PAPER BAG COOKERY.

Evening Star, Issue 14635, 3 August 1911, Page 3

PAPER BAG COOKERY.

A WELLINGTON DEMONSTRATION If tho crowd of interested onlooker: which blocked the traffic ou either side i of tho Wellington Gas Company’s static I at tho exhibition on Friday may be | taken as any indication of popular fooli ing, there isn great- vogue for “ paperj hag cookery ’’ (says the New Zealand I ‘ Times’), ilrs Forster Denny had pro- ; pared a most varied bill of faro for dc- | mnnstratiug the possibilities of the new ; method, li ran as follows: | Beef Tea. i Stuffed Tomato. Steamed Fish, i Grilled Steak, j Kidney a.nd Bacon, i Bhirn Sago Padding. I Baked Custard, j In the rase of tbo beef tea- tho lib iof finely-cut moat was put into the ; paper bag with half a pint of water : and a little salt; the bag was hermeti- ] tally sealed (in plainer language, the ; open end was folded over and gummed : firmly down) and. the bag placed on | tbo oven shelf. Just hero it is as well i to say that in paper-bag cookery tbo ! bags must ho placed on an open shelf j of wire netting or wire bars, gridironj wise, so that tho hot air circulates all i round the food in its grease-proof bag. ; The tomato, stuffed with breadcrumbs : and seasoning and its own pulp, was t popped into its little bag, and followed . the large bag containing some little | moulds three-ouarters filled with plum i sago pudding, into tho oven. The sago, , it may bo remarked, bad been soaked j beforehand, and tho currants, raisins, | and boa ton t;~g wore beaten into it | before pouring into tho buttered I moulds. | Tho fish to Ijo steamed was a nice thick slice of sehnapper. weighing about IJIb, and teas put *into a double hag;— i.e.an inner hag greased on both inside and outside—and enclosed in an outer hag. Judging by its appearance tbo fish when cooked was one of tho most brilliantly successful items of the menu, and looked most, appetising as it was handed round amid the eager crowd of onlookers for inspection. Tho steak also was put into a double ting, and the sausages wen; rubbed in dripping before being put into their bag. The former, one may note in passing, bad more the aspect of stewed than grilled steak, but the sausage was brown as a berry. Kidneys and bacon—tho split kidneys deftly laid between the. slums of bacon and securely sealed in their small bag—were presently added to the queer collection of bagfuls in the oven. By the time tho custard pudding in its mould and paper hag was safely ensconced cheek by jowl with all tho rest of the menu, one may fairly concede chat there was what you would,call •• a representative gathering.'’ The oven doors were, of course, constantly opened and shut. Our seats were not more than two yards away from thcro, yet- not so much as a single whiff of odor from all ibis varied assortment of dishes was perceptible. Not the attenuated ghost of a smell of cookery until tho dishes were removed and taken out of their bags. As Mrs Forster Denny pointed out, not only was tho nutriment and the individual flavor of each item preserved without a fraction of waste, but it-was possible to cook all these various dishes in one oven without one being impregnated with the odor of the other. It was very pleasant to see the calm, unruffled confidence with which Mrs Denny and her assistants conducted the demonstration of cookery "en papillote,” and tho practical interest of the crowded audience was shown by the constant stream of questions which Mrs Denny was called upon, to reply to.