MECHANICAL COOKING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 98, 18 January 1908, Page 11

MECHANICAL COOKING.

It: has been pointed out (says an Australian writer) that' to' a 'certain- extent .'the, art of,, good cooking, is gradually.being josfc'tlirdngh following tho popular and easy, yet often, unsatisfactory, .ways now - opened up to the ends which our grandmothers reached so successfully by laborious toil and patience. Today cooks depend far too much on the use of chemicals for producing effects that ought to result from the labour of tho hands.'' ior example, the popular cakes of to-day; are of the sponge variety, and most cooks get the light sponge effect by using self-raising flour, or if they really do'use plain sifted flour they escape tho arduous hand-beating by employing a spatula or whisk, and, consequently, tho cake loses that delicious quality which no artificial or quick methods can impart. • Again, with jelly-making, tho same short euts are too frequently taken. There is not ono woman in fifty nowadays-who can make the nourishing' jelly that was formerly so essential in cases of illness. Gelatine and citric acid are used instead of calves' feet, and thero is no straining and re-straining through a pointed jelly-bag. Indeed, tho popular idea of a jellj seems to bo some jelly crystals dissolved lii a jug of hot water. Then there is a tendency to use dripping instead of suet in boiled puddings, for the chopping of the suet is a more or loss tedious task, and so even a suet pudding, recommended for its nutrition, becomes quite a dilforcnt composition when it is made to rise too suddenly and is boiled too short a time.