after the necessary scumming is over. Time should be allowed for gradual cooking, and that over, the stewpan ought to stand by the fire a few minutes, that the fat risen to the top be taken off, before the dish is served. Indeed, ragouts are better made the day before, because then the fat is more completely taken off. Shake the stewpan if there be danger of burning, but if the lid be removed, the savoury steams escape, and also much of the succulent qualities of the meat.
Great delicacy is required in re-warming made dishes; they should be merely heated through; and the safest mode is to place the stewpan in a vessel of boiling water.
All made dishes require gravy, more or less good, and, in most houses, this, by a little previous forethought, may always be ready; for if the liquor in which meat has been boiled be saved, that seasoned, flavoured, and thickened, the cook will always be provided with gravy for a ragout or fricassee. (See the Chapter on Soup, and also that on Gravy.)
The following is a good store gravy.—Boil a ham, or part of one, in water to cover it, with four onions, a clove of garlic, six eschalots, a bay leaf, a bunch of sweet herbs, six cloves, and a few peppercorns. Keep the pot covered, and let it simmer three hours. The liquor is strained, and kept till poultry or meat of any kind is boiled; put the two together, and boil down fast till reduced to three pints; when cold, it will be a jelly, and suits any sort of ragout or hash.
Every cook ought to learn the art of larding, and also of braising, as they are both used in made dishes.
To Lard.
Have larding pins of various sizes. Cut strips of bacon, with a sharp knife, put one into the pin, pierce the skin and a very little of the flesh, and draw it through; the rows may be either near together or far apart. The bacon is sometimes rolled in seasonings to suit the meat.
To Blanch, either Meat or Vegetables.
This gives plumpness as well as whiteness. Put whatever it be into a saucepan with cold water to cover, and let
