Monkstown, Dublin Bay.
But the 'extracts of meat' are of great use in making rich and delicious gravies. They may not be very economical, but that cannot be perfectly studied in a boat, and it is possible to dress up the not too stewed contents of the stewpot, after the soup has been poured off, with a few capers, a little salt, a suspicion of pepper, and a thickened gravy made of 'extract of beef,' just thick enough to make a coating around each piece of meat—call it 'stewed beef,' or a more elaborate name if you like—and you will find that not only will none of it be left, but also no one will suspect it to be the remains of the soup at table a quarter of an hour before. The fish we have had meantime, it goes without saying, considering we are in Dublin Bay, is abundant and delicious. I do not know why Dublin Bay herrings should have such a delicate and inimitable flavour. The fish are much smaller than the Scotch herrings and are beautifully marked, and require only a drop or two of Harvey's sauce (Lazenby's) to bring out the proper flavour—they are of course grilled.
Ireland's Eye.
With the small stores I have found it economical and convenient to set aside portions for each day. Thus, if the cruise is to be for ten days, I wrap up ten portions of cheese, for example, in air-tight paper, and there is not a moment's loss of time when cheese is required for dinner. Butter for each day is similarly kept in jars; that which is over after each day is not wasted. Bread is kept in glazed earthen crocks with covers; salt in glazed earthenware jars; tea and coffee in bottles with air-tight screw covers; everything that can be put into an air-tight case is so protected, and each case has a particular fitting in a particular locker, so that no time is lost looking for it, no room is wasted, and if the boat gives a lurch or two nothing falls about nor is spilled.
In a coasting cruise you can always send a boat ashore for plenty of fresh vegetables; but, except fish, eggs, and crustacea, you cannot get any other good provisions at any provincial place of call.
'Billy,' our cook, had been to sea on a coaster, where he filled a similar berth. His ideas of the perfection of cooking took the direction of 'plum duff,' of course taking especial care that most of the plums were at one end, the end the skipper would be sure to select. We had no 'plum duff' in the 'Iris,' but Billy's training was of such use that little instruction was needed to enable him to make a very respectable orange pudding, and to deftly and lightly make a paste suitable as a cover for any baked dish. In utilising food that is always at hand in a cruising boat, as crabs, scollops, oysters, &c., few can excel a sailor cook after he has been carefully shown how to dress them; and to this end it is necessary that the hon. steward should be able to perform each operation himself. It is not sufficient to have a cookery book aboard; as a general rule some little petty detail is omitted, it may be a quantity, or a matter of modus operandi, which perplexes the operator at the critical moment and makes the dish a solemn doubt. On the other hand, if the hon. steward selects such recipes as he thinks will be useful from some good cookery books, and practically tests them ashore, he will be able to find out the weak points and amend them, and will have the gratification to know that the crew is not doing violence to itself by tasting his dishes in commiseration for his feelings. In small craft it too often, indeed nearly always, happens, that the feeding department is very crudely dealt with, and the material aliment itself is adequately described by the half-raw, half-boiled, stale, tough, naked generic term of 'grub.'