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Cleanliness

Of all the principles upon which really good cooking depends, there is perhaps none so important as that of cleanliness. I would here remark in passing that real cleanliness is by no means so common as many would imagine, the reason being that often servants do not know how to be properly clean. I will give one very simple example--a wine decanter that looks dull. You will be told it has been thoroughly washed, and perhaps some brush inserted, with great difficulty and loss of time, down the neck. Still the decanter does not look bright. Suppose, however, a person in charge of the glass had been properly instructed--a handful of silver sand put in the decanter with a little water--what a difference! The decanter, after being well rinsed so as to get rid of every particle of sand, reassumes that bright appearance that it originally possessed when, sparkling on the velvet stand under the sunlight in the window, it tempted the passer-by to enter the shop and purchase it. It may seem a rude statement, but nevertheless true, that the ignorance of some persons--especially women--is simply unfathomable. There are cases on record in which attempts have been made to wash greasy things without soda. This ignorance is, of course, rare; but, too often, cooks wash up incompletely for the sole reason that they will not use enough soda. For this they will assign various causes. They say it chaps their hands, but I would remind cooks that very often they moisten their hands with hot soda and water very unnecessarily. It is easy, with a little management, to avoid strong soda and water touching the backs of the hands and wrists at all, and these are the parts principally affected. A little grease, too, rubbed on the backs of the hands is a great protection.

Next to having a clean range and a good fire, it is most important that all pots, pans, saucepans and other cooking utensils should be scrupulously clean. To clean an iron saucepan, a pail of hot water, soda, flannel, soap, and sand are required. If there be any soot adhering to the exterior scrape it off with an old knife, then put the saucepan into the water, soap the flannel, sprinkle a little fine sand on it, and wash the utensil well both inside and out, removing all grease and remnants of food; rinse in clean cold water, and dry thoroughly with a dry dish-cloth, as the saucepan will rust if put away damp. The outside, but not the handle, may be blackleaded, the saucepan dusted inside, and placed upside down on the pot-board, so that the air but no dust may enter.

Another point often omitted is the washing of the lids of the saucepans as well as the saucepans themselves. The saucepan may be perfectly clean; but many a dish has been spoiled by a dirty lid having been placed on it, the perhaps decomposed flavour of the last ingredients cooked in it dropping down with the condensed steam.

Take, for instance, the case of a large fish-kettle which will take in a turbot whole or a salmon. Now, the water in which fish has been boiled will often turn to jelly when cold, and little pieces of fish are very apt to stick in corners, etc. I would strongly recommend every cook, before filling the fish-kettle, to put it for an instant on the fire, just long enough to make it warm; then smell the kettle; the warmth will be sufficient to melt any little congealed particles that may by chance have remained behind. Many a fine fish has been utterly spoilt, and the fishmonger blamed, when the real party at fault has been the cook.

To clean the lid, first wash it in a similar manner to the saucepan with soap, soda, and a little sand; then apply whitening mixed with water to the consistency of cream; let this dry, and polish off, taking out the whitening from the crevices with a wooden skewer if necessary. Tin saucepans may be cleaned in the same way as the lids--namely, first washed and dried, and then brightened with whitening.

In washing china and delf it is well to have two vessels--one containing hot water and soda, the other cold. Take care to clean round the handles of cups and jugs. When very hot water is required for washing greasy plates and dishes a mop is necessary, as the plate can then be held a little out of the water and thoroughly cleansed without scalding the hands. Pie-dishes that are burnt and are black at the bottom may be perfectly cleaned with a little silver-sand, and then rinsed in cold water. Dinner-plates, etc., when washed in two waters, should be placed in a rack to drain. If dried in this way they retain a polish. Other articles may be dried with clean soft cloths. China ornamented with gold ought not to be washed in soda and water. Equal in importance to having the saucepans and utensils in good condition is the necessity for cleanliness with regard to the pastry-board, rolling-pin, kitchen table, etc. Many cooks use their pastry-boards but little, and may be seen filleting fish, trimming cutlets, and even making cakes and pie-crusts on their kitchen table, while the pastry-board is lying in a corner unused. This is a great mistake. It is much more cleanly, more orderly, and more business-like to use the pastry-board. The necessary ingredients can be placed near at hand, and thus the kitchen will always be tidy and fit to be seen, and much afterwork will be spared.

