COOKERY FOR LICENSED VICTUALLERS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIII, Issue 769, 1 December 1904, Page 24

COOKERY FOR LICENSED VICTUALLERS.

(By “Cuisinier,” in “

"L.V. Gazette”)

—Waste in the Kitchen—

It is said that the late Mr Jeremiah Colman was wont to remark that he made his fortune not out of the mustard that people used, but out of what they left on their plates ; by which he meant that, had people put on their plates only the amount they required, his sales and consequent profits would have been very much less than they actually were. The moral is that little items of waste should be carefully looked after, and all “ leakages ” should be discovered and at once stopped. There are two kinds of kitchen economy. One, which does not deserve the name, consists in buying inferior meat in the cheapest markets, in employing an incompetent cook at low wages, and in spending as little as possible upon table linen, glass and cutlery. The other, and the truest, economy, is that which gives the best of everything, but which sees that nothing is wasted. A cheap cook is always a wasteful, extravagant one, simply because she knows no better. It is true economy to pay good wages to a thoroughly competent cusiniere, for she will waste; nothing, and will turn to good account things which an ignorant cook would throw aside as worthless. Not that I would leave everything without control in the hands of the cook. On the contrary, 1 believe in the master, or, better still, his wife, exercising supervision over the kitchen. The proverb says that “ The eye of a mistress is worth two pairs of hands," and the mistress who understands what ought to be, taking careful, but kindly, note of every lapse therefrom, will bt able to discover waste in the beginning. A visitor who was being shown over a nobleman’s magnificent mansion by the housekeeper. after he had viewed the priceless treasures and palatial rooms, turned to his guide, and said. “ And now . madam, will you show me the closet where the family skeleton is?” If I were asked to indicate where the skeleton exists in a catering establishment, T would at once point to the dustbin. Air and light must be let in upon the spot, and the skeleton banished. Let it be laid ciown as a hard

and fast rule, as unalterable as the laws of the Medes and Persians, that no animal or vegetable refuse of any kind, no vegetable trimmings, no odds and ends, no scraps of meat or fat, no bacon rinds, no potato paring's, no egg' shells, no bones, no orange peel, no tea leaves, no crusts of bread, nor any of the hundred and one articles of litter which are 100 often found in this useful, but much abused receptacle, must be thrown there; but that dry refuse only, the ash dust left after the cinders have been sifted, shall be permitted in the dustbin, while all other refuse which cannot be used si',all be burnt in the kitchen range. Almost all the articles which find their way improperly into a dustbin, are associated with waste, and a large proportion of the so-called “ refuse," which finds its way there isi not really refuse at all, but is good material thrown away. Scores of pounds annually might be saved in many establishments if the scraps and trimmings, the odds and ends, which are now thrown away, were used and made the most of. T have shown how many of such things may be utilised, so that ] need not repeat myself here, but a word or two regarding some other items may, perhaps, be useful. The value of ham and bacon in flavouring stock for soup is "well known, but it is, perhaps, not so generally known that the rind of bacon is particularly rich in the peculiar flavouring - required. If it is scalded and scraped, to make it thoroughly clean, it can be used for this purpose, and thus the purchase of ham or bacon for this purpose can be saved. Bacon dripping, also, is frequently wasted in English kitchens. It is, however, most valuable for basting poultry, and it

is not to be despised as a medium for making pastry for meat pies. A sure sign of wasteful kitchen management is that potatoes and apples are thickly pared. ’The part of a potatowhich lies nearest the skin is the most nourishing and the least watery, and, therefore, those who pare it thickly cut away the best of the root. M’hen the habit is once acquired it is just as easy to pare a potato or an apple thinly as thickly, and the saving thus effected is considerable. The parings should not be thrown into the dustbin, but should be burnt. But where poultry are kept, the parings, when boiled, form an excellent article of food for them. The most economical method of dealing with potatoes is to cook them in their jackets and peel them aftertvards.

Amongst the other things frequently found in dustbins are orange peel, fat> bread, tea leaves, egg shells, and trim-

mings. Not one of these has any right to be there. Orange peel, if dried gently the oven, makes excellent fuel for lighting fires, and saves wood. Tea leaves "ought to be washed and drained, and sprinkled on the carpets that are to he swept, for the purpose of laying the dust and reviving the colours. Egg shells are useful for clarifying soups and jellies; if not wanted for this purpose they should be burnt. Fat, bread, and trimmings are not refuse; they are valuable articles of food, and ought to be used to the uttermost. The presence of cinders in the dustbin is a sure sign that waste is going on. Cinders ought never to be thrown into the dustbin, for they make an excellent fi re —bright, clear, and particularly suited for broiling. Sometimes the complaint is made by an inexperienced or ignorant cook that she cannot dispose of all the refuse by burning, because it makes a bad smell. This objection would be got rid of if the refuse were to be burnt in small quantities at a time, as it is produced. Tt should be put on the fire when the latter .is low. but not dull, and then covered with cinders and a little damp coal dust, when it will burn away without giving forth any bad odour. With a little management everything that cannot be used may be burnt, and, as a result, instead of bad smells being produced, they will be avoided, because things that would otherwise decompose and ferment in the dustbin will be destroyed and rendered innoxious.