The Chemistry of Cookery

which the inner albuminous juice otherwise exudes. But this is not all. There are other juices besides the albumen; these are the most important of the _flavouring_ constituents, and, _with the other constituents of animal food_, have great nutritive value; so much so, that animal food is quite tasteless and almost worthless without them. I have laid especial emphasis on the above qualification, lest the reader should be led into an error originated by the bone-soup committee of the French Academy, and propagated widely by Liebig—that of regarding these juices as a concentrated nutriment when taken alone. They constitute collectively the _extractum carnis_, which, with the addition of more or less gelatine (the less the better), is commonly sold as Liebig’s ‘Extract of Meat.’ It is prepared by simply mincing lean meat, exposing it to the action of cold water, and then evaporating down the solution of extract thus obtained. I shall return to this on reaching the subjects of clear soups and beef-tea, at present merely adding as evidence of the importance of retaining these juices in cooked meat, that the extracts of beef, mutton, and pork may be distinguished by their specific flavours. Some Extract of Kangaroo, sent to me many years ago from Australia by the Ramornie Company, made a soup that was curiously different in flavour from the other extract similarly prepared by the same company. Epicures pronounced it very choice and ‘gamey.’[5] When these juices are removed from the meat, mutton, beef, pork, &c., the remaining solids are all alike, so far as the palate alone can distinguish. Let us now apply these principles practically to the case of a leg of mutton. First, in order to seal the pores, the meat should be put into boiling water; the water should be kept boiling for five or ten minutes. A coating of firmly-coagulated albumen will thus envelop the joint. Now, instead of boiling or ‘simmering’ the water, set the saucepan aside, where the water will retain a temperature of about 180°, or 32° below the boiling-point. Continue this about half as long again, or double