Worldwide Cookbooks

The Consumer Viewpoint

SIMPLE ITALIAN COOKERY

American Woman's Home

Art of Living in Australia

Cooking Eggs

Elegant Art of Dining

Guide to Marketing and Cooking

Italian Recipes

Meal Preparation

School and Home Cooking

Physiology of Taste

Tried and True Recipes

Library of Cookery

Hans Christian Andersen . American Fairy Tales . Grimm's Fairy Tales

Aesop's Fables - Tales with Morals . Mother Goose . Mother Goose in Prose

PART II.





AUSTRALIAN COOKERY RECIPES AND ACCESSORY KITCHEN INFORMATION.




MRS. H. WICKEN.
Diplomee of the National Training School for Cookery, London; Lecturer
on Cookery to the Technical College, Sydney.



CHAPTER XIII. THE KITCHEN



Furnishing the kitchen is often looked upon as quite of secondary
importance; but, instead of being last and least, it ought to be first
and foremost, for a cook cannot be expected to send up a good dinner
without proper utensils, any more than a carpenter can turn out a piece
of furniture without proper tools. It is no doubt a great mistake to
have many things in use, for a bad servant will have every one dirty
before she begins to wash up, and a good servant will have a lot of
work in keeping them clean and in good order. There are a few utensils,
not at all expensive, which are a great aid to the cook and a saving of
time too, and yet from some cause or other are seldom found in an
ordinary kitchen. Before glancing at these we might consider what is
the best covering for the floor. There is no doubt that deal boards
well scrubbed look nicer than anything else, but to keep them spotless
involves a lot of labour, and as this is not always to be had, perhaps
the wisest plan is to cover it with oilcloth or linoleum; a good medium
quality can be bought for 3s. 3d. a square yard, and if properly laid
will last for years. By the way, it should not be washed, but only
rubbed with a damp cloth first and then with a piece of flannel dipped
in oil soda and scrubbing will ruin it very quickly. If the cupboard
accommodation is scanty the dresser should be bought with cupboards
underneath; in this case it will cost about three pounds, but if without
cupboards one pound ten shillings. A deal table is the best, and this must
be kept white with constant scrubbing; while the cookery is going on a
piece of oil baize might be laid over it. Pearson's carbolic sand soap
will remove any grease spots very quickly; the paste board and rolling pin
can also be kept white in the same way. It will be found an advantage
to have two or three French or butchers' knives for cooking purposes,
instead of using the dinner knives. These can be bought from 1s. 6d.
each; they are stronger and take a better edge than ordinary knives.
Wooden and iron spoons will be found cheaper and better than using
table spoons as these latter are soon ruined if used for stirring;
cookery spoons cost about 3d. each; two of each would be found
sufficient. A conical strainer is more convenient and useful than the
round ones so generally used. For mixing bowls the agate iron are the
best; they are a little more expensive in the first place than the
yellow earthenware, but they are unbreakable, and therefore cheaper in
the end; they cost about 4s. 6d. each. A small sausage machine is very
necessary, for by means of this useful contrivance many scraps of meat
and bread can be utilized; the cost of one is 10s. 6d. A pestle and
mortar, too, will be found of great use in making up odds and ends into
dainty tit-bits; these, too, cost about 10s. 6d. Wire and hair sieves
are invaluable for preparing soups and many other dishes; sieves with a
wooden rim will be found the most durable; they cost 2s. 6d. Each.
Agate iron saucepans are light and durable and very easy to keep clean;
they are much better than the blue enamelled ware, as they do not burn
so readily or chip so soon. Frying pans are nice, too, of the same
ware. A set each of wire and metal dish-covers must not be forgotten;
the latter should be of plain blocked tin, and as the fluted ones soon
get shabby, these should be well washed inside and out with scouring
soap and polished with Goddard's plate powder. A French fryer is
invaluable; it will cost 7s. 6d. Three or four pounds of dripping
clarified should be put at first; this will require straining. After
being used once or twice, the fryer should then be washed out with soda
water, well dried, and the fat put back; it can be renewed from
time to time with some fresh fat, and it will keep good for weeks. When
it looks very dark throw it away and start with a fresh lot of fat; it
can be used for fish, rissoles, fritters, &c., and one can never tell
that anything has been fried in it before, if it attains the right heat
before the FRITURE is put in. It should be between boiling water heat
(212 degrees) and boiling fat (600 degrees), 385 degrees being exactly
right, and can be tested by dropping in a small piece of bred. If it
browns instantly it is ready; whatever is put into it will fry in two or
three minutes. Food cooked in this way will not be so greasy and
indigestible as it often is if cooked in a frying pan.

And now, last and most important of all, the stove; for although we may
do without a great many things which are nice and useful to have,
without a stove it is impossible to cook well. It may be for gas, wood,
or coal, but it must act well. Gas stoves are extremely simple, clean,
and easy to use, there are no flues to get choked, and in towns where
gas is cheap it is no doubt the easiest and pleasantest heat to use. To
keep them clean and sweet they should be well washed inside and out
with soda and water at least once a week and polished with a little
Electric black lead. The flues of wood and coal stoves should be
thoroughly cleansed out once a week, and the oven cleansed with soap
and soda; this is very necessary work, for if the ovens are not clean
whatever is cooked in them will be spoilt. A little thoughtful care in
these matters will often prevent much trouble when cooking. Let a
housekeeper, therefore, thoroughly master her stove first, and
understand the flues and dampers, for only in this way will she be able
to successfully cook the dishes she has skilfully prepared. Cleanliness
and care in respect of the stove and kitchen utensils generally are as
necessary to success as knowing the right materials to use and how
to put them together, and every one who can cook a dinner
should also know how to clean and keep in good order the stove and all
culinary utensils. Order and neatness must reign in the kitchen as well
as in the drawing-room, and it will help greatly to bring about this
desirable state of affairs if all utensils are cleansed and put away
immediately they are finished with, for it is much easier to wash them
then than if left dirty for some time. As soon as the contents of a
saucepan have been dished, fill it with cold water, add a lump of soda,
and stand it on the stove till hot; it can then be washed up in a few
minutes. Plates and dishes should at once be put into a bowl of hot or
cold water; treat spoons and forks in the same way. Knives, wipe at
once, and clean as soon as possible. A damp cloth rubbed with Monkey
soap will do wonders in removing stains and dust; these, if left for a
time, are hard to get off, and the kitchen, which ought to be bright
and cheerful, soon has a greasy, dirty look.

Some of us can call to mind delightful old kitchens in country houses,
which were a pleasure and a joy to both mistress and maids, where
bright copper stewpans reflected the blazing fire on all sides, and
metal covers shone like mirrors; while as for "eating off the floor,"
one might certainly do it if so inclined, without the "peck of dirt" at
once.

How cosy and delightful everything seems in a kitchen like this, and
what visions can we not see of home-made bread and cakes, well-cooked
joints, succulent vegetables, delicious puddings, dainty dishes of all
kinds concocted with skilful fingers! And why should not these visions
turn into substantial realities? They will do so if women will consider
it a pleasure, instead of a degradation, to "look well to the ways of
her household," and establish a system of order and neatness
from cellar to garret. When this happy time comes she will be
"emancipated" from many cares and have more leisure to cultivate her
intellect than she has now. Surely "a study which helps" to make
cheerful homes and healthy, well-conducted, "prosperous citizens is
worth at least a trial."