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The Cook and Her Utensils (To its requirements in point)

to its requirements in point of cookery. If this is neglected, one dish has to wait for another, and is, therefore, more or less injured by delay; and the dinner is postponed so long that the tempers of those who partake of it are by no means in a condition to allow them to judge impartially of its pretensions to a correct preparation. Punctuality, therefore, is the first thing to be inculcated; and this implies a proper grounding in the elementary principles of cookery, so as to be aware, without trouble and reference to books, of the time which every article requires. If the cook has to look every day for these particulars, she will lose time when most precious; but still, if she has not the knowledge, she can only gain it by consulting an authority of some kind; and if she is, as she ought to be, a quick reader, she may soon make herself independent on this score. In every case there should be a clock in the kitchen, or within sight of the cook; and when she is not thoroughly experienced, she should have the aid of a table of the times required for the cookery of the more ordinary articles hung up near her fireplace; which, if she cannot herself write in sufficiently legible characters, should be written by master or mistress. 22. QUANTITY comes next to time in importance; and it is an ele ment still more frequently neglected by those who consider themselves professed cooks. Few of these people weigh or measure the ingredients which they use, but compound their dishes by "rule of thumb." This is in some cases of little consequence; but for young cooks at all events it is a very foolish plan, since it so often leads to a failure; whilst for old ones it ensures an early destruction of their organ of taste, which ought to be husbanded with the greatest care. This is obviously the result, because if dishes are made in the careless way to which I have alluded, they must be tasted again and again, until they satisfy the palate of the cook; while, if they are prepared from ingredients of accurately known measure or weight, they will so seldom vary that it is hardly necessary to taste them at all, or at all events only once. From constant tasting the palled organ of taste becomes insensible to all but very strong flavours, and the consequence is that dishes are sent to table which call forth complaints from the heads of the house; and these complaints being conveyed to a servant who has no certain guide in the shape of an accurate receipt, she is unable to rectify her mistake, and on the next attempt perhaps falls into the opposite error. Whenever, therefore, a cook works by any receipt not her own, she should follow it closely for her own sake, or if she can improve upon it, let her do so; but then let her set down the exact variation from the original. In this way she will always have a certain guide; and, though she may lose a few minutes a day in measuring and weighing, yet she may console herself that her hand will last much longer than her palate, and that, by the regular adoption of the practice, she will be able to fulfil her duties for many years longer than she would do if she drew upon her delicate nerves of taste every ten minutes. Perhaps she will say that she does not intend to spend all her life roasting herself, but that she hopes some day to be the mistress of a family. If such is her intention, and she is sure of carrying it out, this argument will not apply; but even then I should strongly recommend her to wait until she has secured a competency, and, in waiting, to take care of her stomach; for no one is more miserably situated than a cook so accustomed to rich food that she cannot live upon plain dishes, and yet cannot pay for any thing else. In every way, therefore, for her own sake, the cook should study quantity, and carry out her knowledge in practice; while, for the sake of her master and mistress, she can scarcely ever pass an hour without having recourse to her weights and scales. These must, of course, be provided for her; and if they are to be used as here advised, they must be of the kind shown at fig. 109, which should always be on a shelf or table ready for use. If the cook has to take out a pair of scales from a closet or drawer, and set them up, before weighing any article, there can be no wonder that she avoids the trouble. The cost of these scales is from 16s. to 25s., but they soon pay for themselves; and as they weigh any thing from one quarter of an ounce to twenty pounds, they serve for every purpose. We all know perfectly well the rudest kind of scales may be made to answer the same purpose, but it will be found that, without making the thing easy, a cook will always shirk this part of her duty; and indeed in every case with servants, unless they have the best tools which can be supplied, they are almost certain to excuse their neglect by laying the fault upon those who will not give them the "proper things" for their business. The various weights and measures will be found given at the end of this volume. 23. WITH REGARD TO QUALITY, the cook has less to do than with the other elements concerned, unless she is also in the habit of going to market. Still, even when she does not purchase the things required in the kitchen, she will be often called upon for her opinion of their quality; and she should then be able to give it to her mistress without hesitation. This, however, requires considerable experience; and if she has not had it, she cannot be expected to be able to guide when she herself requires a leader. In the Economical Housekeeper the cook, as well as the mistress, will however find ample directions for instructmg herself in what is required; but, nevertheless, practice is here of far more importance than the best precepts in the world. 