Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-06-26
SAVING SUMMER FOODS. IH.-Preserving Meat and Fish.
By Frederic j. HaSkin

minutes, and pack according to the same direc-
tions.
If to this soup stock you add vegetables. it
makes a delicious vegetable soup. recipe for
vegetable soup, compiled by the department of
agriculture and used extensively in the canning
clubs throughout the rural districts of the country
calls for quarter of a pound of lima beans,
pound OF rice, a half pound of pearl barley, a
t0und of carrots, one pound of onions, medium
sized potato, one red pepper, one-half pound of
hour, four ounces of salt and five gallons of soup
stock First soak the lima beans and rise for
twelve hours. Cook the barley for two hours.
The rest of the vegetables should be blanched in
boiling water and then dipped in cold water Then
mix all the materials together and fill the Jars.
Make a smooth paste of one-haIf pound of wheat
nour and stir in the soup stock, boil for three
minutes and add the salt Pour this over the vege-
tables and partially seal the jars. Sterilize for
ninety minutes in homemade outfit. If you use
a smaller quantity of soup stock cut down the
amount of vegetables accordingly.
In addition to preserving food by driving and
canning there is the sailing process which is usual
ly satisfactory only with fish and a few meats
Fresh fish are in the market all the year round at
mucn lower price than good cuts of meat, so
that the sailing of fish is probably not an i'm
portant measure of economy unless you catch the
hsh yourselr or happen to live in coast town
where fish may be bought for a very low nrice
direct from the fishermen. In a small resort town
along the Maryland coast last summer for ex-
ample fish could be bought for few cents as they
we're brought in by professional fishermen. The
same fish when packed in ice and shipped TO Balti-
more and Washington brought eighteen or twertv
cents "a pound. If you can buy fish at low price
ana salt It for the following winter, the saving is
considerable.
In sailing fish great deal of should be
taken In the preliminary preparation. If a fish is
large, has soft fins, small scales and thin skin il
should be scaled but not skinned. Next remove
the head and viscera. Also remove as much of the
backbone as possible and the tail Then IL the
fish is too large to go into the contaner cut it to-
the proper length.
In regard to- slender fish such as nackereI
whiting and large herring the directions given by
the United States bureau of fisheries are as fol-
lows: "Split down the back to one side of the
walls uncut. The backbone need not be removed
Smaller fish of the same character need not be
split but should be carefully eviscerated Coarse
scaled thick-skinned, spinyfnned fishes like black
bass and perch, should be skinned, and unless
large and thick meated, need not be split
After thoroughly preparing the fish washing
them in water containing a little salt and being
careful to remove the blood near the backbone
they are ready for curing. tight key or barrel
is better for this than any other kind of
tainer. Under no circumstances use a tin con-
tainer. Place a thick layer of salt on the
bottom of the barrel, on the top of which spread
a layer Of fish deep. Sprinkle this layer we'll
with salt, and then add another layer Of fish, and
on until the barrel is filled until your supply
of fish is exhausted. strong brine will form
from the salt and moisture of the fish, in which
they should be left for week or ten days.
They are then washed, repacked In a freshly
made brine strong enough to float a fresh egg
After week, this second brine should be drawn
off and the barrel filed with saturated brine"
This means brine in which a few grains of salt
will be seen on the bottom after long period of
stirring When the fish packed in this third
brine and the barrel thoroughly tested for leak
age. they are ready to be stored in the cellar or
very cool place.
The Of the sailing process depends
upon the freshness of the fish used; the careful
sailing and mixing of the brine, and the efficiency
of the barrel which should be tight and hold
enough brine to keep the fish covered