Read Ebook: Enquire Within Upon Everything The Great Victorian Domestic Standby by Philp Robert Kemp

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The meat should be firm and close in grain, and red in colour, the fat white and firm. Mutton is in its prime when the sheep is about five years old, though it is often killed much younger. If too young, the flesh feels tender when pinched; if too old, on being pinched it wrinkles up, and so remains. In young mutton, the fat readily separates; in old, it is held together by strings of skin. In sheep diseased of the rot, the flesh is very pale-coloured, the fat inclining to yellow; the meat appears loose from the bone, and, if squeezed, drops of water ooze out from the grains; after cooking, the meat drops clean away from the bones. Wether mutton is preferred to that of the ewe; it may be known by the lump of fat on the inside of the thigh.

This meat will not keep long after it is killed. The large vein in the neck is bluish in colour when the fore quarter is fresh, green when it is becoming stale. In the hind quarter, if not recently killed, the fat of the kidney will have a slight smell, and the knuckle will have lost its firmness.

When good, the rind is thin, smooth, and cool to the touch; when changing, from being too long killed, it becomes flaccid and clammy. Enlarged glands, called kernels, in the fat, are marks of an ill-fed or diseased pig.

should have a thin rind, and the fat should be firm, and tinged red by the curing; the flesh should be of a clear red, without intermixture of yellow, and it should firmly adhere to the bone. To judge the state of a ham, plunge a knife into it to the bone; on drawing it back, if particles of meat adhere to it, or if the smell is disagreeable, the curing has not been effectual, and the ham is not good; it should, in such a state, be immediately cooked. In buying a ham, a short thick one is to be preferred to one long and thin. Of English hams, Yorkshire, Westmoreland, and Hampshire are most esteemed; of foreign, the Westphalian. The bacon and "sugar cured" hams now imported in large quantities from Canada and the United States are both cheap and good.

When good, the fat is clear, bright, and of considerable thickness. To know when it is necessary to cook it, a knife must be plunged into the haunch; and from the smell the cook must determine whether to dress it at once, or to keep it a little longer.

In choosing poultry, the age of the bird is the chief point to be attended to. An old turkey has rough and reddish legs; a young one smooth and black. Fresh killed, the eyes are full and clear, and the feet moist. When it has been kept too long, the parts about the vent have a greenish appearance.

when young, have the legs and combs smooth; when old these parts are rough, and on the breast long hairs are found when the feathers axe plucked off: these hairs must be removed by singeing. Fowls and chickens should be plump on the breast, fat on the back, and white-legged.

The bills and feet are red when old, yellow when young. Fresh killed, the feet are pliable, but they get stiff when the birds are kept too long. Geese are called green when they are only two or three months old.

Choose them with supple feet and hard plump breasts. Tame ducks have yellow feet, wild ones red.

are very indifferent food when they are kept too long. Suppleness of the feet shows them to be young; the flesh is flaccid when they are getting bad from keeping. Tame pigeons are larger than wild pigeons, but not so large as the wood pigeon.

when old, have the haunches thick, the ears dry and tough, and the claws blunt and ragged. A young hare has claws smooth and sharp, ears that easily tear, and a narrow cleft in the lip. A leveret is distinguished from a hare by a knob or small bone near the foot.

when young, have yellowish legs and dark-coloured bills. Old partridges are very indifferent eating.

when old, have the feet thick and hard; when these are soft and tender, they are both young and fresh killed. When their bills become moist, and their throats muddy, they have been too long killed.

In different parts of the kingdom the method of cutting up carcases varies. That which we describe below is the most general, and is known as the English method.

i. Beef.

Fore Quarter Fore rib ; middle rib ; chuck . Shoulder piece ; brisket ; clod ; neck; shin ; cheek. Hind Quarter. Sirloin; rump; aitch-bone these are the three divisions of the upper part of the quarter; buttock and mouse-buttock, which divide the thigh; veiny piece, joining the buttock; thick flank and thin flank and leg. The sirloin and rump of both sides form a baron.

ii. Mutton.

