Meat cannot be roasted in an oven, be it in an ordinary or in a patented one.
That peculiar flavor in roasted meat is produced by the air coming constantly in contact with the heated meat while revolving on the spit.
Cold roasted meat, when desired to be served warm, is enveloped in buttered paper and placed on the spit just long enough to warm it.
Sautéing.—There is no word, that we know, in the English language, corresponding to the French word sauté. It differs from frying in this: that to fry any object requires fat enough to immerse that object; while to sauté it, requires just enough to prevent it from scorching.
Vegetables, omelets, etc., are sautéd, and not fried.
Meat or fish cooked in a frying-pan with a little butter or fat, is sautéd, and not fried; but the term fried is most generally used, the other being only known to practitioners.
To sauté requires a brisk fire; the quicker an object is cooked by sautéing the better.
Seasoning.—This is the most difficult part in the science of cooking. To season is not difficult, but to season properly is quite another thing.
It is not only necessary to know well how to stew or roast a peace of meat or any thing else, but to know how to season it, to be able to judge what quantity and what kind of spices can be used to season such or such a dish, to what extent all the spices used agree together, and what taste and flavor they will give to the object with which they are cooked; for, if not properly used, they may just as likely destroy the taste and flavor of the object as improve it.