The Pleasures of the Table: An Account of Gastronomy from Ancient Days to Present Times. With a History of Its Literature, Schools, and Most Distinguished Artists; Together With Some Special Recipes, and Views Concerning the Aesthetics of Dinners and Dinner-givingEllwanger, George H. (George Herman)
History
The Pleasures of the Table: An Account of Gastronomy from Ancient Days to Present Times. With a History of Its Literature, Schools, and Most Distinguished Artists; Together With Some Special Recipes, and Views Concerning the Aesthetics of Dinners and Dinner-giving
Ellwanger, George H. (George Herman)
Gastronomy
The relative time of keeping all game to savour it under the best
conditions will depend upon the weather. It is always better when hung
in the fur or feathers, and where it may have a circulation of air,
than when confined in a close receptacle. When frozen it loses in
flavour and succulence. Dark-fleshed birds, with few exceptions, are
best rather underdone--rosy, but not raw. White-fleshed birds should be
done sufficiently, but not cooked to the extent of drying their juices.
The cooking of mutton will serve as a type for the one, and veal
for the other. Most game-birds are best plainly roasted or broiled,
although for variety they may be served in various appetising ways. In
roasting the smaller species, the vine-leaf and a strip of larding-pork
should not be overlooked; and where these or well-buttered paper are
not employed, as in the case of over-fat birds, the basting-spoon
should be kept in constant agitation. Larding lightly often improves a
white-fleshed bird where he has not been enveloped in pork.
Especially, let game be zealously watched in the cooking; let its
appropriate wine be carefully considered; and let no delay occur in its
flight through the butler's pantry to the dining-room. Its garnishing
also should be studied, that it may flatter the eye as well as the
palate; and, for the most part, with feathered game watercress or
filets of lemon should lend their colour and their zest.
Game-birds should always be hung by the head, not for the purpose
of sending the juices to the legs, as is fantastically supposed by
some, but to allow the lower viscera and their contents an approach
to the natural exit. Were they hung by the feet, the visceral
machinery--softening more and more, as it always does--would of course
press upwards to their bodies and probably taint them. A game-bird
should never be drawn until that office is performed by the cook. Hares
are usually hung by their hind legs, it is true; but hares, if hung for
any time, are invariably "paunched," so that no lower viscera remain in
them.
Fish, it has been pointed out, should never be covered up, or it will
suffer fatally from the condensation of the steam. It may be noted
that for an all-round sauce for broiled fish, none wears better than a
maître-d'hôtel and, occasionally, its modification, a sauce _au beurre
noir_.
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