Shoulder; breast ; over which are the loin : loin : neck ; neck ; leg; haunch, or leg and chump end of loin; and head. A chine is two necks; a saddle, two loins.

iii. Lamb

is cut into fore quarter and hind quarter; saddle; loin; neck; breast; leg; and shoulder.

iv. Pork

is cut into leg, hand or shoulder; hind loin; fore loin; belly-part; spare-rib, or neck; and head.

v. Veal

is cut into neck ; neck ; loin ; loin ; fillet ; hind knuckle, which joins the fillet; knuckle of fore leg; blade ; breast ; and breast .

vi. Venison

is cut into haunch; neck; shoulder; and breast.

vii. Scottish Mode of Division.

According to the English method the carcase of beef is disposed of more economically than upon the Scotch plan. The English plan affords better steaks, and better joints for roasting; but the Scotch plan gives a greater variety of pieces for boiling. The names of pieces in the Scotch plan, not found in the English, are:

the hough, or hind leg; the nineholes, or English buttock; the large and small runner, taken from the rib and chuck pieces of the English plan; the shoulder-lyer, the English shoulder, but cut differently; the spare-rib or fore-sye, the sticking piece, &c.

The Scotch also cut mutton differently.

viii. Ox-tail

is much esteemed for purposes of soup; so also is the Cheek. The Tongue is highly esteemed. The Heart, stuffed with veal stuffing, roasted, and served hot, with red currant jelly as an accompaniment, is a palatable dish. When prepared in this manner it is sometimes called 'Smithfield Hare', on account of its flavour being something like that of roast hare.

ix. Calves' Heads

are very useful for various dishes; so also are their Knuckles, Feet, Heart, &c.

i. The Round

is, in large families, one of the most profitable parts owing to its comparative freedom from bone: it is usually boiled, and is generally sold at the same price as the sirloin, and ribs. It is sometimes divided downwards, close to the bone; one side being known as the 'top side', and the other as the 'silver side'. Either of these parts is as good roasted as boiled.

ii. The Brisket

iii. The Edge-bone, or Aitch-bone,

is not considered to be a very economical joint, the bone being large in proportion to the meat; but the greater part of it, at least, is as good as that of any prime part. On account of the quantity of bone in it, it is sold at a cheaper rate than the best joints. It may be roasted or boiled.

iv. The Rump

is the part of which the butcher makes great profit, by selling it in the form of steaks, but the whole of it may be purchased as a joint, and at the price of other prime parts. It may be turned to good account in producing many excellent dishes. If salted, it is simply boiled; if used unsalted, it is generally stewed.

v. The Veiny Piece

is sold at a moderate price per pound; but, if hung for a day or two, it is very good and very profitable. Where there are a number of servants and children to have an early dinner, this part of beef will be found desirable.

vi. The Leg and Shin

afford excellent stock for soup; and, if not reduced too much, the meat taken from the bones may be served as a stew with vegetables; or it may be seasoned, pounded with butter, and potted; or, chopped very fine, and seasoned with herbs, and bound together by egg and bread crumbs, it may be fried in balls, or in the form of large eggs, and served with a gravy made with a few spoonfuls of the soup.

vii. Ox Cheek

makes excellent soup. The meat, when taken from the bones, may be served as a stew.

viii. The Sirloin and the Ribs

are the roasting parts of beef, and these bear in all places the highest price. The more profitable of these two joints at a family table is the ribs. The bones, if removed from the beef before it is roasted, are useful in making stock for soup. When boned, the meat of the ribs is often rolled up on the shape of a small round or fillet, tied with string, and roasted; and this is the best way of using it, as it enables the carver to distribute equally the upper part of the meat with the fatter parts, at the lower end of the bones.

There is an old maxim, "A place for everything, and everything in its place," To which may be added another, "A season for everything, and everything in season."

i. Fish.

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