into a pot au feu, along with vegetables; puts it in after breakfast and leaves it there; it never gets up to boiling-point; the meat and vegetables are intermingled, and a nice dinner is obtained." Today we would call this a crockpot of slow-cooker.
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