The Chemistry of Cookery

of sugar caramel is easy enough; the sugar should be gradually heated till it assumes a rich brown colour and has lost its original sweetness. If carried just far enough, the result is easily soluble in hot water, and the solution may be kept for a long time, as it is by cooks who understand its merits. In connection with the idea of its disinfecting action, I may refer to the cookery of tainted meat or ‘high’ game. A hare that is repulsively advanced when raw may, by much roasting and browning, become quite wholesome; and such is commonly the case in the ordinary cooking of hares. If it were boiled or merely stewed (without preliminary browning) in this condition, it would be quite disgusting to ordinary palates. A leg of mutton for roasting should be hung until it begins to become odorous; for boiling it should be as fresh as possible. This should be especially remembered now that we have so much frozen meat imported from the antipodes. When duly thawed it is in splendid condition for roasting, but is not usually so satisfactory when boiled. I may here mention incidentally that such meat is sometimes unjustly condemned on account of its displaying a raw centre when cooked. This arises from imperfect thawing. The heat required to thaw a given weight of ice and bring it up to 60° is about the same as is demanded for the cookery of an equal quantity of meat, and therefore, while the thawed portion of the meat is being cooked, the frozen portion is but just thawed, and remains quite raw. A much longer time is demanded for thawing—_i.e._ supplying 142° of latent heat—than might be supposed. To ascertain whether the thawing is completed, drive an iron skewer through the thickest part of the joint. If there is a core of ice within it will be distinctly felt by its resistance. A correspondent asks me which is the most nutritious—a slice of English beef in its own gravy or the browned morsel as served in an Italian restaurant with the caramel addition