The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-05-12

Thoroughly Cooked without Boiling
ana Exceedingly Tssty.

Thoroughly Cooked without Boiling
and Exceedingly Tssty.
Talk abous your Christmas turkey
stuffed with Eys.taliaa cheatnuts, or
Lynn Haven oy sters, oil you want to-"
said the trausplantsd Southern Colonel.
as reported by the New YORK Sun. ''but
say give me thin slice of Southern
ham cooked as they cook it in virsinia
or South Carolina. and you can keep all
of your stuffed birds."
II used to think that you Southern
people knew how to cure and cook hams
too until went to Denmark" answered
the returned traveller. "but, bless your
soul, your Southern ham tastes as tame
and hatSpy the side OF Denmark ham as
Northern ham does compared with
Southern. OF course. ham has got to
be good and properly cured at the start
but tho biggest part OF sweet, juicy.
tasty ham liss in the cooking. Now pyo
been In seventeen countries and / have
never tasted srch . ham as got In Dan
mark. The nearer the bone the swseter
tho meat can pot often be applied to q
ham that you strike In this country. be-
cause half the time the meat is about half
cooked when you get toward the bone.
Now. In Denmark you might carve
hundred hams day and eacn one would
be done through and through. and yet
they are only allowed to come to q boil"
Why. how can they pe done then!"
asked the transplsntsd Southern Col.
onePs transplanted wife. Ham is q
thing that should be boiled for hours and
hours over hot fire. Now, In South
Carolina. whore ! was born, ana in Vir-
ginia where the Colonel was born. we al
ways put ham on right after breakfast
when we wanU 1t ready for mid day
dinner, and furthermore, the cook keeps
a little nigger busy keeping up the fire
all the time the ham is on the stove
Ham isn't ham II 1t isn't well boiled be.
fore 1t Is BAKED"
That's where you and the people In
Denmark disagree" remarked the re-
turnedItrave!er. ''They say emphatically
that ham. 70 be thoroughly cooked. should
not be boiled. How do they cook its In
hay box? What is hay box? Hay
boxes are used great deal In Denmark.
hay box is On ordinary wooden box
with lining OF hay about foot thick.
The hay Is covered with cheese cloth to
keep 1t In place and for durability. or
course. your hay box can be of any sizo,
hut the vessel must fit in 1t closely; but
that Is getting ahead of the story. When
a Danish housewife wishes to cook ham
she prepares 1t properly about dark. and
puts 1t into pot OF oold water. which
she places over the fire. AS soon as .he
water comes to hard boil she lifts the
pot from the tire and puts it into hay
box. carefully covering the top OF the
box with olose-fitting lid. When she
gets up In the morning the ham is thor
oughlv cooked to the bone. Will the
water boil In the hay boxs Oh, no! but
it keeps at the same temperature all
night, and an even temperature is the Sc
cret of perfect cooking. The water IL
just as hot when she gets up In the
morning rs when she goes to bed at night
the ham Is DONE and she doesn't have
to worry her head as to whether 1t will be
done to the bone by dinner time; and,
best OF all, she never has to send 1t to the
kitchen to be cooked over. A ham cooked
In this way retains all the juice and
sweetness, and fairly makes your mouth
water to think about A. -