024. AS A NICE SENSE OF TASTE is the great secret of the first-rate cook, when joined to the observance of the three elements of success already alluded to, so it should be most carefully educated and prized. I have already mentioned that this sense is easily palled or dulled by constantly calling upon it, and that for this reason it should be as seldom taxed as possible. It is well known that even the best judge fails to distinguish port-wine from sherry after a dozen successive tastes of them indiscriminately, when blindfolded and without the sense of smell to aid him. This, therefore, shows how readily the palate is confused, and how necessary it is to husband its powers. But besides this abuse of the sense of taste from satiety, there is also the fact that the taste of every individual is suffering a change, so that we like this year what was perhaps distasteful a few years ago. Hence the cook requires to consider, when she is drawing upon her own resources, not only whether her concoction is pleasant to herself, but whether it will please her employers. She must recollect that her organ and their organs are liable to change in the regular course of events, and dependent also upon the seasons, upon health, and sometimes upon the caprice of fashion. A constant necessity, therefore, exists for ascertaining the degree of success of her efforts from day to day, and this can only be done either by means of the mistress or of her fellow-servant waiting at table. If the cook can depend upon the latter, the intelligence will be more regularly conveyed; and not only this, but the servant waiting can detect the general success or failure of any dish or dishes with even more certainty than the mistress herself, because the latter is influenced by her own palate in judging of others, while the servant is not. It is obvious that a dish may be liked by all but the mistress, yet it would be condemned by the single dissentient if she were the sole organ of communication with the cook, and in spite of the fact that, if she were aware of her mistake, she would be the last to wish the change made; for I believe most fully, that in nine cases out of ten the mistress of a family willingly sacrifices her own taste to that of the other members, whether husband or children. Let every cook, therefore, while in health, take care to avoid spoiling her taste by over-use; let her also do all in her power to keep in health, which is absolutely essential to preserve the organ; and lastly, let her on all occasions remember that she is preparing her dishes for a variable and uncertain set of palates, and trim her sails accordingly, by looking out ahead for every change in their likes and dislikes. 25. CLEANLINESS AND PROPER VENTILATION, AS WELL AS LIGHTING, are no less important than the above essentials; but they merely require to be mentioned in order to secure attention. With regard to the first of them, it will always be inculcated by the employers for their own sakes; but it is no less advisable for the sake of the cook, who, if she neglects it, will never be able to send her more delicate things to table looking well, however palatable they may be; and as the eye very often leads the palate, she will disgust the latter at once. With regard to ventilation and lighting, it is manifest that, if the cook is oppressed with the heat and steam arising from the chief scene of her labours, her bodily health will suffer, as well as her temper; and we all know by sad experience how completely a loss of the lastmentioned faculty ensures the defeat of the best concerted plans. All this, however, is fully dilated upon in the next page. With regard to lighting also, a strong light is essential to some departments of cookery, and should always be within the reach of the cook; but for many it is by no means necessary, and only adds, when artificial, to the otherwise sufficiently-high temperature of the kitchen. 26. THE COOK's Book is a weekly account kept by her, in small ruled pages, of her disbursements for pot-herbs, or other petty and frequently-recurring items, for which the mistress will not always like to be disturbed. In the country, where there is no shop at hand ready to supply these demands, no such book is generally kept; but in towns it is almost a necessity, though the more it is confined in its operations the better for the pocket of the employer. In many even small establishments this book extends to butter, milk, cheese, and greengrocery; but it is far better to let these articles be supplied from some neighbouring shopkeeper fixed on by the mistress, and to let him send in his bill weekly, to be paid by her. When this is done, there remain very few things indeed which will require a book, for even the herbs should be included in the green-grocer's weekly bill; and therefore, in reality, this book, so much dreaded by mistresses, may be dispensed with altogether if they will only take care to call in their bills weekly, and pay them themselves. 