PAPER BAG COOKERY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12512, 21 July 1911, Page 2

PAPER BAG COOKERY.

HOW IT HAS CAUGHT OX

WHAT THE "SOYER" SYSTEM IS

Australians, and especially Australian womenkind (it is stated m the Daily Telegraph) have had their appetites whetted by the announcement that the novel paper-bag cookery has made its appearance m demonstrational form on this side of t^he world. Melbourne women are, apparently, m raptures over it. And, „ m this, they are not alone. London took it very seriously. The inventor of the system, M- ' Nicolas Soyer, chef of Brooks' Club, has run the gauntlet of many . public demonstrations, and' if the newspaper Teporfcs show anything he has come but smiling every time. ...'..

The audiences before which, he demonstrated were critics m .culinary matters. The educational aspect of the '.'discovery" indeed sterns to liay.e. been, mad 6 a feature m Lqrido,iiu ljli.6,usanct^: of persons .saw the dapper French .cljef per.form his wonders. Hundreds of those thousands. Avere . sent by the.. Londoai Teachers'. Association, which circularised, all those engaged "as. domestic, eco nomy, instrucixe^sses m the Obunty ; Goun; cil schools. , " , V .

The/ Daily. Cjhrpnicle". acted as an ag"ency-for ; the supply. /of Soyer bags — M. . Soyej.v.ho.s.evolvea ja'.bag-.natticularly suited- for the reqiiiiremehts of an oven — and.jt found itself hard. put.^o, jit to attend to iKe^flo6d J pf corresnohdehce that descended' on it; ' Twenty thousand api cplicatioris for bags \yere. received within a very short time. :.--,. WHAT M. SOYER SAYS.

M. Soyer, m a letter, dealt jWith the matter m a general 'W^y, a,nd incidentally answered koine queitiqhsj'that' iiatur; ally arise when one thjnks^of the', utilisation of a paper bag as a cqoking utensil, v as a displacer of pots ariu. pans. "Until recently," he said, /'the -culinary- ;art'has been very conservative. .■. Satire . and humor were, exqjted, by^ t,he idea at first." Then, in\the liumbi'ous vein m which he treated liis critics, he -said-: "The man m the , street •no Jonger smiles. His only inquiry . seems. to\ me .to. be 'When can I get a supply ol bags.' " M. Soyer says that everything may be.cookedl m a paper..'ba,gi An awkward question that (suggested itself, to lone of his hearers wwars r "What, will"! do,if .the bag . breaks ?" M. Soyer's .. reply .was, "Mix some flour and the white of ;.an. egg till it becomes like dough, and then repair the break." M. Soyer. has. written a' book-, on 'the subject; and it is report: ed to be m special demand, among teachers of domestic science m London. To the bachelor girl it is suggested that it will be little short Of a god-aentl. It is also specially recommended to dwellers m flats and single rooms. Though there" has t been evolved, a bag specially adapted, for the purpose^ it is worth noting that" M. Sbyer himself,' prior to .the evolution "■"of, . "tf\§ bag/' 1 for many years used wHite foolscap paper bags, hiade grease-proof,,' according- .to the dishhe was cooking; fwith' olive', oil, butter, or dripping, 'i'he "Sbyer" 'bag ranges m price from 2s 9d per^ 100 for bags 6|ih by 4iin, to 8s od'^per 100 for those 18|in by lliin. These are. theLondon prices? ; '"; ■ HOW-TO- PROCEED.

It is essential that the bag used should be of the right size,; sealed, up^ and; held together by a "clip," closppe ( belhg^ effected by folding the. 6pen $hd two of, three" times, and fixing" a fastener at each ,side. The system' may be applied' t'6 coal ovens, and gas stoves, and' the voven' must be well heated before the bag arid its contents are placed in' it: In a gas stove the gas may , at, £his t stage be lowered to about Half-pr.essufe. ? i The firstwdifficulty that suggests itself is how to know when the contents are tcooked; and on this point' the 'advocates of the system say that the cook will, ■m the course of time, l^now' "by touch when things are "done to', a turn." But a fork may be used,' arid it ! is stated that the small holes made will not neutralise the benefits of the system. c The bags must be placed on a wire grid, and sev era! dishes , may be copked ,on the one grid at the same time. The inside of the bag should be greased m the cooly-. ing of meat or fish, though ..wkter may be used instead for fish. '

The times occupied m the process of cooking are set , out m; tjie ; following table: — Roast mutton, 40min'; *; chicken, 40min ; stew of mutton, 45m in ; salmon cutlets, 12min ; turbot cutlets, 12min ; pair of haddocks, . lOmin ; Woat ers, lOmin ; , green peas, 30min; real York! ham. 7min ; eggs and. bacon, Bmin ; beef tea, 15min. . These . ar^> a few of the times, and may be used m cpmparison. ,Eggs can be cooked' m the bag ; they may lj'o boiled m it even. In fact, M. Soyer hopes to perfect a bag for the making of toffee.

'The advantages claimed for the system are: Cleanliness,, adds to. the., flavor of the food, preserves its essential nutritive elements, . does away with unpleasant ! fumes, redu^s th"c' shrinkage /en-, gendered m cooking, saves labor as it dispenses with the .need for so many utensils, and is economical both m time and m the' reduction ol,the cost. of gas or coal. . ) MEDICAL AUTHOR'S! TESTIMONY. Dr. Charles Rembrandt, author of "Diet and the Maximum Duration of Life," t has written of the .system,: "First there 1 must be ec6nomy! There is no loss of actual food .materials, but everything is conserved \ there ;is a saying on the outlay upph , utensils ; there is a saying .of fi^el, foi* ' tile "paper bags, being effective 'non-conductors ,of heat, an eveii' tejpperature . is^ maintained, which effects the cooking with considerable expedition. There is also increased cleanliness, and the burning of food becomes practically,, impossible," The bags, he adds, are . sterile. ■ . -.., .; j