Paper-bag Cookery

placed it in the oven for an indefinite period. The result, naturally, is uneatable. Shredded very finely, and put into a well buttered bag with a cup of water, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, pepper, and salt, a palatable dish will emerge from the oven. At the same time, cabbage, plainly boiled or cooked in a conservative boilerette, is in many people's estimation a more superior dish. Potatoes, again, are a cause of division in the camp. They undoubtedly acquire a new flavour when cooked in a paper bag, and this flavour is not agreeable to every palate. Many people prefer new potatoes plainly boiled, for the young, immature vegetable is of so watery a nature that unless the moisture be dispersed by rapid boiling, the potato is too wet and waxy to be palatable. For this reason, new potatoes cooked by steam or in a conservative boilerette are seldom liked, and paper-bagged new potatoes are open to the same objection. It is a different matter, however, with old potatoes, which, when cooked in a paper bag, are very generally liked, and several excellent and proved recipes for cooking old potatoes in paper bags are given further on. Asparagus is not always a success cooked in a paper bag. Some people complain that the flavour is by no means so delicate when so treated as when simply boiled or cooked by steam or in a conservative boilerette, therefore this vegetable is best put on the black list. Other vegetables which have been tried and found wanting are celery, turnip-tops, and artichokes. These, however, when once boiled, can be utilised to make many delightful dishes in paper-bag cookery. It may, too, be worth the while of the ardent paper-bag cook to continue to experiment with them until success crowns her efforts. Speaking personally, these vegetables have not met with general approval when cooked in paper bags. But one cannot waste time in lamentations over the few vegetables which are failures cooked in this way, when one considers how many there are which gain so much in flavour