Culinary Chemistry / The Scientific Principles of Cookery, with Concise Instructions for Preparing Good and Wholesome Pickles, Vinegar, Conserves, Fruit Jellies, Marmalades, and Various Other Alimentary Substances Employed in Domestic Economy, with Observations on the Chemical Constitution and Nutritive Qualities of Different Kinds of Food.

by Friedrich Christian Accum

OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHOICE OF MEAT.

The flesh of animals which are suddenly killed when in high health, so far as the palate is concerned, is not yet fit for the table, although fully nutritious and in perfection for making soup; because sometime after the death, the muscular parts suffer contraction—their fibres become rigid. When this has taken place, the flesh is not long in experiencing the commencement of those chemical changes which terminate in putrefaction; and it is of the utmost importance, in domestic economy, to take care that all large joints of meat be in this intermediate state when they are cooked: for no skill in the culinary art will compensate for negligence in this point, as every one must have often experienced to his great disappointment.

The degree of inteneration may be known by the flesh yielding readily to the pressure of the finger, and by its opposing little resistance to an attempt to bend the joint. Poultry also thus part readily with their feathers; and it would be advisable to leave a few when the bird is plucked, in order to assist in determining their state.

The following wholesome advice on this subject we copy from Doctor Kitchiner:[30]—“When you order meat, poultry, or fish, tell the tradesman when you intend to dress it, and he will then have it in his power to serve you with provision that will do him credit, which the finest meat, &c. in the world, will never do, unless it has been kept a proper time to be ripe and tender. If you have a well-ventilated larder, in a shady, dry situation, you may make still surer, by ordering in your meat and poultry, such a time before you want it as will render it tender, which the finest meat cannot be, unless hung a proper time, according to the season and nature of the meat, &c. but always till it has made some very slight advance towards putrefaction.”

[30] The Cook’s Oracle.

Ox-beef

—when of a young animal, has a shining oily smoothness, a fine open grain, and dark florid red colour. The fat is splendish yellowish white. If the animal has been fed upon oil cakes, the fat has a golden yellow colour.

Cow-Beef

—is closer in the grain than ox-beef, but the muscular parts are not of so bright a red colour. In old meat there is a streak of cartilage or bone in the ribs, called by butchers, the crush-bone; the harder this is, the older has been the animal.

Veal.

—The flesh of a bull calf is firmer, but not in general so white as that of a cow calf. Exposures to the air for some time reddens the colour of the flesh. Veal is best of which the kidney is well covered with thick white hard fat.

Mutton.

—A wether, five years old, affords the most delicate meat. The grain of the meat should be fine, and the fat white and firm. The leg of a wether mutton is known by a round lump of fat on the insides of the thigh, the leg of an ewe by the udder.

Lamb.

—The flesh of fine lamb looks of a delicate pale red colour; the fat is splendid white, but it does not possess a great solidity. Grass Lamb is in season from Easter to Michaelmas. House Lamb from Christmas to Lady-day.

Pork.

—This species of meat of the best fed animals is particularly fine grained, and may be bruised by forcibly pressing it between the fingers. The skin of the young animal is thin; the flesh of old pigs is hard and tough, and the skin very thick. The prime season for pork is from Michaelmas to March. The western pigs, chiefly those of Berks, Oxford, and Bucks, possess a decided superiority over the eastern of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk.

Hare.

—To ascertain its age, examine the first joint of the fore foot; you will find a small knob, if it is a leveret, which disappears as the hare grows older; then examine the ears; if they tear easily, the animal is young. When newly killed, the body is stiff; as it grows stale, it becomes flaccid.

Venison

—is of a darker colour than mutton. If the fat be clear, bright and thick, and the cleft of the hoof smooth and close, it is young, but if the cleft is wide and tough, it is old. By pushing a skewer or knife under the bone which sticks out of a haunch or shoulder, the odour of the skewer will tell whether the meat be fresh or tainted. Venison is best flavoured in the month of August, the animal should not be killed till he is about four years old.

Fowls

—for boiling should be chosen as white as possible, those which have black legs had better be roasted. The season of perfection in poultry is just before they have quite come to their full growth. Chickens three months old are very delicate. Age makes a striking difference in the flesh of fowls, since after the age of twelve months it becomes tougher. The cock indeed, at that age, is only used for making soup.

Pigeons

—are in their greatest perfection in September, there is then the most plentiful and best food for them; their finest growth is just when they are full feathered. When they are in the pen-feathers, they are flabby; when they are full grown, and have flown some time, they are hard.

Pheasants

—may be distinguished by the length and sharpness of their spurs, which in the younger ones are short and blunt.

Partridges

—if old are always to be known during the early part of the season, by their legs being of a pale blue, instead of a yellowish brown colour: “so that when a Londoner receives his brace of blue legged birds in September, he should immediately snap their legs and draw out the sinews, by means of pulling off the feet, instead of leaving them to torment him, like so many strings, when he would be wishing to enjoy his repast.” This remedy to make the legs tender, removes the objection to old birds, provided the weather will admit of their being sufficiently long kept. If birds are overkept, their eyes will be much sunk, and the trail becomes soft, and somewhat discoloured. The first place to ascertain if they are beginning to be tainted, is the inside of the bill.

Fish, and Crimping of Fish.

—Both sea and river fish cannot be eaten too fresh. The gills should be of a fine red colour, the eyes glistening, the scales brilliant, and the whole fish should feel stiff and firm, if soft or flabby the fish is old.

To improve the quality of fish, they are sometimes subject to the process called crimping. The operation has been examined by Mr. Carlisle, to whom we are indebted for the following particulars:

“Whenever the rigid contractions of death have not taken place, this process may be practised with success. The sea fish destined for crimping, are usually struck on the head when caught, which it is said protracts the term of the contractibility and the muscles which retain the property longest are those about the head. Many transverse sections of the muscles being made, and the fish immersed in cold water, the contractions called crimping takes place in about five minutes, but if the mass be large, it often requires 30 minutes to complete the process. The crimping of fresh water fish is said to require hard water, and the London fishmongers usually employ it.”

Mr. Carlisle found, that by crimping, the muscles subjected to the process have both their absolute weight, and their specific gravity increased, so that it appears, that water is absorbed and condensation takes place. It was also observed that the effect was greater in proportion to the vivaciousness of the fish.

From these observations, it appears, that the object of crimping is first to retard the natural stiffening of the muscles, and then by the sudden application of cold water, to excite it in the greatest possible degree, by which means the flesh both acquires the desired firmness and keeps longer.