To know how to scrub is a necessary accomplishment for anyone who undertakes the care of a kitchen. Even in cleaning boards there is a right and a wrong way. Have ready a pail of hot water, a scrubbing-brush, some common yellow soap, sand, and a house flannel. Wring out the flannel loosely, and, if an ordinary kitchen table is being cleaned, wet half of it at a time; if a floor, wet as much of it as can be comfortably reached. Sprinkle a little sand on the surface, dip the scrubbing-brush into the water and soap it, scrub the table up and down, till clean, in the direction of the grain of the wood. Then wash the table with the flannel, rolling it over and over to gather up the sand and moisture. Rinse, and dry with a coarse cloth. In the case of pastry-boards, rolling-pins, etc., it is well to place them in the air to dry. Soda should not be used, except for very old boards, as it has a tendency to darken wood. Another important point in the principles of cookery for cooks to remember is, to avoid sending things up "smoky." Have your ever tasted a really smoky dish ?--say soup--and have you any idea how it is rendered so ? For the only way to avoid the disaster is to understand the cause. We will suppose the house well ordered, the kitchen chimney swept regularly, the kitchen stove properly cleaned, and the soot regularly and carefully brushed away, not only from the back and sides of the grate, but from the outsides of the saucepans. Yet the soup comes up smoky.

I will describe the performance of smoking soup. We will suppose the saucepan boiling gently on the fire, which is getting somewhat low; the cook very properly puts on some coals, which, of course, causes the smoke to rise; shortly afterwards she looks at the soup to see how it is getting on, or whether it is boiling too fast. We will suppose her young and careless; and she replaces the lid with a bang, and, in so doing, shuts in some of the smoke into the saucepan. Alas! the deed is done, and the soup, or indeed any other food, ruined, so far as taste goes.

The moral of all this is, Do not take off the lids of saucepans at all over a smoky fire. There are, of course, many persons to whom these simple elementary truths are so familiar that they may smile at the caution. On the other hand, however, they should recollect it is our duty to teach the ignorant and not the educated; and we can assure our readers that there are in this country hundreds of so-called cooks, or we may say women who do the cooking, who have sent up dishes smoky from the very cause we have named, who have not the slightest notion of why they became so. Another way of rendering dishes smoky, even when the fire is fairly clear, is to rest the lid of the saucepan on the hob while its contents are being inspected.

We would ask some young cook to rest the lid on the hob as we have described, and, instead of re-covering the saucepan, to smell the lid. The lesson would be a very practical one.

In cooking, as in every other art and science, to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

We have already called attention to the fact that the palate is considerably affected by the eye; so also is it affected by the nose. The best illustration of this is a glass of fine old Burgundy or Chateau Margaux claret, in which, in addition to the flavour, and the colour or brightness, we have the magnificent bouquet, which appeals to the palate through the organs of smell. Accordingly, it becomes an important principle in cooking to consider not only the flavour and appearance, but also to use the sense of smell as a criterion whether a dish is being properly prepared or not. Who does not recollect occasionally passing outside some large restaurant or first-class hotel and being greeted with a rich perfume arising through the railings, which somehow inspired perfect confidence in the dinner about to be served? On the other hand, has it been your fate to dine where you have had placed immediately in front of you a dish of greens improperly strained? To some persons of sensitive palate and nose a dinner is absolutely spoilt by a little contretemps of this kind.

In the preparation of all dishes, therefore, the cook should constantly bear in mind the importance of using her scent as well as her palate and her eye. Many a good dish has been utterly spoilt by one of the many ingredients which, being bad, has, when added, contaminated the whole--a very little care in smelling would have prevented that. For instance, gravy that has been left, or the remains of beef-tea, is always added to the stock-pot or mixed up with the soup. Now it often happens, especially in hot weather, that little quantities of this kind turn sour, and in fact get putrid. This is easily and instantly detected by smelling. Again, the flavour of anything burnt or smoky is best detected by the nose. Who has not at times had soup served that tastes smoky, or an omelette that tastes burnt? Here again the nose is the quickest organ to detect the fault--a very good proof of which is the common observation heard in the higher regions, such as the staircase or dining-room, "Ah, there's something burning!" Sauce piquant, if too acid, can be detected by the smell; soup too greasy can likewise be detected by the smell, as well as dishes over-spiced; but experience alone will tell when the nose can be used instead of the palate, and it must be borne in mind that good cooks never keep tasting, as the result of that is invariably temporary suspension of palate altogether.