A Course of Lectures on the Principles of Domestic Economy and Cookery

If you had a wood fire you would broil over the fire. If you broil over the fire you must expect the blaze to rise, and you must naturally suppose the meat will be smoked; but you can make your fire clear--that is, have it alive; do not have it smoky and full of unburnt wood or coal; have a clear bed of coals if you are going to broil over the fire. _Question._ Do you never wash the birds before boiling? _Answer._ No; you will find that I am very _un_-neat about that. In the first place, I would not use a piece of meat or a bird of any kind that was really dirty enough to need washing. If it had anything on it that I could not get off by wiping with a wet cloth, I simply wouldn't use it. If you wash meat or poultry you destroy a certain amount of its flavoring and take away some of its nourishment. _Question._ Sometimes a bird shot will have a great deal of the blood settle in the breast or in the flesh. MISS CORSON. Yes; you want the blood; you want to keep the blood there. The blood is a part of the nourishment. The idea of washing meat comes from the old Hebrew prohibition which involved the removal of every particle of blood. You know that the Hebrews believed that the blood was the life and even to this day every particle of blood is taken away from their meat, not only by washing after it comes into the house, but before that by the treatment it receives from the butcher. The blood is a part of the nourishment, and you want to keep as much of it as you can; in some cooking it forms a very important part; for instance, in cooking a hare or rabbit, the blood which escapes in the dressing is saved and used. _Question._ Would you treat prairie chicken, grouse or partridge in this way? MISS CORSON. Yes, in the same way. _Question._ Not if you were going to roast