Cook faster, save power

Press, 12 November 1977, Page 17

Cook faster, save power

Cooking Under Pressure. By Helen M. Cox. Faber. 206 pp. Index. $4.75.

What better way to begin a book on pressure-cooking than with an explanation of how this convenient svstem works? Helen Cox writes: “Foods are cooked in steam which, under a certain amount of pressure, comes up to a temperature much higher than the usual boiling or simmering point, and therefore cooks in a much shorter time than by ordinary methods.” The author gives an assurance on the safety of pressure-cookers, describes the advantages of various types, and adds a note on care and cleaning. She also offers general advice on seasoning, thickening, and the adaption of standard recipes for use with a pressure-cooker. Most of her book is taken up with recipes. The names are sometimes a description of what follows — “Bedsit fish ” “Braised beef lazy way” — and the author’s comments are an adornment, rather than a distraction from the detail of the .recipes. For instance, a recipe for boiled lamb or mutton is made more interesting when it is garnished with the remark: “Mutton is a word used so seldom nowadays that one feels it is in danger of disappearing from the language. Perhaps the phrase ’mutton dressed up as lamb’ will mystify the generations

ahead and send them rushing to the ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica.’ There they will find that it is a meat from an animal that has been walking the fields for years and so toughened its muscles.” Perhaps she exaggerates a little; although Helen Cox is a New Zealander, she has been living in Britain for some time and her book was written for a British audience. The book’s first recipe is startling: “Ancient Almond Soup,” which includes rabbits, squirrels, and partridges parboiled. However, this is her way of introducing the twentiethcentury version of the same recipe, with a cooking time of eight minutes. Many faithful old recipes appear, adapted to the pressure-cooker. Remember from schooldays the rhyme: “Pease pudding hot, pease pudding cold, pease pudding in the pot, nine days old?” This book explains that it is an English regional dish, popularly served with hot ham, bacon, or pork. In all, “Cooking Under Pressure” describes more than 200 dishes suitable for preparation in a pressurecooker. The result is a gem of a book, especially for those for whom space in the kitchen is limited, or time for preparation is short. And in these expensive times, we can all benefit from recipes which use much less electricity than more normal cooking methods. — LORNA BUCHANAN.