Host and Guest

by A. V. Kirwan

This rule applies also to the head of the sheep or lamb. The greatest quantity of veal consumed in London is brought from Essex, which may be called the Pontoise of England.

Pork.—A thin rind is a good indication in all pork; a thick, tough one, not easily impressed with the finger, is a sign of age.

When you purchase a leg, a hand, or a spring, take especial care that the flesh is cool and smooth, for if otherwise it is certainly stale; but particularly put your finger under the bone that comes out, and if the flesh be tainted, you will immediately discover it by smelling your finger. The lean of young pork will break on being pinched. Measly pork is easily distinguishable from sound by the fat being full of kernels. London is supplied with the best pork by the dairy farms in Essex.

When you purchase a sucking-pig, remember that the barrow, or sow, is better than the boar, the flesh of which is neither so sweet nor so tender. Smell carefully at the belly, and examine about the tail, and if it has no disagreeable odour, nor any yellow and green spots in those parts, the pig is as good as you could desire; but you will in general find that the short, thick necks are the best.

As to bacon and ham, observe whether the smell be fresh, and see that the fat and lean be clear, and not streaked with yellow.

In marketing for bacon, observe also whether the fat feels oily, appears white, and does not crumble, and that the flesh bears a good colour, and adheres closely to the bone, in which case only the bacon is good. The best bacon comes from Hampshire, but much sold as Hampshire is Buckinghamshire and Irish bacon. The bacon of Yorkshire, Cumberland, and Gloucestershire is good.

With respect to hams, you should select one with a short shank, and try it with a sharp-pointed knife, which thrust into the flesh as near the pope’s eye as possible. If it come out only a little smeared, and smells well, you may be assured that the ham is good, but if it be daubed, and have a fetid smell, it is good for nothing. When freshly cured, and not over salted, a ham may be trimmed, and wrapped in a coarse paste, and will be found more juicy, and of finer flavour baked than boiled. York, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Gloucestershire, are famous for their hams; but a great proportion of the hams now sold as Yorkshire, are Irish.

The Strasbourg bacon is highly smoked, and has a delicious flavour, but is excessively dear. It may be obtained at any of the Italian oil-shops; where Bayonne and Westphalia hams can also be purchased. The latter are now imported in large quantities, and may be purchased so low as eightpence per pound; but they are no longer prepared with the care and perfection bestowed on them when they were sold at fourteenpence per pound. Spanish and Portuguese hams have also been introduced into the English markets, and though the latter are of an ungraceful and awkward shape, they are good in colour and flavour. Bacon should always be twice salted, and patiently rubbed both times. All meat salted in pieces and packed must be entirely covered with the brine.

Fowls.—As to poultry, it may generally be remarked, that barn-door fowls are preferable to those fed in coops. Much experience and observation are requisite in forming a judgment of the freshness and goodness of fowls. Any appearance of greenness about the rump is a sure sign of putrescence. The Poland breed of fowls is the largest. Dorking, in Surrey, and Epping, in Essex, are alike famed for good poultry. Bethnal Green and Mile End fatten much poultry for Leadenhall-market, but it is inferior to barn-door fowl. Good fowls are short, plump, broad in the breast, and thick in the rump. A hen is old if her legs and comb be rough, but young if they are smooth. You may also judge of the freshness by her vent, in the same manner as the cock. Young poultry may be distinguished by the pellucid appearance, and peculiar feel of the flesh, and by the flexibility of the breast-bone. Many poulterers, aware of this, take care to break the breast-bone of every fowl they expose for sale. It may be here remarked that the poularde of France, from Mans, in the department of the Sarthe, is superior to any English fowl whatever.

Geese.—As to geese, the feet and bill of a young goose are yellow; they turn red as the bird grows old. It has but few hairs on the feet; when old, however, the feet become hairy. If fresh, the feet are supple; but if stale, dry and stiff. Great quantities of geese come to London from Devonshire, Lincolnshire, Buckinghamshire, &c. In France the greatest number are reared in the Gironde. The quantity of geese reared in France is almost incredible. The minister of the interior, Chaptal, states that 120,000, destined to be fattened, were annually sold in the market of Toulouse alone.