Some dishes require high and much seasoning, others just the contrary. With a good fire and a good spit, it is not necessary to be a thorough cook to roast a piece well, but the cook is indispensable to mix the gravy or sauce with the proper seasonings.
Simmering.—Simmering differs from boiling only in the amount of heat allowed under the boiler, kettle, or pan. To simmer, is to boil as gently and slowly as possible.
Stewing.—To stew properly it is necessary to have a moderate fire and as even as possible. A brisk fire would cause much steam to evaporate, which steam is the flavor of the object stewed.
Tasting.—This is the most difficult, and at the same time the most delicate, part of seasoning; it is by tasting that we ascertain if we have seasoned properly.
In this only two of the senses are engaged, and one of those much more than the other.
A person may have good feeling, hearing, and sight, and for all that would not be fit for preparing the simplest dish; the senses of smelling and tasting are the ones most required, and without which no one can cook properly.
For these reasons we will take the liberty to recommend to housekeepers, when they have new cooks, to instruct them on their taste, and always let them know when they have seasoned too much or too little. To the cooks we will say, do not season according to your own taste, if the persons for whom you cook do not like it.
If the housekeeper would give his or her candid and frank opinion of the dishes to the cook, and if the latter be not stubborn, the best results might be obtained and both would be benefited by it. That ought to be done every day while making the bill of fare.
To taste a sauce, as well as to know if a thing is good to eat, we cannot trust either our eyes, fingers, or ears; we then have recourse, first to our smelling, and then to our tasting: so do most animals.