New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-03-29
THE WIFE'S ART.
LETTERS TO A YOUNG HoUSEKEEPER
BY MRS. BAYARD TAYLOR.

romiSsd Won a friends advice whenever this event
should occur am ready to keep my promise WIZ.
the exception that have the advantage over you "
being older and therefore, OF course, SO m"on III.
WISER our cases are almost parallel we ha'o Nus
been raised in luxury both have married worthy
men, who have to use their brains and energy TO provos
for bread butter and since our natures CRY luz ~.
a great deal more in addition. Your husDano LIN"
mine furnishes the means for modest out COLI
Portable living, and you and are bound IN re'uin "
see that the waste of force and bran-po"r ne -
Obliged to undergo is day by day restored, ana nus
vitality kept unimpaired by those chemicals OF winch
our mortal frame is made up and which we caii ioou
Now do not think that what you have undertaken
Is mere play II is, on the contrary toleraoiy
severe task-and great pleasure at the SAME ''ne
when you that your efforts are succeeding
Do you believe that mornings work can DC aono
comfortably on Cruel breakfast? DO you THINK
stomach would not rebel against continued uieC Vi
roast beef and chops? II you wish your husoaiu
be nervously debiated by and by, disheartened anu
the reverse of cheerful give him BREAKFASTS "io"u'
substance and dinners without variety. BE they
cooked as well Sou please, that VIII hot ,onu w
mend matters in the long run.
Your task being not easy, am going to be sewers
teacher / require Of you, my pupil, from tne s'aro
that being a housekeeper, You devote each Gay SONIC
of your best thinking to the billofare ana the meas
TO be served. | do not think it waste OF time. Iry
IT, and Won will feel satisfied with the result. WIN
cooking is Of an art than ever. For an Of. "
has been considered since people became c'''
LIED Nor is IL a peculiarly feminine occupauol' ihe's
have been male cooks always-some OF them ia"ou',
as we know-and there are not few among men W
genius and distinction who have given more or less
attention to culinary accomplishments III ria"s
opinion brought dshonor to philosopher IN case
~ necessity TO cook his own meal and Baronus'
cardinal and learned theologan of the MIDDLE Ages
took pride in the preparation OK meas "runs o'o'
his mantelpiece with his own hand: caesar bsroue'
nermauent COOK Richeieu, also. and Mazarn, MS
Successor looked closely into the details OF theH
cuisines Rousseau an expert in COOKING eggs III
various STYLES while Lamartine, the poet, was
toucht nv his tutor the Able DumOnt, to COOK pam
dinner Our own cOuntryman Rumford, VINO was mane
Count in Germany, invented the soup winch Is GALLO.
by his name beneftng thereby the poorer classes OK
the people And who has not heard OF the anaoi0
and refined BrllatSavarini fou must acKno"ieoso'
nv friend that we have a galaxy Of renowned ex'
amples before US, whom to follow We need no' 10
ashamed But, If an art, cooking. is also s'udy,
and nv advice would be TO make 1t STUDY hrss anu
an art afterward This implies that you are not 70
take what | say, or what the cook BOOKS "a ~hoe
host of them tell you, according to the letter. but
that you will to catch the spirit OF it ALL ana 90
as it directs In this way-the intelligent way-you
will become the inventor, the true artist the bens'
factor
This is my first injunction: To provide for your
because it goes furhest in nourshng This is espeoi-
ally te of the most important of all food the meat:
nasmuch the flesh Of all the higher animals fur-
nishing food contains nearly all the substances o.
which the human frame is made up. For this reason
you must know how to distinguish between good ana
bad meat. For giving you the requisite indications
| follow DR.. Wiel whose Dlaetetisches kochbuch"
has been my teacher in many respects l, Meat when
Of a pale red color shows that the animal had been
ailing: ., when Of deep purple that it died twas
not sIaughteredl: 3. when healthy and wel-fed the
color is of dark pink ingrained with white, which
is fat; 4, the fat of healthy animal is OF pure
white. and hard; 5, the fat Of a sichy one is OF
yelowish white. and soft and watery TO the touch.
II follows that you have to do your marketing your
self The two principal ingredients of the meat are
the muscular fibre and the juice. In the latter Is
contained the albumen which is of much value in
restoring from doy to day. The fibre. however,
determines the relative nutrItive properties of the
meat In this respect well-fed beef is highest In
rank. And Of the beef again it is the lon and sir.
loin which are the most nutritious parts as well as
The easiest to digest. The poorest pieces are the
flank, neck and shank. Their nutritive value IL
about ten times less than that OF the lon, srloin,
rib piece and rump. The remaining parts inferior
to the latter and superior to the former they are OF
more less relative value in the hands Of an in
telgcnt cook, however the least nutrtve piece
may be turned into good and palatabe food You
must learn that the best piece OF meat is not
for some time after Strengthening To give it the
necessary tenderness il has to pass through certain
process which in reality is the first degree Of decom
position. In this way scid-the Tactic acid-is de-
veoped, which tends 10 soften the fibre otherwise tough
This process, however can take place only with meat
kept at a temperature above freezing point II meat
is frozen it has to be thawed gradually and then put
10 at once, it will be beyond the proper
stage of ferment. The time necessary for the right
sort of decomposition to set in is longer or shorter
according 10 the different kinds OF meat and the seasons
In summer beef is ready foc use in two days,
while In winter il takes about week. Veal and lamb
take two days in summer, and four to six in winter
mutton, one TO two in summer, and three 10 six in
winter venS0n. four in summer and ten TO twelve in
winter poultry, TO two days I'm sumner and four
days at least in winter game from to twelve days.
If at any time should be obliged to piece Of
meat while il is still too fresh you may remedy the
by pouring over it some boiling hot vinegar, then
wipng it dry with clean towel before putting it into
your pan.
This leads me to the kitchen fire. the Importance Of
which Is so little appreciated by our kitclenmads
The best Of material is apt TO be spoiled and made
tasteess by either too hot or too slow a fire. a WE'LL
regulated fire is absolutely necessary in preparing good
and nutritious food. Ii ought to be made special
study by each housekeeper. who, in turn, ought TO in
struct her II is known that water after
getting to the boiling point e., showing agated
surfa'e-doea not increase in temperature. As
this point is reached slackenng fire will do the same
service lively The lesson to be derived from
this is Of economy. The importance of the right
sort OF fire in preparing different kinds of food was
known in ancient times some curious works have
down Is written by Greek cooks of old. One
of them says: "l0u must TO the strong, tho
medium and the slow fire according 10 the dishes you
wish to prepare; and then he adds: Nor is lie the
genuine cook who handles the pan. swings the ladle
the meatknifc, who serves up delicacy but he Il
who knows to keep the right measure. and gives the
necessary temperature to each dish of he cooksp
BOGUS CREIH.
Eror Innis Disnatch.