The cooking of animal food (3): Stewing

Stewing. 

Stewing is by far the most economical cooking process, because by this method there is absolutely no waste. Unfortunately it is a process that is but little practised in England. Any kind of meat may be used. the meat should be cut up into slices, seasoned, placed in the stew-pan, and just covered with cold water or stock. It should never boil during any part of the process. Vegetables or four are often mised with the water to make it thicker and richer. By cooking in this way the meat is softened and made digestible The best possible results are obtained by using a water-bath for stewing. this simply consists of an inner and an outer vessel. The stew is made in the inner vessel, and the outer vessel is filled with water which is kept boiling. The water in the inner vessel remains just below boiling point all the while. If the stew is boiled, the meat becomes hard, tough, curled up, and indigestible. For hashing, the same methods should be adopted as for stewing, but in this case the meat has been previously cooked, and so extra care should be taken to prevent the liquid boiling.

Comment: Indeed, I've rarely seen anyone stew anything in England. Most recipes seem to be roasts or bakes or fry-ups. The last time i remember I saw something stewed was when I was in Singapore and had chicken rice (Or hainanese chicken rice)... that was so tasty (no wonder it is one of the top 10 dishes to try in Singapore!) and I still remember the chef putting the pieces of chicken in this rice cooker that contained another vessel in which the chicken was going to get stewed (with chicken stock and green vegetables). He left the chicken there for about 5-6 minutes, took it out, chopped it up with his massive knife which cut through the bones seamlessly, dropped the pieces on a plate and added a brown gravy... hmm that was so nice (I ate this practically every day I was there!).

The cooking of animal food (2): Broiling, Baking, Frying

Broiling or grilling, is roasting on a small scale on top of the fire. The scorching is greater than in roasting owing to the greater surface exposed to the heat. The chop or steak should be placed on a clean hot gridiron over a clear fire and turned every two minutes. The surface must not be pierced by any fork or skewer during the cooking.

Baking. In a well-ventialted oven the process of baking corresponds exactly to roadsting, but meat baked in the old-fashioned non-ventilated oven has a flavour quite different from that of roasted meat. The joint should be placed on a small wire table in the baking dish so as to prevent the meat soaking in the grease. The oven should be very hot at first in order to form the crust of coagulated albumin on the outside of the joint.

Frying is boiling a food in fat. The meat cooked in this way is usually soaked with fat and is very indigestible. This penetration of the fat is prevented somewhat by having the fat very hot to begin with. This method is often used for fish, but boiled fish is much more indigestible.


Comment: I really believed less fat meant the food was going to be more digestible... but now I might get a fryer. Also note the old way of using 'fat' to fry. We are so used to using oil these days that I don't think we would think of using fat to fry anything. It seems to have turned into a luxury to get food fried in fat e.g., when you get your 'goose-fat fried french fries' at your local michelin-star restaurant...

The cooking of animal food (1) : Roasting

There are six methods commonly employed, viz. roasting, broiling, baking, frying, boiling, and stewing.

[I'll do a post on one at a time]

Roasting

The joint should be first exposed to a great heat by placing it close to the fire. The effect of the heat is to form a crust of coagulated albumin on the outside fo the joint. This impermeable crust prevents the escape of the juices from the inside of the meat. In about ten minutes the joint should be drawn about twelve inches from the fire and the cooking completed at that distance.   To prevent it from scorching the joint must be kept constantly in motion, and the surface "basted" with fat. The general rule as to the time required to cook a joint is to allow a quarter of an hour for every pound, and a quarter of an hour over. This should be the minimum.

The roasting coagulates the albumin and myosin, and converts the connective tissue into gelatin, thereby loosening the muscular fibres. There are also the characteristic odorous compounds produced. The loss of weight during roasting varies from one quarter to one third, and is due mainly to loss of water.

Comment: as one can see, the concept of roasting on hight then low heat was well established a long time ago - instead of lowering the temperature, the meat was simply pulled away from the fire... trying to set the temperature to 180 degrees (as you would do with your oven) like this was probably a challenge but surely, that was a better way of fine-tuning the roast to your taste I think. Also note the rule on timing the cooking... that'll help me remember easily!