27. A GREASE-POT AND WASH-TUB are allowed in many families as the perquisites of the cook; the consequences often being that a very large proportion of good dripping is put into the former, and plenty of serviceable vegetables and meat also into the latter. It seems like playing a very selfish part to prevent the cook from selling what would otherwise be wasted, and therefore, if on trial any individual is found to be trustworthy, the practice may be allowed without loss; but in all cases it is better in engaging a cook to arrange with her by stipulating against either the one or the other, leaving the door open for a future relaxation of the rule in case of good conduct. But even then I believe the temptation almost too great, and that very few servants are to be trusted with this discretionary power when their own interest clashes with that of their employers. There are always, in the summer, pieces of meat which may be reclaimed from "going " by care and management, but which may also be as easily condemned to the wash-tub; and this is the first step in a downward course , soon followed, in many cases, by the constant and regular sacrifice of " broken bread," good bones capable of making plenty of stock, and cold potatoes. If, therefore, there is the money to spare, it is better to fix an extra sum for the cook, and give away these doubtful articles to the poor; and if, on the other hand, rigid economy demands a stricter supervision, I am quite sure that no grease-pot or wash-tub ought to be allowed. 28. THE KITCHEN is usually included within the area of the house, though in country houses the contrary is often the case, and with the advantage of avoiding the smell of cooking. But I am not now about to describe the locality of this department, but rather the fittings which are required in order to place the cook in a condition to perform her duties with advantage to herself and her mistress. It is an old adage, that bad workmen complain of their tools;" and in this case it is applicable, inasmuch as a bad cook is never satisfied with her kitchen arrangements, however good they may be. But, on the other hand, a good cook will scarcely be able to do justice to her powers unless she is allowed to have a proper and sufficient kitchen-range, with the other requisites presently to be detailed. Light in the kitchen, both by day and night, is one very important item that should always be attended to, and also a proper ventilation. If the cook is half suffocated she cannot possibly do her work properly; and her stomach will be so upset, to say nothing of her temper, that she will be incapable of tasting and seasoning her dishes to suit the palates of her employers. Air, therefore, should be supplied by the kind of valve known as Sheringham's valve, which admits air without a draught. Arnott's valve may also be introduced with advantage, especially with a close grate, as in this there is little ventilation up the chimney, and the only escape for the foul air is through the fire itself. The comparative economy of coal and gas is fully described in "The Housekeeper, " to which the reader is referred for its particulars. If gas is preferred, it will be necessary to fix the proper apparatus gas is preferred, it will be necessary to fix the proper apparatus instead of the usual cooking grate. An immense variety of these last is now made by the different ironmongers, without much real or apparent advantage in any one over the rest. The principal points of difference are these, viz.-1st, Open fires, called kitchen-ranges, with oven and boiler ; for the three sizes of those suited to different families, see figs. 67, 69, and 70. 2ndly, Cooking stoves, being closed or nearly closed fireplaces (fig. 68), with hot plate (A), oven (B), boiler and hot closet (c); also steam kettles (FFF) for vegetables, and a large steam closet (G) for airing linen, warming dishes, &c.; E, a slide for regulating the fire. This is a very complete apparatus, and is sold by Burton of Oxford-street, and by Deane and Dray, as well as other makers, at the prices annexed to this section. For large families this is a very economical stove, and a moderate fire will serve for a very large dinner; but it will not send roast meat to table to suit the palate of a gourmand, nor will it compete in economy with a cottage range when wanted for a small family. 3rdly, GAS STOVES, which certainly perform their task very well, and from the ventilation they afford they roast to a turn; but, as I have before remarked, scarcely economically in this department, though, as a whole, they may perhaps compete with coal fires. Their forms are given in fig. 72, in which a represents a complete apparatus, intended to bake and roast at the same time in the interior, and to steam on the top; b is similar in all respects, only that it will not both roast and bake at the same time, having only one oven. But by means of slides arranging the air-draught it will do either as desired; c is a very convenient little grate, which may be used either with coal or gas, the former being more suited to the winter when warmth is wanted for the kitchen, whilst the latter, if used in the summer, keeps the kitchen cool and comfortable. 29. A HOT PLATE will be wanted for all kitchens where cooking in any degree of refinement is carried on; in close stoves it is generally heated by steam, as shown in fig. 68; or by gas, as in fig. 72 A. When, however, there is an open kitchen-range, a separate hot plate is heated by a distinct little stove, and is set in any convenient situa tion (see fig. 67 πoiovlev A DEERIES 20 30 40 Fig. 72 B 123456 ------ 567 6D 70 80 60 D