Food of the middle-class Englishman, and its routine - Cookery, the process of rendering food digestible and nutritious by heat - First, heat applied through water - (a) Boiling - The process described - The effect of temperature in coagulating albumen - Treatment of meat in cooking depends solely on this action - Temperatures observed by thermometer during process of boiling - System of slow cooking at low temperatures - The " Bain Marie " - Captain Warren's pot - The Norwegian cooker - Boiling of vegetables - (b) Steaming - (c) Stewing and braising - The distinction between them - Slow cooking at low temperatures and its value - Receipt for cooking a ham thus in thirty - six hours - Advantages of slow cooking in summer.

On questioning the average middle-class Englishman as to the nature of his food, the all but universal answer is, "My living is plain, always roast and boiled" - words which but too clearly indicate the dreary monotony, not to say unwholesomeness, of his daily food; while they furthermore express his satisfaction, such as it is, that he is no luxurious feeder, and that, in his opinion, he has no right to suffer from an indigestion. Joints of beef and mutton, of which we all know the very shape and changeless odours, follow one another at his table in the same unvarying order, six roast to one boiled, and have done so ever since he began to keep house some five and twenty years ago! I am not sanguine enough to suppose that this uniform routine, which rules the dietary of the great majority of British families of moderate and even of ample means, will be disturbed by any suggestions of mine. Nevertheless, in some younger households, where habits, gradually forming through the force of example, have not yet hardened into law, there may be a disposition to adopt a healthier diet and a more agreeable variety of aliment. And this, it may be safely affirmed, will probably not be discovered by any researches for new forms of animal food. Often as the lament has been uttered, that some hitherto unknown product in the shape of meat or bird, cultivated or wild, is not to be found, seeing that the butcher's shop affords so small a range for choice, it is not from such a source that wholesome and pleasing additions to the table will be obtained.

Indifference to cookery among middle classes.

But the consideration of variety, and the method of attaining it, will occupy us hereafter. At present we must deal with the "Roast and Boiled" already referred to. These are, in fact, the Alpha and Omega, not as two terminal items in a series, but as constituting the sum total of the culinary forces known to our respected paterfamilias, excepting that he may, perhaps, admit with more or less hesitating approval, that the frying-pan, as a kitchen utensil, is certainly not to be entirely forgotten.

But of these processes, the principles which govern their application, and the elementary rules of the art in making it, he knows nothing, having never felt interest therein. His cook probably knows little more. She learned by "rule of thumb," and has always found its light suffice for the limited requirements hitherto made on her powers in such service. When she has to prepare one of the aforesaid joints, whether by "boiling" or by "roasting," it has probably never occurred to her to inquire what temperature the meat should attain in order to achieve her purpose, by either method; nor, to tell the truth, was she ever curious about the matter. And there are not many mistresses who could inform her respecting the principles referred to, whatever familiarity they may possess with the practice of the culinary art. But an acquaintance with principles tends largely to facilitate the perfect exercise of all art; hence I shall very briefly sketch those which should be known, and are happily now being taught to the pupils who pass through a really efficient school of cookery. Completely ignored by all the old kitchen manuals and receipt books, being, in fact, unknown to their writers, they are equally wanting in some of the most popular modern guides to cooking. A few teachers and authors have learned to insist on their importance and expound them; but these are at present exceptions to the rule.

Ignorance of the principles of cookery.

No true art without understanding them, yet rarely explained in manuals.

First, in order to illustrate what I mean by principles, I will define cookery as almost invariably implying a process of rendering various foods, whether animal or vegetable, which cannot be agreeably or safely eaten in their natural state, attractive, digestible, and nutritious, by the application of heat through different means or media, and at greatly differing degrees of temperature.

I shall briefly consider, first, the process of cooking food through the medium of water, employed at a temperature of 212° Fahr., as (a) boiling; by the steam only of boiling water, as (b) steaming; afterwards as (c) stewing and braising, in which lower temperatures than boiling are adopted, while the process is continued for a much longer period.

Secondly, will follow the process of cooking food in dry heated air, as in (a) baking; or by radiation of heat from a clear fire, as in (b) roasting; or on a grill above it, commonly known as (c) broiling.

Lastly, the process of cooking by immersion in oil at a much higher temperature than can be obtained by any boiling in water, which is " frying."

First, the cooking of meat by means of boiling water, although this is really effected in the interior of the portion or joint considerably under the boiling temperature. Water "boils" when heated to 212° Fahr. at the sea - level; but to attain the best results from cookery, a much lower temperature may be employed, as we shall learn hereafter; "boiled meat" being, in fact, never really boiled throughout It should also be remembered that the heat obtained by the act of boiling varies in proportion to the elevation of the spot above the level just named, at which the process takes place. Thus, water boils at a temperature several degrees lower for every thousand feet of elevation; therefore in mountain climbing, it is quite possible to reach a height at which water boils when not sufficiently hot even to cook an egg efficiently, which can be done at 1800.