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Vegetables

A great difficulty seems to exist among cooks and others in their efforts to define the distinction between vegetables and fruit. In a culinary sense the distinction is somewhat simplified, the term vegetables being generally applied to those articles which have grown in or about the earth and are cooked, or dressed uncooked, as savories; fruits, on the contrary, are usually associated with sweets. Literally, the term vegetables, derived from the Latin vegetare, would include all things that grow from the earth as members of the vegetable kingdom; but in a more limited sense, the term vegetables might be applied to those edible growths that are included amongst our vegetable foods without being connected with the organs of vegetable reproduction, which are known, correctly speaking, as fruits. This difficulty of distinction is very patent when we remember that some fruits are, in a culinary sense, styled vegetables, among which are tomatoes, vegetable marrows, peas, beans, cucumbers, etc., etc. Then again, the stalks of leaves, known as rhubarb, are esteemed as fruit amongst cooks. Nuts, again, which are, most correctly speaking, the fruit of the tree which bears them, are differently designated, when they are numbered amongst the dishes of a dessert. They are not vegetables, they are nuts.

Whenever the vegetables are distinguished for their excellence the dinner is always particularly enjoyed; and if they are served with each dish, as they are most appropriate and fresh from the dressing, it would be a great improvement on the present style. With some meats, something of the kind is practiced, as peas with duck, and beans with bacon, and such combinations are generally favorites, but the system might be extended, and with great advantage. With respect to variety of vegetables, I think the same rule applies as to other dishes. I would not have many sorts on the same occasion, but would study appropriateness and particular excellence. This is a matter for study, and a field for genius. To the eye of the initiated nothing can be more ridiculous than to see an American dinner-plate heaped up with a confusion of vegetables, none of them any too well dressed, except the potato, which is always present, and generally good.

From the foregoing remarks it is quite evident that the cooking of vegetables might be regarded as a distinct culinary art. In large establishments it is quite usual to engage a cook especially experienced in this department, who, acting under the chef, is known as the vegetable cook. That the duties attached to his office are exceedingly important, requiring considerable intelligence, will be understood form the following instructions: In the first place the cook should see that the vegetables are quite fresh, for, in spite of anything that may be said to the contrary, all vegetables, whether roots, leaves, or any other kind, begin to lose bulk and flavor as soon as they are removed from the ground. Those that suffer the least in this respect are roots and tubers, such as carrots and potatoes, and those that suffer most are leaves, stalks and shoots, such as asparagus, cabbages and the like.

To clean vegetables they should be first soaked for a time in salted water. In this way the flavor of the vegetables improves, and all insect life is removed. Next the dirt and grit must be thoroughly washed out, and for this purpose a wire sieve or basket should be used, which may be dipped again and again into a tub of water, the vegetables in it being shaken well and rinsed. Root vegetables offer the artistic cook a very extensive scope for the exercise of his skill and ingenuity, as may be seen from the various shapes and designs into which these vegetables may be cut. Flowers are frequently cleverly imitated, and rounds, olives, and lozenge shapes of every variety are to be seen in artistically prepared soups and garnishes. These require special tools for their production, of which there are many in use.